TITLE: Second Chances
CO-AUTHORS: Hitwoman and Novus
SPOILERS: General Angel: the Series season five, namely for the presence of Fred.
DISCLAIMERS: Joss owns all, We own nothing! We're just borrowing them for a teensy bit.


Later...

Faith's hand froze a few inches away from the front door of the Hyperion. God, she thought,
what the hell am I doing? They'll probably throw me out the window.

The second story one.

She sighed and knocked anyway.

Inside the hotel, the gang looked towards the door of the hotel. A figure was standing there,
visible but indistingishable through the blurred glass of the doorway.

"Wow. Don't see that every day."

Wesley squinted at the doorway. "What's that, Cordelia?"

"Someone who knocks." Cordelia leaned over her desk. "Can't see who it is, though."

"Nor can I. Of course, I believe I may need new glasses. My vision lately has.."

"Anyone gonna get that?" Angel broke in dryly. Everyone looked at Cordelia.

"Oh, what, because I'm the office manager you think I have to do *everything* around here?
What, being vision girl isn't.."

"Cordelia."

She huffed a little as she looked at Angel, but it was mostly for show. Wouldn't do to let him
start taking her for granted or anything. But she did get up and make her way over to the door.

Not being used to having people knock, she decided a variation of the phone spiel was the way
to go.

"Hi! Welcome to Angel Investigations! We help the... Oh. It's you."

"Hey," Faith grunted. She shifted her feet, taking some comfort in the fact Cordelia hadn't
slammed the door in her face.

Cordelia didn't open the door completely, instead leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.
"What are you doing here? And where are your little Watcher cronies?"

"Who, Dumb and Dumber?" Faith shrugged. "Ditched 'em. Beside, they're not my cronies. They..." She shrugged again and chewed on her lip for a second. "And I came because I need your help," she added in something just above a whisper.

"You need *our* help? Or just Angel's?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared down at the
once-dark-but-supposedly-all-better-now Slayer. She had her suspicions about Faith's feelings
for Angel, and if she was right, she didn't want the other girl anywhere around him.

Cause.. cause she felt protective about the guy, in a sisterly sort of way.

At least, that's what she tried very hard to tell herself.

"I..." Faith frowned. What was *that* all about? "I don't know," she replied honestly.

[Don't know? Yeah, right.] "And by the way, if the kind of help you're looking for includes
human punching bags or pincushions, thank you but no.  Wesley and I tried that one already."

"Cordelia, I'm..." Faith was tempted to say 'screw it' and barge in and find Angel, but she
held her temper. "Look, I know this isn't going to mean a lot, but I'm sorry. I really am. But
this is important. That psycho-vamp is still runnin' around out there and I can't take him out
by myself." She glanced past Cordelia. "So can I come in or not?"

"Yeah, you sound sorry. Real sorry."

"I - " was all Faith got in. Hurricane Cordelia was in full force. Not that Faith could blame
her. People had the right to hate you when you smacked 'em around for kicks.

"Of course, you'd probably be a lot sorrier if you'd used half a pound of gauze to try and
patch up the holes someone had gouged in you. Or spent two weeks trying to explain to various
and sundry strangers why the side of your face was black and blue. Or that lovely yellow
shade as it heals. But no, you were on the *other* end of that little assault, so you
probably don't..."

"Cordelia - " Faith began, but Angel appeared at Cordelia's shoulder and she shut up.

"Cordelia." Angel took hold of the door and pulled, but Cordy took the doorknob and pulled
the other way. After a mini tug-of-war for control, Cordelia looked him in the eye for a
moment, then let go.

"Your funeral," she said softly. "No, wait.. that would be ours." She turned and walked
away. Angel watched her for a moment, before turning to face Faith once more. He held the
door open silently.

"Hey. Maybe I shoulda called first," Faith said, a weak smile on her face. "But, you know..."
She stepped inside and instantly felt Wesley and Cordelia's glares fixed on her. "We kinda
have a problem here."

As soon as she said it, Faith's face fell. Great, dig that hole a little deeper, girl, she thought, doing her best not to look over at Wesley and Cordelia.

Cordelia plopped herself down next to Wesley and, after a moment's hesitation, Gunn sat next
to them on the round, cushioned sofa in the hotel's lobby. Angel sighed, looking between the
two groups. He remained where he was, somewhere between Faith and his crew.

