Escape
Chapter Five: Spill

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy repeated as Angel stared at her; mouth opening then snapping shut again several times.

"Buffy," he finally managed. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I should ask you the same question," Buffy replied coolly, glancing through the foliage at the boy as he hung up the phone and left the room.

"Forget it," Angel said, looking through the window and sighing.

He shifted a little and began to climb down the tree. Buffy watched him go and sighed, jumping down from the tree, landing in front of Angel.

"Who is he?" Buffy asked. "Because something tells me you weren't just watching him because you couldn't stretch to a movie ticket. So are you gonna spill it?"

"No," he answered shortly, hunching over as he walked deliberately around her and strode across the lawn and up the road.

"That's it?" she asked, running after him and grabbing his arm. He ignored it and carried on walking, dragging her after him. "Is that all you're gonna say?"

"Yeah," he answered, stopping in front of his car. "Now, you want a lift back to the hotel or do you wanna walk?"

Buffy glared at him and climbed into the passenger side. She thought for a moment that he was just going to leave her there and go off somewhere else. She heard Angel slump onto the roof of the car, heave a sigh and the slowly pull back and open the door. He slid in and stared ahead of him for a moment.

"Look, Buffy… I don't want you to tell anyone about this," he said finally.

"The thought never even crossed my mind," she replied and remained silent until he started the car and pulled away from the street. Then she went on, "But I would like to know who he was and why you were watching him."

"It was no one," he snapped. "I was just driving and I stopped here and thought a tree was as good a place as any to have a think. He only came into his room a few minutes before you came. He's nobody."

He gulped hard, as though the words "He's nobody," stuck in his throat. She watched suspiciously as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel and his jaw set.

"You're holding back, Angel," she said softly. "Just let me in."

"There's nothing to tell, Buffy," he answered shortly.

"Fine," she snapped. "Then you tell me why you ran out on me after I kissed you."

"Because it was wrong!" he answered sharply.

"You didn't think it was wrong at the time," she whispered in a hurt voice.

"Yeah? Well, I don't really think all that great when you're kissing me," he said with a shrug. "I just think that… You and I… Aren't exactly cookies and cream yet."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"You came up with the cookie analogy, not me," he reminded her and there was forced merriment in his tone.

"When I said I wasn't ready for something big, I didn't mean I wasn't ready for anything."

"I can't have a fling," he stated quickly. "Not with you."

She didn't answer, only sank back into her chair and stared out through the window, watching the bright lights of bars and clubs fly past. She looked up when they turned a corner and were approaching the hotel.

"Who was that boy, Angel?" she asked softly.

"Just someone I used to know," he replied, a harsh edge to his voice as he stopped the car with a screech and opened the door.

Buffy watched as he got out of the car and slammed the door, walking around the car to open her door for her. She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out, straightening up to meet his eyes.

He stared into her eyes for a minute, seeing the unvoiced question there and lowered his gaze, slamming the car door shut and locking it.

"Just someone I used to know, Buffy," he repeated in a hoarse whisper, turning away from her to go into the hotel.

"There you are. Where have you been?" Wesley asked, looking up from a notepad when Angel came into the office.

"Out," Angel replied shortly, sitting down.

Wesley breathed in slowly, assessing Angel's mood. He glanced down at his notebook and then, in a calm, level voice continued.

"Well, you're obviously not in a good mood, so I'll keep this brief: are you still unsure about our new connection to Wolfram and Hart?"

Grateful for a change of subject, though smarting from the connection between Wolfram and Hart and Connor, Angel nodded.

"Yeah. I think we made a mistake. I think we believed we could do some good with that place, but now I don't think we can. There are too many people there for us to keep an eye on and too many of them like being evil."

"Exactly the way I feel. I also took the liberty of asking Fred, Gunn and Lorne about it. They all feel the same. It seems they're trying to pretend it's not happening, hoping it'll go away. But it won't, so I propose we do something about it."

"Like what?" Angel asked, not looking at him, only really half listening to him.

