A/N: Inspired by I Am Legend, Jeremiah, Resident Evil, and Jericho, here’s my post apocalyptic tale……

"Why are we doing this again?"

"We’re doing this ‘cause Angel reckons Marvin Barnes is a collector of occult and rare texts who has or probably had the best collection of apocalyptic prophecy in the world," Faith retorted.

"Great," her companion grunted as they crept through the darkened corridor, dust scuffling in their wake. "So why are we in this goddamn hospital?"

Faith raised an eyebrow at Xander’s continued grumbling. "’Cause Fang’s broken int all three of Barnes’ mansions on this continent and found zip. He figures Barnes to have been a pretty ruthless bastard who only donated to one charity, this hospital, the one nearest to his primary home. So he figures all this money Barnes pumped into this hospital gave him certain privileges including maybe a hiding place."

"As usual what Deadboy thinks we have to follow up."

"That ain’t fair," Faith stopped and peeked her head around a corner. "’Tain’t like the others aren’t here too."

"Whatever," Xander grunted. There was a dangerous edge to her man that hadn’t been there before the disaster. But then the last three years had changed them all and rarely for the better. "Just let’s get it over with."

Faith carried on, keeping to the shadows. Just five years ago, just after her break-out and the Mass Calling, she’d been on top of the world, scared yet exhilarated by her freedom. ‘Course it hadn’t taken long for her life to go down the crapper, firstly with Wood sticking his tool into a gal Watcher five months into their relationship. She’d been resting in England and waiting for Giles to sort out the legal problems caused by the two weeks’ hospital stay she’d given Wood as a leaving gift when Xander had returned from nine months in Africa.

Xand had warned everyone who came within earshot about what the African Shamen had said about the impending world ending. ‘Course Harris being Harris no-body important had cared to listen, both Buffy and Red being smugly secure in the Slayer army, and G as always following their lead.

Looking back at it that way, it was little wonder Xand was permanently pissed these days.

Not that she was complain’, well not about Xand’s return least ways. It had given her a chance to apologise and them to bond and help Dana. And the bonding, Faith half-smiled, well that had led to other fun things.

Then Angel had sent Los Angeles straight to hell before escaping to join Lockley in San Diego. That was the point where things had really started going downhill.

Demon attacks began increasing despite the Slayer army’s best efforts. Not only that, freak weather had increased too, blizzards in Texas, long dormant volcanoes erupting, torrential downpour in the Sahara, that sorta thing. Then, after a year of terror and uncertainty where almost the entire world became dimly aware that something was badly wrong, on the second anniversary of the Mass Calling the dormant hellmouths across the world simultaneously opened, unleashing demonic hordes upon the world.

They’d been relatively lucky under the circumstances. She’d dragged Xan and Dana to San Diego so she could show her saviour the girl she’d helped save. Kinda like a puppy lookin’ for approval, but anyhow bein’ out of the UK and nowhere near a hellmouth had saved them all. Billions though hadn’t been so lucky.

The populations of over a hundred cities sitting on previously dormant hellmouths had been completely annihilated. The world’s greatest mages – Strange, Hellstorm, the Halliwells, and Rosenberg had all been driven loco by the magical corruption, leaving only the minor witches behind. In her rampage Willow has destroyed the Council, killing G, Wes’ dad, Summers, all the UK-based Slayers, some twenty of them, and according to legend had spent a month torturing Dawn, trying to force her to turn back into the key so she could use her as magical energy.

When Xan had heard that, she’d had to tie him down for a few days And not in the fun way.

Over the last three years the world had degenerated into a primeval wasteland. Surprisingly Wolfram & Hart had been first to go, submerged in an avalanche of demons determined not to bow to the old powers. Next had been the world powers, leaving global and national communication systems devastated. Even the global economy system had been replaced by a barter system – food, fuel, and weapons bringing the most. Lawlessness now ruled, with only the rumours of a few champions remaining.

Theirs was such a group, patrolling the west coast. For the year before the fall, Angel had been working with Lockley’s team of Kate, Pike, the Groosaluug, Gwen Raiden, all ironically tracked down and financed using Wolfram & Hart resources, assisted by Illyria and Connor. When the fall had come they’d joined forces and carved a legend, but a legend not without losses – Dana, Raiden, and Pike all dying.

Faith guessed that another loss had been the ‘Xanderness’ of her lover. When he’d returned from Africa, Xander had lost a heck of a lot of the booze-weight that had accumulated over the years. Add a tan and the eye-patch, and he’d looked wicked hot. Three years of training with her, Groo, and Connor had turned Harris into a bitching fighter the equal of any pre-fall MMA star.

Still, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t give to soften some of the hard edges on Xander. ‘Tho in this bright new world, people without hard edges either died or got trampled on. And in this bleak new world there were plenty eager to do the killing and trampling.

"Listen hon," Faith used some more of the seemingly never ending patience she needed to deal with Xand these days, "Angel figures there might be something in Barnes’ collection that’ll help us fight this apocalypse. Maybe even close the hellmouths. That’s gotta be worth at least tryin’."

"Too late for Buff and the others."

Faith arched an eyebrow as they entered a darkened ward. "And on that sunny note," she muttered.

Faith fought back a shudder as she gazed around the shadowy six-bed bay. She’d seen some bad shit in her time, but this was pretty close to the worst.

Once The Shared Heart hospital had been one of the plushest facilities in the state. Now though, dried feces and urine stained the sheets and half eaten skeletons filled the beds, the tell-tale scurrying of rats to be heard all around. This hospital hadn’t cared for anyone for a long time, the only remaining question was was anyone using it as a hideout or home.

Faith nodded towards her honey. Xander nodded back, shotgun sweeping in a semi-circle as they sneaked to the end of the bay. "You know, I’d figure this searching for hidden passageways would be more Indiana Jones and less Friday The 13^th,"

Faith barked a tremulous laugh at what passed for Harris humour these days. "Eight of us searchin’ an entire hospital ain’t gonna work is it?" Faith queried. "Not in one night."

"If there’s even anything to find," Xander grunted. "We can’t even pick up some side bonuses of medical supplies, anything that’s easily transportable has long since been taken."

"Yeah," Faith agreed as her fingers danced over the bay’s far wall before shaking her head. "Damn, nothing here. It’s solid."

"It doesn’t make sense anyway." Xander commented. Faith looked towards her boyfriend for clarification. "If I was an eccentric billionaire looking to build a secret passage or hideaway it wouldn’t be somewhere where’s there’s going to be a steady influx of people."

"Yeah," Faith nodded, a cat-like smirk stretching across her face as an idea began to flicker into life. "Damn good point. Somewhere private, hell." She grinned as the idea coalesced. "Hell, somewhere people don’t wanna go, like the morgue."

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "Makes sense."

* * *

They were soon creeping down a dark stairwell, the air dusty and arid to breathe. "Fuck," Faith cursed as they reached the basement level, a long pitch-black corridor stretching out before them. "I hate morgues."