"We?" repeated Gunn doubtfully. "Now the 'we' that includes us I know. It's the 'we' that
includes you that I'm a little iffy on."

Faith nodded, still a little confused on who this guy was, besides pretty cute. Then - Oh,
yeah, Gunn. Gotta be. "Look, we both tried to take that thing down and it wasn't exactly a
hit," she began. "And it's still out there, and... Okay, I need your help," she added, her
voice dropping a little. "This one's badder than I am."

There was another brief silence after Faith spoke.

Cordelia opened her mouth to speak, but Angel got there first.

"I need to talk to my team," he said, turning to Faith. The crew got up and filed into
Angel's office, and he followed with a last, apologetic look at the Slayer.

Faith smiled at Angel, then padded over to the couch and slunk down onto it. "Great. Way to
bring 'em onto the team," she muttered, even though it had gone about as well as she could
have expected. She hoped that, whatever they decided, they did it soon. The Watchers would be
showing up soon, probably, and Faith definitely wasn't looking forward to that.

"You think they're gonna be in there long?" Fred emerged slowly from the shadows behind the
front desk, cautious because of the strong emotions she'd sensed previously. 

"Jesus!" Faith was off the couch and turned, stake in hand, before she even knew what she was
doing.

"Whoa!" said Fred, taking a step back. "I don't think you're gonna need that. Not til later
anyway."

She relaxed, smiled in embarrassment, and tucked the stake away with a mumbled "Sorry," but
the brunette girl didn't seem startled in the slightest. "Hey."

"I was asking about them. In there." She shrugged a shoulder toward the closed office door.
"I get lonesome, sometimes, when they're not here. Especially when I start hearin' things."

"Hearing things?" Faith repeated. "Well, uh... Yeah, that's pretty sucky," she said, figuring
it must be something like having a really chatty cellmate. An invisible one. "So, uh... you
one of Angel's friends?"

"Yeah." Fred grinned happily. "I'm Angel's friend. And Wesley's friend. And Gunn's friend.
And even Cordelia's friend, even though she was a Princess and they didn't do that for me or
anything but that's okay cause she's pretty nice." A beat. "Most of the time."

A Princess? I really have been outta the loop here, Faith thought. She sat back down. "Yeah,
most of the time. Helps if you don't go psycho on her. I mean, how are you supposed to
apologize for that? Sorry I almost slapped your face off?" Faith stared down at her hands for
a second, then buried them in her pants pockets. Somehow, the Watchers had found a pair of
jeans in her size. Better than that ugly prison uniform. It almost made her feel like a free
woman again.

"Am I supposed to apologize for that?" Fred cocked her head to one side, confused again. "I
don't remember slapping anyone's face off, but things still tend to kind of go mushy in my
head."

"Oh, I'm a.. no wait, that's not right. I was, but that was back there, and now I'm not
anymore."  She beamed at Faith.  "I'm Fred.  I'm kind of staying here now."

Faith couldn't help grinning back at the other girl. "Nice to meet you, Fred. I'm Faith. So,
Angel adopted you, huh? Figures."

"Oh, figures are fun. I used to know ever so many of 'em, but I tend to keep forgettin' 'em."

"Uh..."

She leaned towards Faith, her voice a conspiratorial whisper. "I try to be a little more
careful now, cause they've got power, ya know."

"Right." Faith nodded solemnly, even though she had no idea what the hell Fred was talking
about. She wondered if even Fred knew. Then she glanced over at the closed office door, heard
raised voices but couldn't make out any words, then looked back at Fred. "Guess they're going
at it in there. I'm thinking I shoulda stayed out. How about you?"

"I just wanted to play checkers," said Fred a little mournfully.

The sound of voices ceased suddenly, and after a brief interlude, the office door opened. The
AI crew filed out, tight lips and flushed cheeks testament to the intensity of the disagreement.

Faith looked at them and waited. It was impossible to call who'd won, Angel or Wesley and
Cordelia.

"We'll work together," said Angel briefly.

"All right," Faith said, letting out a deep breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in.
She looked at Cordelia and Wesley, tried to say something, but couldn't. She nodded at them, a
contrite look on her face, then turned back to Angel. "So... gear up, I guess? Or are there any tricks to killing this kinda vamp?"

