Chapter 6

Although her friends were nice if unusual, it felt good to spend some time alone with his sister, Giles thought as he helped her on with her leather jacket. They found a Japanese restaurant near the hotel and had a good long visit over some sushi and tempura.

Giles asked Trish if she intended on returning to school and go into sports medicine like she once planned. She said she wasn't sure. Though she didn't rule it out altogether, she was having a lot of fun right now and had made enough money to pay off her student loans and buy a house.

Trish asked if he was returning to the British Museum now that he was going back to England. He said he wasn't sure what he planned on doing once he got settled back home but was confident something would turn up.

They were walking back to the hotel when the hairs on the back of Giles' neck rose. Living on a hellmouth taught him to trust his instincts. He held onto his sister's arm and quickened his pace.

Trish noticed the change in his demeanor. "Is something wrong?"

"It's probably nothing," Giles said not slowing down, "but it feels like someone's following us."

"Not so much following as surrounding," a voice replied.

A young man wearing torn jeans, a black t-shirt and jacket stepped out of an alley. A look around them confirmed the man's comment as six other people of similar age and dress emerged out of the darkness.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Giles said trying to diffuse the situation.

"That's really too bad," the leader said, "'cause you're about to be neck deep in it now. Is that her?"

"Yeah, she's the one who dusted Ricky."

Giles pushed Trish behind him. He felt her slip something very familiar into his hand and heard her whisper, "you go right."

"Get them," the leader ordered.

The gang vamped out and attacked. Giles turned right and Trish turned left each staking a vampire before being captured. Two vampires held Giles by the arms while a third held Trish from behind.

"If you touch her, I'll kill you," Giles growled as another vampire walked toward his sister.

The vampire laughed at the threat. The leader asked, "you and what army?"

"This one," a voice said from behind.

The leader barely had time to register the statement before he disappeared in a cloud of dust. The assailant went on to tackle the vampire approaching Trish. Giles felt his arms being released as his captors fought with two more new arrivals. As his rescuers seemed to have things well in hand, Giles headed for his sister. Dust exploded behind her as a fourth person staked the vampire that held her.

"Are you alright?" he asked hugging her.

"I'm fine," Trish assured him. "Thanks to ..."

"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless," the tall brunette behind her said. "We would have called you on your cellphone to warn you, Giles. Oh wait, that's right. You don't have a cellphone."

"Luckily, Cordelia's 'intuition' is pretty accurate," Angel said as he got up off the ground after staking the last vampire.

Stunned to see some of his former colleagues, Giles was at a lost of words so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "You cut your hair."

Cordelia touched her hair. "Yeah, you like it?"

Something inside Giles' relaxed at the remark. "It's very becoming."

Cordelia returned his smile and hugged him briefly. Giles shook Angel and Wesley's hand then pulled his sister close. "Patricia, I'd like to you meet Cordelia Chase, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Angel. I knew them back in Sunnydale. This is my sister."

"And this is our associate, Charles Gunn," Wesley said motioning to the tall black young man that helped him with the vampires that held Giles.

Gunn shook hands with Giles but looked intently at his sister. "You're Trish Stratus, aren't you?"

"Yes," she admitted. "It's my professional name."

"Aw, man! I'm a big fan," Gunn said shaking her hand then noticed the blank looks on his friends' faces. "She's Trish Stratus. Current WWE Ladies' Champion. You know, World Wrestling Entertainment."

"You mean that show you constantly watched claiming it's self-defense research?" Cordelia asked.

"Yup, and she totally kicks butt."

"Well I try," Trish said modestly.

"So what brings you to town?" Angel asked Giles.

"I thought I'd use this stopover to visit my sister before returning to England," he replied. "And you?"

"Well, like Angel said, Cordelia had a 'feeling'," Wesley explained.

"Kind of like the one I'm having now," Cordelia groaned.

Angel caught her before she fell. Giles watched in horror as the vision overwhelmed the young woman causing her body to convulse.

She gasped as her eyes sprang open. "Giles, you and Trish. You're in big trouble."

"What did you see?" Giles asked anxiously.

"You and Trish were in an open area with cement walls. Like a warehouse, only not, and you were in trouble," she said then, glancing at Trish, added. "Sunnydale trouble."

Fear grabbed Giles' heart like a fist and squeezed. "Now?"

She blinked trying to recall the vision. She shook her head slowly. "I don't think so."

"We'll do some digging and get back to you tomorrow," Angel said.

"Come by around 1:00," Wesley said. "Hopefully by then we'll have some information."

"In the meantime, get some rest," Angel recommended.

"Should be no problem," Giles said rolling his eyes.