Another Time, Another Place
by Angel_Love

Buffy stood in her kitchen and flicked through the CD’s she had just bought. Joyce, her mother, stood beside her.

"I really don’t know how you can listen to that Buffy. You can hardly call it music."

"Mom! I’ll have you know that Santana is the guy at the moment."

"Not about liking their music, I suppose..."

"I do!" Buffy defended. "I just.....just....didn’t appreciate it fully before. And you know Santana is of your generation. You probably...whatcha called it in the sixties." A large, deafening crash stilled the conversation as the window next to them and six demons somersaulted through, with large blades and swords. They were green and large, their faces predominantly larger than their bodies. Their clothing was a sash tied at the waist, and bits of cloth were on their feet as protection. Their eyes glowed a menacing red.

"Mom, quick!" Buffy yelled, and pushed her mother out of they way as the demons swung the swords through the air. "Go!" Buffy ran at them, these five demons of extremely ugly nature. She threw her shopping bag at one demon, catching him off guard, and snap kicked him to his stomach, and grabbed his sword, and pierced his heart.

"One down." The five demons that remained, rushed her, and she executed a full spinning wheel kick to their faces, but still they advanced, and Buffy could see no weapon in which to advance her attack. She grunted and placed her hands on her

hips."Whatcha say we take this totally non fair fight somewhere else? My mom just redecorated." Buffy smiled threateningly. A demon answered by swinging his sword at her, but the slayer ducked at kicked him the gut, and elbowed him the face, immediately stabbing him with his own sword, and taking possession of it, she stood up, and faced the three

left."Now, this is better. See? Now Buffy can play." Buffy sensed someone behind her back, and she tried to turn around, but the demons came charging. Her gut was clenched, and then the figure spoke and her suspicions were confirmed. The familiar lilt and tone.....

"And me." The voice said behind her, and she had no time to react as she and her fellow fighter brandished swords, kicks and punches, always on defence, always having the upper hand throughout the fight. A demon got a firm hold of Buffy’s sleeve and she twisted it around, letting herself fall to the floor in a hard log roll.

Using her momentum, she jumped back up to a standing position and lunged. The shadowed figure managed to easily grab one of the demons, and lifted him high into the air, and tossed him over his back, in time to deflect an attack on Buffy. The demon that was thrown away, tried his luck with the figure once more, and he grabbed the demon’s blade, and sliced it quickly it through the demon’s green skin like it was silk. Together, the shadowed figure and Buffy fought, smashing the demons - and the kitchen - with brute force and incredible skill and ease. Taking one on one, the two couples lunged at each other, until Buffy and her partner stood alone in Buffy’s kitchen, breathing a little fast, but not seeming and worse off. Neither had a scratch on them as looked at their handiwork. Filled with something that she couldn’t define, Buffy turned to the shadowed figure who she knew so well.

"Angel." She whispered. Her former lover and partner in slaying, her love, looked at her, and grinned wryly.

"Hey Buffy."

After seeing that her mother was unharmed, and tidying the majority of the mess in the kitchen in supreme awkwardness with both Joyce and Angel. Buffy and Angel disposed of the demons and walked through the darkened streets of Sunnydale.

"I can’t believe you’re here." Buffy murmured, and then quickly. "Did Cordelia have one of her visions? Is something going to happen?"

"No...I knew the Kamanche demons were arriving." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "They’re a large tribe, I came to help. What you saw at your house was just the beginning, Buffy. There’s more arriving, and they’ll come after you." Buffy looked away from him, and closed her eyes briefly. When they opened, she gave herself a shake and turned back to him.

"Okay..research mode." She retorted in both sarcasm and confusion. "Giles would know of these Kappa demons. We should find him." Angel smiled a little, and Buffy’s heart ached in confusion.

"Kamanche. I’ve already alerted Giles."

"Okay....so" Buffy swung her arms about in restlessness. "What do we do now?"

"We wait." Buffy’s eyebrows raised and she started humming. She felt awkward and confused and thrilled at the same time. Angel was back. He was in Sunnydale again. How many times had she wished for this?

"So....how’s college?" Angel asked after a long pause.

"Surprisingly.....okay." Buffy answered lightly, with a trace of falseness in her voice. "It was hard to adjust at first. But I’m college girl now. Moving up in the world." She seemed to realise what she had said, how it reflected on Angel, and she babbled on. "Not that I was moving down in the world in high school, I mean that college is much harder, and it’s tough - nobody knows who I am - I’m incognito and I’m-" Angel stopped her.

"I knew what you meant."

"Of course you did." Buffy muttered, at odds with all these emotions that were flitting through her. Emotions made her love him again and all the more - when she couldn’t, and wouldn’t. Not again. She couldn’t survive.

"Buffy..."

"Yeah?" She snapped to attention. Angel looked uneasy, and he wouldn’t look at her.

"I know you have a whole new life now. I want you to know I respect that. I’ll try and be out of your way as soon as the Kamanche are killed."

"Angel," Buffy sighed. "Since I saw you in LA -" Angel paused in his walking for a split second, and then carried on.

"- I’ve had this.....ukiness....of feeling that.....maybe we didn’t finish things the way we said we would." She looked at him endearingly, confused and alone. "That maybe we only started them again. You think the same thing, right? I mean, it’s not just me being emotional Buffy again -" He interrupted her.

"I think we finished things pretty much all we could. It will never be easy between us, Buffy. It never was. There was always something that was between us."

