Disclaimer: No RE character is owned by me. No Buffy character is owned by me. I own Elizabeth and Courtney.

Los Angeles, CA 12/12/01 1:30AM

Courtney got off the bus stop at LA, waiting impatiently for the two guys to unload their bags so she could find hers. She knew she was only perhaps an hour ahead of her pursuers.

She took the time to call and arrange for a car for her to pick up at a rent a car place, then took her handbag and sat down at one of the plastic seats. She checked her purse for the disk, and was pleased to see it was in the bag. Not like it could have disappeared, but she wanted to be certain.

It took another ten minutes for her to get her luggage and get out the door. She walked quickly, having already made sure the rent a car place was no more than three blocks away. She had to drive quickly.

She wished she knew where she was driving too.

She found the front desk and got the keys she needed for her rented car, a Lexus. She made her way to the parking lot and unlocked the trunk of her car, storing her luggage there. She made her way to the front of the door and decided she would find the nearest hotel and spend the night. Even after all these months, she never could sleep on a bus.

She unlocked her door when a hand clamped on her wrist, and she turned into the face of a grotesque being, a zombie. She screamed, but it gave no notice. Another one grabbed her other arm, and she saw two more approaching. She was suddenly unsure what they would do with her now.

Near the scene, Angel had just finished dusting a vamp that had just found his way into town. When he heard the girl scream he ran toward the location to see the long blonde haired young woman being pulled at by the zombies. Even though it had been a month or so, he would know them anywhere.

"Isn't this the part where you tell her 'You're coming with me'"? He asked casually.

The four zombies turned and faced him. The two of them released Courtney's arm. Angel nodded slightly and continued, "Because if you don't talk, then I can't tell you that it won't happen."

The four zombies shambled their way to Angel, and the vampire figured it had to be a joke. Intelligence or no, there was no way four Umbrella zombies were going to get the best of him. Angel met them halfway, kicking the first to back and then repeating the move with the second one. He punched the third one in the face and turned to the fourth, swinging at him.

The fourth dodged his fist, and then grabbed his arm. He then sank his teeth into the vampire, tearing in deeply.

"No!" Courtney yelled out, once again horrified at what the zombie did. No matter how many times she saw it, she never got over being sick at seeing what her father's creations did to people.

Angel just growled, pulled his arm back and allowed his face to change into the visage of a vampire. "Damn, that really hurts." He said and then snapped its neck.

By then the three zombies and recovered from his attack and began to make their way to Angel. This time Angel didn't mess around, meeting them and snapping their necks effortlessly. As they all fell to the ground in a lifeless heap, Angel turned to Courtney, still wearing his vampire face.

Courtney went from fear to horror, and began to run away from Angel.

In a flash Angel had her by her arm and turned her around saying, "It's okay. I'm here to help." He smiled. "Despite whatever the face may say."

Courtney pulled her arm away from Angel but didn't run. "Even if I believed that, it won't stay that way for long. You're infected." She said, expecting him to ask what she meant by that.

To her surprise, Angel smiled. "No, a bite like that won't infect me. Or a scratch. The virus only works when you're alive, so it can kill you and make you a zombie. If you're already undead, it has no effect." Angel told her.

Courtney went from being horrified to curious in a fearful way. "You're undead?" she asked him.

Angel nodded. "I'm a vampire cursed with a soul. I help people now, and if those zombies were any indication, that would mean that you need help. Umbrella seems to be after you, or the zombies are doing this of their own accord, and that means you still need help." He explained.

Courtney now looked at Angel with total curiosity, a habit of being the daughter of a scientist. "You're a vampire with a soul? Who know about Umbrella and their experiments? Is that typical news?" She questioned.

Angel took the keys that she had dropped when the zombies attacked her. "We should get going. I'll take you to where I and my friends are staying and I'll explain on the way." He said.

Courtney realized she had no safer or better alternative. "Okay." She agreed, getting into the passenger seat as Angel started the car.

After getting on the road, he started, "Most of the underworld.vampires, demons and such.have no interest in what Umbrella is up too. I was cursed with a soul by a gypsy clan. Me and my friends know a bit about Umbrella but not enough."

Courtney patted her handbag. "I.I have information about Nemesis project here. From its creation to the sudden intelligence and the theories of how it happened. It's in a disk inside." She blurted suddenly, realizing how much she hated being alone and afraid.