"Gear up?" repeated Wesley, brows raised. "Unless you're privy to the inner workings of this
particular vampire, I'm not sure where exactly you plan to go.  As far as I'm aware, they
don't usually send out playbills announcing their next appearance."

Faith stared Wesley down for a second or two, then shrugged. "Sun's up. Not too many places it
can go. We know where it was. Just follow the mess," she said. "Unless you guys have a better
idea?" Faith asked, really hoping that they did. She wasn't much for plans, and this was hardly her best ever.

As if on cue, Cordelia shook her head.  "Oh no," she murmured, her eyes instinctively seeking
Angel's.  "Here we go again.."

She had little time to prepare before the images began flooding her mind...

The ancient vamp, looking a little healthier than he had last time.

Demons and humans alike running in fear.

And in the middle of it all, a familiar face...

She opened her eyes, panting a bit. "I saw him... He's.. he's at..."

And that was when the phone rang.

And rang and rang, ignored by the AI team as they huddled around Cordelia.

"Um... should I get that?" Faith asked. And what the hell was that all about, anyway? Cordelia
having psychic flashes? Angel had really been holding out on her...

"I'd do it, but it might bite my ear off," Fred replied in a stage whisper as she protectively
covered said ear with one hand. "And I just hate it when that happens."

"Yeah, really." Faith glanced over at Angel and the others, but they were busy with Cordelia.
She picked up the phone. "Hey. I mean, Angel Investigations."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Well, I know I must have the right place,
although I don't believe I heard the dulcet tone of our sweet seer. Who might you be,
sweetcheeks?"

Sweetcheeks? Dulcet tone? Faith stared at the phone for a second, then she shrugged and
smiled. Expecting normality was a lost cause around here. "I'm Faith." She almost added 'the
vampire slayer', but stopped, not sure who this guy even was, let alone what he knew. "Angel
can't come to the phone right now. Uh... May I take a message?"

"Well, I *had* hoped to speak to the big guy himself, but I...." there was an audible crash,
and a muttered imprecation before the voice continued, "A message can work, if Big, Tall, and
Broody can get here soon. Just tell him the Host with the Most called, and.." another crash,
"and if he could get his deliciously leather-clad self to Caritas, as quickly as possible,
then I..." Another noise, and the phone went dead.

"Oh, crap." Faith set the phone down and loudly cleared her throat. "Um, Angel... guys? Some
guy callin' himself the Host with the Most just called. He said to get your butt over to
Caritas. It sounded like someone was busting up the place," she said. "I think he's in trouble
or something."

"That's what I was trying to say," said Cordelia, sitting back with both eyes closed. "That
scary vamp guy. He's at Caritas. And I don't think the whole 'demon sanctuary' part means
much to him."

Wesley and Gunn both stood up, preparing to leave, but Angel stayed where he was, eyes on
Cordelia. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Fine," she said, opening her eyes to smile at him briefly. "Just.. just go. Get Fangs
already."

Obviously reluctant, Angel stood, still looking down at her. "Fred, can you stay here with
her?"

"Sure," said Fred brightly, moving from behind the counter. "I can prolly help with her headaches, cause they're lots easier to deal with here. No kablooey or anything."

"That's fine then." Angel turned to face Wesley, Gunn, and Faith. "We ready?"

Faith nodded. "You still have all the toys?" she asked, starting to get psyched up again.

Angel just nodded in reply. Toys... Don't let me down here, Faith, he thought, watching as the
Slayer adopted a 'kid in a candy shop' demeanor as they armed themselves.

She picked a smallish battle axe and a handful of stakes from the cabinet and waited for the
others to get their weapons together.

"Don't wait up," Gunn said with a grin and a wink at Cordelia and Fred.

"So what's the deal on this Host guy, anyway?" Faith wondered as she followed Angel, Gunn and
Wesley out of the hotel. "And what's Caritas?"

"The Host... He's a demon. A visionary. He owns a nightclub for demons."

"For demons?" Faith repeated. "Why haven't you torn it down?"

"It's neutral ground. Sanctuary, as Cordelia said. And he's helped us in the past, many times," Wesley said shortly.

"Yeah." Gunn grinned. "Plus he can belt out a good tune."

"Uh-huh... Sounds like my kind of guy." This city is too weird, Faith thought.

