In a Maudlin Sort of Way

By Tango

DISCLAIMER: Nope. I still don't own them.

DISTRIBUTION: Of course you can have it! Please let me know though.

SPOILERS: Completely AU. (Besides my Wishverse fic, this is my first AU fic.) Okay, here's the premise: What if when Angel was cursed, all the vampires he sired were cursed too and the vampires they sired (i.e., Spike, Drusilla, Penn, James & Elizabeth)? So in this story, Angel never moved to Sunnydale, but Buffy did, so they never met. After High School, Buffy, Cordelia, Oz & Willow go to LA to attend UCLA. Xander goes along to be with Cordy, who he's still dating. (And Giles, being the ever faithful ex-Watcher follows too.) Everything happens almost like it did through High School except no Angel, Spike or Drusilla parts. (And Willow & Xander never cheated on Oz & Cordelia.) I'll describe the changes as I go along. Okay? It all works in my head. Really, it does. *G*

FEEDBACK: Please let me know what you think of this and if I should continue.

LYRICS: All lyrics are from the Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack.

RATING: NC-17

***

Part One - "Meeting You"

//so sad that

you love her like the stars above

so sad that you love her

hold on, hold on//

"That was just *bullshit!*" Spike shouted as they entered the hotel lobby. He slammed his axe into the weapons cabinet angrily to emphasize his point.

"Calm down, Spike," Angel said as he moved toward the stairs to go find his bed and fall into it for some much needed rest. Every other day, Angel regretted allowing Spike to join up with Angel Investigations. The days he wasn't regretting that, he usually regretted Siring him to begin with. The boy proved useful on many occasions but for someone who always accused *him* of being a "Nancy boy," he *never* stopped whining.

"You should have let me kill that bitch," he said, following him up the stairs, stomping on each step, "She's a lawyer for fuck's sake!"

"You can't kill people. Why is it having a soul hasn't taught you that yet?" Angel asked tiredly, feeling as if this was the millionth time they'd had this conversation. Having their souls restored effected each of his children differently. None of them reverted to what they had been, but became a hybrid of their former human selves and their souless vampiric selves. Spike reacted to his soul like a rebel. He was going to be pissed off until the end of time for the remorse he was forced to shoulder.

"Maybe because I'm not a bloody *pansy*!" Spike only felt slightly guilty for his urge to kill her. Sure, she was human, but she was still *evil* and a fucking cunt on top of that. He could almost taste her blood on his tongue. Besides, she was just one bloody human. Not like he wanted to start mass murdering or anything.

"Shut up, Spike," Angel grumbled as he headed up the stairs, "I already told you if you're going to work for me you can't kill people. Either follow the rules and quit bitching or find some place else to live."

"I can't stand you, Peaches," Spike said before turning toward his room.

"Feeling's mutual, William," Angel said as he turned in the opposite direction. He shook his head at his Childe's overactive violent tendencies. It was something that he never got over and Angel was sure he never would. He wanted flesh in his hands - breaking it, loving it, fucking it. Spike was a worshiper of tactile pleasures.

And one of his favorites was lying naked in Angel's bed.

"Dru," Angel sighed, shrugging off his coat and crossing the room to look down disapprovingly at the insane and naked vampiress in his bed. After a hundred years of trying to keep her from his bed, he just couldn't seem to make her understand that he wasn't going to hurt her anymore. Even if it did feel really, really good, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you," she said, rolling her eyes up to looked at him as she moved her hands over her body, "I had a vision. They always make me want my Angel."

"What did you see?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to her and looking into her dark, mad eyes to keep his eyes from straying over her supple flesh. She made it so hard to resist. Most nights he was able to turn away. Most nights he could return her to her mate down the hallway.

Some nights he failed.

But only once in a great, great while.

"The Slayer," she whispered, sitting up and pulling his cold hand into hers, "She's here."

Angel shrank back and pulled his hand from Drusilla's. The Slayer.

Buffy Summers.

Every dream that wasn't a nightmare was of the little blonde goddess that was currently the most legendary Slayer to ever walk the earth. He only saw her one time. Just one perfect moment after Drusilla's vision from the Powers That Be sent him to Sunnydale to kill his Sire.

Darla had been the only member of their group that had not regained her soul. The loss of her mate and her family had made her almost crazier than Drusilla, who had always been mad as a hatter. She returned to the Master, craving more violence and blood than she ever had. She would have been the one to snuff out The Slayer before she reached her prime, but Angel went, taking Spike and Penn along to stop her.

Buffy hadn't seen him and didn't even know he existed, but god, did he see her. She was strong and lithe, glowing and golden. The immediate love he had for the girl was frightening. The idea that "The Scourge of Europe" was capable of love was laughable until that moment. He held himself in such a thickly encrusted tomb of self-hatred, he couldn't even believe that he would ever be able to love anyone, but there she was. It was all he could do not to fall to his feet before her and beg her to just *look* at him - without disgust in her lovely eyes.

Spike and Penn were dumbfounded by her beauty themselves and talked about her nonstop, all the way back to LA, until Angel's jealous growls muzzled them. They were just as surprised as he that he would feel so protective over her. He usually tolerated their locker room talk even if he didn't join in, but the moment they even slightly referred to getting in between her "dimpled knees" as Spike so gently put it, he roared for their silence.

"You fell in love with the fucking Slayer, didn't you?" Penn asked, after several minutes of thoughtful silence, "I mean serious, skull cracking love at first goddamn sight!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Angel buffered, feeling as if he could blush, his skin would be as red hot as his body felt. For a cold blooded demon, souled or not, he felt like fire had been injected in his veins and it wasn't planning on leaving him anytime soon.

"I think Penn's got a point," Spike said, leaning up to the front seat from the back, hanging his arms over the seats, "You're all glossy eyed like a bloody schoolboy."

"Shut up, Spike," Angel growled, "Just because I think you should respect her-"

"Whatever mate," Spike said, flopping back against his seat with a satisfied smile, "You're telling us to respect her and I'll bet a ten spot you'll be jacking off over her tonight."

"Spike," Penn said loudly over Angelus enraged growl, "Don't think now's the time. Our Sire's looking kinda murderous here."

"Sod off," Spike said, lighting a cigarette, "You're just as much a Nancy boy as he is."

Angel blinked back his memories of Buffy to focus on Dru.

"Buffy Summers is here? In LA?" Angel gasped, pulling her by her shoulders to him, forgetting momentarily that she was nude.

"Yeah," Dru said leaning her head to the side with a broad smile, "She's in college. Gonna slay here now."

"M-moving here?" Angel stuttered, releasing her shoulders and rising to his feet to pace the room, "Living here all the time?"

"Mmmhmmm," she said, crawling to the edge of the bed seductively and stopping as he headed toward the door, "Angel, where are you going?"

"Out," he answered, leaving the door open. He ignored the sound of her little whine as he left, rapidly descending the stairs and heading back out into the night.

***

//i feel so stupid,

i feel so stupid.//

"Aren't you supposed to be the school nerd?" Buffy asked looking over Willow suspiciously.

"Nerds are cool now," Willow said, flashing her best friend a bright smile, "Besides after our first day, I wanna find another place like The Bronze."

"Will," Buffy complained grabbing her bag and looking at her watch, "It's 8:30 AM on our first day as new fish in a *giant* new pond and you're already talking about partying tonight? Can we make it through lunch first?"

"Just planning ahead," Willow said, answering the knock on the door and keeping her brilliant smile as she kissed her boyfriend hello. There were few things more exciting to Willow Rosenberg than the first day of school. She was barely able to contain her excitement as she held Oz's hand, struggling to keep herself from jumping up and down.

"Always the planner," Buffy mumbled as she headed for the door. She, unlike Willow, was not excited. Her emotions ran closer to scared shitless actually. Although this was better than her first day at Sunnydale High when she didn't know anyone at all, she still found the mass of students on campus intimidating. They *all* seemed to know where they were going and what they were doing. She felt like she was the only freshman in the whole school.

Oz had played so many gigs in LA that he practically knew everyone. Willow was thrilled as hell to begin her new spurty knowledge experience. Cordelia was busy finding the snottiest bitches on campus to be her crew. The only person in her group of friends who would feel like a freshman with her was Xander and he wasn't even going to school. Giles was busy British-fying his new flat and preparing himself for his new life of leisure. There was nothing more disappointing than being the only person who was not seeing the future in such a happy, rose colored, blindingly aggravating light.

She slipped into her first class, feeling as if someone would spot her any second and point at her screaming, "You don't belong here! You aren't as smart as the rest of us! Shouldn't you be in a graveyard somewhere?"

She sat in the corner, near the back and tried to blend as best she could while she waited patiently for some creature of the night to appear during the day and take her from her new world of suck. The professor began to speak and somehow, in a way she totally couldn't begin to comprehend, she actually found what he was saying to be interesting. Maybe Mythology wouldn't be so bad. She might even have something to add after her years of being an active part of the so-called mythological world.

But Buffy Summers was not about to let this one class push her into the world of Academia. She *knew* that the rest of her classes were going to make her wish she was doing calisthenics...

...naked...

...on a bed of hot coals.

School was not about having fun and learning new things. It was about having something to do during the day while all the creepy crawlies of the world were sleeping in their slime pits.

***

//ev'rybody's free,

ev'rybody's free to feel good, to feel good//

Angel wasn't stalking her. He didn't happen to call in a favor and have a certain friend hack into the UCLA database to find out where Buffy lived. He didn't go to campus at sun down and lurk until he saw her and her friends heading out for a night on the town. He certainly didn't follow them to the local club near campus, "The Velvet Dog." And he wasn't staring from a darkened corner at the sexy blonde moving to the pounding music in the club.

Okay, so he did do all that. But that's not really the point. He was just making sure she was, you know, okay and once he made certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was melding effectively to her new habitat, he would mind his own damn business. That's what he told himself anyway.

"Ya don't love her, huh?" Penn said, appearing at Angel's side with a drink in his hand, smiling at his mentor and Sire.

"You followed me?" Angel asked, already knowing the answer.

"You followed her. Not really seeing the difference," Penn answered, watching the tantalizing Slayer move in rhythm with the music with two other very hot college girls. He felt a twinge in his groin as he watched them move together in a trio of liquid fuckableness.

"And I came along for the hell of it," Spike said, strolling up with his arm around Dru's slender waist.

"Can't I have a moment of peace without you guys following me?" Angel complained.

"Are we cramping your style?" Penn said, watching as Buffy and her friends headed for the bar to get some much needed refreshments. The club was sticky and hot from the human body heat radiating through it, "Maybe I should go ask her to dance."

"Ooh Daddy's jealous," Dru exclaimed over Angel's low growl, clapping her hands. She leaned in to Penn and whispered over the thumping beat, knowing her vampire kin could hear her, "My Angel's in love with The Slayer."

"I know, Dru," Penn said, winking at her and kissing her red lips lightly, "But since he's never even talked to her, I'm thinking she's fair game."

Angel, who could not seem to control the strange possessiveness of the girl he hadn't even talked to before, found his arm reaching out to grab his Childe by his throat. He pulled Penn in close, trying on his best deadly glare as he growled, "Don't even think about it."

"Alright, alright," Penn said, laughing and stepping out of his Sire's grip, "Calm down, buddy. I'm not going to meander over your imaginary territory. Just teasin' ya. Ya know, for the fuck of it."

"Go home," Angel said, moving away from his family.

"It's a free country," Spike said, nuzzling Drusilla as he headed with her to the dance floor, "You might have noticed we've moved to the new world."

Penn laughed heartily as Angel rigidly crossed the room to find a different dark corner to obsess from. This was really one of the most entertaining things he had ever seen his Sire go through. He had seen Angel in torment, brooding in deep sorrow and trying to atone for his sins. He had seen him enraged, killing the demons and the bad guys of the world. He had even seen him laugh and have a good time a couple times over the decades, but this was just priceless. Angel never got close to humans. He never really even got close to them, his own Sired children. The only one of them who might have seen a bit more of him was Dru and that was only because she couldn't keep herself out of his bed.

Penn knew that if nothing else, this was going to be a fun little ride of emotions. And he planned to use each juicy detail to his advantage. Just because he had a soul didn't mean he couldn't be a little evil some of the time. I mean, what was the point in living if you couldn't have a good time?

***

//stars collide, worlds divide, what a pretty piece of flesh,

you are a pretty piece of flesh.

stars collide, worlds divide,

what a pretty piece of flesh,

you are a pretty piece of flesh.//

"Hello salty goodness," Cordelia said, leaning away from Xander so that she could sway to the side to follow the lickable dark haired man walking around the edge of the dance floor as if touching it would cause him to catch a disease. Buffy and Willow both leaned with her to look at the man who seemed as if he had been sculpted from stone and freshly painted with sex. Well dressed and graceful, he was nothing short of devastatingly handsome. For the first time she could remember, Buffy was actually *glad* that Cordy was dating Xander. If she was with him, then she wasn't competition.

And Buffy was willing to compete.

"Hey!" Xander said, looking over Angel with distaste, "Looks like a freak to me."

