AN: I don't know where I got the idea for this apartment plan, but, like the fic, it's been in my head for a while.

And sorry, you'll have to wait until chapter 11 for some more action. I wanted to explain what's been happening to everyone else while Angel Investigations was being set up again.

9: Nothing out of the ordinary here…

Unable to sleep, Erica went out to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee so she could get back to working on her laptop. Her door had a lock on it (which would only keep out human-strength intruders) which she was only in the habit of using when she was getting changed. It opened inward to reveal the dining table, and beyond that, the lounge 'room' with a couch, two armchairs and TV. Technically the dining room, lounge room and kitchenette were all a part of the same room. The kitchenette was to the left of the lounge area and divided by a wall with a semicircle gap that started at the bench level and went up a metre. (Think of Giles' kitchen) Anyone working in the kitchen could easily see into the lounge area, and vice versa.

At the end of the room, opposite Erica's door was the front door, next to which was a low table with a bowl for keys and a small pot plant. Even though they were in a reasonable neighbourhood, there were deadbolts on the door – Angel was fairly neurotic about Erica and Cordelia's security.

Before the kitchen was a hallway that led left down toward the bathroom at the end. On the left was Lawson's room, and on the right, behind the kitchen was Cordelia's bedroom. Between Lawson and Erica's rooms was the pantry and storage cupboard. And that was their apartment, with dark blue carpets and sky-blue painted walls. The couches were navy blue, and the dining table was ash-oak with blue cushions. Cordelia was determined that everything matched, and Erica had to admit that the place looked nice. Her old roommate had been a tasteless slob by comparison.

Erica had turned on her bedroom light, so she didn't need to feel her way across the room, and then she turned on the kitchen light so she could boil the kettle. She was wearing star-print pyjamas and a fluffy blue dressing gown. She was only a nightie-person in summer, but she wasn't sure that she would be using her nighties at all while she had a male roommate, even though she was sure that Lawson would never touch her.

With his soul, he was basically the All American Joe he had been while human, a modern gentleman from his naval training, never mind that he felt indebted to Erica for reasons he wouldn't explain. Her major problem would just be embarrassment – she was not the type of girl that showed off her legs, unless she was swimming.

As Cordelia had been brought back from the point after graduation, Erica was actually her senior by almost a year, but not by too much, because Cordelia had been 18 at graduation and Erica was a little over 19. The girls were very different, but they got along well. Cordelia could still be tactless, and Erica could be very sarcastic when annoyed, but so far they hadn't found any opportunities to disagree with each other, let alone fight. Cordelia had helped Erica and her friends back at the school, so Erica was grateful for that, and Cordelia was also her link with the Powers that Be. They needed each other.

Cordelia knew that Erica had a hard road ahead of her, even though she was chosen for great things. While she didn't pity her, Cordelia had resolved to be tolerant with her, just in case there was something about Erica that she didn't like. It had only been a week, so they still had time to develop pet-peeves about each other.

Erica kept to her room while in the flat and when it wasn't mealtimes, working on the computer with her stories and multimedia assignments. Cordelia was kept busy during the day with the few cases that had already come into Angel Investigations. Lawson was usually working on a case too, up at Angel's new place. The three of them usually ate dinner together, thanks to Lawson's cooking. Cordelia was a helpless cook, and Erica could cook basic meals but preferred not to if she could get away with it.

Lawson ate with them too, but every few nights he supplemented his meal with a glass of pig's blood from the butchers. He no longer needed it to survive, but there was still a nagging thirst every now and then. Lawson was secretly worried that if he starved his thirst then he might attack one of the girls in a moment of wild desperation. He didn't like to think about the moster he had once been, but he was very wary of letting it re-emerge. Erica had grimaced the first time she had seen him drink blood, but she understood what he was, and that he needed it. It was another constant reminder that she was no longer living a normal life.

Erica got a carton of milk from the fridge and ignored the covered jug of blood. She spooned in her coffee and sugar from the white ceramic jars and turned the kitchen light back off once she'd made her drink. She glanced toward Lawson's room and wondered if he slept. The first night that she'd gotten up early, he had come out of his room fully dressed and had politely asked if there was a problem. Rather than it being comforting to think he was a 24 hr guardian, Erica had been a little bothered. She was already annoyed with Angel's relentless safety warnings; she hoped that Lawson wasn't also so uptight. So far he was the friendliest of the three.