Way too weird, she thought when they pulled up in front of Caritas only to find demons milling
about in front. One of them, a green-faced man in a garish yellow coat and Hawaiian shirt,
waved and ran over to Angel's car.

"Angelcakes, so glad you and the gang are here," said Lorne, opening the door and trying to
hustle them all out. "Love to stand here and chat with you folks, but since my club is about to
adopt a post-Apocalypse motif *again*, I'd kind of appreciate it if you all went inside. Like
*now*."

A table crashed through the front door at that moment, rolling on its round top until it came
to a sudden stop against the front of Angel's car. He managed to hold himself to a wince,
staring at the dent in the once pristine paint before turning towards the club entrance. "Now
works for me," he said, turning to look at the others. "We ready?"

"Born ready," Faith said at the same time as Gunn. They shared a look, then laughed. Angel
frowned briefly, then led the way into the club.

Inside, it was clear Lorne's use of 'post-Apocalypse motif' wasn't far off. Half the tables
had been smashed to bits, and the rest were strewn about, a few lodged in the walls themselves.
The rest was hard to tell, on account of the blood that was covering almost every surface. Red
blood, green blood, black blood and even a few splotches of bright purple blood.

"Holy shit..." Faith whispered, paling as she saw the vampire tear a demon's ribs out, one by
one, and then impale the dying creature with its own bones. Then the vampire sniffed loudly,
once, twice, and turned towards the AI quartet.

"Hit it," Angel snapped, raising his hand crossbow and taking aim as the blood-soaked vampire
began to shuffle towards them. He'd heard about blood-beasts like this from the Master long
ago, but never actually seen one. For once, the Master had actually understated things...
Whatever sanity it had had even a few hours ago was completely gone.

He pulled the crossbow's trigger and began to reload without looking to see if he hit the
monstrosity. Gunn and Wesley were unloading their own crossbows, and Faith was -

"Faith!" he yelled as she charged towards the vampire. Even as he started to move to catch up,
the Slayer had reached it. The vampire reached for her with both hands, but Faith easily
ducked and then slid forward right under its legs.

Before the vampire could turn, she was back on her feet. It had just begun to shift and attack
when Faith buried her axe deep into the small of its back. There was a loud cracking sound as
the vampire's spine snapped. It let out an ear-splitting howl and still somehow had the
strength to backhand Faith and send her flying into the bar. Still howling, the vampire began
to shuffle towards her, ignoring the broken spine and the crossbow bolts that Gunn and Wesley
were hitting it with.

Angel yelled and hit the vampire on the back with his katana. The sword sliced off a good
chunk of dead flesh and gnarled bone, but it was too far gone to even notice. And it was about
to grab Faith...

There was a blur of movement and Wesley and Gunn slammed into the vampire, tackling it to the
ground for a few seconds. Then it threw them both off, and shoved Angel away with a careless
slap, and continued to advance on Faith. It grabbed her hair with one hand and yanked her up,
maw open and ready to tear into her exposed neck.

Then her eyes opened and she winked. "See ya later, sucker," Faith said and shoved a stake
deep into its chest. Then, when the vampire didn't burst into dust, moaned "Aw, not aga - "
before it wrapped its right hand around her throat.

A hand that was suddenly no longer attached to the vampire's arm. It stared down at the stump
just above its wrist and then turned, puzzled, to see who had done that. Faith, free of the
now-vanished hand, gasped a little as she also turned towards her rescuer.

"Surprise," Angel said, shrugging briefly at the vampire before slicing its head clean off.
In the half-second before it completely vanished, the beast howled one more time, then nothing
was left except a pile of black, oily dust.

Faith got to her feet with Angel's help. "So that's that?" she asked as Gunn and Wesley,
battered but unbroken, joined the two of them by the bar.

"Pretty much," said Angel, leaning against the bar. A piece of it crumbled to the ground, and
he hastily righted himself. "I don't think there's much more we can do here."

"Don't say that," said a muffled voice. They all turned to see red eyes peeping at them from
behind the bar. Slowly Lorne rose, eyeing the ruins of his establishment sorrowfully. "Please,
let's just keep the indirect threats to ourselves, shall we?"

The Host moved around the bar as the bemused patrons began to emerge from their hiding places,
righting upturned tables and setting chairs back on their legs. As the bar filled with the
lowered voices and murmurs of the Host trying to reassure his customers, Angel turned to speak
to the others.

