it's far from over [faith]

[angel]

Quiet nodding and the occasional "Mhm," came out of Angel's mouth as he leaned against the bar, his arms folded against the counter top while he listened to some scaly demon ramble on about how much he didn't know. Tapping his own lip with his thumb as if assessing what to say next or at the very least taking it genuinely in, the vampire nodded again, but in a fraction of a second his whole posture changed. His hand reached out and grabbed the demon by the back of the neck and slammed his head down against the counter with a sickening crack. One moment he looked as casual as the next guy, and the next, he was right behind him, leaning over while pinning his neck to the bar tightly. "You know what, let's try this again. See, I'm feeling a little antsy tonight, so why don't you stop running me and circles and tell me what I want, and I won't rip your head off right here, okay? Angel knew how to throw his weight around when it was needed, and he had absolutely no problem doing it in that establishment. Every city had one too. It wasn't the first time he had been there either, but it was the second. The first time was with Buffy and after that, people didn't need a second introduction. Immediately, he was given an approximate place in the city to look, but didn't so much as smirk. He just pushed him to the counter once more before pulling back and turning to leave.

He was hunting another demon; a significantly more dangerous one at that. Nothing like the demons hanging out around that hole in the wall joint. Angel didn't make a habit of hanging out in places like that himself. One, he would never be welcome. As a rule, the vampire with a soul wasn't the most liked by anyone. Actually, neither was Angelus, but he had a different kid of respect in these places. The vampire with a soul didn't like bars necessarily, in general. They were too crowded, loud, and he wasn't really adept at the socializing and connecting. Better than he used to be, but it was still awkward and he would much rather not have to frequent them. Demon bars, on the other hand, had their uses in what type of information he could pick up. And there was always a snitch or two to locate. Every city had one and Angel was able to latch on fast. That night, he was looking for a fight. There was enough to worry about, of course, what with the sired potential slayers and any oncoming evil, but he couldn't be at a standstill with one epic problem. Besides, he had a hell of a lot of pent up aggression to take out. Being at Buffy's side again revived a lot of the former tension. And now, with Spike added to the mix... Angel was feeling it ten times more.

He didn't want to think about it. It wasn't as if he could avoid his own thoughts. Of everything Angel had mastered, running from his thoughts and succeeding wasn't one amongst them. But, he could beat through them until he had a dark room to mull over it in. He still had a mission, regardless of what happened with Buffy or even with the peroxided wonder. None of it mattered in the grand scheme of things; it couldn't. It was about saving the world, the helpless... And helping Buffy. Despite how he tried to shut himself off from it, the slayer was still important to him and she was important to the world. It was on his way towards the door, that he practically bumped right into somebody, quickly stopping to take a look at the familiar face in front of him. It wasn't some slimy, scaly demon; not at all. And not a face he predicted he would see any time soon either... A surprise, yeah, but not unpleasant. It never was.

[Faith Lehane]

Faith rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time as the puny green and red pukey coloured demon infront of her continued to spout her a whole loada things she didn't care about. Direct answers couldn't actually be that hard to muster up she was sure, all she needed was a location and she was away but no he had to tell her how he was a family man and how he couldn't remember due to his old age. She had heard all of this before and family demons didn't go to demon bars, where they were very likely to get killed. Eitehr by a demon or by an annoyed hunter/slayer. At that moment Faith was beginning to feel like a very annoyed slayer, after five minutes of rambling Faith pushed him back into the dirty brick wall outside of the bar, his head hitting the tacky sign and she smmiled an unfriendly smile.

"Yeah I really don't care, just tell me where my guy is and I'll be outta your lovely orange hair."

The said orange hair was hissing at her as she growled this at the demon. However the little quirk didn't seem to be getting the idea, the brunette slayer didn't want to beat it up for practically no reason, she'd most probably feel bad for some stupid reason and then she'd be even angrier. So instead she clenched her fingers around it's neck and let the fake smile return to her lips.

"Okay see, I wanna go away with my info, you wana go away with your head. See how this could all be way easier? I'm Faith hun, don't make idle threats"

Finally seeming to understand what she meant as soon as she brought her name to it he began rambling about the things she wanted to hear. Apparentl all of the demons she had met so far knew who she was, most of them by name only but a few seemed to recognize by how she looked and complied a lot easier. After he was finished she smiled more geniunely, which seemed to ut the demon at ease a lot more and towaed him back to the bar, sitting him at his chair next to the green slime covered drink he had ordered, it was surprising that nobody had stolen it.

She was about to turn and leave when someone almost walked into her, turning with an annoyed grimace she was about rerad to punch the thing when she saw Angel and her grimace turned to a grin. She hadn't been expecting to see him there, Buffy maybe but not him.

"Hey there tall dark and handsome, don't I get a proper hello?"

The slayer pouted playfully, her grin still visable through it.

[angel]

It had been a long time since he crossed paths with Faith—not since Angelus broke out of his cage a few years prior. And he didn't intentionally put that gap between them. They both had their separate paths, despite their similarities, she had to seek her redemption her way and Angel continued on with his (no matter how blurry his walk became). Buffy never mentioned her being there, so Angel assumed that she wasn't. Then again, with the potentials being killed off like they were, the vampire with a soul wouldn't be surprised that Faith showed up too. From the looks of it, they needed all the help they could get. Regardless of why and how long, it was good to see her, and from the looks of it, the same old Faith. At least he knew where he stood with her (unless it had changed without his knowledge and he doubted that). When it came down to the blonde slayer, Angel still wasn't sure. And of all the creatures he could have had a near run-in with in the demon bar, Angel wasn't going to complain about it being Faith. He assumed the pair would run into each other again somewhere. He couldn't help but miss her a bit. Although it was nice to see her out of prison, he kind of missed the visits. He liked catching up with her and now, he figured they had more interesting things to talk about. And maybe not. Who needed it?

A smirk started to show through his expression, "Sorry, I forgot my manners," he replied, immediately teasing Faith in response. "Didn't know demon bars were your thing, or else I might've invited you." Of course, he would have to know she was in the city to begin with. It was assumed that they were probably there for similar reasons. Angel doubted she liked demon bars or wanted to spend her time with the creatures that crawled through there. Personally, Angel didn't want to have to go into the place unless he had to and that night, he felt like it was an important place for him to check out. "No one told me you were here," he finally let down the casual demeanour and let the surprise show through a little more. At the same time, it was a way of finding out how long she had been there and if her getting to Cleveland was new or if no one was telling him. It didn't make sense that he wouldn't be told. Though, he hadn't spent a lot of time asking Buffy about everyone that was helping. His conversations with Buffy weren't exactly easy, especially not with a peroxided shadow added into the equation. The point he had to keep in mind was the mission. It was important; not how he felt about anybody. As much as he told himself that, it didn't make it any easier for his mind to wrap around. Angel was good at keeping everything in check and having control to focus on helping the helpless and saving the world, but around Buffy, it became significantly harder.