"Did we ever get our pizza?" Cordelia asked the next morning as she and Doyle made the bed before leaving for the office. She'd managed to convince him that, even though she was a little tired, she was perfectly capable of filing things, and that, were there a case, Angel would need their help.

"I don't think so. Unless they came and we didn't hear them. Which is a distinct possibility." Doyle said, shrugging, and ducking as Dennis threw a shoe at him. "Darlin', I don't think your ghost likes me too much."

"Dennis doesn't like anyone. It took me weeks to get along with him. Why do you think I get this place so cheap?"

"Is he gonna get used to me anytime soon? I don't know how many more flying shoes I can miss."

"I don't know. Angel normally comes in and out as fast as he can to keep from getting hit with things, and you're the first male person to ever spend the night here. We'll have to wait and see. He'd probably be better if I'd made you sleep in the spare bedroom. Are you hungry? I think I'm gonna make breakfast."

Doyle followed her to the kitchen. "You cook?"

"A bit. I took cooking class in high school to get out of two years of gym. Showering with twenty other girls just wasn't my scene. I know enough to handle eggs and toast." She assured him, pulling out the skillet from under the stove. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out eggs. "Make that bacon and eggs. I don't have any bread. It went stale while I was in the hospital."

Doyle sat down at the table and prayed that she knew more what to do with food that needed cooking than she had the first time he'd handed her a file folder and asked her to take care of paperwork.

/

/

They arrived at the office at nine. Angel was walking around in the office, going through paperwork and staring at the computer like it was some sort of creature in dire need of being slain. When he looked up and saw Doyle and Cordelia he looked somewhere between surprised, glad to see them, and irritated that Cordelia was even out of bed.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Cordelia answered, "I'm feeling better. Well enough to handle computer things and paperwork. And Dennis doesn't like Doyle. I was afraid he'd destroy all my shoes."

"Well you aren't well enough to stay by yourself yet. Would he be any better with me?"

"Let me put it this way. Unless you're planning on moving in, Dennis will never like either of you. He doesn't like people very well at all. It took me over a month to convince him to get along with me."

"Then you'll have to stay here until you're better." Angel said, finality evident in his voice. Cordelia was shaking her head before he could even finish his sentence.

"No, Angel. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I can get along all right, I'm a little weak, yeah, but what could happen to me in my own apartment? Vampires can't enter without an invitation, and I live on the tenth floor. I don't think any demon can jump that high and none that I know of are brave enough to take the elevator."

Doyle was, for once, on Cordelia's side. "I know you don't want her alone, man. I don't either. But we have to get things back to normal. And that means that we have to let her do her own thing. She doesn't need our help right now. But if Dennis wasn't trying to kill me, I'd still be staying with her."

Angel was looking defeated. "I just want you safe, Cordelia."

"And I will be. Now we've got more important things to deal with than where I'm sleeping."

"Like what?"

Cordelia pointed to the door. "Wesley."

Angel and Doyle turned as well, Angel with a look of greeting on his face, Doyle looking like he'd like to kill the Englishman. "Wesley." Angel said, walking over. "We hadn't expected to see you again so soon."

"Well, I hadn't expected to be here again so soon. But, unfortunately, circumstances have arisen that need to be dealt with."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "In English please."

"Faith has waken up from her coma."

Cordelia and Angel both paled considerably. "What the hell do you mean, she woke up?" Cordelia demanded, shaking from something, whether it was anger or fear, no one was sure. "I thought she wasn't ever supposed to wake up? I mean, Buffy said she wouldn't ever wake up!"

Doyle grabbed Cordelia's arms and pushed her down into a chair. "Calm down, darlin'. Who's Faith?"

"Second Slayer." Angel said, then explained for Doyle's sake. "Buffy died, technically, when she was sixteen, but Xander was able to bring her back. Since she died, a new Slayer was called. Kendra. She came to Sunnydale with some assassins who were trying to kill me. She and Buffy met, and Giles, her Watcher, figured out what had happened. Well, Kendra was killed by Drusilla, meaning that a new Slayer had to be called. That's Faith. She showed up in Sunnydale when Buffy was seventeen and slayed until the mayor, who was a demon, hired her. She shot me with some sort of an arrow laced with a poison that only the blood of a Slayer could cure, and Buffy went after Faith. Stabbed her in the gut with her own knife. Ended up putting her in a coma."

Doyle looked at Cordelia. "So you and she don't get along?"

"Never have." Wesley answered, turning toward Angel, "Apparently Faith has been causing some problems in Sunnydale. She seems to have been able to switch bodies with Buffy and has done some things in Buffy's body that are rather inappropriate. They're back now, but I imagine Faith, and most likely Buffy will be here shortly."

