Author's note: First off, thanks for the feedback. It's very much appreciated! Now this chapter is going to be told from Wesley's perspective. I don't want to confuse anyone by changing the point of view, but I feel the only way to explain what a certain character is feeling, is to write from his or her perspective.

Resurrecting the Past

Chapter 2: LA - The city of Angel (told from Wesley's perspective)

Grace and I had finished packing the last of our things, and were headed to the airport. Andrew arranged to have our things shipped out to Los Angeles that day, promising they would arrive the following day. He'd rented an apartment for Grace and I. He'd handled just about everything, so our move would be a smooth transition. Andrew. He had changed immensely since the last time I had seen him. Being a watcher had changed him. It made him more mature. He isn't the quirky young man that had come to LA to retrieve Dana so many years ago. I just hope he's matured enough to be a good watcher for my daughter. I couldn't lose her to some demon. Not like I lost Winifred.

Fred. She's still the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. I miss her each and every day. The pain that I had felt when she died, still weighs heavily on my heart. I imagine it will never go away. It will always hurt. The only thing that keeps me going is Grace.

She is the spitting image of her mother. There's nothing about her that doesn't resemble Fred, except for her eyes. Her eyes are blue like mine. Fred once told me that was her favourite thing about Grace. That she had my eyes. She didn't explain why, and I didn't question it. I just smiled and kissed her. Grace is just as brilliant as her mother too. I think she'll be a physicist, like Fred. It amazes me how she can be so much like someone she never really knew. However, that's what I love the most about her. How much she's like Fred. It reminds me everyday that even though Fred is gone, I have a huge part of her here, with me.

"Dad!" Grace shouted, pulling me from my thoughts.

"You don't have to yell."

"Well I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes."

"Why?"

"We're at the airport. Now pay the nice cab driver so we can go." She smiled and got out of the car. I paid the driver, and followed her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You can still back out." I asked. I really wasn't keen on the idea of going back to Los Angeles. I was even less happy that it was so my daughter could fight evil.

"Dad...I told you at least fifty times. I have to do this. If you're going to rain on my parade, then just go back home."

"You know you probably won't get a parade, right?" I teased her as we headed into the very crowded airport.

"Yeah, but it's a nice thought." She said. "Someday I'll have my own parade." She promised, as she went through security. I chuckled and followed behind her.

We barely had time to sit down before our flight began boarding. We were sitting on the plane waiting for it to take off. I had this urge to get up and run away. I'd left a lot behind when I left Los Angeles. I left my friends, right before their big battle. I abandoned the only real family I had ever known, when they needed me most. It was worth it, of course, because I had to save Grace. When Fred died, I promised her I would take care of our child. Staying for that apocalypse would have been breaking my promise to Fred, and I couldn't do that. I know my friends understood my reasons for leaving.

I wonder what it will be like to see them again. We haven't spoken in close to fifteen years. Angel had contacted me after the big battle, to let me know that he, along with everyone else, was still alive. The army of slayers, including Buffy and Faith, had shown up, and helped them fight the battle. Willow used her magic to save Charles, who was moments from death when the slayers arrived. Together they fought the battle, and they won. That was the last time I heard from Angel. I'm not sure what happened to them after that.

When I fled Los Angeles, I took Grace to Florida. For some reason, I thought it was the safest place for us to go. Which is actually true, when you're trying to escape evil. It's not so true when you're trying to escape Mother Nature. That summer Florida was hit with several devastating hurricanes. I couldn't keep rebuilding and repairing our home. So I went to New York City. New York had always been relatively safe. There didn't seem to be any evil lurking around there. I had a built a decent life for Grace and myself. I began teaching Latin at one of the local high schools. Teaching was a far cry from battling evil. I enjoyed it very much though. Grace loves New York. Her whole life was there. I know she doesn't want to leave. I also know that she has to. She's been called up to keep the world safe, and that's a destiny she can't escape.

I reach over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. I can't believe how fast my little girl has grown up. One day she's stumbling over herself trying to walk, and the next she's on a plane to LA, to fight the good fight. She smiles up at me and it makes my heart ache a little, just like it always does. She has Fred's smile.

"Are you okay Dad?" She asked.

"Yes, just a bit nervous."

"About what?"

"Everything. Going back to Los Angeles, seeing my old friends, letting you fight evil."

"Yeah I can understand that, but don't worry. It'll be okay." She gave me a reassuring smile. She kept promising that everything would be okay when we got to LA, and I was starting to believe her.

We arrived at LAX many hours later. I'm not even sure exactly how long we had been on that plane, but it felt like an eternity.

Andrew was already there, waiting for us at baggage claim.

"How was your flight?" He asked.

"Excruciatingly long." I replied.

"It wasn't that bad. It was great Andrew, thank you for getting us those first class seats." Grace said. She could be such a suck up sometimes. It was quite amusing.

Andrew helped carry our luggage out to his car. We piled in and drove away from the airport.

"I was thinking we could stop by to see Angel first." Andrew said as he turned down a familiar street.

"Sounds great!" Grace replied happily. She was crying when we left New York. She was sad about having to say goodbye to her friends. Now though, she was practically giddy. She stared out the window of all the stores we passed. I could tell right away she was going to be burning a hole in my wallet.

