Nothing happened for a few moments after the new comer had made herself known. Angel and Spike remained standing in the middle of the room, their conflict momentarily forgotten. Wesley and Fred were sat on the sofa, their mouths open in shock, while Gunn stood by the window calmly assesing the situation.
Lorne was the first to speak, as the Scotch he had been pouring (and had forgotten to stop pouring, began to overflow the glass.
"Aw great, well that's an imported silk suit that won't see another award ceremony," said the demon, wiping the stain further into the material.
This seemed to snap the other occupants of the room out of their respective stupors. Wesley and Fred's mouths simultaneously snapped shut with audible clicks, and Angel and Spike moved out of their stare-down stance in order to face the quiet girl at the door properly.
"Er, Wren, please come in," said Angel, in a slightly over enthusiastic tone to make up for his previous sharpness.
The timid Slayer paused in the doorway, glancing around at the rather mixed group of people in the room with a look of very obvious fear.
"It's perfectly fine Wren," Angel continued, in a more normal voice, "I'm Angel and these are all my colleagues...and Spike." He added the last in a not so hidden undertone.
Spike merely glowered at Angel and moved to lean in the corner of the room, so as better to take in the whole situation, while carefully avoiding the Slayer and keeping a sharp look out for any evidence of her trying to cut him into little bits. Spike wasn't sure if it was simply a case of 'once bitten, twice shy', but something seemed off to his vampiric senses about this girl, and he didn't want to come into too close a contact until he could figure out whatever the hell it was.
Unaware of this close scrutiny, and feeling slightly less nervous at Angel's words, Wren slowely moved into the room. He shoulders were shrugged up tight as if protecting her neck, and her hands, which were holding a red back pack, were kept close to her stomach, with her arms drawn in tight to her body. All her body language was projecting a feeling of a small creature who had just wandered inadvertantly into the lion's den.
As she came closer, Angel moved to take her bag. When she suddenly flinched back from him as though afraid he might bite, he held up his hands to indicate he meant her no harm, and instead decided to introduce the rest of the Fang Gang.
"Wren, this is Wesley," Angel said. Wesley stood to shake Wren's hand, but when she shrank back he turned it into a somewhat lame hand wave instead.
"Wesley used to be a Watcher," Angel continued. Wren looked at him, and behind the ver present fear Angel could see a certain amount of recogntion. It seemed that this information helped her to calm slightly, as she began to speak for the first time after announcing her presence.
"L-like Mr G-giles?" she said, with a hint of hopefullness in her voice. To Angel she sounded like she had just found out that one of the lions was frinedly after all.
Angel grasped this opportunity quickly, sensing that it may be the only chance he got to get this clearly troubled young girl to trust them. "Yes! Just like Mr Giles!" he said, a little too loudly. He realised his mistake when Wren jumped considerably, the fear back in her eyes in an instant. He tried a calmer approach. "Yes, he's a watcher like Mr Giles. And he's from England too, just like you."
The rest of the group realised the girl hadn't yet spoken enough to get a proper read on her accent, but understanding soon came to all of them. Except for Spike, who's mild frown only deepened slightly.
Indicating to Fred, who was still sat on the sofa, Angel said "And this is Winifred, she's our resident scientist," and, realising a tactic which could work, "she's friends with Willow."
Fred stood up slowly, so as not to startle the very jumpy Slayer. "Everyone calls me Fred, it's nice to meet you."
Wren looked at Fred and smiled slightly, clearly more comfortable with the quieter woman than the other over-baring males in the room. "I-I like Willow's cookies." Fred waited to see if there was any more information to follow this small contribution, but when it seemed that none was forthcoming, she smiled at Wren and sat back down.
Next Gunn made himself known, not waiting for Angel to introduce him. "Hey Wren, I'm Charles, Charles Gunn, but everyone just calls me Gunn. Nice to meet ya."
Angel looked worried for a moment, concerned that this very forward greeting would scare the tightly would girl, however Wren seemed calmed by the fact that no one in the room had attempted to kill her where she stood, so she met this latest introduction with a small smile, before dipping her head and closely examining the carpet.
After giving Gunn a look of 'what do you think you're trying to do!' Angel direct Wren's attention to the slightly damp Lorne. "And this is Lorne, he's in charge of our entertainment devision," over Wren's head, Angel tried to frantically convey to Lorne that this would be a good time to not be too 'Lorneish' and just introduce himself in as subdued a manner as possible. It was a very interesting facial expression.
Lorne seemed to take this to heart, but still managed to show his usual nature, "Hey precious, how are you? I know it's hard being in a new place and all, so if youever need to talk, feel free to come see me, OK cutie?"
Angel was sure that this over familiar approach would be sure to scare Wren most of all, and was preparing to have to stop her from running away. However, after a couple of seconds Wren said, "Thank you," and nothing more, but to Angel it seemed like the most heart felt thanks he had heard in many years.
While all of this was going on, Spike had been stood in the corner, calmly smoking a cigarette and very carefully watching this whole little 'getting to know you' session unfold. So far he had discovered this;
Like everyone else he saw the girl; English, from what Angel said; medium build, but looking smaller because of the way she carried herself; indefinable age, could have been as old as 18 but looked about 14 because of her stature; blonde hair with just a hint of browm in places; loose fitting clothes which seemed far too old for her, indicating someone who looked as if they've been dressed by their grandmother; and a look on her face which showed for all the world to see that she was a victim and the whole world scared all the life out of her. Spike wasn't sure if this was how the girl had always been, or if the transformation into a Slayer had revealed some truths about the world which she just hadn't been able to cope with, but it was plain to see that this girl was terrified by just about everything.
And yet something seemed off. Something not quite right about the whole damn situation...and he didn't have a bloody clue what it could be. But he certainally intended to find out.
He took another drag of his cigarette as Angel finally turned the girl towards him.
"And this is Spike," said Angel, almost as an after thought, "he just sort of hangs around the place."
Ignoring this Spike threw the stub to the ground and crushed it with his boot. "It's not as if we don't have an ash tray," Angel thought angrily.
"Nice t' meet ye, luv," said Spike, laying on the accent, as well as a touch of the old 'Big Bad' persona, nice and thick, but then caught Angel's glare and decided not to push it. He dropped into a more normal voice, "Like he said I jus' 'hang around the place', so I'll be gettin' out of your way," and with that he pushed passed Angel and out of the room.
Wren stood looking at where he had left for a moment, before turning around and whispering very quietly, so that only Angek could hear, "I don't l-like him very much."
Angel looked at Wren, a small smile coming to his lips, before he put a gentle hand on her shoulder and said, just as quielty, "Neither do I, but don't you worry about him, I'm here to look after you."
A shocked and wonderous expression crossed the girl's face, before she smiled and tears came to her eyes. And then she did something which shocked everyone in the room, especially Angel, and caught him in a tight hug, like someone who has just round a life belt on a sinking ship. And from that moment on, Angel swore to himself and any God that might be listening, that he would protect this girl until the end.