"Well yeah, you moved right across state to rid us of that factor!" Buffy muttered in a rash and feeling tone. Angel, a mass of black, in a long over coat, looked at her with shadowed eyes.

"I had to. You know that. We could never have stayed in the same town and not seen each other. I did what I thought was best for the both of us." Buffy sighed again.

"I know." She breathed, then added in bitterness "You told me." Angel tried to change the topic of conversation, but he seemed just as awkward and uncomfortable as he had before.

"So. Giles told me you’re seeing someone..."

"Oh!" Buffy reacted in almost pain. Riley! Of course, how could she have.... "Yeah.....yeah! You...?"

"No."

"Not even anyone....?"

"Buffy, no-one." He broke in firmly. Buffy tried not to think about how her insides lessened their tight grip of her lungs at his words. Tried not to recognise that a trace of happiness entered her heart when he told her that he hadn’t replaced her.... When she had.

"You know, Riley is just -"

"You’re getting on with your life, Buffy. You don’t have to explain."

"But I want to -"

"I’d rather you didn’t. What you do, is your business now, your life. It always was, I mean, I didn’t control you....." Angel told her, in a thrusting, gentle way.

"So it’s going to be a prom situation then?" Buffy laid out in a light manner that was completely false.

"The prom?" Angel looked at her blankly.

"Yeah. You know, you turn up, save the day, and.....disappear again." Buffy could feel the hurt in her voice. The hurt she thought she had got over. But he was here. Angel was really here. Just inches away from her and she couldn’t even reach out and touch him, she couldn’t jump into his arms and say how much she loved him. It wasn’t allowed. That was bad Buffy. That was the Buffy he had wanted to get away from.

"It wasn’t like that." Angel snapped. "You should know better."

"Sorry." She muttered. She gave herself a mental shake. She couldn’t act this way, she couldn’t be! What about Riley - and what about the whole Angel closure thing? Angel was in the past, a year ago now, near enough. She needed to focus. These demons were dangerous, volatile, and if Angel hadn’t stepped in, she might not be as unharmed as she was. They were strong, vicious. And they wanted her blood. Yet she’d been through greater evil, it was just......she couldn’t help the way she felt, the way she had felt all along. Angel. Angel was back in Sunnydale. He had come to help her. Her. He hadn’t forgotten about her. Hadn’t....

"So how many of these Kappoch demons are there likely to be? Do we need Will and Xander? Giles? The Army?" She wisecracked in her normal style. Angel looked at her in part amusement and knowing and longing and quickly looked away.

"About sixty. Give or take. It’ll be a rough fight, I’m telling you now. But we can’t risk the others. It has to be you and me."

"Sixty? Angel, six of those ugly things pretty much totalled my mom’s new kitchen. And without you there, we would have been...."

"You would have been fine. Killing them might have taken a bit longer, but you would have killed them. They caught you off guard, it was to be expected." Something occurred to Buffy, and her eyes narrowed.

"Whoa, wiggy alert. Let me get this straight. You’ve alerted Giles, you’ve got us walking round demon hotspots, places where hellmouthy things have happened in the past week that haven’t caught the press’ attention.....Just how long have you been here Angel?" Angel didn’t answer, and Buffy nodded knowingly.

"So you’ve been doing that hiding in the darkness thing again." She stated and shivered. "Angel, how many times? I know you’re there! I can feel something, a feeling, a nagging suspicion -"

"I thought it would be the best way for the situation."

"The situation? What situation? The situation that we just forget all of a sudden and forget about each other?" Buffy burst out in raw anger. "Angel -"

"Ssh." He silenced her, was mere centimetres away from her. She could feel the pound of his body, and she felt the awareness rising in hers.

"What -?" Angel dragged her behind a pile of boxes, and they watched in grim silence as the Kamanche warrior demons marched past, armed with swords and axes.

"I counted sixty." Angel said briskly once they had disappeared from sight. "I was thinking that it might be better to surprise them in their nest before they come to find out. They probably want -" Buffy’s eyes glazed over.

"Wahh!! Way too much overload. Okay, these....Kappache demons, 60 of them, armed with swords and axes." Buffy listed in Slayer mode. "Right. What are their weaknesses, their strengths, anything else I should know, like, oh I don’t know...what they’re here for maybe....?" Angel could hear the sarcastic nature of her voice and his eyes glinted.

"The Kamanche’s original origin is read to be somewhere in the dark forests of Africa, they are used to darkness and dampness, and they are true demons, not half breeds. They’re a methodically, large tribe of violent hunter demons who like to have sacrifices every month." His moth twisted slightly. "I first heard of their arrival in America when they were in LA, they stopped there to weapons and finalise their ritual. Sunnydale is their hunting ground for their ritual." Buffy heard the undertone in her lover’s voice.

"Sacrifice wouldn’t be of, so height, blond hair, athletic, slayer type, would it?" Buffy demanded to know.

"They only go for the best."

"Me?! What do they want me for? I mean, I am flunking psyche, the terminally ill don’t fail psyche!" Buffy bellowed.

"It doesn’t matter about that." Angel dismissed. "The only thing you need to know is that these are extremely dangerous demons, Buffy. They aren’t quite like anything you’ve encountered before. These are pure blood, pure demons. And they fight hard and fast." Buffy understood, and he carried on. "They think out their plans before executing them, they are smart in ways that other demons could never be." They walked round the block, the way the Kamanche went, and they reached a row of derelict warehouse. "Their hideout should be one of these, it smells like them....." Buffy stopped him outside of a broken window that he was about to climb through.

