It had taken longer than he'd have liked and the dull ache in his side from a lucky punch had slowed him down a little more, but Angel was confident that this was the place he'd overheard Doyle describing to Wesley.
And it was empty.
Angel glanced around before leaning against the nearest wall, his empty hand pressed protectively against his bruised rib cage as he tried to decide what to do next. Not that it was a complicated choice, he had two options, wait and see if he'd made it before the big bad showed up, or search the perimeter for signs that it already had. If it hadn't, searching nearby would leave him close enough for when it did arrive, and if it had, the less time wasted standing here, the better.
So choice two it was.
Ears cocked for the faintest sound, nostrils flared to catch the weakest scent, and eyes scanning the shadows for anything that might be lurking within, Angel spiraled out from his destination. It wasn't till his second circle that he picked anything up, almost too weak to be sure it wasn't his imagination.
But it wasn't. The scent hung on the edge of his sense, fresh earth, a hint of plants he couldn't place, and fear. Human fear. He sniffed the air again, his head weaving slowly from side to side like a predator honing in on its soon-to-be dinner. It was stronger this way.
A few steps, another pause to narrow in on the source, a few more. Rinse, repeat, rinse repeat, but each time getting stronger. Just as well, the city smells were growing stronger too, almost drowning out the other scents. All but the scent of fear. That rode high above all the others.
Angel licked his lips as he followed aromatic trail out into the open.
*sniff sniff* He turned his head, the fear leading him towards a hotdog stand manned by an angry vendor. Angel turned to look the other direction then turned a now confused glance back to the hotdog cart. The fear definitely headed that way. Even from here he could tell it damn near stunk of it over there. But the angry man behind the stand didn't seem frightened. Only angry.
So whoever, or whatever, he was tracking had gone over there and... what?
Hooking his sword to the inside of his coat he made his way to the cart.
"Have yo-"
"Damn thieves. The City need to do something about them. I pay my taxes, and what? Homeless freaks stealing right of my cart. That's what I get in return! I-"
The man went silent as Angel grabbed him be the front of his shirt and hauled him several inches into the air. "Which way?"
"Y-You c-"
"Which. Way."
A shaking finger was his answer and Angel threw a few bills onto the hotdog cart as he headed of in the pointed direction.