TITLE: Legal Hot Water
AUTHOR: Ragna (writinggoddess@aol.com)
RATING: FRT
CLASSIFICATION: Xander/Cordelia, Willow/Oz, Buffy/Angel and Lindsey/Other interaction.
SUMMARY: Lindsey switched sides; now, can he help Oz out with Angel Investigation's help?
SPOILERS: Set in season five of Buffy, season 2 of Angel with specific spoilers for Dead End (I've rewritten the ending of that episode) and I Will Remember You.
DISTRIBUTION: Any sites with my fic up; you all have unspoken permission. I write it, you can post it. Everyone else just keep my name on it and let me know.
DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. If you do, I don't own it. Joss Whedon, Kazui Sandollar, The WB, UPN, et. al. most likely do. Serena Southerlyn belongs to Dick Wolf as she is a character from "Law & Order"
FEEDBACK: Please send it offlist and let me know it's feedback; I do rapid delete on my account due to a lot of spam.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Answer to challenge #276 at the now archive only You Got The Stones (http://www.four-am.com/stones - but it's still awesome so check it out).

***

Serena Southerlyn woke up to a ringing phone and an alarm clock showing it was midnight. She'd just gotten to sleep...

She picked up the phone. "Hello?" she yawned.

"Serena," a male voice said. "What are your plans?"

"Jack, you know damn well I'm coming into the office in about six hours."

"No, you're not," her boss, Jack McCoy, said. "You know our serial case?"

"Which one?"

"The one with the mutilated bodies."

"Like I said, which one?"

"The slash marks. On twelve different girls."

"Yeah, I know that one."

"Los Angeles police may have caught our man, but they had to let him go on a technicality. I want to be able to extradite and prosecute, especially if they can't get a simple arrest right. I need you there."

Serena sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "When do I need to go?"

"Soon. Talk to Kate Lockley. She's your police liaison there."

Serena nodded, forgetting for the moment that Jack wasn't there. "Fine. I'll leave on the next flight I can get."

"Good. I really want to get this guy."

***

Lindsey sighed when he hung up.

"Well?" Cordelia asked, turning away from her increasingly animated conversation with Xander. The two seemed to be catching up on everything.

"It's out of her hands," he said. "There's a DA coming from New York because, apparently, the murder of the girl out here resembles the work of a serial killer in New York City." He looked up the stairs. Oz had pleaded exhaustion and went there to take a nap in one of the spare rooms. "Is there anything I don't know about him?"

"He's a werewolf," Cordelia said simply.

Lindsey stared at her wide eyed. "You know, these are things I should know."

"Well, now you know."

Lindsey shook his head, then stopped. "Wait a second. Last night wasn't a full moon."

"No...it was a new moon," Xander said. "Giles thought the same thing when Oz called."

"So..." Cordelia said. "If it wasn't a full moon, and the girl was slashed like the coroner said, then that means Oz probably didn't do it?"

"I just wish he could remember last night," Lindsey said.

"Hey, man, I wish I could, too," Oz said from the stairs. "Couldn't sleep."

"Understandable," Xander said. "Want anything?"

Oz nodded. "Willow."

***

The phone rang and Willow looked at her empty dorm room. Tara had gone back to her place. Willow had just finished packing the last box of Buffy's stuff for her.

She and Tara had had a rather amicable breakup. Tara understood all the stuff that was going on, but she didn't like it. She didn't like fearing for her life all the time. She loved Willow, she really did, but love wasn't going to be enough. And she was having a horrible dream about being shot to death...

She was taking it as a sign it was time to go.

Not to mention that there was Spike fixating on Buffy, and Buffy having to be mom and sister so suddenly. Giles was helping out as much as he could, and so was Xander. Anya was...Anya.

Willow couldn't believe everything that had happened. And they had to protect Dawn while she was still grieving for her mother. Buffy figured having all of them around might make everything easier for Dawn.

It was all about Dawn, lately. And that wasn't a bad thing; she needed to be kept safe at all costs.

The phone rang. Willow bent over to pick it up, still dwelling on her thoughts of Dawn. "Hello?"

"Will?"

"Xander! Is Oz okay?"

"Yeah. No...Will, it's a murder charge, there's a DA coming in from New York because they think Oz may have killed a lot more people."

"Was he ever in New York?"

"Yeah."

"Shit."

"Yeah." Xander paused for a moment, and Willow could hear some talking in the background. "Willow, Oz says he needs you."

"He does?"

"Yeah. Will...he's scared."

Willow nodded towards the phone. "I'll be there."

"You know what? If Buffy will let you, bring Dawn. The farther away she is from Sunnydale, the better, you know?"

"I'll let her know what's going on, okay?"

"Okay. Will?"

"Yeah?"

"Hurry."