Here Always
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Joss Whedon and his people. The plot is
mine...'cause why on earth would Joss be nice to Buffy and Angel!
Rating: R, I guess that's the right rating for it. There's only some strong
language if anything at all.
Spoilers: Everything from the very beginning to the present which includes "Smashed" and "Lullaby".
Summary: This is an AU fic, but it starts from where "Smashed" and
"Lullaby" leave off. I could go on and explain, but I'd just rather
you read it...
Pairing: Um, well, Buffy and Angel obviously. Also, Wesley and Fred.
Distribution: Just let me know where it's going
Feedback: I would love it! Send it to kaylenkelly@hotmail.com
Authors Note: This is a repost of most of this story, but some of it has been
revised plus the last part...enjoy! Near the end, it shifts into Buffy's point
of view, it's clearly marked.
Here Always
'What am I doing?' Buffy asked herself for the tenth time, as she gazed up at the large hotel, thinking about the events that led her to these steps.
Mom's death. Her own death. Giles leaving. Willow's fall into magic. Xander's engagement to Anya. Dawn's struggle to find what her purpose was and her decision to move in with Tara. Spike's love, or rather, obsession with her.
True, she had made a mistake when it came to Spike. She attempted to find any kind of feeling with him. Unfortunately, all she found was guilt.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a familiar shout.
"Can't you shut that kid up!" Cordelia screamed, covering her ears with her hands.
Fred rocked the dark haired child back and forth furiously.
"I'm trying, he doesn't seem to like me very much. Wesley, do you have his formula yet?" Fred shouted over the wails of the small baby.
Wesley came from behind the counter, his shirt covered in a white, milky substance.
"Not quite," he muttered.
With all the noise, the make-shift parents didn't see Buffy standing at the door. She had an amused look on her face as she stifled a laugh.
"Do you need some help?" Buffy asked.
Everyone in the room stopped in their steps.
Fred sat the child in it's bouncing seat and
fell backwards onto the plush couch behind her, clearly exhausted.
Buffy's eyes fell to the crying child. She walked over to it, sat down on her
knees beside his bouncy seat, and simply fell in love with the child. He looked
up through his tearful eyes and ceased his crying.
'He looks so sweet,' Buffy thought to herself, 'and familiar.'
"Oh, he finally shut up!" Cordelia said, holding her arms out to welcome Buffy.
She hugged Cordelia and then Wesley.
Fred offered her hand to Buffy in appreciation.
"So, who's baby?" Buffy asked.
Cordelia, Wesley, and Fred all exchanged looks.
Cordelia sat down beside Buffy and went on to explain.
"So, in order to give birth she staked herself?" Buffy asked, her eyes wide, portraying complete shock.
'No wonder the kid looked familiar, it's Angel's,' Buffy thought to herself, hurt slowly seeped it's way into her features. She looked down to hide her sad eyes.
"Where is he? Is he okay? I didn't hear him crying," Angel asked frantically, running into the hotel, missing Buffy and the little boy beside the counter.
"Angel, calm down, Conner's fine," Cordelia said in the most comforting voice she could muster as she motioned to the floor in front of her.
"Hey there stranger," Buffy said, forcing a smile, as she fed the infant in her arms.
Angel looked down at her and slowly bent down to
pick up his son.
As soon as the infant had left Buffy's arms, his piercing wails began again.
Buffy stood up and offered her arms to Angel, silently asking for the child back.
He gave her a slightly cold look. With that, she put her arms up and silently waved goodbye to the small group and headed for the doors.
Cordelia gave Angel a menacing look as her head began pounding again.
"Angel, for the past few hours, the only time that child will cease it's crying is in Buffy's arms," Wesley said quietly, joining Fred on the couch with a sigh.
"Yeah, and just a warning Angel, your not going to have a very happy staff if that kid continues to scream like that day in and day out," Cordelia added.
He handed Conner to Cordelia and walked swiftly
out the front doors of the hotel after Buffy.
