If they were on the show, they're not mine. I'm just borrowing them.

Previously on "Angel":

"Time to go visit Daddy," said Darla, raising one eyebrow, hands stroking her swelling belly.

"Imagine if you had gone nuts and slept with Darla," said Cordelia. Angel shifted uncomfortably in front of her.

"Poor woman's big enough to be having twins," said Lorne, looking at the pregnant Darla.

The gang crowded around the monitor. "Twins," whispered Wesley.

"These children... They're the only good thing we ever did together..." said Darla weakly, looking up at Angel. He took hold of her hand and kissed it. "You make sure to tell them that-" Darla grabbed a piece of wood and staked herself, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Two babies lay in the alley, the rain beating down on their tiny bodies.

xxx

Two figures stood on a hillside, faces shadowed by the long robes that they wore.

"Where is the Hunter?" one asked. He had an old voice, the voice of an elder who thinks he knows best and isn't afraid to let people know it.

"She's coming," the other snapped. He just sounded pissed off. "She'll be here." He hated being here, hated having to see her like this, but the Elders didn't know or didn't care. He was going for the latter.

"The Elders do not appreciate lateness, John," the first man said. John rolled his eyes and turned away to watch the path. His mouth stretched in a grin as he saw a young woman running up the hill towards them. Her robes hung open, showing jeans and a worn brown leather jacket. Her black hair was coming out of its plait and there was blood on her hands. It almost hid the tattoos on her left hand.

"Sorry," she gasped, skidding to a halt in front of the two men. "Spot of bother with a Selkath Demon."

"You are late," the older man said. "A Hunter should understand the importance of punctuality."

"Actually, I'm meant to understand pain, chaos, mayhem. And personally I think I'm very good at those."

"Are you threatening your betters?"

"Of course not. I'm threatening you."

"Neela, how dare you-"

"The Elders have a job for you," John butted in. He wanted this over with. "We're sending you to LA. The Prophecy has been fulfilled-"

"Which prophecy?" asked Neela, crossing her arms over her chest. "There are quite a few out there."

"The one about Angelus having a son and a daughter," said the man. "We need you to-"

She snorted. "Screw you. I might be your bitch but I'm not having anything to do with Angelus."

"You'll do it. You have a duty to perform. Unless, of course, you'd like to argue some more with us," the man said. His eyes glowed with dark power, making her step back.

"No more arguing then. But you let me do this my way, clear?"

"Be subtle this time, Jo'Nekra," the man said. "We do not need any attention drawn to us."

"Got it," she said, turning to face John. "Nice to see you, brother."

John ground his teeth, fingers itching to pull out his magnum pistol and blast her out of this world. But he couldn't. Not yet.

"Jo'Nekra," he said, inclining his head slightly.

She turned away again. "So, what do I need to know?"

xxx

The gang had hurried back to the hotel, sending Wesley to get much-needed baby supplies. Gunn stared around at the ruined equipment and the broken cages, the dead bodies and the splattered blood of Wolfram and Hart's men.

"Whoa," he said. That pretty much summed it all up.

"We should be careful. Whatever was in those cages might still be around," Fred said, standing next to the larger cage. She spotted the large label on the side, the one saying 'mother'. "Oh." She pulled the label off and scrunched it up in her hand.

Angel and Cordelia came in, each holding one of the children. "They need to go to a hospital," Cordelia was saying.

"Why? They're not sick," Angel said, suddenly worried.

"For their newborn check-up, idiot," said Cordelia, rocking the baby girl she held in her arms. "And we'll have to make some changes around here. Covers for the outlets, childproof locks on the weapons' cabinet. That kind of thing."

All of them spun around as Wesley burst though the door, a large paper bag in his arms.

"Someone followed me," he said. The gang leapt into action – Angel and Cordelia hid the children behind the reception desk with Fred to watch over them, Wesley dropped the bag and caught the crossbow Gunn threw him. Angel grabbed his favourite broadsword and Cordelia pulled out a stake, a weapon she at least knew how to use.

Lorne stumbled in, shaking rain water off his horns. He saw the various weapons pointed at him and pouted.

"Is that any way to treat a houseguest?" he asked. "As you all blew up my club, I thought it wouldn't be intruding of I asked for a place to stay." He dropped his suitcase on the floor. Gunn opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it again, putting his weapon down.

Angel went to check on twins, his sword still in his hand. The twins took one look at him and both burst into tears. He hurriedly put the sword down and picked up the baby boy, rocking him awkwardly. Cordelia tucked the stake back into her jacket and took the girl. The girl stopped crying. The boy, in Angel's arms, just got louder.

