Chapter One: Sunnydale

"Why can't we just warn them?" Charles Gunn said from the backseat of Angel's Plymouth. "I don't see why we have to drive all the way to Barbie's hometown to save Angel's ex."

'Barbie' better known as Cordelia Chase turned in the passenger's seat to stare at her friend.

"I wish we could have just called, but the vision showed me that Buffy and her Scoobies are not enough to handle the demons alone," she said.

"Cordelia's right," Wesley Wyndam-Pryce said. His glasses were on and he had a book covering the lower half of his face. "The Xenex demon has the strength that far surpasses a vampire, keen hearing, and poisonous fangs, claws, and quills. One is deadly to handle alone. Two is suicide."

"But doesn't Buffy have enough people to help her," Fred's meek voice said from behind Cordelia. Winifred Burkle was nervous. This was the first time she has been further than a few feet away from the Hyperion Hotel. She didn't want to leave her safe haven, but the team didn't want to leave her alone in the hotel. She was coerced out of her home and into the car with everyone else.

"She does," Wes began.

"But my vision clearly showed that Buffy and her team will not be enough," Cordelia interrupted. She couldn't help thinking that not too long ago, Buffy was dead and now she was alive and needed their help.

Gunn groaned.

The sun had just set when the Angel Investigations team left the Hyperion. Cordelia had had a violent vision of Buffy and her team dying at the hands of two nasty looking demons earlier that afternoon.

The group quickly realized that they had to travel to Sunnydale to prevent the vision from coming true. Reluctantly, they all packed overnight bags, in Cordelia's case, three bags, and piled them and the guys' favorite weapons in the trunk of Angel's car.

They had to wait until sunset to leave because Angel could not leave during the daylight. He was a vampire. He was once one of the worst vampires known to mankind until he messed with the wrong girl and regained his human soul.

Cordelia honestly did not want to ever set foot in Sunnydale again. Too many bad memories. Between finding out demons, vampires, witches, ghost, zombies, and werewolves exist, Cordelia had been through heartache and betrayal, and her parents' bankruptcy. All of this happened in the span of three years. So, she was not happy about the trip.

Angel wasn't too thrilled either. He left Sunnydale for a reason. From falling in love with Buffy, a big no-no because she was the Vampire Slayer, losing his soul, briefly, trying to kill every living thing, and being sent to hell by said Slayer, and finally a guilt-filled year of heartache after he returned from hell with his soul intact. He really wasn't looking forward to revisiting the town that held so many unpleasant memories. Especially since his main way to deal with his past issues was avoidance.

He jerked slightly as Cordelia placed her hand on Angel's arm. She was trying to reassure him but all he could focus on was the warmth of her human hand burning through the sleeve of his black shirt. He turned his eyes from the wall and saw Cordelia giving him the best comforting smile she could manage at the moment. He quickly turned his head back to the road.

"We can do this," she said. "It will only be a couple of days and we can go back home."

Angel nodded.

"Wes, does that book tell us how to kill the demons?" he asked.

Wes shifted in his seat. Angel could feel the man's legs press against the back of his seat. Wes was too tall to be sitting behind Angel, but they weren't really considering comfort when they piled into the convertible. Fred will have to sit there on their way back home.

"Decapitation followed by burning the stump so the head doesn't grow back," Wesley answered. "Oh, and the blood is poisonous as well."

"So, basically, don't touch," Gunn quipped. "Since we have a couple of days, can we make a pit stop? We've been on the road for over an hour and I'm cramped back here."

Gunn was the tallest of the men and he was sitting in the middle of the backseat between Wes and Fred. He was the most bunched up of the group.

"Yeah," Angel said. "There's a diner at the next exit. We can stop there and you guys can get something to eat."

They all stretched as they got out of the car once Angel had parked in the diner's quaint parking lot. Fred, the eater of the group, practically ran to claim a booth for the group. It was the most thrilled they had ever seen the woman. She was still traumatized after being trapped in another dimension for years. The others followed her.

"Hello, Angel," a middle-aged black woman said from behind the counter when she spotted the vampire.

"Hello, Ruth," Angel greeted as Cordelia sat by Fred and he sat beside Cordelia. Wes and Gunn sat on the other side.

"You know her?" Cordelia whispered.

"I saved her life a couple of decades ago," Angel answered.

Ruth approached their booth.

"My name is Ruth," Ruth said kindly. "Here are the menus."

She handed them four laminated menus.

"My guess she knows who and what you are?" Wes said looking at the menu.

Angel didn't reply. He was too focused on Cordelia being so close to him. This was what he missed during his crisis last year and Cordelia's disappearance into a portal. He missed how comfortable she was with being near him. He vowed he would never take this simple trust for granted again.

He watched his team eat. They were more relaxed now that they could take a small break. He found himself thinking that they were more than a team and more than co-workers. They were a family. He wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

"What are you think," Cordelia asked.

"Nothing," Angel said.

The humans finished eating and went to the restroom. When they were done, they got back into the black Plymouth. This time Fred sat behind Angel and Wes behind Cordelia. The rest of the drive to Sunnydale was uneventful.

"Here we are," Cordelia sighed as they passed the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign. "Home Bitter Home."

Angel sighed too. He was just as pleased as the former teenager as he too read the sign.

They made their way to Buffy's house where they knew they would find the Scooby Gang. After they all got out of the car and grabbed their bags, Angel had Cordelia's and his own (despite Cordelia's insistence that she could carry her own things) they walked to the house and rang the bell. The door flung open and a surprised Willow Rosenberg stared at them. They didn't bother to call ahead of time.

"Hi," Cordelia said.

END OF CH. 1