'I should have known that he'd freak seeing me,' Buffy reprimanded herself.
She pulled her keys out of her bag and pressed a little black button which unlocked the tan explorer with a beep.
She jumped in and slammed the door.
"I should have known," she yelled at herself as she hit the steering
wheel.
"Buffy," Angel said, the sound muffled by her window.
She looked over to him and put the window down.
"What?" She said, sounding a bit aggravated.
"Don't leave," he said in a pleading tone.
Inside the hotel, Cordelia began to shut the
computer down and started to turn the lights off.
"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home where babies don't scream
for hours," Cordelia said.
"Speak for yourself," Fred commented, knowing she would hear this all night long.
"Well, if you'd like Fred, your welcome to my couch at home," Wesley offered, hoping she'd accept. Every since she had arrived he'd had more than a little crush on the girl.
"You know what? I think I'd like that," she replied, sending Wesley's stomach into knots.
"Just let me go and grab some
clothes," she said as she raced up the large staircase.
Wesley smiled to himself, but it didn't go unnoticed by Cordelia.
"Just ask her out," she said.
"I beg your pardon?" He asked, trying
to act surprised by the accusation.
"Oh, please. It's not a huge secret you like the girl," Cordelia said,
poking him in the side.
Before he could reply, Buffy walked back into the hotel. Angel wasn't far behind with a few bags.
Cordelia looked from Buffy's troubled face to Angel's relieved one.
"Guess it looks like I'm staying for a while," Buffy said.
Two weeks later...
Buffy walked wearily down the large staircase with a sleeping baby in her arms. Every time she even attempted to lay him in his crib, he'd only begin to cry once she left the room. With one hand, she laid a blanket on the couch and gently laid the baby down.
It's been two weeks since Angel had chased her down near her car and begged her to stay for a while. At first, she had thought it was because he cared about her and knew she needed a place to stay. Now, she knew that he had just enlisted a babysitter. It was the same thing, day in and day out. Get up. Feed Conner. Change Conner. Play with Conner. Hear Cordelia rant about something. Hear Angel tell her that she can't go and get something, that he'll send Fred or Wesley. Sit and wait up until two or three in the morning for Angel and company to get home. Then, finally, sleep, if she was lucky.
She had been told bits and pieces of the story about Conner. About the child being special and about he needed to be protected. Angel wasn't quite forthcoming with information. In fact, he seemed to avoid her all together. Every time he saw her, he'd turn the other way and it felt like someone just slapped her in the face. Being here had brought her to a place where she felt she was needed, yet, shunned. She loved Angel and what hurt was the thought that he didn't love her back. All she was here for was to protect Conner when he wasn't there and to stay out of his way.
She sighed as she reached for the phone.
Nothing like the protection of a Slayer.
She waited for the dial tone and dialed 0.
"Yes, I would like to make a collect call to London, England," she said in a hushed voice, half wondering if Alyssa Milano was going to come out decked in black leather and tell her to use 1 800 COLLECT. At that moment, she would have killed her in an instant if she woke Conner up.
She heard the recorded voice come the phone asking her for the listing.
"Rupert Giles, please," she said. She waited a moment.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hey," His Slayer replied.
"Oh, Buffy, it's so good to hear from you. It's been a while, yes?" He said, taking off his glasses.
"Yeah, it has, I'm sorry I haven't written as much. It's just been a crazy few weeks," she said as she looked down at the small sleeping form beside her.
"Well, I'd like to hear about it, how is Sunnydale?" He asked, unaware of her sudden change in locations.
"Uh, well, that's just the thing. I'm not in Sunnydale," she said, almost hearing him cleaning his glasses.
"Not in Sunnydale? Where on earth are you?" He asked, not disappointing Buffy, he began to clean his glasses.
"Actually, I'm in LA, I'm staying at Angel's place," Buffy said, instantly regretting adding about who she was staying with. 'Not like anything is going to happen,' she added silently to herself.