Cordelia shook her head. "No way is Buffy coming here. Not after what she did the last time. Not after all she did in Sunnydale."

Angel looked at Cordelia with an expression of understanding on his face. "I know how you and Buffy feel about one another, but I don't think we get much say in the matter. The only thing we can do is make sure that Faith doesn't do too much damage. We'll either have to handle it ourselves, or somehow let the police know how to subdue her."

"How are the police going to be able to subdue her when you couldn't even do that?" Cordelia snapped, abruptly standing and stalking to the other room. Doyle started after her, but Angel grabbed his arm.

"Let her be. She needs a few minutes to digest this. She and Faith and Buffy have a complicated history."

"Like what? Anything we should be worried about?"

"Plenty. Cordelia had a tendency to be a bit brash in high school." Wesley said, and Doyle rolled his eyes. "She and Faith matched wits plenty of times, and Faith slept with Xander, Cordelia's old boyfriend before she was really over him. And I'm guessing you know the story behind Buffy and Cordelia."

"Yeah, I know. I saw all of that when Buffy came up after Thanksgiving."

"Right. But we've got bigger fish to fry. They can bitch at one another later. Faith is a much larger, more pressing problem." Angel said, walking to the weapon's cabinet. "Wesley, is she in LA yet?"

"No, judging from what I have heard, Angel. But she is on her way. And as there is a warrant out for her arrest and her face has been plastered on every news station for a few days, it could take her a while to get here. Transportation will, obviously, be quite a problem."

Angel tossed Doyle a crossbow. "You go down to some of the local demon hangouts, see what's up. If anyone knows, it'll be them. And try a few of your contacts. They've dished out some interesting facts before. Wes, you go hit the computer, see if there've been any sightings on Faith. We need to have a more exact location on her. And I am going to go and call Willow, see how long ago Faith left Sunnydale."

/

/

Faith entered Angel Investigations stealthily. Angel would smell her, but she could deal with him. No problem. Cordelia was directly in front of her, her back to the Slayer, pacing back and forth, looking a bit worse for wear. Faith had originally wanted Wesley, but the girl would work. Angel cared for her more anyway, and she probably knew just as much. She would be a lot more fun to torture anyway.

But Cordelia had grown a little since the last time Faith had seen her. She seemed to sense the presence of the Slayer, turned around slowly. Their eyes locked. And Cordelia opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she possibly could. Faith sprang into action, smashed her fist into the other girl's face and tossed her over one shoulder just as the three, three? men came through the door.

"Hello, boys." Faith said cheerily, and ran through the front door with Cordelia. The man she didn't know gave chase, following for a good while before she finally lost him. Damn, the boy couldn't be human. Not and move like that, he couldn't. Maybe, after she was done killing his girlfriend, she'd have to see how much stamina he had.

/

/

Angel was pacing like a caged animal when Doyle returned. "I lost them a few blocks down the street." He said angrily, heading straight for the weapon's closet. He exchanged the crossbow for the tranquilizer gun. "And now I am going to go find them. Angel, take the tunnels, Wesley, go with him."

Angel blocked Doyle's exit with one arm. "Not yet. We don't know where she's going, what she's planning, if she's set any traps. We can't just go running into danger."

"Yes I damn well can. She kidnapped my girl, Angel! Surely you have to understand that!" Doyle protested, looking very nearly crazy. "I just got her back, I can't lose her again. Not when we came so close before. I'm going. And I am going to find her. And if Faith won't give her up easily, I'll kill her."

Angel looked at his friend and saw that he was dead serious. "Okay. We'll go now. Wesley, go with him."

"No. I'll move faster by myself."

Wesley looked at Doyle. "Like you're going to be able to track them any better than I can. I have experience with the Watcher's Council in such things and I assure you that I will not, in any way, be a hindrance to your search for Cordelia and Faith."

Doyle switched to his demon visage, the first time he'd done it willingly since Angel had known him. "Yes, you will. I can track a lot faster using my nose than your outdated methods of searching for someone." He snapped, then brushed past Angel and left the building. Wesley looked at Angel.

"He's going to get himself killed isn't he?"

"Possibly." Angel admitted with hesitation. "But we can't stop him. He loves her. And I would've done the same thing for Buffy. But that cements it. I am never letting that girl out of my sight again. She gets into way too much trouble when I leave her alone."

Wesley followed Angel into the sewers. "I think you might have to get in line for that position, my friend. I think our half demon partner may keep Cordelia handcuffed to himself for the next few decades."

"Probably. But at least someone will have her in their sight at all times."

/

/

Sorry for the delay. I have been so busy I don't even know where to start. A band competition, college entrance exams, finals, our senior band banquet. All of it has happened in the last couple of weeks. School gets out soon though, so updates should come more regularly.