Allen Pitt: The next of kin is only called if one is listed. At 22 Buffy is considered legally an adult and if no next of kin is listed then they wouldn't be called

CharmedChick: I know it was slightly evil to leave it there but the chapter was just begging to be finished right at that exact spot g

Lucifer's Angel: I hadn't actually seen another BtVS/L&OSVU crossover before I started writing this, and surprisingly enough L&OSVU fic isn't all that prolific on the net ATM, I kinda hope that changes, you could do some great things with this show and fic.

Chapter 5

14th December 2004

Elliot was the first to move; within seconds he was by Olivia's side, checking her over for any other injuries, despite her insistence that she was fine. Munch was the next to react; he had his phone out and was dialing for an ambulance as Elliot dropped to his knees next to his partner.

Fin stood there and stared at the girl, watched as the blood continued to well out of the wound in her chest, the words "Officer down" echoed from Munch's mouth and bounced around the alleyway, jarring Fin from his thoughts.

Holstering his weapon he ran to where the girl was now lying in the snow and the muck, placing both hands over it an attempt to stem the bleeding and save the life of a girl he had unknowingly shot. Over the din that was screaming inside his head he could hear Olivia calling out to Munch

"I'm not down. Just a little banged up" but when Elliot touched her wrist where the man had held her, she couldn't hold back the cry of pain as his touch aggravated the tender flesh even more. Looking back down at the girl, Fin could see blood slipping between his fingers, he didn't want to push down to hard. She looked so delicate and fragile innocent even. Her eyes slid open and focused on him.

"Am I finished?" there was hope in those eyes. Hope for what, Fin did not know.

"No you're not kid. You got plenty of life left to live" For some reason this seemed to agitate the girl. She brought a hand up and grasped one of his wrists in a surprisingly strong grip for someone on her condition. She pulled his hand away from the open wound.

"Stop"

Fin pulled out of her grip with difficulty and put it back over the wound, pushing harder than before, if she was this strong after being shot what was she like at full strength.

Fin could feel the slush seeping through the knees of his pants, soaking them through. He didn't care.

"Let me go" her voice was getting weaker.

Her eyes slid shut

"Please"

Three times but they didn't open again.

Fin prided himself on remaining detached, not getting emotionally involved but there was something about this girl. Her quiet pleading, the acceptance and hope in her eyes he wondered, what kind of girl begged to be let go?

To die like this?

He didn't notice the bright flashing lights, bathing the alley in mixed reds and blues as the ambulance arrived. All he could focus on was the face of the girl, her eyes closed, looking so peaceful except for the jagged cut on her forehead. Even as the paramedics kneeled beside him he didn't move, he kept up the pressure.

Finally a hand on his shoulder forced him to break his gaze away from her. Looking up he saw John Munch standing beside him "Let them work" was all the older detective had to utter to get him to finally let go, moving back he rocked onto his heels, then straightened up but wouldn't move far.

Munch knew there was nothing he could say to assuage the guilt Fin was feeling over accidentally shooting the girl. There was no way the other detective could have seen here from where he was standing, John hadn't even seen the girl regain consciousness let alone stand up and John had been standing on the other side of the ally way. There was nothing Fin could do besides wait.

Wait to see if she would live.

Wait to see if he was a murderer.

Elliot was angry, his partner was currently on her way to hospital, along with a young woman who had been accidentally shot by a cop. Elliot himself had been standing there his gun had been raised, he had seen the knife, but hadn't been able to get a clean shot. It would be a cold day in hell before he shot at his partner, Fin was the only one of them who had had a clear shot.

Whatever the hell had happened to the perp?

One minute he was standing there, Elliot hadn't even blinked and the guy had turned into dust.

Something was going on and Elliot wanted to know what it was.

15th December 2004

Four men sat in the hard plastic chairs that adorned the walls of the hospital waiting room. They had each given their statements and made their way to the hospital as soon a possible, waiting to hear about the two women that had been brought in.

