Sins of the Father
Chapter Twenty-Three
He had told her about her mother three days after their return to the apartment.
"Do I have to go to the funeral?" she had asked in a whisper.
"Do you want to?"
She had shook her head, then jumped into his arms, buried her face in his neck and sobbed. He had rocked her for hours.
That was almost three weeks ago and she seemed to be getting over it. He hoped so anyway.
Lilah had visited after he called to let her know Lottie was fine. She had "dropped by, I was on my way home anyway," to let him know the spell would be removed the very next morning. She had said that was it between them.
"You owe me a favour for this, Wes," she had told him. "But I don't think I'll be calling it in. You've got your life; I've got mine. Back on opposite teams. The way we were."
"I doubt things will ever be the way they were between us before, Lilah," he had replied. "And I wouldn't mind you calling in a favour. I have you to thank for protecting her, without your help, she might not be here."
Lilah glanced beyond him, through the open door of Lottie's room, her mouth twitching in a smile as she saw the girl curled in bed.
"She looks like you when she sleeps," she had said, offering him a genuine smile.
"Poor thing," he had quipped and she had almost grinned. "So… If you ever need my help, I'd be fine with that."
"You never know," she had shrugged. "Maybe one day. 'Til then," she had extended her hand and he had taken it, shaking it with a gentle smile. Then she had left and he had almost missed her, because she wasn't as tough as she liked to make out, he had seen that. With a sigh, he had closed the door, closing the door not only behind Lilah, but also on everything that had happened that summer. He still wasn't sure if he was happy or sad about that.
But on the whole, life had been getting back to normal, Lottie went back to school and he went back to work. It had taken two days for Angel to pluck up the courage to ask Wes to research something, and Wes had only been short with him on two occasions. Though he had to admit the atmosphere was frosty at best the rest of the time. But he supposed that couldn't be helped. Time was a healer and all that.
Angel was trying to be normal, Wes had noted, but he didn't quite carry it off. There were times he would sink into a brooding fit, resulting in snappish replies whenever someone interrupted his gloom. Faith would generally lash back at him, Cordy would ignore it and continue in a soft, coaxing tone and Connor would be sarcastic, until Angel finally smiled.
Fred and Gunn, however, were thrown off guard by his intense brooding fits. They had never seen it, Gunn had left with Wes and Cordy when Angel had gone dark, so he never saw it then and Angel had disappeared to a monastery in Sri Lanka when Buffy died, so Fred had missed it. Wes had had a mere taste when he arrived after Doyle's death, but he had seen a version of it and like Cordy, ignored him when he was snappish. Unlike Cordy, he did not continue in the same polite clipped tones he had started with, he took a leaf out of Faith's book and replied with a barbed comment, before going on with what he had been saying. Not quite the snide remark Faith would throw back, but bitingly cold nonetheless.
Lottie hadn't been back to the hotel since they left and she missed it. But she didn't say anything; she had a suspicion that her father wouldn't let her got there. Fred, Cordy, Gunn, Connor and Lorne had visited, but that didn't mean she didn't miss staying at the hotel with them. Somehow, the thought of Angel didn't occur to her. At some point in her mind, she had not reconciled Angelus with Angel. But that was probably because she didn't think about it, except for the occasional nightmare about being in a cupboard.
She sighed and Fred tightened her hand around hers.
"You sure you don't mind tacos?" she asked.
"No," Lottie answered, scuffing her feet sulkily and looking blankly around into the gathering dusk. "Dad said we should get home before dark."
"I know, but we're ok. We just have to keep to the brighter areas. Don't worry, sweetie."
Lottie shrugged and trailed after Fred toward the taco stand and stood patiently while Fred made their order.
"Lottie, are you all right?" she asked after a while, frowning at Lottie.
"Yes… Fred, Dad won't let me come to the hotel anymore."
"I know," Fred answered softly, turning to collect their tacos and handing one to Lottie. "C'mon, we'll go and meet him."
Lottie followed her, munching silently. Fred turned a corner, through the lights, her eyes scanning the darkness. Lottie glanced up at her, finishing the last bite of her taco.
"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning at Fred who had tensed her shoulders, her fingers lax on her own taco.
"Nothing," Fred answered, but picked up her pace slightly, making Lottie stumble a little.
"Fred!" Lottie cried, almost tripping as she tried to keep up.
"We're being followed," Fred hissed, practically running down the street.
Lottie tightened her hand around Fred's and ran to keep up with her. She could hear lolling footsteps behind them and Lottie squeezed her eyes shut, following Fred blindly. She could hear the short gasps of breath cut harshly through the air behind her.
"Fred!" Lottie called out again.
Fred tugged on Lottie's arm pulling her to her side and hauling her up into her arms. Lottie peered over Fred's shoulder and could see the silhouette of a loping monster with tufty hair sprouting from its head. She squeezed her eyes shut again.
But she still heard the thunk of boots connecting with flesh and then hitting the ground. Fred risked a glance back and skidded to a halt, whirling around to watch the fight break out behind them.
"Angel!" she called out, tossing him a stake from her jacket pocket.
"Not really much help, Fred!" he called back, but caught it anyway and rammed it into the creature's chest. It growled helplessly as Angel rammed a fist into the underside of its chin.
It threw out a long arm as it stumbled back that connected with Angel's throat and sent him spinning to the ground, connecting with Fred's ankles, making her stumble. Lottie tumbled from her arms and scrambled to her feet, letting out a shriek as the monster bore down on her. She felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and haul her to her feet, tossing her onto a leather clad back.
"Hold on!" he instructed, and she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and her legs gripped the leather as hard as she could.