"Well, I had an idea - it's a long shot, mind - but I thought there may be some sort of loophole in one of our contracts. I've got the others permission to look at theirs, but I was wondering if I could see yours?"

"Yeah, sure," Angel nodded, still staring across the room at the wall.

"Thank you. I'll go now, see if I can get anything done," Wes stood up, gathering his papers and legal textbooks together and going toward the desk. He frowned at Angel, slumped glowering in his chair. "I'll, uh, I'll let you know if I find anything."

Dawn and Andrew bounded along the hall toward Buffy and she plastered on a fake grin to greet them.

"Hey," she said. "What's up? You two look happy."

"Principal Wood and Faith just left!" Dawn said, bobbing up and down.

"What?" Buffy asked. "Why? Where are they going?"

"Principal Wood said something about a surprise," Andrew said. "So he's taken her to Las Vegas. She said she's never been there before. Don't you think that's the most romantic thing?"

"Huh? Robin took Faith to Las Vegas? And wait, romantic? Are they, what, dating? I never actually believed that."

"Duh," Andrew said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry, Buffy," Dawn said gently, patting her hand. "It's only natural that you wouldn't notice the obvious chemistry between Faith and Principal Wood what with being around Angel and all."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Buffy said, attempting to sound jokingly aloof, but the words came out cold. Andrew and Dawn exchanged a glance and Buffy shrugged to get the tension out of her shoulders. "Um, have you seen Giles?"

"Uh, yeah," Dawn nodded. "He said to tell you that he's gone away for a few days. Willow and Kennedy went with him."

"Gone where? Why?" Buffy asked, voice sounded shrill even to her own ears.

"Well, there were a few Potentials who wanted to go home," Andrew explained. "So he's taken the school bus to drive some home and the rest he's dropping off at the airport. He should be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh," Buffy nodded, forcing a smile and squeezing her sister's arm. "That's… great. I'll, um, see you later. I've got to, uh, go."

Dawn and Andrew exchanged another glance as Buffy eased past them and resisted the urge to run to her room. Everyone was going. Giles and Willow had gone away so she couldn't talk to them about any of this. She didn't want to burden Dawn with this, not when she looked so cheerful and happy hanging out in the hotel or going out with Andrew.

God, now what was she going to do? Who was she going to talk to about this?

She stopped sharply outside one of the doors and slowly turned toward it. She knocked quickly before she could stop herself. It opened slowly and a young man, looking older than his years, adjusted an eye patch and attempted a smile.

"Xander, hey," Buffy grinned. "Long time no - see. Uh, can we talk?"

A tiny, genuine smile appeared on his face and he nodded, pushing the door open a little more.

Wes pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes and peered at one of the newly bought legal textbooks. He sighed and wondered about calling the bubbly little secretary who had directed him into this office and asking for a coffee.

His finger hovered over the button on the intercom, wondering if it would be evil if he asked an evil secretary for a coffee.

"Don't do it."

He jumped, hand snapping away from the intercom as he grabbed his glasses and pushed them on, peering at the person lounging in the doorway of the office.

A person that made his heart beat faster and his mouth go just a little dry.

"Hello, Fred," he said, trying to sound normal and wondering if he pulled it off. "Don't do what?"

"Press the button," she answered, jutting her chin in the direction of the intercom. "Not when you look that terrified at the prospect."

"I was just curious as to whether asking the secretary for a coffee would be evil," he admitted.

She laughed a little and dropped a shoulder bag to the floor as she sat down. She pulled a couple of books out of the bag and set them on the table.

"What's all this?" he asked.

"Well, you didn't think I'd let you go over those contracts alone, did you?" she replied, retrieving her glasses and opening a book. "What are you going to do when you get bored if you've got no company?"

He chuckled and lowered his gaze to the copy of Lorne's contract.

"Hey, Wes?"

"Yes?"

She smiled mischievously and slanted her gaze to the intercom at his right hand.

"Wanna see if ordering a coffee makes ya evil?"