Clark Reynolds walked swiftly through the halls, the flourescent lights doing nothing to accentuate his well-tanned skin. His well-polished shoes squeaked as he walked. When he arrived at the double-doors to the office he tugged on his black suit jacket and slicked back his dark brown hair before he knocked on the door.
"Come in," a male voice called from the other side. He pushed through the doors and summoned up all his courage when he saw the man and woman sitting in the office.
"Sir, the Rakan twins escaped," he announced when he saw the expectant looks on their faces.
"And how did that happen?" Lindsey asked, an annoyed look spreading over his features.
"They were rescued by Angel's people," he replied.
"Angel. How did he know?" Lindsey asked.
"Cordelia must have had a vision," Lilah said, shaking her head at the fact that Lindsey didn't think of that right away. "So she sent the dark knight out to save the kiddies."
"Angel didn't save them," Clark interrupted. The two looked over to him in confusion. "Three women. Chase, Birkle and a new woman. Blonde, same age as Chase. She took out three vampires on her own. She fought skillfully, like a demon."
"Or like a slayer," Lindsey said. This certainly put a dent in things. It was Lilah's turn to not figure out the obvious. "Blonde? Same age as Chase? Fought skillfully? Who else could it be?"
"What's the slayer doing in LA?" Lilah asked. She noticed the manila envelope that Clark was holding and held her hand out. "That better be pictures."
Clark handed over the envelope and nodded his head as Lindsey stood to look over Lilah's shoulder. "Surveillance just pulled those fifteen minutes ago."
They looked at the pictures and their eyes widened, their curiosity piqued.
"That's not Buffy Summers," Lilah said with a smirk.
"We've got a new player in the game," Lindsey said. He smiled at the image of Tara, studying her face. "I think one of us should pay Angel Investigations a visit."
* * *
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Gunn asked angrily. He stepped forward, glaring at Fred and Cordelia. Angel placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Let me handle this," he said. Then he turned to Fred and Cordelia. "What the hell were you thinking? You all could've been killed."
"You should have called us," Wesley added.
"By the time we called you and you got to the place that I described to you, those two would've been dead," Cordelia said, gesturing toward the lobby. The boy and girl were sitting next to each other on one of the sofas. Tara sat on the one across from them, staring at the floor. "We made it out alive. Tara helped us."
"Tara was nowhere near ready for that," Angel said. "She barely has control of herself as it is. The last thing she needs is to fight a bunch of vampires."
"But she did have control," Fred said.
"You said she blew up the buildings," Gunn said.
"Well, yeah, but that was just a small side effect," she replied. Gunn raised an eyebrow. "I could tell when the vamps were dusted that she was working to keep control of herself. She stopped herself from going over the edge."
"You all took a huge risk," Wesley said. He looked out at Tara. "I'm sure the only reason she even went along was probably because she knew if you went without her you would face certain death."
"Only problem is that if she hadn't kept control she could've been the one to kill you two instead of the vampires," Angel said. He focused on Cordelia. "I don't care where I am, Cordy. If you have a vision, you call me first. None of this G.I. Jane stuff."
Cordelia nodded her head and looked out to the lobby. "What about those two?"
"Standard vampire attack," Wesley said. "We should probably take them home and call it a night."
In the lobby the two teens were looking around nervously. Nobody was saying anything. The boy's gaze fell on Tara. She had been completely silent the whole time.He couldn't get over how amazingly she had fought those guys who had attacked them. He'd never seen a girl so strong. But something about her told him she was having trouble staying strong.
"My name's Toshi Rakan," he said. Tara looked up, surprised at the break in silence. "This is my sister, Tomi."
She stared at him for a moment and then looked back down at the floor. "Tara."
"So, what you did back in that alley…" Tomi began. "You saved our lives."
"How did you do what you did?" Toshi asked. "Not just the fighting. You…you blew up the buildings…or something."
"It's a really long story," Tara said quietly. She looked over when Angel and the others returned to the lobby.
"Where do you two live?" Angel asked. "We can take you home."
"You're not even going to explain anything that happened?" Tomi asked. "I mean, those guys, or whatever they were, turned to dust. How did that happen? And who are you people?"
"We, uh, help people…who need help," Angel said. He didn't feel they needed to get into all the details. "I'm Angel. This is Fred, Gunn, Wesley, Cordelia and Tara."
"And those guys turning to dust?" Toshi asked.
"They were…" Wesley paused, shooting glances at the others, "…vampires. All five of them."