Buffy stared openly at the sexy creature, thinking that he was someone she would like to *freak,* and nearly fell off her stool as he turned his head and looked directly at her as if he already knew she was there. Their eyes met and she was lost in whatever color they might be. He was too far away to tell but close enough to pierce.

Buffy did not believe in love at first sight. She wasn't even sure she really believed in love at all, actually. The way her parents divorced and the few guys she had dated all proved unworthy of the chance at her heart. But the dark haired man across the room, tugged at her heart, carried her with him and she found herself standing up inside.

"Drool much?" Cordelia asked, making Buffy jump as if she had forgetting she had come to the club with friends.

"What?" Buffy asked, looking at the girl who had strangely wandered into the friend category at during their High School years.

"You were kinda staring," Willow said.

"Gotta agree," Oz said, causing Buffy to blush as she snuck another quick look, shifting on her sandaled feet.

"I wasn't staring," Buffy said, "I was merely checking him out...a little."

"A little?" Xander snorted, wrapping his arm more tightly around Cordelia's shapely waist in an attempt to remind her that she had come to the club with a date, "You were already on his lap!"

"Oh, come on," Buffy said, looking around at her friends, then checking on the hottie's strategic location in the club and looking back at her friends again, "He's cute. I'm free. I can look."

"Look, he didn't come alone," Cordelia said, loving it when there was more to the story. Nothing like gossip worthy happenings to intrigue Queen C, "He seems to know her well."

"Yeah," Buffy said frowning at the dark haired woman who was now glued to his side. Figures that his girlfriend would be so beautiful and obviously engrossed in him. But then, who wouldn't be? She couldn't help but notice that he was still looking at her even as he talked to the woman.

In fact, the woman was looking at her too. Buffy squirmed in her seat nervously. Maybe Xander was right. They were freaks. Maybe they were swingers. God, she wanted to find out something about him. A name. Anything. She watched as the dark haired beauty, moved her hand over his broad muscular chest. Finally, with the intimate touching he looked down at his companion, giving her his full attention. Buffy, along with her friends, watched without shame as she tried to kiss him and he moved away. He said something to her, kissed her forehead and unwrapped her arms from him. The woman was smiling strangely and moving to a beat other than the one filling the club as she moved away.

Buffy watched her as she moved toward...oh god...she was coming over to their table! Buffy prepared herself for a nasty comment from the woman. She silently begged The Powers to not humiliate her tonight. The woman was gorgeous, moving in a slow slinky walk that left a trail of prowess and sex behind her. Buffy knew she would never walk like that.

Before the woman reached the table, a very attractive blonde man came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck and she leaned back against him, swaying to the music in her own mind. He draped an arm over her shoulder as they moved ever closer to the table. As they passed, they were fairly far away, but close enough that Buffy heard her when she turned her head, smiled and said, "My Angel likes you."

"He does fancy you, pet," the blonde man agreed with a smile that seemed almost devious. He turned and looked back at the dark haired man who was now glaring at the couple angrily. The blonde man just smiled back while the woman seemed oblivious. He led her away and she went without looking back. Buffy turned to look back at her new crush and found him missing.

She released the breath she didn't know she was holding and looked around to survey the grinning faces of her friends.

"He does fancy you," Willow said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"So...was that girl his girl or the other guy's girl?" Xander asked, "Cause I'm confused."

"Yeah," Oz said nodding, "I think I am too."

"Maybe she's sleeping with both of them," Cordy offered, "What? She could be."

"She's not sleeping with *him,*" Buffy said in feigned confidence. He just couldn't be sleeping with that sexy woman. Because it...just wouldn't be fair.

***

//go, go, foes can never measure to the crew as we roll on,

blast the amplifiers in the back with the soul on.//

"Hottie being attacked, 9 o'clock," Cordelia announced as they walked out in the night air, which was not cool but a refreshing change from the stifling heat of the club. Buffy paused for a second because the hot dark haired man, the blonde and another man were fighting a crew vampires in the alley. The dark haired girl stood off to the side, obviously amused by the show and as Buffy headed over to help, she saw the girl reach out for a vampire that was about to jump the blonde man from behind. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lodged her red high heel shoe in his shin before staking him.

Acting now and asking questions later, Buffy aided the group in the fight, wondering where the hell this group of vampires had materialized from. She didn't want to be introduced to them after Slaying. This wasn't how she had already planned meeting her future-god-he-had-to-be lover. But there really wasn't a choice, so she pulled her stake out of her purse and ran up to join the fight.

"Okay, where did you guys learn to fight like that?" Buffy asked, looking at the group with surprise on her face after the final dust had settled. She wasn't all that used to be surprised.

"That's what we do," the dark haired man answered in a voice that was velvet over granite. She shivered as he continued, "I'm a private investigator. We handle the *other* cases, if you know what I mean. I'm Angel."

So that's what the woman meant when she said "my Angel." But what was with the "my" part?

"Of Angel Investigations," the blonde added, "I'm Spike. This is Drusilla."

"Penn," the other nodded with a sexy smile.

"I'm Buffy," she answered, "And these are my friends: Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander. So...you guys fight vampires?"

"Yep and demons," Spike said, looking her over like she was a treat to be nibbled on, "And other sorts of nasties."

"It was nice to meet you, Buffy," Angel said, gracing her with another sentence of his addicting voice, coming from full lips. He extended his hand with a business card between his two first fingers, "Give us a call if you ever need help."

"Sure," she said watching as the foursome strode away. They all seemed so strong and confident as they walked in the night. They didn't look around them but still seemed very aware of their surroundings.

"Earth to Buffy," Xander said.

"Huh?"

"I said, space girl, are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah," she nodded, stumbling after her friends. She looked over her shoulder one more time as she moved away and Angel turned, looking back at her. And she stopped breathing. Again. But just for a second.

***

Part Two - "Who Are You?"

//i would die for you,

i would die for you,

i've been dying just to feel you by my side, to know that you're mine.//

Two days later, Angel was still in a world of fierce denial. He had to mentally tie himself down to keep from running to the UCLA campus and professing his eternal love her. Even as he thought it, he knew it was preposterous for a vampire to be in love with a Slayer and even more so was thinking of telling her. He could almost feel the stake through his heart and could see the look on her face as he revealed his demon to her. A part of him thought it might be worth it just to feel her touch him before he dissipated to ash.

He wondered to the lobby and thought about feeding before going on patrol but whenever he thought about blood, he thought about being a vampire and that led directly to the infinite amount of torment he was going to suffer for loving the girl. She was so young and vibrant that she seemed to cast radiance around her and a small part of that started to seep into his dark, broody world. Every once in awhile, over the past couple of days, he thought about her and how her heartbeat had increased when he spoke to her - and that was after she had just exerted herself in battle - and realized he was grinning like an idiot.

His children were having a heyday with this newest intrigue, making fun of him at every turn, teasing him without mercy and he almost didn't care. Nothing could cloud over the memory of her brilliant smile, the way she walked and her voice, the mixture of a girl finding her womanhood. It was inebriating.

"Look, it's a great bloody Poof still sniffing the memory of The Slayer," Spike called out from the couch. He shifted to slump a bit more, shifting Drusilla in his lap as he did. Angel tried to scowl in response to the comment, but it came out as more of a crooked grin instead.

"Give ‘em a break, Spike," Penn said from his prone position on the counter top. He rested his head on his folded arms and couldn't keep the smile from his own face, "I mean, I've been thinking about her too...tight little ass shaking beneath those party pants."

"Good point," Spike said, moving his hand over Dru's thigh, feeling her tense with jealousy as he spoke, "Chit was a cutie."

"Oh, man, what I wouldn't give for one tiny taste of her-"

"Don't say it," Angel said, glaring as he moved across the lobby.

"I wasn't going to say ‘blood,'" Penn said, sitting up, "I was going to say-"

"Penn," Angel growled in a final warning.

"I was going to say ‘pussy,'" Penn said, the word coming out strangled as Angel's fist caught his nose. Penn fell off the counter top with the force of his blow and crashed to the floor.

"Shut the fuck up," Angel snarled, looking down at him with yellow eyes.

"You broke my nose," Penn said, reaching up to cup the blood that began to flow from his nostrils. Penn laughed at his Sire even as he groaned in pain, "But it was completely worth it."

Angel headed directly to the kitchen, leaving the annoying scene of the three of them behind him. He guzzled a pint of blood and tossed it in the trash before following with another. He was entertaining the idea of grumbling under his breath when he heard the familiar sharp intake of unneeded breath and a loud female wail of pain. He skidded back into the lobby to watch as Drusilla, overcome with her vision, shivered and convulsed in Spike's arms.

"It's okay, baby," Spike whispered to his lover as she stared at the ceiling. Her eyes were glazed as she saw, not what was above her, but the images flashing across her mind. Angel lowered himself to one knee and bent over her as she called out for him.

"Angel," she said, turning her head slowly. Several seconds were required before her dark eyes focused on his face, "Your Slayer..."

"What?" Angel said when she tapered off, "Is she in danger? Dru?"

***

//see your face every place that i walk in,

hear your voice every time i'm talking.//

Buffy left the coffee shop and her friends to sipping cappuccinos and debating the world's events with upperclassmen so that she could patrol. She wasn't sure what was more funny, the fact that all the suedo-intellectuals were being burnt left and right by Willow and Oz's superior knowledge on almost every subject they broached or the way that Xander protectively hung over his girlfriend trying to wipe the other men's drool off her shoes.

She could tell that Xander was having second thoughts about not attending college. Of course, he had no interest whatsoever in getting a degree or acquiring knowledge of any kind, but Cordy was simply too pretty to be left alone on that big campus alone. Buffy knew that it was only a matter of time before he started hanging around the quad on his days off work.

She regretted having to leave because for the first time, she started to feel like maybe she could belong. Not everyone was brilliant there. Some people were just normal, like her. A couple of boys even looked at her like she was a girl tonight. The problem with being treated like a girl by the boys was that she wasn't being noticed by the one person she desperately wanted to notice.

The first week of school wasn't really the best time to begin the daydreams in class but all she could seem to concentrate on was Angel. "Girly name," as Xander so vehemently insisted, or not, he melted all ability to study or even listen. And there was nothing girly about that man. She had spent the last couple days, in addition to thinking about Angel, trying to talk herself out of asking Willow to jump on the ‘net and investigate the investigator. It seemed wrong to poke around about him without his knowledge. Where he lived, what his phone number was...whether anyone lived with him - those were things that his personal business. She shouldn't stick her nose in where it didn't belong.

It would be wrong.

She smiled at her decision to ask Willow tonight when she got home when she heard a sound behind her and pulled her stake from her pocket.

"You know," she said, turning around, "It's kinda rude to interrupt other people's fantasies."

Her jaw fell open as she realized that her attacker wasn't one vampire but seven. The way the slaying had been going lately, she was beginning to think that LA had it's very own Hellmouth. She had noticed too, since her arrival here, that her Spidey sense was seriously off again. These vampires nearly tapped her on the damn shoulder before she realized they were there. She didn't have time to think about what might be wrong with her, however, because her attackers were closing in. Deadly yellow eyes shone in the night as a chorus of growls sounded.

Buffy made the first move and sent the vamp closest to her flying back with a perfectly executed crescent kick. She didn't have time to enjoy the sound of his grunt as he hit the pavement because the others moved in hard and fast, striking out at her. She dusted one as she felt hands pulling at her.

Two strong arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides, attempting to squeeze the breath from her body. She jerked her head back and gave the vampire a fangful of blonde hair and hard skull. He cried out in pain, stepping back, but not far enough to avoid the stake that made all the pain disappear.

Two down and five to go, Buffy thought as she dodged a fist on one side of her and a flying leg on the other. The vampires regrouped as they moved in, realizing that they had initially underestimated their opponent. Two grabbed her arms, struggling to hold her wiggling body steady.

"Slayer," the leader snarled, anxious to say that word to an actual Slayer since he was turned. He was a huge demon, hulking over her and Buffy was beginning to get a little nervous as he moved closer. His little band of malcontents joined him because they all dreamed of the same thing he always had - to taste the blood of a Slayer. When the law firm, Wolfram & Hart, offered to give them her location and money if they could kill her, they jumped at the chance.

The vampire screamed as he fell to dust and revealed Angel holding a stake, point out, behind him. He smiled at Buffy in a greeting that would have made her weak in the knees, if she hadn't needed to escape. Angel immediately threw his stake into the chest of the vamp on Buffy's right, freeing an arm before shoving off the other two vampires who pounced on him. He heard the sound Buffy slaying the vampire who had been on her left as he staked his other two in rapid succession. "Thanks," she said, walking over and closing the distance between them. An unbearable two feet lay between them as he turned to face her.

"You're welcome," he answered sticking his stake in his pocket just to have something to do.

"I'm glad you happened along," she answered, allowing her eyes to sweep over his broad form as she spoke, "How did you happen along?"

"Drusilla is a seer," he answered honestly, trying to appear casual as those hazel-green eyes shifted over him, "She saw you were in danger. I came to help."

"Oh," Buffy said, "So your girlfriend's a psychic then?"

"Not exactly," Angel answered and quickly added, "and she's not my girlfriend."

