A/N: Thanks to everyone who read my story, thanks especially to CF, WhiteWolf 3, Just Me, and axlgroupie91. You guys rock. Thanks so much for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one.

Chapter 2

"So, tell me more about this situation." Gunn said as they walked out of the office together.

She fidgeted, not really knowing what his reaction was going to be, and not wanting him to look down on her, "Well it seemed to be really bad. In a more than normal type of way," she paused and hesitantly continued, "so I called in the big gun." He pulled back looking at her in surprise.

"You don't mean-"

"Well this is a little worse than we're used to don't you think," she pleaded with him, trying to make him understand. "It's cops this time. You know, the people who are supposed to protect us."

They started walking down the street again, their pace somewhat slower. There was a brief silence where they were both lost to their own thoughts. Anne was worried about his reaction, and his silence wasn't helping ease her fears. Gunn was thinking about the broken girl he had come to love all those years ago. The one who, despite being broken, had showed more courage than anyone he had ever met. It would be good to see her again.

"Do you think she'll come?" Gunn asked. "I mean, it's been years and things have been crazy down that way I'm told."

"I know. But hey, maybe she won't come," she responded, her fears that she had made the wrong choice growing.

"Anne, you know better than that. Of course she'll come. It's not in her nature to refuse help to people."

"Well maybe by the time she gets here we'll have worked this all out and be able to have a nice visit. I just," she sighed in defeat, "I just miss her, that's all."

Gunn smiled and slung an arm around her shoulder, "We both do, and maybe you're right. Maybe this cop thing is a quick fix."

"Its just, well she's done so much for me, for both of us, and I just wanted her to see what I'm doing with the opportunity that she's given me." She looked up at him, "Does that make any type of sense at all?"

"Sure it does. And nobody can fault you for missin' a friend. I miss her too."

Anne sighed, "You know, it's almost like I've been waiting for something bad to happen so that I'd have an excuse to get her back here."

He chuckled at that, "Couldn't you think of a better way to get her here? But I gotta admit, it will be nice seein' her again. It's been too long."

They both laughed as they approached the entrance to the shelter, Anne's fears appeased, "Thanks again for coming by, Gunn."

"You know I've got your back. I haven't seen this place in forever."

"Yeah," she replied, her mind on another person, "it's been a while."

Neither noticed Angel standing on the roof, listening to their every word.

xoxox

Gunn and Anne walked into the shelter, continuing their conversation from outside.

"…and you called her yesterday," Gunn asked.

"No, actually I called her a few hours before I came to see you. But in all honesty, she might not come for a while." At his questioning look she clarified, "Well I didn't actually talk to her, I had to leave a message on her machine."

"Oh, ye of little faith," said a voice from off to the side.

They both whipped their heads around, and huge grins broke over their faces, "Buffy!"

She laughed at their shock and moved from her position against the wall to walk over and give Anne a hug. "Anne, it is so good to see you. How you been," she asked as she pulled away. "This place is so great, and it's all yours?"

Anne shrugged and nodded modestly, "Yeah, this is pretty much what I've been working towards since you last saw me. We've been open for almost two years."

"That's wonderful. And Gunn!" Buffy exclaimed, as she turned to give him a hug.

"Gurl, it is so good to see you, you just don't know." He grinned, hugging her fiercely before releasing her.

"How have things been? You don't call, you don't write," she gently pushed him, "The only time I hear anything is when Anne writes," she gave him a stern glare, "Feel shame."

He laughed, "I got other things on my mind than writing pretty girls all the time." At her look of blatant disbelief which was shared by Anne, he paused and thought about what he just said, "Ok, so maybe I always have girls on the mind…but things have been busy," he argued.

She stifled a laugh and Anne rolled her eyes, "I'm sure they have been."

"Damn straight. Check this out. Right now, I'm running a detective agency with two friends. Which reminds me, I gotta introduce you. You'll love 'em and wanna kill 'em at the same time."

"Really," she said, "can't wait for the introductions. And a detective agency, I'm suitably impressed."

"Yeah, and with just a little more subtle maneuvering on my part, our name will Gunn Investigations."

"Has a nice ring to it," Buffy said, "But Gunn, seriously now, 'subtle?' It's not exactly your middle name."

His mouth dropped in mock shock, he raised his voice and addressed the others standing around, "I cannot believe this. The girl is gone for years and comes back to mock those she left behind."

"Hmm, well that's not exactly what I came back for," She turned to Anne who had been watching them banter back and fourth, "So what's up with the cops in this town. Is this just police brutality, or is it something that's more up my ally?"

Gunn and Anne exchanged glances, "Were not sure," said Anne.

"I was about to question the kids, if you want in on it."

"Sure, Gunn," Buffy responded, "I'm up for it. We doin' the good cop bad cop routine?" She playfully slapped his chest, "I got dibs on bad cop."

He laughed, "I was thinking more along the lines of asking nicely but hey, whatever works."

"Damn," her shoulders slumped in mock disappointment, "and I've gotten really good with the interrogation techniques," she grinned, slid up closer to him, and lowered her voice like she was sharing a great secret, "I'll have you know that I'm a good cop and a bad cop all unto myself."

Gunn put his arm around her and rolled his eyes, "Oh please gurl, like anyone could actually think of you as any type of intimidating."

"I feel the need to intervene now before this turns into an all-night-I'm-better-than-you-fest," Anne piped up. "I'll let you two get to it. I have things to do, just yell if you need me, I'll be in the office." She pulled Buffy away from under Gunn's arm and hugged her again, "Thank you so much for coming."

