Starring:
Summary:
Angel and Fred meet up for the first time after his long sabbatical. Fred talks a lot, Angel doesn't really.
Date It Happened: February 2nd, 2002
Small Reunions
Hyperion Hotel - Lobby
The night is falling on Los Angeles and therefore it is time for Angel to go out and do the investigation thing. But there are still a few dozen minutes of daylight left and they keep the ensouled vampire where he is for the moment, peering out the window at the dimming sky and the fading of the light. It isn't a secret that he is back, of course, but so far the only member of the team that he's actually spoken to is Wesley - and even then it was brief.
Maybe it's not been a secret, but it's also hard to hide someone sneaking in and out of the hotel from someone who never leaves. Fred has worked over the possibilities and is hoping against hope that it really is who she thinks it may be back from his sojourn. Or his great sulk. However anyone may want to put it. Creeping down the stairway, Fred has her long hair pulled into two braids and is trying out sneaking. It's not really going very well, but she does manage to hide behind the pillars quite effectively and poke her head out just enough to peer. That success must be because of how skinny she is.
"Hi, Fred," Angel says, still staring out the window - the benefits of a vampiric sense of hearing smell. After a moment, however, he does turn around slightly to look towards the general area of Fred's hiding place.
There's a bit of a squeak from behind the pillar and Fred all but stumbles out from behind her hiding place. "Oh hi there." She's trying to act casual, however it's hard to when caught spying on someone. "I didn't know if you were still wanting to be alone in a hotel full of people or not. Didn't want to interrupt your thoughts. 'Cause, I'm sure they're really important ones. I mean, they're yours." A bit of a nervous giggle. Tugging on one of her braids, she takes another step downwards and closer. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with lurking in the shadows and pretending like you're not here. I know all about that! Right?" A pause. "So how was your trip?"
"It was alright," Angel answers, he can't bring himself to be gruff with Fred no matter the situation he's in. He shrugs his shoulders a little, turning around fully to lean against the window sill, "Everything alright here?"
"Oh, yeah! Sure." Instead of tugging on one of her braids, she starts to twirl it around her hand. "I mean, there was a point where Cordelia and I got turned in succubi and this big worm came out of the ground and tried to eat us. Oh! And there's some werewolf that's trying to eat people." She rolls her eyes a little, that big smile still on her face. "But that's just all in a day of Angel Investigations, right? Not that it was really Angel Investigations without you around. I mean, you're the Angel in the name. You're gonna stay around this time, right? You're not gonna leave again are you?" The last bit is a little worried. It was hard for her to have to deal with her savior disappearing on her the first time. She doesn't want it to happen again so soon after getting him back.
"I don't think so," Angel admits after a moment of thought, looking as though he may actually be sorry he missed all the adventurous things that went on since last he was around, "I mean, I haven't got anywhere else to be. I'll be here."
"Me neither!" Fred seems almost too happy about the fact that she doesn't seem to have anywhere else to go because it's something she has in common with Angel. "D'ya wanna talk about it?" She's not sure what they'd be talking about, but she's heard Cordelia try to use it with her. "I mean, everyone thinks I can't listen 'cause I talk all the time. They think, "Oh, that Fred, she sure has a mouth on her, everything goes in one ear and out the other." But I can listen! I can be real good at it. If you want, that is. If you wanna be quiet and watch the window, I can let you do that, too."
Angel finds himself quite suddenly in a difficult situation. On one hand he doesn't really want to offend or dishearten Fred by telling her he doesn't want to talk about it and at the same time he, well, doesn't want to talk about it. So he remains quiet for a moment, crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head.
"How about you let me in on what else you've been doing? I've heard about the werewolf thing … I met him a couple nights back."
"Oz?" Fred tilts her head a little as she watches Angel. That's who she immediately thinks about when Angel talks about the werewolf. "Oh! You mean the bad werewolf. Or are all werewolves bad? I'm not sure I'm totally clear on that whole thing. 'Cause I thought Oz was nice, but if he actually tears people apart, that's not really a nice thing to do." Without much of a pause to delineate where one thought ends and another begins, she continues, "He wanted to borrow some books to try and figure out more about what's going on. He though there was something more behind it. But you know Wesley's books. It's near impossible to read them without Wesley and a magnifying glass. So we had to wait. But now that you're hear, I'm sure it'll all get solved in no time!"
"I think we're getting somewhere," Angel says, "Not all werewolves are bad but from what I hear this 'Jack' guy is looking to make them that way. Which isn't good."
Thinking about that, Fred nods and hesitantly moves closer again. She wants to be able to give the vampire his space. He's the one that's been here but not here and she wants to make sure he's comfortable with being completely here before being her total self. At least she's trying to hold back her chattering. "Oh, I doubt they're all bad. Or at least not when they're themselves and people and stuff. But, when they're all grrring and snapping " She brings her hands up to make claws and does a snarling face, not very well, "that's when you have to worry about them." Letting her hands drop back down to grab a braid, she watches Angel. "Where d'ya think you're getting with it?"
