Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Prologue

Looking at the time on his wristwatch Angel clenched his teeth, he was supposed to stick to curfew and be home an hour ago, but he had stupidly chosen to stay with Eve. Well, stupid, no, Eves parents were gone for the night, so it was good in a sense, however, he had been warned about constantly breaking curfew lately.

Gripping onto the handlebars on his bike he peddled harder so that he could get home as quick as he could. Normally he would turn left and head down through the cemetery and over the hill to get back to Crawford Street but for some reason he took a right and headed in what he thought would cut his journey short.

As he cycled further down the road, he noticed a warm glow flickering in one of the houses and as he got closer, he heard the screaming and yelling coming from inside. Coming to a halt, he realised the house was on fire, but no sirens could be heard in the distance, nor what should be the tell-tale sound of a fire alarm wailing.

He could hear the faint yell of someone shouting help but from both the downstairs windows he couldn't see anyone. His eyes darted around as his heartbeat became erratic "HELP!" Not seeing any neighbours' lights switch on he looked back to the house to see a young girl hit unsuccessfully at her window with a trophy.

Without another thought he noted the trellis that laid up the fascia and led to the porch roof in front of the window, he ran over and began to climb. He gingerly shimmied over until he got in front of the terrified girl "Stand back!" He tensed his arm and swung, as he connected with the glass he yelled at his futile attempt.

He looked to the tiny latches and frowned "open the latch" he pointed to the little metal tags at the midpoint of the window in frustration. The tiny girl looked in panic to where he was pointing and shakily reached out, twisted them gently. Angel placed his palms on the window and slid the bottom frame up, allowing a gap to form.

Reaching his hands out he gripped tight when he felt her small hands fill his and he pulled her out with all his might. He led her over to the trellis and he climbed down so far, allowing her to remain close to him. As his feet touched the ground his hands circled her waist, easing her onto solid ground and he grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the house.

By his next breath he heard the sirens from the fire trucks approaching the quiet street, he looked down to the little girl and she looked to him in panic before trying to run back towards her house. Angel grabbed her hand and pulled her back, just in time for a loud bang and the explosion of glass and debris from the front door and windows.

The little girl screamed loudly for her mother and father with no luck, when she tried to pull away from him, he picked her up and brought her against his body. As she continued to wail in sorrow, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms clawed at his back, trying to hold him tight.

By the time the firemen had arrived the house was an inferno, Angel cradled the girl against his body and felt the tears sting at his eyes as he knew, that even with the smallest, minuscule chance, that her parents would be unlikely to be found alive. He hushed her as best as he could until one of the firemen and police came over to the pair and escorted them to the closest vehicle.

Angel sat against the ambulance, still holding onto the girl and when the policeman asked what happened he shook his head "I was passing by… I have no idea" he saw the older man frown and shake his head. The EMT tried to look at the little girl but she screamed and clung tighter to him, shaking her head in fear.

The EMT looked towards the police officer then nodded "Okay son, climb onboard, we have to take this young lady to the hospital"

Angel frowned, he knew he would not only be in trouble but deep deep shit, he was already late and now he would be no where near getting home any time soon. With a sigh he climbed into the back of the ambulance and took a seat, he felt the terrified girl whimper, so he ran his hand over her hair gently "Shhhhhh"

On the way to the hospital the EMT tried to speak to her, but she refused to speak to them, she only whimpered and nuzzled her head against him. Angel held her closer and whispered into her ear to calm her down. When they arrived at the hospital, she had stopped crying but was staring ahead with no emotion at all.

The policeman from the house was now in front of them as they sat on the hospital bed, he looked at the pair and sighed "So, what do I call you son?"

Angel licked his lips before clearing his throat "Angel… my name is Angel, Sir"

The detective nodded "Okay Angel, I am Detective Finn… are you related to this girl" when Angel shook his head he continued "So what were you doing out on the streets so late at night?"

He was unsure if he should lie or not, he was already in trouble but if he lied would it become much worse for him? Angel cleared his throat "I, uh I was at a friend's house, and I was heading home"

Detective Finn glanced to the clock on the wall, showing that it was now well past midnight "Aren't your parents concerned about you being out so late?" When Angel barely shrugged, he asked "How old are you?"

Deciding not to lie he swallowed a breath "I'm sixteen, Sir"

Finn frowned "You're sixteen and allowed out on a school night by midnight?!"

