CHAPTER TWELVE: BATTLE PLANS

Thirteen hours later, with everyone rested and well fed, the AI team converged in Angel's office.  Buffy had checked in with Giles, and he'd informed her that things in Sunnydale were still quiet.  Buffy had told him that she'd be staying a little longer in LA to help them with their Beast problem.  Cordelia was shooting even more glares at the Slayer, who was ignoring them.  There was no way she was going to let Cordelia Chase ruin her day, not after the absolutely perfect evening she and Angel had spent together the night before.

Lorne walked into the office to complete the team and Angel cleared his throat to begin taking action.

"Guys, I know that the last few days have been stressful, but…we've gotta stick together," Angel said, his voice low, soft and serious.  "No more back-biting, fist-fighting, or vengeance.  From now on, we focus on one thing: making it out alive.  'Cause I'm only going to say this once: what Angelus told you was a lie.  I haven't and will never give up on you.  We'll get through this thing.  Together."

"I can't believe we didn't crush you people years ago," Lilah commented from the side.  She was promptly ignored.

"Wes, you and Fred get back to Lilah's books.  We need any new information we can on this new player.  Cordy, I want you helping them in any way you can.  Lilah, make some coffee.  Earn your keep around here.  Lorne, I want you out working low-pro real estate.  If this thing is bigger than the Beast, it's gonna be laying down roots.  And it'll need square footage," Angel instructed.

Wesley, Fred and Lorne all nodded their agreement to the plan.  Lilah looked a little put upon, but didn't refuse the orders.

"In the mean time, Connor, Gunn, Buffy and I will work damage control.  Sweep the surrounding blocks for civilians and save anyone we can."

Gunn, Connor and Buffy all nodded and the group split up silently.  Cordelia walked to Angel's side, touching his arm softly.  She didn't miss that he flinched from her touch.

"Angel, I want to go with you and the others," she said softly.

Angel shook his head.  "I can't risk it."

She glared at him and tightened her grip.  "Angel, I know how to fight."

"You may know how to fight, but this is different.  LA's a demon feeding ground now.  Odds are it'll be a few thousand of them to about four of us."

"All the more reason I should go with you," Cordelia argued.

Angel looked at her, wondering why she was so desperate to go with him.  He just shook his head.  He wasn't about to let Cordelia out there with them, not only because she was becoming antagonistic, but because against a group of demons, she wouldn't be able to hold her own.

"Cordy, my answer is no."

She stormed away angrily and joined Wesley and Fred, trying to pretend that she wasn't bothered by Angel not allowing her to join them.  On the inside, however, she was seething with anger and jealousy.

Angel joined Gunn, Connor and Buffy by the weapons cabinet and grabbed his favourite items.  He looked to the other three.

"We ready?"

They all nodded and as a team, moved quickly and quietly out the door and into the eternal darkness of LA.  Fires raged through the streets, cars were burnt out and demons roamed free.  As fun as eternal blackness sounded, the demons and vampires were quickly running out of human victims to feed on.  So, when there were three humans walking down the streets of LA, the fights quickly broke out.

The foursome worked as a team, staking and decapitating as many vampires as possible.  Angel was trying to keep an eye out for all three of his team members, and especially for Buffy and Connor, but they were all holding their own.  Buffy was far better than Angel remembered her being.

The Slayer was keeping an eye on Connor and Gunn, not entirely worried about Angel holding his own.  He'd always been good, but it was the other two that she was concerned about.  At first Buffy couldn't believe how fast Connor was moving.  After a moments thought, she realised that it was perfectly natural for Angel's son to be a fast and good fighter. 

Gunn also seemed to be incredibly experienced, and Buffy was just grateful that Angel had such a good team supporting him.

Connor was struggling with three vampires simultaneously, and not doing so well.  Buffy quickly threw a stake directly into the heart of one of them.  Connor looked up, surprised, expecting to see his father behind the attack.  He shot Buffy a grateful smile and gave his full attention to the battle.

Ten minutes and over fifteen vampires later, the group stood breathless, but alive.

"Man I hope we get this Beast guy soon.  This 24/7 vamp feeding ground thing is getting a little tired," Gunn commented.

The other three nodded their agreement.

"With any luck, that book that Lilah found will give us new information," Angel said optimistically.

Angel hadn't noticed that Buffy had suddenly stiffened, looking at something behind Angel and Connor.  "Angel," Buffy said, her voice steady.

"Yeah?"

"This Beast thing…kinda tall, rocky looking guy, yeah?" Buffy asked.

"That's him," Angel replied.

Buffy pointed over Angel's shoulder.  "No, that's him."

Angel turned and felt a moment of blind panic.  Connor and Gunn turned as well, tensing themselves ready for battle.

