Love, Lust, and L.A.: Hearthrob Pt.2
by Psyche2
A/N: This is the second chapter! Yay! The spacing's a little better but you know....ok hope you enjoy it! Oh and any questions about the background go to My past is my present by Faith_slayer89.

Ok on to the story:



It was pitch black in the Hyperion and the only illumination of the lobby was the glow from the feral eyes of the vampires in front of them.

Katherine tightly gripped a crossbow in one hand and Grey's in the other, sweat forming between the both of their hands from gripping each other as tightly as possible.

Everything was quiet, except maybe the growls of the vampires and the heavy breathing of the living.

Everything was still and Katherine wondered why?

Maybe each person or vamp were waiting for the other attack, but everything was still.

Until she had to go and drop the crossbow, which of course clattered, and following that, Cordelia shrieked and everyone started moving. Clumsiness was always an issue with her.

"Crap!" she exclaimed loudly and picked it up just in time to see a growling, pig-looking vamp coming at her. That's when reluctantly she let go of Grey's hand.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a pig?" she asked the vampire, as it got close enough for her to shoot a bolt out of the crossbow.

As the bolt connected, she waited for some sort of grunt of retort. She got none. "Guess not," she said, as the vampire exploded into dust.

She turned around, which was a stupid thing to do, and checked on the others. Grey was helping Cordy with a vampire. Gunn and Wes played tag-team as they took on two vamps. And Angel was trading blows with a vamp that looked really pissed off.

As Katherine turned around again, a vampire came toward her. She punched the thing in the face and then picked up a piece of wood that came from who-knew-where and drove it home.

But right when that one exploded into dust, another one came in its place, and then another after that. Finally, after about what seemed to be 15 puns later, all the vamps were gone. Except the ones called James and Angel.

Katherine went closer, adrenaline pumping through her veins, stake in hand to help out with James. It was actually a pretty good fight, and she would have paid big money to see something like this. Except that one of the vamps fighting turned out to be her father, and that made her re-think the 'whole paying-big-money-to-see-a-fight-like-this' thought. Just As she got close enough to jump in, Angel glanced at her.

"Get back," he growled.

She turned around, only to get tugged in another direction by Grey. He brought her over to the side by Cordy, Gunn, and Wesley.

"What's up with this guy?" Grey asked pointing toward the vampire that was fighting Angel.

Katherine shrugged. "Don't know."

Gunn came up behind her. "Damn, if this isn't a good fight, then I don't know what is. I can't wait to jump in and dust that vamp's ass."

Grey nodded. "Yeah, this is just like-"

He stopped, as Angel was thrown across the room.

James came quickly over and pinned Angel down. The dark-haired vampire struggled to get up, and finally managed to do so, by knocking over his opponent and pinning him to the floor.

"Angel!" Cordelia shouted, throwing him a stake.

James managed to swat Angel away and caught the stake before the Brooding One could. "Thanks," he said, grinning at Cordy.

James raised the stake and got ready to plunge it into Angel's chest. "You're going to die in front of them," he whispered, so that only Angel could hear.

Angel smiled as he caught the stake right before it plunged into his chest. "No, I'm not," he whispered back.

Katherine breathed easier now that Angel wasn't about to be staked, but the two vampires were still fighting, and that wasn't good.

Without thinking, she went over to James, who once again gained the upper hand, and gave him a tug.

James turned around and smacked her in the face, sending her flying.

"Kat!" Cordelia called, and ran over to her.

Given a moment of distraction, Angel was able to grab the stake from James and stake him.

Angel got off his feet and walked over to where Katherine and Cordelia stood. "It's over," he told them as he looked at Katherine's face for any signs of bruises.

She gently brushed his hand away when she noticed something.

"He's not dust," she said aloud, feeling something akin to numbness.

"Huh?" Cordelia said, her eyes widening.

"Right there with ya," Katherine heard Gunn say.

"Go!" Angel urged, motioning everyone toward the basement door. Everyone quickly went down there, Wes in the lead, then Gunn, Cordy, and Grey. Katherine didn't follow.

"What are you doing?!" She asked Angel quickly.

"I'm going to hold him off, then hope I have enough time to meet you guys."

"Uh uh." Katherine said as she picked up a crossbow. She got ready to fire. "I'm staying with you."

"No, you're not," he replied and faced her.

She rolled her eyes. "Look, I've already lost one parent. I don't need to lose another."

His face softened and once again she rolled her eyes. "We'll talk later. But now, focus on Immortal Guy, ok?"

Angel nodded and she fired a bolt at James. He blocked it with his hand. "Yuck," she said. James walked over to Angel, obviously not interested in her. She fired a stream of bolts that were as ineffective as her first attempt had been, unless her goal was to kill Angel. Angel kicked James, which sent him flying, and turned to Katherine.

"Now we can go."

