Present Day

This is what Angel thought of as he rode down the street in his convertible. A man walked with hand in hand with a little girl, leaving him to wonder wistfully what it'd be like to have a daughter. That was until he remembered that sort of did once, despite the fact that he psychologically tortured her to no end.

Gunn was waiting for him at the corner, looking constantly down both streets before he looked up to see him pulling in. The streets had left him paranoid and it was more obvious when Gunn thought wasn't he was looking.

"What's going on? You sounded pretty scared on the phone." Angel pulled up, getting out. The two men shook hands and went into the shadows.

"Look, a demon set up camp on my turf again." He admitted, as if ashamed.

Angel smirked. "Do you know what kind?"

"That's the thing, man. It looks like a human dressed all in black with a ski-mask on. The only thing is it moves quickly and when I think it's dead, it hops right back up into life. Do you think you can check it out?"

"I think I can. Generally, there's more of a statement other than a human in black who runs fast. Gunn, it could be your twin for all I know." He moved to go back to his car. "I'll have Wesley do the research and get back to you, alr - "

He turned just in time and caught an arrow aimed straight for his heart. His fist broke it in half as he looked across the street to see who fired.

The creature was just as Gunn described. It was almost a human with a tall willowy frame and long spindly limbs. From head to toe, they were dressed in black with a black ski mask over their face. In their gloved hands was a crossbow.

Before Angel knew what to do, it turned and broke into a sprint in the alleyway. Angel turned to Gunn and ordered, "Take the car and follow. I'll take it on foot."

He bolted after it, disappearing into the dark. He could hear the light slap of the creature's footsteps around each corner as they continued their chase further and further into the maze of alleyways. He could begin to hear labored breathing as they began to run out of breath.

Angel rounded a corner, only to be round-house kicked in the face. He stumbled back before launching an attack. The creature was nimble and quick footed, aiming open-palmed hits to areas of weakness such as pressure points and joints.

He dodged and blocked them as quickly as they came at him. The creature aimed a kick to his face, only to have him grab it's ankle and twist, slamming it down to the ground. A groan of pain released from the mouth of the ski mask as they laid on the ground.

"What are you?" He asked, his voice firm. He reached down to take off the mask when it's head turned to the side and bit down on his hand. With a cry of pain, he stumbled back as the person stood up again with surprising agility.

"ANGEL!" Gunn's voice yelled out. Both of them looked up. In a moment's distraction, Angel's opponent leapt to the fire escape. Angel jumped after it and wrapped his hand around it's ankle. Without a second thought, Angel withdrew a needle from his duster and slammed it into the Demon's Heel.

There's was a sound above his head, like a scream of pain. It was followed back a weak gurgle and with one swift tug, the demon fell to the concrete with a crunch! As it's skull collided with the concrete, Gunn ran around the corner to see Angel standing over the body.

"Is he dead? This one has been creepin' me out!" He commented, leaning against the alley wall. Angel shook his head, smirking as he felt for a pulse. Sure enough, it pumped feebly below the skin's surface. It felt cold to the touch due to the outside temperature.

"Nope, still alive. Go open the car door, it's coming with us."

"Are you sure?" Gunn stayed where he was. Angel looked the body over. The demon wore human clothes, a black sweater and black cargo pants with black combat boots. Slowly he reached under the ski mask over their face and yanked it up off their face.

Angel fell back against the alley wall with a yell of surprise.

Gunn only saw a girl with long black hair and an ivory pale face covered with scratches and bruises. In his eyes, she was beautiful. Angel had different thoughts however. He was pressed against the wall, as if it were full of sunlight.

"What's wrong with the demon?" He asked, his voice suddenly quiet.

Angel slowly moved forward, reaching out to touch the girl's hair. He then knelt by her and lifted her small frame into his arms but holding her body to his chest instead of picking her up.

"She's my daughter."

XOX

Judy expected to wake up with cold, rough, concrete under her back, her face damp with rain and dirt. She was accustomed to this feeling as much as her own skin. One hundred and eighty years of waking up this way did that to her.

She did not expect to be warm, dry nor did she expect to be in a place with light. Her mouth felt dry as cotton, making her cough roughly. Judy opened her eyes, making her head ache dully as light filled her retnas.

"Agh!" She cried out in pain, covering her eyes with her hands only to growl in frustration at how heavy her arms were. With a grunt of effort, she sat up in her bed and looked around.

There were no windows anywhere. The walls were made of brick from floor to ceiling with a concrete floor. The place was empty of any sort of decorations or even a simple photograph or mirror anywhere. She knew instantly who the place belonged to.

Judy leapt out of bed, panic setting in. Being captured by her step-father was not in her plan of action. She was going to kill him and then get out of there. Instead, she was in his apartment wearing a nightgown, looking like she was simply paying a visit.