"Why do I have the feeling that this is only gonna end in bruises," Buffy muttered to herself.

The Beast stepped forward and the group burst towards him in a flourish of motion, attacking from all-sides.  Angel was the first to strike, but the Beast merely batted him away as though he were nothing more than an insect.  Gunn tried to charge him, but was thrown into a wall ten feet away.  He landed heavily and struggled to get up. 

Buffy moved forward and struck out at the Beast, punching and kicking with no real effect on the Beast.  He went to hit her, but she ducked under his hand, thankful she'd done so.  When the Beast had thrown Gunn and Angel, he'd just tossed them.  He was attacking Buffy with a wicked looking knife that looked as though it had been forged out of part of the Beast himself.

Buffy quickly kicked the Beasts hand, hoping to dislodge the weapon.  He held on tightly and tried to kick the Slayer away.  She feinted to the side and tried again to kick the knife from him.  He seemed to be intent on keeping hold of it.

The Beast hit her with his other hand, sending her flying.  She struggled to her feet as Connor went to strike at the Beast.

"Connor, the knife!" she yelled.  "Try to get the knife."

Connor nodded and concentrated his efforts on disarming the Beast.  The large creature seemed even more intent on keeping the knife now that Buffy had pointed it out to the team.

Angel rejoined the skirmish, helping his son to try and get the Beast to drop the weapon.  Distracted by Angel and Connor's efforts, the Beast didn't even see the Slayer attack from behind him.  She grabbed the large knife, cutting her hand slightly on the spikes of the blade, but wrestling it from the creature that was trying to fend off three attacks.

The Beast roared, enraged at having lost his weapon.  He flung Connor and Angel away, his sights on Buffy alone.  Buffy swallowed hard but pushed past the pain that was settling in her body.  The Beast lunged towards her, but she ducked and went under his arm.  He was strong, but just a little too slow.

Angel approached on the other side and attacked the Beast, trying to distract it so that Buffy could have a good shot.  The Beast ignored Angel, even though the vampire was trying his best to damage the rocky outer layer of the creature. 

Buffy feinted left and ducked under the Beasts arm, quickly passing the knife to Angel.  The Beast completely missed the switch that had been made and continued to go after the Slayer.  Angel grinned grimly and quickly plunged the knife into the centre of the Beast's back.

The Beast straightened and screamed in agony.  It's arms reached behind it, trying to get the knife out of it's back, but he couldn't reach it.  Buffy, Angel and Connor all stepped back, suddenly worrying about what they might have just done to the creature.  The Beast glowed a bright yellow colour through the cracks of its skin.  A bright light shot out of the Beast, into the sky.

Buffy looked up and realised what was happening.

"Angel, the sun!"

Angel panicked and quickly ducked into an abandoned house, thankful that he could enter, though saddened that its occupants were obviously dead seeing as he could enter.  Gunn struggled to his feet, not wanting to be huddled against a wall for their moment of triumph.

After several moments, the sun showed itself, the blackness disappearing.  Buffy, Connor and Gunn all smiled widely, looking up at the sky, shielding their eyes from the brightness of the sun.  Buffy looked to where Angel was standing in the doorway, out of the sunlight.  She'd never seen him looking so completely happy in his life.  Except for the previous night of course.

"Score one for the good guys, huh?" Gunn commented.

Buffy grinned and felt completely and utterly happy that they'd won against the creature.

"I think a celebration is in order here," Buffy commented.

The trio walked to where Angel was still grinning in the doorway.  Gunn playfully punched Angel's shoulder.  "That was some quick thinking there."

Angel looked to Buffy and touched her face gently.  "How did you know about the knife?"

Buffy shrugged.  "I didn't really.  He was just holding onto it a bit too much."

Connor suddenly laughed and Angel felt his heart lift.  He'd never heard his son laugh like that.  He looked inquisitively at the boy who was smiling widely.  "We did it!"

Angel's cell phone suddenly rang, disturbing their moment.  He pulled out his phone.

"Angel," he said.

Angel smiled when he heard Wesley on the other end.  "What just happened?" was the ex-Watcher's frantically happy question.

"Killed the Beast," Angel replied nonchalantly.  Buffy, Connor and Gunn all laughed, their adrenaline slowly down and giving all them the shakes.  Buffy leant against the doorframe, half in the sun that had never felt better on her skin than it did right now. 

"Way to be casual Angel," Buffy teased.

He shot her a grin and listened to Wesley questioning him.  "Wes, calm down!" Angel said.  "We'll explain when we get home.  As soon as we figure out how to get me back to the Hyperion without the whole bursting into flames factor."

Buffy giggled and even Connor cracked a smile. 

"Later Wes.  We'll be home soon." Angel hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket.  He grinned at the group and looked between them.

"So, any suggestions?"

