New Shift

[Wesley]

Wesley stepped through the doors to complete silence, save for the rickety sounds of an old building. He peered around the main lobby for a moment before deciding that Angel must still be asleep, or else had gone out to do whatever it was that cursed vampires did.

He sighed and tossed his jacket over his shoulder, making his way to his office.

Perhaps he had left his book here after all?

[Queen C]

Cordy was making her way in, it had been a long night. she slept soundly, of course no signs of those horrible vision's. she hated them. As she pulled up to the Hotel she smiled and parked in her usual parking spot.

"Beautiful day and no headaches, well not yet anyways." she sighed and looked up at the Hotel, it made her think about Fred locked up. She wanted to get to know her, but...

"Ok time to get to work, i wonder how my..." she turned and looked into the mirror, the drive had been a bumpy and breezy one and she wanted to look good. Potential clients would see her and she had an image to uphold. "..perfect as always." she smiled and entered the building.

It was silent as usual, except for someone's foot prints. she figure it must have been one of the other, she knew it wasn't angel. Cause he doesn't make sound when he walks. She looked in her pocket book for her pen, and when she couldn't find it. she realized it must have been in Wesley's office, he was always taking her pens, and if not him Fred.

[Wesley]

Wes studied the books sitting on his shelves, all neatly arranged by author and publish date. Then he looked in all the drawers in the desk. Then, for good measure, he checked inside the trunk he kept his weapons in.

Still no book.

He frowned and cleaned his glasses out habit, sliding into his chair. He was going to have to confront Angel whenever the vampire decided to show himself. Perhaps he'd borrowed it for a little midnight/day reading?

He shook his head and opened up the business ledger. Someone had to keep this place running somewhat like a real business. Rent didn't pay itself.

[Queen C]

Giving a quick knock she smiled and entered into his office, it was a fake cordy smile. "Wesley did you steal my lucky pen? cause i left it on my desk and now its gone, and i know someone has to be taking them."

She crossed her arms over her chest to wait for his Reply.

[Wesley]

Wesley stared at Cordelia blankly for a momenet.

"Your...lucky pen?" He frowned. "How can a pen be lucky?" Then he shook his head. "No, Cordelia, I haven't seen your 'lucky pen'. I've got this one," he said, holding up the pen he was using.

"Oh, and did you happen to come across one of my books while you were here yesterday? One of mine seems to have gone missing."

[Queen C]

"I've had this pen since High schoo wesley, I had it with me at graduation and when i was taking my S-A-T-S or whatever there called." she rolled her eyes and sighed. "And Mr. I am here and breathing, and not to mention i passed that test with flying colors."

She smiled and shook her head. "Nope, no book on my end. Maybe someone else has your old book, maybe Angel or something. He always takes things without asking...OO maybe he has my Pen!"

Taking a brief pause she smiled at Wesley. "By the way, your looking like a million bucks." she winked and walked away.

[Wesley]

Wesley listened to Cordelia's rant, in which she credited her survival of high school to a plastic writing device. He didn't feel the need to interject, to point out that a pen could not save your life. He knew it would lead to her arguing with him, and that would give the both of them a headache. And Cordy got cranky when she got a headache.

"By the way, your looking like a million bucks."

With that, she turned and headed out, throwing a wink in his direction. This left him momentarily stunned. He stuttered and was at a loss for words until he finally managed to call out "Uh...thank you?" to her. He didn't know if she heard him or not.

Cordelia could be quite random some days.

[Wesley]

Wesley heard the insistant ringing of the telephone from his desk. After about five rings, he peeked his head around to see if Cordelia was at the front. He didn't see her, and stood up with a sigh.

He picked up the reciever. "Angel Investigations. We...uh...help the helpless?" he said, uncertain if that's what he was supposed to say, and feeling quite silly while saying it.

[Faith]

Faith recognised the voice immediately. It wasn't who she had expected to speak to. Unsure what to say, she stayed quiet for a moment.

[Wesley]

Only silence greeted Wesley on the other end of the line.

"Hello? Hello?" he called. He quickly checked the cords on the phone to be sure that everything was hooked up properly.

He was just about to hang up when the person on the other line began to speak.

[Faith]

"Wes....." she almost couldn't speak to him. After all she had done, practically torturing him nearly to death, she would be the last person he'd want to talk to.

[Wesley]

Wesley felt his blood run cold at the voice saying his name.

Faith...One of the few people in the world who could elicit such painful memories from him. Sometimes, he would still wake up at night, reliving those hours he spent in her hands.

Yet Angel had seen something worth saving in her. Even if he wasn't particularly fond of the idea, she was still a human. So he settled for what worked best for him; simple politness.

"Yes, Faith. What can I do for you?"

[Faith]

Thrown a little off kilter by his politeness, she tried to sound normal. "I....er...I...needed to speak to Angel." She paused. "Is this a bad time, cause if you're busy I can... you know...I can wait."

[Wesley]

Wesley glanced around the corner of his office door, trying to see into the lobby. Checking for any sign of life...or of the undead. He heard voices from upstairs.

"No..." he said, a bit distractedly. "I believe Angel's here somewhere. I should have to find him."

[Faith]

She felt stupid for bothering him. It had been months since she'd seen him, and by now he'd probably gotten past what she had done to him. Speaking to him again was just going to bring it back to the surface.

"You know what, I'll call back. You've probably got better things to do...."

She hung up the phone and banged her head on the wall. Can't keep running to Angel whenever I feel like this. I've gotta get through it on my own. As she made her way to breakfast, or what could loosely be described as breakfast, she went over the events of that night with Wesley in her head.

I think i wanna hear you scream....

...you never will...