She cried out as he spun into a kick that made the monster double up. Hands flew outward, grabbing the monster's throat and twisted, snapping its neck.
Angel stood for a moment, drawing in gulps of un-needed air, before he registered the weight on his back. Reaching round, he gingerly removed Lottie from his back and set her down on the floor. Fred ran forward, cradling her wrist in her hand.
"Lottie, are you ok?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm… You," she breathed, staring up at Angel.
Fear clenched her stomach and she felt herself tremble. But as she looked at him, she expected a sneer or a smirk. Instead she received a vaguely terrified look and he took a step back, staring at her in wide-eyed horror. This was not the monster she had cowered before, she realised with an edge of fascination she had inherited from her father, this was the man she had shared cookies with. She took a small step closer to him, mouth falling open slightly in surprise. Her fear evaporated and she suddenly realised that this wasn't the monster, this was the man. Though she was still too young to be sure of the implications, she just knew this was a good thing.
"I'll go…" he answered, backing away,."I'd better let Cordy know I saved the people in her vision. Hey, Fred, what's wrong?" he took hold of Fred's wrist and she hissed in pain.
"She lost her taco too," Lottie stated, still frowning at Angel.
"I'd better get you into the car," he said, casting an uncertain look at Lottie.
He led them toward his car and opened the door for Fred and Lottie. They drove in silence and Angel vaguely wondered whether Wes would hit him for touching Lottie or thank him for saving her.
"You're different again," Lottie stated.
"Yeah," he replied softly.
"Why are you different?"
Fred glanced at Angel, but made no attempt to answer for him.
"I got my soul back," he told her, grateful she was behind him and he didn't have to look at her.
"So you're only horrible without it?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
"How are - um, how are you? You took a bit of a tumble back there."
"I ripped my jeans," she said ruefully, picking at the frayed hole in the knee.
He allowed himself a slow smile as he pulled up in front of the hotel.
"Wes, Angel just brought in Fred and Lottie," Faith peered around the door of his office and ducked out again before he could say anything. They had been avoiding each other for weeks. It had become the norm.
He stood up and hurried out into the lobby where Gunn was fussing over Fred's wrist and Lottie was picking at her jeans. Angel was by the weapons cabinet, attempting - unsuccessfully - to look busy.
Wes stopped in front of Lottie and she looked up at him, then down at the hole in her jeans.
"Come on, let's take a look at that," he lifted her up, hugging her slightly and carried her into the office. He sat her on the desk and rolled up the leg of her jeans to mope up the small amount of blood that oozed out of the grazed knee.
"What happened?" he asked after a moment.
"Fred lost her taco when this monster came. I'd already eaten mine."
Wes chuckled a little as he stuck a Band-Aid on her knee.
"And, uh, what did Angel do?" he asked cautiously after a moment's silence, in which he rolled the leg of the jeans down again. He watched her carefully, gauging her reaction to the name. There wasn't much of one.
"He stopped the monster getting me then gave us a ride home. He said he was only bad when he didn't have a soul. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"So is he good now?"
"Yes, he is."
Lottie kicked her legs thoughtfully and studied her nails.
"So why won't you let me come here after school?"
Wes sank back onto his haunches and studied her for a moment. He pushed his glasses up and ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully.
"I honestly thought you wouldn't want to come here if Angel was here," he admitted. "I thought you might be scared."
"But he saved me!" Lottie protested, looking up from the study of her nails, her ponytail swinging wildly as she faced her father.
"I know that," he answered calmly.
"Can I come after school tomorrow? It's boring at home. Please?" she begged, her eyes widening in a puppy dog gaze.
Wes sighed. She could already wrap him around her little finger. He could face vampires and demons, but his nemesis was a little girl. Typical.
"I don't suppose there's any point arguing with you," he rolled his eyes a little, his voice dropping to a mutter. "Honestly, sometimes I think you're as stubborn as Faith."
"Why don't you talk to Faith?" Lottie asked suddenly.
"What?" Wes asked, startled.
"You don't talk to her, but you look at her funny. How come?" she chewed a nail as she awaited his reply.
"No reason," Wes shrugged and gently tugged her finger from her mouth with a frown. "Come on, we should be getting you home."
He lifted her up and set her on the ground, following her out into the lobby. Cordelia was sitting with her fingers curled through Angel's.
"You all right, Fred?" Wes asked, eyeing the bandage wrapped around her wrist.
"Yep, it's just a sprain," she said pointedly, looking at Gunn.
"Sorry if I worry 'bout my girl," he answered defensively.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye," he nodded at the group then turned and looked at Angel. "Goodbye, Angel."
Angel smiled at him and shrugged.
"Don't worry about it," he stated, knowing it was a veiled thank you. "See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Angel!" Lottie called, waving as Wes took her hand. "See you tomorrow!"
Angel held his hand up in a wave and glanced at Cordelia.
"Resilient," she shrugged. "And it helped that you saved her like a cool hero-y type," she smiled and kissed him gently.
"Things look pretty much like normal," Lorne said with a merry smile, then his face collapsed into a grimace. "Things are going to go downhill right about now, aren't they?"
"Probably," Connor shrugged. "Night, everyone."
Faith was the only one that didn't answer.
She was also the only one left after everyone had drifted upstairs. Everyone except Angel who watched her as she carved a stake.
"I think we need to talk, Faith," he said.
"About what?" she asked with a smile. "Everything's fine now. Kid's not scared of you anymore and that means Wes forgives you for real. What's to talk about?"
"You and Wes."
Her smile caved in and she stood up.
"Figured you'd notice sooner or later," was all she said.