Yellow Roses, part 1: The Slayer Sleeps Tonight

The night was old, and Buffy felt that way, too. It was around 5:30 in the morning, way too early to be out looking for vampires. Since it wasn't sunup for about 3 more hours, it was her job to get up *before* the crack of dawn, even though all *sensible* vampires were all ready in bed. Hearing something, she whirled around... nothing. Buffy started to get nervous. "Here, vampires. Where are you? Show your ugly faces." A thought occurred to her. "Angel? Is that you?" Getting no response, she changed her mind on that thought. "I know somebody's here. Come out, come--" A metal bar swung from behind her and hit her soundly in the head. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

The next night at an abandoned warehouse, Angel struck a cease-fire truce with Spike and Drusilla. Actually, he called the Tranpards Cue, an ancient vow between vampires and their Sires where they cannot attack one another. It is rarely invoked, and Angel was worried that it wouldn't be binding enough to keep them from killing him. However, Buffy had been missing ever since this morning, and Angel was desperate enough to try this. He brought Xander along because... well, because Xander had insisted.

Dru was reading from her diary to her visitors, who were getting a little annoyed. "My Angel and I are having a little a little disagreement and I was wondering if you could talk some sense into him. I didn't MEAN to kill Buffy... it just happened. The Slayer was in the way of Spike's plans, and he had a booboo, so I killed the naughty Slayer." She giggled. "Bad Slayer. Bad. Angelus wants to kill me now. Aren't you proud of Daddy's girl? No one wants to play. They don't like daisies. Do you like daisies? Pretty flowers... They die so quickly. Everything I take care of dies."

Xander interrupted her. "Gosh, is anyone else sensing a pattern here?"

Angel wanted answers, however. "Stop joking around, Dru. This is serious. What did you do with Buffy?"

Drusilla didn't seem to remember... or maybe she was just acting. "I killed her. She's dead... or maybe I lost her. Why is my birdy not singing? Sing, little birdy. Where's your pretty music?" She turned to her boyfriend, bewildered. "Spike, everything I tend dies."

Spike was sympathetic--and frustrated. He didn't forget his visitors, however. "Everything but that bloody slayer. She's been a pain in my side for far too long."

Xander wasn't impressed. "Oh, is the big vampire scared of a girl?"

Angel wasn't impressed either. "I'm warning you for the last time: Where's Buffy?" He decided to put a little muscle into it.

Spike remained aloof. "If I knew where the Bloody Slayer was, she'd be dead already!"

Angel paused, not sure of whether or not to believe him. "Xander, come on. Let's go look for Buffy." He and Xander turned to go.

Drusilla wasn't done with them yet, though. "I've got a secret..."

Spike didn't know what she was talking about, but it sounded good to him. "What is it, love?"

Dru giggled. "I've got a secret..."

Xander was annoyed yet again. "Point taken. Angel, I thought you wanted to go."

Angel walked up to Drusilla and stared her down. "Where is she?"

Dru giggled again. "It's a secret. Slayer tastes good."

Spike was still confused, but was starting to get a glimmering of what was going on. "Love?"

Angel finally yelled at her. "Where is she?"

Dru smiled sadly and lifted a blanket. Buffy was lying on the ground, dead--or close to it. "She didn't want to play..."

"Buffy!" Angel cried, lifting her limp body. Buffy managed a weak whisper before she stopped moving and breathing. "Angel..."

Angel felt like crying. "Buffy!" He hugged her, and after a few seconds of trying to wake her, he gave up and carried her into the darkness. In an instant, they were both gone.

Xander gasped and turned to Spike and Drusilla. "Is she-- you killed her, didn't you?"

Spike turned to his girl. "He's good."

Xander felt his duty to protect his protector. "You-- you-- You better be glad that Buffy isn't here... well, in a sense, I guess she is... but, hey, don't change the subject or anything." He suddenly realized that Angel was gone. "Angel? Man, I'm gonna put a bell on that guy someday." He looked at Spike, and realized the vamp was smiling maliciously. "Hmm... well, it's been real, but I think I'll just leave." He raced off after Angel.

Dru watched them go, pouting. "I want a snack."

Spike grinned. "Tonight, darling, tonight."