An ER doctor came in and saw the three of them sitting there and almost laughed out loud. They were sitting in a row, Munch's hands covering his eyes, Fin's over his ears and Elliot had his chin resting on his hands fingers stretched up over his mouth.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

They say the sense of smell is the first to awaken when you've been unconscious. Buffy Summers knew exactly where she was by the smell she had been in hospitals enough times to recognize the antiseptic aroma that permeated the entire building.

She hated that smell.

The next sense that came to was sound. The slow and steady beeps of a heart monitor, judging by the timing it was probably attached to her. Although that was the primary sound that assaulted her hearing there were others. Hushed voices, of nurses and visitors, the opening and closing of doors throughout whichever ward she had ended up on. Breathing, someone who was close by but conscious. It was uneven and shallow. Was it a police officer? Or had they called her Mom or Dad, hell they could have called Giles for all she knew.

To be honest she didn't care anymore.

It was after that she started to get the feeling in her body back. Her arms and legs ached as did her head, but it was the sharp stabbing pain in her chest that was worrying her. She remembered staking Spike through the back but after that it was a little blurry. In fact the last few weeks felt like a giant dream. She had sworn to herself that she would never go back to this life and yet if she wasn't mistaken here she was lying in the hospital in quite a bit of pain.

Finally working up the courage to open her eyes she prepared herself for the dull fluorescent lighting that would still hurt her eyes. As she edged her eyes open she found a point on the wall opposite her bed and focused her eyes on until her vision cleared and eyes adjusted enough for her to see her surroundings properly. She couldn't see anyone, but she could still hear him or her nearby. Hopefully she could get up and out before they noticed.

Blinking a few times in an attempt to clear up the last remnants of unconsciousness. Buffy reached over to her right wrist where the drip was attached, slowly she pulled the tape off and grasped the end of the needle and pulled it out in one hard yank. However, she was sure that there was other damage that she needed to check.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position she bit down on her lower lip until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, in order to suppress the cry of pain that was threatening to erupt from her throat. Taking deep breaths in and out of her nose, she gingerly pulled the hospital gown off her right shoulder and looked down.

A thick bandage covered her shoulder, she couldn't see what the damage was but it worried her, taking a deep breath she ripped the bandage off, and squeezed her shut as tears of pain sprang to them. Looking down she could see a small round hole with a longer line bisecting it stitched up, between her right breast and collarbone.

Damn, no wonder it hurt.

Slowly Buffy turned off the monitors and pulled all of the extra attachments the hospital had added off leaving them lying there on the bed. Swinging her legs to dangle over the side of the bed, she edged her way off it keeping her weight on the left hand until her feet were touching the ground. With every minute that passed Buffy could feel her strength growing. She wasn't at full strength and wouldn't be for a few days yet, but still she could get herself out of here and the city.

Her feet planted firmly on the ground, she stopped for a moment and allowed the dizziness to pass. Looking around once again she was surprised that no one had noticed she was awake as of yet. Scanning the room, she wondered what had happened to her clothes. There in the corner was a small plastic bag, inside was what looked like black material, smiling to herself she slowly made her way over to it. Crouching down she started to rifle through it to try and see what kind condition her clothes were in. The knee length jacket was there and fully intact, same with her pants but no shirt or bra, she didn't want to think about what they had soaked up that night.

Ok she had pants and a jacket. That she could work with.

She was just about to attempt to get changed when a voice from the door caused her head to jerk up in surprise "Going somewhere?"

Fin was on his way back to the girl's room after a quick bathroom break. The doctors had told him that she would make a full recovery; there was no permanent damage. He didn't think that he had ever been so grateful to hear those words. No matter which way they spun it the simple fact was he had shot her.

As he walked towards the room, he just stood outside the door and was just standing there watching when her eyes started to open slowly. Taking a small step back so he was out of her line of sight he watched as she pulled out the IV, sat up easier than anyone had the right to after being shot in the chest.

He continued to watch as she pulled everything off and made her way across the room. Finally he made his presence known when she was pulling her clothes out of the bag.

