Chapter 6

When he got back to the hotel, Angel found Katherine sitting at the counter eating waffles with maple syrup. Or maybe a better description would be eating maple syrup with waffles considering the amount syrup on her plate. "How's my girl this morning?" Angel asked her.

"Good. I like waffles!" she told him.

He noticed she was wearing some of the new clothes that Cordy had gotten her last night. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and tied with a ribbon. No one would ever guess she had just spent the last six years in a Hell dimension.

Cordelia pushed a piece of paper in front of him. "You need to shop. Your refrigerator had two choices, both beverages, neither appropriate. I made a list."

Angel looked it over. "I don't think I know what some of this stuff is," he said doubtfully. "What are Hot Pockets? Is that clothing or food?"

Cordy grabbed the list back from him. "Never mind. I'll go shopping. You can get that television out of the basement for Katherine. She's been asking since the second she got up.

"How did you sleep?" Angel asked his daughter.

She wrinkled her forehead. "It was kind of strange when I woke up. At first I didn't know were I was. But then Aunt Cordy was there and it was okay."

He nodded a thank you to Cordy. "Well, while you finish up here, I'll go see what I can do about finding that television set." Katherine grinned.

"Would you like another waffle?" Cordy asked, not thinking she could possibly eat another bite.

"Yes, please," Katherine answered.

"Are you sure you're not related to Fred instead of Angel?" Cordy teased as she served her a fifth waffle.

Katherine shrugged and reached for the bottle of syrup. Cordelia watched as she poured it on the waffle with a generous hand.

She picked up her shopping list. "Maple syrup," she noted. She glanced again at Katherine's plate. "Better make that two."

When Katherine had finally finished eating, Cordelia cleared away her plate and then asked her to go into the bathroom to wash her hands. While Katherinewas doing that, Cordy went to the top of the stairs and called down to Angel that she was leaving for the grocery store.

"Okay. Thanks. Send Katherine down here, okay?" he called back.

Cordy went to the bathroom door to relay Angel's message but the door was open. She stuck her head inside the bathroom. Empty. She called out for Katherine. No answer. She called again. Still no answer. She looked around the office and the lobby. No Katherine. Just as she was about to yell for Angel, she noticed that the front door to the hotel was slightly ajar. Her stomach tightened as she ran towards the door. Just as she reached the top step, Gunn came through the door carrying Katherine in his arms.

"Oh, thank God!" Cordelia cried out.

"What's going on?" asked Angel from behind the television he was carrying.

Gunn looked from Angel to Cordy. "Ya'll mind telling me what this kid was doing walking down the street hand in hand with David Spade's evil twin?"

"What?" asked Angel. He looked at Cordy. "You were supposed to be watching her!" He put the TV down on the floor with a thud.

"I was! I walked over to the basement stairs for like a second." She looked back at Gunn. "Who was this guy she was with?"

Gunn put her down. "Never saw him before."

Angel knelt down to Katherine. "Where were you going with that man?"

"He said he had something pretty to show me," she answered.

Angel, Gunn, and Cordy all exchanged knowing glances. Cordelia clutched her stomach.

Angel put his hands on both of Katherine's shoulders. "You are never to go out of this hotel by yourself. Do you understand? There are lots of dangerous things in this world and, unfortunately, a lot of dangerous people. People who might hurt you. Promise me you won't go out unless one of us is you."

"I promise. But why would that man want to hurt me. He doesn't even know me?" Katherine asked with innocent eyes.

"In a perfect world, he wouldn't. But apparently there are no perfect worlds." He raised an eyebrow. "You just remember your promise," he reminded her.

Angel put the television set on a table against the wall and plugged it in. "This probably won't get a very good picture with just this little antenna but maybe we can pick up something here."

The television took a few seconds to warm up. Katherine watched as a giant purple dinosaur appeared on the screen. "You have demons on television?" she asked.

"Well, actually," Gunn began.

"Actually," Cordy interrupted, "that isn't really a demon. It's just a man dressed up in a costume."

"What's he supposed to be?" she asked, puzzled.

"He's a dinosaur," Cordelia explained.

"Do you have dinosaurs around here?" Katherine asked with a worried look.

"There aren't any dinosaurs anymore. They all died millions of years ago," her Aunt Cordy assured her.

"Really? Quor-toth has dinosaurs. They aren't purple, but they sure are big." she said.

Angel wondered how long it would be before he stopped being surprised at the things his daughter told him about her life so far.

Angel turned to Cordelia. "Hey, Cordy. You want to go up and ask Fred if she wants to go to the movies with us?"

"Sure. Be right back."

Just as she started up the stairs, Fred appeared at the top.

"We're off to the movies," Cordy told her, "wanna come with?"

Fred seemed excited. "Sure. That sounds like fun."

Down in the lobby, Katherine looked up at Gunn. "Thanks for not letting that man hurt me."

Gunn squatted down to her level. "No prob, this time. But listen up. I can't be going around saving your life all the time so you do like you pop says and don't be goin' out alone, you hear?"

Katherine nodded. She liked Gunn. "Are you coming to the movies with us?"

Charles looked up and saw Fred coming down the stairs. She looked beautiful. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Keys," Cordelia said to Angel.

He fished them out of his pocket andtossed them to her. "Pull around back in the shade," he told her. "And make sure the top's up."

He turned to Katherine and asked, "Ready?"

"Ready," she said.

And the four of them were off for their first real day of fun in a very long time.