"Dangerous, you keep telling me. Danger we’ve encountered before, I’ve encountered myself. But you still came here to help me? Why Angel? Why come back?" Angel turned to her, and his black eyes glinted with a glow that she was entranced by. His hand rested on her shoulder and she gazed helplessly at him, her heart beating erratically, her body reacting to his closeness. He caressed her cheek with his index finger, tenderly and lovingly, and she put her arms round him, and closed her eyes, leaning into him. He accepted her into his arms and she breathed him in, remembering, loving. If she just held on tight, if they just stayed this way, then everything would be alright. If it was just them, and no-one and nothing else.... Angel laid his head on her blond one, and he fingers travelled through her hair.

"It’s so hard...." She whispered agonisingly, her eyes wet. "How can I let you go again?" Angel pulled away from her, and she immediately felt the rejection in the pit of her stomach.

"We - we.... have demons to kill."

"Angel." He had turned away, but sharply twisted to look at her.

"Buffy, I can’t! I can’t do this. You and me, we’re - we’re - you have a whole new life, you’ve grown from me not being here! It’s been good for you! We agreed -"

"You agreed!" She went to his arms again, closing herself in the power that they had.

"Kiss me." She urged hoarsely. Angel fought the urge. The struggle showed on his face, in his posture. Buffy’s head was tilted upwards, her lips inviting, her hands embracing them. He closed his eyes, and angled his head slowly, their lips so close, he could feel them already. And then she was wrenched from his arms. His eyes snapped open immediately and no matter how swiftly he reacted, how fast he was, how violent - the outcome stayed the same. The Kamanche demons had captured Buffy and they had disappeared into the night. The trail cold before it was even hot.

"Tell me again how they got her." Giles repeated strongly, and weakly in equal measure.

"Giles." Angel sighed.

"Tell me how a young, fit and agile and uncommonly aware slayer such as Buffy could have just been - taken - into the night without so much as a fight..."

"Giles," Willow placated. "He’s told you five times -"

"Eight." Xander piped up.

" - and you’ve been researching these demons. You know their strategies. Silent rapines in Africa, pillages of towns and cities. I’m as upset as you are that Buffy was taken. But it’s not Angel’s fault. You can’t blame him."

"He can." Angel burst out in self-anger. "If I had been paying attention, been aware of the trap. I was distracted -"

"So you’re sure it was a trap then?" Willow said in encouragement, to shake Giles free from his accusation stance. Angel snarled low in his throat, and walked round the living room.

"The six demons that attacked the house were weak. They’re not used to daylight, and they were sent for a purpose. To lead her away from the house....lead us. The Kamanche knew what they were doing, and how they were going to do it. Right from the beginning. I am so-"

"Dense?" Giles put forward, holding his glasses and rubbing his forehead. "We know that it must be incredibly hard for you Angel, considering your....connection with Buffy.... -"

"Giles." Willow warned.

"-....but you of all people should know that Buffy is incapable almost when you are around. She becomes....."

"A girl?" Willow threw at them. Giles conceded that argument reluctantly. Xander piped up from his position on the sofa.

"Will’s right Giles. Buffy’s over Angel now. She’s got Riley and the Initiative, a whole new life without Lestat* over there. She’s the slayer. And she’s been through worse than this. The Bufster can survive anything. Hey, she survived high school." Xander put forward, eating a candy bar.

"Barely!" Giles scoffed.

"And Faith!" Willow put forward eagerly and assuredly. "If she can survive Faith, she can survive these stupid, ugly demons!" Angel and Giles looked at each other in a silent understanding.

"What?" Willow and Xander asked in unison.

"What is it Giles?" Willow asked tautly. "Is there something you’re not telling us?" Angel gave Giles the floor, and again, he rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply.

"Angel and I, have known about the Kamanche’s plight for around a month." He looked at Angel for confirmation, and Angel nodded.

"A month?!" Xander exclaimed.

"Giles! How could you not tell Buffy!" Willow scolded.

"We had time to prepare, we watched their movements, studied their mannerisms, the ‘way they get the job done’, so to say. Their arrive in Sunnydale at such an early hour was very much an unanticipated event at the very least. Angel and I had thought that we might have had more time. In which to prepare Buffy - and to get the Initiative on our side." Giles stopped, looked into the far away corner, and Angel continued.

"I had to help Buffy this afternoon. I was only going to help from behind the scenes. Not get involved like this. But the Kamanche foiled us both. They were ahead of us all the time."

"It is much too early for the sacrifice." Giles took over once more. "The sacrifice was to take place a year after Buffy graduated High School. When she would be at her optimum strength and awareness. The sacrifice is still-""

Under a month away." Angel finished. "We have no idea why they want Buffy now. Or what they’ll do to her now they’ve got her." Xander jumped up.

"Well we have to get her!" Willow quickly followed.

"Yes! Giles, we just can’t leave Buffy there! What if they -"

"They won’t do anything to her." Angel put in firmly. "I’ll get her back safely. I promise."

"And break her heart again big guy, huh?" Xander accused, angry and afraid for Buffy, and contradicting himself, rambling. "You think that you being her Knight in shining vamp face will make her do this forgetting stuff you keep throwing in her face? She can’t forget, that’s her problem! You keep telling her to - and she’s afraid! She’s afraid because she loves you more that she’s willing to admit and you were such a big part of her life for so long and then you just disappear and she’s forced to start over again. But here ya are. You can’t just walk into her life, mess it all up again, and then walk away! There’s only so much more she can take, ol’ buddy!" Xander took a deep breath.