"What did I do?" he asked, looking around. Gunn, grinning hugely, took the baby from Angel.

"He's just hungry," he told Angel. "Also, broadsword plus tiny child equals crying. You might wanna remember that, you know."

As Angel started trying to mix up some baby formula, Wesley and Fred set up a whiteboard in the middle of the lobby. With Lorne and Gunn chipping in at points, they began to make a list of the enemies that the twins might have. Cordelia went on line to see what enemies the twins definitely had.

"This is a sick world. There are already three websites offering money for the kids and someone's put a bounty of $50,000 on them," Cordelia said, still holding the baby girl.

"Can you find out who?" Angel asked, abandoning the formula. Fred left the boys and came to help Cordelia. In a matter of moments, she scribbled down an address and handed it to Angel.

"It'll take more time to get the others, but this is the bounty office. It's in a bar downtown," she said.

"Tell me you're not going to Thanatos Misthos," Lorne said worriedly. Angel glanced at the piece of paper and nodded. "No, no, Angelcakes. You cannot go there."

"Thanatos Misthos?" Gunn asked.

"It means 'Death's Reward'. Demon/human bar that deals in bounties on just about anything and one. It's not a good place to be…" Lorne trailed off as Angel put on his coat and walked out of the hotel.

xxx

Thanatos Misthos was a seedy, run down bar. A sign on the wall said "Anyone starting a fight will be eviscerated". Angel didn't think they were exaggerating.

The bar was full of demons and humans. Angel got a few dirty looks from the demons but no one tried anything. It seemed this bar was as much neutral territory as Caritas was. Or had been, more accurately. Most of the humans looked like bikers, large men with larger muscles and unkempt beards. The only exception was a young woman with long black hair and wearing a brown leather jacket. She looked tired and a little annoyed, but more approachable than anyone else in this place. Angel didn't dare consider what he was doing for even a moment and walked over to her.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Free country," she replied, turning to look at him. "Uh, would you stop that? I'm not the weirdest person here, you know," she continued as Angel kept his eyes on her.

"Hey, do I know you?" he said.

"Really doubt it," she replied. "You new?"

Angel nodded, wondering how she knew. "I want to get a bounty taken off someone," he said.

"You need to talk to Mark. He's the green scaly guy with a really bad taste in shirts," the girl pointed to a demon sitting at a table. "But you'll need cash to make it happen and a good reason why. Who's the bounty on?"

Angel hesitated before answering. "A couple of kids."

The girl looked surprised. "Really? Normally there's an age limit on bounties. Well, talk to Mark. He'll help if he can, but if the bounty has been out too long, he might not be able to do anything about it. Word travels fast in these circles."

Angel opened his mouth to ask her what her name was just as her phone went off. She pulled out the small mobile and flipped it open.

"What? No, I haven't found them yet. A bounty's gone out, I don't know who from. Yes, I'll find them first," she listened for a moment, frowning. "Yeah, well, I'd like to see you do any better. See you in hell." She angrily slammed the phone shut and downed the remainder of her whisky. Seeing Angel's look, she smiled in a way that had nothing to do with humour. "Families are the worst."

Angel was saved from having to reply when the demon got up from his table and gestured at the girl. She walked over to him and bent down so they could whisper together. Angel strained his ears but could only make out a few words.

"You're sure it's him?" the demon said.

"Positive. Look, can you keep him here as long as possible? This is going to be difficult enough without Angelus getting involved," the girl muttered.

"Why do you care about this bloodsucker?"

"I don't. My business is with his kids. Now, give me the address. I'm gonna finish this once and for all."

The demon passed the girl a small piece of paper. She clasped his shoulder in thanks and started slipping through the crowd to the exit. Angel stood up, intending to follow her, but the demon came up to him, smiling.

"You must be Angel," he said, holding out his hand. Angel ignored him and tried to get through the crowd to follow the girl. Two of the large bikers stood up to block his way.

"Get out of my way," Angel ordered, his hands curling up into fists. The bikers grinned at each other and stepped forward. Angel morphed into his vamp face, pleased to see their eyes widen. He really didn't have time for this.

xxx

Angel burst out of Thanatos Misthos, leaving a pair of unconscious bikers behind him. The girl was at the end of the deserted street, standing next to a motorbike with a bag tied on the back. Angel watched as the girl pulled a small pistol out of the bag and carefully loaded it. She put the pistol into a holster she had strapped across her hips.

As she picked up a helmet, Angel began to move stealthily up the street. He wasn't sure who this girl was but he really didn't like what he had heard in the bar. He was only a few feet away from her when his foot hit an abandoned bottle. The girl spun around.