"I want a friend of mine to look at the disk for specifics on Nemesis." Angel said simply. "If it's okay with you."

"Fine." Courtney said.

"I already know how Nemesis and several zombies got smart. I was there." He told her.

Courtney was startled. "What?"

"It was in Sunnydale, they have it on file as the Hellmouth. Something lured Nemesis there, along with the zombies. I was called by my friend Buffy to help fight. We did rather well, except Nemesis was stronger than we gave credit for. But the Hellmouth made them smart and they left. We're not sure why." He explained.

She smiled a bit. "My father would kill to find someone who was there when they got intelligence." She confided.

Angel smiled a little. "It wouldn't help. No one could figure out exactly when it happened." He replied. "When we get to the Hyperion Hotel, I'll call my Sunnydale friends and tell them to come here. We can have them see the disk too, maybe find Umbrella's weakness."

Courtney wondered if he was telepathic. She never the less asked, "How do you know that is what I want?"

"Because you wouldn't be running from zombies and holding information if you agreed with what they were doing." Angel said simply.

"How old are you?" she asked him.

"About 253." He said easily.

They drove on in silence, and Angel realized that was because Courtney had fallen asleep.



Paris, France 12/12/01 6:45 AM

"I tracked some of the Umbrella communications." Carlos Oliveria told the group as they sat around at the table, taking one of their few breaks over coffee. "They think the girl, Courtney, has gone to California."

"Any ideas why?" Claire asked.

Carlos shook his head and responded, "No idea."

"Maybe she is seeking out this 'slayer' that Rain mentioned in her letter." Jill suggested. She had not told them that she had the letter in her jeans pocket.

Rebecca nodded, having remembered almost the entire letter. "She said that the slayer was somewhere in California." She pointed out and shuddered. "Along with this Hellmouth."

"Yeah, the name gives me the creeps too." Chris told her.

"Then maybe we should follow suit." Barry suggested. "After all, this girl is in danger and we could use the information."

"Sounds like a good idea." Leon agreed.

Jill looked thoughtful. "How can we be sure that this slayer can be trusted? The name doesn't exactly inspire the most confidence, after all." She asked.

"We only have one way to find out." Claire pointed out. "Besides, if this slayer was a threat to people, then we'd know it. But if this slayer only fights Umbrella, they'd cover it up anyway."

"We'd still have lots of California to search." Chris pointed out.

Rebecca snapped her fingers. "Not necessarily. LA might not be the Hellmouth, but it's the best way to start. That way we can spread out, and that might even be it, if Nemesis passed through there." She stated.

Barry nodded, pleased at her thinking. "I still have a few resources left, I'll call in a jet and get we can make our way. Start packing ladies and gentlemen." He ordered. Sunnydale, CA 12/12/01 2:30 AM

Buffy came back from a long night of patrol. Actually, to quote her friend Elizabeth it wasn't long, just boring. She swore the vamps were laying low for some reason none of them could figure out.

She stopped and got a glass of milk, then leaned against the counter. She so wished she could figure out why things were so slow. It was the only thing she could do right now except for raise Dawn. And she was less than cooperative about that.

The phone rang and Buffy ran to answer it, hoping it didn't wake Dawn. Unless she was still up. Or if she was the one calling. "Hello." She answered, preparing for the worse.

"It's me." She heard on the other end, and she knew who it was. Once again Angel was calling her without saying hello. She sighed inwardly, knowing some things never changed. But she smiled, also glad about that. "We have a problem."

Buffy sat on the kitchen counter. "Don't we always? What's up? And hello, by the way." She replied.

Angel ignored her sarcasm. "I just rescued a girl from a few zombies. They were after her because she has information on Umbrella and the Nemesis project." He told her.

That got the slayer's attention. She remembered calling him a few weeks ago to deal with the rumors of zombies and the Nemesis monster. And they had barely won, Giles speculated they got smart and realized they wouldn't win, despite all evidence in that battle that proved otherwise. "What is it?" she asked him.

"I don't know yet. I have Fred looking over it, but I figured you and your friends would want to know. It couldn't hurt to have two pairs of eyes looking at the files." He responded.

"I'll get the gang together in the morning and we'll make our way down to LA." Buffy told her vampire with a soul ex. "Later." She then hung up.

"Something wrong?" someone asked. She turned to see her sister Dawn standing there, wearing a nightgown that Buffy couldn't recall seeing in ages.