"Oh," Buffy said, cocking an eyebrow at him and biting her inner jaw to keep from smiling at his response...and cheering, "So what is she *exactly*?"

"A friend," he answered, only kinda dishonestly.

"No, I mean, if she isn't a psychic, then what is she?" Buffy nearly jumped for joy that he misunderstood her question. Maybe that meant he was interested. Maybe it just meant that he was answering the damn question.

"She gets visions from The Powers That Be of people in trouble," he answered, "She's a bit psychic, I guess. I mean, she was before she starting stewarding for The Powers, but lately all she sees are horrible scenes that need to be averted."

"So you knew her before she started getting the visions?" Buffy asked as they walked down the street together, in a sort of boyfriendly-girlfriendly way. Okay, so it wasn't couple-like at all, but it could be considered the step before that. Buffy looked at the scenery in front of her as she inwardly chided herself for reaching. He almost seemed like he was trying not to look at her and she couldn't help but wonder what that meant.

"Yes."

"How long have you known her?"

"A long time," Angel answered, refusing to give her the details that would lead to bad roads of too much information, "A very long time."

***

//you will believe in me,

and i will never be ignored.//

In Angel's dream, Buffy was reaching out to touch him. When she made contact with his cold skin, he felt her warmth spread through him, tingling every place on his undead body. He dared to touch her back, tentatively pressing his lips against hers. When she responded to his kiss, he sighed into her mouth as his fingers threaded through her hair, finding it just as soft as it always was in his dreams. Her tongue moved against his and the little breaths of air escaping her lungs fed his soul as he pulled her in more closely.

Her body was a contradiction, hard and soft at once, strong and yet so pliable as she allowed him to lower her to his bed. He touched her everywhere, wanting to experience every inch of her soft, golden skin. Her clothes melted away and they took with them all of her defenses, all of his reasons to stop. He was rewarded by her moan of pleasure as he sucked one hard nipple into his mouth and twirled his tongue around it. She arched against him, fingers pressing into his back as he moved from one perfect breast to the other.

He kissed his way down her torso, unable to stop himself from dipping in to taste the cutest belly button he had ever seen. She was so warm against him and he felt his body temperature rising with each moment he was touching her. Soon he would rise above room temperature and burn along with his lover. She didn't seem to notice that his skin was cooler. She didn't seem to notice that his heart wasn't beating, that he didn't breath. She breathed for them both, panting lust into the room.

"Angel," she moaned as he finally entered her dripping core. His soul soared with happiness as she uttered his name. The way it sounded in her heated voice, the way it looked plucking off of her red lips was more than his dream mind could handle. He struggled to hold on to her inside his dream world, willing his body not to wake as he felt her inner muscles flexing against his thrusts. Harsh reality beckoned and he growled in frustration as the dream began to freeze, as her warmth began to fade. She felt cold. She was disappearing as he began to wake, but he still felt...

Angel opened his eyes and looked down at Drusilla. She was nude and on her hands as knees, the way he used to like her before he lost his soul. He used to tell her to kneel, raise her ass in the air and keep her thighs open. He wanted to smell her dripping pussy as she sucked him off, liked her spread wide in submission for him as she pressed down. He used to love that she could take all of him, loved the feel of his cock meeting the back of her throat. He used to. Now all he felt was guilt for the things that he had done and enjoyed before.

"Dru," he groaned in frustration, caught between the erotic sight, smell and feel of her and the irritation that she was knowingly violating him. He almost felt, in a strange way, that this act was cheating on the devotion he felt for Buffy. Even before he saw his golden Slayer for the first time, he stopped sleeping with Dru almost entirely, but after he had seen her, he stopped completely. He would rather be celibate for the rest of his unlife than entertain the idea of sleeping with anyone but his heart's mate.

"My Angel," Dru whispered as she pulled back to look at him. After knowing him so intimately for so long, she stroked him perfectly, applying the exact amount of pressure as she wrapped her fingers around his erect cock. She licked the tip and smiled at his growl of lust-anger. Her eyes looked far away in the memories of what had been as she took him in her mouth again, cupping his scrotum with one hand.

"Please..." he said with gritted teeth as her movements increased, sucking him harder and faster. He couldn't ask her to stop and knew that she wouldn't anyway. He might be in love with Buffy but he was still a man. He gripped the headboard and released into her mouth. He was still recovering from his climax as she licked her lips and crawled up lay her head on his chest.

"Mmmm," she purred as she closed her eyes, moving her manicured nails over his chest and stomach absently.

"I asked you not to do that anymore," he growled but even as he spoke, he caressed her silky dark hair.

"You woke me up," she whispered, "You called to me and I came."

"What are you talking about?" he sighed, looking down at her, "Spike hates this. You know that."

"I crave you, Angel," she answered, rising to return to her mate, "I need you like you used to need Darla. It's your blood in my veins. It begs for you."

He watched her without speaking as she left the room and listened to her bare feet padding down the carpeted hallway. He had to think of a way to keep this from happening again. He thought about locking his door every night, but the times he had tried it, she still got in. He wasn't sure what it was about his Childe, but the woman had power he would never understand.

***

//heaven help me, my head is spin'n round,

stop this airplane cause i got to get down//

"You saw *Angel* last night," Willow said sleepily as she watched Buffy brushing out her hair and glowing with happiness.

"Why do you say that?" Buffy asked. Willow sat up in bed and gave her friend the *I'm not stupid* look.

"You're up an hour early and you're wearing a leather jacket two sizes too big over your pajamas. Did you sleep in that?"

"No," Buffy said, lifting her head defensively and then giggling, "With it but not in it."

"Oh God," Willow said, falling back in bed, "Tell me what happened."

"He saved me from a gang of vamps, told me Drusilla wasn't his girlfriend and gave me his jacket because he said I looked cold," she answered.

"Oh so you asked about Drusilla?"

"I couldn't help myself," Buffy said sheepishly, "Which brings me directly to asking for a favor."

"What?" Willow said, yawning. She scooted to the edge of the bed and crossed her legs as she waited for Buffy to spit out her request, which happened after several seconds of overactive mumbling and excuses.

"I want you to look up Angel and find out stuff about him on the Internet," Buffy answered.

"Buffy," Willow said, shifting to her feet and shuffling across the room, "it's invasion of privacy you know."

"Come on, Will," Buffy begged, "Just a few tidbits. We don't have to find out *everything* about him. Please look him up. Please?"

"No," Willow answered after a moment and began sinking under the pressure of Buffy's pout, "I'm not going to look him up...again."

"Again?" Buffy shouted, jumping to her feet.

"Well, I wanted to make sure he wasn't a creep," Willow blurted.

"Well is he? A creep?"

"I don't know. He hardly exists."

"Huh?"

"It's the strangest thing," Willow said, settling on Buffy's bed next to her, "He runs his business out of the Hotel Hyperion. He doesn't have a driver's license or a birth certificate that I can find. Or a last name."

"Are you sure you looked hard enough?" Buffy asked quietly, not wanting to hurt the redheaded witch's feelings.

"Buffy, I checked every source I could think of."

"What about his friends?"

"They're blanks slates too," Willow said, grim faced, "It's like they all just fell out of the sky or something."

"Okay, well maybe they're from another country," Buffy volunteered, remembering Spike and Drusilla's English accents.

"From another country that doesn't keep birth records?" Willow asked.

"Well..." Buffy said, thinking about the news, "What about the hotel? How long has he been staying there? Does that girl, Drusilla, have a room there too?"

"He's not staying at the hotel," Willow corrected, "He owns it. And all four of them live there, I think."

"How could he own a hotel when he doesn't have any identification?"

"He paid cash," Willow answered and receiving the expected shocked look from her friend. He paid cash? For a fucking *hotel*?

***

//you want me?

well, fuckin' well come and find me.

i'll be waitin'//

"Hello there," Penn said in a voice dripping with charm as the Slayer walked into the lobby. Every time he saw her, he regretted that the territory had already been claimed by his Sire. As she walked into the room, she looked around slowly and Penn watched as her long, silky blonde hair shifted over her shoulders. He had only been partially kidding when he said he wanted to taste her.

"Hi...um, Penn, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yep," he nodded, taking in her slim figure while she looked around the hotel, "What can I do for you?"

"I was looking for Angel, actually," she said and Penn smiled knowingly. Of course she was looking for Angel. He couldn't believe how the man attracted women - both demon females and human. If there was a member of the opposite sex in the picture, she was swooning over his Sire. Spike and Penn had begrudgingly accepted that fact over their long years in knowing him but Penn had made a silent rule long ago to never introduce his women to Angel if it could be avoided. Drusilla was a perfect example of what not to do. Spike was crazy for living under the same roof when his mate couldn't stay out of their Sire's bed. The part that usually pissed him off the most was that except for this little blonde, Angel never even wanted them!

"He's downstairs," Penn answered, nodding toward the door, "Go on down. I'm sure he won't mind."

He grinned evilly as she headed downstairs. He knew Angel was down there working out and probably looked like shit. He watched her open the door and head down the steps with small, shy steps. He hoped the old Sire was extremely pissed off from this little stunt.

Buffy blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light and tiptoed basement steps. She felt like an intruder as she wandered down, taking in the musty scent that all basements seemed to have. She listened for any sounds at all but heard none and as she got to the last step, he came into view.

His muscular bare chest appeared, clearing her mind of lucid thought. His bare feet and arms moved in a graceful kata. She always thought that repeatedly doing the same movements over and over was kinda useless once the motions were memorized. Seeing him absorbed in concentration, body flexing in a god-like manner, made her change her mind. Katas were the perfect way to work out. Lesson learned.

She thought about saying something, but her throat was suddenly dry and she found herself wondering why she hurried over her after her first afternoon class to talk to him. She was content not talking, though, and continuing to look. As he turned, she saw a large bird-like tattoo on his right shoulder and it seemed seductive to her innocent eyes. She wasn't sure why a bird drawn in ink on skin would leave her breathless and flushed, but it did. Everything about how he moved, looked and smelled left her flushed. Whenever he was out of sight, she almost convinced herself that she imagined how beautiful he was until she saw him again and was corrected. She thought she was going to melt into a puddle of desire before his eyes shifted to her. His sweeping arms froze as he saw her and he blinked for a second before dropping his arms.

"Buffy," he said, inwardly cursing Penn for sending her down here. It had to be Penn because no one else would get such pleasure from making him look like an ass. Except Spike, of course, but he was more obvious about things than Penn. Angel hurriedly moved to slip his shirt back on and felt it clinging to his sweaty chest as he turned to look at her. He ran a hand over his hair and looked at the beauty standing in front of him. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and somehow she made the casual attire unbelievably sexy. He wanted to send flowers to the person who made those jeans. They hugged her curves in all the right places and made it very hard not to stare.

"Hi," she answered hoarsely, "I'm sorry for interrupting your workout."

"That's okay," he said. He wasn't sorry at all that she had interrupted, he was only sorry that he was all sweaty and disgusting when she arrived.

"I just wanted to thank you," she said, "for saving my life last night."

"You're welcome," he said, moving toward the stairs and leading the way back to the lobby. He gave Penn a deadly stair as his eyes landed on him and a vicious smile came back at him.

"Want something to drink?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, we have plenty of-" Penn started and was interrupted as Angel nearly shouted over his words, "Water. We have water and tea."

"I actually have class," Buffy answered, "So I have to get back. I just wanted to drop in and thank you."

"Oh, okay," he said, nodding, trying to think of something else to say and coming up empty.

"Are you going to the club tonight?" Penn said. He ignored Angel's flashing yellow eyes as he moved in closer to the petite blonde, "It's Thursday. Ladies night."

"Are you guys going?" Buffy asked, looking over at Angel for the answer.

"Sure," he shrugged, "Why not? See you there?"

"Okay," she said, giving him a blinding smile, "See you later."

Buffy moved toward the door but didn't leave completely. She felt only slightly guilty as she leaned as closely as she could to the door without being seen. She hugged herself as she heard Angel yell at Penn, "What the hell is your problem?"

"What?" Penn asked in a voice that betrayed his pleasure at the anger coming at him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Angel's voice answered, wafting through the doors to her ears.

"Aw, come on. Loosen up, big guy," Penn returned, "She didn't find out anything, so you can calm down now."

"Stay away from her," Angel ordered loudly, "I've seen the way you look at her. Lay one hand on her and I'll break every bone in your miserable body."

"Angelus," Penn said, responding to his Sire's violence, "You may be in love with her but you can never have her. Neither can I. We both know that."

"I know that!" Angel said quietly, "I know I can never have her. I know."

***

Part Three - "Bad to be Good"

//a weak, weak, weak, weak slave,

a weak slave that goes to the wall.//

"I'm broken," Buffy sighed as Giles set about his third round of Slayerosity tests.

"Really Buffy," Giles sighed back, "You must concentrate. You are not broken."

"Something is really wrong with me and my reflexes are not the issue this time, so why are we concentrating exactly?" Buffy complained, "Maybe you're off your game too."

"Buffy, please."

"Sorry," Buffy relented, "I didn't mean that. It's just this can't sense the vampires thing and the hottie who loves me but can't love me. It's the first week of school!"

