AUTHOR'S NOTE: In order to understand why I wrote this chapter like this you have to read the Buffy/Angel Crossover: Seven Crows. It's one of those young adult novels you'll find in every book store. If you haven't read it…I'll give you a summary. Samantha and Riley Finn have ended up trying to find out the reason that people are ending up dead in this really quiet town. Sam decides to call Angel for help, while Riley calls Buffy, not knowing that the other has already made the call. To make a long story short, Angel ends up working with Sam (Sam sort of likes Angel: she kisses him while they're "Undercover.") while Riley works with Buffy as they fight demons, crazy policemen, and awkwardness. They, obviously, beat the bad guys. Sam finds out that she's pregnant in the last chapter, using hormones as an explanation as to why she found Angel to be so sexy. (As if you needed an excuse to kiss him.)

To Imzadi—I made you a music video. (Lindsey/Anne music video) It's called "The Reason". I know that you'll love it. (You'll find it on my website or if you're interested…I'll email it to you.) I actually had you in my mind when I made it, so I dedicated it to you. It uses all of the things that we talked about when I was writing about Lindsey's redemption. –The NEXT chapter is for you…It's going to be Lindsey's POV. (Any suggestions would be most welcome.)

To Lily—Thank you so much for all of your help. I'm writing this because of you and all of your feedback. I hope it's what you expected (and more). Thank you, thank you, thank you for beta'ing my story. I really appreciate it.

Honestly, this was one of the hardest chapters to write…Gunn is a very difficult character in terms of thoughts and speech. Obviously, Gunn thinks very intelligently while his speech is full of tricky nuances, like slang. But as Lily told me, 'use the K.I.S.S method' and don't use too much slang. So here goes nothing. Also: I tried to describe Andrea as best as I can. She's an African American researcher, who worked for the Initiative under Agent Samantha Finn.

August (Gunn's POV)

Prologue:

My mom, when she was still alive, used to say what millions of mom's out there tell their kids… If you keep your mouth open that wide, you'll catch some flies.

Now, I've had some surprises in life: how I ended up working for a vampire is one of them. Though I never thought that my wife, Andrea could surprise me like that.

Damn. I mean, she told me that she used to work for the government as a researcher until they let her go due to suspicions of corruption of the higher ups. But she NEVER, I mean never, told me that she did military research on demons for a secret government agency or that she was like a female James Bond.

I shake my head at the sight in front of me. Secret Agent Sam Finn had her arms wrapped around my baby, screaming about how it's been so long since she's seen her. Andrea's doing that excited girly jumpin' up and down thing.

The woman can kill us without breakin' a nail and she's huggin' my girl. And to top it off, she brought her secret agent husband, Riley Finn, and little boy, Graham.

The little kid's gonna be called a 'cracker' for the rest of his life! What the hell were they thinkin' naming him Graham? No offense to anyone—I just mean "Graham Cracker" as a joke.Sensue

I hear a thump behind me, so I turned quick to see Angel drop the ax he held in his hand and Connor bouncing off of his back since he stopped sudden. Spike, who was walking along side Angel, stopped as well. His eyes flicker in amazement, and his mouth has dropped open like mine did earlier, "Soldier Boy? What're you doing here? And you brought the missus and the brat, how sweet. Now what the hell do you want? If you think you're going to a put another chip in my head…I'll kill you. And it'll hurt. So there."

Huh? Spike knows Andrea's old boss? What chips? Why would 'ya put chips in your head? That's nasty. Man, I swear a leprechaun's gonna walk in here in a couple of seconds to do a jig.

Angel shook off his shock and came closer. "Sam? How are you? It's been years!" Then he hugged her.

Angel's hugging a girl that's not Cordy. He's a dead man! If Cordy don't kill him, then I will. Nobody's gonna hurt Cordy and get away with it. Just when I was about to take charge, he pulled away to greet the little kid, patting him on the head. The hubby? was pretty much ignored.

I have no clue what world I've been dropped in. Walking like a drunk towards the couch, I sorta just collapse on it. Lucky that I've got a good sense of surroundings or else I'd have hit the floor with my butt.

Shaking my head, I think back to when this madness all started.

Yesterday (7:00 pm)

"Yo. Hold up Anne! What do you mean that vampires broke in and kidnapped four of your kids?! They got RYAN! SHIT! Where is Lindsey? Wasn't he with you? Those bastards put him in the hospital. He okay? Okay. I'll be right there. Don't worry. Those vamps are gonna wish they'd never come to L.A. Just hold on." I slammed down the phone enraged. Damn vampires got to go and mess everything up.