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Gunn and Connor walked back to the Hyperion to get Angel's car so that he could hide in the backseat and make it home without combusting into flames.  Buffy stayed with Angel, not wanting to be separated with him when she knew that she was going to have to go back to Sunnydale fairly soon.

When Gunn and Connor returned, they found Buffy seated in Angel's lap, the vampire and Slayer kissing desperately.  Gunn and Connor shared a mutual grin.  Gunn coughed loudly and watched with amusement as the two of them jumped apart.  Buffy flushed red and straightened her shirt as she stood up.

"Hey," she greeted.

Connor laughed at her attempt of being casual.  "Car's out front," he explained.

Buffy and Angel nodded.  Angel nodded and shrugged out of his leather coat.  He walked to the doorway and was thankful that the door to the car was open, the rooftop was up, and they'd driven as close to the front door of the house as they could get.  Angel hid under his jacket and raced for the car, thankful to be out of the sun, even though it was what he'd been fighting for the last few days.

Gunn, Connor and Buffy clambered in, Buffy in the back seat beside Angel.

"What did the others say?" Buffy asked curiously.

"We didn't tell them we were back," Connor replied. 

"Yeah, we figured we wanted to wait for the heroes welcome when you guys were there as well," Gunn added.

Buffy and Angel grinned, Buffy cuddling up to the vampire, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her.  She sighed and closed her eyes, wishing that she could stay in LA with Angel. She wondered if after the battle with the First, he'd mind if she moved to LA and joined the team at AI.  Apart from Cordelia, she'd got on extremely well with the other team members.

In the midst of her planning for the future she was now desperately hoping she'd have, her cell phone rang.  She sighed, knowing that it would be Giles asking her to come back home.

"Yeah?"

"Buffy, it's Giles," her Watcher greeted.

"Hey," she replied, crossing her fingers and hoping for news that wasn't too horrible.  "What's up?"

"We're just wondering when you'll be home," Giles explained.

Buffy sighed.  Never she wanted to reply.  "This afternoon, probably," she replied.  "Is that cool?"

"Of course.  Is everything there…settled?"

"Yep.  He's all soulful, all the time," she replied.

"All the time?" Giles repeated.  "Does that mean…"

"His soul is all kinds of permanent," Buffy said with excitement.  Angel squeezed her hand, loving the happiness in her voice.

"And you're uh…certain?"

Buffy laughed.  She could just imagine Giles on the other end of the line blushing red and cleaning his glasses.  She really had missed him, and she was hoping to get some quality catching up time with her Watcher when she returned home.

"We're way certain," Buffy replied.

Angel chuckled a little, instinctively knowing the question that Giles had just asked. 

"Oh, uh…well…that's…that's good.  It is good, yes?"

"Better than good," Buffy replied happily.  "So…do you want me home this afternoon, or do you mind if I stay a bit longer?"

Giles could hear the plaintive tone in her voice, and smiled a little.  He hadn't heard Buffy so genuinely happy in a while, and honestly things in Sunnydale were very quiet.  He had wanted her home to speak to the new Potentials, but one more day wouldn't hurt.

"Just be home tomorrow evening," Giles compromised.

Buffy grinned and resisted the urge to bounce up and down in her seat shouting 'thankyou, thankyou, thankyou'.  She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself calm.

"Sure thing.  I'll see you tomorrow night.  Say hi to everyone for me."

"Of course," Giles replied.  "Take care of yourself."

"Will do Giles."

She hung up the phone and turned to Angel, an excited smile on her face.

"You don't mind me staying with you guys for another day, do you?" she asked.

Angel smiled happily, shook his head, and leant forward to kiss Buffy, completely reassuring her that she was always wanted in LA.

"I think I can safely say Angel doesn't mind," Gunn teased.

Buffy smiled and snuggled into Angel's chest.  She looked at Gunn and Connor in the front seat, a question in her eyes.

"Yeah, but do you guys mind?" Buffy asked.

Connor turned around with an incredulous look on his face.  "Are you kidding?"

Buffy smiled, thankful that Connor didn't completely hate her.  She'd always been worried about what Connor's reaction to her would be when and if they ever met.  She was just glad that he seemed to accept her already.

"After today and yesterday," Gunn said, "I think you're now an honorary member of Angel Investigations."

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Much thanks for all the reviews!  In answer to the question of why don't I write smut…well, I just can't write it.  I'm not offended by it or anything, but I just don't feel comfortable writing it.  It's just this hang-up I have.  Not too sure why, but…there it is.

Glad to have restored some of your faith in the B/A shipping!  I was avidly against it for ages, but after reading some terrifically written fic…(Angellover's Mo Anam Chara [check out my site in the Misc Pairings sections]) I've been on a B/A kick.

Again, many thanks for your reviews!

Toodles.