"They don’t bother me, I always liked Tru Calling," Xander mused. "In fact I think its cancellation was one of the signs of apocalypse."

"Liked Tru Calling" Faith snorted as they edged through the passageway, one at either side, clinging to its dirty walls. "Liked looking at the lead’s tits more like."

"Well," Xander shrugged as they reached the morgue double doors and peered through its shattered glass windows, "that too."

Faith chuckled as she shone her torchlight into the room. "It was better than most of the crap you watch." Faith glanced towards her man. "How do you figure to do this?"

Xander scowled. "I’ll check the morgue cabinets. You do the rest."

"Five by five," Faith swallowed as she eased the door open and started through. She started in the inner office, shoving over filing cabinets and checking the walls for any hollowness. When that didn’t work, she started in the examination room, studiously avoiding the autopsy tables set in the room’s centre.

Her heart dropped when she checked the last tile floor and wall space. "Fuck." Faith snarled before turning to Xander stood in the doorway. "Anything?" Her heart dropped when Xander shook his head. She’d been so sure. "FUCK!" Her temper exploded and foot swung out, clanging against the central autopsy table’s steel side.

Her brow furrowed when the table echoed. "Motherfucker!" she exulted. "The table’s hollow Xan!" Faith grinned at her boy-friend. "It must be under here!"

"Maybe," Xander looked at the thick screws securing the autopsy table to its supports and the floor. "One thing though, we’ll need the smurf’s strength to pull the table off."

"Yeah," Faith sobered. "I’ll get on the radio to Fang."

* * *

By the time Angel and Illyria made their way into the morgue room, Connor, Kate, and Groo had already arrived, the air in the darkened room thick with anticipation. "It’s in there," Faith kicked one of the table’s sides. "’Least-ways I think so."

"It’s certainly hollow." Angel smirked at the Slayer. The coal-eyed brunette was practically giddy. Since the fall, Faith had become his lieutenant, filling a role left vacant by Wesley, hotter but without the book smarts. "Illyria?"

The imperious Old One stepped forward, grabbed two handfuls of the table, and ripped it away, floor screws popping out. Xander peered down into the hole left by Illyria’s imposing display. "There’s steps," the former Sunnydaler reported.

"Right." Angel hid his unease around Xander by glancing down into the hole. Once the Sunnydaler had an exterior of jokes and inappropriate remarks that had concealed his huge heart and implacable will. Now it seemed the exterior and heart had been burnt away, leaving nothing behind but the will. He sometimes wondered if Faith realised that.

But if the boy ever hurt her, then he’d answer to him.

Shoving aside that worry as for another day, he climbed into the hole and looked up. "Conn, Faith, Illyria, and Kate stay up here, Xander and Groo come down with me."

Xander raised an eyebrow before climbing into the hole. "Aye, aye skipper."

Angel ignored Xander, choosing instead to lead his companions down the dark stairs. At the bottom they were confronted by a steel grille with a useless key-pad in the left wall. "Can you-."

"Yeah," Angel nodded at Xander’s question. Even without the others’ torchlight he would have been able to see the vast room beyond, filled with case upon case of books. The answers he searched for had to be there.

Eyes remaining fixed on the prize beyond, Angel grabbed two bars and tugged. At first nothing but muscle strain occurred, his arms and shoulders burning. "Grrr," Angel growled as he vamped out, feeding into his inner-demon for the power needed to complete his task. Then slowly at first, oh so slowly, the bars began to creak and pull away.

Finally he stepped back, the central bars now bent away from each other. "We should be able to get through here."

"Not much in the way of security," Xander commented as he slid sideways through the bars.

"Barnes probably relied on secrecy rather than security," Angel replied before glancing over his shoulder. "If you see anything related to post-apocalyptic literature, shout out."

"Sure," Xander replied. "If you see anything relating to military history or tactics do the same."

Angel nodded as he began to search. That was something else new about Xander. The Xander he remembered had to be dragged to a book, ironic considering the time he spent in a library, but this Xander never stopped reading, but only of military books or martial arts manuals, anything he thought might make him a better fighter. A better killer.

"I believe I have found the books oh fellow champion."

At least Groo never changed. "You have?" In a second he was by Groo’s side, rummaging through the selection. "Got that. That too. Read that. Haven’t seen that though. Got that. Haven’t got that, but he’s a hack. Got that. Haven’t read that. Got that." Angel stared down at the pair of thin volumes, hope briefly flaring in his undead heart. Maybe somewhere in their pages would be a way out of this mess for everyone.

Fighting back his curiosity, Angel looked towards Xander. "Find anything interesting?"

"A translation of a book on the ninja by a 12^th century historian," Xander replied before glancing his way. "Are we ready to go?"

After a second Angel nodded. "We’re ready."

* * *

The two black-tinted vans they’d acquired six months ago were still where they’d left them, parked in the long-since gone wild woods to the right of the hospital’s main building. The moment her van’s rear doors slammed shut, Faith started the engine.

She was soon motoring back to their base. Her eyes were constantly moving, searching the darkened streets for any sign of trouble. During the journey she saw burnt-out and turned over cars, corpses, skeletons, and refuse littering the ground, ruined buildings, and flickering distant fires.

Thankfully though they didn’t encounter any trouble and they were soon pulling into home base, the sixth they’d had in the past three years. This time it was an underground garage by a sewer grille that led to their real base, a secret compound within the sewer itself.

Faith winced as she pulled the sewer entrance shut behind them. Their hiding place was well-hidden, but man it stunk. The base wasn’t exactly filled with luxuries either. A few mattresses, a curtain separating the dressing areas, and a couple of arm chairs and a sofa was all the creature comforts they had.

Which was still a hell of a lot more than most.

Angel immediately dropped into the least threadbare of the armchairs and began reading. After a few minutes the vampire snarled and flung one of the books away. "That’s a harsh review," Connor snarked.

Angel glanced at his son, a half-smile tugging on his lips. "The writer’s a hack, copying from half a dozen different texts, there’s nothing new." Faith’s mentor picked up the second book and began to read. What little colour the vampire had drained from him. "Oh no."

"What’s the sitch?" Faith half-rose from her seat.

"According to this book," Angel half-shook his head. "Yang-Fut’s Apocalyptic Prophecy, we caused all this."

It might have surprised the others, but Xander wasn’t exactly stunned to find Fang was behind all this. "Wanna elaborate?" he challenged.

Faith tried to hush him with a glare, but he ignored the Slayer in favour of staring accusingly at Angel. The vampire stared back at him, his pained expression disappearing to be replaced by his customary impassiveness. "And lo, in the year 1998, One-Eye," Xander’s heart dropped, One-Eye, that was people called him now, "shall split the Slayer Line and make The Chosen One, Two." Angel glanced towards Faith. "And then in the third millennium Orisus shall be called upon to resurrect The One, bringing chaos to The Other Realms, and weakening Hell’s Seals." Xander groaned, hadn’t they suffered enough for that screw-up? "And the Seer," Angel sucked in an unneeded breath before continuing, "will be corrupted by a higher power. And The Chosen Two shall face The First, the bars of her prison weakened by The One’s resurrection, turning the Two into The Many, upsetting the balance." Angel paused again, if he’d been human Xander would have sworn he was struggling for breath, but that was ridiculous. "Then the Dark Man’s," that was how Angel was now known, "Lightness will be infected by an Old One," Angel glanced towards Illyria then back at the book’s yellowed pages, "and he will kill the Guardian, cracking the Deeper Well, and Hell shall be Unleashed."

