Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. That would be the work of JKRowling and Joss W. aka My idols.
Chapter three, Angel Investigations.
Harry stood in front of the hotel looking at its southern design. It was really quite nice actually. It was white for the most part, and not too big, maybe 70 rooms or so. It was about 4 in the morning LA time. It was about 11 in the morning for Harry though, so he was wide-awake, and he knew Angel would be too, due to the fact that Angel was a vampire and he lived at night.
So Harry walked up to the front doors and dramatically threw both of them open as he entered. He didn't know why, but he felt dramatic at the moment. Looking around the main foyer, he saw red furniture and opposite the entrance which he just used, were two double grand staircases each one identical to the other but moving in opposite directions. To the left, was what looked like a clerk's desk and behind it, offices.
"Anyone home?" Harry asked the empty room. And immediately, a young woman came striding in holding a gorgeous smile, short brown hair, and a stunning burgundy dress.
"Angel Investigations, my name is Cordelia Chase, how may I help you?" Cordelia stuck out her hand, Harry ignored it and chose to look around the room instead.
"I'm looking for Angel actually."
"Oh, well he's currently on a case, but if you'd like to come sit down I'll fill out a report and my associate Wesley will give you a list of convenient payment plans." At that, a man with short brown hair, a tie, and glasses walked by and handed him the list, never once putting the book he was reading down.
"Thanks, but I'm not here for a case, just some information."
"Information?"
"Yeah. Can you tell me when Angel will be back?"
"How old are you?" It was the one called Wesley speaking.
"Um, what?"
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
"Hm."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"It's just strange that a fifteen-year-old boy, presumably from England, is walking around the streets of LA at four in the morning. Do you know the kind of things that are out there?"
"Demons, vampires, evil dark wizards, rapists, muggers, murderers, shall I continue?"
"Wow, Wess, the kid knows a lot."
"Not enough."
"And that's why you're here. You want to know more."
"Exactly." Harry said, smiling.
"Well, maybe we can help you."
"Maybe you can, I'm looking for as much information on Wolfram and Hart that I can."
"Wolfram and Hart?"
"I was offered a job there, I want to see both sides of the story first. I knew you to be their enemy, so I figured I'd give you a chance to persuade me out of it before I made a mistake. I want to know everything. I want to know everything since the beginning of the world. Tell me how it all started and tell me how it ends."
"Why don't we start in my office."
"Wess, are you sure we can trust him?"
Wesley gave Harry a quick nod, and led him to his office.
Inside Wesley's office, Harry sat by a desk covered with books, papers, and documents. He had been in there for a few hours, reading and researching everything about good and evil he could find. Wesley came in from time to time and helped him in his research and Cordelea brought them some tea, still looking a bit shifty and uncomfortable with Harry. But he was used to being looked at that way, so he ignored it in favor of a book on "The First", which apparently, was the absolute first evil to ever exist. Harry found that interesting, because he never really wondered what the first evil to ever exist was, and there was a book on it, so he read it.
A few hours later, Angel appeared in the office. He just stood in the doorway looking at Harry as he read his book. Harry finally looked up and smiled one of his brightest smiles. Angel didn't return it.
"Wolfram and Hart wants you." It wasn't a question. Harry just smiled brighter.
"I guess you're wondering what's so special about me?"
"You're the boy who lived."
"Does everyone know who I am?"
"Aren't you suppose to be one of the good guys?"
"I see you read the tabloids." There was a moment of awkward silence, then Wesley cleared his throat indicating that he wanted to say something.
"Really, Angel, Harry did the right thing coming to us first, to get all the information he could before he made a decision. It was really vary responsible of him to do that. -"
"And was it responsible for him to leave England without an adult? Was it responsible for him to go to Wolfram and Hart in the first place?"
"That's not the point."
"Fine. What do you want to know about Wolfram and Hart? They're evil, that's about all you need to know."
"I lied."
"What?" Wesley, Cordelia, and Angel all said in unison. Harry just sat there clutching the armrest. After a few moments, he looked up into Angels eyes, all emotion completely gone, nothing but pure sincerity remained.
"I lied. I didn't come here to ask about Wolfram and Hart. I only came to ask you one question Angel." There was a long pause on both sides before Angel finally asked.
"What's your question?"
"I want to know. I want to know when you go out into the street, when you fight demons, when you save the world, supposedly. I want to know how many people got hurt, emotionally, physically, and any other way you could thing of. How many people suffer everyday, do you think?"
Angel just stood there, staring at Harry for a long while, thinking of what was just asked. He thought about all the pain and suffering in the world, he thought about all the things he'd seen and done. How many people suffer because of everyday life, because of things they couldn't control. He looked into Harry's eyes and saw that he had been hurt, badly. All the hurt in the world was reflected in this one boy's eyes. He looked Harry strait in the face and said. "You do...what you need to do. You can stop this... I just hope you do it the right way." And with that, Angel walked out of the room pushing back tears so that Wesley and Cordy wouldn't see him cry.
"What was all that about?" Cordy asked, watching Angel storm out of the building. She turned back to face Wess and Harry. Harry just stood up slowly and walked toward the front doors.
"I hope you found what you were looking for Harry." Wesley said as Harry reached for the door handle. Harry slowly turned around and gave a small weak smile to the both of them.
"I think I did. And I think everything will be all right. Thank you." Harry turned back around and walked out shutting the door quietly before he left.
Back inside Angel investigations, Wesley sat down on one of the puffy red couches with a soft thud. He had seen the darkness inside the boy's eyes. The boy was young, yes, but he had seen more than even he himself had in his entire life. There was sadness to his expression that just couldn't be described. Wesley just couldn't figure out how to word it.
"That boy has some serious child-hood traumas."
Wesley thought about that for a moment before replying, "Yes Cordy, I think you're right."
TBC
(A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews people! Just clear a few things up, This fic takes place in early season four. I was first a Buffy fan, and didn't even watch Angel until it came out on DVD. I now own all seven seasons of Buffy and all five seasons of Angel. Thank you m and Alex for reviewing chapter two, I wasn't going to continue the story but your reviews convinced me to. Thanx again for reviewing everyone!)