"Going somewhere?"

Her head jerked up in surprise, but she stared at him silently for a few moments before standing and turning her back on him and started to pull the clothes on.

"You can't just walk out of hospital" Fin tried to stop her "You were shot"

She still remained silent.

"Buffy, you can't just walk out on an active police investigation" He tried again.

By this time she was trying in valiantly to get her jacket on but with the limited movement her injured side allowed it was in vain. Turning to face Fin once again she huffed out a sigh of frustration.

"If you know my name than you'll know that I've done just that before." She started to walk out of the room "I'm not a suspect am I?"

Fin stepped into her path "No you're not"

She brushed him aside "But?"

He grabbed her by the left arm "Something's going on, we want to know what it is" and gently turned her around to face him "I think you can tell us"

She looked up at him her face unreadable "You really don't want to know." Buffy attempted to walk away again but Fin held on.

"I don't even want to know" she continued quietly.

She pulled her arm out of his grip and walked out the door.

The first thing Olivia did when she was released from the hospital the next afternoon was head downtown to the Apartment Anne had been living in. She didn't know what she would find there, or even if she would find anything, but she needed answers what she had seen and what had happened out there. Olivia knew that something about them wasn't right wasn't natural she didn't know who or what they were but she was going to find out.

Climbing out of the taxi Olivia cringed as her ribs complained at all the movement. Yes the doctor had said to go home and rest but that wasn't going to happen just yet. Ignoring the pain she squared her shoulders and walked inside the building worried about what she would find when she arrived at the apartment.

Walking slowly up to the front door, she paused and listened. There was someone in there, but they were attempting to be very quiet. Raising her right hand Olivia made a fist and knocked twice on the door. Footsteps resounded through the fairly silent building and got closer to the door.

Without realizing it Olivia held her breath in anticipation. What Anne's reaction to her arrival less than 24 hour after leaving her unconscious in her partners arms Olivia new that she herself would freak if she were in Anne's position.

The door opened a crack, just enough for Olivia to spot Anne peering through the door at her. A moment passed and the door started to close again, before Olivia could protest she heard the chain being removed and the door left slightly ajar, the sound of feet started up again as the girl walked away.

Shrugging slightly, Olivia immediately pushed the door open the rest of the way and crossed the threshold. Closing the door behind her she looked around the apartment. I was small, but clean and well kept. One thing that struck her was the lack of anything personal. There were no photo's, or knickknacks, nothing that indicated it was a home. On the far side of the room was a door, that Olivia could only assume was the bedroom, she could hear noises coming from the door and see movement from where it was slightly ajar. Walking slowly forward Olivia tried not to make to much noise.

Sticking her head inside she saw the bed a mess with an open bag on top.

The blond stopped momentarily and looked over at the Detective "I was wondering when you'd show up" she shrugged slightly "I had hoped to be gone by then"

Olivia watched incredulously as the young woman continued to randomly throw things into the bag on the bed. "Maybe it's time you stopped running away from whatever it is your running away from"

"You don't get it do you?" Buffy screamed at Olivia "I've been running away from this for 6 years now. Why would I go back? What is there for me, huh?"

Taking a step back Olivia tried to get out of the sphere of Buffy's physical attack zone, although she had seen the girl fight so that really didn't mean anything.

"Your family, your friends. My guess would be that they miss you and would love to see you again"

Snorting Buffy continued to throw things into her bag "You mean the mother who told me never to come back, or how about the friends who I nearly got killed." She saw the shocked look on the Detectives face "You have no idea, who I am, who I was or what I was" her lower lip started to quiver slightly "Those guys you saw last night. Do you have any idea what they were? Vampires, but Vampires don't exist do they? Well let me tell you that, that is bulshit. They're real, and they're the ones that turned my life to shit eight years ago." She shook her head "you just wouldn't get it" She trailed off, seemingly emotionally spent, her breaths coming out ragged and hitching.

