"So this is it," Faith declared after she showed Buffy and Willow the whole apartment.

"Wow, Faith, I have to say I'm impressed," Buffy admitted.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool having our own apartment," Faith said as she and the two girls sat down on the couch.

"Not so cool sharing it with her," Cordelia muttered from her position on the seat.

"She has been like that since we moved together," Faith whispered into Willow's and Buffy's direction. "So girls, tell me what's going on in good old Sunnydale? Angel told me a lot of bad guys were moving into town, but I was to busy to ask for details."

"Well, same old," Buffy explained. "We have now some soldiers in the town and two vampire leaders are battling it it out to see who rules."

"No shit, And I've missed all that?" Faith asked with wide eyes.

"You haven't missed that much," Willow deadpanned. "It sounds interesting at first, but all those guys are doing pretty much nothing."

"Be careful Red," Faith told her. "Sound like the calm before the storm to me."

"Yeah, Xander thinks that too," Buffy responded "He thinks those vamps could mean a lot trouble for us."

"How is Xander," Cordelia asked. "Haven't heard much from him during the last month."

"He is good Cordy," Buffy told her. "He is just busy at the moment with all the informal work he is doing. And he also is our only connection to the soldiers."

"So, is LA any different from Sunnydale?" Willow asked interested. "I mean, are the vampires weaker here because they are not on the hellmouth?"

"Sorry Red, still the same annoying bloodsuckers," Faith explained. "LA has all the bad guys itself. Vampires, demons, evil lawyers, the whole nine yards."

"Evil Lawyers?" Buffy and Willow asked at the same time.

"Yeah," Faith said with a slight smile "Normally I would say that all lawyers are evil, but there's this law firm, Wofram and Hart. They provide their services to every supernatural smoe running around here. And they are pretty interested in Angel. God knows why."

"God, LA sounds even worse than Sunnydale," Buffy stated.

"You get used to it," Faith replied. "How is Oz by the way?"

"Oh, he's fine," Willow told her and grimaced."But I don't know for how long. Xander wants to teach him how to use a gun."

"Good idea," Faith said. "A gun can be a pretty useful tool if you have to fight vampires and so on."

"How do you know?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, the X-Man gave me a few as present when I left. A few days after I arrived here I went to nearby gun club so I could practise without hurting someone accidentally," Faith explained. "I got the hang of it pretty quick. Now I carry at least a pistol with me whenever we are patrolling."

"I don't want to spoil the happy atmosphere," Cordelia interrupted the conversation. "But, do we want to sit here all day, exchanging stories?"

"She has a point," Buffy agreed. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, we still have to patrol tonight," Faith explained. "But we still got a few hours before we have to go to "work". I suggest we hit the mall, maybe go to the cinema be fore we meet up with Angel for patrol."

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy agreed.

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"Are you sure we shouldn't call Buffy," Giles asked once Xander had explained him what was going to happen this night. Xander had called him directly after Willy's phone call and now the three were sitting at the table in Xander's office that was currently covered with a map of the harbour.

"Giles, believe me when I tell you that we can handle the situation on ourselves," Xander said trying to reassure the librarian.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?" Oz asked.

"Well, the ship will dock here," Xander said and pointed at the area he had circled with a red marker. " From what Willy told me, we can expect that the freighter is loaded with more guns than what most third world countries have in their arsenal."

"So, our main objective is take the guns and the freighter out," Giles stated. "If those vampires are able to equip all their men with guns we're going to have a problem."

"Right," Xander agreed "If this freighter unloads we will have even more trouble on our hands."

"Couldn't you call those Army guys?" Oz asked. "Maybe they could help us."

"Don't think so," Xander told him. "When I last saw them they were still trying to get used to the benefits of stakes."

"So, how do we destroy the ship?" Giles asked.

"Easy. C4," Xander simply said.

"That's your solution to everything," Oz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I always liked the fourth of July," Xander told him with a smirk. "I just love a good firework."

"And how exactly are we going to do this?" Giles asked.

"Well, we could place a few charges on the hull, but that would only be useful if we know where the guns are stored, so the blast would hit them," Xander explained. "Our best chance is to go on board, eliminate vampires in our way and spike the storage room with explosives. After that we leave and blow the ship up from a safe distance. That's it."