"The hottie?" Giles asked.

"Angel," Buffy explained, "Of Angel Investigations. Has this crew of attractive and annoying sidekicks."

"Why didn't you tell me that you had met him?" Giles demanded, jerking his glasses off of his face to reveal more clearly his disapproval.

"What's the big? I met a guy and I'm supposed to report it to you?"

"You met a *vampire* and his *vampire* progeny. That's what you're supposed to report to me."

"He's not a vampire, Giles," Buffy pleaded, "*Please* tell me he isn't a vampire and you're making this up because I've been slacking on patrol this week."

"He most certainly *is* a vampire."

***

//a pretty piece of flesh, and yes, you better show your crest,

shoulder holster strapped, i'm pullin' from the chest.

guess who's gonna be the first to pull it from you.//

"Need to talk to you," Spike said, coming up behind Angel on the street as he headed for The Velvet Dog for an unofficial date with Buffy. Angel was already tense and irritated that this little meeting was set up by Penn, who was trying to screw everything up as it was. He really didn't want to deal with Spike right now.

"What?" Angel asked, stopping to face Spike.

"I thought sure this Slayer thing would keep you off my mate but since she's hasn't given you any yet, I guess that means you still have to move in on my territory," he shouted.

"First of all, your mate, faithful as she is, came to me. Secondly, you're out of line, William. If you want her to stay out of my bed, then keep her out of it!"

"I'm so tired of your holier than thou Sire bullshit. You don't own her or me."

"That's a relief," Angel sneered back, "Feel free to go at any time."

Angel stalked off angrily, leaving Spike steaming behind him. Although he didn't want to admit it, Angel knew that Spike was well aware of what was going on. He just couldn't deal with the idea that Drusilla was to blame, so the shit had to roll elsewhere. In the same situation, he would probably react the same way -

or worse actually. If he were dating Buffy - that's a laugh - in an alternate universe where he was fit to touch just a golden hair on her head and he found out some other guy was sleeping with her...

Lost in thought, he didn't hear Spike coming up behind him again until it was too late. He felt a hand on his arm and was spun around. Using the element of surprise, Spike sucker punched his Sire.

"That was for last night!" Spike growled before pushing Angel up against the wall and speaking softly, "Now listen to me."

"Spike," Angel growled back, "You don't want to start this with me."

"Listen, mate," Spike said in an almost whisper, "Saw your other golden Childe talking to that lawyer last night."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Angel demanded, "You knew she couldn't sense us and that something was wrong!"

"You were so busy with my mate, I thought you didn't need to know," Spike fumed, letting go of Angel, "But listen, we both know he's never been right since he got his soul. I think they're doing something to your girl."

"Thank you, Spike," Angel said gratefully.

"Wanna thank me? Keep your dick out of Dru."

"Last time I'm going to tell you this," Angel said, quietly as he stood up from the wall, "She's coming to me and I've asked her to stop. You need to deal with her on this. I've tried to keep her away and she won't listen. With Buffy in the picture, the last thing I want is to jeopardize what I don't have with another woman."

Turning once more, Angel moved toward The Velvet Dog with a new sense of determination. He had to find out what was being done to Buffy and how to stop it.

***

//love lorn, torn from two sides,

thinking of dark skies,

and through the heavens i be seeing worlds collide.//

"Do you see him anywhere?" Buffy asked, craning her neck to see every corner of the club.

"Are you going to stake him right away or do we get to watch you beat him up first?" Xander asked excitedly. He looked around at the dirty looks he was receiving and added, "What? He's a vampire. We're all cuddly toward them now?"

"Please," Buffy said, glancing at him for a second before returning to her search of the club, "Just don't talk about Angel, okay?"

"You're talking about him," Xander said, crossing his arms.

"Shut up, Xander," Willow said harshly, "Sorry. This is a very upsetting thing for Buffy."

"*Who's* upset?" Cordy asked, glaring at Willow. Xander touched her leg under the table to quiet her and before the two girls began throwing insults, Buffy stood.

"There he is," Buffy said, sliding out her seat and heading across the dance floor to him. She lengthened her strides as she neared him, reminding herself that he was a creature of the night and not in any way a good guy.

Well, maybe he was a good guy. Truthfully, she was confused. Giles explained the whole cursed soul deal, but it just seemed weird. Something in her mind just wanted it to be less gray and more simple: Vampires were evil. Angel is a vampire. Angel is evil.

But it wasn't working. Certain factors kept creeping in that ruined the whole equation. He said that he loved her and apparently his friend or Childe or whatever knew it. He admitted it like it was common knowledge. Then there was the saving her life thing. She thought back on every time she'd seen him or talked to him. She, admittedly, had the tendency to be naive when it came to men, but his eyes were so deep that they had to lead to a soul.

She stopped in front of him and waited for him to acknowledge her. Hands on her hips, face covered in anger, she glowered at him.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Yeah, you really do, *vampire,*" she snapped, following him to the corner, knowing that the eyes of her friends were following them as well.

"So you know now," he said just loud enough so she could hear him over the thumping house beat. The music usually pumped her up and made her feel good, but tonight it was a distracting noise, fueling her emotions.

"That'd be a big yes," she answered, shifting away from his eyes for a second and finding the rest of his physique just as distracting, "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you think the vampire thing was a pretty big detail to not mention?"

"I don't know, *Slayer,*" Angel said, raising his voice slightly, "Not like you were all about telling me what you do at night. Besides, how long would I have had to tell you about my soul before you staked me?"

"Glad you brought that up," she said, "You think it makes you and your little undead pals good because you have souls now?"

"No," Angel said, shaking his head negatively, "I think it makes me remorseful of what I've done in my life. It doesn't make me good. It makes me want to be good. That's not the case for all of us, which is why I need to talk to you."

Buffy waited for him to continue, feeling the lump move from her throat to her heart. She felt like she was swelling in front of him and if he kept talking she might start to believe him.

"Look, there's a law firm here in town that's so evil, they make vampires look like kittens."

Angel paused and looked around him before continuing, "I think Penn is working with them and they've done something to you. There has to be a reason you didn't sense us."

"A law firm?" Buffy asked incredibly, "The reason I can't sense vampires is because there are some evil lawyers in town? Give me a break."

Buffy said, turning away from him, feeling the anger overtake her body. He was lying. He had to be. What kind of moron would buy that story?

She felt his hand on her arm and was suddenly against his body. Two large hands covered her shoulders, holding her tightly to his chest. Taking the risk of getting his ass kicked or getting staked, he lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her roughly, pushing his tongue into her warm mouth. Just as if his dream was coming to life, she responded to his kiss, her small hand moving up to touch the side of his face. He allowed himself to thread his fingers into her hair as he had done so many times before while he slept and deepened the kiss as he realized it was silkier, softer and warmer than his dreams could portray.

When the kiss ended, he looked down into her eyes, "I love you. I'm not supposed to and I don't want to but I can't help it. You can hate me, Buffy. You have every right to, but I'm not going to stop helping you. I'm going to do what I have to do to protect you."

"I don't know how to deal with this," Buffy answered quietly, which was a fantastic answer to Angel's starving ears. It was so much better than a straight out rejection or the stake through the heart alternative.

"You don't have to," Angel said, "I will."

***

//i feel just like a local god when i'm with the boys.

we do what we want, yes we do what we want.

i feel just like a local god when i'm with the boys.

we do what we want, yes, we do what we want.//

"Isn't that kinda revealing for patrol?" Willow asked as she accompanied her friend through the streets of LA on Friday night.

Buffy looked down at her electric blue halter and black pants, "You think it's too slutty?"

"‘Slutty' is probably not the right word," Willow said, biting her lip, "Maybe I'll just stick with ‘revealing.'"

"I guess I was just thinking about..." Buffy said, allowing her sentence to fade.

"Um, Angel?" Willow asked with a knowing grin.

"Yeah," Buffy said, nodding, "Pathetic, I know."

"It's not pathetic," Willow defended, "It's very unpathetic in a nonpathetic way, but...."

"Right," Buffy pouted as she twirled her stake in her hand, "Vampire. Will, I just...I don't know how to-"

Buffy stopped talking and listened intently. Just as Willow was about to ask what was wrong, Buffy ran down the street, turning left at the alley. Willow followed, breathing heavily as she chased after her friend. The alley looked like a war zone as a gang of teenagers fought a much larger gang of vampires. She joined the fight, slaying vampires alongside the gang members, who all wondered who the blonde intruder was. Buffy was impressed with the stake launcher attached to the back of their pick up truck and the other inventive devices they had come up with. They obviously had fought the night many times before this.

A young girl, who looked to be about fifteen, screamed and Buffy spun to see the vampire sink his teeth into her throat. Her friends turned and began running towards her when Buffy dove across the alley. She knocked them both to the ground with the force of her jump, smiling as the demon's fangs slipped out of the girl. Buffy rolled over on the asphalt, grabbing the girl as she went. Depositing her shaken body to the side, Buffy rolled back and struck out contacting boot with ridged face before staking him. Buffy turned back and checked on the girl as the vampire exploded into dust.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, climbing to her feet and offering the teenager a hand.

"Yeah," the girl said nodding, "I thought I was a goner." Her face was ashen but by the look of her, Buffy was certain that this girl didn't usually look nourished and rosy cheeked.

"Who are you?" a deep voice from behind asked her and she turned to look at the person in question. He was tall and broad shouldered. An expression covered his handsome face that Buffy couldn't really identify. It was kinda angry-happy-irritated-relieved.

"Buffy," she answered, "Who are you?"

"Gunn," he answered, moving his palm over his smooth, hairless head, "Thanks for your help. Where'd you come from? Never seen a girl like you fight vamps before. Looks like you should be at club or something."

"Trying to get there," Buffy answered, slightly regretting her wardrobe choice for this evening, "I've never seen a vampire fighting gang before. Is that what you are?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding, "What are you? Cause you ain't no ordinary girl."

"I'm The Slayer," she answered and received a chorus of oohs and ahs from the gang behind Gunn. Willow came up and stood behind her, clearing her throat loudly and Buffy added, "This is my friend, Willow."

"Hey," Gunn said in greeting, "Thanks for helping out. We wouldn't have suffered a much bigger loss if you hadn't come along."

"You're wel-"

"Incoming!" shouted a voice followed by the body of a teenaged boy running up to Gunn with a crossbow in his hands, panting and out of breath, "Moving this way fast. Jumping roof top to roof top."

"Where you followed? He see you?" Gunn asked, turning his back on Buffy and Willow unapologetically and moving to follow his friends.

"No way," the boy answered proudly.

"Let's check it out," Gunn said as his gang filed in behind him. Buffy and Willow followed along as well as they went inside a building only to peek out from a gated entrance on the other side. Buffy sucked in a breath as she saw the "incoming" in question was Angel. He was standing in front of a rough looking man who was leaning on a parked car.

"What do you want?" the thug asked.

"Big question: What do I want?" Angel answered, pretending to think for a second, "Love - family - a place on this planet I can call my own, but you know what?"

"What?" the man asked, waiting for the answer and Buffy waited as well, already melting in the shadows from his words.

"I'm never going to have any of those things and unless these next few minutes go exactly the way I want them to, neither are you. I want to know what the firm has planned for The Slayer."

"Don't work for Wolfram & Hart anymore," he lied, unconvincingly.

"Oh! You only get one lie," Angel added, "I probably should have mentioned that first.

"Look pal," the thug said, patting Angel on the shoulder, "You're obviously not from around here, but trust me, you do *not* want to see my bad side."

"You show me yours," Angel said, as his face shifted to reveal his demon, "I show you mine."

Buffy looked up at Gunn who was grinning widely.

"Don't worry, ya'll," Gunn whispered to his crew, "I know that fool. It's cool."

"Okay," Angel growled, not noticing his audience. He grabbed the thug and pushed him roughly against the side of the car. "So now I'm from around here. In fact, I'm moving in, taking over. You understand me? I will dog you every night for the rest of your very short life until you bring me the information I want. I want to know what they've done to The Slayer. Are we clear?"

Angel glared as the thug nodded frantically in response. He pushed him back on last time and sneered, "Yeah, see ya tomorrow."

"You know him?" Buffy asked, peering up into Gunn's eyes.

"Yeah, well, he ain't breathing, but he's alright. I've helped him out a couple of times," Gunn answered.

"So he's good, right?" Buffy said, looking back quickly to see that Angel had already gone.

"Yeah, as far as vamps go...So, are you still clubbing it tonight?" Gunn asked with a alluring smile, "Cause all of a sudden, I feel like dancing."

***

//well you better not see me when you come back.//

"Not to pry," Spike said as he and Angel stopped in front of Wolfram & Hart's massive office building, "But is there a reason Penn's chained up in the basement?"

"Yes," Angel answered, pausing at the entrance of the parking garage to look the blonde vampire.

"Don't keep me in suspense. I know you got a big ole yen for The Slayer, but this is kinda like Angelus behavior, isn't it? You're always telling me to be all nice like and now you're torturing people."