"And your there, why?" He said, as though he was her father and just caught her sneaking in the window.
She proceeded to tell him about the baby, about how she was the only one who could keep him quiet, and about everyone from Sunnydale and LA.
"That's quite amazing," he commented.
"Which part?" Buffy wondered.
"All of it," he said.
"I just hope your not going to set yourself up for disappointment, Buffy," he added.
"What do you mean? Disappointment?" She asked, not understanding what he was addressing.
"This baby, it was brought into this world with a special cause, much like you were," he replied. "And like you, this child may not have a very long life ahead of it and I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Giles, maybe your right, but he's got me and I love him," she said, "and I'm not going to let anything happen to him. I've been freaking out about feeling so cold inside, but Giles, here, I feel like I have another purpose other than dying."
He sighed, "I know, Buffy, I know. I will begin looking into this prophecy about the child. Have a good night, dear," he said, hoping to find out about what danger she was weaving herself with.
"Goodnight Giles, love you," she said, hanging the phone up and glancing back down beside her.
'How can Fate be this cruel,' she thought. True, life hadn't been exactly fair to her, but this was an innocent child. Giles was right though. She was setting herself up for pain. She knew if something was to happen to this child it would rip her apart, destroy what was left of her anyway. And Angel. That was torture in itself. Seeing him every morning and every night. She missed him so much. He made her feel something no one has every made her feel. Love. When he left, it left her chilled to the bone and no matter what she did nothing had removed that feeling.
She leaned down and kissed Conner gently on the forehead.
She heard footsteps coming up the stairs that led to the doors. She stood up, becoming alert of anything going on around her.
She sighed a breath of relief when she saw it
was Angel, Cordelia, Fred, Wesley, and Gunn.
She was attempting to calm down and stop her heart from racing. She went through
this every night. She was ready to put her life on the line to save a child.
"How did it go?" She asked in a hushed tone, hoping everyone would follow that tone. The last thing she need was to stay up all night. Again.
"Demons," Cordelia said.
"Dead," Gunn added, laying his ax down on the counter as it dripped a blue substance from the blade. She cringed.
Angel walked up to her, "How's he been?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary, just the normal stuff. Diapers, bottles, playing, rocking, and that's about the it," she said, her exhaustion creeping it's way into her voice. She needed some air, maybe a walk. It had been so long since she had even walked out of the Hyperion Hotel, let alone by herself.
He sat down where she had been and gently rubbed his son's back.
"I'm going out," she announced.
Everyone looked at her in a funny way.
"It's two in the morning, Buffy," Wesley said.
"Yeah, and? It's different because why? Because I'm not up with a baby?" She said, becoming a little impatient.
"You can't leave, it's too dangerous," Angel said, half-hoping it would quell her sudden urge to leave.
"Angel, you can't tell me what to do," she said, attempting to keep her voice down.
"I say it's about time we all go home," Cordelia said.
"Yeah," everyone agreed in unison.
"Goodnight guys," Buffy said, then refocused her eyes on Angel.
They ushered themselves outside of the building.
"I wonder how that's going to end," Gunn said, commenting on the fight that was about to erupt in Angel Investigations.
"It won't be good," Fred said, glancing back at the door.
"After Angel made it pretty clear he didn't like Buffy leaving," Wesley started.
"He's going to have to do a lot better than 'It's too dangerous' to keep Buffy from doing something she wants to do," Cordelia finished.
"Well, goodnight all," Wesley said, he and Fred headed towards his car.
"Do you think that she'll just stay home?" Fred asked curiously.
"Buffy was my Slayer for a short period of time and when she adamant about something, nothing on earth will stop her," he said, getting into the car.
"Yeah, why did she quit the Watcher's
Council? How was that in the way?" She wondered as she reached for her
seatbelt.
"She quit because of Angel," he finally.
"Oh," was the only reply he got.
