Chapter 2 - Twisted Transistor

Angel walked back into the elevator, carrying as many grocery bags as he could in his arms. The paper bags were almost overflowing with chips and soda. He hadn't been sure what exactly to buy, so he had just bought as much as possible. As he went down the elevator shaft, he started to feel thumping underneath his feet. The feeling increased as he got closer to his apartment. He reached the bottom and slid open the door. The thumping still reverberated through his chest, now accompanied by loud music coming from the television. He set down the bags on a table and rounded the corner into the living room. He was surprised to see Faith up and about, and dancing, no less. Dancing around in only a shirt and underwear... that was a new sight for sure. Angel cleared his throat loudly, attempting to get Faith's attention over the sound of the music. "FAITH!" He yelled louder this time, causing Faith to spring around to face him.

She had been startled by his presence and was clutching a cutlery knife to her chest. She sighed in relief when she saw who it was. "Angel. You scared me."

"Sorry." The music was still blaring in his ears and he winced in annoyance. "You mind?" He lifted his arm up and motioned to the television.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." She walked over and turned off the television, still unconsciously holding the knife against her body. "Finally found MTV. Just thought I'd listen to some music, considering, you know, it's not like you hear much music while you're in a coma." She attempted to force a smile, but failed, and instead she just averted looking at Angel.

"It's okay." Angel's eyes trailed down from her face to her chest. The shirt was left unbuttoned and he looked at the bright steel of metal glinting against her exposed skin. It lay in between her breasts, right above her bra line. It almost looked seductive, a barely clothed woman holding a sharp knife. But Angel knew he had to get it away from her. "You wanna give me that knife?" He slowly advanced towards her and extended his hand out.

Faith glanced down at the knife. She had completely forgotten it was there. She had only grabbed it to protect herself, just in case. "Yeah. I just..." She slowly brought it down from her chest and extended her arm to him. "Didn't wanna risk being attacked by another one of those demon things." She felt somewhat ashamed; she knew that having a knife around probably wasn't a smart idea.

Angel took the knife out of Faith's hand and set it down on the coffee table. "It's alright. I understand, but maybe you shouldn't--" He stopped himself mid-sentence as he took in her whole appearance. He tilted his head to the side and scrunched up his face in confusion. "Is that my shirt?" Although she did look good in it...

Faith looked down and grabbed the edges of the shirt with her hands. "Oh, yeah." She lifted the shirt a little and then let it drop back down. "I'm sort of running out of clean clothes." She did the best she could to hide the embarrassment on her face. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I thought it looked familiar, is all." He smiled a little at her. "I don't really know what to do about clothes, though. I'm not exactly the best at shopping. And with you being a wanted felon..." Angel trailed off, realizing that last part may not have been the best topic to bring up. He quickly continued talking, hoping that he hadn't upset Faith. "Umm, maybe you could borrow some of Cordelia's clothes. I'm sure she has enough to spare."

Faith raised her eyebrows and gave Angel an 'Oh, please!' look. "You've got to be kidding me. Me, borrow clothes from Ms. Malibu Barbie? I'd look like Buffy. A more fashionable version of Buffy." She smiled some at this statement.

"Buffy was fashionable..." Angel meekly said in her defense. His mind drifted back, trying to remember what kind of clothes Buffy wore.

"Oh, come on. The girl was a fashion disaster." Faith sat down on Angel's couch and stretched out, resting her head on a pillow.

Angel scoffed and sat down on the edge of the couch next to Faith's feet. "Like your wardrobe is so wonderful."

Faith sat up to get a better look at Angel. "This coming from the man who doesn't own a colorful shirt to his name?" She playfully pushed his shoulder and laughed. She watched as he swayed a little from the shove, then as he joined her in the laughter.

He turned and gave her a genuine smile. This was the first time he had heard her truly laugh since she had gotten here. It sounded good. A sweet melodic sound, almost. Something that was totally anti-Faith and it was beautiful. "It's good to hear you laugh."

Faith's laughs slowed and became increasingly more nervous. They sat there awkwardly for a moment before the phone rang. Faith sighed and said under her breath, "Saved by the bell."

Angel glanced at her, but chose to ignore the statement. He placed his hands on either side of his body and pushed himself off the couch. He walked over to the other side of the room and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Angel?" Cordelia's voice could be heard on the other end. It sounded as though she was in pain.

Faith got up from the couch and walked a bit closer to Angel.

"Cordy, what is it? Is something wrong?" His voice was dripping with concern for her. If it had been anyone other than Angel, Faith probably would have found it disgusting. But with Angel, it oddly came off as sweet.

"I had a vision. There's a girl… she's trapped in a building. It's near the docks. A big demon thing is keeping her there." Cordelia's voice was muffled to Faith, but the struggle to speak was very apparent. Faith still couldn't believe that someone as petty and girly as Cordelia was burdened with something as powerful as these visions. Faith inched a little further towards Angel, trying to better hear Cordy's half of the conversation.

Angel noticed Faith eavesdropping and shifted the phone to the other side of his head. "Okay, I got it. I'll take care of it. You just stay home and rest."

"Angel? Be careful." Cordelia's voice was still resonating with pain.

"I will be." Angel set the phone back down on the cradle. Without a word to Faith, he started walking towards his weapon cabinet.

"There's someone in trouble?" Faith followed Angel over to the cabinet.

"Yeah." Angel opened the doors and searched for a weapon, not bothering to look at Faith when he responded.

"I guess we're going to the docks, then." Faith tried to reach inside of the cabinet to get a weapon, but Angel's hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her.

"You're not going." Angel let go of her arm, turning back to the cabinet.

Faith pouted a bit, then wedged herself between Angel and the cabinet. "Why not?" She did her best to put on a sad face, jutting out her full lower lip and looking sweetly at him with her dark brown eyes.

Angel tried his best to divert his attention from her pouting face and scanned his eyes over her body. "Well, for starters, you're not dressed." He gently pushed her to the side, going back to gathering his weapons.

"Fine, then." Faith stormed off in a huff, leaving for Angel's room.

Angel glanced over as she left. He hadn't been trying to upset her. He sighed deeply and walked over to his room. He stopped at the closed door. "Faith, I didn't mean to—" Suddenly the door swung open and knocked Angel into the wall, revealing a fully dressed Faith. She was wearing a pair of tight leather pants and one of Angel's smaller white beaters.

"I'm ready." She grinned smugly and pushed past Angel as she briskly walked back to the cabinet and pulled out a long knife.

Angel regained himself after being knocked into the door. He quickly followed Faith. "Oh, no you don't." He reached out to grab the knife, but Faith yanked it away.

She turned herself around to face him, keeping the knife out of his reach. "Look, I'm not getting any better staying cooped up here. Besides, if I start to do anything evil, you'll be there to stop me." The right side of her mouth curved up into a small smile. "But I am going, so no use arguing." Her smile widened and she headed out the door, Angel following reluctantly.