"Okay. What the HELL is going on here?!" Buffy yelled. She turned and looked angrily at Angel who was standing next to her. "Angel? Care to explain?!" Everyone turned to look at her and Angel. Buffy looked really peeved now. Angel looked scared.

"Uh… This is Lorne. He used to work with us… and this…" Angel said gesturing towards Connor, "is Connor… he's my son. I told you about him remember?"

"Yeah. I remember." It had been a long awkward conversation, which had just left Buffy even more confused than she had been before. She understood the idea of a mystical pregnancy, and even the idea of two vampires conceiving a child this wasn't all that weird considering the whole Dawn thing, but what had really gotten to her was the idea of Angel sleeping with Darla. It was confusing for two reasons. One, Darla was dead. She had seen Angel stake her right before her very eyes, and vampires weren't supposed to come back from the dead… or at least from being dusted, so the idea of her walking around sleeping with her ex… was just a little too weird even for her. The other reason was that she knew about the curse, and she knew that Angel knew too. He knew full well what could've happened and he went and slept with her anyway. That meant that either he was really really stupid, or he just didn't care anymore. That meant he had tried to get rid of his soul... an idea that really bothered her more than she would like. "So this is Connor?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah" Angel replied.

Buffy turned and looked back at the three girls who had attacked Connor and Lorne. "It's okay girls, you can let them go. They're with us." The three girls backed down.

"You're gonna just let them go because a vampire says so?" Buffy heard one of the girls ask. "Since when do we trust vampires."

"Alright. I am only going to say this one more time so you all better listen up. Angel and Spike here are more than just vampires. They're good. They have souls just like you and I. I don't want to hear any arguments from any of you because none of you have done for me and for the world what they've done. They've sacrificed their lives and their happiness countless times so that people like you wouldn't have to sacrifice yours. The only people who have done more for this world are me, Xander, Willow, and Giles, so if Angel or Spike says that someone is okay then they are okay. Got it!?" Buffy looked really peeved now. She hated having to explain herself more than once, and she hated having to explain the whole Angel and Spike thing. It was really getting old.

"… but Mr. Giles said…" one of the girls protested, but Buffy just stared her down.

"Mr. Giles said what exactly?" She asked trying to maintain her composure.

"Mr. Giles said that all vampires were evil, and not to be trusted no matter what. He said that sometimes in the past vampires had tried to fool you into thinking that they were good, but really they weren't and they are not to be trusted." The girl explained.

Buffy looked like she was going to hit something. Giles is going to have a lot of explaining to do when we get back she thought to herself. "Mr. Giles is short sighted and angry" she said, "and clearly it is Mr. Giles who cannot be trusted." Willow gave her a look as if to tell her off, but Buffy didn't care. Giles had really pissed her off this time. How dare he go behind my back like this? He purposely made it so that these girls would question my authority when it came to Angel and Spike. What was he thinking?!

"Angel." Buffy said turning back towards him. "I am really want to get out of here, so if you could tell us where the others are that would be great."

"Don't" Gunn whispered under his breathe quietly to Angel. He knew that the vampire would be able to hear him when the others wouldn't. "How do we know that we can trust them? Yeah, sure, Faith and Willow are with them, but I have no idea who this blonde chick is and those girls with her clearly have it in for you and Spike."

"It's okay Gunn. We can trust them." Angel told him. "I don't know where the others are. Wesley is probably in the same place that Illyria left him, but other than that I just don't know."

"Well how many more people are we talking about?" Faith asked.

"Wesley. Well and Groo… if we can find him." Angel responded.

"What about Nina and Gwen?" Connor spoke up for the first time. "They helped us out big time in hell. We can't just leave them here."

"Nina! You mean werewolf girl?" Spiked asked, "hah! This is gonna be better than I thought. Yeah, Angel we can't just leave them behind." Angel shot Spike a look.

"Shut up Spike. You're not helping." Angel told him before facing Connor and saying "We don't know where they are. If we can find them… then they can come with us… but we can't stay here forever looking for them… besides… they may not want to be found."

"Umm I know this may be a stupid question, but what about Cordelia?" Willow asked them. Everyone of them turned to look at her, all of them had this sad look on there face. Angel looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Yeah. Where is she? Last time I saw you guys she was busy bossing everyone around, but now she's nowhere to be found and not a one of you has even mentioned her since you came back." Faith pointed out.

