A.N. Thanks for the reviews! They're very encouraging.

Chapter 10 With love forever

Both men were quiet for what felt like eternity. Finally, Wesley crossed the room to stand next to his boss.

"You did the right thing back there, Angel," he said quietly. Angel just blinked in response. "She was going to kill me, you know. You did the right thing."

"Did I?" Angel finally broke his silence.

"You had no choice," Wesley continued. "You were there, you saw what happened."

Angel leaned back on the desk and sighed.

"She's gone now."

"I have to find her, now," Angel abruptly said as he stood up.

"But, but why? She's gone now. I thought you didn't trust her anymore!" Wesley exclaimed.

"I don't, and that's why I need to find her right away."

"I don't understand."

"She's a vampire, and she's upset. She's also a girl and girls tend to get hungry when they get upset. I can't have her running loose in my city."

"Oh," Wesley said with a new understanding. Angel started for the door. "Wait! You can't go out now. It's noon!"

Angel turned to face Wesley. His eyes widened in disbelief and then dread. "Oh my God!"

Wesley was confused and then caught on. His expression started to mirror Angel's. Angel had sent Katie away through the front door, into daylight!

Oh God, oh God. What have I done?! Angel repeated over and over in his head as he sprinted to the building's entrance. He skidded around a corner and slid to a stop just before hitting a ray of sunshine that streamed in through one of the windows. He looked around and even called out her name, but his sister was no where to be found. He punched the nearest wall in frustration, and then thought better of striking it a second time. He was starting to catch people's attention.

"Is there another basement entrance?" Wesley asked finally catching up. Angel shook his head.

"No, just the one in my apartment, but she'd have to come back though the office to get to it." The two men returned to the office to plan their next step in the search for Angel's sister.

"What have I done, Wes?" Angel asked as he flopped down on the couch in the office's waiting room.

"Don't worry, Angel. We'll find her."

"Yeah, just like how you said we'd find that man, Simon."

Wesley groaned. "Don't remind me. Besides, this is different. This time, it's personal." Angel just sighed and stared into space. He tried not to think of the worst possible scenario, but she had been upset. He couldn't blame her for that one. She had been betrayed by the only family she had left. What did she mean by 'I guess you've turned your back on me yet again…Angelus'? It was such a long time ago. Angel tried to sort through over two centuries' worth of memories. Some were as clear as if they had just happened and others were so faint that he could have just imagined them. In his silent search, Angel came up empty.

"…did you hear anything I just said?" Wesley's voice broke through.

"Sorry, I was just trying to remember something Katie had said. She said I turned my back on her again. I don't remember ever seeing her before now."

"Well, she's been around. Here, you should look at these," Wesley handed him a folder containing some of his research. "Besides, we don't even know for certain that she is your real sister. It could be something cooked up by Wolfram & Hart. It certainly wouldn't be the first time they have tried something like this."

Angel glanced up at Wesley in surprise. He had been thinking the same thing for the past three days. He didn't want to admit his suspicions, though. He was about to say something when a glint of lamplight caught his eye. Angel lifted body off of the couch and walked across the room. Sifting through the mess, he pulled a gold heart-shaped locket on a fine gold chain. He just stared at it.

"What is it?" Wesley asked.

"Katie really is my sister, Wesley. This must have gotten pulled of in your fight." Wesley walked over and examined the object hanging from Angel's hand.

"It's a necklace." Wesley stated. Angel handed it to him for a closer inspection and started pacing around the room. Wesley walked over to the lamp for better lighting. It was a small locket, about one inch wide, with delicate flowers engraved on the front. "I don't understand." He looked up at Angel.

"Open it." Angel replied as if to answer Wesley's questioning look. Wesley found the tiny clasp and clicked the locket open. Inside was engraved a message. It was so small he had to hold it up closer to his eyes to see it. 'Happy Birthday, darling sister' was written on the back of the front half. 'With love forever, Liam' was written on the back half. Wesley's eyes went wide as he stared at the inscription.

"I gave that to her on her tenth birthday. One of the only gifts I brought anyone with my own money. She was so happy that day," Angel got a wistful look in his eyes. Wesley could almost he him going back in time to one of the only true happy moments of his life. "She asked me to put it on her, which I did. Then she promised, 'I will never ever take it off.' Mother used to get angry when Kathy would bathe in it, but she never made her take it off." Wesley sighed and savored the tender moment. Angel rarely talked about his past, and almost never talked about his family or life as a human.

"She never did take it off, even after all these years."

"It still could be a trick," Wesley gently reminded him. Angel shook his head.

"No, there's no way they would know about this. Even if they did, how would they know exactly what the locket looked like? I know those people...err…that company, goes to great lengths, but it would be a big stretch to go all the way to Ireland and dig up my sister's body just for an elaborate hoax." Angel shuddered and then flushed at the thought of them disgracing his sister like that. If he found out that is exactly what they had done, there would be hell to pay…literally. And that hell would be named Angel.

"Whoa, easier there. Calm down, Angel," Wesley said, his voice had a nervous tone. Angel looked at him and realized that he had gotten so upset that he had begun to change. He closed his golden vampire eyes and took several meditating breaths to calm down. When he finally looked at Wesley again, his intense brown eyes were back to normal.

"Sorry, you're right. We need to stay focused on finding her. When, and I mean when, Wolfram & Hart finds out that she's here, they will be hunting for her too, if they haven't started already. We need to find Katie before they do."