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Angel sat at his desk and frowned, Buffy had fled his house nine days ago, since then he had no contact from her. Even when she would disappear for days at a time to only god knows where she would call him to let him know she was fine.

He couldn't put out a missing persons report because for all he knew she really was away to blow off some steam, he tried calling her cell but it was off, he even kept an eye out for outgoing calls so he could approximate her location – but there was none.

"Still looking for goldilocks?" Angel glared over to his friend, the officer had a smirk on his face "You know she'll be back, she always comes back mate"

Angel nodded, although true he didn't know if she would come back, she was upset about being rejected "I know Spike" his friend raised his dark eyebrows to his luminous blonde hair, Spike handed a case file to Angel then left him alone.

The only other thing he could think of was to go see Hank. He didn't want to speak to him as the urge to punch his lights out was getting harder to control but maybe he would have an idea of where she had went to.

Once his shift finished he drove down towards the estate where the Summers' lived, it didn't take long to reach their home but it took a good five minutes to steady his nerves, one wrong word and he would punch Hank, without a doubt.

He rang the doorbell and waited, a couple of minutes later an obviously drunk Joyce let him inside, her eyes ate him up, she pawed at his chest "Hi Angel, what brings you here?"

Angel took a step back to get away from her touch "I came to see where Buffy is" his eyes slanted in a glare as Joyce shrugged nonchalantly, she began her walk to the kitchen so he followed her, she poured herself a whiskey.

"That kid, she could be in Aspen, she could be in New York, I don't know, she comes and goes as she pleases" she took a large gulp of the dark liquid.

It infuriated him that she could be so flippant about the situation, sure she could have jetted off somewhere but she could also be in trouble as well "What if she's in danger?" he didn't want to think that she could be.

Before Joyce could answer Hank strolled into the kitchen and placed a kiss on her forehead, he glared off against Angel "She's not a child… besides we would know if she was in trouble, you don't have to poke your nose where it don't belong"

He counted down silently from five to allow the anger to dissipate; he could see that these people were worse than Buffy gave them credit for. They didn't care about her at all "I'll be seeing you" he left without being escorted out; he didn't want to be near them any longer.

Oooooooooooooo

Angel leaned back in the chair at his desk; it had been a couple of days since he had spoken to her parents and he hadn't heard anymore about her since then. He had spoken to the chief about it but he reminded him that there was no proof that she was missing.

"Read through that file yet?" Spike poked his head through the door to his office, seeing the dark look on Angels face answered the question. He closed the door over so they had some privacy "So what is it, about the kid?"

"She's not a kid" his scowl got darker; he didn't appreciate her being called a kid. In some ways she did act petulant but it was only expected being brought up with everything handed to her on a silver platter – most of the time she acted older than she was.

Spike chuckled, he loved to wind him up "Answer me this peaches, if you like the bird so much why have you never asked her out?"

Thinking it over he didn't know the answer, he had thought about it for a long time. She had been with a few guys in the past year, each time he'd work up the nerve she'd have a new boyfriend; which annoyed the hell out of him.

"What about this file, Spike?" he quickly changed the subject, not wanting to discuss this further. He flicked open the folder and read through the first page quickly; a new gang of drug traffickers had set up base somewhere in Sunnydale.

"Looks like big business that's came from LA, they've not caused any ripples yet but sources indicate that they will be filling our streets before long… not been caught even though there has been a few casualties…"

The file showed that there was surveillance on the group, the king pin if you liked, was called Faith Lehane. Angel raised his eyebrows at the picture, she didn't look like a crime boss, she seemed pleasant enough but then again looks could be deceiving.

He closed over the folder then left for the meeting about said file. Sunnydale was a small town, everyone looked out for everyone else, and something like this could be devastating if it leads to fatalities. They'd have to work out a plan and bring them down.

When he arrived home he sat down heavily on the sofa, it had been a long day. His eyes were drawn to the answer machines blinking little light, he leaned over to push the message button, no one ever called his home phone.

There was a bit of static on the message then a dainty sigh, he could tell automatically that it was her, there was a few taps as if she was working up the courage to speak but then the message beeped as the recording ended.

Angel tried to redial the number but it rang out, taking a copy of the number he input in into the search engine on his work laptop, the database pulled up a map of Los Angeles but no defined location. It looked like she had used a payphone.

Suddenly he had a burst of energy, it seemed silly but he was going to drive up to Los Angeles that night and ask around for her. He grabbed his cell and badge then headed for his car, a couple of hours round trip was nothing if it lead him to her.

Oooooooooooooo

By the time he reached LA it was dark, he drove around the general location of where the call originated from before coming across a diner. He made his way over to one of the waitresses who smiled politely at him.

