FIC: BtSV7-LA Law (not a crossover)

[Ralf Quimby <ralf.quimby@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

AUTHOR: Ralf Quimby (ralf.quimby@xxxxxxxxxxx)
ARCHIVE:Be my guest. Just let me know
DISCLAIMER:Joss invented the people. He did not invent LA, even though he
is a god.

Previously on BtSV
Angel and Cordelia marry.
Buffy trashes the initiative.

BtSV7:LA Law

Buffy and Willow get out of Oz's van.

"Do you want to come up and say hi?" asks Buffy. "They would probably like
to see you too."

"No thanks." he replies. "I just saw them on the way to Sunnydale."

"Thanks for the ride." says Willow. "It was really nice seeing you, once we
didn't have the Initiative chasing us anyway. And we are still friends."

"Absolutely." agrees Buffy. "You helped save Willow. Look us up when you
are in the area."

"I will." he agrees. "Well I have got to meet some people about a gig."

He gets in his van and drives off.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cordelia, we can not afford another car!" Angel is getting annoyed. "We
can barely make expenses as it is."

"But... Don't look at me like that." she grumps. "Oh, okay. You are cute
when you're mad." She kisses him.

"Knock, knock." Buffy gets their attention, and they break apart.

"Buffy, Willow. Look Angel, its Willow and Buffy." babbles the former
cheerleader.

"I think I got that, Cordelia." He is cool except for his mussed up hair.

"Hi guys." greets Buffy. "We had a few problems with the Initiative so we
decided to get out of Dodge for a few days."

"What happened?" asks Angel.

"One of them saw me get hit by a car then walking around the next day."
explains the Wiccan. "They decided I wasn't human and grabbed me."

"In the rescue we sorta trashed the place." continues Buffy. "We are
waiting for them to break up, and forget us."

"You can stay at my place if you don't mind a ghostly roommate." offers
Cordelia. "I will have to introduce you, though."

"Where will you stay?" asks Willow. She flushes when she sees Angel and
Cordelia grin at each other. "Right, silly me."

"Hey Willow." calls Buffy. "They have a Webcam. Could you?"

"Sure. Uh, may I?" she looks at Angel.

"Okay." responds Angel.

Willow sits down and starts typing on his computer. After a couple minutes
of Buffy takes her place, and brushes her hair.

"Angel, you might want to see this." Buffy offers, standing up.

Angel sits down and looks at the screen, seeing himself.

"What the...?" blurts the stunned vampire. "How in..?"

"Webcam to screen." grins Buffy. "You now have a hi-tech vampire mirror.
Neat huh."

Angel looks again and straightens his hair. "Very neat." he agrees.

"Hey, Angel, thanks for the shower." says Faith walking into the room.

"What are you doing here?" demands Buffy.

"Calm down Buffy." says Angel. "She is staying here for a few days while
she gets her head straight."

"You didn't tell ME that!" yelps Cordelia. "I don't want her sleeping where
we do."

"Faith, I am gonna beat.."

"Cordy, let me explain..."

"B! I thought you were..."

"*QUIET!*" everyone shuts up and looks at the usually quiet hacker in
amazement. "Now Faith, you first."

"I got off the bus and just sort of wandered." the dark Slayer starts. "I
saw Angel in a fight with way to many demons, so I lent a hand. After it
was over we came back here and talked."

"She tried to kill you, remember?" challenges Buffy. "How can you ignore
that?"

"She apologized, and I believe her." comes the calm response.

"Hey B. I got the strangest feeling, a while back." Faith says. "You know
that feeling you get when a slayer dies? I got it again. The first time
was when Kendra died and I became a slayer."

"Yeah, I died again, sort of." agrees the Slayer Vampire. "Spike got me."
She shows her game face. "He turned me. Willow married me restoring my
soul, and making me very happy." She grins at her mate.

"That means..." Faith pauses.

"Yup! You're the one and only slayer now." agrees Buffy. "Giles told me
that no other slayer has been called."