Angel bristled, he didn't want for anyone to be in trouble "No, curfew was 10:30 but I was at a friend's house and lost track of time…" he looked up to see the detective digest the information as he nodded "Can I please call my stepfather and let him know where I am?"

Finn tipped his head as he scribbled on his notepad, he knew he couldn't continue questioning without adults present. Well, he could but he was too much of a boy-scout to do so "Sit tight until your guardian is here"

Angel dialled the number and waited with bated breath "Hi, uh, can you come up to Sunnydale Memorial, I'm okay but something has happened" ending the call he closed his eyes and pulled the girl closer as she began to cry again.

After around twenty minutes the doors opened to reveal his stepfather look at him in relief, he plucked the glasses off his face and wiped at them nervously, his English accent drifted softly across the room "Angel, what in gods name is going on? You should have been home hours ago!"

Before Angel could say anything, Detective Finn came in and shook his hand "Mr…?"

"Giles… I am Rupert Giles, and this is my stepson Angel, can you perhaps tell me what happened" he looked between the detective and Angel then noticed the small girl clinging onto him for dear life.

Finn motioned towards the girl "Angel here apparently helped this young girl escape a house fire" he then frowned "We have yet to determine what happened or who this girl is" although they were in the process of pulling up housing records, they didn't have solid information just yet.

Giles took a moment then looked closely at the back of the girls' head, feeling familiarity "What was the address of the fire?"

Finn flipped through his notebook to his earlier notes "It was…" his finger ran down the page until he got his answer and he tapped on the paper "1630 Revello Drive"

As realisation dawned on him, Giles felt an icy cold grip take hold so he cleared his throat as best as he could and came closer to the pair on the gurney "Buffy? Buffy Summers, its Mr Giles"

The girl peeled herself away from Angel long enough to take a peek at Giles so she could nod at him. Giles ran his fingers through her hair and looked back to the detective "Buffy attends the local elementary school; her parents own The Gallery on Main Street… I uh, know her mother"

Finn scribbled down details before addressing the young girl "Buffy, is that your name?" She looked back to him and nodded "Buffy, honey, do you have any other family that we can call" she shook her head and closed her eyes as her lip began to wobble, the tears threatening to spill again.

Giles put some space between them and whispered to Finn "I know I'm not family, but can you tell me if her parents Joyce and Hank are okay?" No answer was given but he didn't need one, the look he received was more than enough "Oh… what will happen to Buffy in the meantime?"

Finn sighed, keeping his voice low so they could not be overheard "If we can't find anyone then once she's been given the all-clear here then she'll be placed under care of the state as she is a minor" he hated cases like this but there was not much else he could do.

Angel, having done his best to overhear the conversation held Buffy tighter as he made his way to his stepfather "Giles, you can't let that happen, she can stay with us, can't she?"

Giles wiped at his glasses nervously again "I don't know Angel, its not just as easy as us offering up a bed to sleep in, there are rules, regulations that must be followed… you do understand don't you"

Angel rubbed his hand up and down her back soothing, feeling more protective of her than he thought he ever would have. The tiny blonde in his arms whispered please and all he could do was look between the pair, pleading for them to do the right thing "We can't just leave her by herself, shes just a kid… even just for tonight, please?!"

Detective Finn and Giles looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finn cleared his throat "Let me make a few calls, I can't tell you one way or another at this time but Angel, the doctors have to check her over…" when Angel nodded, he patted Giles on the arm to follow him.

Angel made his way back to the gurney and ran his hand up and down the small girls back "Buffy? I'm Angel, I know you're scared but when the doctor comes through, let them help you, we want to make sure you're okay"

Buffy pulled back from his embrace and huddled against the wall, wrapping her arms around her knees "They're dead, aren't they?!" She watched as the older boy sighed and shrugged, before he could answer a doctor came in and smiled warmly at them both.

Having been told information from the detective and the librarian, she felt comfortable with this being Buffy – they had also pulled up school records from the police laptop for a visual confirmation "Hi Buffy, I am Doctor Post but you can call me Gwendolyn – or Gwen for short" when Buffy nodded she asked "Could you tell me how old you are?"

"I'm eight years old…"

Gwen nodded, jotting down some notes "what grade are you in at School?"