"I think she's right, Angel can't keep her
chained up in the hotel," Wesley said.
"I agree," Fred replied, "but, I think it'll take a little more
than 'I'm going out because I can' to convince Angel otherwise."
Inside the hotel, Buffy crossed her arms in
front of her chest, not backing down.
"What brought this on, Buffy?" Angel asked, becoming impatient with
the girl. He hated to fight with her, but he knew there wasn't going to be an
easy fix with this. Mentally, he had been preparing himself for this fight.
Emotionally, he was dying with every reply.
"Your treating me like I'm your babysitter!" She said in a loud whisper.
"Well, you kind of are, aren't you?" He replied. That only made her more upset. Silently, he scolded himself. He was
extremely grateful that the one person that could cast him speechless could do
the same for his son. He feared that she would leave and his son would be
unprotected from the darkness that wished to capture him. If Buffy wasn't there,
he could only imagine how terrible it would be. He would never be able to help
people in need because the person in need was a one month old infant and he, who
had no experience with children, along with the rest of the group, could not
even begin to know what to do.
"Yes, I am. In fact that's what this is about. You never let me leave,
Angel. I'm always here with Conner and don't get me wrong, I love him more than
I thought I could. But, he's like me. He was brought into this world with a
purpose and it doesn't always come with a lifetime warranty," she said,
stepping closer to him. It stung her to tell him that, like it had become more
real by letting herself say it.
"What are you saying?" Angel asked, already knowing what she was saying was true.
"I'm saying that as long as I'm here you don't need to be. You see me as a way to get rid of the pain that you might lose your own son. You know why he always cries when you hold him? 'Cause he doesn't know you. Your never around because you think it'll hurt less if something happens to him," she said gesturing to the sleeping form on the couch behind him.
He looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact. He knew that if he let himself be around Conner too much he would never be able to handle something happening to him.
"Angel, just look at him, he deserves to know his own father," she said, moving slightly closer, attempting to regain eye contact.
When he looked up, his eyes were clouded by unshed tears.
She instantly regretted saying anything and put her arms around him. She knew the feeling, she had done the same thing with Dawn. After their mother died, she felt as though if she got too close to Dawn again, she would only be preparing herself for heartache when Glory got a hold of her.
"I'm sorry," she said into his shirt.
She felt him shake with a sob and she winced.
She pulled away from him slightly and gently wiped a stray tear from his cheek with the pad of her thumb.
"Your right," he said in a hushed tone that conveyed more emotion than she thought was possible. Fear. Doubt. Pain. Sorrow. Love.
He leaned down and pressed his forehead lightly to hers and captured her lips for a chaste kiss.
It felt so familiar. Yet, it felt so different.
She felt her heart begin to race. She leaned into him.
'No,' she thought to herself. 'He's upset, your taking advantage of him.'
'But, it's so nice,' she relented.
Guilt began to well up inside her and she pulled away from him.
"Angel, as much as I want to do this, your just upset. I care about you too much to let you do something your going to regret," Buffy said, brushing past him. She picked up the baby and headed to her room where his crib was at.
"I wasn't," he said to the emptiness of the room.
He sighed and turned off the light. It ended better than he thought, he had to admit at least that.
She was still upstairs.
She was still holding his son.
And she still cared about him.
Gavin and Lilah exited the office with fear locked on their faces.
"This is all your fault, you know that?" Lilah said after a few moments of silence as she and her partner walked quickly down the busy hall.
"And this would be how?" Gavin retorted.
"Well, where to begin?" She asked herself.
She tilted her head to the side as though she was thinking hard.
Gavin waited for a minute, then two. He glanced over to her.
"First, you could have told me we had an appointment with the Senior Partners today," she said, pushing him hard against the wall.
"Second, you could have spoken up a little for me. After all, it is me who is getting Holtz to join our side," she said, releasing him from her grip.