"Giles is a watcher again." pipes in Willow. "Most of the bad stuff from
the council was caused by former watcher Quentin Travers. Including
sending Wesely as the new watcher."

"What about me?" asks Wesely coming in. He looks around and sees Buffy
still showing fangs. "Get back! I am trained to kill!" He hides behind
Angel.

"Relax, Wes." says Buffy putting away her fangs. "I am still one of the
good guys. I even have a soul."

A loud rumbling is suddenly heard, echoed by another.

"What is that?" Wesely freaks. "Some new form of monster?"

"No, I am hungry." says Willow with an embarrassed grin. She gets an
answering grin from Cordelia. "I am eating for two after all."

"You're pregnant?" from Faith. "Who is the dad? I thought Wolfy left."

"No, it isn't that." Buffy reassures Faith. "I can only feed from Willow,
which means she has to eat more."

"It can be a real pain sometimes." agrees Cordelia. "Except when it's
ice-cream."

"So, B, are we five by five?" asks Faith.

"I will think about it." is the response. "Where did you get 'five by five'
from any way?"

"I heard it in a movie I saw as a kid." explains Faith. "It was called Fail
Safe."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Buffy and Faith swap slayer stories while Willow listens.
Finally Buffy joins Willow in the bedroom while Faith gets the couch.

Faith wakes in the night and, with slayer hearing, listens to Buffy and
Willow make love. She gets a tear in her eye as she thinks about what
might have been.

When they wake they find coffee prepared by Phantom Dennis.

"Thanks Dennis." says Willow.

They eat breakfast, then head over to Angel's.

"What are your plans?" Angel asks the partners.

"I thought we would visit my father this evening." replies Buffy. "He
doesn't know about me and Willow."

"Why don't you call him now?" asks Cordelia. "It would be a waste of time
if he wasn't home when you got there."

"He never gave me his work number." replies the Slayer Vampire.

They spend the day helping Angel with a case involving a demon, a young
girl and some stale grahm crackers. At about seven P.M. Buffy calls Hank
Summers.

"Hi Dad..... Yeah I was in town and thought I should call..... Dinner,
great! Uhm, I am not alone..... It's complicated, we better explain when
we get there." Buffy looks at Willow. "We are invited to dinner."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Later they knock on Hank Summers' front door.

"Buffy, come on in." he says. "Who is your friend?"

"Dad, this is Willow." Buffy introduces.

"Hi, Mr. Summers." smiles the red-head.

"And she is my wife, as well as my friend." continues Buffy, putting her
arm around her partners waist.

"Wife!" Hank exclaims. "When did this happen?"

"A couple of months, I think." responds Buffy.

"Two months and three days." says Willow. "The happiest day of my life."

"Well... this is a surprise!" responds the man. "I thought you liked
boys."

"I did. But I love Willow." she smiles at her partner.

"Well I guess you know what you want." shrugs Hank. He changes the subject.
"How well do you know that Angel fellow." He points to a small box next to
his phone. "Caller ID." he explains.

"He used to Buffy's boy friend." answers Willow. "He is still a good
friend."

"We know all about him." Summers explains." He is a vampire, but you, as
the slayer, should know that."

"You know about the slayer?" Buffy asks. "Why didn't you ever say
anything?"

"My bosses didn't want me to." he replies.

"Who are these bosses?" asks Buffy. "I know you are a lawyer, but you never
said who you worked for."

"Wolfram & Hart." comes the surprising answer. "That vampire you killed
when you torched the gym was one of our clients."

"He also tried to kill me!" snarled Buffy. "And a lot of other people."

"Well, that's in the past. We could make room for you at W&H." he offers.
"Working for us has got to pay better than being the slayer."

"I am not the slayer any more. Not for the last two months and three days."
"What happened two months ago?" inquired Summers. "The slayer can only
retire by dying."

"Yeah, well two months ago I did!" responds Buffy, vamping out. "Because
the vampire who turned me wanted to go after Willow, I staked him."

