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Angel and Katherine meet for the first time in centuries. Both agree Stefan's neglecting Elena.
Golden Gate Park San Francisco
Golden Gate Park[]
The western side of the park features a number of athletic fields, open meadows, and lakes. Also located here are the Golden Gate Park Stadium in the center of the area and Murphy's Windmill near the southwest corner. By contrast, the northwest corner features the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden and the Dutch Windmill. This area also features a dog training field, senior center, model yacht racing area, bison paddock, and equestrian center. For fishermen there are the fly casting pools and Anglers Lodge, and of course the park has its own golf course. Amidst the more grown-up diversions, a playground can be found along the south side of the park. The western edge of the park stands atop the cliffs of the coast, overlooking the shimmering Pacific Ocean.
The eastern entrance to the long stretch of Golden Gate Park is preceded by a block-wide strip of parkland extending eight blocks towards down. Here, a gate offers one of the many access points to the park itself. Major features in this area are the children's playgrounds and carousel, tennis courts, several sports fields, and the large Sharon Meadow. A bit farther in one can find the Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest glass-and-wood Victorian greenhouse in the Western Hemisphere and home to more than 10,000 plants from around the globe. Several buildings, such as the California Academy of Sciences and a few museums, are housed in the center beyond the Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers, and near the western edge of this area of the park is the Japanese Tea Garden.
The park is a world away from the city, with enough trees to feel like a forest broken up by cobbled paths and dirt trails in between broad lawns and playgrounds. There are several large ponds or small lakes, and even a waterfall or two. It is cool and peaceful here, and it's large enough that even though the park is very popular there always seems to be room for everyone.
It is evening
In summer, daytime temperatures approach an average of 75?F. Plants and flowers are in full bloom thanks to the warm summer weather.
Angel is out on patrol on a clear night. The park is full of people of course, people running around like Happy Meals with legs, as his grandchilde used to say. Angel, however, is here to make sure nobody snacks on all these people. Because he's learned that people are worth someting...and it's his noble duty to make sure they all live to see tommorrow morning.
Katherine isn't one for drama, or posturing, unless it serves her purposes. She's read the Evil Overlord list, and survived a long time. You don't get there by being sloppy. So she waits until not only is Angel visible, but until she's given the park a good thorough visual inspection. Only when she's satisfied that it's neither a trap nor that other trouble is about does the elder vampire start her approach, walking up with what looks a casual stroll. "You were looking for me?"
"Elena told me you were around. And her speaking Bulgarian suggests you're around a lot." There's other ways a teen girl could've learned a new language, of course, but Bulgarian isn't usually on the class list of most high schools. "Been a couple centuries. Seems you've changed a bit."
Katherine replies "I'm not the only one. Looks like you've moved on from dumpster diving." The brunette says. "And Elena talks too much for her own good."
Angel shrugs. "Took me a while to get used to the guilt. Luckily someone found me and showed me something better." And what a blessed day that was...even if it was also the source of many of his greatest sorrows. "Sometimes," regarding Elena, "But how else was I going to meet up with an old..." he pauses, as if unsure of what word to use. Friend? Angelus had no such thing as friends. Lover? Well, that was true. Mentor? Also true. He ultimately decides on "teacher."
Katherine smiles, perceiving the slight pause there. "If you hadn't spent so long trying to isolate yourself, I wouldn't have been so hard to find." A lie. She /makes/ herself hard to find. "And yes, rumors were all over the place. Your pretty blonde Slayer. I've met her, you know."
Angel raises an eyebrow at that. "You're one of the best hidden people around, Kat. If I was any younger and didn't happen to know Elena, even I wouldn't have managed it." Apparently he still calls her Kat, despite being redeemed and a Champion and everything else. Bringing Buffy up gives him a far away look. "She's coming back. Soon."
She allows it for certain people, and apparently Angel's one. "Mmm. She was a bit distracted before." A slight smirk quirks her lips. "No time to help a poor innocent girl."
"You must've caught her on an off day. Slayers normally sense us." Fighting vampires being their ostensible job description and all. Still, Buffy is Buffy. She's been known to be...well, blonde. "And you're about as 'innocent' as I am."
"True. But it's easier for your line. I don't have that whole "demon" thing to worry about." Though she can be even worse at times. But that lacks the excuse of a demon.