"I’m talking about saving Buffy from getting killed. Right now, I can’t think about any of that."

"Right. Well, tell us how she managed to be snatched from you if you aren’t thinking of any of that, Mr Cold Freeze guy. Tell us that, huh!"

"Angel," Willow put herself between them, the air bristling. "Xander has a point. And you know, I’ve been thinking. Maybe the Initiative could step in. You know, do what they were trained for?"

"No." Angel burst forth. "Where is your precious Initiative Willow? How much do they really understand what’s going on? A bunch of dumb jocks dressed up in army uniforms -"

"Don’t yell at her." Xander yelled.

"PLEASE!" Giles exploded. "SHUT UP, all of you!" Lowering his voice "Xander, you were right in saying how Buffy has got on with her life since Angel’s departure. Believe it or not, she is not controlled primarily by emotion. And not only that, but Angel is correct when he says that we cannot involve the Initiative in this. It’s far too dangerous, highly effervescent. Angel....Angel is the only one who can help her now." Xander folded his arms and glared, and Willow nodded...

"Xander. There’s Angel....Buffy...." Whispering "But what about Riley? When he finds out that she’s been attacked and kidnapped...." Giles snapped shut one of his research books.

"Angel, the tribe will not rise again until tomorrow night. Buffy will be safe until then. I think we are all agreed one on topic. Time is of the essence. Come sun down, you’ll attack." Giles ordered, his voice taut and controlled.

Buffy was chained to a wall, with rope and steel that even she could not break away from. She had been beaten up, and powerless to stop them, she fought with the grit and determination that had helped her stay alive past her nineteenth birthday. But the demons had injected her with some kind of potion....poison. It had invaded her senses. Made her languish in unconsciousness and made her hallucinate, dream, and scream. It made her weak. Vulnerable. And these were not things that Buffy was used to experiencing. She had taken a good look at the targets before she had been chained, beaten and poisoned. She couldn’t see why Angel had told her that they could defeat them alone. They were powerful in their number, and now she had been drugged, she doubted she could walk let alone help Angel slay them. And as the night turned way to day, she slept, and the dreams came. Of past - and of future. She dreamed of Angel mainly. She recounted how they met, how his first words to her were

"I don’t bite."

She recalled how she had felt when she had found out about his past, and how he fought it, that night in the Bronze, fought the urge to be Angelus once more. To give into the vampire. And then she recollected how, after he had killed his sire, Darla, she had felt the incurable bond, the sparking connection between them, even then. She remembered telling Willow

"In his way I feel like he's still watching me."

And the link between him had got stronger over the years that they had been together. How this week, she had felt it - felt something. But put it down to angsty willies. Yet it had been him all along. It had been Angel. Her Angel, back in Sunnydale. Fighting with her, protecting her, as he had always done before he had decided to leave.....

The dreams carried on. Angel was like an apparition before her. As if she wasn’t in an hallucinogenic state on a warehouse floor, and Angel was mere inches away from her. He was so close, and she felt the love flow through her.......The dream became brighter.

She had a sword in her hand. Angel’s eyes, from his kneeling position glittered with confusion, with....love.....caring.

She didn’t want to dream about this. She moaned in her sleep, tossed on the cold concrete. She watched helplessly as the scene unfolded in her mind, and she was back in the old mansion, seeing Acathla’s mouth opening wider behind Angel.

And oh, how she loved him. She felt it sweep through her like a warm river of liquid. How she hated him and loved him all at the same time. She had not dared hope, did not dare dream that Angelus would be banished from Angel’s body once more, and he would return to her. She had always, always, held onto the pipe dream that her Angel was still alive somewhere, while Angelus, evil that he was, had taken his body and used it to torture her friends and family to fear and death. She had watched Angelus play out his destruction, watched him wreck his revenge.

But the curse had been duplicated. And he was there, crouching in front of her. Angel. Not Angelus, but Angel. His soul had been restored. And he had looked at her with those eyes, and she had known. That he was back. That the destruction was over. But that the real hell was only beginning. Because she had to kill him. His soul restored, and she had to kill him. Where was the justice? Where was the right that made the powers-that-be decide that now, now, they would give back Angel? Right before she pierced his body with the sword and sent him into hell.

Viewing her dreams as both a bystander, and her dream-self, she felt Angel’s body as she pulled him close. Heard the words on her lips as she told him it would be okay. That he should close his eyes. She felt the pull inside her. The indecision, yet all the while, the horrible knowing. She felt her lips touch his.....oh, how they tasted so satisfying. How she had waited for this, longed for this sensation. Had never really thought she would ever get to experience it again.

And then the dream twisted into morbid turpitude, and she was not Buffy in the dream anymore. She was Angel. She inhabited his body and watched as she plunged the sword into his body. She felt his shock, his fear, his hurt, his inability to think that she would do this, she felt him struggle, trying to grasp at reality and he spoke her name on a soft, agonised whisper ‘Buffy’......and as she, as Angel, was sucked into hell, she felt Angel remembering his vile acts as Angelus. She saw and sensed his memory returning. His self recrimination, his accepting of his fate - and his love and forgiveness for her.

