A/N Sorry the time is so screwed up on this. The first part of this chapter all the way up to where Wes brings in Faith, things from Get It Done have been going on. I think you'll get it once you read it.

Chapter 58

Meanwhile, In LA:

Angelus and Buffy rounded a corner and found Lilah's body laying on the floor. "Well. that's no fun." Angelus said.

Buffy looked up sharply as Angelus picked up Lilah's body. She could hear Wesley and Gunn calling for Lilah. Angelus caught her eyes and she shrugged, dropping to the floor. Angelus sunk his teeth into Lilah and looked up as Wes and Gunn rounded the corner. He looked up at them. "Oh, jeez, fellas! This isn't what it looks like." Gunn whipped his axe down the hall and it slammed into the wall inches from Angelus' head. "A little too tart for me, anyway. You know what I mean, Wes?" He dropped Lilah's corpse to the floor as Gunn took out a stake. Angelus picked Buffy up and winked at Gunn. "Catch ya later." He turned and ran down the hall, leaping out the window into the night with Buffy. They landed and Angelus set Buffy down.

"Did you have to break a window?" Buffy asked. "It cut me." She pouted her lip and Angelus smiled, taking her arm and sucking the blood from the small cut.

"Let's get out of here. I know a bar where we can go." Angelus grabbed Buffy's hand and they trotted off into the night. A few minutes later they strolled into the demon bar. A few gasps echoed through the room and one demon asked, "Hey, isn't that..?" Another demon said, "Yeah."

Angelus stepped up with Buffy by his side. "That's right, brothers and sisters. The rumors are true. Angel has left the building and I am back with a beautiful queen at my side." The demons and other creatures clapped and cheered and welcomed him back into the fold. "But hey, I'm no different than the next guy. I put my victim's skin on one leg at a time." He and Buffy headed for the bar but they were intercepted by a blonde vampire who ran up to him with a leering smile.

"Angelus! Remember me?" She asked.

"Not really." Angelus said.

"Oh, come on! A little town outside Tuscany.. 1845, give or take? Rosaria!"

"Rosaria, right."

"Yeah! Flew in with some of my friends when we heard about the permanent midnight. Hey, a bunch of us are gonna raid a pre-school later. Want to join us? Have a little kiddie cockt.." Suddenly Rosaria burst into dust.

Buffy stood where the vampire used to be. "Bitch was trying to take my husband. Don't you vamps have any respect for other people's property?"

Angelus smiled and grabbed her to him, kissing her deeply. "Everybody wants a piece of you."

Buffy turned and leaned against Angel. She pointed to a demon with large horns at the bar. "A couple of guys in here said if we want to find the Beast, he's the guy to talk to."

Angelus wrapped his arms around her waist and together they walked up to the demon. "We're looking for the Beast."

"Guy over there told me you might know where he hangs his horns." Buffy said.

The demon looked up. "Whoa! You're him. You're them! Talking to me. Not usually impressed by vampires or Slayers but this is such an honor. Hey! Could you guys sign a little something for my hellspawn? Make it out to Ashley. She's a beautiful little.." Buffy took the offered pen and impaled the demon's hand with it, then Angelus seized him by the throat.

"Maybe some other time, huh?" Buffy said.

"Where is the Beast?" Angelus asked.

"I don't know. I swear!" The demon moaned.

"I've seen him." A vamp said. "The Beast. Seen him a couple times. Down by the buildings by the wash."

Angelus released the demon and he and Buffy walked over to the vamp and his friend. "Show us."

The two hopped up and led Buffy and Angelus out. An hour later, they stood under a highway overpass. Angelus looked around in annoyance as the one called Paco said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the place." He turned to Karl, the other vamp. "This is the place, right?"

"Hey, man, you saw the thing. I didn't." Karl said.

"Where was the Beast headed?" Angelus asked.

"I can't remember, man." Paco said.

Angelus hauled Paco up, yanking him close. "Try remembering harder, Paco."

"Okay! I was just trying to steer clear of the mammoth, all right. You know what I'm saying."

"Listen to what I'm saying. We don't have time to.." Angelus suddenly stopped when Buffy grabbed his arm. He sniffed the air, his and Buffy's attention fixed on something in the distance. He released Paco and walked off into the night with Buffy right next to him. They came to a warehouse stocked full of wooden crates. Angelus and Buffy moved among the stacks of barrels and crates, searching. He whistled, calling out into the darkness. "Is this how you treat an old friend? Kill the chick I was chasing, then lure me here with the scent of her blood." Buffy pointed at the dagger dripping with Lilah's blood.

