Part Two –
//Change - /tsemd3/ n. & v. n 1a the act or an instance of becoming different – The Oxford English Reference Dictionary//
Kaitlyn snuck in through the front door, trying to prevent the heavy oak from banging against the doorframe and announce her presence to the house. She was so far into the doghouse she might as well start digging for bones.
When she'd got up at six that morning she'd gone downstairs to go for jog. And the paper had been sitting on the doormat like always. All she'd been able to see was the scratchy black print of the newspaper. 'Angel's Secret' was spread across the front page, underneath a photo of herself, Angel, Doyle and Uncle Giles. She remembered that moment so well, her seventeenth birthday last year. Angel had been so terribly scandalised by some of the gifts her friends brought her he'd scowled for an hour straight. Kat had just climbed up into his lap and tickled him mercilessly, they'd all ended up on the floor throwing gift-wrap at each other, it had been so gloriously juvenile. At the end of the night Gunn had taken photos and they'd all collapsed on the sofa exhausted, it had been impossible to frown for about a week after that. But the black and white print of the newspaper, with the dotted grainy quality somehow cheapened it. Made it less than it was. She didn't read the paper, didn't even move it from it's spot on the floor. Didn't want to. She knew all ready what had happened. Faint creaking's upstairs shocked her into action and without thinking she slipped out through the front door.
Hours later she stood in the exact spot she had that morning, still in the camisole sweats she'd slept in. Bare meters away her brother sat on the bottom step of the sweeping stairway. He looked messy, something that only ever happened when he was worried and broody. He blamed himself somehow. It had been her fault of course, she just hadn't been thinking clearly after the incident with Dwain, she'd thrown away some of her best clothes, and their secret as well. But Angel was like that always had been like that, he blamed *her* father leaving on himself. She wasn't going to let him sit around and think this was his fault either. "Angel-"
Giles entering stage left interrupted her, he and Angel prowled toward her, Angel straightening under their Uncle's presence, more confident somehow.
"It's not your fault Kaitlyn." Giles soothed, "but you must understand that now that you are in the public eye there will be changes, for all of us."
"Changes?" She echoes.
They spent the better part of an hour having it out about what these changes would actually be. The plans had all ready been made and it appeared nothing Kaitlyn did would change that. The all ready heavy restrictions on her life had just been tripled. She found herself being quite forcefully pushed into one of the spare bedrooms. Where once and antique bedstead stood was a large official looking desk, two smaller school desks faced it. Gone were the old velvet drapes and oil paintings and she was left with… this.
"No. Way." She growled spinning to leave the room. The handle just rattled in her grip. They'd locked her in. This room was on the third floor and a glance out the sash window told her there were no conveniently placed trees to aid her escape. There was no choice but to face her fear. Turning back to the collection of desks she noticed for the first time she wasn't alone in the room. A man was leaning against the front desk, he was dressed in a cool grey suit that just screamed 'lawyer' it was expensive as any her brother owned, but more closely fitted and somehow more sensible, while still remaining stylish. A gold tie pin on his crescent red tie has some kind of Oxbridge crescent on it. His face seemed a direct contrast to the outfit, dark messy hairy curled around his head, looking like it hadn't seen a comb in years. There was a dusting of five o'clock shadow over his chin. His eyes were darkly ringed from lack of sleep. His eyes met hers and she drew in a breath at what she saw there, pain. Huge voluptuous amounts of it. As she obeyed his motion to sit down she wondered what his story was.
The second occupant of the room was sitting at the other table. A girl, about her age, but small and blonde with hazel eyes. She was almost the complete opposite of Kaitlyn's tall dark form. This petite blonde was everything Kat had wanted to look like, and she looked miserable.
"Hi. I'm Kaitlyn West." Kat said finally, holding out her hand. The other girl shook the offered hand, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.
"Buffy Summers. It's nice to meet you, Kaitlyn." The blonde replied.
"Call me Kat."
"I'm kind of stuck with Buffy. It's not a very nickname-able name."
"I guess not." Kat laughed. It was the beginnings of a beautiful friendship. "So. Bet you know why I'm here. What's you story? Don't think you're one of my many half-siblings."
"I don't think so either." Buffy replied quirking an eyebrow in surprise at the statement. "As for why I'm here-"
"That is a story we will have to hear later." The man interrupted. "Miss West, Miss Summers. I am Wesley Wyndham-Price. Feel free to call me Wes."
"Call me Kat then." Kaitlyn interrupted shocked at his starchy manners.
"And you have just broken the first rule of society… Kat." Buffy and Kaitlyn exchanged a look.
The first lesson had been an assessment by Wes. He ran through a serious of tests, suggesting situations and then asking for their reactions, noting them down word for word. They were then taken down to the gym where he put them through fitness, special awareness and speed reaction tests. Gunn Angel's bodyguard sparred with each of them to assess their self defence skills. Wes said nothing, just scrawled notes in his notebook. No indication about their proficiency in anything had been made. He had simply bid them good day and left. Gunn, Kat and Buffy had sprawled on the mats and introductions were made. Gunn was actually a private detective, but when he had spent sometime with Angel on a case and found he got just as much action and got paid twice as much working with him he became Angel's bodyguard instead. He was great to be around, joking and laughing with them about their meagre fighting skills and telling tales of his newborn baby. He could only stay with them a few minutes before he had to leave and supervise a media interview with Giles.