"Hi" he beamed widely, he knew that if he turned on his charms then the questioning would be over quickly "Say, I need your help, I'm looking for a friend, she's around 5'2", blond hair, green eyes?" he showed her a picture of Buffy that she'd taken of herself with his phone.

The waitress looked at the picture and pursed her lips together "Hmm, she does look familiar but no, I couldn't say for sure…" she placed her hand on his forearm and stroked him lightly, the look in her eyes showed she was telling the truth… also that she wanted totake the conversation further.

Angel forced a smile "Thanks anyway" the waitress pouted at him as he left, he exited the diner quickly and headed for his car. He done another round of the area, asking a few people who were on the streets and neither had they saw her.

Defeated, he drove back to Sunnydale. Sure LA was a big place but knowing Buffy, once she settled in a place then she wouldn't go far, she liked familiarity. Maybe he'd come back up at the weekend and search properly.

Oooooooooooooo

The information about the gang that had moved down from LA had grown in recent days; the surveillance pictures showed a lot more of Faiths henchmen dealing drugs to the vulnerable teens of Sunnydale.

The atmosphere in the precinct was electric, strategies had to be planned and a mode of attack, they could nab all of the lackey's for their obvious involvement but they had no proof that Faith had any handle as she was never seen when the dealings took place.

For them all to be busted, Faith had to be caught. Angel and Spike headed towards the shooting range, both of them being top at firing their weapons. In high voltage situations, knowing when and where to shoot in a moment could save a life, if not their own.

Relentlessly they shot at the targets down the end of the range; once both clips were empty the target were brought forward, both of them hitting with deadly accuracy. Spike grinned at Angel as he waved his target paper proudly.

Angel rolled his eyes, Spike feigned hurt and shook his head "Wow mate, you really need a shag" he laughed at his friend when he was sent a dark scowl.

Even with the glare, on the inside he was smiling, Spike always done something to try to cheer him up. He was thankful that they had became friends when they joined the PD. Spike was one annoying son-of-a-bitch but was still grateful for him.

"Comin' round for a beer tonight?" they were on standby so alcohol was a no-go for them, luckily Spike stocked up on the non-alcoholic version for times like this.

He shook his head and avoided his friends gaze, he didn't want him to know that he was a one-man search party "Nah, think I'll have a quiet night Spike" he flashed a smile then got out of there before Spike would try and convince him otherwise.

Oooooooooooooo

Angel was preparing his bag with enough clothes for the weekend, he would make his way to LA, do some snooping around, find her and convince her to come home… if not with him, then at least back to Sunnydale.

His phone rang breaking the silence in the room; he was startled but reached to answer anyways. On the line was the sergeant, they had finally caught proof of Faiths involvement, so they were being deployed to take her down.

Great, he wouldn't have a chance to get to LA. He threw his bag down then grabbed his keys, he had to go to the station and get suited for a takedown. Spike was already there waiting on him, it didn't take long to prepare for the encounter.

The sergeant stood in front of the team, there would be five initial cops to secure the building then the backup to arrest the crew. He briefed them on the plan of attack; they had been made aware that the base of operation was in the old mansion towards the woods in South Sunnydale.

They remained silent for the duration of the journey, it didn't take long to get to the old mansion, it was previously abandoned but had been bought over by someone, who with digging deeper, they had found out the person didn't exist; it was a fake name.

The convoy stopped a little away from the house to ensure that it wouldn't alert the occupants inside. Stealthily the five of them, including Angel made their way towards the house; strategically they entered from the front and back.

Spike stunned one of the men who were sitting on the sofa as another cop took out another man in the kitchen, clearing the lower level of the house the team made their way quietly upstairs.

They burst into the main bedroom of the house, their laser sight hovering over Faith, not to kill but to incapacitate. The brunette smirked at the intruders "Damn, didn't you ever hear of knocking?" she reached around to pull a gun out of the waistband of her jeans but Spike took the shot, sending her to the ground.

Once the room was secure Angel left to check out the other bedrooms in the house, all but one room was cleared; he came to the last door and heard shuffling from inside. Taking a deep breath he kicked in the door and made his way inside.

He stopped in his tracks; he had his gun pointed towards a cowering female. He slipped his finger away from the trigger in disbelief. If he wasn't so finely tuned to her presence he would have took the shot, despite the old clothes and messy brown hair, he saw those green eyes that he loved.

Spike radioed to him to ask if it was all clear, Angel kept his eyes on Buffy, she looked terrified, knowing he should call it in he couldn't bring himself to do it. He wasn't sure how she was involved but he didn't want to arrest her.

Even with his actions possibly leading to his dismissal and ending his career, he pressed the button on the radio "All clear in here… lets go" he slowly left the room and closed the door over, all Buffy could do was stand there in shock.