Title: CONSEQUENCES

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own them (regrettably so). Buffy and Angel belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, UPN, and Mutant Enemy etc. Rurouni Kenshin (RK as it's known among anime fans) belongs to Watsuki Nubuhiro, Sony pictures etc.

Rating: R (for now)

Spoilers: up till "Damage" in Angel. Also, Anya didn't die at the end of "Chosen" in Buffy.

CH#3: Light on the matter

Spike was annoyed. Not only hadn't 'Doyle' shown his face since when Dana tried to butcher Spike, but also on top of that, he was back to being what he hated: Angel's lackey. He couldn't understand what was the big deal about the cheerleader being back. So, she wasn't a demon anymore, BIG DEAL. No one had seemed that ecstatic when he'd gotten his corporeal self back. Well…. maybe Fred. But despite his anger at team Angel, Spike was determined to stay with them. He felt as if he was finally doing some good. Buffy had been his everything back in Sunnydale. His world had bloody revolved around her. But he hadn't wanted to help others.

But now he was a changed man. On the path to true redemption & now he even knew the prize of atonement: SHANSHU! He was going to do everything in his power to beat Angel to it, 'coz in the end, it all came down to that 'who got the girl' bit. And Spike had already lost to Angel too many times before in this particular field. It was high time, he evened the score a bit.

But all that could wait for the moment. Spike was intrigued by the visions that Cordelia had had. If what she had said were true then there would be some interesting times ahead. He couldn't wait to fight these new killers. From what Cordelia had said, these guys were humans & they were fighting Slayers.

Slayers…that single word made his blood rush through his veins. Oh…how he missed those days of violence.

He was deep in his thought when something tugged at his consciousness. He stopped in his tracks & sniffed the air. Nothing. Nothing. No…wait a minute. There…. Blood!  With that Spike ran, following his nose.

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[The Next Day]

To say that Gunn was pissed was an understatement. He was livid that Angel was ordering him to drop his own work & to start research on some idiotic nonsense. People died everyday. Rape/murder cases occurred everyday. Gunn had far more important matters to finish. Ever since he had received his implants, he had grown more confident, arrogant even. Gunn couldn't believe he had let Angel treat him simply as the muscle. He was capable of so much more. The implants proved that. His not being smart enough was the reason that Fred had finally dumped him. If only he could've helped her more. Instead it had been the dependable, smart, head boy Wesley. Damn!

Thinking these thoughts, he entered his office. He ordered his PA to cancel all of his appointments for the day & to place a call to DA Harold Lawson. DA Lawson was one of those whom Gunn had spotted early as the type who would be more than likely to bend themselves…. under the right pressure, of course.

When the PA informed him that he was connected, he picked up the phone, "Harold, hi. How are you old man? It's been quite some time hasn't it?"

"Charles. Hello. I'm great. Yeah it has. How are you?" came the reply.

"Fine. Listen the reason I called is that I've heard that there has been an increase in homicide cases lately. AS you know W&H always likes to know what's going on around it. So… I was wondering if you could provide some info."

"Info? Charles man…. That's classified stuff. You know I'd do it for you, but… you know how it is. I'd be in some deep shit if it became known that I was passing on case info of current cases." Lawson replied.

"Yeah…. I sure do know how it is. Ok… fine I'll ask someone else. I heard you are campaigning for the bench. I hope everything goes well for you." Gunn replied as he picked up a nail file & proceeded to file his nails.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it? There's hardly any competition. Ever since Judge McCabe died, the post's been empty & well… the only competition I have is Ajeet Thakur & he couldn't beat me even if he grew another head." Lawson sounded quite sure of himself.

"Yeah… I know. It's just that I hope someone doesn't inform them of how you accidentally lost the witness that could've put Ricki Jonah behind bars, or, how Marvin Shingo actually managed to successfully turn his sentence from death to complete freedom, or… how a DA with your salary can actually afford A-class property in London?" Gunn said, his voice laced with concern.

"Wha… what? What are you talking about? Are you threatening me?" Lawson asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

"No man. I was just stating my concerns. Well… good luck on your campaign." With that Gunn replaced the handset, a smile on his lips.

Less than a minute had passed when the PA announced DA Lawson on line 3. Gunn instructed her to put him through.

"Lawson?  Is something the matter?" Gunn asked.