In the library, Giles, Willow, and Cordelia were sitting around doing research. Willow was imagining all the bad things that could've happened to Buffy, and freaking everyone else out while doing it. Willow panicked out loud. "And then, there could have been the return of the insect man. Or maybe a cult! Ooo, scary... cults make people do bad things, like, uh, y'know, uh... stuff. Oh, what if Angel can't get there in time? I'll shut up now."

Giles wasn't listening and decided to darken the mood some more. "Yes, yes, that would be appreciated. Oh, look, here in this book... it says that The Order Of Terak cannot be permanently killed." He turned the page. "It takes them about three months to revive."

Cordelia was enthusiastic. "Oh, goody. Has anyone seen Xander lately? Not that I care or anything."

Xander burst in, worried out of his mind. "Where's Angel?"

Giles was allowed to be slightly upset. "Wasn't he with you?"

Cordelia sighed. "See, he can't even keep track of a simple man. Geez, what a moron."

Xander panted. "We found Buffy--"

"Oh, yea! Why don't you seem happy?" Willow asked.

"Willow..." Xander tried to control himself. "Buffy... she's... oh, god."

Willow was being very naive. "She's what? Happy to be found?"

Giles, unfortunately though, was not. "Oh, no." He buried his head in his arms.

Cordelia wasn't either. "Gosh..."

Willow still didn't get it. "What's going on?"

Giles wiped a tear from his eye. "Willow, call Kendra. Tell her... tell her it's her turn. She's the Slayer now."

Willow cried out in confusion. "Why? For it to be her turn, Buffy would have to be d--d-- oh. Oh, no! Buffy's-- she can't--but--I'm going to faint now. Somebody catch me."

Giles panicked inside. His Slayer was dead? "No, Willow, this is no time for this. We need to know who killed her. Are, uh, are you sure she's, uh, dead?"

Xander was also panicking, though not just on the inside. "She wasn't breathing, and it looked like all the CPR in the world couldn't have saved her... not to mention Angel spiriting her off like that. Oh, God, what are we gonna do?"

Giles took off his glasses, trying to calm himself as well as the slayerettes. "Just... breathe. I know it's hard, but in accordance with the prophecy, if someone killed her, they're more powerful than the Master."

Xander felt a sense of dread come over him. "It was Dru."

Giles felt same. "Oh, dear."

Willow was in shock. "Poor Buffy."

Angel silently entered wearing his vampire face and laid Buffy on the table. Grieving, he mumered something only the comatose girl could hear. "Buffy..."

Willow was the first to notice their entrance. "Woah, um, Buffy's here."

Cordelia screamed. "AHHHHH!"

Xander looked at her grimly. "I know. Dead Buffy is kinda hard to swallow."

"No! He's-- He's... AHHHHH!"

Xander rolled his eyes. "What? Are the big, scary dead couple scaring you?"

Cordelia pointed to Angel. "He's a vampire!"

Giles was confused. "Well, yes."

Willow tore her eyes off Buffy long enough to look at her. "Didn't you know that?"

Cordelia looked at them like they were talking rocks. "No!"

Willow turned to Angel. "I'm sorry about your loss... I mean... Buffy's dead... I mean... I'll shut up now."

Angel looked at the living crowd. "I could use some help, here." His game face went away.

Xander raised his eyebrows. "What's with the face? Those nasty fleas biting again?"

Angel spoke slowly, obviously in pain. "I had to fight my way here...they've surrounded the library... Wasn't taking Buffy enough?" He sat heavily in a chair, holding Buffy's hand.

Giles looked painful and patted him on the shoulder uncomfortably.

Angel looked up, surprised. "She still is your friend."

Xander looked at the vampire. "She's dead. 'Was' tends to be the operative term in such cases."

Angel begged to differ. "She's alive."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Okay, Angel's gone bye-bye. How's everyone else holding up?"

Willow leaned over and checked Buffy's neck for a pulse. She looked up, surprised. "No, he's right! She has a pulse!"

"That's impossible," Xander argued.

Cordelia sat down, looking at the losers around her. "Ohmigod, this is just too weird."

Xander kept talking, even though it was obvious that no one was paying attention. "She's dead."

Someone had to take action, so Giles finally decided to. "Willow," he said, more calmly than he felt, "go get a blanket from the third drawer in my desk in my office. And the first aid kit." Willow, glad for the authority, ran to get the blanket and kit.

Xander noisily still demanded attention. "Crazy vampire lady killed her."

Willow yelled from the office, "Is that the left or the right side?"