"Well, we have better do something reputable or everything they said is going to happen," Gavin said, straightening out his tie and adjusting his collar.
Lilah cringed at his words. She knew he was right. The Senior Partners were getting a little more than impatient with their lack of progress on Angel. As much as it pained her, she had to work with Gavin in order to save her own life.
A bumbling office assistant shoved past people on his way down the hall. He searched through the people passing for his employer.
"Boss!" He yelled, waving his arms in
attempt to catch Gavin's attention.
The assistant quickened his pace, of course, he wasn't paying attention to his
feet and tripped. Landing with a thud, he looked up to Lilah and Gavin, who both
looked less than pleased.
"And just how do you think we could possibly keep our lives when you have people like this on your side," Lilah said, gesturing to the recovering man.
"What is it?" Gavin asked impatiently.
"Boss, you gotta see this," he said as he signaled for them to follow.
Meanwhile, at Angel Investigations, Buffy
Summers groaned as her alarm sounded.
She let out a long yawn as she tore the blankets away from herself. Her body
shivered in response to the sudden loss of warmth.
Placing her feet on the cold floor, she heard a loud crash downstairs followed by a baby crying. She glanced across the room to Conner's crib and found he wasn't there.
She nearly knocked the door off it's hinges trying to get downstairs. She reached the foot of the steps, her heart racing, to see Angel attempting to calm Conner and clean up milk from the floor.
"Angel, what happened?" Buffy asked, stepping from the bottom stair and walking towards them.
"I dropped his bottle, it must have scared him," Angel said, disappointment laced in his voice.
"I was trying to let you get some rest,"Angel added, "but, instead, I think I nearly gave you a heart attack."
"I'm fine," she said, flattered by his intentions.
"That's why your heart is racing a mile a
minute," he said, flashing her a small smile.
She blushed as she bent over to pick the empty bottle up. 'I guess he isn't
upset about last night,' Buffy thought to herself.
"Um, I was wondering if it would be okay if
I left for a little while today, just to go out to lunch with someone," Buffy said, praying that they don't have repeat of last night's argument.
"Oh, yeah, it's fine. Everyone is taking a day off today anyway, you
should, too," he said, feeling slightly jealous at the thought of Buffy
going out with someone, even if it's just lunch.
"Okay, good, my dad is actually in LA for a while so we are going to go this place he used to take me when I was little," she said, reassuring him it wasn't some guy she was secretly dating or something.
"That's nice," he replied.
"Were you jealous?" She asked, a smile gracing her face.
"What?" He asked, caught off guard by her question.
"No, of course not," he said unconvincingly, sitting Conner in his playpen.
Buffy raised her eyebrows, "Oh, I was just wondering."
"You know I'm lying, don't you," he concluded.
"Oh, yeah," she laughed.
She took a step closer to reach for a towel to help clean up. Not really paying attention to where she was stepping, she slipped on the spilt milk which still remained on the floor.
She closed her eyes waiting to make hard contact with the cold hotel floor. She opened them curiously when she didn't to see Angel holding her by her waist.
"Uh, want to watch it there, it's just a little bit slippery," she said, her cheeks turned dark red with embarrassment.
"Yeah, I'll remember that," Angel laughed, helping her regain her balance.
She laughed in response to his remark, but she was quickly silence by his lips.
'Oh, not this again,' she thought to herself. 'But he's not upset, he's fine...happy even.'
Refusing to think about it she wound her arms around his neck and gave into his kiss.
In a small room at Wolfram & Hart, Lilah Morgan and Gavin Parks both stared at the couple in their intimate embrace on a small monitor.
"I want everything you can find on this
girl," Lilah said.
Gavin looked at her with question.
"I think we just found our new lease on life," she said, looking once more to the small screen.
Buffy looked around the restaurant uncomfortably. Her father was late, even if it was just by ten minutes.
She sighed as she sat back down in the booth.
