LA 2015

Kate Lockley stepped out of the LA PD building where she was stationed and flicked through the pages that Angel had faxed to her, as one of his longest serving friends and recruitment advisors, she was the person that he had asked to pick up their newest employee. Kate could remember Faith's arrest and the crimes that she had been tried for, after 15 years of a 25 year sentence she was being released on probation, as long as she had a job to go to. Angel had seen to it that she would be well provided for, even if she decided not to take a job with him. The Slayer had survived longer than any other, merely because of the fact that she was locked safely away in a maximum security facility where no demons could kill her.

There was no chance that she was criminally violent anymore, the thought therapy that she had received would have seen to that, but now she would be more able to cope with the responsibility of being a slayer of Vampires and protector of mankind, there was a question as to whether or not she would want the job. Kate sighed, sometimes being Captain of Personal Relations, really sucked.

------------------

The phone rang just as Riley's dream was getting interesting, Spike was obviously asleep next to him as it rang more than once so the sleepy blonde got up to answer the phone.

"Hello?" He asked, bleary eyes noticing that it was 7 AM and almost time to wake up anyway.

"Ri. It's Linz." Came the familiar voice of his other boss. "I know that it's a little early for you, especially as Will no doubt kept you up all night, but I've got a job I need you to do. Something that requires your extra special talents."

"Lin, I've got classes all month, you know that." Riley said, wishing that he could help out, even that he could give up the lecturing that he loved so much, but he needed a cover and this was his.

"Not anymore. The dean owed me a favour or two, lets just say you have a week off to relax, well, at least that is what he thinks you'll be doing." Lindsey said gently. "I need you to go to LA, check up on one of Wolfram's old cases."

"What aren't you telling me Lin?" Riley asked, sensing a 'but' somewhere in his old friend's tone.

"It's Faith Ferrelli, the slayer." Lindsey said, holding the phone away from his ear as he heard a string of expletives that only a former Marine would know. "You leave tomorrow at Dusk" He said, hanging up.

The lawyer was a little on edge after his call to Riley Finn, the agent had been in his employ for a few years now, they knew each other relatively well and he was aware of the fact that Riley and his mate would both have issues with a Slayer. This however was business and since he had gotten his act together there was no way that he was going to let feelings get in the way of his work, not after the last time. For Lindsey, falling in love with Angel had been a mistake, thinking that he could change the Vampire's mind about him had been an even bigger one and now that he had cleaned himself up and wiped the slate clean, the Vampire was well out of his league. Yes, mixing business and pleasure was not the way to go. He just hoped that Riley could think the same thing.

-------------

Faith Ferrelli stepped out of the large metal door and into the heat of the California sun. It was the first time in fifteen years that she had been on this side of the bars, and it felt great to be out. Prison life had been good to the Slayer, at least as good as it could be for anyone. She had signed up to do some courses and after finishing her Equivalency exams had enrolled on a course in psychology and criminology. As well as education Faith had trained a few hours every day in the gym and built her figure so that she was stronger than she had ever been, which with her slayer strength was saying something.

"Faith?" She heard from the side of her as she stepped outside, shielding her eyes from the morning sun that was rising in her line of sight, she saw a familiar blonde. Kate had lost some of her figure with middle age, but was still young enough for Faith to recognize her.

"What do you want?" Faith asked, only belatedly thinking that getting involved in a fight with a police officer was not a good thing. "Come to arrest me?"

"No. I'm not here as a cop, I'm here on behalf of Angel Investigates." Kate said, expecting some reaction from the feisty brunette. "Mr. O'Connell is interested in recruiting you."

Faith smiled, the thoughts of Angel telling her all those years ago that there was a job with him, that she would be able to come out and he would give her the help that she had needed. She guessed he was a man of his word.

