A/N : Hopefully I won't lose anybody's interest with the slight Angel crossover. Basically, for anybody who didn't watch the spin-off, Wolfram and Hart are an evil law firm, and they spent a lot of time on trying to turn Angel evil.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 9

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I expected to happen, but it could've been worse" the smartly dressed brunette woman considered as she ordered for maintenence to be called to clear up the dust from the main entrance of Wolfram & Hart. Her colleague was pre-occupied getting the Slayer up from the floor.

"She's gonna hate me now" Jonathan sighed as he took hold of Buffy and lifted her into his arms.

"You knew what this job entailed when you sighed the contract, Jackson" his boss snapped at him, "I didn't get brought back from the dead to run this project just to have you screw it up by falling for the amnesiac Slayer we're here to deal with"

"Yes, Miss Morgan" Jonathan agreed as he carried Buffy through to his office and deposited her on the couch, as Lilah followed.

"Look at her, all sweet and angelic" she sneered, "Guess that means she'll fit in where the good girls go, what with the free wings and harps they apparently have there" she said thoughtfully as she poured herself a drink. Jonathan looked daggers at her.

"You said we didn't have to kill her" he reminded her.

"And you said she didn't know who she was" Lilah replied, stone-faced and with an ice-cold tone, "Joan Winters wouldn't have been able to stake two highly trained vampires like that, only Buffy Summers could"

"I don't understand" Jonathan shook his head, "I talked to her yesterday, she didn't know then..."

"Well, she obviously does now" his boss pointed out, finishing up the last of her drink and slamming the glass down on the table, "And I want the head of whoever told her" she said semi-angrily, absently fingering the scarf at her neck. The irony of wanting someone's head when she literally hadn't been able to keep her own was not lost on her.

"We have tabs on all her old friends, at least the ones we have on file" Jonathan shook his head, "Her sister never left Sunnydale, none of her other friends have left the towns they live in or made any calls to LA today"

"With Angel and his gang of retards gone before I was even brought back again..." Lilah said thoughtfully, recalling how the group had been handed the keys to the castle in the form of the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart, two years ago now and one year later had tried to bring the whole establishment down. There had been many causalities but the deaths of Angel himself, plus Charles Gunn, the god-king Illyria, and Wesley Wyndham Pryce had brought an end to that little band of heroes. W&H was back in business before the week was out through a combination of money and magicks, and Lilah had quickly been returned to being to manage the branch. With Lindsey also dead and gone, there was no better person to run the business. Lilah had proven herself in life, and now in death her dreams of success had come true, she was damned if that was going to be taken away from her by some damn Slayer.

"I think we have a new player in the game" Miss Morgan said, just as Buffy stirred and awoke.

"Johnny?" she said as she tried to sit up.

"I'm here Joan" he assured her, "How are you feeling?"

"Er, confused mostly" she admitted, "but... I guess it's you that needs more an explanation that me, right?" she asked, not yet certain how much he knew about her situation. He ought not to know anything, since she hadn't herself til very recently, but he hadn't looked half so shocked as he might've when those men he was talking to revealed themselves to be vampires.

"Miss Winters" Buffy's attention was suddenly drawn to a woman across the room, who said her name in such a strangely emphasised way it made her very uncomfortable, "Can we get you anything at all? A brandy for your shock or a glass of water perhaps?"

"No, thank you" Buffy frowned a little as she stared at the woman, not liking the way she was looking at her. It was as if she knew something Buffy didn't, and it made the blonde very wary of saying anything in front of her that she might regret later.

"Johnny, I need to talk to you" she said quietly to her friend, "Alone would be good" she told him, eyes moving in such a way as to alert him to the fact she wanted Lilah to leave.

"Of course, you two want to talk alone" Miss Morgan said with a smirk as she went for the door, "We'll continue our conversation later, Mr Jackson" she said to Jonathan in such a way that it made Buffy shudder involuntarily. There was something about that woman she really did not like.

"Are you sure you're okay, sweetheart?" Jonathan asked when he was finally alone with his friend.

"Yes and no" Buffy admitted, "Everything is a little weird today"

"I know" he looked down guiltily, "All that stuff I said last night, it wasn't fair to drop that on you..."

"Huh?" the blonde looked puzzled as she tried to think what he was talking about. Her meeting him for dinner last night seemed like a lifetime ago, so much had happened since then with Spike and what she discovered about herself, "Oh, with the loving me and everything?"

"I meant it, Joan" Jonathan told her, "I'm not denying that but I should've handled it better, not just come out with it like that and in a public place..."