"This is Sire to Childe punishment," Angel said, deadly serious and angry, "He's going to stay down there until I find out what's been done to Buffy. And it's not torturing, it's holding."

"Whatever, mate."

"What you're about to see," Angel growled as a black limousine pulled out of the garage, "This is torture."

Spike followed Angel to the car and according to plan, within 30 seconds, two tires were flat and they were sitting calmly inside with Lindsay McDonald.

"Hey Lindsay," Angel said, leaning back in his seat as Spike blew smoke across the car at the lawyer.

"How's Lilah?" Spike asked with a cold smile.

"In therapy," Lindsay answered, "I should thank you for that, Spike."

"No problem," Spike said laughing happily, "Be glad to help out again anytime."

"Sorry to break up the niceties," Angel said, "But I've got some business with you, Lindsay."

"What would that be?" he asked as the black protective window separating the front of the limo from the back, slid down. Angel reached back and pulled the guard who was about to attack him through the window and pushed him to the floor. He stomped his boot down on the guard's face and turned back to the driver.

"Roll it back up," he demanded. Lindsay gave a short nod and the window slowly moved back up.

"Angel's a little testy," Spike said in a falsely confidential voice, "You guys are hurting The Slayer. Makes him all crazy."

"So why are you here?" Lindsay asked.

"Just for the fun," Spike answered truthfully, "I was hoping I could watch him kill you. He doesn't kill people too much anymore. Makes for a boring, goody-goody lifestyle we got going."

"What are you doing to The Slayer?" Angel asked, crunching his boot down on the guard so Lindsay would hear a cry of pain.

"I wasn't informed. I'm a junior partner. I do what I'm told."

"Glad to hear it," Angel growled, "Let me tell you what you're going to do. Go back to the people who actually have balls in the firm and tell them that if The Slayer isn't back to normal tomorrow, I'm coming back."

"And then what?" Lindsay asked, trying to remain calm and wondering if these defanged vampires would actually kill him, "Just for curiosity's sake."

"You don't want to know," Spike said, slapping Lindsay's suited shoulder like a comrade as he hopped back out of the car, "Trust me. It gets ugly from here."

***

Part Four - "Four Souls"

***

//it was a scream last night

it was getting kinda fun//

The mansion was quiet when Angel and Spike returned. Eerily quiet. The two souled vampires took a second and stood just inside the double doors, listening for anything. Without looking at each or uttering a single word, they pivoted in separate directions. With vampiric speed propelling them forward, Angel headed toward the basement and Spike went up the stairs.

Angel could hear Spike calling Drusilla's name through the hallways upstairs as he stood still in front of the hanging chains that had held Penn. Fury infused Angel's normally rational blood as he stared at the empty wall. Even though he already knew this was going to happen, it didn't stop the anger from taking over. He headed back up the stairs, feeling his darkest roots bolting headfirst into his emotions.

"She's gone!" Spike screamed at his Sire with wide, panicked eyes.

"I know," Angel answered, nodding.

"Well, we've got to find her!" he screamed again, finding his way down the stairs. He ran out the door and was flung back inside, sliding across the lobby floor.

"Calm down, Spike."

"Calm down?" Spike yelled, jumping to his feet, "When it's your bloody mate, it's full steam ahead and when it's mine, you're all *calm down*? Fuck you! We're finding her!"

"I know where she is," Angel answered, moving toward the door. Spike ran up and stood between Angel and the door.

"Where is she?"

"She's with Penn."

"Where the bloody hell is Penn?"

"At Wolfram and Hart."

"Oh hell no," Spike said, shaking his head, "You aren't going to tell me you think she's working with that crazy Childe of yours."

"Okay," Angel said, "I won't."

"She's working with him?" Spike asked, sinking to the stairs and holding his head in his hands.

"No," Angel answered, his mouth curling into a cold scowl, "Penn thinks she is."

"Did you plan something without me, ya bloody Poof?" Spike asked, rising to his feet once more, "How dare you put her in danger without even telling me first!"

"You wouldn't have let her go," Angel answered, walking out the door. Spike stood there and watched them swing back and forth for a second before yelling, "You're damn right, I wouldn't have!"

***

//chi-chi-bow stars and bottle rocket fantasies,

but on the streets some knights and killers,

they be after me.//

"You're looking a little twitchy, Lilah," Penn said from his seat across the desk. Lilah sat behind it and looked as if she wished there was a reinforced steel wall there instead. She was having less than cuddly feelings toward vampires lately. She had been staring at Drusilla as she floated around the office, touching things at random, until Penn spoke to her. The infamous Drusilla was in her office and just the idea of it made her skin crawl, ss did the thoughts of how Spike would react when he found out his mate had turned against him. She had the tiny fear nestling inside her that the blonde vampire would blame her for whatever happened to his girl. That fear was quickly turning to chills that ran nonstop up and down her spine.

"Really?" Lilah answered, with false confidence, "So do you."

"I have good reason," Penn answered, looking calm despite Lilah's comment.

"If you two are done," Lindsay said, from his perched corner of Lilah's desk, "We should get to business. Spike will find out Dru is gone soon and that she set you free. I'm sure we should prepare for the building to be breached."

"Spike," Drusilla whispered and turned to show them her haunted eyes, "Spike won't like this. He'll want to hurt you."

"I know," Lilah answered, shaken.

"Then we should be quick," Lindsay said brightly, standing up, "Penn, did you treat Angel's blood supply?"

"Yep," he nodded, smiling, "Of course, there's a strong possibility that Spike could drink it too. Or already has."

"That's fine," Lindsay answered, "We already accounted for that possibility."

Turning to Lilah, he asked, "The spells on Buffy?"

"In place," Lilah answered, rising to her feet, "She can't sense vampires and after seeing Angel tonight, the other spell should click in place."

"Good," Lindsay said to her before facing Penn again, "You will be able to take out The Slayer before he gets to you?"

"Sure," Penn replied, "But I have one last warning for you two."

"Your Sire is a big, mean bad guy, yada, yada, yada," Lindsay said with a wave of his prosthetic hand, "I noticed, thanks."

"No," Penn answered, reaching out to Drusilla who melded herself to his side, "You've never seen my Sire. Hell will crawl back to earth tonight."

"He'll hurt you," Drusilla said, focusing her mad eyes on Lindsay's bright blue ones, "Just like he hurt me...only worse."

***

//self preservation is what's really going on today//

Angel knew the plan, knew where Dru was and what she was doing. He had a good idea what Penn had in mind and despite all the comforting knowledge, he was still reeling with his own uncontrollable anger. His hands shook as he headed to the small house across town and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" the questioning voice said, coming from the mouth of an older British gentleman.

"I'm Angel. You must be Rupert Giles."

"Angelus?" Giles asked, forcing himself not to step away from the door simply because he knew that the invisible barrier would keep him out. Knowing a vampire had a soul who was supposedly good and facing said vampire were two entirely different things.

"Not exactly," Angel answered.

"I don't think I feel comfortable inviting you in," Giles admitted, "Even though Buffy seems to trust you."

"Please don't," Angel said, not seeming to be offended, "I'll spit this out quickly. Wolfram & Hart, the law firm, have been working with Penn to do something to Buffy."

"Your sired Childe?”

"Yes," Angel said, holding out one of his business cards, "I'm taking Buffy to my hotel and keeping her there until I figure out what's going on. I wanted you to know where she was going to be."

"I appreciate the courtesy," Giles answered, "But I'm not overly convinced that leaving her in your care is the best option."

"It's the only option."

Giles watched his duster billowing out behind him as he walked away and shivered for a moment. This was the vampire that Buffy referred to as a "hottie"? The deadly look in his eyes was all Rupert Giles could see. He was walking vengeance yet to be exacted.

***

//i didn't know where to shake my butt

walked backwards, fucked like a fox//

Buffy and Willow danced with Gunn at The Velvet Dog. It was later than they usually stayed out dancing but the fun just kept coming, so they stayed. Buffy was impressed with Gunn's dance moves and Willow couldn't stop laughing at his complaints with the music choices.

"Where's the bounce to this?" Gunn asked, as he moved in perfect time to the beat.

"I think they keep it at another club," Willow said, laughing and dancing along.

"That ain't no shit," Gunn said and grinned at Willow's chuckle. Buffy cracked a smile at his whining over the music. She loved the undertoned thump, the way the sound penetrated her body and wound its way around her emotions. The song switched, slowing down and Willow, breathing heavily, said, "I'm going to get a drink." "

"Kay," Buffy answered. Gunn moved closer, placing his hands on her hips. He moved, guiding her into a sensual dance. Hands above her head, she moved with him, allowing herself to be swept away by the feeling of being held, of moving in time with another person.

Angel walked into the club and scanned the crowd. It didn't take him long to spot Buffy and Gunn moving together on the dance floor. His friend's large hands rested on Buffy's hips and they ground together to a slow, sensual beat. Her shirt left places of skin visible just above her hips and Gunn's fingers brushed against those places. An emotion older than he was beat against his heart and he growled loudly. The music kept almost everyone from hearing him except for a couple standing close to him, who moved away quickly.

"Gunn," he said, once he had crossed the room, standing in the middle of the dance floor like a statue, not bothering to pretend he wasn't there to dance.

"Hey Angel," Gunn answered, smiling.

"Hey." Angel didn't bother greeting Buffy, he simply stared down at the hands that rested on her hips until Gunn removed them.

"Is there something I should know about you two?" Gunn asked, looking from Buffy to Angel and back again. Buffy had asked about Angel before and he assumed they knew each other, but the way Angel looked like he was going to rip his throat out at any second, he guessed that they knew each other more than she let on.

"No," Buffy answered, crossing her arms. As she did, she was reminded that she was braless and her back was bare. It didn't seem like a big deal before Angel walked in. Now she felt naked and vulnerable...and hot. All of a sudden the room seemed much warmer than it had before, despite the coldness that radiated off the vampire.

"Well, that's good," Gunn said nodding, "Because I thought for a second that the undead here looked a little jealous."

"Buffy, I need to talk to you," Angel said, after giving Gunn a frown.

"About what?" she asked, not moving from her spot at Gunn's side.

"About your safety," he answered, taking a deep unneeded breath in an attempt to bring himself back to the land of the sane, "Something's up."

"Ya think?" she answered, gaining a look of surprise from Gunn.

"Oookay," Gunn said as he bent to peck Buffy on the cheek, "I think I'm gonna go check on my crew. Thanks for the dance, Buff."

Gunn laughed his way out of the door as he remembered the murderous look in the vampire's eyes when he kissed her. It was the funniest thing he had seen in a long time and kept him grinning all the way back to his headquarters.

***

//dear, I fear we're facing a problem//

Buffy felt more off than usual and it wasn't just the vampire walking next to her. Her intestines felt like they were braiding themselves inside her belly as they headed for the hotel. She had been feeling strange since she came to town and now she was sure that each step was an effort to keep up with her mind. Angel was talking. His voice rumbled through her, filling up the crevices that cracked inside her, but she couldn't seem to involve herself with the conversation. She kept raking her eyes over his body which was cloaked in that damn duster. She wanted to rip it off him and do the same with the rest of his clothes. Her virgin eyes couldn't wait to feast on his flesh.

"Buffy?" Angel said, as he stopped in front of the hotel, "Are you listening to me?"

"What?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. He caught himself bending toward her lips and stepped away.

"I'll take that as a ‘no,'" he said, taking her hand. The moment he did that he knew it was a mistake. Her body heat was traveling through his. It was fantastic and horrible and unbearable and perfect. Once inside the doors, he pulled his hand away and took off his coat, so he had an excuse for the action. In hindsight, he thought he should have chained himself alongside Penn. With this little blonde woman standing there with that hungry look in her eyes, he was not to be trusted.

He led her up the stairs to his room. He knew she had to sleep in his room. How else could he make sure that no one touched her? But he didn't know how he was going to make it through the night with her in his bed. Even if he slept in his leather chair, she was still in his bed, filling the bedclothes with her scent.

When he opened his door, Drusilla was lying on his bed and as disturbing as the sight was, he was extremely thankful that she was dressed. He heard Buffy's sharp intake of breath as she looked on the beautiful vampiress in Angel's bed. Buffy thought she looked way too comfortable there and felt the urge to stake her. Her only disappointment would be that she couldn't do it more than once.

"My Angel," she crooned from the bed.

"Dru," Angel growled, "What are you doing?"

She knelt on the edge of the bed and pulled Angel to her, ignoring the glare of The Slayer. Her hands moved over his chest without shame and she whispered, "They're planning. Going to hurt you and The Slayer."

"I know," he said, smoothing her hair, "But you have to go back to Penn. Keep an eye on him."

"Can't," she said, whimpering.

"Why not?"

"Spike," she whispered.

"Spike!" Angel roared. Buffy jumped aside as the door swung open. Spike stormed in, ridged face intact, dragging a bloody form that looked remotely like Penn. The body was flung into the room, landing against the wall and leaving a bloody mark where he had struck the plaster.

"What are you doing?" Angel shouted, "Do you have a working brain cell under all that peroxide?"

"Did Drusilla tell you what he did? Did she?"

Angel looked down at Dru who only whimpered in response.