Everyone turned and looked at Angel expectantly. If anyone knew what was going on, especially if it had anything to do with Cordelia, he would know. Gunn, Conner, Lorne, and Spike looked at him knowing that this was not going to be an easy topic of discussion.

"I got it man." Gunn said to Angel. "Cordy died a few months ago."

"What happened?" Willow asked shocked by the news that their friend had been killed. Maybe there is something I can do…

"There is nothing you can do Willow." Angel told her. "Cordy is on a higher plain now. She's a higher being… and the last time we tried to bring her back… well that didn't go so well."

"How…?" Willow began to ask, but before she could finish Gunn caught her off.

"It's a really long story. Basically this Demon guy named Skip tricked her into thinking that he worked for the powers that be. He then tricked her into becoming part demon, and then later on a higher being. There wasn't anything any of us could do to stop it. Then last year after spending the whole summer on a higher plane, and a bunch of failed efforts to bring her back she just reappeared on our doorstep, so to speak, with absolutely no memories whatsoever. Lorne did a nifty spell to bring her memories back, and that's when the whole stone beast, reign of fire thing happened."

"What the hell is he talking about Willow?" Buffy asked.

"You remember last year when I told you that I had to go to Los Angeles?"

"yeah" she responded

"Well, this is why… sort of." She said looking at Gunn as if to say "you might want to skip over the whole Angelus bit. She's not going to be too happy to hear about it."

"Anyway… after you and Faith helped us with our little… uh… problem, We found out that Cordelia had this whole mystical pregnancy deal going on. This is where the story gets complicated, but basically when Cordy came back from Heaven or wherever it was that she went to, this higher being demon thing called Jasmine hitched a ride. It took over her body and convinced her to bring for the beast and well… you know. After that the thing gave birth to itself, leaving Cordy in a mystical coma thing that eventually killed her."

"Why do I get the feeling like I'm not being told the whole story here." Buffy asked suddenly. She didn't like being kept in the dark, especially where her friends where concerned. "Why exactly were you in LA last year Willow?"

"I… I…" Willow stuttered looking around at the others for assistance. She knew that they would have to tell Buffy about the whole Angelus thing eventually but she didn't think that this was the time or the place. She knew that Buffy would be really pissed at everyone involved. She'd be pissed at Angel and his friends for even thinking the idea of taking Angel's soul out, and she'd be pissed at Willow for not telling her what had happened.

"Angel?" Buffy asked staring him down. If there was anyone that she could get through to it would be him. She knew that all she had to do was get angry at him and he would eventually give in. "What aren't they telling me?" Everyone was staring at them now.

"Now isn't the time Buffy. I'll tell you later." Buffy glared at him "I promise." He told her. Buffy still didn't look happy but she backed down. Whatever they had left out couldn't have been good or they wouldn't have been hiding it from her. It also had to be important for the same reason.

"Wait. Did you say Buffy?" Gunn asked. For the first time Angel realized that not everyone knew who she was. Gunn had heard that name so many times over the past year that there was know way he wasn't going to recognize it. Angel and Spike were always arguing over Buffy this and Buffy that. Each one had spent numerous hours professing their love for this woman, and he wanted to know why. If this was her, he wanted to know. "Buffy. As in the Buffy? You know the woman that the two of you" he said pointing at Angel and Spike "have been fighting over for the past oh… nine months!"

They've been fighting over me? Buffy thought to herself somewhat flattered by the fact that they had been fighting over her… but not that flattered. That's so… annoying! Where do they get off fighting over me. I mean I know that I told Spike that I loved him before he died, but he came back and he did even call me. And Angel… what makes him think he has the right to… he's the one that dumped me!

"Yes Gunn. This is Buffy." Angel told him. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what was coming next, especially since Buffy had been glaring at him and Spike ever since Gunn had mentioned that he and Spike had been fighting over her.

