A/N: Thanks to all the people who read my story, especially to my reviewers, Just Me (feel free to write one any time, I'd love to read it. I have another fic in progress where she knew Lorne), C'est Magnifique, pinkyblue-ice, WhiteWolf 3 (I'd have to say 99.9 percent of the time), and CF. Ya'll are wonderful. Thanks for taking the time just to drop me a line.
Chapter 4
"Do you realize what he is planning on doing?" Wesley didn't look up from the book he was researching from as Cordelia stormed into the room. "Fine ignore me, but you should know that in order to find out if the police have been brutalizing and killing people in Anne's neighborhood, he's going to videotape the cops trying to brutalize and kill him."
That caught his attention, "You can't be serious."
She snorted, "Nothing says 'Aha, I'm on to you' like being on the receiving end of a vicious police beating."
"You couldn't stop him?" Wesley asked.
"Hello! Gunn, stubborn, synonyms."
"That can't be his plan, can it?" he asked in disbelief. "I mean, it's…a really dumb plan."
"Hey, Gunn graduated with a major in dumb planning from Angel University. He sat at the feet of the master and learned well how to plan dumbly."
Wesley was at a loss, "Well, we're just gonna have to let him do this."
"Oh. I'm sure he'll be fine," Cordelia replied.
"He wants our help, he knows where to call us."
"We'll work our gig, Gunn can work his."
"Right." There was a long pause and then, "Let's get down there and save him from himself."
Cordelia stood with him, "It's not like that third eye is really going anywhere."
xoxox
Angel and Kate walked through the cemetery, trying to find the grave of Peter Harkes. Angel was trying to keep his mind off another tiny blonde and all the times they had patrolled together. It wasn't working.
"That one," Kate pointed. "Never saw the guy who shot him."
"Catch the killer?"
"Oh, yeah," she replied. "Not exactly a criminal genius. He's up for the death penalty."
Angel looked at the ground closely, "You said his funeral was six months ago."
"Around then. Why?"
"This ground's been disturbed in the past few weeks. Someone's done some digging."
Kate looked up at him, "How do you know?"
He gave her a look and began to walk away, "A lot of cops buried here?"
"Yeah," she said hesitantly.
He stopped in front of another grave, "How about him?"
"Kevin worked vice. What is going on here?"
"I think someone is unearthing dead cops and putting them back on the streets."
"What?" she said shocked. "How is that?"
"Zombies. Magically reanimated corpses. They walk they talk, but somebody else is pulling their strings."
Kate listened to his words before paling and running off. When he caught up to her she was standing in front of another grave. "Is it…my dad, is he…"
"No. His ground's undisturbed."
She breathed heavily, "Are you sure?"
He nodded, "I'm sure."
She put a hand over her mouth, shaken, trying to hold back the sobs. "You okay?"
"Who's doing this?"
xoxox
"Sorry, no more..." Anne started before seeing Wesley and Cordelia standing at the door of the shelter, "Hi, what..."
"Is Gunn still here?" Cordelia interrupted as they moved past her and into the shelter.
"No, he left with his friends a little while ago. Why?"
Wesley looked troubled at that, "Did he say where he was going?"
"45th Street, I think."
Wesley turned to go, "I'll start there. I'm on my cell phone if you hear from him."
Cordelia nodded, "Check in with me."
"Hey wait," Anne said in alarm, "What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm going to help Gunn."
"He has back up. I don't think he really needs your help."
"Look," Cordelia started, "If he's actually going to follow through with his crazy plan to get beat up then he's probably gonna need more help than-"
"I'm sure if he runs across something that he can't handle, Buffy can, so you don't need to-" she broke off when she saw them freeze, "What?"
"Did you say 'Buffy,'" Wesley asked, shocked.
"Yeah."
"'Buffy' as in Buffy Summers?" Cordelia asked.
Anne looked back and fourth at their shocked faces. "Do- do you know her."
Cordelia snorted, "Are you kidding? 'Know her,' seriously, the things I could tell you-"
Wesley looked confused, "Why would Buffy come here, I would think that she would avoid LA after what happened last time."
Anne shrugged, "She came because I asked her too. I needed her help with this cop thing and figured she would. I called and left a message on her machine yesterday, before I came to get Gunn."
"And she's with him right now?" Wesley clarified.
"Yeah, she wanted to make sure it was done right. She left with him, Rondell, and George like ten minutes ago. Why?"
"Right," Wesley said before turning to Cordelia, "I'm going to go after them anyway and make sure everything is ok. I'll call you and let you know."
"Don't forget," Cordelia said as he left. She turned to Anne, "So how do you know Buffy?"
xoxox
Gunn, Buffy, Rondell, and George quietly walked down the street on their way to 45th street.
"All right," said George quietly, continuing the argument that they had started earlier, "Look, all I'm saying is you got to let me set up so they don't see me with this. Cops see me with this, ain't no way we can Rodney King them."
Gunn looked around, "Yeah, that's if we ever find any. I never had to look so hard to find trouble before."
"There's nothin' out here," said Buffy. "I don't sense anything, and that's just not right."
"Hey, check it." George pointed, "45th Street, man."
"So?" said Buffy.
Rondell looked at her in shock, "You're kidding me. This is gang ground. They catch us rolling up in here they'll take us out."
"That's why we ain't seen no cops," said George. "They don't even come around here."
"I said you was free to go." Gunn said, after seeing them back away from the street.
"Hey, man, I say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it."
They all looked down the deserted street. "Damn," said Gunn, "Someone having an apocalypse and forget to invite us?"
Buffy laughed, "God I hope not. It means I'm late."
They all froze as they heard a tapping sound behind them. When they turned they could see a cop walking up the street, dragging his nightstick against the wall of the building.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Doin'?" said Gunn, "Nothing, man, just taking a walk."
"Put your hands on the wall, step back and spread your feet apart," he ordered.
"You arresting us?" Gunn asked.
Gunn looked back to make sure that George was getting it all with the camcorder peeking from his coat, but Buffy was concentrating on the cop in front of them.
"Something's wrong with him," she whispered to Gunn. "He's not human."
"Do as you're instructed," the cop stated.
"Officer, I'd just like to know if we're being arrested," said Gunn as Buffy placed a restraining hand on his arm. The cop was giving her the wiggins. Her instincts were screaming at her to attack, but she held back.
"Turn around and face the wall. Now," the officer said.
"Hey," replied Gunn. "I'm not trying to argue with you, but – I'd like to know what we did wrong. You know, what law we broke? Because if we broke one, I think we should know what it was so we don't make the same mistake twice."
The cop lifted his stick threatening them, while Buffy slid in front of Gunn, "I'm not gonna say it again."
While they were distracted by the cop, Wesley came running up the street behind them.
"Wait! Officer, wait! This man is a friend of mine, a very good friend. I'm sure he hasn't committed any…"
The others had turned to watch his approach but Buffy kept her eyes on the cop, who pulled his gun. Time seemed to move in slow motion as she saw him take aim at her friend. Without thinking, she lunged to the side, moving in front of Wesley, the target. A loud boom sounded but she was concentrating too much on saving Wesley to hear it, or worry about the pain spreading through her middle. The world seemed to lose focus as she dropped to her knees, one hand clutching the wound that was beginning to bleed through. She raised a shaking hand to her face and stared dumbly at the blood there before collapsing face first on the ground. Angel…
Tbc…