"Fucker figured it out," Spike raged, "Tried to stake my mate. Tell him Dru! Tell him what that little bastard did."

"He was going to hurt us," Dru said, moving off the bed, "I couldn't let him. Had to hurt him first."

Penn was rising to his feet, dragging his shoulder against the wall as he stood. Angel turned at the sound.

"Traitorous bitch," Penn croaked, "I thought you of all people would understand."

"Understand what?" Angel asked, "That you were trying to kill the only woman I've ever loved? How can you call Dru a traitor? What happened to you, Penn?"

"All you care about is The Slayer," Penn groaned, clutching his stomach, "For years, that's all you've ever thought about and now that she's here, it's worse than ever. You've been trying to become human. You're not. We're not."

"It's our desires that make us human. You have a soul," Angel answered. He could feel Buffy's eyes prying into him from across the room and tried to dismiss the feeling. Way too much information was being shared here, "Is there a reason you've never seemed to notice?"

"I'm a demon!" Penn shouted, coughing violently before continuing, "So are you! We all are. You know what I think of every day? Killing my sister. My first kill at your instruction. ‘Savor it,' you said. Now you stand there and talk to me about human desires? You destroyed everything! You made me what I am. Now you have to deal with it!"

"What have you done with Wolfram & Hart?" Angel demanded.

"It's too late," Penn said, laughing, "It's done. You can't stop it. Everything is going to be simple soon."

"What did you do?" Angel roared, revealing his demon. He grabbed Penn and slammed him against the wall, holding him up off of his feet. He was greeted with another dose of Penn's laughter. He dropped him and turned to face Dru.

"Drusilla, what did you find out?"

"They put something in your blood," Dru said, licking the tips of her fingers.

"What?"

"They performed spells on The Slayer. Wicked little spells to change her," Dru answered, looking across the room at Buffy, "Changing her on the inside."

"Drusilla," Spike said finally, pulling her into his arms, "Please, love. What's going to happen?"

"Don't know," she said, laying her head on his chest, "Can't see. They've blinded me."

Drusilla's head swung forward as Spike's chest moved away from her. He grabbed Angel's night stand and broke the small wooden table against the wall. Scooping up one of the legs, he rushed forward and staked Penn over the sound of Angel's roar.

"Damn it, Spike!" Angel shouted, knocking the stake from his hand and punching him, "We needed him to find out how to stop this!"

"He wasn't going to tell us," Spike said, moving around Angel, "He hurt Dru. Asshole's been begging for a stake through the heart for over 100 years."

Spike swept Dru into his arm and stormed back out of the room, leaving Buffy and Angel alone.

***

//she looked just like a dream,

she was on fire last night, and i was breathing gasoline//

"You guys are ruining the definite opinions I've always had about vampires," Buffy said, breaking through the silence.

"Sorry," Angel said with worry on his face, "I wish I knew what was going on, how to stop this. Obviously my blood supply is destroyed, so it's good that I know that now. We need to find out what spells they've performed on you."

"Pfft," Buffy said, waving her hand through the air, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Angel said, stepping slightly closer, "Cause you don't seem fine."

"Don't I look fine?" she asked, smoothing her hands over her belly, sliding under her shirt so she felt her own bare flesh. Angel's heart was caught in his throat as he greedily watched her fingers move across her tight stomach. Maybe it wasn't his heart. He watched, breathing unsteady unnecessary breaths as her hand moved around and pulled away the tie that held her wisp of a shirt on. As she released the strings, the halter simply fell away, revealing a beautifully bare torso and perfectly rounded breasts.

"Buffy..." Angel answered, staring at her skin. In his mind, he was already touching it, already leaving kisses on each inch of exposed flesh. She moved forward, swinging her hips generously, capturing him in a world of confusion. He had dreamed about this. Not exactly this, but something similar. Now he stepped back, only to tumble into his leather chair. She knelt over him, bare breasts hovering at eye level. He pressed himself back into the chair, knowing it would have to actually become a part of it to keep from touching her. She lowered herself, resting her ass against his thighs and kissed him lightly.

"Don't you want to touch me?" she asked, kissing him again, nibbling at his lips.

"Yes," he answered through gritted teeth as he felt the arms of his chair breaking under his hands. He didn't move as she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open. She splayed her small hands over his chest, radiating so much heat, he thought if he looked down there would be scorch marks from where she had been.

"Your skin," she whispered, lowering to kiss his chest, "So cool. Feels so good."

"Buffy, you're under a spell," he groaned as she pressed against his arousal, "You're not thinking straight. You don't want this."

"Yes, I do," she whispered, sucking his neck and scraping her teeth over his flawless skin. Using the last bit of his strength, he stood, lifting her with him. He carried her to the bed and laid her there. He backed away from her, trying to look away from her but found that he couldn't. He saw the sadness cross her face as she realized his rejection and felt guilty for doing the right thing.

"I thought you wanted me," she said, lying against his pillows and making no effort to move or cover herself. Her voice was filled with hurt as her fingers absently traced her abdomen.

"I do," he replied hoarsely, engrossed by the trail those little fingers were making.

"Then make love to me, Angel," she whispered huskily.

"Can't," he said, shaking his head, "It's wrong."

She stood and shut the door that was still open and he knew without asking that she didn't close it to keep anyone from seeing them. She wanted to keep him inside that room. He didn't move away as she moved toward him again. He wasn't sure there was a point anyway. The scent of her arousal was filling the room and seeping under the door, heating up the entire hotel with lust. Perfectly manicured nails scraped his skin as she pulled his shirt off. She pressed her chest against his, enjoying the battle of their temperatures. Her nipples hardened against his cold skin as she smoothed her hands over his back.

She rose to her tip toes and kissed him. He groaned in defeat into her mouth as he responded, pushing his tongue into her mouth and wrapping his arms around her. He lifted her several inches off the floor, kissing her deeply as he moved toward the bed. A small part of his mind batted a constant reminder that this was wrong and everything else didn't care as he laid her down.

In slow worship, he removed the rest of her clothes and his own. He took a moment to look over her, flushed and breathing heavily as she laid on his bed. Starting at her ankles, he eased his hands up her legs, loving the feel of her skin. He nudged her thighs apart and she unfolded without hesitation, baring her dripping core to his gaze. She waited, feeling slightly self conscious as he looked over her body but she took the opportunity to look over him as well. He was beautiful kneeling there between her thighs, skin looking as if it had been chiseled from marble, erect cock standing out from his groin. She whimpered, forcing him into motion.

He tasted her, laving long strokes over her moist heat. As he sucked her clitoris into his mouth, he pushed a finger inside her, feeling the barrier of her virginity. The reality of the situation rained down on him and he stopped for a moment. Promising himself he would stop after feeling her first orgasm flood into his mouth, he continued lashing his tongue against her in utter adoration. She arched against him, caressing his back and shoulders. As her release came closer, she began shaking beneath him, grinding against his face. He held her thighs open as he continued, lapping up the honey as it formed inside her.

Buffy couldn't believe the feelings that were washing over her. Nothing in her life had prepared her for what Angel was doing to her. Passion rose and whipped at her as she moaned under her lover. She couldn't keep from touching him. She loved the coolness of his skin, the way he warmed under her fingers. The power of it was enthralling.

When he sat up again, he wished he could disappear. She was so tantalizing there, breathing heavily, skin glowing from her climax, thighs spread in an invitation to him. He couldn't fathom the thought of the woman he loved losing her virginity to demon when she was obviously under some sort of evil spell. She reached out for him and pulled to him her as she captured his lips once more.

"Don't stop," she whispered as she felt his hesitation.

"You're a virgin," he said in an almost animal cry of pain.

"I know," she said, smiling at him.

"I can't take that from you," he groaned as she pressed against him, clinging to him, "I'm a demon."

"I want you to have it, Angel," she answered, holding his face between her hands, "I want to feel you inside me."

Moving slowly, Angel poised at her entrance, already melting from her heat. He looked up at her for confirmation and she nodded slowly, opening wider for him. He entered her a little at a time, allowing her to grow accustomed to him. He slipped his fingers between them to massage her engorged clit as he prepared himself for the pain to reach her. He kissed her deeply as he entered her fully and kept kissing her as she moaned in pain. Several seconds were required before her second orgasm washed over her, absorbing her pain.

He began moving inside her more steadily and she moved with him, rising up to meet his thrusts. She panted his name as she rounded her third orgasm, slamming up against him. He cried her name as he finally found his own release, feeling the most sating contentment he had ever felt drench his body and soul.

He gathered her against him and snuggled into her warmth as they both fell into an exhausted sleep. As dawn neared, Angel sat up in bed as he felt the incredible pain of his soul being ripped from his body. Down the hallway, two more vampires woke with the anguish of losing the only piece of humanity they had left. Three souls fled three bodies and entered the aether together. The curse needed one more soul to claim. With the loss of Penn, it clenched at The Slayer. She awoke last, crying out as sleep left her body, followed quickly by her soul.

***

Part 13

For several long minutes Angel remained outside the front doors of the mansion. He was, standing solemnly and stared silently at the few remains of his sister stuck in the intricate weavings of his sweater. The sunshine across his chest and face felt good- warm and full of vibrant strength. Slowly, finally, he opened the front door, dusting himself off completely. Trying not to make much noise, fearing he would wake any of the others trying to catch some sleep, he silently paced inside.

He found Buffy, as well as the others, wide awake and nervously pacing the floor of the great hall. He entered noiselessly, but she saw him from the corner of her eye and rushed into his embrace where they melded, seeking comfort and relief in each other's arms and lips. She never asked if Ash was dead- she had no need to. And he was glad not to have to answer any questions at the moment. Wordlessly they walked upstairs, hand in hand, and crawled into bed to catch the last hours remaining of the early dawn. The others, exhausted from the night's events and overjoyed that things had finally been resolved, all made their way to their own guest rooms, all anxious to redeem a few hours of sleep.

After only a few moments of finally getting to hold each other after so long, Buffy and Angel were interrupted by a tiny knock at their door. Without waiting for permission to enter, Dawn padded her way over to them. "Can I...stay in here with you guys? Just until I have to go to school?" Her wide eyes and small smile that reminded him so much of Buffy were all it took for Angel to gather the young girl into a strong hug. The three got comfortable under the covers, Dawn snuggling up between her sister and brother-in-law, finally letting sleep take over her weary body.

7:03am. All were still asleep in the house- or so Angel thought as he crept out of his wife's embrace, dragging Dawn along with him.

"Can't I stay home with you guys today?" she pleaded, giving him the trademark Summer's pout.

"Dawn..." Angel sighed, pouring her a glass of orange juice.

"All right- I can take a hint. You and Buffy are going to be busy making up with the major smoochies in bed all day. Gotcha..." Angel tried to hide a faint blush, but Dawn still noticed it. She grabbed her bag, gathering her books together. "Tell Buffy I said bye?"

"Sure thing," he smiled at her. Reaching up on tiptoe, Dawn wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Love you, Angel."

"Love you too, Dawnie." Watching her head out the front door, Angel stopped in his tracks as he could feel his latest companion to join him in the kitchen approaching. "Morning, Spike," he said over his back, placing the carton of juice back in the fridge. The blonde vamp hesitated before fully entering the kitchen.

"You gonna kill me?"

"Well that depends. Were you the one to leave the lid off of the milk?" he smiled, finally turning to face him over the fridge's still opened door.

"I think it's pretty safe to say that wasn't my doing. Sounds like your wife's handy work to me," he smiled back at him. He watched as Angel set out to fixing breakfast, gathering a few pans and plates. "Can we talk?" Angel nodded as he followed his childe into the great hall to sit.

"Thought you weren't into that touchy-feely stuff, Spike?"

"Well you never know- I just may surprise you one of these days."

"You always do," Angel agreed. "Look, Spike...thanks for-"

"Mmm-" Spike waved a hand at him as Angel began his thanks. "No worries," he smirked, taking a smoke out of his pocket. "Buffy's not awake is she?"

"Not yet- but she will be if you smoke that thing long enough," Angel smiled.

"Well I'd take it outside," he said, pulling out his lighter and lighting up, "but seeing as how the sun's up..." he trailed off. "It's weird, ya know? Dru's finally gone...and at my hands. Never thought I'd see the day, ya know?" Spike stood, beginning to pace around in front of the fireplace. "I don't regret it though...and I've lived to regret almost everything I've done- you know that better than anyone. I've done...a lot of terrible things in my lifetime...a lot of terrible things. But the one good thing that I've done- the one good thing, is staying here and helping you- all of you."

"We've appreciated it," Angel spoke up, adjusting his position on the couch.

"You know what it's like, man. You go through life...a creature...not quite human but not quite a monster. 'Til you find your place. You were lucky enough to find it with Buffy...and I was lucky enough to find it with all of you. That's the one good thing I can say about all of ya- you don't treat me like a monster...you treat me like a man...and that...means a lot to me."

"You're not a monster, Spike."

"And neither are you..." Spike took a seat beside his sire in the couch, hoping to talk some more sense into him. "Let me ask you a few things...tonight- given the choices you were given...if I hadn't come in there and saved your ass," he flashed a proud smug, "what would you have chose?"