They ran quickly down the steps, and finally into the sewers. They stopped at two tunnels.

"Go," he urged her pointing to the tunnel on the right.

She nodded. "Going."

Katherine ran, noticing that Angel was behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a doorway and was about to say something when Angel said, "In here."
She scrambled through the doorway and stood in the middle of a small storage room.

"What's wrong with him? He's all that and a bag of chips that stakes aren't good enough anymore?"
Katherine asked.

"I don't know." Angel said looking around. Katherine wished she hadn't made the reference to chips. She was starting to feel hungry.

"Is he invincible?" She continued. "Like, with that, what's it called? Amarra thing?"

"The 'Amarra thing' is gone," Angel stated simply and she nodded.

"Oh. ...Is there such thing as a non-killable vamp?"

"No. If there was, that'd be a hell of a lot easier," he told her, then thought about that. "For me."

"Do you think the bait worked?" Angel asked and Kat shrugged. She jumped as something vibrated in her pocket.

"Opps." She said fishing the cell phone out of her pocket. "Sorry."

"Where'd you get that?" He asked her, somewhat surprised.

"It's yours. You don't use it, so I took it. Cordelia told me to."

"Oh. Ok." Angel said, feeling slightly miffed. It wasn't his fault that he was allergic to modern technology.

"Hello?" Katherine whispered into the phone.

"Kat?" Came Cordelia's voice. "Where are you?"

"In a sewer," the younger girl replied.

"Oh, ok. Is Angel with you? 'Cause Lover Boy's worried that you're by yourself and 'unprotected'."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Angel's with me. I'm fine. We're both fine. Where are you?" She asked, ignoring how her heart was racing at the comment Cordelia had made.

"My apartment," Cordy replied and Katherine heard some noise in the background.

"What? Oh."

"Kat?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes?"

"Wesley found out that James went to a slog demon."

"Huh?" Kat asked.

"Slog demon," Cordelia replied, then
continued. "James had his heart cut out!"

"Ewww!" Katherine exclaimed. "So he definitely can't be killed?"

"Yeah. Well, it only lasts for six." Cordelia informed her.

"Six what?" Katherine asked.

"Six-" was all Katherine could hear; the rest of the words were muffled.

"Cordelia? Hello? Cordy?!" Katherine yelled urgently. Then the phone beeped. "Great. No signal." She took a deep breath and then turned to Angel. "Ok, James went to a slog demon. It's something about becoming invincible by cutting out his heart. It lasts for six."

"Six? Six what?" Angel asked.

"Six years, minutes, hours? I don't know." She gripped her cell phone. She couldn't stop thinking about what Cordelia had said.Lover Boy's worried.

"So we could just wait it out." Angel suggested and she nodded.

"I guess."

There was a long pause; Katherine re-thought the whole 'Lover Boy' thing. Was Cordy telling the truth?

She shook her head. "No, he does like me."

"What?" Angel asked.

"Nothing!" She replied quickly, shaking her head, and her eyes widened.

I can't believe I just said that!
But before she could say anything else, something crashed next to her, and then once again, she was being tugged.

Then she was running. James had found them, and he was catching up. And fast. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She ran down the sewers and turned as she realized she was going toward the subways.

God, you lived in New York and you don't know you're going toward a subway.

She took a deep breath. You usually don't think when a blood-sucking fiend is chasing you.

She jumped down the last few stairs and hurled herself through the small space between the subway doors. Angel followed behind her. James stopped in front of the doors. Katherine stuck out her tongue.
"Nyah-nyah. Loser. ...That was exciting," she said to Angel, who was staring into space. "So what should we do now? Go back to Cordy's and get some weapons, or should we wait him out and ride the rails?"

Angel put up a hand to silence her and she gave him a quizzical look. She cocked her head as she heard a noise above her head. "I don't think-" she said, and stopped as Angel grabbed her as the subway window shattered. She shrieked, feeling slightly embarrassed afterwards. Angel pushed her behind him, back toward the others in the subway, who were as shocked as she was.

"Well, this is a new twist in an old snake," James sneered, cocking his head to one side. "Is it possible that you care about someone other than yourself?"

Angel glanced back at Katherine and she raised her eyebrows. "Forget about her," he said.

"Who is she?" James asked, gesturing toward Katherine.

"No one." Angel stepped forward as if to show James that the fight was between the two of them, and the two of them and Katherine.

"So you won't feel anything when I snap her neck," James threatened, taking a step forward.

"She might feel something, but snapping my neck is really unnecessary-" Angel silenced her as he took a bold step toward James. As if to say, 'Don't you dare touch her.'

"Good, now I can kill the woman you love," James grinned evilly.

Angel gave him a bizarre look and Katherine snorted.

Angel shook his head. "No. You can't."

"Are you forgetting who's the invincible one?" James told him with a defiant look.