"What do you want, bloodsucker?" Her gun was already in her hand, the helmet in the other.

"Bullets won't kill me," Angel said, coming forward. The girl backed up.

"They're not for you, Angelus," she said.

Angel let him vamp face show. "You stay the hell away from my kids," he ordered. Part of him hoped the girl would refuse. He really needed a good fight.

The girl frowned at him. "What did you-?"

Angel didn't wait for her to finish. He had been looking for something to fight all day and he seemed to have found it in this girl. He punched her in the face, trying to grab her wrist at the same time.

The girl reacted at the same moment. She swung the helmet around, hitting Angel on the side of the head. She was strong for a human. Angel knocked the gun out of her hand, catching her wrist and twisting it up behind her back. His other hand went for her throat. The girl froze.

"If you're going to kill me, make sure you get all the Kalif demons. They're down at the docks," the girl swallowed. "They put the bounty on your kids. Kill them and the bounty's off."

Angel hesitated, thoroughly thrown off balance. "What?" His grip on the girl's neck slackened slightly.

The girl slammed her head back. She was small enough to hit his chin rather than his nose but it still hurt. The shock of this new attack made Angel jerk back and the girl wrenched her wrist free. She slammed both elbows into Angel's ribs and jumped forward, bringing the helmet around again to hit Angel in the face. He fell back, stunned.

She snatched up her pistol as Angel climbed unsteadily to his feet. He leapt forward but the girl spun round, and twisted on one foot, bringing the other up to slam into Angel's gut. As Angel doubled over, the girl clambered onto the motorbike and kicked it into life.

Angel watched the girl go. Shaking his head at his own idiocy, he ran across the street to where his car was parked. In a matter of moments, he was following the girl. And when he caught up with her, there would be hell to pay.

The girl was obviously used to riding her bike. She swerved through the traffic at death-defying speeds, making it hard for Angel to follow her. His instincts told him to race back to the hotel, but he suddenly realised that the girl was heading in the wrong direction if she was going after the kids. Intrigued, he carefully stayed on her trail, doing his best not to lose her or let her know she was being followed.

The girl headed towards the docks, stopping the bike finally in front of a large warehouse. She climbed off the bike and stretched as Angel stopped the car a short distance away. He watched from the shadows as she brought a pair of short swords out of the bag on the back of the bike and strapped them across her back. Then she checked the door to the warehouse, being careful not to make any noise. Angel sniffed the air; he could make out the scents of demons and plenty of them. What was it the girl had said? Something about Kalif demons? Kalif demons were big, nasty and tended to wander around in gangs of anything between three and twenty. From the scents, Angel would guess that this group was closer to twenty.

His thoughts were interrupted when the girl backed up and lifted a foot to kick the door down. Angel dashed out of hiding and pulled the girl away from the door, slamming her up against the opposite wall. He was careful to pin both her arms. The girl tried to kick out, Angel slammed her into the wall until she stopped.

"Who are you?" he asked. The girl glared at him. He slammed her back into the wall. "Who are you?" he asked again.

"My name's Neela," she said. "Now let me go, you son of a-"

"What are you doing here?" Angel interrupted.

"Going shopping," she spat. Angel slammed her into the wall yet again. "Hunting Kalifs."

"Why?"

"Someone has to." Neela said. She tried to pull free, but Angel tightened his grip and she gave up. "These are the guys who put the bounty on your kids. They die, the bounty is off, I told you."

"So you were just going to take on twenty Kalifs on your own?"

"It's none of your damn business, but this is what I do best," she replied. "And there are only sixteen of them."

Angel slowly let go of Neela and stepped away. She glared at him and took one of the swords off her back.

"You can't fight sixteen demons on your own," he said. She ignored him and turned back to the warehouse. Angel darted in front of her. "Why are you doing this?"

Neela shrugged. "Why do you care?"

"Let me help you," Angel said. "You need someone to watch your back."

"Sure you don't mean my neck?" Neela asked. When Angel didn't react, she sighed and nodded. "Fine. Whatever. Now, can we get on with this? I'm kinda on a schedule here."

Neela walked forward and kicked the door down, pulling a small cylinder out of her pocket and chucking it in. There was a muffled explosion and a lot of shrieking.

"Flare bomb," she said to the stunned Angel. "Kalifs don't like the light."

And then she was gone, darting into the warehouse, sword in one hand and gun in the other. Angel ran after her. Half of the demons had been blinded by the flare bomb and Neela was already making good progress with the others. Angel slammed into two demons, cracking their skulls together and throwing them into the wall as Neela ran one through with her sword. Three down, thirteen to go.