Buffy frowned "Second grade at Sunnydale Elementary"

Smiling a little at the scowl, Gwen cleared her throat "Could you tell me your mom and dads names?!"

Wiping away at a tear that had escaped she squeaked out "My mom is Joyce and my dad is Hank" when she saw the Doctor smile again, a from worried its way onto her face, why were they asking her these things?

Sensing the question Gwen began "We have to ask you some questions just to make sure you can think clearly - that you're not disorientated, also I am just a little nosey too" she stuck her tongue between her teeth as she grinned, hoping to bring some calm to a serious situation.

Gwen smiled as Buffy made a weak chuckle in response before removing her stethoscopes and adjusting the earpiece "If it's okay with you Buffy, I want to have a listen to your breathing" when she was given a quick nod, she placed the chest piece and advised Buffy to take deep, slow breaths.

She wheeled over a monitor and attached a clip to Buffy's finger, explaining that they were checking how much oxygen she was taking in during each breath. After a few minutes she detached the clip and rolled the monitor a little away from them.

Sitting beside the girl on the bed she nodded carefully "You are very lucky, you have no injuries despite trying to Evel Knievel your way down from your bedroom" she laughed then looked at them "You have a guardian Angel, Buffy…"

Angel snorted, he didn't believe in that sort of thing, especially since she was most likely the only one who made it out alive "No such thing"

Gwen looked at him sternly "Well tell me this, is that your normal route home, what made you decide to go down Revello Drive?" When Angel shrugged, she raised her eyebrow "You happened upon a fire and your first thought was to go inside rather than calling for help, tell me, what is your name again?"

He bristled "I don't know, it just felt right, I can't explain why I chose to go down that street… and its Angel" seeing her smiled widely, he rolled his eyes "that's called a coincidence, doc"

Gwen was a woman of science, but she liked to dabble in fate, guardian angels and other mystical things that her colleagues would rib her for "See, Guardian…" as she pointed to him, she said "Angel"

Buffy smiled weakly at the pair then looked down to her hands and felt the tears sting at her eyes "Shouldn't everyone have a guardian angel?"

Gwen felt her heart drop, she was about to respond but the detective walked back in and gave her a look "Clinically, Buffy is well… I don't think we have to keep her for observation"

Detective Finn nodded "Buffy honey, do you think you could tell us what you remember before Angel helped you escape?"

She replayed in her mind what had happened, over and over, trying to pinpoint the moment she knew something was up. Her heart hammered in her chest and before the telltale panic could set in, she felt a hand cover hers and give it a squeeze.

Buffy looked over to Angel and felt a moment of calm "I heard daddy shouting for me, I got out of bed but when I went to open my door it was too sore" she looked down to her fingers and flexed them before exaggerating a flinching move with them.

"I heard mom tell me not to open the door and to break my window, that's when I grabbed one of my trophies and tried to hit the window… then I saw Angel" she looked over to him in awe, fully wanting to believe that he was her guardian angel.

Detective Finn nodded as he scribbled some notes then sighed "You are a brave girl Buffy, thank you for answering my questions. Now, I need you to remain brave for me, okay? I have some bad news to tell you…"

Before he could say the next words Buffy crumbled, she wailed loudly, the sobs wracked through her body almost violently. After a moment she felt herself being scooped up and into Angels arms and he held her but said nothing at all.

Detective Finn felt the tears sting at his eyes, he cleared his throat and stood back up again "I am deeply sorry Buffy, I know this is hard and you've gone through so much but I need you to answer me one last question if that's okay, You have the choice of staying here tonight and being put into an emergency shelter home tomorrow, or Mr Giles has offered for you to stay the night at his house"

Buffy grabbed tighter onto Angel as she cried, she understood the question and knew what she wanted to do. Having been an only child born from only child parents, she knew she didn't have any immediate family members and had no one else. Mr Giles sounded so kind and right now, the only person who was keeping her rooted was Angel.

When she whispered with Angel, Detective Finn nodded and made his way back outside to speak to Giles. This was not standard protocol but given the circumstance, staying with someone familiar would be the most logical thing for a girl who had lost everything.

Giles listened to Finn, and he gave him a card with contact details on them and advised that they would meet tomorrow afternoon once everyone had a chance to get some rest. He peeked his head into the room and felt his heart clench, Buffy was so much like her mother, and it pained him that she had not survived.