"Yeah, you could say that. We have a problem, which involves Angel in LA. And whether I like it or not, you will have to come this time." Buffy informed her and hopped of the counter. "So get some sleep."

"What is the problem?" Dawn asked her now.

Buffy paused, but despite her doubt she went ahead and told her. "It's Umbrella. And the Nemesis monster."

Los Angeles, CA 12/21/01 4:30AM

"What took you so long?" Fred asked Angel as he walked in. "Sunrise is coming and we were getting worried."

"Something came up and I had to call Buffy." Angel told her as he came down the stairs and looked at Gunn, "We need to make up one of the rooms."

"Why?" Gunn asked as he followed Angel.

"What's going on?" Fred asked.

"There is a young woman who is parking her car and making her way here. She is running from Umbrella because she has vital information about the Nemesis project. I want you to look at it Fred, Willow will do the same when the gang comes up here." Angel told them both.

Gunn sighed. "Guess we should be making up more than one room." He pointed out.

"Good point." Angel admitted. "Where's Cordelia?"

"Sleeping." Fred answered. "She has an audition tomorrow so Gunn and I agreed to hold the fort."

They heard the door open and in stepped a young blonde woman that both Fred and Gunn guessed was the girl Angel had rescued. "Hi." Fred said.

"Hi." She acknowledged, looking around. "Is this." she started.

"This is the Hyperion Hotel." Angel provided quickly. "These are two of my friend Fred and Gunn." He introduced.

"Hey." Gunn acknowledged.

"He and I are about to make up your room. Give the disk to Fred and she'll take a look at it." Angel added.

Courtney looked reluctant but she reached into her purse and pulled out the disk, handing it to Fred. "I'm Courtney." She added.

"Thanks." Fred said, taking the disk and as she went to her computer she added, "Nice name."

"Thanks." Courtney said, sitting down on the counter. "So, how much do you know about Umbrella?"

"Only that it's so dangerous that Angel insisted on returning to Sunnydale on his own despite the fact it sounded like they could have used all the help they could get." Fred answered.

"Angel says he's immune to the effects of the T and G virus. Something about being undead makes him immune. I won't pretend I understand the intricacies of being dead and what happens afterwards. But I do know that the virus turns any living thing into zombies upon penetration." Courtney told her.

"Did you help design the virus?" Fred asked her.

"My parents did." Courtney corrected. "They are both scientists in the project. It took me a few years to realize that I wanted a way to stop it. But I never got it until a U.B.C.S. elite team discovered an infestation of intelligent zombies in a small town and eliminated all but one. Somehow they learned that something called the Hellmouth gave them intelligence after confronting something called a slayer."

Fred paused. "Angel was there." She said.

Courtney nodded. "I know. He told me." She told him.

Angel came downstairs. "Your room is ready, Courtney. Gunn is just putting covers on the pillows." The vampire told her.

"Great." She said, suddenly unable to suppress a yawn. "Have someone wake me when your friends show up." She stood up, smiling from Fred to Angel before going up the stairs.

"She's nice." Fred told Angel. "It's hard to believe her parents developed the viruses."

Sunnydale, CA 12/21/01 7:30AM

Willow and Tara came downstairs to see Buffy sleeping on the couch. As Tara went into the kitchen to start breakfast Willow knelt down by the slayer and gently shook her awake.

"Oh, what time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Seven thirty." Willow told her. "I heard Dawn moving around so she's up, and Elizabeth called five minutes ago. She is going to pick up Xander and Anya. They should be here in another ten minutes."

"Tara's breakfast." Buffy guessed as she heard some moving in the kitchen.

"Yeah." Willow confirmed.

"We'll need our energy." Buffy replied, a little more awake now. "We have something important to do and a road trip to make."

"What's going on?" Willow asked her.

Buffy looked directly at her. "Angel has someone with info on those zombie making viruses." She told her friend grimly.

***************************************************************

Jill observed Los Angeles from the plane window as their plane started their descent. She had to admit that the place didn't look like it contained hidden dangers. But she also knew appearances could be deceiving.

She looked over at her friends, and when Chris looked at her she said, "I just hope we're not too late. If LA becomes another version of Raccoon City, everything could be over."



Okay, so they didn't meet. But they will next chapter. After all, Umbrella's tracking Courtney and Nemesis has decided it wants Buffy and Angel's head on a plate, and all the more when it discovers Jill in LA too. Stay tuned.