"So, It's Mr. O'Connell now?" She asked with a grin "Not like I've got anything better to do." Faith said, picking up the small bag that contained her lifetimes worth of belongings. Kate was in awe of the girl that she had heard so much about, almost running the prison for years when she got in, eight years ago she had suddenly become the model prisoner. It was something that Kate had never understood and she was still wary of whether the girl had changed at all. She just hoped that Angel knew what he was getting into.

Neither of them were aware of the man following them at a discreet distance, hired by a firm to keep track of the newly freed slayer he too was conscious of how this girl could affect people's lives, but for him it was more personal. Faith had very nearly cost him his relationship when he had been with Buffy, he was not going to let her do anything like that again.

*****
Part 8: The Reunion

Earlier that morning. Hollywood Hills District LA.

Stuart Granger drove like a bat out of hell to the gates of the large house where his star guitarist lived, not only was the boy the key player in the band but also the song writer and lynch pin of the ensemble. He was still unsure of why the richest man in the city was helping him with his problem, or who the old friend was that he had been referring to but he was glad to have the dark knight on his side.

Angel was pensive, he stared out of the window at the passing streets and began to think about what he ought to say to Oz, it was not as if the boy was not expecting him but Granger had not had time to tell him that Angel himself was coming out. It hurt a little too that Oz had not come to him directly, he knew that they had not parted as lovers, but he hoped that the parting had at least been as friends and Angel built his life on the premise that friends helped each other out.

As the car slowed and they approached an impressive set of gates Angel felt his stomach tighten. He had not been this nervous since his last few visits to Sunnydale before Buffy died. He just hoped that Oz was as glad to see him as he would be to see the boy.

-------------

Daniel Osborne paced the narrow hall of his excessive mansion estate and impatiently waited for his manager to arrive. He briefly wondered where it was that his life had gone so wrong, he remembered being happy when he left Sunnydale, but his first mistake had been in ever going back. Even after finding solace with his past lovers he was still aware that he was alone. It had been the music that saved him, writing down all of his feelings in a number of songs, then Dev had called him, the Dingoes needed a guitarist in LA and was he interested, so they had toured as a band and he and Dev had picked up where they left off, as friends. That was to be his second mistake, Dev's death had nearly killed him, a victim of their own success the Dingoes died soon after, Oz and Dean had gotten in two other players and played around, each masquerading as a singer so that they would never have to replace the irreplaceable. Stuart Granger had signed them one night when he saw them play at some dive and with the 2011 Equality of Species act they had changed their name to Zero Hundred and Oz was the first non-human to hit the number one spot on the Billboard chart. Now he was being stalked by one of the extremist Christian groups that wanted to eradicate all of the non-human, non-Christian entities and were, not for the first time, using their religion as a smoke-screen for prejudice.

The beep of the gate security system pulled him out of his musings. Oz turned on the camera and saw Stu's familiar car in the drive, he buzzed him in and waited for the guy to come up, there was a part of him that wondered why he was so scared of a possible intruder, but he knew it was not him that he was scared for. The wolf was tamed by drugs and growth hormones that tamed the reaction cells in his blood, but if he got angry the animal still came out and chances were the attacker would end up worse than he would.

-------------------

"That's not a great security system." Angel commented as they got in quite easily and were not stopped. "Anyone with a similar car could get in here."

"Oz could smell a stranger." Stuart said, after all it was not a secret that Lycanthropes (as the species had been christened) were well known for their good olfactory senses. "But maybe you are right, I'll look into a new system for him."

"I'll get a team out here tomorrow to take care of it." Angel responded, after all Oz was one of his family now and they got top notch treatment. Stuart pulled the car up in front of the house and Angel took no time on getting out.

"Go on up to the house, Oz tends to have an open policy on visitors anyway. You'll probably want to check the security." Angel nodded, the vague invitation hopefully enough to get him in, it was all in vain however as Oz met him at the door, the smell of the leather and a familiar musk too much for Oz's nose.

"Angel....Hi..." Oz said nervously, Angel reached out and pulled the smaller man close. "I swear I didn't send Stuart to you, he wanted the best in the city. I thought that you'd send one of your operatives."