A long silence followed Angel’s concluding words. "I heard a theory once from an occultist I traded with." Everyone turned to Faith. "Dude was real knowledgeable about shit." His girl-friend smiled crookedly. "’Course he didn’t know who I was, just figured I was some babe he could impress with his know-how. Boy knew all about the Slayer Split, Glory, the First, Jasmine, Illyria, and Drogyn’s death. Anyhow, this dude figured that Glory, the First, Jasmine, and Illyria weren’t meant to be able to cross into this dimension. And every time a being of their power entered our dimension it tore the walls a little."

"Everything we did," Xander shook his head in dismay, guilt twisting his insides, "it led to this."

"Then maybe," the determined note in Angel’s voice compelled him to look up, "we need to put things right."

"What are you suggesting?" Kate demanded a second before he could. There was a weird vibe between the cop and the vampire like they were former rivals who were now allies but wanted more. But that was their history and he didn’t care-over-much.

"This book," Angel flipped through the text’s pages, dark eyes scanning the words before discarding it and moving on, "was written in the twelfth century. Eight hundred years ago, yet it predicts Xander saving Buffy, Cordy being possessed, the Mass Calling, and lots of other things too." Angel paused his reading to look around. "If a book this old can be this accurate about recent history, maybe we should see if it says anything about saving what’s left."

"That’s thin dad," Connor said.

"What else do we have?" Xander surprised himself by agreeing with the vampire, but hey when you’re right you’re right. "The last three years we’ve saved people again and again, but we’ve been doing it piecemeal. We haven’t made a real difference, but maybe we could."

"What does the book say, Fang?" Faith prompted. Xander resisted the urge to roll his eyes. ‘Course Faith would follow her hero’s lead as surely as night followed day.

Angel looked down at the book, skipping through the pages until he reached the end. "Here it is." Xander was surprised by a sudden hitch in the vampire’s voice. "On the night of the Unleashing, three shall be born. One in the Wood Of Tinsel."

"LA," Kate translated for the room’s retarded. So, just Deadboy

"The second in Little Havana and the third in the land of the lady regent. And the children shall all be king in name."

"So LA, Miami, and I’m guessing Queens, New York," Faith nodded. "But what’s that crap about kings?"

"My guess would be either their Christian or surnames means king or monarch," Kate supplied.

Angel nodded before continuing. "And then they shall be taken to the Arc’s Core where they close the doors that should never have been opened." Angel shook his head. "That doesn’t make any sense."

"Maybe it does," Xander declared. He smiled when everyone looked towards him, briefly enjoying their puzzlement before continuing. "In some of the conspiracy books I’ve read there’s mention of a top-secret bunker called the Arc where the powerful and elite would retreat to in case of invasion or nuclear war. We’ve all heard the rumours of a government, maybe they’re more than a rumour."

"Okay," Angel looked more than a little sceptical. But for once Xander could hardly blame them. "So where is this Arc?"

Xander shot the Irish undead an irritated look. "Did you miss the part where I mentioned it was top-secret?"

The vampire matched his glower with one of his own. "Then how are we supposed to find it?"

"I’ll need a lap-top but maybe I can hack into one of the background systems," Connor offered.

"I can’t believe you’re considering this!!!" Kate suddenly protested. The blonde cop shook her head. "Crossing the country these days with The Crusade, The Carrion, and The Believers roaming it! Not to mention New York and LA are both Undead Houses."

Xander chuckled dryly. "Have we got anything better to do?"

"I little enjoying sulking in the shadows, it is time that the world shook before me again!"

"See," Xander nodded. "Illyria agrees with me."

* * *

Angel rose. "We have enough fuel to get to LA.," he announced. "I suggest we pack everything we can find into them and leave at day-break."

Faith looked up. "That’d be radios, weapons, energy sources, fuel, that sorta thing?"

Angel nodded. "Faith and Xander, you make a sweep of the sports utility and gun stores. I’ll take Illyria for a search for any petrol. Kate," Angel looked towards the blonde cop, "you take Conn and Groo in a search of near-by houses."

* * *

"I love it how Fang orders and we all jump."

Faith shook her head. "Just quit it already," she muttered. The hell of it was if there was anybody else leading the team, Xander would almost certainly agree with their decisions. "Ya know Fang’s got more experience than the rest of us."

"I know," Xander fell moodily silent.

Faith resisted the temptation to shake her head as she strode through the city’s streets. All around were the signs of Armageddon – torn-down road signs, burnt out and turned over cars, years old refuse, and overgrown plant-life. And of course the skeletons, there were plenty of them too.

Faith stopped as she reached a looming building that in better days had been one of those nameless chains of department stores. "Might be a sports department in there?"

Xander glanced at the grimly dark building, the lights of its neon sign having long since been extinguished. "Okay," her boy-friend scowled. "I just bet its on the top floor."

Faith snorted as she stepped through the shattered doors, its glass tinkling underfoot. "Try to find the camping department." Faith glanced over her shoulder, confused by Xander’s comment. "Our rucksacks are getting worn out and we could always do with new."

Faith nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "It’ll probably be next to the sports goods department."

Xander nodded as he cast her torchlight apart and whistled. "When they stripped this place they really stripped it."

Faith nodded. The shelves and counters were empty of food, drink, and every sort of produce, the only thing accumulating on the shelves and counters was dust. "We should head for the back, the stairwell will be there."

"Been in one of these places before, Faith," Xander replied as he sneaked along behind her. "Be careful, sometimes gangs make their homes here."

"I ain’t ‘xactly a novice either," Faith retorted as she stepped over a flung to the ground display stand, "Jesus," she grunted, the store’s silence lying heavy on her, "I never thought I’d miss piped music."

"Yeah wait-," Xander’s torchlight swung to the left. "I thought I saw something, but there’s nothing there. Come on."

"Here’s the door." Faith shoved the door open, wincing slightly at the stale air.

"And here’s the sign," Xander groaned as he examined the wall by the stairwell. "And I was right, the sports & camping department are both on the top floor."

Faith smirked. "Better get movin’ babe."

* * *

Faith’s heart dropped when they entered the sports department. Like the food department the sports store had been looted. Not to the extent of downstairs of course, not many people played sports these days.

Pool tables lay everywhere, uniforms of perhaps half a dozen differing sports slashed to shreds together with sneakers and bags. The fitness equipment had likewise been smashed – treadmills, rowing machines, steppers, and exercise bikes wrecked in an orgy of violence.