The scene jumped. Buffy stood with Angel, and urged him to go inside, told him that dawn was approaching. She heard herself try to convince him, to make him have faith and the will to survive. She felt how all she knew was love and fear for him. She knew that if Angel was to burn, she could not go on without him. She could not survive without his presence, his love, their connection. She could not endure life without him. She heard the words float around her, entangling her in the vision. She felt both emotions and feelings from both sides. How she, fearful that she would lose him once more, let her heart go out once more to the vampire she loved and trusted with all of her being. And how he, in return, fought the urge to give himself, in part, to her.

"What about me?" She cried sorrowfully. "I love you so much... And I tried to make you go away... I killed you and it didn't help. And I hate it! I hate that it's so hard... and that you can hurt me so much. I know everything that you did, because you did it to me. Oh, God! I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. "She whispered. "I can't."

"Strong is fighting! It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together."

She sensed that he wanted to believe her words, and she knew how afraid he was that Angelus was not far away, and he would hurt her all over again. All the while, he was thinking of her. Of how it would affect her if his soul was to be lost again.

"But," Buffy carried on resolvedly, "if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you that you belong in this world, then I don't know what can. But do not expect me to watch. And don't expect me to mourn for you, because..."

She felt herself reach out to him once more, in a last, wild act, throwing everything, heart soul, very being into her words, and she acknowledged his surrender to what he felt deep down with a newfound trust and love. She felt his love and her own love for him. And she knew how it would never be forgotten, our lost, or just willed away. It was too strong for that. Too resistant.

And she watched from a distance, as the apparitions of herself and Angel walked down the snow covered street, hand in hand, knowing that the road ahead of them would be tough, but they could survive. Together.

Always together.

Always.

Angel surveyed the demon’s nest from high up in the eves of the old warehouse. He mentally surveyed the number of demons, their weapons, their surroundings, the exits and entrances, hiding places.

And then he saw Buffy.

Time stood still and the world froze for a split second as he searched wildly for signs that she was alright, that they had not wounded her. And then he saw her lips move, form a name, that he couldn’t hear from his position, and he felt himself relax a fraction.

Yet he couldn’t stop the flow of memories that pulsed through him. He felt again, every feeling that he had experienced when he was with her. Every smile she had beamed at him, he saw. Every laugh that she uttered, he heard. Everything that was Buffy, he saw, felt, heard and experienced, and it tore at him once more. He understood their parting better than Buffy did. If he hadn’t, then he wouldn’t have been able to walk away when they won against the mayor and Faith. She just couldn’t see how it would benefit her to be away from him. How much she had benefited from it, in only a year of his being away from Sunnydale. And how much she would continue to grow after they parted this time.

He tried not to remember how, when Buffy had travelled to LA to face him, the outcome in his memory was different to what it was in hers. She remembered telling him that in time, they’d forget, and then leaving. But what he remembered was the Mohra demon’s blood giving him the chance to live again. How it felt to hold Buffy and feel his heart beat resounding through his body, and hope that they had a chance this time. He remembered how it felt to make love to her, to hold her, as a mortal, as an equal, instead of someone who was holding her back in life. Who could offer her nothing.

But it had ended how she remembered it. And he ripped himself away from his nostalgia trip, and closed his mind to the barrage of emotional assault that his return had caused on all of them.

He looked around once more, took stock of the plans he had of his attack and memorised mental pictures of the layout of the warehouse.

Dawn was on its way, he had to go. He made his way back across, gazed at Buffy once more, and climbed out of the skylight swiftly.

When Angel returned to the safety of Giles house, Spike was sitting on the sofa, smoking a cigarette and making his usual wiseass cracks.

"I heard that our girl the slayer was in trouble." He swung around and looked Angel up and down. "And oh yes, that Mr Soul man was back just in the nick time. Just thought I’d drop by for a quick snoop."

"Spike." Angel uttered gravely. "Dawn’s lighting the sky. Be a nice warm walk for you back to your tomb, wouldn’t it?" Angel stepped to him threateningly and Spike hopped up and back, behind Xander. Xander jumped up and shook him off, disgusted.

"Tell him I’m a good vamp now!" Spike demanded. Angel threw his long jacket, trademark black, on the sofa.

"Anything?" Giles asked, appearing at his side.

"I found her." He told her, and Willow perked up.

"She’s alright?"

"Why didn’t you bring her back?" Xander wanted to know. "If these guys are as terrible as you say they are then-"

"Oh Xander, do shut up." Giles snapped. "There was no time for Angel to launch a direct hit at them and escape unscathed with Buffy."

"Ooh, sorry, I forgot. Somebody doesn’t take lightly to our good Californian sunshine." Xander muttered. Spike stood surveying this in amusement and with relish. Angel threw a withering glare at Xander, and was in the midst of drawing a map of what he saw.

"She’s okay - for the moment." He handed over the paper to Giles. "This is the place. A rough outline, and the cross is where Buffy is, near the south entrance, which isn’t guarded at all. They know I’m coming. They’re trying to seem thick and unprepared, but they know what they are doing all the time. Every move on their part was executed with precision, and with knowledge. They know I’m going to attack. They just don’t know when."

"Yes." Giles agreed as Angel continued sketching. "I have been doing some more research, with some books and, and, Willow has been searching the internet. We believe that their stop in LA was not just to scout for weapons, but in order to, somehow, entice you back to Sunnydale." Angel nodded.

"I’ve been thinking pretty much the same thing. They figure with me here, that Buffy will be powerless. They’ll get to her that way."

"Wonder how they figured that out." Xander muttered.