"Oz. We look after our own and Cordy and I would still count you as part of the team." Angel said, hugging the scared man close. "When I heard it was you I had to come. First thing is first though, you can't stay here, there is room at the Hyperion if you want, or we can get a place." Angel said, Oz nodded against the coolness of the silk shirt that his ex-lover wore. Oz felt safer than he had in a long while.

-------------------

Oz felt safe and loved for the first time in years. He woke in the arms of his ex-lover and remembered the few weeks of pleasure he had spent there after his ordeal at the hands of the Initiative, now he was back in the hotel where he had recovered and back in Angel's arms. He was surprised that Angel still lived in the converted hotel, he would have to ask his bodyguard about it when the Vampire woke. Most of the previous night was still fuzzy in his mind, he remembered packing his clothes and favourite guitar into Stu's car but after that it faded. He recalled feeling warm and safe in Angel's embrace and assumed that he had fallen asleep. Now his stomach was growling for food as deeply as the wolf inside was growling for release. That meant pills and food or things would not be pretty.

Oz looked at the peaceful slumber that had captured Angel, the vampire was known more for his insomnia than his deep sleep and Oz felt bad about disturbing him so instead he decided to go and find the food on his own. After all the place could not have changed that much since he had last been there.

------------

For Faith the Hyperion was a new experience, she had been in prison for almost more of her life than she had been out of it and now that she was finally free things were looking up. From the outside the shabby building had all of the characteristics of a halfway house in disrepair, but inside there was a state of the art building just bursting to come out. Kate had decided that the safest place to bring a girl she was not sure if she trusted was to the barracks. After all, if Faith was dangerous then here she was surrounded by killers, or would have been if anyone had been home.

"So, Lockley. What's a girl supposed to do around this place for fun?" Faith asked, picking up a copy of Life magazine and discarding it when she saw the smiling face of Cordelia staring back at her.

"With you Ferrelli, as little as possible." Kate answered snidely. Faith smiled, it was rare that anyone stood up to her, especially once they knew who or what she was. This girl had definite balls and she liked that in a woman, plus she had the cute blonde thing going on and that was another of Faith's turn ons.

"Five by Five." Faith said with a noncommittal shrug. The pair stared at each other, each fighting for dominance with their gaze when a door banged and both got to their feet from years of combat training.

"Hey Dogboy." Faith said as she saw the small guitar player emerge from what appeared to be the basement flat.

"Faith?" Oz asked, ever the laconic man.

"Well I see that sex and drugs and rock and roll have not affected the old powers of observation." Faith said. "The question is, What's a nice pup like you doing in a place like this?"

"Angel..." Oz said beginning to speak before he caught a familiar scent that stopped him in his tracks, it was hard to place and yet it reminded him of the Initiative days in a way he did not care to remember.

"Mr. Osbourne is no doubt a client." Kate said haughtily. "Which is of little concern to you and your training."

"Did I mention that Angel sprung me to work my ass off for him?" Faith said, ignoring Kate, much to the cop's chagrin, and talking to Oz and in a manner that was not appropriate for a client. The werewolf was more worried about the scent that seemed to be lingering, not a flashback but more a current smell.

"Cool." He said distractedly, as he scanned the room for a clue, just as he saw a shadowed face at the window the smell was gone and with it his only clue to what it was that was disturbing him. Wordlessly he made his way off to what smelled like a kitchen, not wanting to stay around the slayer or her friend while he again buried the memories so long forgotten.

Faith shrugged, she was sure that she would get more out of him when he was more lucid, although even hyped on caffeine the man would never achieve more that a few sentences at a time. Faith smiled, a guy after her own heart more concerned with action than deed.

*****
Part 9: The Scooby Snacks.

Mid Afternoon Across Town.

