The Hart of L.A.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except the Character Talia. Everything else is Joss's, for he is a genius. I do not make money off of this fic.


Buffy couldn't believe it. She was standing outside of Wolfram and Hart. Faith came up behind her, put her hand on her shoulder, and said " Come on B., you'll never know until you try." Buffy knew Faith was right. She just didn't know if she'd be welcome with open arms. After all, Angel had been pretty upset when he found out about her relationship with Spike. Just then a young black man came out of the building. He looked like he was in a hurry, but he stopped to say something. " Faith!, long time, no see. You don't write, you don't call?" Faith smiled at the man, which was a rare occasion, " What's up Gunn? How's everything going? Say, is the big boss man in?" Gunn grinned. " Well, as a matter of fact he is. You just go into the building, walk all the way to the back wall, and get into that elevator. Once your in it, you're going to want to push 'Penthouse'. That should take you straight to the big Angel himself."

So, they walked into Wolfram and Hart like they did it all the time. It was just Faith and Buffy going in. Giles was in England talking with the council. He was due back within the month, though. Willow had moved to San Diego with Kennedy. The other potentials had scattered to do good. Wood had even left, but not before asking Faith to go with him. Faith had turned him down, though, and said she should stay with Buffy. For that Buffy was very grateful. Dawn was even gone. She had gone to San Diego with Willow and Kennedy. Willow was training her to do witchcraft. Right before they had gone into the Hellmouth, Willow had taken Buffy aside. She had told Buffy that she wished she could see Oz one more time. She just wanted to see if he was ok. For everything Willow had done for Buffy over the years, Buffy was going to try and repay her by bringing Oz back to her. So, she had sent Xander and Andrew to whatever place he may be hiding. Buffy had spared no expense to get them where they needed to go, and she wouldn't as long as it was for one of her friends. So, in the end the only people left were Faith and Buffy.

When they got to the very top of the building, there was no one there. Buffy and Faith just kind of looked at each other.

" Wow, B, this office is huge!"

Buffy laughed nervously. " Yeah, tell me about it. It's kind of bright, though, don't you think? All of the windows are open. This can't be Angel's office."

" Oh yes it can." They both jumped when they heard his voice. They turned to see Angel sitting behind a very large oak desk. " Hello, Buffy, Faith." Faith walked up to him and gave him a high five. " Hey, Angel. How's it going?" He never really took his eyes off of Buffy.

" Oh, we're doing pretty good here. You guys must have destroyed the hellmouth. It's been all over the news that Sunnydale has been completely wiped off of the earth. Say, do you still have that medallion? I kind of wanted to keep it." Buffy could feel the tears starting to form around her eyes. " No, I don't have it anymore Angel. Spike has it with him, wherever he is." Faith went to stand beside her, but Angel only started to laugh. " You mean good old Spike turned back to his old ways?" Buffy glared at him. Sometimes He could be such an ass. " No, I don't mean that. For your information, Spike saved everyone. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be standing in front of you today."

Angel gave her a weird sort of look. " Well, I guess I'll have to thank him then, won't I?" Faith was the one who did the talking this time. " Dammit Angel, shut the hell up! Spike is dead!" Angel actually looked sorry, but mostly it was just shock. " I'm sorry, Buffy. Wait, what do you mean he's dead? I didn't think you could die if you wore the medallion." By now the tears were flowing freely down Buffy's face. " Well, you obviously thought wrong, didn't you? He put it on, and he knew he was going to die. I had to watch him die knowing he was doing it just for me." Angel walked up to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. " I'm sorry again, Buffy. I know how you cared for him. You have to look at the bright side, though. He atoned for his sins. By saving the Earth, he saved himself." She looked up at him. " I know he did, and I'll never forget him for what he did."

Just then Buffy seemed to realize something, and she looked right at Angel. " How do you have every window in this office open...during the day?"