"We were never friends, Angelus." The Beast said, stepping out in front of them.

"I know. But calling you a 'big dumb hunk of rock' seemed a little on the nose. Come on, man! I'm teasing. It's been what? A couple of hundred years? You still want to kick my ass?"

"It's true I long to crush your skull but I didn't bring you here to fight. That wasn't my instruction."

"Your instruction?" Buffy asked.

"My master has requested you both."

"Your master?" Angelus asked.

Buffy admired the dagger. "Nice workmanship. Did you make this in shop for daddy?" She reached out to touch it, but the Beast grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch that."

Angelus grabbed the Beast's wrist and yanked it away. "Don't touch her."

Buffy laughed. "Sorry. I can see you put a lot of yourself into it."

Angelus wrapped his arms around her waist and looked up at the Beast. "So.. the attack on Angel Investigations, rain of fire, blotting out the sun.."

"Stealing your soul and bringing out the evil in your Slayer. All designed by my master to bring forth and keep Angelus." The Beast said.

"Well, hell of a plan. Real big-picture thinking. So when can we meet the big brain behind our liberation?"

"In time. For now you both will take your orders through me."

"Or here's a better idea. No. We won't. Tell your boss we're grateful for the attention but we don't take grocery lists from the messenger boy."

"I will teach you respect!"

"Look, you may have played those suckers at Angel Inc. but we don't like having our strings yanked." Buffy said. "And I don't like being kept in the dark! Figuratively, anyway. And if your boss was half as smart as he thinks he is, he knows we won't take orders from a lackey."

The Beast glared and Angelus smiled. "What? You don't like lackey? Well, how about toadie? Or lickspittle? Lickspittle's nice. Oh, wait. I've got it. Flunky. That's it. You're just a big, stupid, butt-ugly.." The Beast lunged at Angelus, throwing a punch but Angelus ducked and backed up, dodging and weaving the Beast's lumbering blows with Buffy watching from the side. "..slow-moving flunky! Come on, rocky, if that's all you've got, you better throw in the towel and call it a night." The Beast kept trying to hit Angelus but never managed to lay a hand on him. Angelus ducked several more blows, then leapt over to Buffy. He tossed her high up into the rafters where she landed on a catwalk far above. With a look at the Beast, he jumped up next to her. "When the Beastmaster is ready to peek out from behind your skirt, have him give us a call." Then he and Buffy slipped out through a missing panel in the roof.
Wesley glanced at Faith in the passenger's seat. "You know what's going on in L.A.?"

"Seen the news, sure. Never-ending night, rain of fire.. Team Angel must really have their hands full." Faith said.

"You don't know the half of it."

"But you're here to fill in the blanks for me. Why?"

"We need you."

"Well, I hate to wet the paper for you, Wes, but I'm kinda unavailable right now. Maybe you want to check back when the First is disposed of."

"You need to know.."

"It's Armageddon again. I dig. Last thing you need is me in the mix. Besides, Buffy and Angel will come shining through in the end like they always do."

"Angel's gone, Faith. Angelus is back and he's got Buffy."

"No, he doesn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Buffy's not a prisoner, she's his wife. The way she was acting when I saw her, she's not Buffy anymore."

"Angelus has turned her?"

"No. She's just plain evil. I knew there was something off about her."

"So, we're up against not only Angelus, but now evil Buffy. Great."

"I'm not gonna kill them, Wesley. Angelus or Buffy. Don't care what you thought you came and got me for. Angel and Buffy are the only ones in my life who've never given up on me. There's no way I'm giving up on.."

"I know. That's why it had to be you." Wesley stopped and they got out. He and Faith walked into the hotel. Connor was back and he was being patched up.

"Yeah, maybe so, but if Angelus and Buffy show up, I want to be ready." Gunn said.

"We are now." Wes said.

"Faith!" Connor said. "What are you doing here?"

"Looked like you all could use my help." Faith said.

"What about Sunnydale?"

"Spike and Robin.. Principal Wood have that covered."

"Principal Wood?"

"Long story. Short version: you're not the first kid to be born to a Slayer."

"You mean.."

"Yeah. Wood is the son of a Slayer."