Toshi and Tomi looked at each other. They looked surprised, but it wasn't a 'these people are insane' kind of surprise. It was more like they knew that's what Wesley was going to say, and were feeling a disappointed kind of surprise.
"Five vampires," Toshi said. He exchanged a look with Tomi. "Dad was right."
Tomi said nothing and it was the Angel Investigations team's turn to be confused. "Your dad was right about what?" Fred asked.
Toshi hesitated and Tomi was giving a look that said 'don't tell them' but he began explaining anyway. "Our dad was sort of a…a seer."
"He knew the future," Angel said. Toshi nodded his head.
"He didn't know everything that would happen in the future, but he new about certain events," Toshi continued to explain. "He warned us about tonight."
"He knew you would be attacked by five vampires?" Cordelia asked. "When did he tell you this?"
"It was two years ago," Tomi answered. "Right before he died. He didn't know what day this would happen, but he told us that five men who are not men, living dead, would come for us."
"They would bring us before our enemy where we would face a choice," Toshi continued. "Ally ourselves with evil or face death under the power of the wolf, the ram—"
"And the hart," Wesley completed the sentence. He exchanged a knowing glance with Angel.
"How'd you know?" Tomi asked.
"I guess this wasn't a standard vamp attack after all," Gunn said.
Wesley turned to Tomi and Toshi wearing a grim expression. "Your enemy is our enemy."
* * *
Once they had explained everything they knew about Wolfram & Hart to the twins and Tara, the Angel Investigations group began working on figuring out why the evil law firm would want these two teenagers. After getting a few vital details, they let the teens get some rest in one of the hotel's rooms. Angel had noticed how exhausted Tara looked and suggested she get some rest as well, but she had insisted on helping with the research. She said it made her feel normal.
After sunrise, Angel had retired to his own room for the day. Fred, Gunn and Cordelia had all fallen asleep on top of their research. Wesley sat at the desk in Angel's office, going over some texts, while Tara sat on one of the sofas in the lobby with a laptop, attempting to put some of the research skills she had learned from Willow to work. She looked up when she heard the click of heels on the tile.
A woman, whom Tara guessed was in her mid to late thirties, stood nearby. She had wavy, shoulder-length brown hair and was dressed in an expensive business suit. She smiled at Tara, but she didn't speak.
"Can I help you?" Tara asked, slightly disturbed by the woman's silence.
"My name's Lilah Morgan. I'm an...associate of Angel's," she replied.
"Oh, he-he's not available," Tara said, wary of the woman. She didn't like the vibes she was getting off of her. She doubted that she was any kind of associate of Angel's.
"Well, I could talk to you," Lilah said. She sat on the arm of the sofa across from Tara. "You're new around here?"
"Yeah," Tara said. The more she talked to this woman, the more she distrusted her.
"How'd you meet Angel?"
"Step away from her, Lilah."
They both looked over when Wesley spoke. He stepped around the front desk and walked toward the center of the lobby. Lilah stood and smiled.
"Step away from her, or things may get violent," he warned again.
"Why, you wouldn't hurt me, Wes," Lilah said with a smirk.
"I wasn't talking about me."
Lilah chuckled and turned to Tara. "Her? She looks as harmless as a kitten."
"You'd be surprised," Tara said in a low tone, glaring at Lilah.
"Oh, I've already been pleasantly surprised, Tara," she said. The other two were momentarily surprised that Lilah knew her name, but then Wesley remembered who they were dealing with. "Tara Maclay. Daughter of William and Olivia Maclay. Born November 7, 1980 in Salt Lake City, Utah. One brother named Donny. Should I continue?"
"If you wish to continue to astound us with your ability to memorize public records, feel free to do so," Wesley said sarcastically. "Or you could illuminate us with your reason for being here."
"Just keeping up with the changes at Angel Investigations," Lilah said. She walked away from Tara toward Wesley. "Angel seems to pick up a new face around here every week. What's her story?"
"Don't you know already?" Wesley asked snidely. Lilah shook her head.
"You'd think I would, but honestly, I don't," she said. "I'm going to have to get on our research department about that."
"You do that," Wesley said. "It will force you to leave here."
"I've seen her fight, Wes," Lilah said. She turned to Tara. "Plus that exploding thing you did with the buildings, whatever that was. Power like that isn't going to go unnoticed. Just thought I'd introduce myself because you'll be seeing more of me."
"I'm thrilled," Tara said sarcastically. Lilah smiled, turned and walked out. Tara turned to Wesley. "Wolfram & Hart?"
Wesley nodded his head and sighed as he looked toward the doors Lilah had walked out of. "Wolfram & Hart."