"It's okay" Buffy interrupted him, "Honestly, that's not... well, with the confusing, I kinda meant the vampires" she said carefully. It seemed as if Jonathan wasn't all that freaked by the demonic men turning to dust in the lobby. He clearly knew what a vampire was, which made her wonder how much did he know about everything else, like Slayers, and herself specifically.

Jonathan turned his back on her for a few moments trying to gain his composure. He hated this, he hadn't realised how hard this was going to get when he started and now he really truly hated it, but there was no way out, it was all too late. When he'd started his training at the Cleveland brach of Wolfram & Hart he'd not realised what kind of law firm they were. By the time he found out about the demons and vampires and evil that happened there it didn't bother him much. He was young and the job was exciting, then the company offered him a huge pay rise, and all he had to do in return was befriend a young woman named Joan Winters.

Though he did as he was asked and took the cash that W&H paid him, they hadn't told Jonathan the whole plan back then. Now he knew that Joan was in fact the Slayer, Buffy Summers, who had been reported as dead in Sunnydale a month before he met her. Wolfram and Hart had plans to get hold of the girl and ensure her memory never returned, that her friends never found her or were given a chance to tell her of her real past. There had even been talk of recruiting her to their side of the fight. Now it seemed all those plans were shot to hell, the Slayer knew her real name and her destiny once again.

"Johnny, are you okay?" Buffy asked him.

"Yeah, sure, of course" he said awkwardly, forcing a smile as he turned to look at her, "It's just, Buffy, I don't...

"What!" she cut into his sentence her eyes going wide, "You just... Why did you call me Buffy?" she asked, scrambling to her feet and backing toward the door.

"I.. I didn't" Jonathan lied out right, wondering why the hell her real name had suddenly popped out of his mouth like that. He was just so mixed up right now, and desperate to make this right somehow. He knew what happened to employees of W&H who screwed up, and unlike people like Lilah, those that the company made dead, stayed dead.

"Oh God, you knew" Buffy realised. It wasn't a question, the guilt of lying to her was written all over Jonathan's face and she couldn't believe all this was happening. Her hand went to her mouth as she fought tears and lost the battle as they ran down her cheeks unchecked. There was nothing left for her so-called friend to say, nothing she could ever want to hear. Without a thought in her head but the need to run, that was exactly what Buffy did.

"Finally" Dawn grinned as she looked out of the front window of 1630 Revello Drive and saw the black DeSoto she knew so well pull onto the drive. She was out the front door and diving into Spike's arms before he was barely out of the car and he laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Bloody good job I don't have a to breathe, ain't it, luv?" he said as he hugged her tight, "Still, nice to know you're pleased to see me, unless of course this jolly welcome is all cos of your dress?" he smirked at her as they parted.

"It is so not about the dress" she argued, "I've been so worried about you"

"She really has" Jason agreed as he came down the porch steps towards them, "She's been thinking of every possible nasty scenario you could have landed yourself in for the past twenty four hours" he said to the bleached blond, rolling his eyes, but smiling at the same time. He didn't mean anything by it.

"Told you on the phone everything was alright, Sweet Bit" Spike reminded her, "And here, even got your dress home in one piece"
"No!" she yelled as he moved to pull it out of the back of the car, "Not with Jason standing right here!" she complained, "Hello, the groom so cannot see the bride's dress until the big day"

"Well, that's told us then" Spike smirked at Jason who smiled back.

"Is not like I have to wait long" he pointed out, "Just two more weeks to go" he said, putting his arms around his fiancée who had no complaints at all when he leaned in and kissed her with a passion.

"Bloody hell, you two" Spike complained, "You gotta do that in front of me, makes me want to heave" he said, only managing to look semi-disgusted, he was after all very pleased to see little Dawnie so happy. She'd grown into quite the young woman and her bloke was decent enough, Spike only felt bad that he hadn't been able to bring Buffy home for the wedding, it would've been the perfect gift. As it was, he couldn't even tell the Little Bit that he'd seen her sister in LA. It was his secret to keep, and he doubted the situation would change.

There was a chance of course, that Buffy would head back to the hotel and get his note. She could turn up at Revello Drive with her suitcase and a smile on her face declaring that her memory was back, but she loved Spike anyway, despite his vampiric traits, and wanted to be with him always.

It was a pretty little fantasy, and Spike smiled to himself as he thought of it. The pain came when he realised how much of a dream it really was. He was going to have to accept that what happened in LA was over now, and that Buffy was gone from his life all over again, for good this time.

To Be Continued...