Angel gives his shoulders a brief shrug in response to Fred's question. He's not trying to be distant nor give her the impression that he wants her to go away, but at the same time he's not exactly one for lengthy exposition. Arms folded over his chest, he speaks after a moment, "Somewhere, I think. I mean, we've got a name. We've got a couple names, really. And we know what he's trying to do so that could lead us to where he'll be in the future."
Another shrug, "I assume we wait until he shows himself again and then, you know, kill him."
"What's he trying to do? Oz thought he was trying to find a wife?" Fred frowns at the question, because mauling and eating wives is really not what a good way to find a bride, in her opinion. "If he shows up again, though, does that mean he's going to attack someone else? He may try and kill them. I mean, I know if you're gonna be there he's not going to be able to, but what if you don't show up in enough time? Or he finds out that you're trying to find him?"
"A wife? What I've heard is that he's just trying to turn the other better-natured werewolves into killers like him," Angel frowns - the fact that the guy is trying to kidnap a wife makes things a little more complicated, "He's got to leave a trail. Nobodys invisible. If I can find him, I can stop him before he does anything."
"Oh!" Fred looks just as surprised. "Oz said that he left a note behind at the last place he was. And that it mentioned something about a wife. Maybe I'm just messin' it up. I'm sure you know a lot more about it. Trying to turn people into killers sounds a lot more like what a bad guy would do." As for the trail, she shrugs her shoulders. "You should talk to Oz about it. And maybe Wesley if Oz managed to talk to him about that yet. He'd know a lot more about it. Bein' another werewolf and all."
Angel nods, silently taking that advice to heart - he'll definately have to track down Oz to talk to him. He pauses for a moment, letting the talk of werewolves pass off into the ether for a moment.
"How've things been, Fred? With you, I mean." Yes! He is attempting … gasp … casual conversation.
"Oh, you know! The usual! Other than the succubi and the worm thing." Fred waves a dismissive hand at that. "Mostly just been hangin' around here. I like it in here. It's safe and cozy. Cordy'n Gunn've been tryin' to get me outside. We went for tacos the other week. And pancakes and waffles the other. But, I just kinda like bein' inside." Finally letting her braid go, she just shrugs and wraps her arms around torso like she's hugging herself. "I mean, I bet you do, too! And not just when you've gotta be inside 'cause of the whole bursting into flames thing."
"Yeah," Angel says quietly, and it is an admission to not really liking to get outside and socialize by way of a single word, "Less chance of surprise sunlight inside."
"Oh, well, here I am going on and on about all this stuff and you're there thinkin' your important thoughts." Fred rolls her eyes at herself and does a bit of a laugh. It's, again, nervous. "I should let you go out and get to all that important stuff that you need to do. Savin' the helpless. Or, helping the helpless, that is. Now that there's no chance for you to turn into dust." Because who would be able to stake Angel? "No need for coffins or anything. I always thought that was funny. If you get shut into a coffin every night, how'd you get out? I guess they don't always nail 'em shut. It just was a funny thought. I'd think it'd be all claustrophobic when you could just draw the curtains real tight and maybe just hide under the covers."
"I used bury myself," Angel says after a moment, shaking his head at the mention of getting out there and doing the saving thing. After all, the sun is still a glowing line on the horizon and he doesn't like to risk the sunlight, "It can be pretty uncomfortable though, yeah."
"Really?" The notion's an interesting one to Fred. "How'd you manage to get everything on top of you? After awhile, it'd seem like you'd need some help." Now that they're sucked into something interesting to talk about, she's forgotten the fact that she was going to leave him be. "I bet you'd have to get an extra padded one. And you didn't sleep like this," she gestures by crossing her arms up high like a dead person. "And what if you sleep on your side? That can't be too comfortable. Not much room to toss and turn."
"There wasn't really a coffin involved," Angel admits, shrugging his shoulders, "It was more just a temporary arrangement when there wasn't anywhere to go to stay out of the sun. You'll be amazed what you can do when you don't want to turn to ash."
Fred knows a little something about survival. "I know how that one goes. Except it was less wanting to turn into ash and more not wanting my head to implode." That collar. "You think for months and months that you'll never be able to defuse it, or that maybe you will but then it'll explode anyway just 'cause that's where you are. But, you manage it somehow! 'Course, that's nothing like trying to bury yourself under ground, not knowing when it was gonna be light or dark yet and you wouldn't be sure if you came up too early and burnt up, or if maybe you waited too long and would burn up any way. Musta been difficult. Of course, if you made a bit of a time function in your head and used the temperature of the dirt around you, you might be able to figure out when it was safe to dig yourself back up again."
"A little like that," Angel agrees, leaning back against the wall alongside the window to give Fred a look for a moment. To be honest, he doesn't really remember how he figured out what it was time to climb out. He just did.
That's where instincts come into play. Vampire instincts, Fred decides, that she probably wouldn't know much about. "I'm not surprised you figured it all out." Because he's Angel and as far as she's concerned he can do no wrong. "'Cause you're Angel." With a bright smile, she bounces her shoulders just slightly. "I'm glad you're back. Or, that you're back and you're not lurking any more. I mean, I don't mind when you lurk, of course, but I just like it a bit more when you don't lurk and are actually here. Means you're really back."
