Authors Notes: Ok usually these will be at the end of the story but I have a lot I wanted to say lol. First I know I have been like majorly absent from FFnet but I've been mainly vidding and no writing inspiration. And I know i shouldnt be starting a new story with so many old ones unfinished but hey I'm inspired and hopefully If I get back into the flow of writing I can continue the rest of my stories. I'm going to try to work on "A Long Way Home" "Have A Little Faith" and maybe "Think Fast" but that ones been sorta dead in the water for a while now. But I've gotten a lot of people wanting me to finish.

Ok now about the story. This takes place 3 years Post AU S5 of Angel. I'm going to give you a few details that will be revealed later on but just keep everyone up to speed.

In Buffy s7, Sunnydale was never destroyed. They sealed off the first evil and set up a slayer academy in Sunnydale. Spike is alive and with Buffy. Anya wasn't killed, her and Xander are married.

In Angel s5, Cordelia was revived in 5x12 and Angel never signed away the prophecy. Everything else remained the same. LA was still plunged into hell. And three years has gone by. That is where the story begins.

Upcoming Ships: Cangel, Spuffy, Weslah, Fangel, Faillow, Xanya

Main Character: Alexandra Hope (my own character) Its a complicated storyline but if you stick with it I think its really good so hopefully people will like it.


Chapter One: Our Hope is lifted

Vampires. Creatures of the night. They thrive on the darkness and prey on the weak. The barren wasteland of the once great city of L.A. was crawling with them and many more sinister beasts. They infested the city like vermin spreading faster and faster. The tall skyscrapers crumbled and decayed from the constant battles raging between the demons. Buildings lay in ruins at the hands of the hell beasts unleashed upon the helpless city. The darkness blanketed the chaos, the flicker of flames in the distance the only light revealing the evil beneath the shadows.

Sunset Boulevard: a sign lay on the concrete at the feet of a small child. She bent down to look at it and ran her fingers across its cold surface. She stood up and made her way down the deserted street. Her long curly brown hair blew across her face.

The child couldn't have been more than seven years old, yet she looked like a warrior. Her torn and tattered clothes were covered in blood and dirt. Her eyes told secrets no one should know, let alone a child. She had a small green backpack on over her sweater and was dragging a sword behind her, the end stained with dark, inhuman blood. Her name was Alexandra Hope.

A wind blew softly down the street; Alex stopped and lifted her sword. She looked around and narrowed her eyes. She let her lids slide closed as though she were concentrating hard. A creature jumped down from atop the building and landed in front of her. The large reptilian looking monster swung its large claw up to attack. Alex jumped in the air and sliced off its arm with the sword. The creature howled as its limb fell limply to the ground.

Alex landed on her feet crouched down. She looked up at the creature as it continued to shriek. A gust of wind picked up as three more demons landed around her.

"Four against one, doesn't seem quite fair," she smirked. "For you guys"

She felt a large hand grab her and lift her off the ground. She swung and her sword sliced its head off. She kicked off the body and spun through the air. She landed on the back of another and plunged her sword through its shoulders. The creature bucked and sent her flying. She flew into the building and fell to the ground clutching her side. She looked up as two of them came at her.

"Ah come on, I'm just getting started" she grunted. She smiled at them through the pain and pulled herself to her feet and swung. The beast shrieked and struck her across the face. Blood filled her mouth as she fell to the floor. She grabbed her face to stop the bleeding. She got back on her feet and jumped up to the window above her. One of them grabbed her foot and pulled her back just as a flash of light surged down the street. The creatures shrieked, raising their hands over their ears.

Alex looked up at them and then at the light as it came barreling towards them with a steadying whizzing sound building. "Whoa…" She closed her eyes and covered her face as the light spread over her. She could see the light through her eyelids and squeezed tighter. The whizzing got louder and louder and then disappeared. The dead silence ached in her ears.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around in shock. She was lying in the middle of the same street only the ruined building was now in perfect condition. The sun shone over the city and the demons were gone. Somehow LA had been restored. She saw people emerge from the buildings with a similar look of shock on their faces. Alex placed her hand to her face; the gash was gone, the pain in her side too. She scrambled to her feet and over to a manhole. More people emerged and the chatter of the city began to build. She lifted the cover and looked once more at the building, her eyes sad, before disappearing into the sewer.

Men and women in suits exited the building, their eyes darting around the street in confusion and suspicion. They looked back at the building fearfully. Over the entrance was a sign that read:

Wolfram and Hart.

~*~

Muddy water splashed the walls of the tunnels as she barrelled through them as fast as her little feet would go, which was pretty fast. She raced down the tunnels until she felt she was far enough away from that place. She collapsed into a corner and wiped the sweat from her face.

"Ok, what the hell just happened?" she whispered to herself, finally able to speak. LA had been in Hell the past three years or so, she didn't know exactly how long. But she'd kept track in her book. She pulled off her backpack and took out a small overstuffed book. Laying the bag down flat, she put the book on top of it. She flipped through the pages to the back where she kept her calendar. It was March 10th 2007. Nearly three years had gone by.

Alex wrote everything she knew down in this book, everything she could remember about her life, everything she'd found out and everything that happened. Being only seven she knew her memory of the past seven years would fade fast and she wouldn't let it be lost. She couldn't remember the first two years but she had information tucked into the pages to tell her. She looked through the book getting lost into the stories of her own life for hours. The light slipping in from the street above faded away.

