AUTHOR'S NOTE: Had a bad day today, but managed to churn out a new chapter. And yay another review!

CHAPTER 5 -SIMPLE COMPASSION-

Angel, Wesley and Mabon arrived at the Hyperion. They were received by the rest of Angel Investigations, waiting for them.

"You're back already? Did something go wrong?" Cordelia asked.

"Not really," Angel said as he headed behind the reception desk.

"Mabon thought he recognized Bernard's brother's car and we had to turn back."

"I'm sure it was his car. I'm sorry," Mabon said, still standing at the doorway.

"You already said that." Wesley sighed.

"So you'll be staying here then." Fred was up and dragging Mabon towards the stairs.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"You're not an inconvenience, right guys?" Fred looked back to the lobby.

"As long as you don't try to burn down the hotel," Cordelia said.

"I would never-"

"Then it's settled. Come on!" Fred lead Mabon to the second floor corridor, glad to have the clearly dejected elemental away from the others' questioning faces. "Let's see if we can find you a nice room. I had move away from mine while the paint dries."

"Paint?"

"Long story. Let's just say that I'm glad to be over that part of my life."

Fred opened a random door and observed the wreckage. "That won't do. Looks like Angel's been practicing here."

"It's fine. I'll be happy with anything with a bed."

"Well, I wouldn't call that pile of rubble a bed. The next room should be fine."

The two walked up to the next door and entered the room. It was small, but the main thing was that it was not demolished in any way.

"This looks good. Hope you don't mind the size, only I think the bigger ones have been taken." Fred turned around to see Mabon smiling.

"This is perfect."

Fred smiled back and sat on the bed. "Nice to see you like it."

"Well, I've seen far worse. You don't mind?" Mabon gestured at the bed.

"Of course not." Fred moved over to allow Mabon to sit down next to her. She cringed slightly as she shifted her weight on the bed.

Mabon looked at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

"It's just my shoulders. Guess I've been spending too much time on the computer, like always."

"I could massage them, if you like." Mabon suggested.

"That'd be great! Thanks," Fred turned her back to Mabon and pulled her hair out of the way.

Mabon carefully laid his hands on Fred's shoulders and began to go through her stiffened muscles. Fred closed her eyes, relaxing under Mabon's sensitive touch.

"You're good at this."

"Thank you. I've had a chance to perfect my skills over the years. The people I stayed with earlier used to love it when I gave them a massage."

"Who were they?"

"Well... They were working girls."

"Prostitutes?"

"It was eighteenth century England, it wasn't such a big deal those days."

"So, were you-"

"No! I just sort looked after the girls. I would walk around the same streets as they did and if they ever needed help with something, I would help them. In return of my protection and my massages the girls let me live with them. It was an odd arrangement, but it worked."

"I don't want to sound nosy..."

"After telling you that, I don't any information would be too private," Mabon chuckled.

"...But how old are you? I mean, you look younger than me and no one believes I'm over sixteen or something."

"I'm not exactly sure. When I was born people didn't bother with much with precise dates or anything. But I'd say I am close to one thousand and eight hundred years."

"What?" Fred glanced back at Mabon.

Mabon shrugged, still smiling gently. "It's actually not that much. Most elementals are several times my age, I've never met anyone under two thousand."

"So then it's normal for you to look that young?"

Mabon sighed and the smile left his face. "No. I really should look older, but I guess it's not happening anytime soon."

"Oh." Fred gave Mabon a sympathetic look. "Sorry to bring that up."

Mabon smiled again. "It's okay, you have the right to be curious. Besides, I came to terms with that a long time ago. So, do you all live here?"

"Not really. Wesley and Cordy have their own apartments, but they stay over whenever there's good reason. Angel pretty much lives here. I'm not sure about Gunn. He sometimes goes away for a day or so and comes back, but I've never heard him say anything about having a place of his own. And I've got a family in Texas, but I'm living here now."

"Why? If you have a family, why would you rather stay here?"

"It's not that I don't like my parents, I love them. It's just that I spent the last five years in a demon dimension and that sort of made things a little complicated with me and my parents."

"A demon dimension? That doesn't sound very pleasant."

"It wasn't." Fred shook her head to stop the scattered memories from forcing their way to her mind. "But then Angel and the others came there and they saved me. Since then this place has been my home. And feel that I can actually do something here. You know, help the guys in the good fight? I mean, I don't really fight or anything, but I do research and stuff like that."

"I see. Do your shoulders feel better now?" Mabon pulled away.

Fred moved her arms around, the ache was gone. "Yeah. You did a great job."

"Thank you. It's the least I could do for you."

"You don't have to do anything for me," Fred laughed.

"Then can I ask you, why did you do it?"

Fred turned around so she could face Mabon. "Do what?"

"Free me."

"Well, I didn't know that I was freeing anything at first. But when you came out of that box, I just... You looked like you needed help."

"Was it really that simple?" Mabon asked, truly surprised.

"It was to me. You were afraid and hurt, I had to help you."

In Fred's mind it had really been "that simple". While she could think in the most complex terms and figure out intricate mathematic formulas, when it came to dealing with people, Fred thought of things in a very straightforward way. She was fully aware that she was socially awkward, but credited that to the time she had spent in Pylea.

Maybe that was why she felt such sympathy for Mabon. Fred could see that the elemental was not comfortable in social situations and she could definitely relate to that. The two of them had something in common and Fred was happy to find someone who did not seem to be bothered by her predicament.

After a long silence, Mabon spoke out with a voice that reflected his smile, "you really do have a pure heart."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Fred chuckled. "Just cause I helped you doesn't mean I'm all good."

"Good people never think of themselves as being pure hearted."

"You've met people like that before?"

"A few. And believe me, they didn't call themselves pure hearted either, but they were."

"Well, how can you tell if someone's pure hearted?"

"It depends on who you ask. There's no clear guideline to what makes a person good. For me, your goodness was obvious the second you smiled at me. You cared, to me that's all that mattered."

Fred could feel her cheeks blush and she turned her face away. "Little things really do matter then."

"They matter the most."

Fred turned back to Mabon and gasped. Mabon's hair had turned a faint shade of green.

"Oh my God! What happened to your hair?"

"What?" Mabon looked down at some of his locks and gave his hair a quick shake, turning it back to his regular red colour. "This hasn't happened for a while. My hair, it sometimes reacts to my moods."

"Cool, moodhair," Fred snickered. "But does that mean that you're usually angry?"

"Oh no, red is the actual colour of my hair. It can turn blue when I'm angry."

"What does green mean then?"

"It means I feel comfortable."

"Are there any other colours I should know about?" Fred asked.

"Not really." Mabon shrugged. "I think my hair's turned a little bit orange at times, but I've never been able to connect it with any emotion, so I'm pretty sure it's a just a trick of the lights."

Fred yawned, realizing for the first time how tired how her body was. "I should head to bed. Do you need anything else? I told you where the kitchen is, right?"

"I'm fine. My kind doesn't really have to eat or drink or sleep. I still like to do all three at times, but not now. Sleep well."

Fred headed out of the room. "I'm in room number five. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask."

"Okay."

"Well, good night."

"Good night. And thank you."