'He had said here, right?' She asked herself silently. When she was little and he and her mother would separate, he would take her here to make it up to her. She never had the heart to tell him that it didn't really make it up to her, nothing really could. When a ten year old sees her mother kick her father out of the house for the second time in one month, nothing could erase that.
"Hey pumpkin," Hank Summers said, startling Buffy from her thoughts.
She stood up to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. It had been the first time she had seen him since her mother died and the first time he had ever voluntarily taken her somewhere without canceling. She felt partly angry with him for not being there for her and Dawn, but she decided to attempt to just focus on their lunch.
They sat in silence, waiting for their waitress. He was the first to speak up.
"So, what brings you from Sunnydale?" Hank asked, folding his hands in front of him on the table.
"Just staying with a friend for a while.
Had to get out of there for a little while," she replied.
"So, what brings you to LA?" She asked, bitterness crept it's way into
her tone.
"Something at the work is causing a bit of a problem," Hank said.
"So, I'll be here for a while," he
added with a smile. "It'll give us some time to catch up."
Buffy flashed a smile as she screamed inside.
"That man is insufferable!" Buffy complained to Angel a few hours later.
"What makes you say that?" He settled on the couch, handing her a Pepsi. He was surprised she was talking to him at all. After that sudden kiss that morning, he was expecting her to tell him something like it wasn't right or she didn't feel that way about him. Instead, she smiled and kissed him back. He felt as though he didn't deserve her, not after all this time. He tried to not dwell on the thought and to just be happy she was there.
"He thinks that just because stuff is starting to suck at his job, he gets to play perfect daddy for a while and then just leave," she said, opening the Pepsi and taking a sip. She began to pout as she leaned her head on Angel's shoulder.
"What's he do that allows him to just be free and clear so much?" He asked.
"He works at a law firm. Apparently, because he's so high on the ladder he doesn't have to do much and gets paid as though he did something," she said, setting the can down in fear she might just crush it from her anger.
"A law firm? Here in LA?" Angel asked, fear rising in his mind.
"Yeah, Wolfram & Hart, stupid name for a law firm if you ask me. He's one of the senior partners," she answered.
She waited for a response of some sort. When none came, she lifted her head up and saw a strange look on his face, one that she couldn't make out.
"Angel?" She asked, puzzled by his expression.
Angel sat there shocked. Buffy's father was entangled with Hell, brought Darla back to life, had a warrant for his death, and was trying to take his son.
"Uh, Buffy, I think we need to talk," Angel said, wondering where he was going to begin and wondering if she would listen to it.
"Your wrong," she said, her voice quivering.
"I know this is hard--" he began,
reaching out to touch her, to try and calm her down.
"What do you know about this?" She yelled, interrupting him. She
stepped back to avoid his hand.
"I know enough to know they want me dead and Conner," he said, raising his voice.
"No, your wrong Angel, I know you are," she said, picking up her purse, she headed for the door.
He ran to cut her off before she stepped in the rays of sunlight of which he knew he couldn't touch. He grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me," she said, attempting to keep her voice steady.
"No, I know this is hard for you, but being angry at me isn't going to make it go away. How did you think Darla came back? Huh? Who do you think blew up my old apartment building? Who do you think has been chasing me and my friends around LA every since I arrived? Do you think I'm lying to you?" He yelled, losing all ability to keep his voice down. He was so angry about her not believing him he could hardly see straight.
He looked down at her and the look on her face broke his heart into a million pieces. Tears were slowly making their way down her beautiful face. She pulled herself from his grasp and headed out the door, all he could do was watch her go.
A small cry came from the blue playpen in the center of the room. Angel turned back from where he was standing.
"Yeah, I know the feeling."
Meanwhile, at Wolfram & Hart, a short girl
nervously knocked at Lilah Morghan's door.
"What is it?" She called from inside the office.
"I have some files from records for you and
Mr. Parks," she said, opening the door slightly.