"I was there. She died."

Giles went to help Willow. "Here, let me look..."

"She's dead." Xander felt for a pulse. "I don't feel anything."

Angel gently moved Xander's fingers to the correct spot on Buffy's neck, more for Buffy's sake than sympathy for Xander's feelings. "You saw what they wanted you to see."

Xander wasn't to be led astray. "She should be dead. She is dead. This is just some weird dream. Where's the flying rutabagas?"

Giles came back with Willow carrying a first aid kit. Willow was carrying the blanket. "Xander, do you know anything at all about first aid?"

Xander looked at the librarian. "I know enough."

Giles took that at face value. "Oh, uh, How much is that?"

Xander took a deep breath, knowing that he was the only sane person in the room. "That we should dial 911 and start mourning, because this girl's dead."

Angel covered Buffy with blanket. "Hold on, Buffy."

Giles tried to get rid of the hysterical Cordelia and Xander, who was hurting more than helping. "Why don't you take Cordelia and um... go get some... more blankets?"

Cordelia looked at Angel. "But, he's a vampire!"

Xander pulled her out of there. "Come on, lets leave the dead with the dead."

Willow was confused. "What's he mean by that? Oh... oh. But Buffy's not dead."

"Technically," the librarian sighed, "that's not true."

Angel lifted a stray wisp of hair from Buffy's cheek. "Her soul is gone."

Willow frowned. "But... wouldn't that make her... you know, sick... or something? Gosh, what would it be like to not have a soul? Probably empty and all gross and yucky and..." she trailed off when she noticed Angel's pained glance. "...I'll shut up now."

Giles looked around for something for Willow to do. "If you want to be helpful, why don't you call Buffy's mother and tell her that she's staying over at your house. Then look up the Tos'keniv Legion in The Brown Book. This sounds like their handiwork."

Willow got excited and slightly sarcastic when she found that she was allowed to touch Giles' precious Brown Book. "Oo, this is serious... we're getting out The Brown Book." She went into Giles' office again to make the phone call.

Giles looked towards the window. "It's going to be sunrise in a few hours," he commented.

Angel stared down at Buffy's shadowy form. "I can't just leave her like this. I need to stay."

Giles sighed. "I expected as much." There was a pause as they bandaged the cuts on Buffy's arms, face, neck, and legs. "You are going to need a place to stay."

Angel nodded. "Yes. Out of the sun."

"Where you won't be seen."

"Where Spike and Dru won't look for me."

Giles thought for a moment. "Hmm... You know, it IS a Saturday..." he looked at watch, "...technically."

Angel nodded again. "Yes..."

"You could stay at the school... I guess. If you don't get caught by the janitor. I've always been curious... how much, you know, do you... sleep?"

Angel sighed. "As long as I can."

Willow came back with The Book. "I found it. And made the call."

Giles rubbed his head. "Wonderful. Now, look up the Tes'kinov Legion. It should be in the 'Soul' section."

Willow thumbed through the thin pages, making sure not to crease or tear them. "Soul... soul... soul... that should be under the 'S's."

Giles went over to the shelves, looking for some book. "Try the index."

"Oh, yeah."

Xander and Cordelia walked quickly down the street. Cordelia was panicked.

"He's a vampire! That's disgusting!"

Xander felt the small urge to stick up for his friend's boyfriend, however dead he might be. "Hey, it's not that bad... was that me?"

Cordelia waved her arms wildly. "I mean, he's a vampire, she's the Slayer... does anyone else see a problem with this?"

Xander grimaced. "Every day."

Cordelia growled angrily, "Why do I even talk to you? There's no intelligent conversation that you can deal with. Everything's a joke to you."

Xander stopped walking, suddenly angry, too. "I'll have you know that not everything" is a joke with me!"

Cordelia stopped also. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"I happen to take my pizza bagels very seriously."

"You're such a jerk!"

"I can't believe I ever kissed you!" They stood there for a few seconds, nose to nose. Their lips met, hard and fast, and they kissed passionately.

Cordelia opened her eyes to find Spike standing behind Xander. "AHHHH!"

Xander pulled away. "Gee, thanks. That was not the reaction I was looking for."

Spike chirped in his cockney, "Well, I understand the sentiment completely."

Xander whirled around. "Ugh, it's Mr. tall, white, and ugly."

Cordelia rubbed her forehead. "Oh, this has got to be the worst night of my life."

