AN: Many thanks to all of you fabulous reviewers! I very much appreciate all of the wondeful comments!


Part 3
Angel cursed vividly at the "Road Closed" sign that blocked the route that he normally took home each day. Why the hell was the road closed? There hadn't been any notices of construction. At least not that he'd seen. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Having no other choice, Angel put on his turn signal and went right at the intersection. He'd just have to take a less direct route. That, of course, would probably add a half hour onto his driving time, and all he wanted to do was get home. His take-out would be cold by the time he arrived. Just another thing to add onto the list of everything that had gone wrong lately.

He continued driving down the road, looking for somewhere to turn left so that he could head back in the direction of his apartment. All the roads seemed to be one-way in the wrong direction, though. Just his luck. Finally, he found one he could turn onto and made the left.

The road wasn't familiar despite the fact that he'd lived in the area for four years. He didn't spend much time sight-seeing near where he lived, and his precinct didn't cover this area. Hopefully, it would take him out onto a road he recognized.

Driving slowly so that he could keep an eye out for something familiar, Angel saw a car that looked like Faith's pulling off into a parking space a little ways down the road. He frowned in consideration. Faith didn't live anywhere near here. What could she possibly be doing?

Always concerned for his partner, he pulled over to the side of the road, far enough away so that he wouldn't be spotted. He watched as what he thought was Faith's car finished parallel parking. Sure enough, a moment later, he saw her brunette head pop out of the car. A second later, a blonde got out of the passenger side. A blonde female. It didn'ttake a genius to figure out who the blonde was. Faith was with Lizzie. But where were they going?

Angel waited while the two crossed the sidewalk and entered into the courtyard of a building they'd parked near. He gave them another minute to get where they were going before he pulled his car back onto the road. He drove slowly, glad no one was behind him, curious about where they could have gone. There didn't appear to be any restaurants or stores in the area. Just houses and large warehouse-like buildings.

When he was opposite the courtyard they'd entered, Angel slowed his car to a halt and studied the space. The courtyard was on the small side and surrounded by a rather tall, black iron fence. It opened to a rather large building that seemed to be a complex of some sort, maybe apartments. He couldn't tell. He searched for a sign to tell him what the place was, but all he saw was a small wooden plaque on the fence that said "The Hyperion". Nothing else. Odd.

A car horn blared behind him, jolting Angel out of perusal. He reluctantly set the car in motion again, still wondering where Faith and Lizzie had gone. And what trouble Lizzie could possibly be getting Faith into. She always brought trouble. He'd have to talk to Faith again, get her to see the reality of her so-called friend.


Bright fluorescent lights greeted Faith when she walked into the police station the next morning. She glanced at her watch and grumbled. Mornings were her very least favorite time of the day. It was just so...early.

Half stumbling, half walking, she entered the bullpen – the place where everyone's desks were and groaned when she spotted Angel. There he sat, already entrenched in work. He looked as though he'd been awake and working for hours. Knowing him, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Angel seriously needed to get a life.

After reaching her desk chair, she flopped down and promptly propped her booted feet on her desktop. "Morning Angie," she greeted with an exaggerated yawn.

Angel glanced up and half glared at her over the use of his least favorite nickname. "Your," he looked down at his watch, "only five minutes late today. I'm impressed."

"Oh shut up," she mumbled as she got back up out of her chair in search of some coffee. "Be right back."

Faith returned two minutes later, a large cup of the station's toxic coffee in hand. Instead of sitting back down in her chair, she hopped up on the corner of Angel's desk and sipped her coffee.

"Make yourself at home," he said sarcastically without bothering to look up.

"Someone's in a bad mood this morning," she teased.

"Some of us have worked to do," he shot back, jotting notes down in a file.

"Oh come on, Angel. Gimme a chance to wake up!"

Seeing an opportunity to prod Faith about where she'd been the night before with Lizzie, Angel dropped his pencil down on his desk and leaned back in his chair. "So what did you do last night to make you so tired today?"

"Not much. Just hung out," she answered evasively and shrugged.

"Just hung out?" Angel repeated.

"Yeah. You know, hanging out. Oh, right, I forgot you don't have a social life." She smiled and patted his shoulder condescendingly.

Her answer hadn't clued him in at all about what she'd been doing with Lizzie. He didn't want to ask outright. Likely, she'd get all pissed off and accuse him of spying on her. Which he certainly hadn't been doing. All he'd done was drive down a street. He'd have to find another way to question her without her figuring out what he was doing. And all he was doing, he told himself, was looking out for her well-being. He didn't want to see Lizzie drag her down.

"So what are you working on?" Faith asked, nodding to what Angel had been writing when she walked in.