Faith glanced to Xander. "Check around."

"Yeah, ‘cause I’ve never done this before."

Faith shone her torch around, sighing slightly at the carnage. Scavenging only got harder as the years went by. "Here’s a thought," Xander commented. "Have you tried barbells?"

Faith looked over her shoulder. "Mystical warrior remember? I don’t need to train for strength just fighting."

"That’s my point," Xander retorted. "Don’t you think they’d be more effective than wooden staffs?"

Faith’s brow furrowed. "Yeah, you’ve got a point," she decided. "Grab a couple of barbells. It’s worth trying."

"Okay," Xander huffed as he lifted them. "You’ll have to carry them all the way back."

"Five by five," Faith nodded. Her eyes narrowed as she noted a dartboard and a few sealed packets of darts lying against the wall. She dropped into a crouch and scooped the packets up. "Do ya figure these could make a decent weapon?"

Xander chuckled as he shone his torch towards her. "Try sticking one in your hand and then ask me. Anything in the way of guns or crossbows?"

"Saw an empty case where they’d hung the crossbows but nothing else."

"Let’s try behind the counter," Xander walked over to her side, his rucksack noticeably fuller than before. Xander half-smiled as he noticed her curious look. "I took twenty dumbbell handles. If I manage to find the right equipment I’ll have a go turning them into knives."

"Nice idea," Faith praised as she made her way to the back. Truth be told, Xand’s general skills as a handyman had come in very handy in a variety of ways since the fall. It wasn’t like ya could use yellow pages these days.

As expected the counter’s shelves were empty of anything useful.

"What about that?" Xander pointed towards the light grey safe on the bottom shelf. "There might be something in there."

"Money ain’t worth shit these days," she reminded as she crouched and took the safe’s steel cold handle and forced it up. Muscles writhed and sweat beaded on her forehead as the lock struggled against her Slayer strength. She gasped as the door finally swung open.

"Well done," Xander praised as he flashed his torchlight inside. "Bingo." Her boyfriend pulled out the safe’s top shelf, scooping up the automatic and five magazines inside. "A Colt 911A and five magazines. This definitely makes the trip worthwhile."

"Ha!" Faith chuckled. "And I thought having some alone time with your gal would make it worthwhile."

Xander almost smiled. "I’m not getting drawn into this one." Her boy-friend began to straighten.

Faith gasped when her companion suddenly left his feet and flew sideways through the air, crashing to the ground ten feet away. "What the fuck!" the Slayer part of her took over even as shock ran through her. Jumping up onto the counter, she spun into a leaping kick at her assailant.

"Fuck!" Faith screamed as a hard hand grabbed her ankle and flung her into the wall. "Oh shit!" She grunted as she crashed shoulder-first into the wall.

Faith landed in a crouch. "Fuck!" her eyes widened as they fell onto her assailant. He was an easy seven foot tall with the clothes-stretching bulk to match, at least five hundred hard pounds of it. His hands were shovel-sized and although he wore a full-length leather jacket it did little to conceal his arms’ bulging thickness, bigger than most men’s legs, tree-trunk thighs, the barn-door width of his shoulders, and depth of his thick chest.

Starred tattoos adorned the sides of her attacker’s column-thick neck while his face itself was box-square, an ugly scar ran down the left side of his face, making his corpulent-lipped mouth droop slightly, another scar ran across his forehead, and another ran under his right eye. The man’s nose was splattered against his face and she’d seen more expression in stone than she saw in his grey eyes.

"You’re purty."

Faith licked her lips at the man’s tombstone voice. "Kinda statin’ the obvious ain’t ya?" she blustered, a deep unease hollowing her belly.

"You’re mine!" Suddenly the behemoth was charging her at an uncanny speed for such a gargantuan. Faith barely managed to duck under a right cross, her hands shooting up to grab and twist the man’s wrist as she executed a judo throw.

"Jesus!" she gasped when then the fucker didn’t even budge, the pressure on his wrist seemingly having no effect. Then her head exploded when the man’s left palm crashed into it.

Dazed, she nevertheless had enough left to kick out instinctively, a thrust kick catching the giant in his prodigious belly. The man grunted but didn’t otherwise react, grabbing her around the throat. "You’re strong," the man matter-of-factedly commented, "I like that."

Faith gurgled as the man’s sausage-sized fingers dug into her throat. The leviathan’s power was awesome, enough to snap a normal neck in seconds.

Fortunately she was about as far from normal as you could get. Faith brought her leg up and stomped down on her assailant’s inner knee. Her eyes widened when the man appeared not to even notice her counter-attack.

Desperation gripping her and vision blurring, she swung both legs up behind her, bending them at the knee. The moment her feet touched the wall behind, she kicked off.

Her attacker stumbled backwards, grip loosening as she drove her forearm into his throat. At the same time she brought a knee up into his gut.

The gigantic man dropped her with a grunt. Faith wheezed for air as she blocked a left hook on her forearm, the blow’s concussive force running up her arm. She glided under a follow-up forearm that would have rendered her face flatter than a pancake before grabbing the freakishly strong man under his chin and flinging him into the air, the man flying through the stairwell entrance, the force of his entrance taking the doorway with him.

Faith dropped to one knee, legs buckling under her. She raised a shaking hand to her injured throat, rubbing at it before rising, snatching one of the barbells Xander had brought across and hurrying through the stairwell. "Shit." Her tortured breath hitched and eyes widened when against all expectations her attacker was gone. "How in the hell-."

Shaking off her shock, she hurried back to Xander and started to help him up. "What demon hit me?" Xander groaned, his eyes glassy.

"Weren’t a demon, lover." Faith shot fearful glances into the surrounding darkness. That was the whack thing, only Buffy, the Beast, and Illyria had hit harder than that monster and yet he was completely human. Fuck it. "Let’s get outta here."

Connor looked up to the ceiling of their hideaway. "Faith’s coming."

Angel hid a half-grimace\half-grin as he noted the undercurrent of excitement in his son’s voice. Civilisations came and went, but Faith’s effect on a male’s hormones remained the same. Namely she sent them into overdrive. "I assume Xander’s with her?" he chuckled at his son’s slightly chagrined expression.

Seconds later and the question was answered when the door to their hideout swung open to reveal an unusually agitated-looking Faith carrying in a pair of rucksacks and two barbells while also supporting a dazed-looking Xander. "What happened?" Angel asked as Connor took Faith’s bags and Groo solicitously helped Xander to the armchair.

The smile Faith shot him lacked much of her usual bravado. Instead it was wavering and a little wild. "We got attacked by King Kong, I mean this huge fucker, had to be seven foot tall and five hundred pounds easy, guy was strong even for his size. He was human but I couldn’t hurt him."

Kate’s head snapped from inspecting the egg-sized swelling on Xander’ face to the sultry Slayer. Angel’s eyes widened imperceptibly when the former cop gently took the beautiful brunette by her elbow and led her to the sofa. "What did he look like, Faith?"

