Angel nodded. "It wasn't too hard. He wants to get to know Fred better and I think he saw this as a good opportunity to do so."

Faith threw herself down on her bed, picking up a stake from her bedside table and toying with it, aiming it at a pretend target and then dropping it to the bedspread. "To tell you the truth, I think Wes has the hots for Freddie. That's why I suggested him in the first place."

Angel's brows rose in surprise. "You're kidding."

Faith rolled to her side and propped herself up on one elbow, gazing at Angel. "Actually, I'm dead serious. A girl can tell these things, no matter how psychotic and out-of-touch with reality she may be," she added with a smirk.

Angel sat down on the bed with her. "You're not psychotic," he scolded sternly. "Quit talking about yourself like that. You haven't been the old Faith since the day you stepped inside the Hyperion's doors. I don't want to hear you talk like you're still that same girl."

Faith sat up and slid herself into Angel's lap. "There's still parts of me that are the old Faith," she said with a wicked grin, leaning in to nip at Angel's jawline.

Angel groaned. "Faith, come on, you know better," he said in a strangled voice. "I can deal with a million different kinds of hell torture, but I can't handle it when you start playing with me like that."

Faith laughed as she swung one leg up, her ankle just clearing the top of Angel's head, bringing it back down and wrapping them both around Angel's back. She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Sorry, lover," she said with a grin. "You know how torture is one of my fortes. And I love seeing how long you can hold on to that iron will of yours."

Angel laughed and kissed Faith again. "Evil temptress," he said teasingly.

Faith unhooked her arms and legs from Angel and scooted backwards, out of his lap. "You know it!" she said cheerfully. She rolled off the bed and headed for her closet. She disappeared inside and came back out holding up a low-cut halter top. "What do you think? Too daring?" she asked with a laugh.

Angel groaned. "Faith!" he complained. "You can't keep doing this to me!"

"Why not?" she asked as she pulled her shirt off and slid into the top.

Angel closed his eyes against the sight of Faith's bare flesh and swallowed hard. "Curse, evil Angelus, lots of death and carnage?" he reminded her. "Quit teasing me. You won't like who comes out to play."

Faith paused in her dressing and looked at him steadily. "I won't let Angelus out," she said seriously. "As much as I love you, Angel, I'll never chance him. I can wait until you become human again. If you don't become human in my lifetime, I'll at least have known what it's like to be loved by you. But I'll remember *your* love, not the fear of Angelus or my pain when I stake *his* ass and watch *your* face crumble into dust."

Angel swallowed again. It never ceased to catch him off-guard when Faith said she loved him. She'd only been at the Hyperion for four months, but everything that had happened between them, Buffy's death, and Faith's change in behavior and determination to atone for her past sins, all of that had forced them closer and opened their eyes to the feelings that had always been there between them. Faith had finally admitted to Angel that she loved him a month ago.

He was thrilled to have found love again. He never thought he'd love after Buffy. And as odd as it seemed that Faith was the one he'd fallen in love with, somehow, it was right. She understood him better than anyone, even Buffy, ever had. She knew what it was like to be swallowed up by the darkness, and have to fight to escape it. She knew what it was like to spend every day fearing that she'd fall into it again.

The only thing that scared Angel was that she would be the one to make him fall.

"Angel? Babe?"

Angel shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled at Faith, who was looking at him in concern. "Just thinking," he said quietly.

"Not too hard, I hope," she joked. "I've heard it's bad for you." She disappeared into her closet again and emerged wearing a pair of leather pants. "There. I didn't dress in front of you. Happy now?"

"No," Angel said petulantly. Faith laughed. "But for the sake of all our souls, it's a good thing you didn't."

Faith searched for the stake she'd dropped earlier. She finally found it underneath the edge of the bed, where it had fallen when she'd rolled over. "So what are we going to do about Wes and Fred?" she asked when she'd grabbed the stake and stood up.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked in confusion.

"Well, it's obvious that he's interested in her," Faith said with a shrug, sitting back down on the bed. "And I think she likes him a little, too. But she needs to get over her crush on you before she'll see it," she added with a smirk.

"Jealous, Faith?" Angel teased.

Faith glared at Angel. "Hardly. I just don't like that she dotes all over you. It isn't healthy, and we both know nothing will ever come of it. And I really don't want to see her hurt."

Angel frowned. She'd struck the one sore spot in their relationship. "Well, if you'd let me tell everyone that we're together, Fred would have to see that there's no chance of anything happening between us."

Faith sighed in exasperation. "Angel, you know why I don't want everyone to know!" she cried. "They all think I'm B Junior, anyway. And since everyone knows about your curse, they'll do everything they can to keep us from being happy or comfortable with our relationship in order to keep you from going Angelus. I don't want to live with them breathing down our necks all the time!"

Angel shook his head. "I don't think you're giving them enough credit," he protested. "They know me better than that. They know that I won't risk it."

"Yeah, just like they knew that you would never betray them and risk everything in order to defeat Darla and Drusilla," Faith snapped. "They knew you would never fire them because they were too close to your conscience. They knew that you would never allow the D and D duo to feast on a ton of people, whether they were lawyers or not. Yeah, they knew *all* that. And look how right they were."

Angel stared at Faith in disbelief. "But you know that I won't risk Angelus coming out," he said angrily.

"Yeah, *I* know," Faith admitted. "But they don't." She stood up and headed for the door. "I gotta go patrol. See you later."

Angel got up and strode out of the room. He either needed to talk to Wesley or he needed to polish off that bottle of tequila in his office. Right now he wasn't sure which one appealed more.