"You're Buffy?" Lorne asked her as if he hadn't heard what Angel had just said. Buffy just nodded. She was getting really sick and tired of nobody listening to her. "It's very nice to finally meet the infamous Buffy. These two," he said pointing to Angel and Spike, who both looked incredibly guilty, "have been talking about you non-stop." She could tell that Lorne was going to want to say more, to get into the whole Angel/Buffy or Spike/Buffy thing, and she couldn't let that happen. At least not here… She had a hard enough time trying to keep the slayers from attacking Spike and Angel on the spot, and she really didn't fancy explaining her love life with the two vampires to a bunch of teenage girls. If they ever found out, she might never here the end of it. Not to mention the fact that they would probably loose all respect for her.

Angel, sensing that Buffy did not want to get into a whole explanation of their relationship jumped in before Lorne could say anything else, "Which is something we will all talk about later… not here."

"But Angelcakes… this is the Buffy!" Lorne protested. He had heard so much about her and had waited so long to finally meet the woman who had stolen the two vampires hearts.

"I know who she is, but this isn't the time. We really need to get going… which… why are you here? I thought you were done with fighting evil." Angel asked Lorne

"I was… but lets just say I've had a change of heart after the whole "Hell A" incident. Lorne replied before turning to Buffy and asking "Was he this broody and grumpy when you first met him, or is that something that has developed over time?"

This time it was Spike who jumped in and saved her "As much as it kills me to admit it, Peaches here is right. We really should get going."

All of a sudden Illyria, who most everyone had forgotten about after all the hubbub, yelled "Wesley!" She too had been distracted by Connor and Lorne's appearance and had been busy studying her companions. It didn't take her very long to get bored by their dull repetitive natures and she had since moved on to scanning the area for things that she could fight. The shell had memories that told her that when its nighttime in Los Angeles there is always something around to do violence to. Instead of finding a demon or vampire, which she could rip to shreds, she had found something even better. Walking down the street accompanied by three others was Wesley. She hadn't seen him since that night of the battle in hell, and she hadn't been certain he would be alive when they got back. She was elated by the sight of him Seeing Wesley was much better than doing violence.

"Wes?" Angel turned and asked. "Is that you?"

"It's me." He replied walking up to the group. "And before anyone asks… yes, I am very much alive." Both Angel and Spike could tell that he was alive and were very happy.

"Hello Buffy." Wesley said turning to his former slayer. "Faith, Willow, I am glad to see that you are all okay, And these must be some of the new slayers."

"You know what we are?" one of the girls asked surprised.

"Well I should hope he knows what we are," Faith told the girls with a grin. "He was me and B's watcher back in the day."

"I thought that Mr. Giles was your watcher?" One of the girls pointed out questioningly. They had all heard many of the stories from Sunnydale, but the parts about Angel and his friends had been conveniently left out along with the parts about Spike. Which meant that none of the girls had even heard of Wesley before, let alone known that he used to be a watcher. Great! Buffy thought to herself, more long-winded explanations. Could this night get any more complicated!

Buffy decided to keep it simple, "Mr. Giles was… is our watcher, but there were always more watchers to begin with, and when Faith was called the watchers council sent Wesley to help us. After Faith went into a coma and then went to prison we didn't need him anymore so he went off to help Angel here in L.A."

Wesley, Faith, Willow, and Angel knew that this was a complete lie, but they kept their mouths shut sensing that Buffy really didn't want to get into it right now. Gunn and Lorne were confused. They thought that Wesley had been fired by the watchers council, but one look from their friends told them to keep their mouths shut.

"Wesley, who are these people?" Buffy asked pointing to the three people beside him. "This is Nina." He said pointing to the blonde woman standing next to him, "She's a werewolf. This is Gwen." He said pointing to the brunette standing next to Nina, "and this is Groo. He's from Lorne's home dimension of Pylea."

"That's where you found Fred, right?" Willow asked him.

"Yes, that's where we were coming from when you…" Wesley stopped. He really didn't want to dredge up any painful memories. That was the night that Willow had come to tell Angel that Buffy had died. "that's where we found Fred." He recovered.

"Well I guess we won't have to send out a search party after all." Buffy said pleased. "This is everyone, isn't it Angel?" Buffy asked him.

"Yes, This is everyone." He responded.

"Good" Buffy said. "Now we can go. As much as I've enjoyed catching up with everyone here, it's late, I'm tired, and we still have a lot to get through before we've taken care of everything." Buffy then Turned to look at Willow. "How soon can you have the portal ready."