Angel was interested to see that Neela's estimation of the number of Kalifs was spot on. She also clearly knew how to handle herself in a fight. He grabbed one demon and snapped its neck. Neela shot three demons and threw the sword at another, decapitating it. A Kalif grabbed her wrist and twisted. The gun fell from her fingers. Neela punched the demon twice with her free hand, then brought her leg up to kick it in the ribs. A knife appeared in her hand and she quickly stabbed the demon in the throat. Pulling the knife free, she threw it past Angel to hit a demon in the centre of his forehead.

The remaining five demons tried to ambush Angel, with the leader still waiting to one side. Angel threw one of them into another as Neela jumped forward to help. She pulled one Kalif off Angel and kicked it in the chest. As it reeled back, she slammed the palm of her hand up into its nose, sending bone fragments up into its brain. It collapsed. Angel had already dealt with the three other demons which left only the leader to be dealt with.

The Kalif leader stood up.

"Hunter," it hissed. "You have no place here. You should not have returned to Los Angeles."

"Did you really think I wouldn't be here to stop you?" Neela said. "After putting that bounty on a pair of kids who have done nothing wrong?" She sounded furious and Angel wondered again exactly why she was doing this.

"Did you really think this would make a difference?" the Leader asked, voice smooth. "Others will still come. More like you, for starters."

Neela picked up the gun again and calmly shot the Kalif demon through the head and heart. As he body fell to the floor, Neela gathered up her sword and knife. Angel watched her and noticed for the first time how she was cradling her wrist.

"You're hurt," he said as Neela headed for the door. She paused for a moment, looking at him strangely.

"And you care because?" she asked.

"Why you're helping my kids," Angel said.

Neela smiled at that. "I'm just doing what I'm ordered to."

Angel followed her to her bike. "Ordered?"

"I work for these weird guys. Big on the demon hunting and protecting their own interests. They want me here, so here I came." She climbed onto the bike.

Angel put a hand on her arm. "You gonna be ok?" he asked.

Neela grinned at him. "Advanced healing comes with the package," she said.

Angel pulled one of the Angel Investigations business cards and passed it to her. "Call if you need anything," he said.

Neela looked about to refuse but then she took the card and flipped it over, bringing a pen out of her pocket and scribbling on the back for a moment.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," she passed the card back to Angel. He saw the number she had written on the back. Neela started up the bike and drove off before Angel could reply or argue.

xxx

The nurse handed the babies back to Angel and Cordelia. "I'm happy to report you have two healthy babies. We gave them their PKUs and their vitamin Ks and they're doing well. We, uh, we don't seem to have their names."

"Connor and Caitlin Angel," Angel said, holding the newly-named Caitlin. The nurse smiled and wrote it down, leaving Cordelia and Angel alone with the twins.

"Nice names," Cordelia said, rocking baby Connor.

"I don't suppose you ever considered Wes-" Wesley started.

"No!" said Angel and Cordelia simultaneously. Fred giggled as Wesley grinned, embarrassed.

"So, uh, what about that girl?" he asked, quickly.

Angel shrugged. "She knows where we are."

At that moment, Gunn came through the hospital double doors with a double pushchair. "I got the best one a very small amount of money could buy," he joked.

Neela was watching as the gang left the hospital. It seemed that the twins were safe where they were. It looked like the twins would be happy where they were, too. Neela smiled to herself. She could make this situation work. She had to.

xxx

It was with only a slight degree of embarrassment that Neela approached Angel Investigations. She was acutely aware of just how awkward this was going to be.

When she entered the lobby, the only person in sight was a man sitting at the desk with his nose buried in a book. Neela coughed tactfully, and smiled when the man jumped.

He took off his glasses. "Sorry," he said. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Angel. Got some news for him," Neela said. "I'm Neela."

"Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," Wesley said, holding out his hand. Neela had just shaken it when Gunn came in, chatting with Fred.

"I'm telling you, one of these days you are going to explode," he was saying. Neela, always on edge, spun around and stared. Gunn caught sight of her. "Nee? Is that you?" he asked, amazed.

"Oh my God," Neela said, coming forward to hug Gunn. "What the hell are you doing here, Gunn?"

"I take it you two know each other," said Wesley, now thoroughly thrown off balance.

"We met back in my gang days," Gunn explained. "Nee fought with us for a couple of months, helped us a lot."

"I just gave you some pointers," Neela corrected. "What are you doing here?"

"Workin' with Angel," Gunn said. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Angel. Know where he is?"