"Any time." Buffy smiled as Anne walked away and then turned back to Gunn, "So," she clapped her hands and rubbed them together, "you ready for this?"

"Let's get it done."

She gazed out the doorway her smile fading, feeling the tingle that told her that he was near. Her thoughts briefly flashed to their confrontation on the street, but she was pulled from her dark thoughts by a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up to see Gunn watching her concernedly, "Hey, you ok?"

She visibly shook herself and came back to the present. She plastered a smile on her face and said, "Yeah, yeah. Let's go do this."

xoxox

"Look, the cops are trippin', G," said Ray, one of the kids from the shelter. He and several others were sitting on a couch across from Gunn and Buffy who were relaxed in their own chairs.

"Define trippin' for me."

"Out for blood," one of the girls said. "Les got her arm busted up."

"The cops stopped me the other night. He went for his gun, looking to put a cap in my ass, man!"

Buffy crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, "You guys tryin' to play Anne?"

"What?" one of the girls asked in disbelief.

"Who are you?" Ray said, a sneer on his face. "Haven't seen you around lately. You even know what's goin' on?"

"Yo man, that ain't cool," Gunn tilted his head in her direction. "This is Buffy."

Ray paled and several of the others shifted nervously. Buffy just sat there smiling sweetly. "No way, G," Ray said.

"Way, and you better start showin' her some respect."

"Sorry man," he looked her over. "You know, you're a lot smal-"

She leaned forward and raised an eyebrow, cutting him off.

"Not that there's somethin' wrong with that."

Buffy smiled, "Now, answer the question. You playin' her?"

"No way," said Ray answering for the group.

Gunn looked him over, "Anne's no fool, but she's got a blind spot. She wants to trust you all. Now, if I find out you're takin' advantage of that…"

"This ain't no scam, G," Ray said. "We're the victims, man!"

Gunn rolled his eyes, "Victims. Right. So what were you doing when this cop pulled his piece on you?"

"Absolutely nothing," said Ray.

"Oh, so I haven't seen you on Normandy and Fifth dealing? You telling me that wasn't you I seen?"

Ray shook his head, "That's ancient history, man. I gave that up."

Gunn snorted, "Well, do the cops know that? 'Cause maybe they didn't get your e-mail."

"Hey," said one of the girls, "we're not talking about some street sweep the PD does to shut up the moms. Okay, this is war, and everyone's a target."

"She speaks true, G," said Ray, "A hundred percent true."

xoxox

Angel slowly slipped away from the window, tearing his eyes away from the small blonde. He had hurt her, he knew that. But he couldn't help but think that it was for the best. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by her. He had to concentrate on his mission.

But she had shaken him. He never expected to see her here in LA of all places. One look from her and she tore down the walls he had been building to keep people out. But he had never been able to keep her out. The only reason he had left her so suddenly on the street was because he knew without a doubt that if he had to look at those tear filled eyes he would break down and beg her to make it all better.

So he lashed out. He knew what his words would do to her and he forced himself not to care. He might as well have cut into her with a knife. He saw her recoil from his onslaught and knew that his words had probably caused permanent damage. When he came back from hell, they never spoke about what had happened, both unwilling to dredge up the painful memories of the past. He knew she had unresolved feelings about it so he struck out, taking her focus off him and onto herself. And it worked. She would probably never speak to him again.

He turned and walked away lost in his thoughts until he nearly bumped into a cop.

"Keep your hands where I can see them."

Angel slowly spread his hands, "I'm sorry, officer, have I done something wrong?"

The cop pulled out his nightstick, "Turn around. Face the fence. Place your hands on your head."

"This is a mistake-" Angel began.

But the cop hit him across the jaw with his nightstick, before forcing him up against the fence. "You're under arrest," he spat out.

"Believe me," Angel said, "you don't wana do this."

Without warning he pushed himself back, using the fence as leverage. His movement forced the officer off him, but, in a show of agility that should have been impossible, the cop rebounded of a parked car, and came right back at him, swinging his nightstick. "You have the right to remain silent."

Angel blocked the swing with his arm and pushed the cop off him again, throwing him into the fence. He bounced back and relentlessly raised his arm to strike, "Anything you say can…"

Angel kicked him in the chest, a blow that should have easily disabled a human, but all it accomplished was forcing the cop back into the fence. Again he rebounded, swinging his stick, "…and will be used against you in a court of law."

Angel punched the cop in the stomach, then the back of his head leveling him to the ground. Angel watched for several seconds, making sure he would stay down, but he didn't move. Satisfied that he wasn't getting back up, he moved down the sidewalk, discarding the plans he had already made for the night in favor of hunting. He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he was stopped in his tracks by the voice of the cop calling out behind him, "You have the right to an attorney."

Angel spun sharply, bringing his arm up just in time to block a blow from the cop, then punch him in the gut, "Should you be unable to afford an attorney one will be appointed to you."

The cop swung again, and Angel blocked, forcing the cop to stagger back. In the second it took him to recover Angel turned and kicked the cop's head off his neck. The head bounced off the windshield and settled on the hood of the car. Angel stared dispassionately at it for a moment, not even thinking about the fact that he had just taken a life, not thinking about the fact that his actions would have once had him cringing in horror. But not this time.

He turned to leave but was stopped in his tracks when the eyes snapped opened, "Do you understand your rights as I have..."

The words slowed and finally came to a halt. The once fresh body slowly turned into a decaying corpse. Angel looked down at the LAPD badge on the chest of the corpse and grabbed it before walking off.

The smell of decay should have clued him in, but he had been too distracted by her presence. Once again citing this as evidence that she made him weak, he walked away.

Tbc…