Chapter 6

LA - Midnight

"You mean to tell me you let them go out with out them telling you which part of LA they were patrolling!" Angel asked in a raised voice. Wes narrowed his eyebrows.

"They're big girls, they can handle themselves perfectly well. I don't know why you're so huffy about it. It's not going to kill you if you don't know where they are all the time. Besides, Neala told you they were going out. You could have yelled at her then instead of me now." Wes said looking back down at a book of ancient spells.

"I am not being huffy." Angel sat down across from Wes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes you are." Cory yelled from the kitchen. Before Angel could say another word the phone rang. "Hello?" he heard her say and then silence. "Wrong number." She told them as she went out side and closed the back door. Neither man saw her take the phone with her.

When she was sure Angel couldn't hear or see her she lifted the phone back up to her ear.

"Ok, I'm outside. Go ahead Willow." She spoke into the receiver. "You are?" pause. "Ok. So, you don't want any one else to know?" another pause. "Ok, so that's you, Xander, Buffy, Dawn, and. . .Spike?" pause. "Ok, I'll get about four rooms ready for you guys by tomorrow night. Bye." She went back in the house and made sure no one saw her carry the phone back in. The front entrance door opened and the three demon hunters walked in, the Huntresses laughing wildly. Faith was cover head to toe in green demon slime.

"What happened?" Angel asked Neala as he jumped to his feet. Neala was laughing so hard, she was crying, so Branna answered for her.

"A demon attacked us out side the hotel. We don't know what it was but it sure makes a mess when you cut off its head." She said holding up her sword. It too was coated in slime. "Anywhere I can wash this off?" She asked.

"The downstairs bathroom sink. That way." Wes told her pointing to her left. She left the room and went into the bathroom. "Faith, how did you end up covered in the.slime?" He asked the Slayer, handing her a handkerchief for her to wipe her face off with.

"Branna and Neala are a lot faster than me. After Branna sliced it's head off, it's. . .blood started to splert out and we turned and ran so we wouldn't get any on us. Well, obviously I wasn't fast enough. I got to take a shower." She explained to them as she wipe some of the slime out of her hair. "Branna hurry up! It's starting to harden!" She called down the hall to Branna.

That comment only made Neala laugh harder. She collapsed to her knees and clutched. She tried to stop, but every time she closed her eyes to breathed she saw Faith getting covered in slime and she started back up. Faith rolled her eyes and walked around the corner into the bathroom when Branna came out.

"I think I needed something to eat." She told the two men.

"Come with me. I'll get you something." Wesley said gesturing for her to go ahead of him.

Angel stay in the room and watched Neala laugh. It amazed him how much one person could laugh. He dropped down to the floor as she took a deep breath to try and stop. Angel was afraid if he said something she'd start up again, so he remained quiet. She sat herself up, wiped her face, and took another deep breath. Angel watched her quietly until she looked at him.

"I heard you burn a lot of calories laughing." He said giving her a soft smile.

"Yeah that's what I heard too. And it's probably true, my stomach hurts." She said holding her stomach and smiling. He chuckled and stood up. He held out his hand for her to take.

"I don't know if I can ever say sorry to you enough for what I did as Angelus, but I hope you don't hate me to much because of it." He told her as she took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. She lost her balance and fell into him.

"I don't hate you. You're not Angelus, you're Angel. And Angel is completely different from Angelus. One has a soul and the other doesn't. I don't hate you, I hate him. But," she continued before he could said something. "I think something good came out of it. I mean look what he gave me. Branna is the best thing that ever happened to me and she will always be the best thing to happen to me. I can't forgive you for something you didn't do, but I can say thank you for something you did do. So, thank you." She pulled his head down and kissed him gently on the lips. She pulled away and smiled.

"I can work with that." He said before kissing her again. She pulled away again and laughed.

"I gotta take a shower. That is if FAITH HASN'T USED ALL THE HOT WATER!" She yelled the last part loud enough so Faith could hear her.

"I'm almost done!" they the muffled reply. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before turning around and running up the stairs. A scream was heard from the downstairs bathroom.

"Alright, who ran the water and made the shower go ice cold?" Faith yelled walking into the room wrapped in a towel. Angel shook his head and laughed. Women. He thought to himself.