"Upstairs. Come on."

They walked up the stairs, leaving Wesley and Fred chatting about some science magazine or other.

"What?" Neela asked when Gunn kept giving her odd looks.

"I just... I can't believe you're back. You always said you'd never come back to LA."

"Well, things change, I guess."

"So you're gonna stick around this time?"

Neela smiled. "Hopefully. How's the gang?"

"Not so good. We've lost a lot, saved a few more."

"Lost who?" Neela asked, worried. It had been years, but she still cared about the gang.

"Bobby, George," Gunn paused, swallowing. "Alonna. Some new kids."

"Shit, I'm sorry. Vampires?"

"Every last one."

"And now you can work with a vampire? Even after all that?"

"Mostly. Some days I hate him, but he's ok. For a vamp."

"For a vamp," Neela agreed thoughtfully.

xxx

Angel was just putting the twins down for a nap when Neela knocked on the door.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. How's the wrist?" Angel asked. Neela shrugged.

"Good, but not why I came," she said, coming forward to drop a bag on the floor. "The Kalifs were hired by some guys from Wolfram and Hart. Mark won't accept any more bounties on the kids 'til they're old enough to fight for themselves, which gives you eighteen years. But he doesn't have any authority over Wolfram and Hart. I can't help you there."

Angel nodded. "I think I know how to deal with Wolfram and Hart."

"Good. 'Cause they're way out of my league," Neela grinned. "Demons, I can deal with but lawyers? Too creepy for the likes of me. Well, I'll see you around." She turned to leave.

"Come and meet the twins," Angel said quickly. "That's Connor and Caitlin is that one."

Neela tickled Connor. "They're sweet kids. Oh, yeah, their bounty's in the bag. Mark gave it to me for them."

"But the bounty was huge, $50,000," Angel protested.

"Looking after kids is expensive. You'll need it more than me," Neela said. "And you did fight for it, even if you didn't mean to. Also,I may have taken a little of it to pay for food and the rent."

"Thank you," Angel said. "For everything."

"Don't thank me yet. Long way to go before the kids will be safe, if ever." She looked at Angel out of the corner of her eye. "They're never going to have a normal childhood. You know that, right?" Angel nodded. "They're important. Like, really important. And God knows you've got enough enemies for them to inherit a few."

Angel nodded again. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

Neela shrugged again. "Make the world a better place. And right now, the best way for me to do that is to go and stake a couple of vamps. No offence," she added.

"None taken."

"I'll be around if you need help," Neela waved to the twins and left. As she saw how Angel looked at the twins, she couldn't quite control that flicker of jealousy she had felt outside the hospital. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a family like the twins did.

xxx

Lilah shoved past Gavin into Linwood's office, shutting the door firmly behind her.

"Two," she said. "Angel has two children! Twins, of all things."

Linwood looked up. "The prophecies talked about death, not twins."

"That blonde bitch staked herself for her children, that was the death. The children are human, at least from what their doctor says."

"Don't be stupid, Lilah. Two vampires could not possibly produce humans."

Nor could a vampire get pregnant in the first place, you arrogant son of a bitch, Lilah thought.

"What do the Senior Partners say?" Linwood continued.

"The only message coming through is 'let life do what it will'," she reported, reading the message off a scrap of paper. "We have the best experts on prophecy translation working on it as we speak."

"How fast are they working?"

"We have their families under our control. If they do not have some interpretations before the end of day, someone they love will die."

"Kill someone's wife. We need to know what to do, now."

"Of course, sir," Lilah said. She knew the meeting was over, and so exited the room, making a point of bumping into Gavin on the way out.

As she gave the necessary orders, Lilah found herself missing Holland Manners. He had had class, at least.

He would've killed someone's mistress.

xxx

It was just after dawn when Neela made it back to her new apartment. There were more vamps in LA than she liked and she just had to try and thin their numbers a bit. She could stake vamps till the cows came home and then gang up with the cows and kill some more, yet still not make a dent in their numbers. She enjoyed it anyway. Killing vampires was more personal that killing demons. And much tidier.

She locked the door behind her, dropping the keys on a small table. She had got the apartment cheap and for the amount she was paying, it was great.

"I got to say, I love what you've done with the place," said a voice behind her. Neela spun around, pulling the gun out of its holster. "Don't worry, kid. I can't hurt you."

A man stepped out of the shadows, but Neela had trouble making him out even when he was in the light. She couldn't understand why she hadn't heard him before.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

The man grinned at her, fiddling with a pack of cards in his hands. "Call me Doyle."

xxx

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