"I...I would've let them turn me...then I would've staked myself before I could even touch a hair on Buffy's head."

"Those aren't the words of a cold-blooded, monsterous killer, Angel." Still seeing his apprehension, Spike turned slightly to face him more clearly. "If you could go back and change things...you'd never have been turned by Darla...would you do it?" Angel took in a deep breath before answering.

"Knowing what I know now? No...only because if I'd never been turned...I'd have never known Buffy."

"Angel...all those years ago...that wasn't you, man- you've got to realize that. Your family...turning Ash...that wasn't you. I mean hell- the fact that the bloody Powers gave you back your humanity is proof enough that you weren't responsible for any of it. And on top of all that, you've got someone who wouldn't care if you went running naked through the entire city wearing a squid on your head and singing bleedin' showtunes...actually I think she'd enjoy that..."

It took all of Buffy's strength to supress her laughter at Spike's last comment as she continued listening to their conversation from the stairwell.

Part 14

"The point is- Buffy's going to love you no matter what happens.so my suggestion is to put an end, once and for all, to all of your brooding, and enjoy what you've been given...enjoy what you deserve."

The corners of Angel's mouth turned up a bit as he reached over to grab Spike's smoke out of his mouth. "You shouldn't smoke these...they'll kill ya," he smiled, tossing it into the fireplace.

"I'll take my chances," Spike smiled, standing to his feet, heading for his own guest room at the end of the hall. "Hey, Angel?" Angel turned from his path back into the kitchen. "Look, I'm...I'm sorry as hell for what happened to your sister..."

"Yeah..." Angel whispered, giving Spike a final smile as he disappeared into his room to get some sleep.

Buffy walks downstairs slowly, noticing Angel staring into oblivion as he stands in the kitchen. She approaches him almost in a creep and kisses him on the neck from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Morning..." she sighs into his back.

"Morning...I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't...I felt you get up," she smiled as he turned around to face her. "Dawn already leave for school?"

"Yeah..." he slipped his hand into hers as she pulled him towards the steps. "Everyone else is still asleep."

"Mmm...let 'em sleep," she shrugged.

"We have to talk," they said in unison, both laughing afterwards at their shared train of thought. As they finally reached their bedroom, they say together on their bed, facing each other as Buffy began.

"I was kinda...listening in during your talk with Spike." Angel slumped his shoulders slightly, almost letting out something between a sigh and laugh as he looked towards the floor. Grabbing his chin with one hand, Buffy pulled his face up to look at her. "What he said was true...you know that, don't you? It's not your fault what happened to Ash. None of it was your fault...she couldn't be saved."

"I know..." he whispered, reaching an arm out to pull her into his arms. Stroking her head softly, running his fingers through her soft, golden tresses, he let out a deep sigh. "Spike asked me if I would've changed anything about...my past if I could." Pulling away from her slightly to gaze into her eyes, he continued. "As painful and horrible as all of it was...I would've rather died that day a million times over, than to live a million lifetimes without knowing you."

"I don't know what I would've done if you'd never come into my life, Angel," Buffy says with that familiar smile that Angel fell in love with so many years before. He pulls her close and softly presses his lips against hers. "I love you," he says as he pulls away for a quick minute.

"I love you." Getting lost in the passionate kissing, each of the lovers begins to think of how much they truly did love one another with all of their heart and soul, knowing they could never be complete with anyone else. Somehow, in the heat of the moment, the couple forgot about making breakfast for their friends and became lost in each others touch.

"Hey!" The couple upstairs ignore Xander's whines from the kitchen. "Where are the pancakes?? Ya know, this is *no* way to be treating a guy who's getting married in a few weeks! If I'm out all night, fighting vamps and other creepy-crawlers, risking my cute little neck for people without so even much as a thank you-" he begins shouting up towards the stairway, "because they're too busy sucking face-" his shouts are soon met with the slamming of the master bedroom door, "I expect pancakes the next morning!"

***

Part Eight "The Linking"

***

//sprinkle all my kisses on your head
stars fill of wishes fill our beds//

In the alley behind The Bronze, two bloodied vampires, weakened by being drained and abused by their Sire, were picking off young partiers as they left the club. Spike was certain that Angelus had taken more blood from Drusilla because she was so weak she could barely stand. He caught them one by one, reaching out as they passed by and pulling them into the dark corner the two were hidden in. He alternated feeding himself off one and guiding the next bare throat to his mate's exposed fangs.

"Picking flowers," Drusilla mused, lying back against The Bronze's outer wall, lolling her head back and forth, "So pretty."

"They are that, pet," he said, crouching as he waited for another unsuspecting snack to wander past him. Dru was right. It was just like picking flowers and he plucked them indiscriminately. Their blood was needed to gather strength enough to even show their faces at the Annual Meeting. Spike began to wander, as he tore into his third innocent throat, if Angelus had planned this whole thing. Sure, he had lost half a sack before The Slayer rose, but perhaps he wanted to make sure that everyone knew who the true leader was. With Darla and the Master gone, Angelus was the highest bloody Poof on the totem pole and now that he had Slayer's blood running rampant in his veins, he could overpower anyone or anything.

Spike shuddered when he thought of the domination and strength gushing off those two. They were provocative darkness, envy in a glance and as mates their power melted into one another, vanishing and becoming a new force. The Slayer's presence, even though she had been turned, still burned inside him when she was near. Her aura was a surprising caress turned into a brutal shove. Driven by the fear of what his Sire and mate were capable of doing, he grabbed a lush young couple pausing to kiss outside the club and handed the young man over to his mate.

***

//i've been sleeping helpless
couldn't tell a soul, be ashamed
of the mess you've made//

Whistler didn't explain anything. Instead he had them all pile in Oz's van and head to the Hellmouth. The entire ride was a succession of outbursts from everyone but Oz, who simply drove and listened. Occasionally, he looked over at Willow and took her trembling hand. Squeezing her palm against his, he gave her a silent reminder that he was there, that he loved her and that there was always a way out of this. Hadn't there always been before?

But no one was really sure, except for Whistler who kept that half smirk on his face, musing over the humans and their inability to understand him. He was used to that kind of treatment, which is why he usually avoided them. He had met so many people in different dimensions, reintroducing himself to ones who didn't know they'd met him before. He was often not surprised even when shocking things came from their mouths. Usually, they had already said it in a different space and time.

Giles was the furthest from calm even though he looked the most serene. He sat in the back of the van flipping patiently through the texts he brought along, pretending to find an answer to their recent crisis. The truth was that he couldn't even read the words that were blurring before his eyes. He had no idea what to look for or how to keep up his charade of positivity. For the first time in a very long time, he had no idea how to proceed. His Slayer was lost, turned of her own free will. His breath caught in his throat every time he thought of his vibrant young charge succumbing to darkness.

He felt like someone was cutting him open from the inside. A disease was forming inside his normally even keeled nature. Ripper was struggling to the surface, demanding vengeance for his loss. His lips curled into a scowl as he thought about that bloodsucking piece of shit taking the only piece of goodness and light to enter his dusty, dreary adult existence. Strange, the affinity he had with the vampire he now hated. They both spent years trying to atone for their sins, trying to bury their murky pasts as they strove for goodness. They both had a force inside them that craved violence and carnage. And they both loved Buffy Summers.

Giles reached in his pocket, curling his fingers around Mr. Pointy, which he had retrieved from Buffy's weapons trunk in her dorm room. He said a silent prayer, asking for the strength to make this right. He didn't want to take Buffy's life - or unlife - didn't want to stake her, but his greatest fear was that he would have to...or that he would die trying.

"Please explain again," Giles said, looking over the goofy little demon, "how we can stop Buffy from reaching a point to where there is no reversal? Do try to make sense."

"No kidding," Xander chimed in, glancing out the rear window to see that Gunn's truck was still keeping up with the van, trailing closely.

"Xander," Giles warned, before turning back to the demon, "Whistler?"

"There's a series of rituals," Whistler began, struggling to make sense to the frightened humans, "The first will restore the four souls lost to the aether. If performed correctly, all four souls will return simultaneously."

"Good," Giles nodded, following so far.

"The second ritual is more tricky," Whistler said, quirking his mouth sadly with his words, "In order to ensure that this does not happen again, the Powers have devised a sort of linking. Basically, we turn Buffy back to her human form. If she has not taken too many lives, if we get there soon enough, the process can be reversed...we think."

"You think?" Cordy gasped, "Do the Powers actually have any power?"

"There's a natural order of things, Cordelia, that cannot be overcome despite our wishes," Giles explained curtly, much to the surprise of Whistler, "The Powers That Be can only control so much. This dimension's creatures, just as most of the others, are given free will and the greatest power cannot take it fully from them. Because of that there are events that cannot be overturned and people who cannot be saved."

Giles ended his sentence quickly, choking on the last word. The children looked over him sadly. He was losing hope and fast.

"We'll save her, Giles," Willow said softly from the front of the van, "There's still a chance."

"Course," Giles said, clearing his throat, and then turned back to Whistler, "What happens if we are unable to reverse these events?"

"Well," Whistler said, removing his hat and fingering the brim, while he easily avoided actually answering the question, "Our success really depends on how much of her humanity we can restore."

"Huh?" Xander grunted.

"For every life she takes and every drop of blood she consumes, she moves further into her vampiric state. We may be able to bring her back, but we're not sure if she will ever be completely human again. We need a certain amount of humanity to remain to proceed with the linking."

"Linking?" Willow asked.

"Yeah," Whistler answered, "This is part I think you're gonna hate. We haveta make sure this never happens again. Too much is at stake if these particular vamps are allowed to remain souless and evil. If they aren't stopped, Buffy and Angelus will bring about the end of the world."

"And the linking?" Giles said, steering him back to safer waters.

"The linking is essentially a binding of souls," he said, "Spike and Drusilla are already bound to Angel with the original curse. The linking will connect Buffy to Angel, binding them to this plane. Their souls will never escape their bodies or this plane until they die."

"What if one of them dies?" Giles asked, shifting uneasily.

"They both die."

***

//all of your struggles beneath your disguise
drink from the reasons that hold you alive
‘til we're safe from the wounds of desire and pain//

Angelus felt the power that only came from large groups of vampires convening in one place. He craved it, the way it radiated from the masses and the knowledge that he would rule them all. As they strolled through the dark streets, he could smell their fear, anticipation, sex and blood. The fragrance of mates, covered in each other's scents, rolled over him. It rushed him from all sides as they move toward the Annual Meeting.

Buffy walked next to him, smelling of residual humanity, of her intricate Slayerness. He shook his head in disbelief because she smelled like fucking sunshine. He didn't understand how even a new creature of the night could smell of goodness and light, but she did and it butted its head against her new darkness. He could smell himself on her as well, his seed inside her, his blood in her veins. As they neared their destination, a realization hit him so hard, he stopped suddenly and flung her down into the grass of the cemetery beside them.

"You're so fucking smart," he growled, pressing her against the ground, keeping her pinned with his weight. He knew, however, that her superior strength as a Slayer had only increased with her turning. She could easily toss him away but she just laughed, her body heaving beneath his with her laughter.

"Just figuring that out, Angel?" she said, still laughing.

"You were going to let me walk in there without marking you as my mate," he roared, "I can't believe I almost fell for that! Do you realize what being my consort means?"

"Sure," she said, nodding while keeping her smile.

"You are already my mate," he snarled, "Marked or not, you are mine."

"I just wanted to see you squirm, lover," she purred, pressing against his arousal, "You're so sexy when you get all possessive. I just love it when you think you're in control. Too bad you figured it out. I would have loved to see you inside there strutting all superior only to realize that we hadn't been mated yet."

Keeping his angry growl, he bit into her throat where her mark had been before she was turned. Drinking her new vampire blood, he felt the power of his mate's essence exploding inside him. He stopped drinking and gasped, staring at her golden eyes with his.

"Good stuff, huh?" she whispered, licking her blood off of his lips.

"You're so much stronger," he gasped, wondering if his heart was going to start to beat from energy in her, "Not like other vampires, more potent."

She sank her fangs into his throat, tasting him and marking him as her mate just as he just had. She tasted her own blood in his and the excitement he was feeling. He fell back into the grass, rolling her on top of him as she suckled his neck. He stared up at the stars, watching them blur above him. He felt charged, pulsing with life and it didn't make sense. Her body was almost warm as she suckled at his neck, straddling him. He didn't even notice her unzipping his leather pants until he felt her strong little hand grip his erect cock. She guided him inside her, easing down on him. Perched there, she cocked her head to the side, looking down at him.

"Miss the heat, lover?" she asked, clenching her inner muscles around him so tightly he actually groaned in pleasure and pain. He bucked up into her, grinning at her gasp of pleasure as he flipped them. He settled his weight on top of her and glided deeper inside her. Cold skin meshing with cold skin, their nearly fully clothed bodies joined for the first time as vampiric mates.

"No. Small price to pay," he groaned in a long awaited answer. Lost in the feel of him, she had all but forgotten the question by the time he answered it. The mating was an entrance into a yet undiscovered euphoric magnitude. Lust rivaled lust, power grinding against power. They rolled with their lovemaking, shifting positions as they went, desire misplaced inside rasping laments that wandered off alone somewhere in the night.