"You think it'll that easy?" Oz asked

"Well, it won't be easy, but I don't think it will be too difficult," Xander told them and went out of the office. Giles and Oz were following him. "They are not expecting us and I want to make damn sure they don't before it's too late."

Xander walked down to the armoury, Giles and Oz still behind him.

"I've already prepared everything," he said and motioned at the equipment lying on the work bench in front of him. "I've already chosen a few guns for you guys," Xander said and showed them one of the silenced Berettas and one of the equally silenced Mp5s. "They are both good standard weapons. Both silenced so they won't notice us if we fire."

Giles took the MP5 in his hands, tying to get a feeling for the dangerous weapon. "You know that you have to show us how to work these guns," Giles told him.

"No prob. We still have six hours," Xander said and tapped at his watch. "I'll give you a crash course how to handle these babies."

"You sure that's enough time?" Oz asked doubtfully.

"Hey, GI Joe up here," Xander said and tapped at his head," was able to teach a recruit how to shoot in under two hours. We have more than enough time for you guys."

Oz walked up to the bench and picked one of the Berettas up.

"Let's get started," he said and cracked the slide back.

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"He's late," Buffy stated annoyed. They had been waiting for Angel for about half an hour at the meeting point. The sun had already set, so that couldn't be the problem.

"Believe me B," Faith said from her position on the hood of her SUV, "it happens a lot."

"Is there someone badmouthing our ability to arrive on time?" said the man wearing a leather jacket who accompanied Angel.

"I was not badmouthing Doyle," Faith calmly responded. "I was just stating the obvious."

"Buffy, Willow," Angel greeted the two.

"Hi Angel," they responded.

"I don't want to sound rude, but who is your friend?" Buffy asked and motioned for Doyle.

"Let me Angel," Doyle interrupted the vampire before he could say anything. "I'm Doyle," he introduced himself. "And you must be the slayer they have been talking about."

"They have been talking about me?" Buffy asked bewildered.

Doyle shrugged "Just a few stories from your time in Sunnydale."

"So, how exactly did you end up with Angel," Willow questioned.

"He is my Messenger," Angel threw in.

"Messenger?" Buffy and Willow asked confused.

"He's our connection to the powers that be," the souled vampire simply stated.

"Powers that be?" Buffy and Willow asked for the second time.

This time it was Dolye to answer their question, by pointing upwards.

"You mean .. God?" both asked shocked.

"Not exactly sweetie," Dolye told her with a smile. "But something close enough to that. Some omnipotent beings. See, those guys give me these visions. Actually they are kinda migraine like headaches. But I see pictures people that need help. And that's where the souled vampire and our little slayer come into play."

"You call me little again Dolye and you can eat your food through a straw for the next two weeks," Faith threatened him calmly

"What Doyle is trying to tell you is that powers tell us through him where to help people," Angel summed the situation up.

"I still don't understand why should these powers send some kind of messenger only to you? We could also use someone like that in Sunnydale," Buffy said.

"Yeah, but Angel here is a different case;" Dolye explained. "See, the powers want to give him his shot at redemption. Getting his human side back. He is their champion."

"So Angel is fighting for those powers to be human again," Willow stated. "That sounds like something out of bad TV series."

"You're telling me?" Cordelia threw in "I find this whole thing also pretty ridiculous."

"Well, let's get back to business," Angel interrupted before Cordelia started another of her rants. "Giles called me and told me everything about that Carver guy. So I have been searching for anything on him."

"And?" Buffy asked.

"Well, one of my contacts might have something," Angel explained. "I wanted to meet him tonight."

"So? What are we waiting for?" Buffy stated.

"It's not that easy. My contact only trusts me. So, appearing there with two slayers might be a little bit too much."

"And what are we supposed to do? Wait for you to come back?" Buffy threw in.

"Faith?" Angel asked the dark slayer.

"Well, we still have that nest at Hackman street we wanted to clear out," Faith responded.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but finally she gave in.

"Okay, we'll help you guys with killing those vamps," she said and turned to Angel. "Where are we going to meet you?"

"At my office," Angel said. "Faith knows the way. Well, I better get going."

With those words the vampire disappeared into the darkness.

"So B, you ready for a session of slaying?" Faith asked her sister slayer.

"Why not?" Buffy replied, while she and the rest of the gang mounted Faith's SUV.