"The woman I love ...is dead." Angel let the words stumble out slowly, as if it was the first time he was coming to terms with it.

James looked at Angel, and then at Katherine. "Who are you talking about?"

Katherine nodded. It was as if she was coming to terms with it for the first time, too. "She died a couple of months ago."

James looked skeptical. "You loved someone? With all of your heart?"

"Yes." Angel replied heavily. Katherine felt her throat tighten and her eyes well. She would not cry. She couldn't.

"No, you didn't," James countered, and Katherine looked up. "Because if you had, you wouldn't be here playing games with me. You'd be out there." He gestured out the subway window. "Because when some bastard killed her, it would have killed everything inside of you." James said the last part with such emotion, Katherine wondered if he had a soul.
Angel looked down at the floor for a second, then looked up.

"Now you're going to join your lady love, and she will too," James said indicating Katherine.

James walked over to a subway seat and ripped it out of the floor. Katherine jumped back. James hit Angel in the face with the seat and then hit him with it again, knocking him to the floor. Just as he was about to get hit again, Angel kicked James in the knee, making both him and the seat fall. Angel got up and James recovered quickly; they traded blows and kicks. Angel caught James in the arm and twisted it around. The sound of a bone breaking followed the action.
James cried out in pain.

"How's that feel, Invincible Boy?"

James grunted and Angel pushed him against the wall.

"This your idea of love, James? It's not real unless it kills you?"

His face contorted in pain, James's voice came out in a croak. "Yeah, what's yours? 'It's fun as long as it doesn't cost me anything'?"

Angel let go of James, who fell to the floor. He leaned up against the wall and regarded Angel.

"You don't know what love is," James said. "I'll be with Elizabeth soon, but you'll never be with her. She's dead."

James closed his eyes. "You think you won," he said, opening them again, "just because you're still alive? I lived. You just existed." Once again he closed his eyes, and then he seemed to relax his body. And then, he became dust.

Angel blinked and walked to Katherine.

"Is this a scene for a soap opera?" One of the people on the train asked, obviously unwilling to believe what she had just seen. Katherine looked at Angel and he shook his head. Without a word, they got off the train and walked to Cordelia's apartment.

The breeze that blew on Katherine's face was refreshing. She sat outside the Hyperion, deep in thought. Most thoughts were about her mother, and some were about Grey. When she and Angel had arrived at Cordelia's apartment, Grey had looked so relieved that she was ok. He said he had to go, but would see her later and he took her hand and squeezed it. It was such a small gesture, but Katherine thought it more than that.

The thoughts about her mother had been more difficult, almost hard to think about at all. It had been about three months since she found out her mother had died, again. She never really thought about her mother much, but now it seemed hard not to want to think about her. She had wanted to talk to Angel, but it seemed like a part of her didn't want to. She felt so conflicted with the subject of Buffy.

She turned around as she heard footsteps, and saw Angel.

"Fred will be coming out of her room in about a decade," he said awkwardly.

"You talked to her?" Katherine asked, with the same awkwardness.

"Yeah," he answered, sitting down beside her.

Katherine closed her eyes and rubbed her temples
.
"You okay?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I guess. You?"

"I've been better," he murmured, and she nodded.

It was silent for a moment, but then Katherine broke the silence. "He was wrong," she stated.

"Huh?" Angel asked.

"James, when he said you don't know what love is," Katherine explained, staring into his eyes. "You loved her and I know it, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

He smiled softly.

"She loved you too," Katherine whispered. "She used to tell us about it." She took a deep breath. "I don't know if you want to talk about it, but if you ever need to or want to, I just want you to know that I'm here. ...Because I miss her, too."

She started to cry and she hugged him. For a second, she thought he was crying, too. She wanted to tell him it was okay to cry, but when she pulled out of the hug, he showed no signs of it. She sniffled and pulled a picture out of her pocket. It was the picture of Buffy and Angel at prom, only two and a half years before. Both Champions were smiling, and looked somewhat content, even though the vampire had already broken up with the Slayer a couple days before.

"She wanted you to have this."

Angel cocked his head. "I know she would." Katherine stood and backed up. She smiled at him and without another word, walked inside.

Grey was sitting on the step, waiting for her. "Hey," he said, rising to meet her. "Do you want to-?"

"Yes," she answered, smiling slightly, and they walked outside where he took her hand. Angel raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to interfere as the two walked past the gate and up the street.

They walked silently for awhile, hand in hand, neither slowing down, even when it began to rain.

"You wanna go back?" Grey asked her.

"Not really. I like the rain."

"Me, too." They had stopped walking, and he had moved closer to her. She could feel what was coming. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She smiled and rolled her eyes as he edged closer. Ever the impatient one, she grabbed him. They kissed, and one word drifted into her mind:

Heartthrob.


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