Once again Angel was shocked by the tenderness in the cop’s voice. Faith’s long eyelashes fluttered in rare uncertainty. Then the brunette spoke. "Like I was said, he was freakin’ huge. He was bald with scars all over his face, including one that made the left side of his mouth droop, and he had starred tattoos on his neck."

"You have a good eye," Kate praised before looking up at him and then looking towards the furthest corner. Taking the hint, Angel stalked over to the corner where Kate joined him. "We need to get out of here, now."

Angel’s eyes narrowed at the fear in the blonde’s voice. "Who is this man?"

"I’ll explain while we pack, she’s in real danger, so is anyone who gets in his way." Angel raised an inquiring eyebrow and waited. "Fine," the cop sighed. "In late ’99 through to late ’01, seven black-eyed brunette show-girls in Vegas were murdered. Several of them could have been sisters to Faith. The girls were tortured, raped, their throats crushed, and dismembered. By the time news of the first murder hit, I knew about vampires so I kept an eye on the cases."

"But it wasn’t a vampire."

"No," Kate shook her head. "I only wish it was. Turned out it was Dalton ‘Looming’ Towers, a Judo black belt and high school state wrestling champion, and local bouncer. He had a reputation at all the clubs and casinos he bounced at, so when they went to arrest him, the police went in heavy, twenty veteran officers in riot gear." Kate shook her head. "I’ve read the arrest reports. He killed three officers, and put five in the hospital, two crippled for life. While he was in jail, a number of doctors ran tests on him, and found he was a freak. His nervous system didn’t register pain. In addition his bones, ligaments, and tendons were far stronger than normal. Without ever having training, he broke several world weightlifting records." Kate paused and licked his lips. "Angel, the things he did and to girls that looked like Faith. We need to get her out of here."

Angel noted the disquiet in the cop’s eyes and voice before nodding. "Okay," he looked around and raised his voice. "We need to get everything together and move."

* * *

"How come we’re flaking so fast" Faith queried as she joined the others in clambering into their vans. "I thought the plan was we left in the morning."

"It was," Angel shot her a smile. "I’m just eager to see old haunts."

"’Kay," Faith’s brow creased. She sensed Angel was bull-shittin’ her. From anyone else she wouldn’t stand it, but Fang she trusted more than most ‘cept maybe Xan. Still, it bugged her to be left out of the loop. "Ya realise it’ll be almost day-light when we get there?"

Her idol’s smile became more forced. "Then someone else will have to do the house-hunting for once."

"Right." Faith fell silent. Even with Slayer healing her throat still hurt. Maybe the rest would do it good.

One thing with the end of the world, it sure cut down on the traffic and in practically no time at all they were on LA’s outskirts. The skyline still looked the same, most of the major buildings and landmarks remained standing. What had changed was the lack of lights glittering in the early morning. Even if people managed to keep power running, they didn’t want lights at night, nothing to draw the demons roaming the streets to them.

Faith grimaced. LA. had been rough back in the day when Wolfram & Hart had been running things, but it was whole lot worse now. Forget about the vampire house that ran LA., there was the Scourge sweeping the streets slaying any human they came across, and the Jhe Sisterhood glorying in the world’s devastation.

Then there was the human scum. Vigilantes brutally enforcing laws from the old civilisations, feral gangs battling for territory, and The Believers, fucked up humans who worshipped demons and preyed on those who didn’t.

Yeah, LA was a real screwed up place. Not that the rest of the country was any better.

"I’ve a question," Xander’s voice brought her out of her grim musings. Faith glanced towards her lover. As bad as her throat felt, Xander’s purpled and swollen face looked a hell out of a lot worse. "With all the deaths and the exodus, LA’s only got a million people left in it. That’s still a helluva haystack to hide a three year old. And we can’t exactly call Information."

Angel replied from his position under the blanket in the van’s rear. "What I told you was just the cliff-notes, there are certain other clues."

"Such as?" asked Connor, Kate, Illyria, and Groo were in the other van.

"Such as this child is in under the protection of the city’s premiere vampire hunters, and he’ll have a birth sign on his neck of the roman numeral ‘one’."

"Well that narrows it down some," Xander commented,

"Yes," Angel agreed. "Once you’ve found us a place to stay, I’d suggest you start looking for the child. I’d help, but I don’t tan."

"You don’t sing either," Faith muttered. "At least not well."

* * *

"Come on! Come on!" ‘Looming’ Towers giggled as he entered his base, the six men he’d led since they’d escaped their maximum-security prison’s death row quickly rising. They’d broke free on the blessed night the monsters had come; proof that god wanted him to continue his work. "We have work to do."

And such glorious work it was. Like the sixteen bitches he’d slaughtered before the police had caught him, although they’d only convicted him for seven. Like the fifteen he and his boys had killed since.

And this new girl who’d caught his eye was a rare prize, such spirit, such strength. He had to smell her fear and taste her pain. Like he’d smelt all those whores’ fear. Just like he’d felt fear at the hands of that bitch of a mother.

Until he was eleven and then he’d made sure she’d never hurt him again. Just another Nevada runaway according to the authorities, irresponsibly leaving her child behind. But he knew better, knew the freedom such action gave him.

And now he had another prize to plunder, one with a loose tongue who’d told him just where she was heading. Such spirit, such power, she would be his greatest creation.

* * *

Faith pursed her lips as she looked left and right. It had taken them a couple of hours to find somewhere to hide out, but finally they’d found an underground garage. Once they had, she and Xander had headed into downtown LA, Kate and Illyria had headed east, while Groo and Connor had taken west, Angel having stayed at base.

Now it was closing on mid-day. Once Downtown would have been bustling with people, but now it was a ghost-town. Dust and garbage cloaked the quiet streets, the doors torn off and windows shattered in many of the surrounding buildings. Faith dropped to one knee and looked left and right. All around was devastation, the symbols of a fallen world.

"See that doorway across the street, three doors to the left" she muttered as she peered between a pair of stripped-down cars. "Caught a pair of eyes looking at us a second ago."

"Human?" Xander asked as he inspected the graffitied wall to the right of them.

"Their eyes didn’t glow in the dark if that’s what ya mean," Faith replied.

"Okay, seeing as I’m bored." Faith shook her head as Xander slid over the nearest car’s hood and started across the road. Ever since the fall Xander’s patience had been gettin’ shorter and shorter.

"Shit," she grunted as she raced after her honey. "I thought I was meant to be the one with impulse control issues."

Xander kicked the door open before striding into the darkened former post office. "Relax we don’t mean any harm." Faith rolled her eyes as she followed her lover into the room. That’d be a whole lot more convincing without the kicked in door.

"It’s One-Eye," Faith heard a voice in the darkness whisper.

"More than one man has one eye," whispered another.

"But look at the girl," argued another. "She has to be Faith."

"But where’s The Dark Man and the others?" whispered the second.

"I am One-Eye," Xander’s face tightened. Her boy hated that nickname. "And this is Faith." Xander shone his torch over the group illuminating a ragged group of five men, three woman, and four kids. "We don’t want to hurt anybody, all we want is some information. And we’re willing to pay with food."