"Faith? What the hell is she doing here?" Cordy asked, walking downstairs.

"Nice to see you, too, Cor." Faith said with a wave.

"She's here to help." Wes said.

"Oh great. One apocalypse is thwarted as the other one devours the world."

"Sorry, but I figured it was a little more important to get Buffy and Angel back." Faith said. "Okay, let's get down to it. We're gonna keep this hunting party tight. Gunn, you're with me, Wes, and Connor. Arm yourselves how you like but I want you to carry the tranq gun. If I can't take him down, I want you to be ready to take the shot, yeah? In case anyone has any other ideas, this is a salvage mission, not search and destroy. Okay?"

"No. Not okay. You think you can just breeze in here, telling everyone what to do? You're not a part of this. If you think I'm not going to kill Angelus if he comes at me, then.." Connor started.

"Listen up, junior. I know that's your mom and dad out there, but when I need a bloodhound, I'll call you. If Angelus or Buffy needs putting down, I'll be the one to do it, not you. So is there anything else you're not okay with? Good." Faith turned to Gunn. "Show me the weapons."
Buffy watched from the sidewalk as a terrified young woman raced down the street, pursued by two vamps. As they gained on her, she ran right into the arms of Angelus.

"Help me!" She screamed.

"It's all right now. I've got you. Shh.." Angelus said.

The two vamps saw Angelus and then Buffy as she stood. They started to back away. The woman looked at Angelus. "I don't know how to thank you."

"I do." Angelus shifted into game face. "Scream for me." She looked up into his terrifying visage and did just that. He was about to bite her when he heard the other vampires talking.

"The Slayer? Are you sure?" Vamp 1 asked.

"Just got word. She's in town." Vamp 2 said.

Buffy looked over. "Yeah, hi. Um, duh. I've been here for a while now."

"Not you!" Vamp 2 said. "The other one."

"Faith?" Angelus asked, letting the woman go.

"I don't know her name. I just know she's a Slayer."

Buffy stomped her foot and the two vamps jumped and rand. She looked at Angelus. "So, Twinkie's come to play."

"This is going to be fun." Angelus smirked.
Faith had sent Connor back to the hotel. He had been taking everything too personally. Now it was just her and Wes. They emerged onto the roof of a gloomy warehouse, looking around carefully with each step.

"Do you know where we're going?" Wes asked.

"Not especially." Faith said.

"How do you expect to find Angelus and Buffy without Connor?"

"The old-fashioned way. The kid's not the only tracker. Something will turn up. Trail of bodies, tell-tale clue.." They rounded the corner to find a huge banner hanging from the far wall emblazoned with Welcome Faith on it. "Maybe a carpet fiber."

"So much for the element of surprise. We'll have to come at him from two sides."

"You take low." Wesley looked around to find Faith had run the length of the roof in the blink of an eye. As he watched, she leapt from one ledge to another, an amazing display of supernatural agility. "I'll hit him high." She called back. Faith dropped down from the rafters and took in her surroundings, her senses on high alert. Angelus called to her, his voice echoing throughout the vast building.

"Hey, Faith. Nice to see you again. You're looking choice as ever." Angelus called.

"What are you waiting for? Come out and give me a kiss." Faith called.

"No, no, no. That would be cheating on my wife. You come to me. That's it.. getting warmer." Faith came to a metal ladder and descended into the lower level of the warehouse. Now Angelus' voice was a lot closer. "Warmer.. warmer.. you're smokin' hot!" He stepped out from behind some crates. "But then again, you probably knew that."

"Where's Buffy?"

"She's right here." Buffy stepped out from behind the crates. "Hey Twinkie!"

"Honey, I brought a guest home for dinner." Angelus said.

Faith turned around as the Beast appeared on the opposite side of the room. Angelus grinned at Faith and chuckled. "Let's eat."

"What is this, Angelus?" The Beast asked, staring at Faith.

"This is the other Slayer. Say hi to the nice Beast, Faith."

"You dare to bring her here?"

"Hey, doing you a favor, Stonehenge. She's here to seriously mess up you and your boss's plans. So the question is, what do you do, hotshot? What do you do?" The Beast stalked forward toward Faith. She raised her crossbow and fired but the bolt glanced harmlessly off the Beast's rock- like chest. She punched it, then punched it again, to no effect. It seized Faith by the throat and lifted her off the ground. "Smile, Faith. I thought you'd enjoy a foursome."