Willow Rosenburg was glad to be out of the car when they returned home to LA, it was not that she disliked being in the car, but four hours with two children under the age of ten in an enclosed space tested even the most patient of people. Anne was just coming to the age where she was beginning to question why she had a different name and wondering who her parents were. After meeting Tara's parents, she was even more inquisitive about her own.

"Hiya." Xander said as he opened the door, Willow was immediately confused being as it was too early in the day for Xander to be home.

"Daddy!"

"Xander!" The two girls called as they barreled into his legs and hugged him closely.

"Did you two rascals have a good time at Nana and Grandpa's?" He asked, the two began a long spiel about all that they had done on their trip. Usually Xander, once known as the king of babble, was the only one that could understand the ramblings of the two children, but today his mind was on other things.

"Why don't the two of you go into the other room and play." Xander said, this was another clue to Willow that something was wrong. Xander never dismissed the girls even if he was busy, it was a lesson he had learnt from his own childhood. As soon as the two were out of earshot and Tara was inside Willow turned to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Faith is out." He said simply, Willow watched him, she knew that this was a bone of contention for Xander who had nearly lost his life to the slayer but there was more to it than that. Even Xander would not hold a grudge for more than 15 years.

"What else?" Willow asked, Xander looked in to the other room where the girls were playing before handing his life long friend an envelope. Interested in what had gotten her friend so worried she opened it and pulled out two leaves of paper. One was a photocopy of what appeared to be a legal document and the other was a letter from a lawyer.

"What is it?" Tara asked uncertainly, sensing the change and darkening of Willow's aura.

"She wants Anne." Willow said.

"Who?" Tara asked. "Joyce?"

"No, Faith" Willow said, letting the letter drop in shock.

"How can she...?" Tara began until she found the letter, it was seeking custody of Anne as Willow had said, but it was the other document that caught the little witch's attention. Two pieces of paper shrunk so they fit on one Xeroxed copy, one a birth certificate for Anne Joycelyn Ferreli and the other adoption papers, signing custody over to Buffy. Anne was not Buffy's at all but according to the papers was Faith's child. They had just finished telling Anne repeatedly that her real Mommy was in Heaven, now they were going to have to break it to her that the angel watching over her was not her Mommy at all.

*****
Part 10: Watching, Waiting.

Outside the Hyperion Hotel. Mid afternoon.

Riley shifted uncomfortably in the back of the surveillance van and stared at his sleeping lover who lay less than a few feet away. The Professor wondered why he took these jobs, why he let Lindsey manipulate him the way he did. Deep down Riley knew that the lawyer had been a critical player in the soldier's large severance pay and the fact that he was still alive after he had "retired" from the army, but in the warmth of the van he wondered if the debt was not paid yet. Since going straight, Lindsey McDonald did not take payment from his clients, at least not the real ones he was helping. To fund his work he would take one or two high profile cases a year and then the rest of his work was funded by favours and money siphoned from old Wolfram accounts before the firm's collapse.

Nothing seemed to be going on with the Slayer, she was settled for the day and the cop was staying with her. If anything went down he was sure that he was going to hear it. Riley knew that Angel was in there too, if not there was some other Vamp activity as the blinds were drawn and the sun shades blocked the door. Riley watched his lover shift unconsciously and thought back to what the blonde had told him of Angel, he hated him even more now. Still this was a job and there was no reason to treat it as anything but that.

Spike shifted again and began to mumble, his words slurred in his sleep, but it sounded as if there was mourning in the words and he kept repeating a word beginning with "Z" that Riley could not make out. With one last glance to check that there had indeed been no movement in the last hour Riley chose to lay down with his lover and get some sleep.

Spike moved back into the arms that engulfed them, as if he needed the warmth against his cold skin, he quieted a little from his moans as Riley motioned him back into his embrace. Riley was on the verge of sleep when he heard the words.

"Love you Pet."

"I love you too, tiger." He said playfully, using the names that they had flirted with in the early days. It was nice to be cuddly with the over protective Vampire. It would be even better in a real bed, still there were jobs he had to do and they all had their sins to repent.

*****