We arrived at an office building, it wasn't quite as big as Wolfram and Hart, but it was still a rather large building.

"Andrew, is Angel still working for Wolfram and Hart?" I asked. It was an absurd question really, since he did betray the Senior Partners. However I figured Angel would have gone back to the Hyperion, not an office building.

"No, of course not." Andrew pointed to a large sign in the grass. "This is Angel Investigations." He said before getting out of the car. Grace and I followed him.

The building was nice on the inside. It was welcoming and professional at the same time. There were no demons doing the work like at Wolfram and Hart. Just humans, I assume. We followed Andrew down a long hallway, and he stopped in front of an office. He knocked on the door, and I heard Angel telling him to enter.

"I brought you a slayer." Andrew said. He stepped out of the way and I walked in. Angel looked shocked, so did Gunn, whom I noticed was sitting on the chair. The only person that said anything was Spike, of course.

"Percy's the new slayer?"

I shook my head, and beckoned for Grace to come into the room. "She's the new slayer." I said.

The men all looked at her. It was if they had seen her before, but they weren't sure.

"Grace?" Angel asked.

Grace smiled and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you Angel. I've heard a lot about you."

He shook her hand, still looking at her in disbelief. "I.... wish I could say the same." Angel said, smiling nervously. He turned to Spike and Gunn. "You two remember Grace, right?"

"Like we could forget." Gunn said. He stood up and shook hands with Grace. "Anyone ever tell you how much you look like Fred?" He asked.

"Only everyday of my life." She smiled warmly at him.

"Oh!" Spike jumped up with a sudden realization. "You're Fred's daughter!" He said.

"Took you a while, huh?" Grace said. I chuckled a bit. Leave it up to Grace to make fun of Spike the minute she met him. Spike simply smiled.

"I like this one." He said. "She's...spunky."

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Yes, that's one of her best qualities." Suddenly everyone acknowledged me again.

"Wes, it's been so long. How have you been?" Angel asked.

"I've been well, apparently not as well as you though." I gestured to the office.

"A lot's changed since you've been gone." Gunn said. "It's good to have you back though."

"I'll leave you guys to catch up for a while. We can start training Grace first thing tomorrow." Andrew spoke.

"Thank you for everything." I gratefully shook Andrew's hand before he left.

"Have a seat." Angel said, pointing us towards the couch. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

I was about to reply, when Grace spoke up.

"Dad..." Her eyes were focused on someone standing in the doorway. I turned my head to see what she was staring at. In the doorway stood Illyria. "Dad, what's going on? I thought...I thought Mom was dead."

"She is, Grace. That's not your mother." Illyria had entered the room now and was standing in front of us.

"Is this the demon that killed her?" Grace asked, not taking her eyes off of Illyria.

I nodded my head slowly before I spoke. "Yes."

Grace got up and ran out of the room. I wanted to go after her, but I knew she needed a few minutes.

"Wesley, what's going on?" Angel asked.

"I didn't tell Grace about Illyria. I told her that her Fred was killed by a demon, but I didn't tell her that it was walking around in her body."

"I feel connected to that girl." Illyria spoke for the first time since she entered the office.

"That's because she's Fred's daughter." Spike said.

"Grace?" Illyria questioned.

"Yes." I answered her, and then got up to go find Grace. She was sitting outside on a bench.

"You lied to me." She said.

"I didn't lie...I just didn't tell you everything."

"Yeah, when I say that, you tell me it's still lying. How could you not tell me?"

"I didn't want you to know."

"Why?"

"I was afraid that you would try to find Illyria. That you would try to find some way to bring your mother back."

"Well why didn't you try to get her back?"

"We did, but there was nothing we could do. Her soul was destroyed."

Grace looked up at me, trying to comprehend what I had just told her. "Do you know how stupid that sounds?" She asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. "Souls can't be destroyed."

"Hers was."

"Who told you that?"

"Someone that worked at Wolfram and Hart. Someone that was responsible for her death."

"And you believed him? I can't believe you just gave up like that. I can't believe you just...bought his bullshit story about her soul being destroyed. That is one of the craziest things I've ever heard."

"Watch your language." I scolded her. "This is why I didn't tell you about Illyria. I knew you would refuse to believe that Fred's soul was destroyed."

"For good reason! Someone's soul being destroyed...that's next to impossible."

"Just forget about it. It's too late now." I said.

"Forget about it?" She laughed, bitterly. "This isn't the kind of thing you can forget."

"We can't bring her back."

"Fine." She gave up, clearly defeated. "Is Illyria anything like Mom?"

I shook my head. "She wasn't when I left."

"I hate her. For killing Mom."

"I understand. I hated her too. We all did."

Grace nodded and got up from the bench. "Come on, let's go back inside so you can get reacquainted with everyone. They seem like great people. Well, except for Illyria."

"They are." I smiled and followed her inside.

Phew! That chapter was a tough one for me to write. Getting inside of Wesley's head was a bit challenging. I wanted to try to capture his character the best I could, but I also had to keep in mind that sixteen years have passed, he was bound to change a little. I'm not even satisfied with the way this chapter turned out. However, I probably never will be, so I think this is the best I could do with this one.