"Let's get back to the hotel," he said, carefully wiping both sides of the katana clean with a
discarded cloth laying on the bar. "I want to see how Cordy is." He started towards the door
without waiting on them to respond.

Gunn and Wes exchanged knowing looks before following him. Faith nudged Gunn as they were
leaving.

"Is it just me, or is tall, dark, and dead over there a little obsessed with Queen C?"

Gunn grinned, looking down at the dark Slayer. "Nothin' gets past you, does it?"

None of them noticed the vampire near the entrance of the club, hidden in an alcove. After
watching them carefully as they left, the creature hurried off in the opposite direction.

* * * * *

"Oh, fuck, these guys," Faith muttered when they pulled up in front of the Hyperion only to
find a non-descript grey van parked there.

"Watchers?" Gunn asked.

"Watchers," Faith confirmed with a sigh. "Took 'em long enough to show up."

"Yes, it would have been too helpful if they'd joined in the actual fighting," Wesley murmured.

All four of them got out of Angel's car. A few seconds later, the two Watchers emerged from
their van.

"They musta come to collect me..."

"They're not going to," said Angel simply. He turned to face the approaching Watchers, and
Gunn and Wesley moved to stand next to him. Wesley spoke first.

"Can we help you?"

The older of the two Watchers stepped up. "You can't, Wyndham-Pryce. The young Slayer here, on the other hand..."

"We have an arrangement," Dane, the younger Watcher, added. "She's done good work and - "

"So now you wanna stick her back in a cell?" Gunn asked. "You Watchers got some fucked
up ideas."

Deschain glared briefly at Gunn, then turned his attention back to Faith. "We did have a deal,
young lady."

"Deals change," Angel countered. "You can't seriously think putting her back in a cell is going to - "

"I'll go."

"'Zactly, she's not going anywhere she doesn't - what?"

Faith smiled a little. "I said, I'll go." She turned to Angel. "We both know I got a long way
to go. Being out here... it's too much, too soon. And they're right. We have a deal."

Angel stared at the Slayer. "Faith..."

"Trust me, Angel. It's the thing to do," she insisted. "Besides, I'm starting to miss the
food," Faith said with a weak laugh.

Are you sure about this?" Angel asked her.

"Yeah. Stop trying to change my mind... I gotta do it." She squeezed his shoulder in a vague,
embarrassed imitation of a hug, then looked over at Gunn and Wes. "Well... Nice meeting you,
big guy," she said with a wicked smile. "And Wes... stay outta trouble."

Wesley opened his mouth to reply, then shut it slowly. What could he possibly say?

Then he straightened, setting his shoulders, before bowing his head slightly towards her, his
eyes never leaving hers.

Gunn just winked at her, a hint of something--regret?--in his smile.

Faith grinned at him, and briefly at Wesley, then turned to the two Watchers. "Well, let's get
going."

Deschain nodded once, then headed to the front of the van while Dane pulled the rear door
open. "Ladies first," the black Watcher said.

"See ya around, guys," Faith said, then jumped into the van. She looked back over her shoulder
once, then vanished. Dane slammed the door shut and eyed the AI group briefly before getting
into the driver's seat.

Gunn watched silently, the grin slowly fading, before he shifted uncomfortably. "Shouldn't
we...?"

"No." Angel's voice was short, clipped, and he watched unblinking as Dane started the van's
engine. "It has to be her choice."

A few seconds later, the van pulled away from the curb and sped down the street. It turned the
first corner and disappeared.

"I'm going in to check on Cordy." Angel turned abruptly and entered the hotel, and the other
two followed shortly thereafter.

Fred looked up as the three men came into the lobby. She frowned quizically and pointed at
each of them in turn. "Weren't there three of y'all before?" she asked. "Did - did..." She
couldn't finish that thought.

Cordelia did it for her. "Where's Faith?"

"The Watchers. She let 'em take her back to jail," Gunn replied when Angel didn't after a few
seconds. "Some kinda 'deal' she had."

"Oh." Cordelia sat back down. "Well... that's probably for the best. Paying her debt to
society and all that, right?"

Wesley nodded slowly. "Right. She still needs time before she's ready to rejoin the world."

"Right."