It's been a while since we had to worry about vampires in L.A. We, Angel Investigations, pretty much took care of them. And anyone stupid enough to actually come to L.A gets beat on by yours truly. Until now…that is. Dumb jerks think that they can just come to town and start a slavery ring with little kids. They're gonna get their asses smacked down.

I hollered for Angel. He's hiding out in the kitchen again, Cordy's mood swings have been driving him crazy. She's been up and down the entire month. One minute she's incredibly happy for the honor of carrying Fred and Wesley's baby, the next she's goin' off about some thing. Anything could set her off, that's why Angel's taken to hiding in the kitchen. He just cooks all day now. Bakes too. Hey, I say she should have another five kids, if Angel keeps up the desert makin'. Best sweet potato pie I've had in years—Hell, if I had almost 250 years on me, I'd know how to cook too. Lucky, Faith got over her mood swing phase pretty quickly this time. They say by the third trimester, the mood swings give in to lots of complaining. Faith's almost gonna pop now. She got bigger than she was with Nicky, again, probably because of Angel's preoccupation with making lots of food.

He came running along with Wesley, Robin, Fred, Spike, and Faith. Connor must've heard me yelling with his vampire senses, and ran down the stairs, dragging Harrison with him. Andrea and Cordy came out from behind the front table to join us, telling Cathy and Nicky to play Candyland™ without them. Once everyone was there, I explained the situation.

"Y'all, will never believe this. You remember Anne telling you about that thirteen-year-old kid? The one the vampires used as a slave-slash-snack? Well, they got into the teen shelter and kidnapped him and three other kids as well as Ryan. They just up and took five kids. Lindsey was there…y'all know how he's been there almost every minute of every day. He tried to stop them and they knocked him out. He's in the hospital, still unconscious. They think he's got a concussion. So we've got to get our asses moving and try to get those kids back."

I stride over to the weapons cabinet to pull out my favorite ax. The others move to do the same. Without words, Angel, Spike, Robin, Wesley, and Fred grab swords and crossbows. Connor and Harrison silently argued with Angel until he nodded that they could come. High-fiving each other, they grabbed weapons and followed us towards the door. Cordy and Faith stay in the hotel with the kids. I had assumed that Andrea would come with us, but she made no move to follow us. Shrugging to myself, I'd find out why she didn't come later.

Right before we all ran out the door, I noticed Andrea pick up the phone. It was only after I had a chance to think about it did I realize that she never dialed a number, she just spoke into the humming line.

4:45 am

"Damn it! There's no trace of them. Where the hell did they go with those kids?" I throw one of the ripped pillows lying on the ground against the wall, screaming my frustrations.

Angel went over to Anne and was speaking softly to her as she cried against his shoulder. I heard some of his whispers, "Anne, I'll find them and make them pay. I promise." Mentally, I repeated that vow. Those bastards are gonna die!

The others tried to find clues, find anything really, that would lead us to where those vampires were hiding. I rubbed my palm against my smooth head, wondering if I should call the old gang together. We used to dust the city, literally, finding every vamp nest in L.A. and putting stakes through their hearts. At first, it was for protection, after I'd left to join Angel Investigations, their priorities changed. Now, they'd dust anything, good or evil, just for a kill. With that thought, I'd changed my own mind. The old gang turned bad, we didn't need that on our plates. We just need to find those kids.

Wesley and Spike spoke to the other children, trying to see if they knew anything. Just the way they stood told me that we got nothing! No one knew anything and our two best bets at sniffing those kids out was going down as fast as the sun was coming up. Spike and Angel were going to be homebound in twenty minutes. Fuck! I mean, Connor getting pretty good at sniffing things out, but the kid's still got an attitude problem. He thinks that he knows everything, and that's without Harrison cheering him on. The two of them together are just plain arrogant. They don't listen to anyone or anything and think that they can do whatever they want. At times, we all feel like choking them, like for the stunts they pulled with Lindsey, sneaking around alone. Now they think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I remember being like that…then reality and adulthood set in.

It was decided that we would go back to the Hyperion and call our informants to see if anyone knows anything. Maybe we'll luck out and the underground would work in our favor. For the kids' sake.