"Portal?... PORTAL?" Spike asked "I'm not going through any bloody stinkin portal! I have had enough portals and magic for one lifetime, thank you!"

"It's not like we have a whole lot of options Spike." Buffy said exasperated. She really didn't want to have to deal with this right now. She hated portals more than anyone, and yet she had used one to come all the way here to save their asses and now Spike was refusing to use one to get back?!

"Who said we were going with you people anyway? In case you haven't noticed your girls here want to kill us pretty badly?' Spike asked her.

"Where else are you going to go Spike? You can't exactly go back to Wolfram and Hart, and its probably not even safe for you to stay in Los Angeles any more seeing as the senior partners are probably pissed that you guys broke out of hell. Besides Giles gave me strict orders to bring all of you back with me."

"GILES?" Spike asked angrily. "That ponce doesn't even trust us! He's the one who went off on us! He wouldn't even let us talk to Willow when poor Fred was having her soul destroyed by an old one!"

"He's got a point Buffy." Angel said calmly. "I'm pretty sure Giles doesn't want us around right now."

"Fred's soul was destroyed!?" Willow asked, clearly upset by what Spike had just told them. She was glaring at Spike and Angel now and was clearly not pleased. "You let that THING destroy Freds SOUL?!"

"It's not like we had a choice Willow." Angel told her. "We went to the deeper well to try to stop it, but the only way to save her would have killed millions of people." Willow looked guilty after she said this.

"oh" she said sheepishly. She felt bad knowing, by looking at her friends from Los Angeles, that she had brought up a very difficult topic. Clearly they were still bothered by what happened. "Buffy is right though..." she continued, "You guys don't really have a lot of options other than to come with us. You can't stay here in LA, it's just not safe."

"Willow and Buffy are right," Angel said with authority, "it's not safe here for us, and we don't have a lot of other options. We're going with them. All of us." He then turned to look at Spike, "and I don't want to here any more arguments about it."

"You're not the boss of me!" Spike said angrily

"Fine! I really don't care what you do Spike! Stay here! See how long you last! The rest of you are coming with me!" Angel yelled. He was clearly getting irritated by all of the arguing.

"Give me one good reason why I should go with you." Gwen said calmly.

"You want to live? You want to stay out of hell? You've just spent months fighting Wolfram and Hart in hell, and you think that they're just going to let you walk away. You became a target the moment you started working with Connor! These are the people that can help you." Angel said gesturing towards the slayers. "If there is anyone in the world who can help keep us safe from the senior partners its them. You can stay if you want. No one is going to make you come, but if you do know that it is at your own risk, and next time we may not be able to come and save you." Angel turned and looked at Willow, "How soon can you have the portal ready?'

"Just give me a few minutes." Willow told him.

It didn't take Willow long to get the portal ready. The slayers we're all huddled in a corner whispering to one another about that nights events. Whatever they had been expecting to find here, this wasn't it. From what they had heard it sounded like these were the people responsible for sending Los Angeles to hell, and they weren't sure why Buffy wasn't killing them.

Connor was busy talking to Nina and Gwen, and seeing if they were all right. Lorne and Gunn were catching up on the events in hell, Lorne was fascinated by the fact the Gunn had been a vampire. Wesley was busy dealing with Illyria, trying to get her to agree to not only come with them, but to not kill anyone once they got there. It didn't take him long to get her to agree. She was just glad to see Wesley alive again. She would have gone anywhere with him. Faith was busy trying to convince Spike to come with them. It didn't take her long once she told him that Buffy had missed him. Angel was helping Buffy and Willow get the portal ready.

Once Willow had finished, she quickly reminded everyone the rules and then started helping the slayers through. Faith led the way, followed by all of the girls. Wesley, Lorne, Gunn and Illyria went next. Connor, Nina, Gwen, and Groo followed them. It hadn't taken Connor long to convince them to come with. Angel followed them with Buffy who before going through the portal asked, "You coming Spike?"

"Yeah," he said begrudgingly "I'm coming" and then followed them through the portal. Willow took one look behind her before she followed, as if to say good-bye to some unseen entity, and then followed the rest of the group through the portal closing it behind her.