It had turned out that he just hadn't gone to bed yet, he'd been at Spike's apartment fixing it up after Hamilton's attack, and then he'd gone looking for Gunn and Illyria as a favour to Angel while he was busy organising Angel Investigations. Erica simply hadn't heard him come home, but she still wasn't sure if vampires really slept.

Angel and Lawson were about equal in their desire to keep Erica from harm. Angel, always one for the 'I am serious about my responsibilities' approach, simply felt that he would have failed in his promise if Erica got hurt. There was still some inner need to protect her as an innocent, but it was mostly the promise that motivated him.

Lawson was slightly more easygoing about it. Though his promise did mean something to him, his primary motive was to repay Erica for what her future self had done for him. In truth, he was a little awed by the woman she would become. He had never met a slayer, so what he had seen that night outside the Hyperion had deeply impressed him. He respected her for it, even though she hadn't really done it yet.

Erica was still unsure about Spike. Everything he did seemed to be for the fun of it, but she liked that he was so laid-back with her. She smiled when he jokingly referred to Angel as the boss, taskmaster, or any other similar names. Since her return to LA she hadn't seen too much of him. She hadn't gotten into trouble again yet, so he hadn't been near her. She knew from dinner talk that he was working on a case at the moment, but she wasn't exactly sure what it was about. Even though Cordelia only remembered Spike as a killer, she had been shown enough in her first vision to know that he wouldn't be a threat to her or any of the others.

888

The day before, Wesley Price had been laid to rest. By that time Illyria had been found, as had Gunn. Before they met Erica they were asked not mention anything about the night they had first seen her. Lawson had explained it all on the night he had looked for them. At the funeral, Illyria adopted the guise of Winifred Burkle to prevent alarm among other guests. Giles was there, but he was the only watcher – current or otherwise – that turned up.

Spike had told Erica a little bit about Wesley, which differed to the man that Cordelia remembered. Though he hadn't much liked Wesley, Spike was kind in his description of him, and didn't need to lie to make him sound like a fine man. Fred was seen to cry as the coffin was laid into the ground, and though the others could not be sure it was real tears, they suspected that Illyria truly grieved for the human who had been so devoted to her.

Erica was introduced to Illyria, Giles and Gunn, who had brought Anne with him. Anne remembered the man who had been shot for the sake of one of the street kids she was in the business of helping. Angel quietly drew Giles aside before the service and asked him to start researching anything he could on 'the vessel'.

Giles was interested to hear that one of his potential slayers had been converted into something else. Cordelia's reappearance was also a surprise to him. He didn't need to be asked not to tell her about her life, because he hadn't really seen her since graduation. These two surprises were nothing to the fact that the funeral was held during the day, and three souled vampires were attending. Angel and Cordelia told him everything they knew about Erica so that he could get going with his investigation. Giles also spoke briefly with Erica, who was interested to learn about the Council, and what would have happened to her had she remained a potential slayer.

There had been little news forthcoming of Buffy or the newly created slayers. Most of them were in Cleveland, dealing with the Hell-mouth that was there. Apparently Buffy had become bored with the Immortal, something which Angel and Spike were very happy to hear. She, Faith, Willow, Kennedy, Wood and a few of the girls were currently weeding out vampire masters and demons in Cleveland until they could figure out where the other opening to the Hell-mouth was.

Illyria left after the funeral. Angel had caught her before she left and asked her what she was going to do now. "I will be alone for some time now," she answered, "you will find me when I am ready to be found." Gunn promised to stay in contact if they ever wanted him on a mission, but he was going to take time off from fighting demons to help Anne out with her shelters – not every cry for help was because of monsters.

It had been another big revelation day for Erica. She hadn't known anything about watchers, and now she was honouring the memory of one alongside demon-hunters (human or otherwise) and an ex-god.

Back in her bedroom, Erica shook her head. She almost felt like she was in one of those stories she had written, but she didn't doubt for a moment that this was real. She set her cup down on her desk and flipped open her laptop. She got her text book from the bedside table as the computer was loading.

Today might be a long, empty day. She didn't have any job interviews and the next multimedia lecture wasn't until the next day. She liked the movies just fine, but she was not a daytime TV type of person. It didn't help that she was up so early either. She might spend the day down at Angel Investigations, just to see what they did there. She doubted that Angel would let her do anything dangerous, but maybe there was some research she could do. She'd ask Cordelia about it when she got up. But before facing a broody Angel again, she was going to finish off her current assignment and then spend an hour or two down at the gym.