Xander looked at her, mad again. "Yeah, and it's been great for Buffy, too. In case you hadn't heard, she's dead."

Spike smiled. "Pity."

In the library, Giles and Willow were looking in books and Angel was daubbing his wounded side with rubbing alcohol.

Willow closed her book. "This is my third book, down the drain. My eyes are starting to hurt."

Giles sighed, looking up from his tome. "Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that there is only one more book to look in."

Willow practically jumped for joy. "And the bad news?"

Giles sighed again. "That is the bad news."

Willow looked at the single book left. "Oh. It sounds pretty good, right about now."

Angel looked at Buffy, who was still still. "We better hurry. Buffy doesn't have much time left."

Giles skimmed the texts for anything of value. "Oh, look, here's something. It says here that the Tes'kinov Legion is a group of people steal souls. There is a complicated method of putting souls into objects such as bottles, flasks... anything that can hold something liquid without spilling it when shook.

Angel continued for him. "They are without mercy. They hire out, but are hard to find. Supposedly, they were all killed in the Crusades. Darla--my Sire--taught me that. A long time ago. They were... heartless. I don't know much more, only that the separation of the soul from the body can only be performed once on a single person." He frowned. "But their prey doesn't usually survive long enough to find this out."

There was a pause, broken by Giles. "Well. That was informative. It says here that to put the soul back in the body, the bottle must be opened within 24 hours of the separation. Any crack in the bottle will let the soul escape... so the bottle has to be airtight."

Willow frowned. "So... someone has to go find a bottle."

Cordelia ran in, wide-eyed. "They took Xander!"

Angel stood up in worry. "Who?"

Cordelia noticed him for the first time. "What's HE doing here?"

Willow looked at the vamp. "Oh, Angel? He's uh... uh... what ARE you doing?"

Cordelia pointed a finger at him accusingly. "He's a vampire! He's going to bite me, I know it."

Angel rolled his eyes, uncharacteristically immature. "Don't flatter yourself."

Giles tried to explain it in terms that Cordelia would understand. "Cordelia, Angel is a good vampire."

Cordelia pouted angrily. "There's no such thing. He's in on it!"

Giles gave up trying to explain. "In on what?"

Willow looked around, noticing for the first time that Xander wasn't there. "Hey, where's Xander?"

Cordelia sat down, tossing her head and crossing her arms. "Why don't you ask the vampire?"

Willow shrugged. "Okay, uh, Angel, where's Xander? Angel? Angel?" They looked around, but he'd already left. "Okay. Angel's gone. Great."

Giles looked around nervously. "Buffy doesn't have very much time left. Where's Xander?"

Cordelia paced back and forth. "Spike took him."

Willow's brow furrowed. "Why would he want to do that?"

"I don't know! Why would I know? Ask Mr. Science over there!" She pointed at Giles. Both the girls looked at the Watcher.

Giles looked around, as if there were another Mr. Science in the room. "Well, it would be my guess that they need to perform some kind of ceremony or, or something. He was there when Buffy died... twice, actually. Though, the first time, she died with the Master, and he just brought her back to life, but still... that has to mean something.

Cordelia sat on a chair with a thump. "Great. Just great." She started to cry.

Willow wasn't sure about what to do. "Oh, it'll be okay. Just... think about something else. Um, have you seen that new movie that just came out? It's the classic 'guy meets girl, guy loses girl, guy gets girl back' romance with a really cute guy."

"Cute..." she sobbed. "Xander..."

Willow tried to make sense of what Cordelia was 'saying'. "Um, excuse me... but what were you doing when Spike came?"

Spike and Dru were in the warehouse. Xander was unconscious in a cage hanging from the ceiling. "So, when do you think our houseguest is going to wake up?" He poked Xander with a long, metal stick. "Wakey, wakey."

"He's so puny... No meat on his bones at all." Drucilla gazed up at Xander with a dazed expression on her face. "Rise and shine." There was a pause. "Why doesn't he wake up? I'm hungry, Spike. Can I have a snack?"

Spike patted her hand. "Not now, darling. We need him. The ceremony cannot go on without him."

"Just a little bite?"

Spike smiled indulgently. "Later, doll, later. After the ceremony." He swooped her up in a crazy waltz. She laughed with hysterical delight.

Angel crouched behind some boxes, watching the exchange. A young lady dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt crouched beside him.

