"How'd you…I mean, when did….uh, I don't know where to start?" Catherine stammered. She could barely breathe and didn't believe he was standing in front of her. In all these years. Angel still had the power to make her nervous. She tried to calm herself by taking in deep breaths. Angel just stared at her. He'd thought she was dead or at least in their home country. The familiarity of her and his past flooded him.
"I'm kind of thinking the same thing here. I wasn't exactly expecting a ghost from my past to be standing in front of me with a pulse," he quipped. Angel was nervous at seeing her too. Remembering the last time they met and what he did to her. He half expected Catherine to pick the stake back up and lunge it into his chest. She didn't' though, instead she smiled up at him. She always had the warmest smile, he thought. Angel became aware of movement from behind him as Connor stepped forward.
"So, I take it you two know each other then?" he asked uncertain. His voice shook Catherine out of her stillness and she looked over at him. When she did Angel saw the very old and faded scar of a vampire bite. He turned his head, not wanting to remember how it got there.
"So, you're the infamous son of a vampire. Connor, right? I've heard about you. I hope you're keeping Liam in line. Wait, I'm sorry it's Angel now. I keep forgetting you're not you because really you're not the Liam I remember so I guess it makes sense to not keep the mortal name, and here I go rambling on again and not knowing when to stop." She took a deep breath and tried to stop the bubbling giggles beneath the surface. Angel chuckled at her.
"I missed your ramblings. So, something tells me you're still in the know about the demon world which makes me wonder, why I haven't' been hearing about you? Obviously you didn't change your name. I heard you were dead."
"A common miscommunication when you're as old as me. Maybe we should go in and talk though. My office is a lot more private and a hell of a lot warmer than this alleyway." She picked up her stake and put it back inside her jacket. She headed over to the back door and produced a key to unlock it.
"Your office?" Connor asked.
"Well yeah. Who do you think owns this dive?" She winked over at Angel.
"Connor, why don't you go get the girls and join us. I'm sure someone will be sent to show you up."
"Of course. I'll have Mimi come down and get you. What table were you guys at?"
"Uh, table 3, I think." Connor mumbled.
"Okay, I'll just tell the girl to look for the cutie in the gray shirt if she doesn't see you at the right table." She replied grinning at the boy. Connor flushed a little at the comment and quickly moved through the crowd towards the table. Angel watched him go, laughing at the way Catherine had made him blush.
He followed her to a set of stairs behind the DJ booth and followed them up. Once at the top, she punched some numbers into a keypad which opened some doors to reveal an elevator. Catherine pushed the button for the third floor and leaned back against the wall facing Angel. She looked almost exactly like he remembered. Same pale skin, blue eyes and dark red hair pulled up in clip of her neck. Her clothes were different. She wore a pair of dark jeans with a sequined pink tube top and matching jean jacket. Gone were the long dresses and corsets of their time.
"You look good Angel. Nice suit you got on. Much better than those ruffle-ly tops you used to wear." Catherine said with a smirk.
"I notice you don't' wear the hoop skirts and corsets either."
"Oh, I still have a few corsets. Trust me." Catherine quipped grinning again at him.
"Always the flirt."
"Some things never change."
The elevator stopped with a clang. The doors opened to a lovely view of the streets around the club and the lights of the city. Catherine strode through the office undoing her jacket and placing it on coat rack in the corner.
"Did you want something to drink? I've got some animal blood in here, but I don't know what kind you like." Catherine asked heading over to a bar in the corner of the room. She began making herself a Midori sour and pulled out a glass for Angel.
"Uh, anything you got from the butcher's is fine. I'm not going to ask why you would happen to have animal blood in your bar."
"Maybe you shouldn't." She poured the drink and heated it up real quick for him. As she walked over to Angel with his drink the elevator opened to reveal her new guests. Walking over to them, Catherine shook their hands and introduced herself.
"I'm Catherine Sloane. Owner of this beautiful establishment. Now, I already know who Connor is, but I'm not quite sure about you two?" She said looking over at the nervous Dawn and indifferent Illyria.
"I'm Dawn Summers, Connor's girlfriend. And this is Illyria. We work with Angel on his cases and stuff." Dawn answered stiffly. The girl was pretty and looked barely older than her.
"Oh wait, Summers!" Catherine exclaimed snapping her fingers, "You must be Buffy's little sister. I've heard so much about her. She truly is the greatest Slayer of all time. I'm just glad I got to be around to see her. Please everyone sit down."
Everyone found a place to sit. Catherine sat at the chair behind the desk while Angel took a seat in the chair directly in front of the desk. Connor and Dawn settled themselves on a couch near the windows and Illyria remained standing over near the bar.
"Wow, it's been so long since I've seen you. Although, the antics you get into certainly keep your name in everybody's mind. I mean the whole thing with Wolfram & Hart is like, legendary now. Wish I could've been there to see it. Well, almost." Catherine gushed. Angel desperately wanted to ask where she'd been all this time. Why she hadn't come to see him, but he couldn't find a way to begin. Luckily, Connor started asking the questions.
"Well you know of us, how come we don't know you? I mean you called my dad Liam, exactly how long have you known each other? Are you a vampire too?" Connor ran on.
"Okay, wait first of all I know of you guys because I still have my connections in the demon world. No I'm not a vampire but I was once a Slayer in training."
"Well if you were one once, that means you're a full Slayer now," Dawn said, "And if you were a SIT, then how come you haven't made yourself known?"
"I've been a, what d'ya call it, a SIT, for over 200 years. I'm sure the Watcher's council kinda forgot about me."
Dawn's jaw dropped open. Over 200 years? How in the world could she be that old if she wasn't a vampire? Connor just had a blank stare. He was to busy trying to absorb what he just heard to ask the next set of questions. Angel and Illyria were the only ones not shocked. Illyria because she didn't care and Angel because he already knew what she was. He had tasted it in her blood centuries ago.
"Maybe we should start at how we met," Angle offered.
"I guess that's as good a place as any," Catherine agreed.