"Information," gasped a woman. "What sort of information?"

"Forget that!" growled one of the men. "What food?"

"We raided a gym a few weeks ago," Xander replied. "We’ve got protein shake sachets, four dozen in four different flavours, several bottles of multi-vitamin tablets, and a couple of boxes of health bars."

"What do you want?" One of the younger men alternated between shooting hungry looks at Xander’s rucksack and Faith.

"Who’s the biggest demon hunting group in LA.?" Faith asked. For the next few minutes Faith and Xander listened as the group discussed and argued about just who was the best, Faith spoke. "So this biggest gang, where do they hang out?"

The group’s apparent spokesman shrugged. "No where in particular, but the word is The Coops had a dust-up with The Scourge in Brentwood just a few days ago. Left seven of the demons dead."

"Well that’s a start," Xander began taking off his rucksack.

"Sir," squeaked a wide-eyed six year old, "are the stories true? Are you and The Dark Man gonna save us all?"

A scared-looking woman started to hush the child. Faith waved the woman to silence as she strode over to the kid, dropping into a crouch before the girl. "Hey little sis," Faith trailed her fingers down the little girl’s dirty face, grinning slightly at the child’s giggle. "Truth is I don’t know. But we’re gonna try our best and a friend taught me that’s all anyone can do." She pulled a Mars bar out of her pocket and gave it to the girl. "I’ve been savin’ this for the prettiest girl ever and now I’ve found her." Faith looked over her shoulder to see Xander handing the contents of his rucksack over. "Let’s hustle, stud."

The sunlight made Faith blink after the post office’s gloomy darkness. "We left the bikes three streets to the left," Xander shot her a look. "Do I need to be worried? You’re not getting clucky are you?"

"Funny fucker ain’t ya" Faith shot Xander a scorching glare. "Kid just needed someone to believe in, I can relate to that."

* * *

Angel looked up and smiled as he sensed Faith’s approach. He looked towards Illyria. "Faith-."

"I am aware of the Slayer’s approach and it interests me not." The Old One crossed his arms.

"You’re a real people God," Angel muttered. He stepped back as the garage’s corrugated entrance slid open, letting in a band of light.

"Hey Fang," Faith greeted as she jumped off her sports bike. "We found the main vamp hunting gang in the city!"

Angel smiled briefly, heart lightening slightly at his protégé’s enthusiasm. "That’s good."

"Yeah," Faith nodded. "The Coops-."

Oh no, Angel’s stomach hollowed. It couldn’t be and yet he knew it had to be. "What’s their leader called?"

Faith shot him a worried look, clearly puzzled by his tone. "Justine, Justine Cooper."

Faith raised an eyebrow at Angel’s groan. "What’s the sitch, big guy?"

"Remember how I told you about Holtz kidnapping Connor?" Faith nodded silently. "Holtz trained Justine, she was his second in command. She helped him kidnap Connor, almost killed Wesley, and helped Connor imprison me in the sea after framing me for Holtz’s murder."

"So she’s an even bigger fan of yours than me."

Faith ignored Xander’s unhelpful comment. "Ya wanna sit this one out?"

Angel’s mouth opened and closed. "No," the vampire shook his head. "She’ll recognise Connor anyway. And we can’t risk splitting our forces, not at night. Not when meeting a potentially hostile force."

"Oh," Xander groaned, "meetings with old enemies are always such joy-filled occasions."

* * *

"Here’s how it’s going to work," Angel looked towards his son. "She’ll recognise both me and Connor, so we’ll tail you and only come in if there’s trouble. Illyria will stay behind to guard the vans. Faith will do the talking. A Slayer will impress them-."

"You hope."

Angel glanced at Xander. "I doubt anybody outside of here has any idea what damage the Mass Calling caused."

"I wasn’t thinking of that." Xander shook his head. "There’s more than a few people who say the Slayers didn’t do enough to stop-."

"Eighty percent of us dead in the first week," Faith snapped. "How’s that for trying?"

Xander appeared unmoved by his lover’s fury. Angel on the other hand felt sure that if Faith’s rage had been directed at him he’d be ashes. "It’s not what I think," Xander calmly retorted. "Just what some hardliners do." The Sunnydaler’s one-eye turned from the east coast native to him. "This Justine seems like a real hard case to me."

Angel scowled. Xander had an unerring and annoying habit of spotting problems and seeing the flaws in plans. "She is," he conceded. "But unless you have a better plan?"

"I don’t," Xander shrugged. "Only thing is if they have an One-Eye and a Faith, they’ll be expecting -."

"A Dark Man?" he interrupted. "I thought Groo could wear some of my clothes and stand in." After all it wouldn’t be the first time.

Xander chuckled before glancing at Groo. "You’ll have to remember not to smile."

"They might not be happy giving up a kid?" This time it was Faith who objected.

"The book says they’re orphans," Angel said. "They’ll be pleased to get rid of a mouth to feed."

"They will doubtless want something in exchange," Illyria put in.

"I’ve got a couple of dozen stakes, a couple of crossbows, and a hundred bolts," Xander offered.

Angel smiled thinly. The ‘boy’ was a carpentry wizard. "This raises another problem," Angel looked towards Faith. "Once we got the kid, we gotta care for it."

Angel grimaced. Travelling the country with children was going to complicate an already perilous journey. "Let’s concentrate on getting the child first shall we?"

* * *

Faith’s eyes peered through the stygian darkness. Even after three years she still wasn’t used to the silence and lack of illumination of an once vibrant city. A cold wind whistled around, briefly lifting the rubbish littering the street before re-depositing it on the ground. Faith shivered, the desolation rather than the wind causing the reaction. Even if they managed to banish the demons what really was left?

"There’s a building ahead that looks to have been a 1930s cinema," Angel’s voice crackled over the radio. "There’s two sentries on its roof. It’d be my guess that it’s the demon-hunters’ base. At the least they could have information."

Faith shone her torch towards the drab-grey building. To judge from its derelict condition the cinema had been in decay long before the world’s collapse. "I’ll keep my radio on. If there’s any trouble-."

"We’ll come running," Angel announced.

"Five by five." Faith looked towards her companions – Xan, Kate, and Groo. "We’re on."

After a nervous lick of her lips Faith led her gang across the empty street, making no attempt to conceal their presence. They were half-way across the road when the cinema’s ornate doors swung open and a quartet of crossbowmen strode out, flanking a hard-faced, wiry red-head with a shotgun in her hands. "We’re not open for strays."

"Hey," Faith spread her hands and shot the woman he recognised from Angel’s description as Justine Cooper her best shit-eating grin. "Do we look like the great unwashed?" Okay, so she hadn’t a bath or a shower in months, running water was a bitch to find these days. "Name’s Faith." Faith smirked at the men’s gasps. She was real used to that reaction from guys. "That’s One-Eye, The Dark Man I’m guessing you recognise, she’s Kate. Now we’ve all been introduced, how about you step aside and let us in?"

