A/N: The much awaited (by me anyway) story I've been working on! Many thanks (and a huge hug) go to Love-el-ly Joy, who has seriously been holding my hand through this whole process. Probably somewhat short chapters with some long ones thrown in there. One cannon tweak for the purposes of making a later scene work - everyone still remembers Connor. Also - I like Spike, so while this is B/A, it's very Spike friendly.

Don't own anything, no one's paying me.

Summary: Buffy Shows up in LA at Wolfram & Hart tracking down a demon that had gotten some of her slayers. She, Giles and the W&H gang work together to find it and take it down... if it doesn't get to her first.

Enjoy! And please review! I know this is just the setup, but it'll be nice to hear from you when we start diving in.

Angel felt a familiar zip run through his spine. Buffy was here. He idly wondered how long it would take her to get through the extensive security measures to get to his office.

Shaking his head a little, he took a breath and tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him. Maybe he could get one page finished before she got there.

As soon as the thought entered his brain, a very annoyed sounding Harmony paged him.

"Boss, you have –"

"Just send her in," he cut in, a small smile playing around his lips.

Moments later, Harmony escorted Buffy into his office.

"Could you tell your 'guest' that breaking a security officer's hand and threatening the staff is not the way you're supposed to get a meeting with the boss?" Harmony said before huffing out.

Buffy watched Harmony leave with a smile of her own tugging at her lips. "You know, her as your secretary will never not be funny," she said.

Angel took in her presence, cataloguing every change in her. She looked less haggard than she did in the finals days of Sunnydale, but she was far from her more jubilant former self.

When she looked back at him, he simply raised his eyebrows. "The security guard?" he inquired.

Buffy shrugged. "He got a little too frisky while… frisking me"

"And the threats?"

"They got in my way! Turns out they don't like it when their fellow guard gets injured," she said innocently.

"Imagine that," he said dryly.

She grinned almost impishly at him and he couldn't help a small smile in return. He stepped forward and took her in his arms, delighted to feel her whole body melt into his.

They broke away after a moment. She looked up at him, that familiar connection zinging between them as their eyes met. Their gaze felt almost more intimate than the embrace they'd just shared.

"What are you-" he began, only to be interrupted as the gang rushed in.

"Angel!" Gunn began, throwing open the door. "We heard the sl…" He trailed off as he saw Buffy standing next to Angel.

The two quickly looked away from each other, clearing their throats as if caught in an intimate moment.

"…but I guess you knew that already," Gunn finished.

Spike snorted. "Told you. That's 20 quid you owe me," he said as Gunn grumbled. Spike stepped forward. "'S good to see you, pet."

Angel fought back a deep scowl as Buffy wrapped the blond vampire in a quick hug. It quickly became a grin, however, as Buffy pulled back and smacked Spike soundly on the arm,

"Ow!" Spike yelped. "What was that for?"

"I never gave you the dressing down you deserved for that 'Let's not tell Buffy I'm alive' stunt," she said.

"Well technically I'm still- Ow!" he broke off as she whacked him again, scowling at him. The gang snickered as he pouted.

Turning around, Buffy brightly greeted the rest of the gang, whom she had briefly met just after the battle of Sunnydale. She gave Fred a quick hug, Gunn a high five and Wes a mock-solemn nod.

Wes was alarmed by her presence. "Buffy, what is it? Do you need help?" he asked.

"Well obviously there's an apocalypse if she's seeking out captain forehead here," said Spike.

"Spike!" said Angel in a warning growl.

"No, it's nothing like that," said Buffy. "I just-"

"Are you okay?" Angel interrupted. "Are you in trouble?"

"Guys, isn't it possible she just came here to see you?" said Fred.

Both Angel and Spike spoke in unison. "No."

"Hey, here's an idea!" said Buffy dryly. "How about we let Buffy speak before we all freak out?"

"Sorry," they mumbled.

"So, Buffy," said Gunn mock-casually, "what brings you here?"

"Why thank you for asking!" said Buffy with a grin. "It's nothing quite so dire. I'm chasing a demon. It's been wreaking havoc back in Europe and my sources tell me it's here now." She looked at Angel. "I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I'm demon hunting on your turf."

Angel leaned forward. "What kind of demon?"

"Giles is doing the research. He just called and said he thinks he found it in some book or other. He was just getting on the plane when he called, so he should be here in about 9 hours. We'll hopefully have more info soon."

"I got a question," said Gunn. "Not that it's not great to see you, but why didn't you just call us when you figure it out and let us take care of it?"

Buffy's mouth settled into a grim line and a determined spark entered her eyes. It was clear to all that Buffy the Slayer was talking when she answered. "It killed 4 of my girls." She looked over at Spike. "It killed Kennedy." Spike's eyes widened. "I'm taking it down. Personally."

Angel nodded in understanding. "What do you know about it?" he asked.

Buffy sighed in frustration. "Not much. The few reports we do have completely contradict each other. We know that it attacks on two fronts. One is, obviously, physical. We can't get a read on what the other level of attack is." She started to pace. "On the surface, the physical front is how the girls…" She broke off and ran a hand over her face. "They were found beaten to death. But these were slayers – strong ones."

"You think it was the second front," Angel said.

"Yeah, the mysterious second half of the attacks is what has me worried. I'm pretty sure that's where the real danger is." She paused as an expression Angel was all too familiar with came across her face. "I'm pretty sure that's what really got to those girls," she said quietly.

Angel put his hand on her shoulder in silent support. "Wesley," he said, "do what you can with research until Giles gets here."

"Of course," said Wes.

"Where are you staying?" asked Fred.

There was a tense moment as Angel and Spike looked at each other. Gunn threw a look at both of them and Buffy smiled a little.

"Stand down," she said. "I have a friend in the area; I'm staying with her until Giles and the others arrive – and we'll figure all that out when they get here. I know you have your hands full with all of this," she made a vague arm gesture, seeming to mean all of Wolfram & Hart, "so I didn't want to come over and just assume I could commandeer your lodgings and staff."

"Buffy you're always welcome here, and we'll always help you out as much as we can," said Angel.

"Hell, slayer, I don't work for the ponce, so even if he didn't, I would," said Spike.

Buffy smiled at both of them. "Good!" she said. "Well now that that's all settled, I'll go drop my stuff off with my friend and then… anyone want to go on patrol with me? Mostly recon, though I wouldn't say no to some vamp dusting on the way."

Angel sighed. God, he missed patrolling with Buffy. "I can't," he said regretfully, "I need to get some stuff finished so I can devote my time to your demon once Giles arrives."

"No worries, I gotcha. How 'bout you, Gunn? I hear you were quite the street warrior. Wanna put the suit away and brush up on some butt kicking?"

Gunn grinned. "Count me in."

Buffy turned to the blond vampire. "Spike?"

"Count on it, pet," he said, smiling.

Angel scowled, but Buffy either didn't notice or completely ignored it.

"Alright. I'll meet you guys back here in an hour?"

"Maybe you could manage not to injure the security team when you come back?" said Wesley.

"Maybe," said Buffy.