Angel glanced at her. "Thanks for helping me out. Not sure I wanted to fly this one solo."

The girl shifted slightly on the cold floor. "Hey, anything for an old friend." She smiled warmly. "After 5,000 years, I think I can get a little time off work. Heaven's okay." She paused. "You're all right. You know that? For a vamp, you're an okay guy. I missed you those years."

Angel smiled back. "Thanks, Diab. That means a lot, coming from you."

She studied him. "You really love her, don't you?"

Angel looked her right in the eye. "Yes. A lot."

She giggled, wrinkling her nose in immature glee. "Imagine, you, in love... that's actually a pretty funny picture. You... in love... the loner... gosh, if she wasn't in trouble right now, I'd laugh." There was another pause, and they both turn back to Spike and Dru.  "Can I laugh anyway?"

He elbowed her.  "You're really not as funny as you think you are.  You know that, right?"

Dru sniffed the air. "There's someone here. Very strong. She gives me the shivers."

Spike groaned. "ANOTHER blasted slayer? How may of the damned girls are there?"

Dru frowned. "No, not exactly a Slayer..."

Xander slowly, dizzily woke up. "Hey..." He felt his temple. "Oh, yeah, that's gonna hurt later."

Spike's attention turned back to Xander. "Well, well, well, if it isn't our friend!"

Xander looked down, shifting uncomfortably on the bars. "Are you talking to me? 'Cause I'm no friend of yours."

Spike wasn't impressed. "Very nice. Just hang there for a while while my Dru and I set up the sacrifice." He turned to Dru. "Come on, darling."

Xander called after them, "Sacrifice? For me? Gosh, you shouldn't have." He grumbled, muttering to himself, "How do I get out of here?"

Spike called back, "And don't bother escaping. I've set it up so that the vampire gaurds here will kill any of your friends that try to rescue you. Tough break, huh?"

"Yee-ha. Buffy! Help! Buffy! Help...somebody...anybody... oh, shoot."

The girl reached for her bag of stakes. "This should be fun. I haven't done anything like this since... since... oh, gosh, the Crusades, maybe."

Angel focused on his goal. "Okay, on the count of three... one, two--!"

Diabolique jumped up on a box with her bag full of stakes. "Are you guys ready for this? I know I am. It's what I've been waiting for all my life." She looked up at Xander. "Hey! Need some help?"

Xander gulped. "Uh, those are not your everyday hit men-kidnappers."

Diabolique gave a cocky smile. "I know. They're smaller." A vampire charged her and she threw a stake right in his heart. "They fall easier, too." The vamp disintegrated with a small pop-hiss.  "All you need is a vacuum, really."

Xander sighed sarcastically. "Well, okay, as long as you know what you're doing."

Angel stood up and smiled at the girl. "You always were one for the direct approach."

"You want subtle, go find Teresa."

Xander suddenly saw Angel. "Angel! Buddy! Pal!" He pointed to his cage door. "Open the door! Open the door! Please, before they sacrifice me to... shut me up."

Diabolique turned to Angel. "Cute friend." The vampires attacked. Diabolique and Angel killed them all. She was an incredible fighter; better than Angel, with a style strangely different from Buffy's.

Angel communicated quickly with Diabolique. "You get Xander out of there. I'll worry about the bottle."

Diabolique groaned. "Sure, give me the fun job." She grabbed a rope from the floor and tied a heavy weight to it as she looked up. "Hey! Flyboy! Up in the clouds!"

Xander looked down. "Who are you?"

"Angel's friend. Move!"

Xander raised his eyebrows. "As you can see, I'm stuck in here, sadly."

"To the corner. If you get hit by this, I'm not carrying you."

Xander moved to the corner of the cage. "What type of friend, souled or not?"

She grunted, swinging the weighted rope experimentally. "Depends when you ask me." She threw up the weighted end of the rope. It hooked around a bar and Xander tied it down. She climbed up the rope quickly and quietly. When she got to the top, she climbed onto the cage and started to pick the lock of the door, grunting a little.

Xander looked at her, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Diabolique grimaced. "Just don't tickle me." The door swung open, and Diabolique re-fastened the rope so it was possible to climb down without climbing across the cage bottom. She scurried down. "You can thank me later."

Xander looked down the swaying rope. "Oh, no, I'm not climbing down that!"