"What do you want?" Justine’s face was hard as stone. Now there was a chick who wasn’t impressed by reputations.

Faith looked left and right down the empty street. "You’ve got a nice hideout here, about you invite us in off the street ‘fore someone sees us?"

Justine hesitated before nodding, suspicious gaze still fixed on them. This was real welcomin’. "Okay, but you’ll have to hand over your weapons."

"Oh come on." Faith shook her head and chuckled. "We both know the only way ya’re gettin’ our weapons is by prising them out of our cold, dead hands."

Justine’s face tightened, this wasn’t a woman who liked being balked. "You best come in."

"See if ya give a little, don’t it make ya feel good?" Faith asked rhetorically.

The resistance leader just glared as she and her companions backed into the darkened cinema. Inside, the cinema’s ticket booth was unoccupied. Some way back stood what had once been the refreshment counter, built into the foyer’s rear wall; it was occupied by another quartet of crossbowmen, their bows pointed precisely at them. The passageways to the refreshment counter’s left and right were both barricaded with two crossbowmen beneath each blockade. "I don’t suppose you’ve got any popcorn?"

"Someone tell you were funny, Slayer? They lied." Faith’s grin widened as the other woman’s hostility. B was far from the first woman to be threatened either by her molten hotness or smart mouth, and god willing Justine wouldn’t be the last. She supposed it would be smart to dial it down a little, but it wasn’t her style. "You’re not going any further until you tell us what you want," Justine’s tone was like flint.

"Yeah," Faith nodded. Fang had warned her not to give away how important the child was, doing so would only raise the price. Like she couldn’t work that out for herself. "We’re looking for a kid, ‘bout three years old with a birth sign on their neck. Kid’ll be an orphan."

"Sounds like Rex Garner," commented one of the men backing Justine.

"Rex is Latin for king."

Faith digested Kate’s murmur with a barely discernable nod. Sounded like they’d found their kid, now all they had to do was actually get him. "Why do you want him?"

"I don’t think that’s important," Faith replied. "Just what you’ll get for him." Her eyes remained fixed on Jasmine. "Xander, honey, show ‘em your stuff."

Xander threw his two bags down in the space between them. "A couple of dozen stakes, two crossbows, and a hundred bolts."

One of the men crouched down before the bags and peered inside before looking up at the red-head. "These stakes are real good quality."

Justine appeared unimpressed. "We still haven’t heard why you want the boy?" The red-head half-smiled. "You don’t seem the motherly type."

"Maybe not," Faith chuckled, "but I’ve always been the experimental type." Her face hardened. "Look the whys don’t matter. Fact is ya’ve got one less mouth to feed and a kid less to worry about. As a bonus ya’re getting’ a shit-load of quality weaponry. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me."

"The children are our future," Justine commented.

"Sounds like a song to me." Faith’s mouth pulled up into a half-smile at Xander’s muttered comment. Her mouth opened in a reply.

"Faith!" Suddenly her radio crackled into like. "About thirty vampires coming in fast, moving from roof to roof.

"FUCK!" Faith cursed. One of the side-effects of the fall was that few people now lived in their original homes. With the fall of civilisations, things such as deed of ownership meant fuck all. As a result the rule of invitation rarely applied, vamps could come and go as they pleased. "Get your ass in fast, Angel!"

"Angel!" Justine snapped. "You’re in league with him!"

* * *

Xander shot Faith a reproachful glare. His girl-friend and her big mouth. "Now’s not the time," he commented. "We need to get to cover fast!"

Justine continued to scowl at the Slayer before reluctantly nodding. "Very well, you," Justine’s glare intensified, "come with me to the right. Blondie and Dark Man get behind the counter, and One-Eye go to the left. No-body make a move without my say-so."

Faith shrugged. "Five by five, what about other entrances?"

"The rear exits are all welded shut while the sewer entrance has the office safe on top of it," Justine scowled. "Now any more questions or can we get into position?"

"Jesus," Faith snorted. "Tetchy much?"

Xander continued to shake his head at his girl-friend’s complete lack of diplomatic skills as he made through the makeshift barricade of ripped up cinema seats. Sometimes his girl-friend had the social graces of a pissed off rhino.

And that was on a good day.

As Xander crouched down behind the barricade, he noted but ignored the suspicious looks on his companions’ faces. Suspicion and fear were a now a fact of life.

The seconds stretched on and on as Xander waited for the vampires to attack.

The moment the vampires strode past the ticket booth, Justine let out a hoarse, tension-filled yell. The air sung to the firing of bows and echoed to Xander and Justine’s shotguns, and Kate’s twin automatics. Demon after demon fell, but still they came, snarling and howling.

A red-haired vampire leapt over the barricade. Xander’s shotgun came up, but before he could draw a bead, a cold hand grabbed his weapon’s muzzle, tearing it from his hands. The gun clattered uselessly to the ground.

He twisted away from the beast as it crashed into him, taking the both of them to the ground. His right forearm uppercutted into the demon’s jaw, snapping its head back. His hand dipped inside his jacket for one of his stakes hanging in his quick-release bandolier.

And then the demon’s hand was around his throat, squeezing, crushing as the demon pushed him onto his back and straddled him. His free fist smashed into the demon’s side to literally no effect, the demon pinning his stake hand down, immobilising it.

Desperation surging through his veins and vision blurring from the lack of air, he ignored his own squeamishness to ram his thumb into one of the vampire’s eyes. The demon let out a roar and reared back, its grip around his throat loosening. His hand finally free, Xander shoved his stake into the demon’s heart.

The vamp’s dust was still settling on him as he leapt up. In the half minute since he’d been knocked down, the combat had degenerated into desperate hand to hand fighting.

And then Angel and Connor crashed through the door.

* * *

Angel growled as he entered the darkened foyer, the stench of freshly spilt blood inflaming his demon. Only long years of practice and the thought of his son and friends allowed him to keep it under control.

A vampire swung to face him, charging in with a thrust kick that he twisted away from and a back-handed punch that he ducked under. Angel grabbed his adversary’s grounded leg behind the knee and pulled. The demon hit the ground on its shoulders and rolled up before he had a chance to stamp its face into the faded carpet.

The vampire charged in, arms out-stretched in an attempted waist takedown. Angel leapt into the air, his right knee swinging up to crash into the vampire’s face.

His rival’s face snapped back, blood fountaining out. A snarl parting its lips, the demon charged in, leading with a looping left that Angel ducked under while both side-kicking another vampire that had charged in from his left and slamming a stake into his first opponent’s chest.

Angel spun to face the demon who’d attempted a sneak attack. "Owww!" Angel’s head snapped to the side when the vampire, a goateed black, caught him with a right. The demon rushed him, his stake plunging at Angel’s chest.

Angel grabbed the demon’s wrist as he twisted at the waist and stuck his foot out. The demon stumbled on and over his foot, crashing to the ground.