"Oh…no. No. I just figured a way I can help you. You know, since you're such a great pal of mine. & I wouldn't want to see you unhappy." Lawson said with a shaky laugh.

"Are you sure? I mean…. I wouldn't want to cause any trouble for you." Gunn said.

"No, no. It's no trouble. What was it that you wanted?" Lawson said hurriedly.

"Well…. all the info on the list of murders occurring within LA & it's surroundings within the past 1 month. You sure it wouldn't be any trouble?" Gunn asked again.

"No, no.  It's cool. I'll just fax it all to you within the hour. Oh… and Gunn, … I would appreciate it if, … um those concerns that you mentioned don't come to anybody's ears." Lawson said, with a touch of plea in his voice.

"Oh…SURE, anything for a friend. Thanks man. You're a pal." With that Gunn hung up, a smile forming at the corners of his lips.

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Fred was busy finishing Cordelia's test reports, when Wesley called.

"Fred? Gunn has found that there were 3 more murders last night. He's pulled a few strings and the bodies should get delivered to you within half an hour."

"3 more???" Fred was horrified.

"Yes. It seems that Spike was witness to one of them. There is to be a meeting in Angel's office this evening to see what each of us has discovered. By the way… are you free for Lunch?"

Fred who had been nodding at his words was completely thrown by his last sentence. "What? Why?"

"Oh, no matter. I just thought that if you were free, then maybe you could join me for Lunch." Wesley fumbled with his words causing Fred to smile.

"Yeah, sure. See you at Lunch." Fred couldn't see his face but she was pretty sure that he was smiling.

Lunch with Wesley… Fred had to admit she liked the idea of spending time with Wesley. He was sweet & rough all at the same time. Very few people got to see the sweet side of Wesley anymore. And she had to admit that Wes was hot. And he seemed to like her too, so maybe….

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Fred bent her head to concentrate on her work.

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[Later that evening]

Angel & the gang were in his office waiting for Cordelia to show up who was with Harmony. Gunn was sitting at the couch shifting through some papers; Spike & Lorne were drinking while Fred and Wes were laughing at some thing. Their date/lunch had gone well. Fred was really beginning to like Wesley. He seemed to her to be more confident; more mature & yet still the same caring guy who had been so nice to her when she had returned from Pylea.

The door to the office opened & Cordelia walked in. Angel immediately took charge, "Alright, so what do we have? Wes?"

Wesley opened the folder he was holding & took out some photos, "According to Gunn's contact at the DA's office, there were 3 more murders last night. All the victims were females & all were killed with a knife or sword. We pulled some strings & one of the corpses, which Spike discovered, was delivered here this afternoon. Secretly of course." He said nodding at Spike.

"According to the tests that I ran, the victim was in her late teens, healthy, & the cause of death was a precise strike to the back of the skull & neck which shattered her spinal column & caused hemorrhage in the brain. Besides this, there were a number of other wounds, varying in intensity. All the strikes were at critical points. This guy knew exactly how he wanted to kill her & he succeeded." Fred said.

"I performed a blood test & found something." Fred said taking out a test tube from her lab coat, "The blood was extra rich. It's like this girl was on steroids but she wasn't. I checked it out."

"Don't beat yourself over it pet. You won't know this type of blood. It used to be very rare." Spike said as he lit a cigarette.

"What do you mean used to?" Gunn asked.

"It's Slayer blood." Spike answered, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"How can you be so sure?" Fred asked.

"Well pet, once you've tasted Slayer blood, you're not bloody likely to ever forget it's sweet taste." Spike said, "It's like a drug. You can never forget it. You crave it once you've tasted it."

"He's right." Angel said while looking out over the city, "I can smell it from here. It's not as potent but it's still Slayer blood."

"Alright anything else?" Wesley asked Fred.

"No. We know it was a sword that killed her, but which one, we're not sure about." Fred replied.

"It was a katana." Spike said as he took down the Katana adorning the wall. There was a cold metallic sound as he unsheathed it & tested its balance. "I saw the girl die, remember. The only way those wounds could be caused, & with such precision, was with a katana." He said as he executed a move at his own shadow.

[AN: Katana is a Japanese sword that Samurai used]

"Hm… for a person to get killed by a katana he or she would have to be blind-sided or in a closed space & the killer would have to be in close distance. The girls were, for all the evidence, killed in the state of freedom & more importantly, unawares. But assuming they were all slayers & would have noticed some person or demon sneaking up on them, the probability of them being caught unawares is very low. This means we're not dealing with normal humans." Wesley said.