5:15 am

Exhausted. Yup, that's what I am. Didn't get a wink of sleep and didn't find any clues in order to get those kids back. God, This is bullshit! Why the hell did they have to kidnap five kids? Why not five dogs? Or five pigs? Why kids? Ya know, there are whacked out people in the world who would love to get their blood sucked by vampires; hell, they volunteer for the honor. So why did they have to use kids?

We walked into the Hyperion, feeling defeated. Angel and Spike were pissed off that they couldn't help until the sun went down. Robin had to get ready for work, but promised that he'd keep his ears open for any word. Cordy had called earlier in the morning and let us know that she'd be at the hospital, wanting to know about Lindsey's condition. Faith was probably still in bed, sleeping. The others had left to follow up any leads.

Plopping down on the couch again, I lay back thinking about my little sister, Alonna. Tears leak out the corners of my eyes, which I promptly wipe away. I don't cry; I'm a man. Covering my face with my arm, I hide my expression as I though about the worst day of my life. She was killed and turned by a vampire. And I had to stake the demon who stole her face. She was so young. Damn, we all were. We thought we were gods, when we were nothing. I was nothing; some days I still feel that way. Then I wake up next to Andrea and all I feel is her.

Speak of the devil, as she comes and sits besides me on the couch. I open one eye to peak at her, only to remove my arm and sit up. She looks nervous, picking her nails and sweater. I hold her hands, stopping her from getting nail polish chips everywhere. "What's the matter, baby? You okay?" I ask her, sort of dreading the answer. I don't want no more bad news.

I stare at her as she takes in a deep breath. She ran her fingers down her dark brown hair, her brown eyes closing as she took in another deep breath. Slight beads of sweat appeared on her ebony forehead. "Charles, I have something to tell you."

Okay, now I'm scared. Whenever a woman says, 'I have something to tell you', you know it's gonna be a bitch or possibly the end of the world. Never know how those things work out.

"I called my old boss for help," she blurted out.

It took me a second, blinking back my misunderstanding. "Huh? What? What do mean? Help with what?"

"Help with finding those children, Charles. I called Sam Finn; she was my boss, to help us. She's bringing some of her men with her. Maybe together, we can find the leaders of the ring and permanently put a stop to using children as slaves." She seemed eager for my reaction.

Funny how I didn't have one. "Huh? How is she gonna do that? Is she gonna look up where the kids are in her handy dandy text book and it'll just tell her where they are? 'Cause honestly, Andrea, I don't see how a bunch of paper pushin' government researchers, who probably just research how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie-pop, can help us."

"Charles, I never told you that about the kind of research I used to do. We did experimental research on demons for the US army intelligence agency. It was my job to research demon physiology and psychology for use in aid of their live capture. When we captured them, we were to study their actions, hoping that we could use some of their knowledge to advance mankind. I know all about demons. But you knew that, I mean, when you met me, I was being stalked by them, I just never told you that I'd been stalking them, first in order to learn about their habits."

"What did you just say?" My mouth dropped open, I couldn't believe my ears.

And that ladies and gentlemen is when the bomb dropped.

The Hyperion door opened and Andrea's army friends walked through; Let the insanity begin.

Present time
Read the prologue again if you need to…it jumps right back to the present.Sensue

Don't really know what happened after that, 'cause I went into this dazed state…ya know like you're outside a window looking in.

Next thin' I knew the door opened again, Cordy walked in with Lindsey. Guy was fallin' all over himself. Cordy had to help him down the stairs, 'cause he wobbled so much. Lindsey had a bruise the size of a large grapefruit over his right temple and he seemed to not even know where he was. Angel immediately ran over to help them both, while Spike went to the kitchen to grab him an ice pack.

I jumped up off the couch, finally something sinking in, as I broke Lindsey's fall toward the couch…instead lowing him down gentle like. Lindsey just slouched over until he was lying down, his hand over his face as he mumbled that he had to find Ryan and the other children. Cordy made him lower his hand, screaming for Spike to get the first aid kit as she saw blood seep down his face. It wasn't the first time the wound had opened, I'd assume, considering that his shirt was almost soaked with blood.

Cordy had gone on to explain that Lindsey had signed himself out of the hospital AMA (against medical advice), refusing to allow the doctor's to stitch his wound closed. He fought them until they let him leave. Cordy had to promise the doctor's to bring him back if showed any signs of severe concussion.

Damn it. "Can anything else happen today? Maybe aliens could crash down to earth?" No one answered me.