"Hey, Buffy knows what she’s doing -" Angel snapped, and Spike intervened casually.

"You talking about those ugly green fellows? Nasty characters." He whistled and carried on. "Bad ol’ lot if I do remember correctly -" Angel, Giles, Willow and Xander pounced upon him with demands, accusations and questions. He held up his hands in mock surrender and told them to hold it.

"Come on, give a vamp a break. You think I’m only good for boozing and smoking?" They just looked at him. "Well, okay. But I have lived for more than a century you know - I’ve seen things that you don’t even encounter in your nightmares!"

"And you probably had a hand in most of them." Xander threw at him, and Spike smiled slowly. Angel gazed at him in sardonic bemusment.

"If you’re saying this to feel of some importance, Spike -" He warned.

"Hey!" Spike protested. "I have feelings you know. Here I was, going to offer some friendly advice on how to save your beloved Buffy, and all I get is bloody accusations in return! I ask ya. What does a vamp have to do to -" Giles handed over a wad of cash.

" - but this’ll do lovely." He stuffed the money in his top pocket and lit another cigarette, falling on the sofa in an unhurried manner.

"Spike!" Giles warned.

"Oh come on! It’s my bed time you know. Here I am giving up my beauty sleep for you lot who -" Willow handed him money, and Xander shrugged, patting his empty pockets, and Angel, eyes narrowed, throwing a silent threat at him. Spike coughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"You lot are bloody mad if you think that Mr Man over there can take on the Kamanche alone. Those buggers are bloody mad! They’ve probably got your slayer bunched up real tight and doped up to her eyeballs by now. And that’s before they torture her, maim her and eventually kill her."

Willow whimpered and Xander went to her, hugging her.

"It won’t come to that, Spike." Angel bit out.

"Oh yeah?" The other vampire challenged, and he stood up to face his sire. "And who’s going to save her slayerness - you?"

"Yeah, I am." Angel retorted.

"Tut tut. You really don’t get it do you? You think you’re ahead of them, and they turn around and show you that they got you fooled. Why aren’t you thinking the same of their reasons you daft bunch of -?"

"Spike, you infernal blubbering -" Giles broke out, angrily.

"Giles." Angel cut in, stopping his tirade. "Spike. Go on."

"It’s not the slayer they want, you bunch of American idiots. It’s never been Buffy. They want you Angel. They want to kill you."

Spike, harassed and regretting saying anything, was forced to explain that the Kamanche tribe had been around for more than the books recounted. And that they did not highlight the exact cause, or what to expect from them, and the lengths they will go to. Or the mind tricks they will enter into.

"It’s perfect," Spike told them, savouring it. "Angelus and Buffy! Buffy and Angelus! Those two have got more bloody past and trauma than Dawson and Joey in five seasons put together. They know you’re gonna come and get her. And with her most likely out of commission, you’re vampire butt is toast!"

Their plan seemed so simple when the gang knew what it was. They brought Angel here to be with Buffy. They had planned all along on capturing Buffy, and when Angel came for her - as they knew he would - they would capture him, and kill him. The books that Giles had in his possession read that the Kamanche hunted slayers to feed off their strength in order to spawn a higher generation in the future. But according to Spike, they had stopped on slayers a long time ago. They found something else that held their attention much more than plain strength. Vampire blood.

The source of all evil. And Angel, one of the most powerful vampires in the history, was their target. But if they could, they’d take Buffy too. Because she not only had strength, she had skill and awareness and the agility of three slayers, and the dexterity that she commanded, the Kamanche could never have, because their size deemed them too clumsy. But drinking from her, and harvesting body parts for later consumption, would let future generations spawn more terrific and, for humanity, more horrific, than what they were now.

For the ‘Scooby Gang’ it unfolded like a nightmare movie. But this was no movie. This was real. And not only was the slayer in trouble, but now Angel was too. And if Angel saved Buffy - who would save Angel?

Willow stood awkwardly, a short time after Spike had laid out the history of the Kamanche, standing stationary between Angel and Riley.

"Um, Riley. This is Angel. Buffy’s old.....friend. Our friend. Angel. Yep, good ol’ Angel. And Riley. Buffy’s boyfriend. So loyal. So kind.

So-"Riley held out his hand.

"I’m pleased to meet you, Angel. Any friend of Buffy is a friend of mine."

"Well you know, Buffy and I were more -"

"Angel!" Willow jumped in anxiously. "Giles. Research mode. Bad. Go." Faking laughter, pushing Angel away, she turned to Riley.

Riley looked puzzled.

"Where is Buffy anyway?" He asked.

"Oh! She’s -"

"Riley, we um, we, need your help." Giles told him quietly. "We will need your weapons and some of your loyal men. We cannot tell you details, and we ask you not to ask any questions. It is imperative though that you trust us, and you listen. Buffy asked that you head this, er, mission with Angel. She trusted only you and he to -" Giles took off his glasses to hide his breakdown of what had come so easily to him in the past - words. "To -"

"To direct an attack on old warrior demons." Angel finished for him.

Willow looked at Angel, and Angel looked at Riley. He handed him a copy of the rough map he had drawn of the warehouse. "North, and East are your target area. The warehouse twists round on the docks, cutting off you from me. You must not, under any circumstances, go into the West and South. That’s my area."

"Yours? Who are you fighting with?"

"Myself. I work better alone."