"Well it sounds stupid to me. Isn't she some kinda superhero like Angel and Cordelia?" Fred
asked. "I mean, sure she's a psychopath, but that's not really... well, psychopath might not
be the correct term, since that usually signifies a predator who uses charm, intimidation, and
sometimes impulsive and cold-blooded violence to achieve their own gains, whereas Faith seemed
to exhibit more sociapathic characteristics, in that she didn't regard other people as people
but as playthings for her amusement or entertainment. She might also have antisocial
tendencies, which would entail..."

"Fred!" said Cordelia, Wes, and Gunn in exasperated unison.

"Sorry," said Fred softly. "I just meant since she's sort of a superhero, being a Slayer and
all, and she operates differently than other people. Like Angel."

"I'm not a - that's not the point." Angel walked over to the counter and absently scanned the
front page of the newspaper. "but she made her choice. And at least the vampire is dead."

"Score one for the home team." Gunn forced a smile as he put his axe back onto the weapon
rack.

"So that's it, then. Right?" Cordelia leaned back against the sofa, still slightly pale from
the ever-present vision aftermath. "We're done?"

"We're done," said Wesley, closing the weapons cabinet after having returned everything to its
rightful place. "For now, anyway. I would imagine it won't take long for the darker elements
of LA to reassert themselves, but for the present we can take a breather."

"In that case, I'm outta here," said Cordelia. She got to her feet slowly, wavering a moment
when she stood. She forestalled Angel's instinctive move to her side with one raised hand.
"For the four thousandth time today, I'm *fine*, Angel. I just want to go home and take a long
hot bath, and the only company I need is invisible and answers to the name 'Phantom Dennis.' "

* * * * *

Faith stared out the window of the van as they drove out of the neighborhood around the
Hyperion.

"You guys got any music in this thing?" she asked Dane. He seemed the (marginally) nicer of
the two.

The Watcher shook his head without taking his eyes of the road. "Sorry, it's a rental."

"Figures." Faith tried to settle back and relax, but it wasn't easy. It wasn't going back to
jail that was making her twitchy. Or not entirely. She knew going in this was just a temporary
deal. No, mostly, she felt weird about ditching Angel and his team. And THAT was weird.

Faith sighed and cracked her knuckles.

"Nervous?" Dane asked over his shoulder.

"I guess." The Slayer shrugged. "I only got a couple more years left. Maybe I'll get early
release for good behavior or something."

"Hm."

"Yeah. Not gonna happen," Faith admitted with a wry grin. "Girl's gotta dream, though."

Deschain smiled a little, the first time Faith had ever seen him do that. "Quite so."

"Uh-huh." Faith turned away and glanced back out the window. After a few minutes, she suddenly
leaned forward. "Hey, what the fuck? World Way North? This isn't - "

"There's been a slight change in planes," Deschain informed her. "To be honest, I hadn't
expected you would come with us voluntary. But we did make provisions for it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Faith asked. What were they pulling? Couldn't be
anything crazy since they hadn't tied her up or knocked her out or anything - unless they were
stupid enough to piss off a Slayer without a wall between her and them.

"We're going to the airport. There are three tickets on a direct flight to London waiting for
us at the British Airways counter." Deschain shifted a little so he was facing back towards
Faith. "It's up to you if we claim all three."

Faith frowned again. "What do you mean?"

"You can go back to England with us and continue your training where it left off," the elderly
Watcher explained. "As if the last few years never happened. Or..." He pressed his lips
together.

"Or?" Faith asked, her heart beating like a hammer.

"Or you can remain in Los Angeles acting as you see fit. The Council... The Council seems to
think you've earned the right."

"Holy fuck."

"Hmm, yes." Deschain smiled thinly. "Which will it be? London or Los Angeles?" The van
continued on its way as they awaited
her response.

* * * * *

Across town, deep within the basement of a palatial estate, a beringed hand lifted picture
after picture, seeing once again the scenes at the bus station and Caritas. The vampire before
the throne-like chair trembled as he gave his report.

"We couldn't stop them. There were too many of 'em, and then the other Slayer showed up, and
it was..."

"Enough." The voice was almost languid but with a steely note underneath. "You may leave. But
be aware I do not tolerate
fools gladly. The next time there will be no mistakes."

The room emptied slowly, and one long, claw-like hand lingered for a moment on a photo of
Angel staking one of the vampires at the station as the room filled with the sound of a low,
unearthly cackling.