Lilah held out her hand as the girl made her way over to the large desk and
placed them in her hand. She smiled at the girl, who politely smiled back,
relieved that she got the right files and she wasn't going to get fired. Before
she had let go of the files, Lilah grabbed the girl's wrist.
"If you so much as think about telling someone about these files, they will be looking for pieces of your body for weeks," she said menacingly. Lilah released the girl and watched her run out of the office near tears.
Gavin, who had been sitting in the corner, commented, "You really think one secretary saying something about files is going to put us in jeopardy?"
"No," Lilah smiled, "but, I just like the power trips. It's the one thing I'll miss if I end up getting killed by the Senior Partners."
He got up and pulled up a chair across from
Lilah as she opened the files.
"Her name is Buffy Summers," Lilah began.
"Sounds like a valley girl to me," Gavin said.
"She sure doesn't act like one, look at this record. She got kicked out of Hemery High School here in L.A. for burning a gymnasium down. Her parents divorced when she was 15," Lilah said, looking farther on.
"Anything specific on her parents?" Gavin asked.
"No, we'll pull their files if needed," she answered.
"She left L.A. with her mom and moved to Sunnydale...Sunnydale? Isn't that the, uh, damn," Lilah said.
"Help me out here," she demanded, gesturing emphatically.
"The Hellmouth," Gavin provided.
"Look at this, she was questioned several times for unexplained occurrences, even a few murders," Lilah finished.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gavin said, his voice a bit sing-song.
"No, what?" She replied.
"It sounds like we've found the Slayer Angel used to date...and it looked like he's also currently dating,"Gavin said.
Gavin laughed, "This is too perfect."
"You don't remember that last Slayer that was in here?" Lilah said.
"No, I thought that there was only one Slayer at a time. By the looks of this girl's files it would suggest she's been an active Slayer for at least six years," Gavin said, slightly confused.
"She was, but from what Faith, the other
Slayer told us, Buffy died for a few moments and it called another Slayer of
which Drusilla killed. That Slayer's death activated Faith," Lilah said.
"But, when we tried to enlist Faith for our services Angel turned her to
the good side," she added, her voice dripping with anger over the issue.
"She's currently in jail," Lilah said, looking over the file.
Gavin took the file from her, leaving her scowling.
"There's no current address," he concluded.
"Well, from the looks of it, it would appear she's living with him," she said.
"We need information about her family, if a rogue Slayer turned against us...then this one is going to be extremely hard to take advantage of," Gavin said standing up.
"To the records, I suppose," Lilah said, walking out of her office, toward the elevator.
Once they reached the room, they searched for
any records even pertaining to the girl.
Gavin searched the database and came across Buffy's birth certificate.
"Buffy Anne Summers," Gavin said out loud.
Lilah quit looking through the file cabinets and
walked up behind Gavin.
"Born to..." Gavin faltered.
"That can't be right," he concluded.
"What can't be right," Lilah demanded.
"According to the records, she was born to Joyce and Henry Summers," he said.
"Hank Summers, as in Senior Partner Hank Summers?" Lilah asked.
"The one and only," he confirmed.
"Maybe getting her to our side won't be so hard," Lilah said, a smile crept up on her features.
Cordelia met up with Angel and the rest of the group at the hotel. She unnerved by Angel's urgency on the phone and when she heard the baby crying, she just knew it was something to do with Buffy.
"Hello all," she said as she entered the building.
"So Angel, what was so urgent you had to make me cancel my spa appointment and after everyone thinks I should take it easy...tsk, tsk, tsk," she said.
"Yes Angel, what happened? You sounded quite upset on the phone," Wesley added.
"Look, I'm going to be straight forward here. You know the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart?" Angel began.
"Yeah, aren't they the dudes that are all up into 'Evil is the way of the world and it's in all of us' kick?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah, something like that. They are
basically the big guys at Wolfram & Hart. Guess who's daddy just happens to
be one of them?" Angel said.
Everyone had a blank look on their faces, waiting for the answer.