"But-"

"Trust me, Riley. I’ll be fine. Just kill any demons that you encounter. Do not hesitate, and do not come after me. I’ll have my own back-up in time." Angel instructed. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Riley nodded.

"Sure." He paused. "I just go in, kill and walk out?"

"Yes. These demons are a threat to all, extremely dangerous and violent. They are perfectionists. They like no surprises. We aim to give them some.

"Well, you know, the Initiative has some grenades and -" He coughed, "Some firecrackers. It would put them off before we launch our directive."

Angel nodded, allowing that.

"When do we attack?" Riley asked.

Giles looked at the clock, Xander looked at Willow, who looked at her watch, and Angel looked out the window, looking at the sky.

"One hour. Sun set." He said.

Buffy lay in a stupor on the ground. She was seeing things again. She saw her Graduation, the mayor’s ascension, and their defeat of them. She felt the feeling of dejection and loss as she searched for Angel in the aftermath, not knowing if he had been killed, or if he had left, as he had told her he would. And then he was there. Through the smoke and the haze, he was there. Standing. Not moving toward her. Saying goodbye.

And she not only survived the ascension, but the loss of her love. She had got through the agony of being alone without the one thing she wanted and loved so much. She had found happiness and a strange factor normality, in another - in Riley. And as much as she tried to keep hold of how Riley made her feel, the feelings she had for him were severely dwarfed compared to that of her feelings for

Angel.Angel was her soul mate. He held her heart and her soul, and until he let them go, and she welcomed them back, she was soiled for anyone else.

She tossed on the concrete, trying to focus on the situation. She had to fight these demons. She had to be strong. She couldn’t succumb to this vulnerability that was forcing her to sleep and dream. She had to be ready for when Angel came to get her.

She opened her eyes with difficulty and saw a demon in front of her. She tried to sit up, but her body was heavy and wouldn’t let her, and so she continued lying on the ground, trying hard to keep her eyes open.

The demon saw her struggle and his eyes lit up with a strange glow.

"Ah, the Slayer." He communicated.

Buffy wanted to shut his words out of her head, but he was too powerful for her, his words and strength too potent for her to fight in her

disadvantage.

"You struggle like a wounded animal caught in a cage. I sense your fear, and your will which are on equal level. Your strength will do us good. Your awareness will benefit us. However, the one you love, will make us more stronger than a hundred slayers. He will arrive soon, and we will be waiting. It is nearly over slayer. We have heard nothing but good things about you. You will be written up in history as one of the greats."

"You will not beat me." Buffy threw at him from the depths of her mind.

"We shall see." And the demon walked away.

Buffy shook with the effort of sending him a parting note.

"Hey ugly!" Buffy taunted. "Alone I am weak and you see me moaning pitifully. But team me up with Angel, and together, we’ll kick your green butt out of the state!"

The demon replied with silence and continued walking away, leaving Buffy with her dreams.

Another dream took hold of her, and she succumbed easily. It was the day of her seventeenth birthday. The day that she had grown up.

"Angel... (sniffles) I feel like I lost you... (sniffles) You're right, though. We can't be sure of anything." Buffy whispered, in her dream.

"Me - me, too. I can't either." Buffy whispered.

Buffy could feel his kiss even now, two years on, and feel the heat as their bodies embraced in an impulsive, loving act.

"Buffy, maybe we shouldn't..."

"Don't. Just kiss me."

Buffy looked up into the darkened ceiling of the warehouse, the apparitions, fading. She remembered the aftermath of that night. The death, the suffering, the anguish and torture of devastation.

Angel was taken and Angelus was in his place. The curse had been broken, Angel was gone, and it was because in a rash act of impulsive pleasure and love making, Buffy had given herself wholly to him, and the reaction from that had given Angel the one moment of happiness that he wasn’t allowed to have.

And gone was her love, her partner, Angel, and in place was the vile and evil killer that was infamous for his evil deeds of killing and torture.

And then she got him back. Angel was back, and for a while everything was good and right again.

But then reality set in to Angel’s mind. He had told her that it would be better if he left. Give her a chance at something more that he could give him. A chance of happiness, of children. And no matter how Buffy longed to stay with him, how much she told him she loved him, pleaded with him to stay, - Angel had told her flatly that he wanted to leave her. And leave he did.

The apparitions appeared in her head again, and Buffy watched, her heart breaking one more time, as Angel disappeared from her again. But this time, it was of his choice - not of fate or a broken curse. This time it was her love, Angel, that was telling her that he didn’t want his life to be with her.

"Angel, drop the criptic, you’re scaring me."

"Is this really happening?"

But it did happen. And she moved on, to college - and Riley. Riley. Buffy pictured his face now, above her. His smile, his love and his loyalty were so much more than she could ever have hoped for after Angel. He stuck by her when he realised her secret, stood up with her when she battled with Faith. Kind of. She could never have asked for more.

Or could she?

Had Angel’s coming home made her realise that maybe, just maybe, Riley had only been a stand in for him. He was so similar to him in so many

ways.....Buffy lay on the cement floor and closed her eyes. She could feel the drug that they had injected her with, pulsing through her. Could feel its lethargic effect in her limbs and in her mind.

And she lay there. And she looked as if she was sleeping. But she wasn’t. She was fighting. Fighting her feeling for Angel, and fighting the demons. And when the Angel came for her, the Kamanche would know that you can’t keep a slayer down. Especially not one named Buffy Summers. And she would let Angel go. She had no other choice. They had both changed - and they could never go back.

