"Get your elbow out of my teeth, Wes, or so help me God I'll --"

"A simple request would have sufficed," Wesley hissed under his breath.

He, Cordelia, and Angel were stationed in the sewer exit below the warehouse the vampires had imprisoned Fred in. The very small exit. The very narrow, cramped and extraordinarily smelly exit.

None of the three of them would give way to either of the others, to allow any of them to be the first to face who-or-whatever was going to come through that door. Typical. If it wasn't for the death threats, it would be quite touching. As it was, they filled in the available space with barely room to swing a weapon. Cordelia had claimed the crossbow, reasoning that it needed the least amount of room to maneuver. Wesley decided to not voice his worries that she might accidentally shoot Angel with it -- or, God forbid, himself.

Then again, they had to be cautious to not behead Cordelia. It all balanced out to trust.

Gunn, Kate and Pike were due to storm the front of the warehouse as soon as the sun was up, to make sure that no one could escape out into the daylight and to herd the vampires towards the sewer exit. It was an inelegant plan, but hopefully the vampires would be too startled to harm Fred before she could be recovered.

Hopefully.

The sound of shouting above them was their cue to be ready. Wesley choked up on his ax, and shared a glance with Angel and Cordelia. Cordy flashed a brilliant grin at him, acknowledging that there was nothing that needed to be said, and Angel nodded once.

Then their little anteroom exploded with noise and bodies, as about fifteen vampires tried to pile into the narrow passageway at once. The first exploded into dust from Cordelia's crossbow, and Angel ducked through the cloud to behead the next. After that, things became too chaotic for Wesley to follow in anything other than the rhythm of the fight. He inhaled too much dust and bent over, coughing, with a stray thought that the number of vampires they killed in LA could be contributing to the poor air quality. Recovering, he ducked in time to avoid a vampire-powered fist.

In the background, he could hear the sounds of a similar fight, between the other flank of their attack and the vampires who had turned and fought rather than running. He could hear a bellowed battle cry that could only be Pike. Kate and Gunn tended to fight in focused silence. Gunn, however, should be looking for Fred and escaping with her before the rest of the vampires found out she was gone.

In one move, he stabbed a vampire with the wooden point on the head of his ax, ducked under Angel's swipe at another vamp, and pivoted to bring the blade of the ax around to behead another vampire. "Hey!" Kate shouted, jumping back a step, narrowly avoiding his strike.

Startled, Wesley checked his motion, then lowered the ax and looked around. "We're done?" he asked, panting.

"Looks like it." Leaning against a wall, Pike used the tail of his shirt to wipe his forehead. "Man, when you guys plan a battle scene, you're not kidding."

"Gunn and Fred get out okay?" Angel asked.

Kate nodded quickly. "Think so. They should be outside. Let's make our getaway."

Angel turned and made his way through the sewers while the rest of them headed back through the warehouse, alert for any stragglers. But they made their way outside without incident. "Just another late night for Angel Investigations," Wesley said, yawning hugely.

Gunn and Fred were locked in the cab of his truck. Fred was sitting up and talking animatedly, waving her hands around. Wesley sighed in relief, to see her safe and unharmed. When Gunn saw them, he raised his hand in acknowledgement and started his truck. The rest of them piled into the convertible and took off for Caritas to pick up Amanda, full of high spirits.

When they got there, the club was closed for the day, chairs up on tables. Amanda was sitting on the bar, drying glasses as the Host passed them back to her. "..at the beach, do you have to use sunscreen?"

Lorne shot her a smile as he tossed another glass at her. She snagged it out of the air with easy skill. "Honey, I don't go to the beach much in the daylight."

"Oh. Good point. But if you did, do you sunburn? And if so, what color?"

"The mighty warriors have returned!" Pike announced.

"Plus those of us who actually did the work," Cordelia added, grinning.

Amanda put her glass down and jumped down to the floor. "You guys rock," she said, high-fiving Pike. "So, how many were there? Were they organized? What kind of fight did they put up? Did they have weapons? How'd you guys beat them?"

"Bloodthirsty little darling," Lorne said fondly. "She's got a one-track mind."

Amanda scowled at him. "Do not. We talked about movies -- "

"Violent movies."

"-- and music."

Lorne looked balefully at Pike. "You've got to expose her more music than grunge post-1991 and pre-1998. She's missing a cornucopia of musical expression."

Exhilarated, Pike just smiled at him. "That's for not murdering her," he said, reaching out to shake Lorne's hand.

"My pleasure. But," with a quick look at the members of Angel Investigations in the room, "let's never, ever do it again. Capisce?"

"Got it," Cordelia said cheerfully.

"Right. I'll believe it when I see it. Okay, conquering heroes, a drink for the road? Water, not beer, mind you. You all look like you'd fall over if hit by a pink boa."

Amanda laughed hysterically at the resulting groans of, "Please, dear God, yes." With a boost from Pike, she was back sitting up on the bar while the rest of them took seats.