"Buffy's father is one of them," he said, answering his own question.
"Her father is the head of the firm?" Fred asked, just to make sure she had it right.
"Yeah, she had lunch with him today and she was telling me about him and she casually let me know the Hank Summers is one of the most prominent lawyers at good old Wolfram & Hart," Angel said, angry at himself for what he did earlier. It had been four hours since she had left and it would be dark soon. He was worried about her from the moment she stepped outside the hotel's doors.
"Oh, wow, this could be pivotal," Wesley said.
"Yeah, we could use Buffy to gather
information about their ultimate intentions," Fred added.
"Well, there's one little problem with that," Angel said.
"And what's that?" Gunn asked.
"She didn't believe me and ran out about four hours ago," he said.
"Oh, this is just perfect," Cordelia said sarcastically.
"Oh, this is just perfect," Lilah said, clapping her hands. "All we need is to follow her for a while, figure out what she's vulnerable to, then if we can't persuade her join us then I'm sure her daddy can."
"Exactly," Gavin agreed as they headed out for the doors of the large building.
A blond girl ran past them, nearly knocking Gavin over. Lilah slowly made her way to the desk she was at.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where Hank Summers' office is at?" the blond asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, he's not accepting any--" the secretary was cut off by Lilah.
"Hi, you know Mr. Summers?" she said politely.
"Yeah, he's my father, I needed to talk to him," Buffy replied.
"I could show you to his office," she said smiling.
"Could you? Thank you so much," Buffy said, flashing her a small smile back.
"Oh, it's no problem," Lilah said,
putting her arm around Buffy.
"It's no problem at all."
She had been sitting there for twenty minutes, smiling and nodding in the appropriate intervals, bored out of her mind.
Everything that Angel said ran through her mind many times as she sat there, listening to her dad talk about every single person on his staff.
"So, did you need anything pumpkin?" He asked.
"Uh, no, nothing in particular," she lied, not being able to convince herself to ask anything along the lines as 'Are you evil?'
"So, wow, this office is something else," she said, taking in her surroundings once more. His office was huge and curiously shaded in dark blues and blacks.
"What do you do here? You must have a really big job here," she said, attempting to pawn her questions off as curiosity.
"Oh, everyone in this building is under my command," he said proudly.
"So, you don't have a boss?" Buffy asked, becoming intrigued about his ability to dodge answering the questions.
"Of course I have a boss. In fact, we have a meeting tomorrow night," he answered.
"Um, I better go, it's getting kinda late and, well, dark," she said, glancing outside of his partly open window.
"Buffy, it's not safe to travel at night," he said sternly, his cheeriness vanished in an instant.
"I insist someone walks you to your
car," he said, his tone suggested he wasn't just insisting, he was telling
her. He bent over towards the intercom.
"It's okay, I'll be fine," Buffy said as she stood up and headed for
the door.
She shut the door quick as to avoid her father's objections. Buffy didn't see it, this evil Angel spoke of so vividly. Her father may not be the best man in the world, but she just couldn't peg him as evil in contract with Hell.
She headed for the elevator when she heard hushed whispers coming from a room nearby. With the door slightly left ajar, she peeked in.
"I can't believe Hank Summers daughter is a Slayer. I don't think things could have worked out more perfectly," Lilah said.
"Just wait until daddy hears about this," a man's voice added.
"Do you think it's wise to just tell him out of the blue?" Lilah asked, concern rose in her voice.
"I mean, look at it this way. He's going to be pissed to find that his little girl, who just happens to be the Slayer, caught up with a vampire," she said.
"He's going to be angry," the man said.
"Exactly why we should wait. Did you hear what he said he'd do to us if we botched another plan? Those were some pretty graphic details," Lilah said.
"Your right, we have to be careful. We'll just watch the girl for a while until we can figure out what to do until then," the man said.
Buffy pulled away from the door, a look of shock
on her face.
She was being watched.