"Guys!" Diabolique muttered, and gave him a Look. "Climb down or fall down, whichever makes you happy. Don't look at ME for help; I don't have enough upper body strength."

Xander put up his hands in surrender. "Don't worry about me, the ground'll break my fall." He slid down the rope and got rope burns. "Oww! Ouch!"

Diabolique shushed him and went to Angel, who was rifling through all the stuff looking for a bottle. "Find it?"

Xander looked at them. "So, this isn't about me? Okay, I can take a hint."

Angel looked around, panicking. "It's not here!"

Xander took a small glass bottle out of his pocket. "Okay, it's not here, now let's go!"

Angel frowned. "But, it has to be here!"

Diabolique searched the boxes and tables quickly. "How about this?" She held up a bottle marked 'holy water'.

Angel shivered. "You try it! I can't."

Xander twirled the bottle in his hands. "What? What are we looking for?"

Diabolique popped the cork and sniffed the contents of the 'holy water' bottle. "No, this really is holy water."  Her nose twitched, and she re-capped it.  "It's gone a little rancid, too."  She looked at her watch and sighed. "We have five minutes."  She looked back down at her wrist and frowned.  "If my watch is accurate, that is."

"You don't know?" Xander asked her.

"I haven't been here very long," she replied with a shrug.

Angel grew frantic. "It has to be here!"

Xander played with his bottle, drumming it in his hand. "What? What?"

Angel noticed his bottle. "Where did you get that?"

Xander looked at it. "Oh, this old thing? When we first came, it was sitting on a box."

Diabolique counted off on her watch. "One minute."

Angel held out his hand for the bottle. "Give it to me!"

Xander held it close to his body in a possessive manner. "Hey, finders keepers. Why do you want it?"

Diabolique kept her eyes on the clock. "Just give him the bottle, or he'll whine."

Angel made a wild grab at the precious glass object. "That's the one that holds Buffy's soul!" Angel and Xander struggled for the bottle, and Angel finally got it. He threw it on the ground to break it. Nothing happened.

Diabolique jumped on the bottle over and over while counting down the seconds. "10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2--" The glass cracked the tiniest bit and the bottle shattered, freed of its load.

Angel grinned and picked up Diabolique in a spinning bear hug. "Yea!"

Xander looked at them. "Did I just miss something, here?"

Diabolique checked her watch again. "Half an hour to sunrise. Can you make it back to the library in time?"

Angel smiled a toothy smile. "I'll make it."

In the library, Giles, Cordelia, Xander, and Willow were sitting around doing nothing. Buffy opened her eyes and looked around. "What's going on?" She held her head. "Ouch."

Angel came out from the shadows. "Buffy!" He kissed her.

Buffy pulled back in surprise. "I should wake up more often. What was that for?"

Xander looked around, frustrated. "I wish someone would tell me what's going on!"

Willow sighed. "Xander, you're impossible! Gosh, and I thought I was clueless."

Buffy looked at Willow wryly. "Willow, you are."

Xander looked around again. "Hey, where'd super girl go?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Super girl?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, the girl who rescued me from the cage."

"Xander was in a cage? Wait a minute, explain just how much I missed."

Angel grabbed Xander's arm and dragged him outside the library into the hall. "Excuse me."

Xander shook free of Angel's grip and rubbed his arm. "Ow, ow, easy on the merchandise! What? What?"

Angel gave him an intense look. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mention Diabolique to anyone."

"Okay! Why not?"

"She's an old friend... and none of your business."

Xander raised his arms in a surrender. "Hey, just curious? Is she... you know, are you her sire?"

Angel gave an un-Angelish snort. "A vampire?  Hardly.  And, let's just say that she's older than me, okay?"

Xander cocked his head, curious. "How much older?"

"Old enough. Drop the subject."

"Okay. Now, why can't I mention her?"

Angel glared at him. "It's none of your business." He started to go back into the library.

Xander caught the vampire's shoulder in his hand, restraining him. "Hey, man... I won't. And thanks for saving my hide back there."

Angel smiled. "I didn't, she did. But I'll tell her you're grateful."

Xander patted him on the back as they walked back into the library. "You're okay... for a vampire."

"Thanks."

::wince:: Okay, that was painful... I know Diab's a bit Mary-Sueish here, but that's just to more greatly emphasize her later changes. Thank you all for reading, and please continue to the next piece. :)