He opens his mouth to say something when the phone rings. He answers, then 
hands the phone to Buffy. "It's for you, someone named Wesley."

"Hi Wes.... They did what!.. We will be right over." She looks at Willow.
"Cordelia has been kidnapped by Wolfram and Hart's goons." She looks at
her father. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Angel has been a thorn in our sides for to long." responds Summers. "I am
sorry about your friend, but we need her to get him."

"Where are they taking her?" demands his daughter.

"That is none of your business!" insists Summers. "That is the business of
Wolfram and Hart, not some soulless demon that wears my daughters face."

"She does so have a soul!" says Willow. "You are the one who sold his. Now
where is Cordelia."

Summers keeps his mouth shut. Willow pours a glass of wine and murmurs 'In
Vino Veritas' over it. She then, with Buffy's help, makes him drink it.

"Now tell me, Where Is Cordelia?" demands Willow.

"They are taking her to the park." he answers reluctantly.

"Why did they take her?" asks Buffy.

"The spell calls for the blood of a mortal close to Angel." he answers.

"Goodbye, father." says Buffy. "Do forget to write."

"By the way." Willow adds at the door. "That truth spell is permanent. You
will not be able to lie ever again, not even to yourself."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

They meet the others at the agency and head over to the park.

When they get there they find they are to late, the spell has been cast by
a demon wearing a mask. A large hellcat is sitting in a pentagram,
growling.

As they walk up Linsey speaks up. "Hello, Slayer. Join us or die with your
friends."

"Been there, done that." snorts Buffy. "Can't the bad guys come up with new
threats?"

The demon makes a last pass, releasing the cat. It walks up to Angel sniffs
him over, then rubs against him purring. Angel looking surprised,
scratches the cat's head.

"What is going on here?" demands Lilah. "Why isn't it killing him?"

"Because." says Willow. "The spell calls for the blood of a mortal, and you
used the blood of an immortal."

They all look at Cordelia who is sitting up now that Buffy has untied her.
The cat bounds over and starts rubbing its head against her.

Lee looks at the demon. "I thought you bled her to death."

"That amount of blood should have." responds the demon. "Unless she isn't
mortal."

"Beautiful, and can act too." says Cordy smirking.

"Get them!" Linsey yells to the vamps surrounding them.

Two pissed off vampires, an angry witch and one hellcat against 10 vampires
and a maggot nosed demon. Our friends whomp them good.

The lawyers from W&H leave during the fight.

When they reach the street the cat demonstrates a new talent. The cat turns
into a small car, a convertible. The rumble of the engine sounds a lot
like the cat's bass purr.

She looks at Angel. "Can we keep him?"

"Well, I guess we can afford a car, er cat after all." admits Angel. "What
does it eat?"

"It eats rats." Wesely responds. "No problem in a city this size." "Are
you sure it won't eat people?" asks Buffy.

"Yes." is the immediate response. "It is smart enough to know that would
upset his people."

"Have you decided what you are going to call him?" asks Willow.

"Jag I think." Cordelia answers. "Short for Jaguar."

Jag turns back into his cat form and they go inside.

Sitting in the office waiting for them is Hank Summers.

"Hello father." greets Buffy. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologise." he answers. "To you and your Lady." He bowed to
Willow. "I put my career ahead of my family, and told myself it was for
them. I sold my soul and now I want to buy it back."

"Well, this is the place to start over." says Faith. "If Angel will trust
me, he will trust anyone who means it."

"Do you need a good lawyer?" Hank asks Angel. "I should be able to keep W&H
off your back, some of the time anyway."

"I will think about it." answers the vampire. "Why the change of heart?"

"She casts a mean truth spell." Hank says pointing at Willow. "I can't even
lie to myself anymore."

"We will give it a try then." says Angel.

"Good!" says Hank. "Buffy, Willow, would you like to stay with me while you
remain in town? I would like to get to know my Daughter-in-law."

Buffy hugs her father and the three leave together.