"Sure.." Faith whipped her fist backward and it slammed into Angelus' head, sending him staggering backward. She broke the Beast's hold on her neck and put some distance between herself and her opponents. "Let's get it on."

Faith attacked the Beast with a roundhouse kick followed by a flurry of punches to its chest. T he Beast staggered back a step but the blows didn't hurt it at all. Angelus smirked and grabbed onto Buffy, watching the show. "Whoo-ee! Watch yourself, big guy. The girl's on fire."

Faith poured every ounce of her preternatural strength into her blows. After another volley of punches and several roundhouse kicks to its head, the Beast was still standing, unharmed. With a menacing growl, it thrust its arm forward into Faith's chest like a massive piston, lifting her into the air and sending her flying backward a dozen feet where she crashed through a packing crate and landed covered in debris.

"Oh.. that's gonna sting in the morning." Buffy said.

The Beast stalked forward and hauled Faith out of the crate's wreckage. She flipped up into the air, kicking hard into the Beast's face before landing and hammering its belly with punch after punch.

"Nice!" Angelus said.

Faith ducked several blows and followed with one of her own but the Beast stopped her arm in mid-swing and pounded her to her knees, then swung her into a stack of steel conduit with tremendous force. Faith was on her knees now. The Beast pounded her, one massive blow to the head after another. Her face was bruised and bleeding. The Beast brought one of its cloven hooves down on her back, crushing her.

"B, help. I know you're in there somewhere." Faith said.

"Come on, Twinkie! You're not even trying." Buffy said coldly.

The Beast yanked her to her feet and she spit blood in its face. Furious, it lifted her above its head and slammed her down on the floor with bone- crunching force, then kicked her across the room.

Angelus shook his head in mock sympathy as Faith struggled to stand, gasping in pain. He looked at Buffy. "You know, somebody should break this up." Buffy smiled and handed him the dagger.

Faith crawled to the center of the room, her face contorted in pain as the Beast approached and stood over her. She realized she was about to die and faced it without fear. The Beast stared at her. "This is all you are. I had heard the Slayer possessed great strength.. but there's no real power here. My master's power is beyond all limits. Beyond your petty imagining. You are weak. You are nothing. You could not even defeat me."

Angelus sidled up next to the Beast and smiled at Faith. "Ain't that the truth? I mean, look at this guy. Pretty much the only thing that could do damage to that thick stony hide.. is himself. Or maybe, I don't know.. maybe a piece of himself." Angelus whipped out the Beast's dagger and slammed it into the creature's back. The Beast screamed in agony and batted Angelus aside. It writhed, trying to reach the dagger buried in its back as cracks started to form all along the length of its body. Radiant blood-red light poured out of the fissures as its screams reached a crescendo pitch.

"I knew it! I told you!" Buffy said.

The light came together in a coherent beam and shot out of the Beast's mouth and eyes up into the sky. It slammed into the mysterious cloud obscuring the sun and annihilated it. Sunlight instantly blazed forth, bathing the city in a golden glow. Faith lied crippled on the floor, watching as the Beast became petrified, then crumbled into a pile of rubble. Across the room, Angelus looked up in disgust at the sunlight coming though the windows high above. "Aw, crap! You mean killing the Beast really does bring back the sun? I thought that was Angel's retarded fantasy. Oh, well.. what are you gonna do?" He got to his feet and pulled Buffy to hers. Faith looked up and grasped the chains dangling from a loading winch above her and pulled herself to her feet, using the chain to keep herself upright. The effort was almost more than she could bear. "Anyhow, I just wanted Beastie-boy here to soften you up. I like my meat nice and tender." He licked his lips and leered at her lasciviously. With an agonized scream, Faith hurled the loading winch at Angelus. It slid along its rails toward him but slowly. Angelus easily stepped out of the way. "Oh! A swing and a miss, slugger! Sorry.." Suddenly, Angelus was tackled to the ground by Buffy just as the winch broke through the window, pouring sunlight into the factory. Faith lied on the ground right in the center of the sunlit floor, unreachable to Angelus. He and Buffy stood up and chuckled.

"God.. okay, well, I gotta give you props. Nice move. Really. I guess we'll just have to take a rain check on that whole eviscerating you thing. It's just you and me and Buff now, Faithy."

Buffy waved as they headed out. "Catch ya later." And then they were gone.