Noon

FUCK! Why the hell did I say that? Why did I even think that? Not the alien part, 'cause aliens don't exist. Right? But the 'can anything else happen' part?

Right after I said that Riley Finn decided that he was going to throw a macho trip as he decided that he was going to "lead the investigation." Then he sort of made an enemy of Cordy by suggesting that Spike could've been involved. Said some weird shit about Spike being a DOCTOR? I mean, come-on! The boy ain't that smart.

His wife, of course took his side, which made Andrea take her side. They all just joined together to form a 'task-force.' They called for reinforcements and then changed into civies (civilian clothes) to search the city. Angel and Spike took the sewer route. Then they ordered, yes ordered me, to accompany them and ordered Cordy to watch over their Graham cracker kid and Lindsey. Again Sorry…Just a joke.—If it offends you, I'll change it. But don't take it too seriously, after all this is fanfiction Sensue. She almost pulled out her katana sword, but Angel stopped her before she could do them damage.

They were pissing me off. Who the hell did they think they are? This is MY CITY. I know it like the back of my hand. No soldier boy from the hickory hill corn farm is gonna make me look bad in my own city.

So I did what any respectable investigator would do in this situation, I punched the bastard out!

'Course, I was so intent on beating his him up that I didn't see his wife until after she bashed me on the back of the head. After the little birdies flew away, she definitely ripped into us for fighting, especially since there were five scared children out there somewhere, probably screaming for help.

We got our act together after that, working together for the children's sake.

It didn't mean that I couldn't come up with a few good comebacks though as we continued towards the empty, dark underground basement that I knew many vampires used to love residing in. My gang used to come down here during the day and throw in homemade "Firebombs" that would clear out the nest pretty quick. Though, like bees to honey, they'd always come back. I checked out their crib a few times, and I'd have to say, it's a definitely vampire environment. Ya' know, dark, spooky, dirty, bugs all over the place.

If the vamps are hiding anywhere in the city, that would be the place.

It was just the three of us: Me, Riley, and Sam. Sam indicated to Riley he should go around back as they pulled out their guns. I tried to her that guns don't kill vampires…and was promptly corrected as she showed me wooden bullets.

Damn, wish I'd though of that! Guns are easier to find in L.A. than real wood. Usually we just went to the junk yards and found old furniture people had thrown away. Then we'd yank them back to headquarters to grind them down BY HAND. Those stakes took hours to make!

She nodded at me, so I kicked down the door, breaking the rusted out lock and flinging the door open.

It's quiet. I'd say deadly quiet.

Riley flanked my left side as we slowly made our way towards the basement door. He had his gun at the ready, ready to shoot if anyone attacked us.

Me, I had my trusty ax. Never know when you'll need it.

Bong---

The sound of flesh hitting metal jarred us as we swung one-eighty degrees.

Riley aimed his gun at the figure hiding behind the sheet metal that seemed to hold up a section of the collapsing wall. "Come out with your hands up!" Riley commanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah…and ya better be quick about it too. We don't got time to be wasting. Just come out so we can stake ya and be done wit it."

Surprisingly to me, the man hiding behind the metal wall came out. "Wow. Maybe that cliché of a line actually works, hey, Riley?" What can I say, I can't help myself. The guy is such a poser.

The man came out slowly, with his hands up, like Riley ordered. Though the second I saw his face, I lowered my ax. Of course, Sam chose that exact moment to come crashing in from behind us; immediately started shouting out orders. So getting sick of them!

"Yo, Lindsey. What the hell are you doing here?" Crossing my arms over my chest…god, I've been around Cordy too much…I waited for his answer.

The End.

Ha Ha.

Left ya hanging.

Hopefully you like this chapter. Like I said, it was a really hard one.

NEXT CHAPTER: Lindsey's POV.

Obviously, he's going to be the one to find the children. ---We finally find out what Lilah threatened him with (Anne/Ryan).

After that…it's up to you and your feedback.

If you have a great idea (Imzadi) just let me know. I'll take them into account when writing the next chapter. Harrison and Connor are going to be in it too. (Maybe they'll help Lindsey move in with Anne.???) Or something.

I do want to end this story. So I can't leave anyone hanging for the last chapter. I need a new story line. No more "This Year." I have another TWO stories (crossovers) in the making, though. We'll see how it works out though. I really want to get back into vidding. (making music videos).