"Working on a possible lead on the B&E at your friend's apartment." He purposely avoided saying her name. If he didn't say it, he could try to ignore who the apartment belonged to and try to solve the case.

"Really?" Faith perked up and looked expectantly at Angel's notes. If they could catch whoever had destroyed Buffy's things she would feel much better. Something really worried her about the break in and property violence. She wanted to make sure her friend was safe.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I saw a name and phone number written on a piece of paper and stuck to the fridge in her apartment. Knowing Lizzie...Buffy," he ground out, "I wouldn't put it past one of her...friends...to be responsible. And the name seemed vaguely familiar so I checked it out."

Instantly worried, Faith sat up straighter and set her coffee down behind on her her desk. "What was the name?"

"William Burns," Angel relayed.

"W-william Burns," she stuttered, her hands clenching on the edge of Angel's desk.

Oblivious to Faith's reaction, Angel further explained. "Yeah, also known as Spike Burns. Guy's got a rap sheet too. Possession, drunk and disorderly, reckless driving. That kind of thing." He stared down at the file, frowned. "He seems to have been clean the last few years, though."

"Just because he has a record doesn't mean he's guilty!" Faith shot back. "Maybe he went legit."

"Right," Angel snorted. "And leopards change their spots.

Faith held back the retort that was on the tip of her tongue. This wasn't something she could fight with Angel about. There were things he didn't know, things she didn't want him to know. But she could do something.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." She hopped off his desk and hurried out of the room.

Angel stared after her, confused, finally having caught on to her weird behavior. What was all that about, he wondered? Probably nothing. It wasn't like Faith didn't act strange regularly.

Once in the hallway, Faith rushed toward the pay phones. She picked up the receiver, dug some change out of her pocket. Before she dialed, she glanced around, making sure no one was around to hear. The hallway was empty, thankfully, so she dropped her change in and dialed. The phone rang four times before it was answered.

"B! We've got a problem..."


Angel slid his car into one of the few available parking spaces and shifted into Park, leaving the engine running so the air conditioner could continue to shield them against the humid air outside. Beside him, Faith was already rummaging around in the paper bag that their lunches had come in. He spared a moments thought over the unhealthiness of fast food, but right now he didn't care. He was starving and this was the first chance they'd had all day to get lunch.

"Are you going to hand me my sandwich?" he asked when Faith had yet to give him his food.

Pulling it out of the bag, Faith shoved it at him. "There."

"What bug got up your ass?" he grumbled at her rudeness. Faith had been moody all day and it was starting to get on his nerves.

"I don't know what you mean," she replied haughtily. Of course, she really did know what he meant. She'd been bitchy all day, but she couldn't help it. She was worried over what Angel had told her about that morning. Buffy had assured her everything would be fine, but Faith wasn't so sure.

"Whatever," Angel brushed off her denial. He knew Faith, and he knew she wouldn't talk to him unless she wanted to.

"Ugh," Faith grunted, picking at her sandwich. "I told them not to put onions on it!"

"It's fast food. What do you expect?" he replied, amused at her annoyance.

"Yeah, it's real funny," she muttered, trying to make sure she got all the onions out.

Angel said nothing, just sat back and ate his lunch. After starting his day off in a less than good mood, he was feeling better. There was nothing like a busy day to take one's mind off his troubles. He knew it wouldn't last. Once work was over he would again have to face Lizzie's sudden reemergence in his life, but for now, he could push her aside. Or so he thought.

"Ya know," Faith said, suddenly remembering something she'd meant to mention to Angel. "I stopped by B's last night, and the strangest thing happened."

"Oh?" Angel feigned dumb, though he had a sneaking suspicion where she was headed.

"Uh huh. Xander showed up out of the blue. With a new set of locks for Buffy's apartment. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" she finished innocently.

Damnit, Angel cursed silently. What the hell had he been thinking calling Xander up and asking him to do that? He hadn't exactly been thinking, he supposed. He'd been worried, remembering the destruction at Lizzie's apartment and the flimsy security of the building. He should have known it would come back to bite him in the ass.

"Don't bother to deny it," she went on. "Xander's a good friend of yours and there's no other reason he would have shown up like that."

"A kid could have broken into that place!" he settled on saying, bypassing the more emotional responses that had come to mind.

"Oh come off it, Angel," she snapped, turning in her seat to face him. "You did it because she still matters to you."

"Yeah, right," Angel snorted. Lizzie had lied to him and nearly turned his life upside down. She couldn't possibly matter to him. Could she?

"Deny it all you want...," she trailed off and became serious. "You really should talk to her, let her explain everything. Maybe it won't make a difference in how you feel, but you should hear her out."