Not knowing what else to do Olivia took a small step closer to Buffy and said quietly "Then tell me" another step closer "tell me what it's all about"

Turning to face the brunette woman, six years worth of unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Into every generation a Slayer is born, one with the strength and skill to hunt the Vampires and stop the spread of their darkness, she is the Chosen One, The Slayer" her voice cracking and a lone tear falling down her cheek "I was her. What that little spiel doesn't tell you is how her Mother turns against her, makes her choose between saving the world and staying at home to explain why. How her friends get hurt and die. Or how she turned the man she loved into a monster" her voice had dropped to a low whisper by now, a lone tear trailing slowly down her cheek. "How she sent an innocent human soul to hell. Why should they accept me back?"

"Maybe" Olivia stood right in front of her now "just maybe it's time for you to forgive yourself?"

The look on Buffy's face told Olivia that she had hit the nail right on the head. Finally the iron caste wall that Buffy had held up for over six years crumpled and fell. Dropping almost bonelessly onto the bed her face fell down into her hands. At first it was almost silent but then Olivia heard it a small sob, followed closely by another, sitting on the bed next the diminutive blond she drew Buffy into her arms and attempted to give her comfort. Rocking slightly back and forth the detective mumbled non-sensical words of comfort.

When Buffy finally calmed down somewhat Olivia forced Buffy to look at her.

"Go back" She whispered "Even if it's just for a visit, don't hold onto it anymore."

Sunnydale, California

18th December 2004

Not much had changed in the six years since she had last stepped in Sunnydale it was still a quiet town during the day. Buffy would bet anything that the nightlife was still as active as ever.

They parked the rental car outside the Sunnydale Gallery' Buffy slowly climbed out and leaned against the back door, seemingly enjoying the warm California afternoon but in reality she was leaving the door open just in case she needed to make a fast get away. Standing there she just watched the door to the gallery. Behind her a car door slammed, light footsteps on the pavement didn't register, it wasn't until someone leaned up against the car next to her nudging her slightly she turned and saw Olivia standing next to her.

Giving the detective a small smile she took a deep breath and released it slowly "I don't know if I can do this"

"Just walk inside" Olivia reached up and rubbed her back lightly "You can do this, for yourself more than anything else"

The tiny blond nodded and pushed off the car and closed the door, after taking a few steps towards the building before turning around still unsure.

"I'll be waiting for you" the detective smiled "just enjoying the California sun"

Turning back to face the gallery Buffy straightened her shoulders and walked forward her head held high. Arriving at the doors she reached out pulled them open and disappeared inside.

Breathing a sigh of relief and offering up a short prayer to whoever was listening, Olivia straightened up and headed down the street.

Sunnydale Gallery,

Sunnydale, California

In the years since she had last walked through here, things hadn't changed too much. The basic décor hadn't changed, even though Buffy didn't recognise a single thing on display it still felt familiar, still felt like her Mother. It screamed Joyce Summers.

Wandering slowly through Buffy tried to take in every detail, just in case she never set foot in here again. She stopped short, frozen, every fiber of her being telling her to run when a voice she never thought she'd hear again echoed through the room.

"Can I help you?"

Feeling the bile rise in her throat, Buffy quelled the fear-induced nausea that rose at the thought of turning around and facing her mother for the first time in 6 years.

Feeling as though everything was moving in slow motion she turned around and let out a small sob as she came face to face with her mother.

"Mom"

Joyce Summers eyes widened at the scared young woman standing in front of her. The long blond hair framing the face of a beautiful young woman she had despaired at ever seeing again.

"Buffy?"

The slight nod of the woman's head was all she needed to see before rushing forward and wrapping her arms around her only daughter, Joyce held on with all her might, hoping against hope that she wasn't just another illusion.

Almost simultaneously sobs escaped both of their throats, but they just held onto each other.

End AN: Ok People this is the end of this particular fic. Will there be a sequel? Maybe

Please let me know what you think. I appreciate the feedback, whatever kind it may be.