Wesley watched the two of them as he sipped his water. Their body language declared them a unit, a functioning team. Hiding a self-mocking smile in his glass, Wesley acknowledged that they looked like Buffy and Giles facing him down as Buffy declared that she no longer took instruction from the Watcher Council. Giles and Buffy were joined by the same absolute faith in each other.

Had been joined, actually.

Amanda nearly broke herself laughing as Kate described a vampire who had gotten so flustered in the fight that he'd run outside into the daylight, incinerating himself. Pike had his elbows propped on the bar, glass dangling from his hand as he drank from it. What wasn't obvious when was in motion was that he was bone-deep exhausted, and not just because of a sleepless night.

For four years, since he had been a teenager, he'd been the sole guardian of a girl who was being chased by vampires who wanted to destroy her. He raised her, fed her, and trained her to her destiny, exactly what a traditional Watcher did with his or her charge. But without the support of the Watcher council. Without a team of specialized scholars who could translate from Egyptian hieroglyphics into French. Without even the financial support needed to devote his life to the girl who would be a Slayer.

"Come on," Kate drained her glass and put it down. "We're dead on our feet. Time to crash."

Deep in thought, Wesley took the steering wheel as everyone piled into the car. He no longer thought the Watcher Council was the be all and end all of existence. What he and Cordelia and Gunn and Kate managed to accomplish with Angel was just as important. It wasn't just reverting to his childhood training. It wasn't that he wanted to present the Watcher Council with a child they had thought lost to them.

Cordelia leaned over to Wesley from where she sat in the passenger seat. "What are you thinking about so hard?"

Wesley's fingers tightened on the wheel. "Amanda needs a Watcher," he said quietly. The words were drowned before they reached the backseat.

Cordelia frowned. "She's got a Watcher. Pike."

"Who is an excellent teacher and guardian and would obviously give his life for her. But the Watcher Council... contrary to what they've shown in recent years, the reason for their existence is not to control the Slayer but support her." Wesley braked for a red light, and waited until he was driving again to continue. "And after seeing Amanda, I understand more than ever why that is. Pike is wearing himself out trying to raise, train and support her. He shouldn't have to."

"You try telling him that," Cordelia said, and leaned back up into her seat, effectively taking herself out of listening range.

When they pulled up outside of the Hyperion, everyone piled out of the car. "Pike," Wesley called.

Pike waved Amanda on into the hotel and turned back to face Wesley. "Yeah?"

"I wanted to... I wanted to ask, no, suggest something. I --"

Pike crossed his arms and leaned back against the car. "I'm gonna fall asleep here any minute, so how about you spit it out and I promise I won't be pissed off by what you're trying to say."

Wesley sighed. "I wanted to suggest that you allow me to contact the Watcher Council."

Pike lowered his arms and came firmly to his feet. "No way in hell. They're not taking her." His entire body was drawn with tension, a fight- or-flight instinct to protect.

"Wait, listen to me. I don't mean them taking her, I mean them helping you. The both of you." Pike's posture and expression didn't change, but the very fact that he wasn't charging off to drag Amanda into hiding reassured Wesley. More calmly, he continued, "Amanda won't move a step without you. And I'd seriously like to see anyone try to force her away."

"Why should I?" Pike asked.

"It would mean you could stop living on the run, one step ahead of either authorities or demons. It means you would not have to live hand to mouth, and could devote your time to Amanda. It would mean back up when Amanda has questions you can't answer." Wesley sighed again, in frustration. "It would mean bloody well not reinventing the wheel every five minutes."

Pike kept watching him steadily. "What else?" he asked.

Wesley smiled, faintly. "The Watcher Council has been stagnate for quite some time. Buffy and her Watcher, Mr. Giles, began to stir them up. I think you and Amanda would be an excellent addition."

"Would they take me?"

"If they want Amanda, yes. And she's not a six year old child anymore. She knows her own mind."

"So do I," Pike said, pushing away from the car.

"Just... think about it, all right?"

Pike glanced at him, then turned and walked into the hotel without answering.

And that, Wesley decided, was likely the best he was going to do for now. Tilting his head from side to side to work out the kinks, he followed Pike into the hotel.

The first thing he saw, with a sick shock, was Cordelia with a knife to her throat. Just in front of him, Pike had frozen. Gunn and Fred were nowhere in sight, Angel and Kate had obviously been fighting until Cordelia had been threatened, and Amanda had backed up against the check in counter, eyes darting to try to find a way out. Scattered around the room were six or so vampires on their feet, two or three on the floor and temporarily out of commission. The odds weren't bad -- if it wasn't for that knife.

"Either one of you moves and we slit her throat," the vampire holding Cordelia growled.

"No one's moving," Pike said, hands held out to his sides. "Just let her go."

"And why'd we do that?" Another vampire emerged from the shadows behind Cordelia, and grinned across the lobby. "Hi there, old buddy old pal. How's life treating you, Pike?"

Pike made a noise that sounded like a quickly suppressed groan. "Who is that?" Wesley asked as quietly as he could.

Pike didn't seem to hear. "Oh, Jesus. Benny..."

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