"Listen, Faith," he started, but was interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing. He was quiet as she fished her phone out of her pants pocket and answered. It was immediately obvious that the call wasn't a good one.

"Okay, just hang in there. We'll be right there," he heard Faith say then snap her phone shut. She turned to Angel while shoving the remains of her lunch in the bag. "Something's wrong with Buffy."

Angel didn't bother to ask what, he dumped his trash on Faith's lap and jammed the car into reverse. The tires squealed on the pavement as he shot out of the parking lot.


Angel beat Faith to Lizzie's door by several strides, his longer legs getting him there quicker. He was already pounding on the door when she came to a stop next to him.

"Who is it?" Buffy's voice called from the other side of the door.

"It's us, B!" Faith yelled back.

Her question, followed by the sounds of the safety chain being removed and the deadbolt releasing, relieved Angel. At least Lizzie wasn't a sitting target anymore. No lock was fool-proof, but the new ones would help. He was suddenly very glad he'd called Xander the night before.

The pale look on Buffy's face after she opened the door immediately concerned Faith. She rushed forward, looking over every inch of her friend. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Buffy took a moment to answer, temporarily distracted by Angel's presence. When Faith grabbed her shoulders, Buffy snapped out of her stare and answered. "No, I'm fine. It's just..." She looked over her shoulder toward the couch.

"What happened, Li-..Buffy?" Angel asked, taking a step forward, enough to close the door and lock it behind him. No use taking any chances. Right now, though, his concern was for Lizzie. She looked petrified, her body trembling every so often.

"It's on the couch," Buffy responded, unable to explain further.

Angel and Faith shared a look and walked quickly to the couch. Lying haphazardly on the cushions was a brown cardboard tube, and next to it a piece of rolled paper. Something told both of them that whatever was on that paper was very bad. Angel reached into his back pocket, looking for a pair of latex gloves, but found none.

"I've got some," Faith said and began pulling the protective gear over her hands. They snapped into place within seconds and Faith reached down and carefully picked up the paper, making sure to touch it as little as possible. A gasp escaped her lips as the image unrolled before her. "God damn!"

A shudder went through Angel at the vile depiction. It appeared to be a photograph of Lizzie, blown up to the size of a small poster, but that was all that was innocent about it. Whoever had made the poster had also painted a wicked looking dagger dripping with blood, along with bright red slashes on Lizzie's photographed arms and legs. But perhaps the most disturbing aspect was the fact that her eyes had been cut out.

Angel turned away from the image and looked at Lizzie, who stood a few feet away with her arms protectively crossed over her chest. "Where did this come from?"

She didn't answer immediately, her eyes fearfully trained on the poster Faith was still examining. When Angel called her name again, she snapper her gaze to his. "I, um...when the guys from Ikea came to deliver the new furniture, they said it was sitting in front of my door."

"Did anybody knock before the furniture guys?" he asked, pulling out a notebook to jot down details.

"I didn't hear anything," she told him.

"Have you been out yet today?" he questioned further.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I went out early this morning to stop by the gallery to see how the prep for my show was going."

"And this wasn't there when you left or got back?" Faith interjected, setting the re-rolled picture back on the couch.

"No."

"Okay," Angel started and leaned against the back of the couch. "Let's go through your day, including times for everything..."

For the next half hour, Buffy relayed everything she'd done that day, including when she'd gotten up, when she'd left for the gallery and returned, and when the furniture had arrived. When Faith and Angel had all the information, they left the apartment to get an evidence bag from Angel's car and to question the tenants of the building, making sure to tell Buffy to lock up after they'd left. Their casual warning only left Buffy more afraid.

An hour later, they were back, and she couldn't help but be relieved. Even if Angel was one of the people blurring out the fear.

"Did you find anything?" Buffy asked as soon as they had returned.

"Not a thing," Faith replied dejectedly. "Nobody saw or heard anything strange."

"Oh," Buffy mumbled, disappointed that they hadn't gotten any clues as to who was stalking her.

The room was silent for a long minute. Faith watched Angel stalk around the living room, and saw Buffy's eyes following his every movement. Feel the tension, Faith thought. How was a person supposed to deal with these two? She paused and considered. Well, she could give them a little push.

"Listen, I've got to go...meet somebody," Faith stated out of the blue while grabbing the evidence bag with the poster in it. "I'll drop this off at the station for the guys to go over. Oh, and don't worry, Angel. I'll catch a taxi."

Before either Angel or Buffy could say a word, Faith had slipped out the door.

"Well, that wasn't obvious or anything," Buffy mumbled, all the while realizing that she was alone in a room with Angel for the first time in over four years.


TBC!