"You belong to me," he moaned into her neck as he licked her now closed wound, tempted to take another sip. He still felt drugged from his previous taste.

"And you belong to me," she moaned back, "Only me."

Moving in one fluid motion, they both bared their fangs. They lunged for each other's throats at the same time, hips slamming against each other. Rolling in the grass, battling for dominance, they came together.

***

Part Nine "Linking Mates"

***

//freak out and give in
doesn't matter what you believe in
stay cool//

"I hate this place," Xander said as he climbed out of Oz' van and took his first breath of Sunnydale air that wasn't shared with his friends, wedged next to an amplifier. He looked up at the night sky and sighed, "Glad I love you so much, Buff. My *parents* live here."

"You won't have to see ‘em," Oz said, sliding out from behind the drivers seat and landing firmly on two black booted feet.

"So this is the Hellmouth?" Gunn said, stretching calmly and looking around, "Doesn't look like much."

"Yeah, well when you're dead, we'll remember you said that," Cordy snapped, shivering slightly in the warm night. She hated coming home almost as much as Xander did. She leaned into him as he slid his arm around her waist and they silently shared that eery feeling that came with the town.

"Cordelia," Giles grumbled, "please *try* to be civil. You could have opted to stay at home, you know."

"And miss all the fun and the suck fest? Never," she grumbled back.

"Willow," Giles said, turning around to look for the little witch. He turned a full circle and made it back to his original position without finding her, "Where is Willow?"

"Well," Whistler said, straightening his hat, "She had an errand to run."

"What sort of errand?" Giles said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the demon, "And why didn't she mention it to me?"

"We wouldn't have let her go," Oz said, stepping in next to Giles, alining himself on the side of the Watcher, "Right?"

"Yeah," the demon replied, "Pretty much. Come on, we gotta jam."

"No one is going anywhere until you explain where Willow has gone!" Giles demanded.

"She went to the Annual Meeting."

"WHAT?" Giles shouted, nearly hysterically, "That is what Buffy and Angelus are doing in Sunnydale?"

"Annual Meeting?" Xander quirked, "Sounds deadly."

"Great," Cordelia snorted, "Vampires embracing corporate structure. Wouldn't Daddy be proud?"

"Not really all that corporate sounding, Cordy," Gunn added grimly.

"Not really all that meeting like either," Giles explained, running a hand through his graying hair nervously, "It's a yearly gathering of the strongest vampires vying for leadership. Willow will die before she makes it into the building."

"Nah," Whistler said smiling, "Don't underestimate your little witch."

A loud growl came from beside Giles and he froze before slowly turning his head to see Oz snarling in anger, half way into his metamorphosis.

"Don't underestimate the wolf," Xander said, trying to joke, but backing away slowly. They all watched silently as Oz gathered his senses and began reverting back to his human form. He focused on Whistler, still seething in anger, eyes still blazing from the wild.

"Where's the meeting?" he asked calmly with no trace of a growl.

"You kids are crazy," Whistler said with loud belly laugh, "It's cool. Really. Come on."

***

//i will wait for you
what you believe you'll wish to receive
i won't believe in you
hang on to your life//

"You'd think they've never seen a Slayer before," Buffy said with a mirthful laugh as they waltzed into the Annual Meeting.

"Not a turned Slayer," Angelus said laughing along, "See? I knew you'd enjoy this."

"You were right," she said, squeezing his arm as they headed for the empty throne at the head of the room, sitting above the rest of the room, majestic and macabre. It was ancient, pieced together from more than a dozen types of wood. The room stopped as Angelus sat in the chair, resting against carved writhing bodies, depictions of death and destruction. Buffy sat on his lap, crossing her legs as she settled on his thigh.

A charming assortment of fear, anger and uproar flew at them from hundreds of golden eyes. Angelus waited calmly to be challenged, his hand moving slowly up and down the spine of his dark queen. Five minutes passed when a brave soul called out, "A Slayer with the Master?"

"A fledgling on the throne?" Another screamed in protest.

"Who will challenge her rightful place?" Angelus asked, speaking in a low, feral voice, "Who challenges my right to claim my consort?"

The mumbles of voiced conversations rose in the room, rising slowly and peaking until the room brimmed with growls and barely held roars. Buffy had not lost her smile as she looked over the weaker masses. No one could defeat them and she was certain no one would try. She turned and glanced at her mate, seeing a twinkle of amusement and confidence in his eyes.

"Stupid bloody wankers," Spike stated clearly, not in a yell but loud enough to hush the room at his grand entrance with his mate. The vampires waited for Spike and Drusilla to weave around them and make their way to the throne. He nodded curtly, making eye contact with his Grande Sire and began his pledge, "Angelus, leader of the Order of Aurelius, direct bloodline of the Master, Sire of Drusilla, Grande Sire of William the Bloody, I accept your ascent to the throne."

Turning, he faced the crowd, feeling the mad silent laughter of his mate next to him. She clapped her hands, breaking her silence, already feeling the evil plan coming from her mate. Daddy was going to fall, but not here. Not in this room.

"Who challenges? Who fucking challenges?" Spike demanded of the room.

"Not me. That's for sure," A bold voice said from the back. Heads turned towards the door to focus on a striking, leather clad redhead, yawning her way through the crowd. Her porcelain skin gleamed with power and prowess as she stepped through them and they moved away, awed by the power held in a fledge just as they had when Buffy strolled in. This girl swung a different sort of bitter light on the group, one that made them tremble even more.

A hand reached out to caress her skin, drawn to her and unable to control the impulse. She grabbed the hand without bothering to notice the body it was connected to and snapped the vampire's wrist. His scream of pain echoed behind her as she moved on.

"These your friends, Buff?" She asked, "They're so dull."

"When did you join the land of the undead, Will?" Buffy said, settling back against Angelus, "Get jealous of my freedom?"

"You know," she answered, flashing golden eyes for a brief second, "I miss ya. What's the point in trying to fight the good fight when the Slayer's a vampire? You shouldn't get all the fun."

"Are all the Scoobies joining up?" Spike asked with a grin, "Or did you save one or two for us?"

"There's plenty to go around," Willow answered, brushing her hand over his chest and ignoring Drusilla's growl of warning. She stepped up near the stage and leaned over, kissing her friend lightly on the lips. She ran her tongue over Buffy's lips, tasting her smile. Slipping her hand over Buffy's shoulder, she lightly scratched the Slayer's delicate skin. Buffy shivered and was not surprised when Angelus caught Willow's wrist, pushing her away from his mate.

"Wanna be bad?" Willow asked coyly, "Cause this place reeks of weakness and I can lead you straight to the white hat party."

***

//wind blow shame around my heart
shadows scream around my heart//

Angelus, Buffy, Spike and Drusilla followed Willow through the streets, stopping to feed once along the way and laughing about the minions they destroyed on the way out of the room. Each had taken a life as a sign of their power.

"So we can just leave and they'll do what we told them to do?" Buffy asked, nearly skipping along after her friend. She had planned to kill Willow eventually, but she was more pleased with how this had turned out. Now she had a friend to play with and the ex-human witch sent waves of evil all around her, screaming a like siren and reaching further than the sound could travel.

"Fear is an interesting thing," Angelus answered, "Did you feel it, baby?"

"The minute we walked in," Buffy answered, "I was lapping it up. It was never that good when I was human."

"Nothing is," he answered, "They'll do as they're told. They're too afraid not to."

"We're going to High School?" Spike joked as they mounted the crumbling stairs in front of Sunnydale High, "Doesn't look like much learning goes on here."

"The Hellmouth," Drusilla moaned, "And something more..."

"Yeah," Willow said, leading them through the burnt out hallways. They heard the chanting and felt the power before they even reached the room that had once been the library, "So much more."

"Trap," Angelus growled as he stepped across the magickal threshold. All four vampires were planted to the floor as leafy vines emerged through the cracks in the broken ground and whipped around their arms and legs, holding them still. Willow raised her arms and closed her eyes, flinging her head back as she shouted a garbled incantation over the angry growls of the vampires. They watched as her body shifted, softening. Her blood temperature rose as her life resumed its travel through her, forcing her heart to pump once more. As the last word made it from her mouth, she fell to her knees, gasping for breath as if she were trying to make up for the gulps of air she had missed.

She heard Oz shout her name and the sound of his boots hitting the floor as he ran to her. She turned and raised her hand, asking him silently to stop. Unsteadily, she rose to her feet and nodded at Whistler who cued the group to begin the next incantation.

"No!" Angelus screamed as he saw the Orb of Thesala nestled in the circle that Giles sat in, chanting the familiar Latin of his curse. The orb began to glow, slowly at first until it brightened to a nearly blinding orange light. Angelus' eyes matched the color seconds later, gasping in pain. Soul intact, the vines released him and he fell to his knees. He was quickly followed by Spike and Drusilla, who were likewise released of their vines. Buffy remained standing and her soul, confused by the change in her body, took the longest to return to its shell. The room breathed a collective gasp of relief as she too was released and forced to her knees.

"Quickly," Willow breathed, stepping forward, "Almost dawn."

Whistler stepped forward and clasped hands with the witch as the group looked on in slight confusion. Which part was this? Oz followed and claimed her other hand, meeting her eyes briefly before the three most powerful beings of the team focused on Buffy. Whistler and Oz swayed, struggling to remain standing next to the powerful witch as she intoned the chant inside their minds and Buffy's. Her voice was next to a scream and her power forced the two men to lurch forward, groaning in pain. They held onto her hands and nearly breaking the fragile bones there as she channeled their strength in the spell.

"Buffy," Angel whispered as she was dragged from the circle, reeled in by an invisible force to her friend's feet. She glowed a white hot blue for a moment and as her heart began to beat she thrashed on the ground. Willow dropped Oz's hand and Whistler's and lowered to one knee. Holding her breath, she felt her friend's warm face. She sobbed openly as she felt a pulse.

***

//stripped down to the bone
laughing, living on your own
all alone//

Three days later, Buffy woke up in Giles' little house in Los Angeles. Her Watcher had kept a silent vigil over her, not daring to take her to the hospital. When she finally stirred, he crossed the room and looked down at her, waiting.

"Giles?" Buffy whispered through the tears that were already streaming down her face, "Am I...what am I?"

"Oh Buffy. I'm so sorry," Giles said, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly. She sobbed on his shoulder, releasing all the pain she had been building in her unsettling three days of sleep.

"I'm not human, am I?" Buffy asked, pulling away and looking into his eyes, "I'm n-not the same."

"No," he answered sadly, shaking his head, "You'll never be the same. You are human, Buffy. Just not completely. It was too...late for that."

"Then what?" Buffy asked in a rasping voice, "What have I become?"

"A hybrid," he said, settling back on the couch, "You're a partial vampire."

"What does that mean?"

"We're not entirely sure," he said, honestly, tugging off his glasses. Speaking softly and occupying his eyes in any other direction than his Slayer, he revealed the events since she had lost her soul. He tried to look at her, even as he heard her weeping beside him and felt the shudder of the couch next to him, but he couldn't. He closed his eyes, feeling them brimming with tears as he choked out the whole story.

"So now Angel and I are linked," she said, "That's the part I don't really get. To correct the curse, our souls are connected?"

"More like intertwined," he answered, finally turning to look at his charge, "This has never been done before, but the way that I understand it is that you have more than a mated bond. If he feels pain you will and vice versa. You may be able to feel each other's direct emotions if in close proximity."

"Will I still crave..."

"Blood? Perhaps, but your body will not need that sort of sustenance. You will need food, just as any other human."

"Sunlight? Holy Water? Crosses?"

"I'm not sure, Buffy," Giles answered, "I'm not sure about anything."

"Is everyone okay?" Buffy asked after a long pause.

"Yes," he said, "Everyone made it through relatively unscathed. Willow is still a bit drained from the spells, but seems to be faring nicely."

"And Angel?" Buffy asked, almost afraid to say his name. Giles stiffened and took a deep breath, "You'll need to see for yourself."

"Why?" Buffy asked, scooting to the edge of the couch and digging her alarmed eyes into Giles'.

"He isn't accepting the linking well, Buffy."

"Not well? Like how?"

"He's kinda insane," Xander said, strolling into the house.

"Kinda? Pfft. He's loco, cracked out and nutty as a fruitcake," Cordelia said, following closely behind her boyfriend.

"Tact, children," Giles muttered.

"Where is he?" Buffy said, standing up a bit too quickly and swaying on her feet for a second. Giles reached out to steady her and she looked back gratefully at him before turning back to Xander and Cordelia.

"He's chained up at the hotel," Xander said, "Spike and Drusilla are taking care of him."

"Chained up?" Buffy asked, moving toward the door.

"Buffy," Xander said, touching her arm gently, "I don't think you wanna go see him right now."

"Why?"

"He's...he's not really Angel right now," he said, "You should wait a day or two until you feel better."

"Oh my God," Buffy said, running through the door. If Xander's last minute kindness toward Angel was any indication of his condition, it was so much worse than they were letting on.

***

TBC...

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