Chapter 2 Guardian angel

What a wonderful night thought Angel as he cruised through the streets of L.A. in his black convertible classic car. It's warm and there's even a bright full moon. Angel loved a full moon. It was the closest thing to sunlight he could get.

The fight had not been a challenge at all, just a group of guys and demons trying to blow off some steam. Other than that it had been a calm night. Cordelia did not have any visions from the Powers that Be, and secretly, Angel hope that was still the case when he returned to the office. The past few weeks had been trying on him, even being a vampire. Most nights were filled with some sort of major threat to the city. As much as he enjoyed fighting the "Good Fight" and so on, there was still a part of Angel that really needed a break, even if it was just for one night.

A warm breeze hit his face. Angel closed his eyes and savored the moment. With the bright moonlight and this, I can almost imagine myself in the sunshine again. He missed that more than he would like to admit. It was the little things about humanity that Angel missed the most.

Suddenly, there was a cry of a man. Angel opened his eyes just quick enough to slam on the brakes and swerve the car to avoid hitting the drunken man in the street, and see the man leap out of the way.

"Ok, maybe closing ones eyes while driving is not such a good idea," Angel said to himself. Then aloud to the man, "I'm sorry, sir. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," the drunk said to no one in particular. He mumbled something inaudible and staggered down the sidewalk.

"Oh God, I need a vacation," Angel said on the road once again. This time, he would keep his eyes open. He figured it was getting late and should head back to the office. Cordelia would probably be worrying about him already.

Just as he was pulling up outside the office of Angel Investigations, he spotted a small figure, probably a girl, entering the building. That's strange, he thought. Then he saw two men climb out of a black SUV across the street heading in the same direction as the girl. Angel got an uneasy feeling about these men. He climbed out of his car and toward the men to see what was going on. One man saw Angel striding towards them and elbowed the second man. They both turned and sprinted back to their vehicle, and then made a quick getaway.

Now that is REALLY strange. It looked like they were following her. Angel stood outside the building and replayed the incident in his head. He then entered the building in hopes of finding the girl and making sure she was safe. He searched the building but came up empty. He then came to the last place to look, the office. He opened the door and was about to announce his return, when he heard a girl's voice talking with Cordelia and Wesley. It sounded like they had the situation under control.

"We called him Liam…"

Angel's heart jumped to his throat. That was his name back before he became a vampire and took the name Angelus. Was this girl looking for him, and if so, how did she know that name? It had not been used for over 244 years. Something was definitely not right here and Angel was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Liam? Wow, I pity him when he was in school!" Cordelia said under her breath.

Upon hearing the girl's reply, Wesley become alarmed. Liam! I have only heard on one person named Liam, but surely she can't mean him. Wesley, growing more and more suspicious of this girl by the minute, slowly reached for the nearest dagger and wooden stake. It wouldn't be the first time a "client" had set them up. One couldn't be too careful.

"…he may be known as Angelus now," the girl continued.

"That's it," said Wesley, grabbing the girl's shoulder and holding the knife threateningly close to the girl's throat. She froze in shock at this violent attack. "Who are you and what do want with Angelus! Speak!"

"WESLEY! Stop it!" cried Cordelia. She was completely surprised at Wesley's outburst. She ran around the desk and made a frantic grab for Wesley's arm. This was an unusual violent-streak for Wesley and it frightened her. On top of that, what would Angel think? "We don't make a habit of assaulting our clients!"

"No, we don't. Put the knife down Wes," came a voice from the doorway. Wesley lowered the knife and stepped away from the girl.

"My apologies," mumbled Wesley.

"Now, who's looking for Liam," Angel asked as he walked into the room.

"I am…" the girl started. Her voice dropped off and she just sat there staring at Angel. He looked familiar, yet foreign to her. She pictured him with longer hair and the traditional clothes of the day on his large, strong frame. It was him! She just sat frozen in shock for the second time tonight.

Angel was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. He wasn't used to being stared at and sized up like that. Well, at least when he wasn't in a fight with some evil creature, that is. He finally cleared his throat and a nervous grin appeared on his face. He noticed the girl start at the noise as if it awakened her from being deep in thought.

Katie snapped back to reality. It had to be him. She looked at the handsome man standing in front of her and noticed the familiar twinkle in his eye from long ago. Her eyes went wide and a big smile crossed her face.

"It's you! Oh, I can't believe I've finally found you after so long!" the girl cried. Tears of happiness started running down her cheeks. She jumped out of the chair, ran over to Angel, and threw her arms around him. She could barely contain her excitement.

Angel was stunned by this sudden occurrence. All he could do was just stand there in utter confusion while this girl clung to him. She looked vaguely familiar, but he could not remember from where. He had seen many faces over his many years.

"My Liam. Oh my beautiful angel. My beautiful guardian angel…" The girl sobbed into Angel's chest.

This time, Angel's eyes went wide. Only one person had ever called him a guardian angel. His sister Katherine had nicknamed him that after he rescued her from a tree she had climbed on their estate but could not get back down. It was she who had invited him into the house after he had become a vampire. She thought I returned to her...an angel. It was from that encounter he took the name Angelus, and now Angel. It can't be her though. I killed her along with the rest of my family.

"Umm…who are you?" asked Angel suspiciously while gently pushing the girl away. The girl stepped back and wiped away some tears.

"Don't you recognize me, Liam? I'm your sister," the girl said, trying to stop her sobs. "It's Katherine."

"His name is Angel," Wesley said from behind her.

"Kathy?" Angel asked hesitantly.

The girl nodded though her remaining tears. "Yes, it's me, only I go by Katie now. It's more modern."

"But I thought you were… you all were…," Angel stammered. He started to pace in front of his desk.

"Dead?" Katie interrupted. She took on scathing tone, "Yeah, so did I. Until I woke up with a bloodlust and no heartbeat, that is." She turned away from Angel. Angel was stunned and tried to fathom how this could have happened. His own sweet sister was a vampire, but how? He had been a virtual newborn into vampirism, but he knew that he had drained his entire family. Katie had been the first since she was at the door.

"I knew there was something odd about you," said Wesley, breaking the silence. He was in a near panic. "She's a vampire, Angel. What are we…?" But Angel interrupted before the "going to do?" part.

"Wes, could you and Cordy give us a minute?" Angel replied, amazed that he could still speak.

"But surely you don't want us to leave you alone with her. You can't trust her, Angel…," Wesley stammered. Angel's judgment was impaired at the return of his alleged sister.

"Wesley, let's go," Cordelia cut in, elbowing Wesley in the ribs. "Those two have a lot to catch up on."

"But...," Wesley started, but Cordelia grabbed his arm and led him out of the room.

"Cordelia, do you know what is going on?" Wesley asked in a hushed voice outside the building.

"Duh, Wes, Angel has been reunited with his long-lost sister. So?"

"So, he killed his entire family, sister included, two centuries ago," Wesley explained. "If that's the case, this girl is over 245 years old!"

"Oh, she aged really well then," Cordelia reasoned.

Wesley continued. "Cordelia, she's a vampire. I don't know if she is really Angel's sibling yet, but sister or not, vampires are bad. Vampires without souls are evil. If Angel is fighting the 'Good Fight', he's going to have to kill her!"