The demon. Bane of his unlife...and the lives of everyone around him. The Scourge of Europe. ...the now EVICTED Scourge of Europe. Angel decides to keep that one in his back pocket. "Nah. You've just got that equivalent of turning humanity off."
Katherine nods. "True. A superior alternative, I find. So! You've gone to a lot of effort to find me. Which leads us to the big question...why?"
Angel considers how to phrase this. "You never do anything by accident. You don't survive as long as you have by being random. Something's keeping you in the area, and considering you hate attention, it's something pretty important. If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with a mortal girl who looks exactly like you...and can even fake being you, at least till she's expected to know something a mortal couldn't know. Or fight."
"Correct." He's got enough pieces that trying to deny that would just be amateurish. "Elena's very precious to me." she says. "Which means I'm here for the moment. All the more so as I hear her ex-boyfriend has a serious mancrush on you."
Angel almost sighs at that. "...Knowing what I know, that makes Stefan foolish. He's neglecting her for no good reason, and that would've gotten her killed at least once if I hadn't intervened myself. At least I had the excuse of being Cursed. I think, at this point, I see more of Elena then he does." Which is utterly ridiculous. He can't imagine treating Buffy like that. Or even just friends like Faith or Cordelia or... "I understand he wants to learn from me, but he needs to learn to put those he cares about first. Abandoning them will eventually lead him to stop caring, and you know where that goes for your breed."
"I couldn't agree more. I think it might be best for all concerned to...dissuade his scholarly efforts, Angel." Katherine makes it sound like a suggestion, but Angel's known her long enough to decipher Kat-speak. That's not really a suggestion; that's more of a demand. "Stefan's attention needs to be on more immediate concerns right now."
Angel actually has a counter suggestion, "Stefan may prove difficult about that. At any rate, I think Elena wants to visit us in San Francisco for a while once school's out. You're welcome too, if you want to come along. I was planning on teaching her basic self defense, among other things. Just don't kill any humans. I'm protecting them." Obviously. Seems to be his job description these days. Probably a certain Slayer's influence rubbing off on him wholesale. "But you're right. Stefan definitely needs to learn about who to put first. Feel free to work on that yourself from your end. Between both of us, we can probably make it happen." Or anything else happen, for that matter. It's a very formidable team.
That gets an amused look from her. "A girl's got to eat, Angel. And I don't do the rat diet. But I can play nice." She frowns at the suggestion. "Stefan has some...issues...where I'm concerned." Letting him think she was dead a hundred years, for example. "And for whatever reason, right now he's latched onto you. But, if Elena wants to go to San Francisco...and I'll talk to her about it...then I'll be there. We're a package deal right now." Because no way in hell is she letting the doppleganger out of her area of influence.
Angel halfsmiles. "Who said I was doing the rat diet? I get bags from the hospital. Just let me know what your favorite blood type is and we'll share." It's one of the expenses of his investigation firm. Making withdrawls from the blood bank rather then donations. Still, having friends in the medical industry does make it easier, and even if it comes in a bag, human blood is human blood. "I wonder if that's one of the reasons he's neglecting Elena. Unresolved issues with you. Resolving them may help. But I think he's latched on to me because he sees in me a reflection of himself. And then he sees me fighting a battle, and wants to see if my fight is something he can do. But he's going about it wrong. You need people you care about around to keep you grounded, or you end up somewhere nobody wants to end up." Does he have personal experience with that? Yes. Yes he does. Never again.
Katherine nods. "It's possible. But he has unresolved issues with her, as well. Stefan just needs a good sharp kick to the head. Which I will administer if he doesn't get his head out of his ass." She shakes her head, sounding perturbed. It's about as much emotion as Kat will usually let herself show, unless it /is/ a show. "But we'll see. It was good to see you again." She looks up to Angel. "Congratulations on where you've gotten yourself so far. I've got your card, I'll be in touch."
Angel halfsmiles, "Good to see you again too." Seeing her like this, it was almost like he could believe she's changed in ways similar to his own. In truth...he wonders how much of that really is change, and how much of that is wishful thinking on his part. The switch isn't night and day like it is with him. "People who put the wrong things first usually do need a kick in the head." And besides, it's her right. Her childe, and all. Never mind her mess of a grandchilde, but there was time enough to discuss that later. She clearly had to go for now.