Title: Small Talk

Author: Malana

Rated: G

Disclaimer: I own neither Angel nor Sliders

Note: For Jinni's 20 min with Angel Challenge.  Take 20 min and only 20 min to write a crossover featuring Angel.

Character: Angel

Paring: None

Feedback: Please

 

 

 

 

    It wasn't everyday that someone fell through a portal and landed on top of him. Okay, so it probably happened to him more often than it did to most people, but still it wasn't exactly a frequent occurrence.

 

    And this time the person who fell on him was a pretty young woman.  A pretty, young, *human* woman.  And she was accompanied by three other people.

 

    So all-in-all Angel was a little surprised.  He had just come to San Francisco to get a book. He wasn't expecting to have to deal with this kind of thing.

 

    "Sorry about that," the brunette woman said as she struggled to her feet. She held out a hand and helped him up.

 

    "My names Wade Wells.  We were just...umm..." She looked at her companions, and Angel could tell she was looking for some excuse.

 

    "You came through a portal from another dimensions?" he guessed.

 

    The woman looked surprised. "Oh, is sliding common here?"

 

    "Sliding?"

 

    "Traveling through a wormhole to parallel Earths." The young man, who appeared to be about Wade's age, explained.

 

    Angel drew in an unnecessary breath. "Well, I wouldn't say it was common. Most people would probably be running away from you right now. But I've seen scary things in my time. I've *been* scary things in my time."

 

    "What do you mean?" Wade asked.

 

    Angel shrugged. "I'm a vampire."

 

    "Oh."

 

    "That's all? No running or screaming?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

 

    "It's no biggie. We've dealt with vampires before. I dated one actually."

 

    "Oh," Angel said, not really knowing what to think. "That's nice...I guess."

 

    "This is Quinn, Rembrandt, and Professor Arturo." Wade introduced her friends.

 

    "I'm Angel."

 

    "We have 2 minuties left on the timer," Quinn said. "That's the device that opens the wormholes," he explained for Angel's benefit.

 

    "Oh, so you use science and not magic." Angel tried to sound interested. Science wasn't exactly his field.

 

    "Yeah," Quinn affirmed. "Science."

 

    There was a rather long silence.

 

    "So," Wade started, rather uncomfortable trying to make small-talk. "There a lot of vampires around here?"

 

    "Not around here." Angel shook his head. "Most of them are in L.A. You're lucky.  You don't want to run into any."

 

    "But you’re a vampire."

 

    "That's a very good point. But I have soul.  So I don’t go around killing people."  Then he added, as an afterthought, "Not usually anyway."

 

    "Oh," Wade smiled kindly. "That's nice.  So, you're not much with the blood-sucking?"

 

    "No...no. I'm actually a Private Detective."

 

    "Good for you!"

 

    Wade and Angel stood, both just staring at their feet.

 

    "Miss Wells," Professor Arturo called over from where he stood, looking in shop windows. "It's time."

 

    "Oh, thank God," Wade muttered under her breath.  "It was nice to meet you, Angel."

 

    "Um...yeah. Nice to meet you too. Good luck with that whole 'sliding' thing.

 

    "Thanks."

 

    Angel watched as the four jumped into the blue swirly portal that had appeared before them.

 

    "Well, that was extremely awkward, " he said to himself as he headed off toward the bookstore. "Next time Wesley can get his own damn book. I'm staying in L.A."