"Cordy, did you see any demons killing the slayers?" Angel asked.

"No. The girls were kicking Demon ass in my vision." Cordelia replied.

"Well… that rules out Demons then. Now, there aren't many people who are proficient in the use of a katana." Angel said. "That means it's some special group. But the question is why? Why would any human target Slayers? They're supposed to protect humans." Angel said

"Well…. in my vision, it felt like they were being driven by some ambition & then there was that voice urging, commanding them to kill the Slayers." Cordelia supplied.

"Hm… Lorne, see if you can contact the Watcher's Council & try & get a list of all the Slayers here in LA." Angel said.

"What?? Have you lost your mind?" Gunn asked, "That Andrew guy made it pretty clear that they don't trust any of us. Why would they help us now?"

"Because, they will need our help on this one. One or two slayers dying is nothing. But more than 20 in a month means something is really wrong. I'm surprised they haven't already declared war on us." Wesley replied for Angel.

"Ok…guys, here goes absolutely every inch of my demonic dignity." Lorne said as he instructed Harmony to contact the Watcher's council.

The others watched Lorne as he contacted the Watcher's Council head office in London. After some convincing he got put through to a Mr. Harris. Lorne turned on the Speaker phone.

"Mr. Harris? I'm Krevlornesvorth from Wolfram & Hart." Lorne said.

"Krevlor…who?" came the unmistakable voice of one Xander Lavelle Harris.

"Krevlornesvorth. But u can call me Lorne."

"What do u want?" Xander asked Coldly.

"Um… I'm sure you must be aware of what's been happening here in LA. I was wondering if you would care to help us?" Lorne said.

"Help you to murder more of our Slayers? Are you mad?" came the incredulous reply.

"No, no… there has been some misunderstanding. We're NOT killing any Slayers but we are trying to stop those who are killing them. But you see it's proving difficult as we have no idea here to find your slayers."

"So?"

"Um… we were wondering if you could perhaps provide us the list of all the Slayers active within LA's surroundings so we can monitor them & protect them."

"Protect them?" a snort was heard. "You work for Angel, right? His idea of love & protection is to drain someone. Excuse me if I don't believe you."

"No Mr. Harris, he didn't have a choice in that matter. As I recall he was forced to drain that person by said person. What I'm trying to say is that the only way these Slayers stand a chance is if we protect them. These people, whoever they are, are picking them off one by one. We need to be able to know where to look so we can help them." Lorne replied.

This continued for more than twenty minutes when Lorne finally convinced Xander & he grudgingly gave the addresses of the Slayers within LA's limits. He however threatened them that if he found out that they had lied, Watcher's Council would raise Wolfram & Hart to the ground. He also made it pretty clear that no one in the Watcher's Council trusted them.

"Well… that certainly went well. I never thought I'd be threatened by Xander Harris of all people." Wesley remarked.

"People change Wes. Look at yourself." Angel said.

"Anyways… Gunn, Wesley I want you two to hit the streets & find as many of these girls that you can. We have to save them from these Hitokiris." Angel said.

"Wait a minute, did you say Hitokiris, mate?" Spike asked suddenly.

"Yeah…why?"

"Why??? Don't you remember mate? When we were in China, we heard the tale of these Hitokiris or Shadow assassin samurai who were supposed to be real pros. never failed & were extremely vicious." Spike asked incredulously. "Knew I'd heard it somewhere before. Dru wanted to pay 'em a visit. But then you bloody disappeared." Spike said in a voice, which suggested he hadn't forgiven Angel for depriving him of some fun.

"Well why didn't you mention it last night, idiot?" Cordelia asked

"I didn't remember. And watch your mouth, girl" Spike growled at Cordelia who seemed completely unfazed.

"Enough! Wes, Gunn… you guys go ahead & find the remaining Slayers. The rest of us you hit the books. We need to find out everything about these killers. We will prove to Buf… the Watcher's Council that we can be trusted." Angel said.

Wes & Gunn nodded before heading out.

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AN: Thanks to Imzadi, BuffyAngelforeva & Shahid for their reviews. Um… guys I'm suffering from writer's block. Help!