Angel stepped towards his downed opponent, stake rising. Then a strong arm looped around his neck. "Dumbass!" Angel leaned forward at the waist, grabbed the demon’s arm and flung it over his shoulder. "Trying to strangle me!" He caught both downed vampires with kicks to the head.

The first demon he staked before it got up, the second leapt up and charged him, running into an elbow as he twisted around and rammed his stake home.

* * *

Holtz’s face flashed before Justine’s eyes as she saw Angel. Her crossbow came up, aiming at the cause of so much misery.

And then was snatched away from her. She started to spin to face her assailant. A forearm thudded into her mouth, the bludgeoning blow hitting her with more force than she’d ever been hit.

Her legs buckled under her, knocking her on her ass. Justine glared up at the Slayer, crimson filling her mouth. "What the hell are you doing?"

The sultry bombshell seemed unbothered by the trio of her hunters surrounding her. "Question is what the fuck are ya playin’ at? We just saved your ungrateful asses!"

Justine glared up at the dark-eyed warrior. "You’ve no idea what he took from me!"

The Slayer seemed unfazed by her anger. "Way I heard it, ya’re the one who did the takin’. His son, his friends, his freedom. If I was him, I’d have ended ya a long time ago, but Fang’s way more tolerant than I am."

Justine’s face flushed. "Get her!"

Her crooked grin still firmly in place, the Slayer shot out a side-kick to the left, folding the man stood there in two. The one to the raven-tressed beauty’s right threw a haymaker than Faith caught in her fist and twisted, sending the man crashing to the ground as the Slayer stepped back and rammed her head back into the face of the man stood behind her. Bone cracked under the attack, the nose of Justine’s third man shattering completely.

The man fell away, eyes glazing over in unconsciousness. The two remaining men leapt at the Slayer in flanking motion. The sultry beauty stepped back, grabbed the man rushing in from the left by the shoulder and flung him into the other, the two men hitting the ground in a pile. "These guys ain’t ready for the big leagues," the Slayer commented with a smirk. "How ‘bout ‘ya?"

Justine growled as she sprang up and charged the Slayer. Full locks dancing, the bombshell spun away from her thrust kick and casually drove an elbow into the side of her head. Justine grunted, knocked off balance by the powerful blow. She twisted at the waist, attempting a wild haymaker the mockingly-laughing warrior ducked under before kicking her in the side of her left knee. "Aaaah!" Justine gasped as she fell forward, the Slayer’s combination of fluid grace and bullish power totally out-classing her.

"Normally," she gasped again when the Slayer yanked a handful of hair, "I find hair-pulling a bit girly, but," the raven-haired warrior’s knee crashed into the side of her head, "in your case," Justine slumped to her knees, "I’ll make an exception."

"That’s enough, Faith," Angel said.

Justine glared up at the Irish vampire. "Ah, Fang," the Slayer pouted playfully as she looked up at the tall undead, "I was gonna tan her hide. Please," the Slayer wheedled. The vampire merely raised an eyebrow. "Fine!" The younger woman snatched her elbow and yanked her to her feet. "How about you get us the kid?"

"Wow!" She summonsed up the courage to snap. "I thought Slayers were meant to protect us from vampires not feed them tasty snacks?"

Justine realised her mistake when the Bostonian’s eyes turned to ebony stone. The east coast native’s fist went back. And then the vampire grabbed the girl’s bicep. "Don’t." Angel ordered. The vampire looked towards her. "You can’t exactly stop us," the undead calmly pointed out. "You fight, some of your people will get hurt, maybe some of mine, the boy will get scared, and you don’t get your weapons. Nobody wins."

Justine looked around, a bitter ball lodging in her throat as she realised her front-line troops, her elite, were already under Angelus’ people’s control. "This way," she grunted.

* * *

"Ya touch the goods ya gotta buy ‘em, Fang." Angel released his grip on the Slayer’s arm, shooting her a look that was half warning glance and half smile. Faith winked back at him before looking over to Xan. "X, ya and the others keep our hosts company while me and Fang get the kid."

Angel looked towards a still glowering Justine. "Lead the way." The red-head shot him a hate-filled glare before brusquely nodding and starting down a corridor.

The once gleaming red carpet had long since been trampled into a muddy brown, the lights that had once lined and illuminated the corridor had now dissipated into darkness. Justine walked past the toilets, stopped, looked back and glared at them, before grumpily shoving a door open. "In here."

Angel shot Faith a wary look before following Justine through the doorway. The darkened room beyond had originally been one of the theatre’s two cinemas. Now it was bereft of the chairs that had once filled it; there were sixty or so people, each staring back at them with a mixture of suspicion, fear, and hope. Justine’s harsh voice broke the silence. "We need Rex."

* * *

"Do you think Angel and Faith are alright?"

"They better be," Xander replied to Kate’s question, eyes fixed disdainfully on Justine’s lackeys, the men and women of her crew glaring back at him. It was pathetic really, the world had gone to hell, but this woman still had a Vulcan death-grip on olden-days’ grudges. He had more than enough reason to hate Angel, for start lying about his true nature, preying on Buffy, Jenny’s death. But he could put that aside to help people.

Heck, if you came right down to it, he wouldn’t have his girl now if Angel hadn’t saved her.

Xander half-grinned. And didn’t that fact just irritate the hell out of him?

* * *

After a second a blue-eyed boy with long, straggly brown hair and dressed in a dirty sweater and ragged, hand-me-down dungarees was pushed out. In an instant Faith was crouched by the toddler. "Hey little guy, my name’s Faith. What’s yours?" Angel raised an eyebrow, inwardly rocked by his protégé’s uncharacteristically gentle tone.

"R…Rex."

"Rex?" Faith wrapped her around the toddler’s waist and stood, holding him to her. "Have ya ever been outside LA?" the boy timidly shook his head. "Would ya like to go on a big trip and have lots of fun?" the boy nodded again. Faith beamed. "There ya go. Ya got any toys or stuff?" The toddler shyly shook his head as one of the women shoved a bag into Faith’s hand. "’Kay," Faith looked towards him, "can we loot a toy store on the way back?"

Angel smiled, amused by Faith’s show of maternal affection. "’Course we can."

"Wicked," Faith beamed at him before looking down at the boy. "I’d bet ya’d love some toys ya little tyke."

Little tyke? Angel mouthed the words in disbelief, he hadn’t been this floored since he’d first met Lorne’s mother. The Slayer and her bashful companion slinked past him. On the one hand, Faith’s treatment of the boy was both touching and amusing, but on the other it could lead to serious problems later.

Angel turned to follow his friend. "Enjoy your snack," sniped Justine.

Before the red-head could react he’d spun around, grabbed her around the throat and slammed her into the wall. Angel stared into the vampire-hunter’s eyes for a hard second before speaking, voice held dangerously low. "You helped kidnap my son, almost killed my friend, framed me for murder, and banished me to a watery prison. You cross me again and you’ll find that although I’m immortal, my patience isn’t."

Return To After All Our Nightmares