Collapsing back onto the training mats in exhaustion Kat turned to Buffy who was slumped against a wall beside her.
"You never did tell me why you're here." She remarked lazily.
"My mom's you Uncle Giles' girlfriend."
Kat sat up in shock, and was forced to steady herself from the dizzy spell that hit her. "*Giles* has a girlfriend?"
Buffy laughed. "That's what I said, only with more yelling. According to mom, they bonded over band candy."
"Were you in the paper then? I didn't read it."
"No. It'll be paper tomorrow. That's the only reason I found at all, got told in the car on the way here." She shuddered slightly. "I'm really not looking forward tomorrow. There were reporters swarming the school by the end of the day, and given how much my Principal hates me I'm fairly sure tomorrows headline will be 'daughter of girlfriend of uncle of Angel, burnt down school gym.' Complete with first hand accounts from all my ex-friends."
"You burnt down the gym?" Kat echoed eyes wide with shock.
"Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?" Buffy tried. Kat shook her head. "Don't worry my Pyro days are over, it was the Hemery Gym anyway, not the one at Sunnydale High."
"Oh hey, I go to Hemery. I heard that story! Only, the version I heard there were vampires threatening to take over the world." Kat rolled her eyes at the urban legend. "So I guess you're here hiding from the media then. If you've got all that past behind you."
"I guess. I mean it's bad enough that stuff's on my permanent record. I'm *not* looking forward to the whole world knowing. As for why I'm meant to be here…" Buffy shrugged. "I have no idea, No one's told me a whole lot since I got here."
"They what?" Kaitlyn demanded nostrils flaring in anger. Instantly on her feet, she hauled Buffy up as well and half-dragged her up the stairs that led out of the sunken gym. Buffy had to trot alongside her to keep up with Kaitlyn's long stride. Mere moments later Kaitlyn stormed into her brother's office, she took in the fact that the glass shelves behind his desk had been replaced with wooden ones but paid it no heed. Wresting the phone from Angel's grip she slammed the receiver down. He just stared at her in wide-eyed shock, rising to his feet he pitched his imposing height against hairs and she just kept on glaring at him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She hissed. Buffy was now very certain that this was not a conversation she wanted to be present for. She edged slowly back towards the door trying to override the urge to jump into Angel's arms. She had to be standing within mere feet of the guy she's had a crush on since *forever* and she hadn't a chance of hell of ever being with. Crushing from afar was way better than this. "You dragged Buffy from her home and friends and dump her here somewhere totally new, where she doesn't even know anyone and you don't even have the decency to tell her what the *hell* is going on?" Angel had turned to Buffy the moment Kaitlyn mentioned her and was now staring blankly at her, his eyes studying her every nuance. Buffy was caught like a deer in the headlights; blushing heavily under his intense gaze she begged her legs to obey the command to leave the room. But she couldn't, she was just trapped lost in those soulful chocolate brown eyes. It was the weirdest situation she had ever been in and it was embarrassing too, and yet. She couldn't help but want it to last forever. Kat was still raving about how unfair he was being and yet Buffy couldn't seem to make out what she was saying.
Angel glanced back at his sister slipping something into her hand she instantly stopped yelling and kissed his cheek before near skipping out of the room. Buffy tried to follow her new-found friend, but her body had really gotten into a disobedience funk and didn't seem likely to do what she told it to anytime soon. Angel flitted round to the front of the desk, leaning against it as he continued his assessment of her. Buffy realised much to her embarrassment, found that she was doing much the same, watching the line of his body as his clothing shifted around his frame. His hands, the same hands she had fantasised about so many times lightly gripped the desk behind him. Shifting his weight more onto his palms he hissed in pain yanking the hand away like the desk had burned him. The movement showed the skin was swollen and angry a spider web of cuts running over his fingers and palm.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked softly, having somehow managed to cross the room to stand mere inches away from Angel. She closed her hands around his, gently uncurling his fingers to inspect the wound more closely. The innocent touch sent a belt of electricity through her veins. "You should get someone to look at that." She was barely aware of what she was saying. Her attention caught by the feel of Angel's breath in hair and his blood pumping so close to hers. Anxiously she stepped back again. What was she doing? She was still in High School there was *no* way Angel would be interested in her. Further embarrassment was saved by Kaitlyn charging back into the room to lead Buffy away.
"C'mon. We've got Angel's credit card." Kat whispered.
"You've got a three thousand dollar limit!" Angel yelled after them as they ran off down the hallway.
"Three means five." Kaitlyn informed Buffy, a cheeky grin spreading across her face.
//Change is something that can be sold a million ways, be revolutionists and traditionalists alike. It's always there, lurking in the background, ready to pounce. Ready to make you better… or worse. No matter the change there's always another change hiding around the corner. And it's never always bad.//