She sighed and looked around, trying to think what to do now. She looked back down at her book and turned to a new page. A face stared back at her, his dark eyes looked straight through her.

"I guess it's time to find you then." She ran her fingers across an address she'd written below the photograph. Shoving the book back into her bag she got back to her feet. She ran down the tunnel and disappeared down a hole.

Alex stopped as she heard voices echoing her way. She pulled her sword out and waited in the shadows. "Vampires," she whispered; able to tell by their smell. The voices grew louder as they came her way.

"…Yeah, leave it to them to do it," one of the voices said. "I mean it's like time reset or something. Dragged LA right out of hell." Alex listened harder as she crouched motionless so they wouldn't see her.

"What was it? Some sort of spell?" the other voice asked.

"I don't know but I know a lot of demons that are not happy about this. A war is definitely on its way…" The two demons passed her. She held her breath until they had disappeared down another tunnel. Alex sighed once they were gone and pulled out her journal, scribbling everything she had heard down on a fresh page before heading down the other direction.

Alex emerged from the tunnels into the subway. She found a map and looked up where she was and located her destination. It wasn't too far. Alex made her way to the street and started walking. The street was empty but the buildings were bright with spent three years in Hell, it had been a long time since she'd seen the city look earthly and she marvelled at its beauty now. She reached the building she was looking for and gazed up at it. She ran her fingers along the large metal gate. As she entered she gazed at the ornate stone fountain in the middle of the courtyard; she hadn't seen anything so beautiful in her life.

A vampire fell out of the sky and landed in the fountain, spraying water everywhere. Alex stumbled backward in surprise. She looked up and saw two more vampires leap over the gate.

"Little girl didn't your mommy ever teach you not to go out alone?" the vampire growled menacingly at her.

"No but I'm sure she would have taught me how to kick your ass." Alex reached over her shoulders and pulled out two stakes. She lunged at the demon kicking it square in the chest. The other two jumped into the fight. She spun around and tripped one of them, then plunged the stake into its chest and it exploded into dust. The third one grabbed her from behind and threw her into a pillar. She scrambled to her feet and ran at him. She tried to stake him but he grabbed her arm and twisted. She punched the other vampire in the face as it came over, and flipped the one holding her onto the ground. She swung around and kicked the vampire behind her in the face. She sent a fury of blows his way.

"What are you?" the vampire gasped as she raised her hand to stake him. Before she could answer him she was flung backward into the fountain where she crashed through the stone and it crumbled on top of her. She tried to get up but couldn't move. The vampire leaned in over her.

"You're dinner!" he laughed. Alex screamed and tried to escape. The vampire exploded into dust. Alex opened her eyes and saw a tall handsome man in a long black coat standing over her.

"Angel!" she whispered before passing out. Angel looked down at the girl puzzled.

"Let's get her inside," Gunn said bending down to pick the girl up. Angel snapped out of it and took the girl from Gunn. They made their way inside the Hyperion Hotel and laid her down on the couch in the center of the lobby. Wesley came out from his office and hurried over.

"What happened? Who is this?" He looked from Angel to the girl.

"She was being attacked by a group of vampires outside the hotel. But I think she was looking for us. She said my name before passing out," Angel said softly, still deep in thought. Wesley looked down at the child as though studying her.

"What's going on? We don't even get one day of rest? I mean we just saved LA—" Cordelia stopped complaining as she caught sight of the girl. "Oh. What happened?" She asked, rushing over to the child.

"Vamp attack," Gunn said. "She staked one of 'em and was holding her own for a bit before we got there." Cordelia looked at him. "Saw her through the window."

Alex opened her eyes and gasped. She didn't expect to be surrounded by so many people. She pushed herself up into a sitting position but stopped as the pain in her side reminded her what had happened.

"Hello," Cordelia said. "Are you alright?"

Alex nodded as she tried to pull herself together. "I'll be fine. Thanks for saving me," she said looking over at Angel. Her eyes locked with him for a moment.

"What were you doing out alone at night?" Angel asked still studying her face.

"Looking for you. I've been looking for you for a very long time," she said. Before she could continue a young man came through the front door. She looked over to him and narrowed her eyes. He glared at her and attacked.

"Connor, no!" Cordelia yelled. Connor pinned Alexandra to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed. She kicked him in the stomach, which allowed her to get her hands free and punch him in the face.

"Connor get off her!" Angel grabbed the boy and forced him to sit down.

"She isn't human!" Connor growled trying to get out of Angel's grip. "I've come across her before. She's from Wolfram and Hart. She's a demon!"

"I am not you idiot!" Alex snapped at him. "I'm not a demon," she said looking at Angel.

"You're not human. I can smell it!" Connor raged.

"Didn't you learn your lesson last time we fought?" Alex growled. "I don't have to be your enemy—"

"If you're associated with Wolfram and Hart you are!" Connor spat.

"Enough!" Angel bellowed. "Sit Connor. Sit." He glared at Connor until the boy relented and sat. "Connor she is human—"

"Told you!" Alex scoffed. Angel hesitated and looked at her.

"But its tainted." Angel turned to her and narrowed his eyes. "What are you? What's your connection with Wolfram and Hart?"

"I'm not connected with them. I lived there because it was the safest place," Alex said. It was the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Who are you then?" Connor growled. Everyone turned to look at her waiting for her response. This hadn't exactly been how she wanted to tell him. She wasn't even sure he'd believe her. Alex sighed and looked at Angel.

"My name is Alexandra Hope. And I'm your daughter."