Hello! Long time no updates... again. As I explained in my other fic, I'm having difficulty writing at the moment, but even with exams and the like coming up, I'm hoping to get most of my fics updated regularly, hopefully even finished! I have not abandoned them, I promise.

Two weeks later and Giles arrived with Andrew in tow. Illyria and Andrew hit it off immediately, to everyone's surprise. Giles avoided Illyria, Spike and Angel, choosing instead to bond with Buffy and the Slayers. Willow had become a surrogate mother to the younger teenagers, and Spike and Angel were, in general, spoken about but never spoken too, unless it was Buffy, Faith or Andrew. It seemed to Angel that the scoobies had lost any trust they had once had in him, and Spike was never trusted in the first place.

Not much action had been taken concerning the war – there were meeting and discussions most nights, but Angel and Spike were never invited, and they felt it unnecessary for them to attend. Things seemed to be progressing painfully slowly, and Buffy, the common denominator for them all, was often not around. So Spike and Angel went out on patrol.

Spike was all Angel had left, and vice versa. Neither of them had expected to be treated this way. They felt rejected, as if this was all one big family party, and they were the 'plus ones' that no one really paid any attention to.

A week after Giles had arrived, Angel took a trip back to the W&H offices to see what was left. What he found was a brand new office building with 'Wolfram and Hart' in expensive bold etching on the glass windows.

New employees, new directors… he wondered just how long it would be before the firm decided they wanted revenge. After all, Angel had signed the contract, and Wolfram and Hart didn't appreciate contract-breakers.

Spike met him outside the house before he went in. "Where did you go?"

"Wolfram and Hart. They've rebuilt it."

"Oh," was Spike's answer to that. "Buffy was looking for you," he mentioned casually.

"In a good way?"

He shrugged. "No idea. But I want to know what's happening. What she's been doing these past couple of weeks."

Angel frowned. "Yeah. Me too. Buffy and Illyria mentioned something about a big war, apocalyptic forces once again. Do we really have time to sit around and wait for something else to happen?"

"We're not in the loop anymore peaches," Spike reminded him quietly. "They don't trust us."

"Why should they?" was Angel's cold answer, and he went into the house ahead of Spike, who stayed outside, leaning on the fence and puffing his cigarette.

About ten minutes – and twelve cigarettes – later, Spike heard someone moving behind him. When he turned round, he saw Buffy watching him. "Hello love. Alright?"

She nodded quietly and moved down the path to talk to him. "Spike…" she began quietly, and he didn't move to interrupt her. "Giles doesn't want Angel or you involved. He's made it quite clear that he doesn't trust Angel… or you anymore."

"I know." He didn't look at her.

"I just thought I should tell you."

Spike stomped out the cigarette butt on the floor. "You don't have to. I'm not stupid." He knew he was being sharp with her and she didn't really deserve it – it wasn't her fault Giles felt that way, but she wasn't doing anything about it was she?

Buffy didn't say anything, she just sat down on the path, leaning against the fence and sighed. Spike took out another cigarette but didn't light it.

"We're having a mass funeral for everyone that died," Buffy told him. "I know it's a long time ago but… It's just a memorial to what we remember of them. It was Illyria's idea. Tomorrow."

Spike remembered Gunn's valiant fight and wished he had been there to see Wesley before he died. "Have you invited their families?"

"As many as we could get in touch with."

"Wesley and Gunn?"

"We couldn't find any contacts for their families."

Spike chewed on the unlit fag. "They shouldn't have died like this."

Angel walked in the house through the back where no one would see him enter – or at least, no one would notice him.

"Alright mate?" Someone being him said in such a perfect mimic of Spike that he turned in surprise. It was Lily. Or Daisy – one of the flower twins. He looked at her. "Er, 'Hello Lily' would be nice? Honestly, everyone's all the same over here hey…" she said with a grin – but more importantly, with an Irish accent.

"Erm… Hi."

"Great, that's a start! So, you're Angel right? Or Spike?"

Angel coughed. "Spike's the blonde one."

Lily grinned. "The sexy one."

If Angel had been drinking at that point, he would've spat it back out in disbelief… but… he didn't have a drink, so instead he just spluttered. "WHAT?"

Lily laughed. "I'm only messing with ya." She tilted her head slightly. "You're not so bad yourself…" She laughed again at Angel's reaction. "Lighten up. Look, I'm teaching the girls how to play poker. You want to join?" Angel hesitated. He had once been the best poker player in most of Europe, but he wasn't sure how the girls would react to him. Or indeed, if he could still play. Lily sensed the hesitation and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on." She dragged him into the room next door, where three other girls were sat around a circular table.

Angel recognised one of them as none other than Dana, the insane girl he and Spike had found and rescued. She smiled when she saw him but didn't speak. The others were a girl about sixteen with long ginger hair, and a younger dark haired girl maybe twelve years old. There were three empty spaces at the table, of which Angel and Lily took two.

"Angel," Lily said, "This is Becky, Frankie, and –"

"Dana," Angel said quietly. "Good to see you again." He couldn't believe the change she had made. Her dark hair was tied back in a plait, and she seemed completely relaxed and happy with the other girls.

"And me, don't forget me." Another Irish accent made Angel turn around. It was the other twin, Daisy. She joined them at the table and the auburn haired girl, Becky, dealt out the cards.

At first, Angel was useless, but as the game went on, he found himself relaxing and talking easily with the Slayers, and his old skill came back to him. Dana was surprisingly good at poker too, and it wasn't long before every round was Angel v. Dana.

Soon Lily and her sister got bored, and took the other Slayers somewhere else, leaving Dana alone with Angel.

Angel leant back in his chair. "So Dana. How are you?"

"I'm doing well thanks," she said quietly, in the soft, neutral voice she had spoken in all evening. "The council – and the doctors in England – have been good." She smiled, and the radiance of a true Slayer lit up her face. "I only flew out here yesterday. They didn't think I was ready."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, then Angel held up the pack of cards. "One last game?"