Riley, his commandos, and Angel hid outside of the demon nest, less than five minutes after sun down.

Angel and Riley were scoping the place out once more, and running over the strategy and plans, making sure that surprise and strength in weapons and attack were going to be on their side, rather than the Kamanche.

Riley looked at Angel.

"What have they done to deserve all this?" He asked curiously.

"Giles told me you were trained in not asking questions."

"Yeah well, that got me on cold turkey with drugs I didn’t even know I was on, had me finding out that my superior was building some mutant from the operatives we caught, and was planning on killing Buffy."

Angel looked at him in a shadowed expression.

"Kill Buffy?" He repeated unconsciously.

"Yeah, until the mutant killed Maggie instead." Riley told him matter-of-factly.

"How long have you and Buffy......" Angel began to ask, and then quickly "I’m sorry, it’s none of my business."

"No, no, it’s fine." Riley assured him, the adoration plain in his voice. "We’ve not been seeing each other for that long. We had a rough beginning. But we’re getting through. She’s brilliant. She’s....She’s.....you know what I’m talking about, right?"

Angel looked away, a noise coming from his throat.

"Yeah." He agreed non-commitingly.

"Where is Buffy anyway? Shouldn’t she be here? Her being the Slayer and all? This is her sort of kill." Riley asked.

"Buffy is tied up.....behind the scenes for this one."

"That’s not like her. She likes to be at front, you know. Wise cracking and staking."

"Well, these demons need more than staking." Angel defined roughly.

Riley looked at him, then conceded.

"We should concentrate on the Kamanche and killing them all." Angel suggested. "Are you sure you’re ready?"

"Affirmative." Riley nodded. "We go in, we kill, and we leave."

"You have to kill every demon you see. You can’t let any that are your cordon come down to where I’ll be. And if they do, do not send any of your men. I can handle it."

"I understand. Take care."

"You too. Come on then." Angel instructed.

"Force 1, follow me. Force 2, stand by." Riley ordered. "Everybody know what they have to do?"

Riley’s commandos nodded sharply.

"Let’s go."

Buffy lay still on the cement. The demon who had communicated to her earlier stood over her once more. Their leader.

"Can you feel the drugs in your system?" He asked her telepathically. "They are potent, aren’t they? The finest Columbia had to offer."

"Only the best." She replied in a continuous tone, indifferent.

"You are feeling the effects more strongly than mortals because of your powers. The drugs affect your powers more than anything. Right now you probably have about as much strength as an ordinary civilian, or less."

"It’s been a long time."

"Yes, it has. You’ve done well to have survived this far, slayer. Most don’t. The dark world is -"

"Whatever." Buffy interrupted.

"Soon, you will not be tired anymore. You will try to escape. But you cannot. So I wouldn’t waste what limited energy you have."

Buffy didn’t answer, and the demon walked away. Closing her eyes, and hearing a scuffle behind her, she thought he had returned.

And then she knew he hadn’t. And she opened her eyes.

"You took your time." She murmured.

Angel smiled, and started breaking the chains. She watched him break free her with little ease and her eyes clouded. He helped her up, and bundled her into his arms. She folded against him as the perfect fit. It felt so familiar...so.....

"I knew you’d come." She told him.

"I’d come for you through hell and heaven, Buffy." He told her. "I love you. I should never have let you go. We were meant to be together, every time we lost each other, we found each other again. I’m going to stay, I’m

-"Buffy’s eyes snapped open. Another dream. So real, so vivid. None of the apparitions that hounded her. Her body contracted painfully as the drugs worked their way through her. She had never been this helpless before. Why these hallucinations - what was there point? To torture her? Having Angel tell her he was staying when she knew he had made a whole new life in LA - without her - was torture.....But she was the Slayer. She should be kicking the ass off those demons. She should be showing them -

She blinked. And blinked again.

"Angel!" She hissed weakly. "It’s a trap - you -"

She struggled with the chains, struggled to sit.

"You have to go!" She told him.

"I’m not."

Angel crouched down beside her and cut the chains with metal cutting shears. Buffy’s head whipped around as she heard sounds of battle, of explosion, and back to Angel again. She helped him get out of her bounds and held out her hand, her eyes questioning.

"I had a little help." Angel shrugged. "Come on, maybe we can get out without -" He lifted her, and when they turned, Angel saw a line of demons, including the leader, waiting for him.

He looked around to see if their was any ladders where Buffy could climb out to the roof. He felt her weakness as he let her down, and she held onto his waist, and knew she was relying on his grip of her shoulder not to fall down to the ground.

"Or maybe not." He summarised.

The demons communicated with him in calm, controlled voices. No demons from Riley’s area arrived, and Angel and Buffy could hear that Riley and his commandos had the winning hand. But they both knew that the fittest and powerful demons had been reserved for the trap that they had set for Angel.

"So....you are the vampire that was sent back from hell to rid the human world of the darkness."

Angel spoke out loud.

"I fight for the cause that rids the earth of evil." He told them, in his wry manner. "I thought it would look pretty good on my CV."

Buffy, beside him, moaned and thrashed a slightly.

"Angel...."

He made her lean further into his strength, and the demons looked him and down.

"It is not only the drugs that make her weak. It is her attraction to you." The Kamanche told him.

"Well what can I say? I’m her Knight in shining vamp face." He shrugged, using the line that Xander had thrown at him.

He placed a weak Buffy behind him and morphed into his vampire face, growling.

The demons failed to show any sort of reaction.

"Your army has finished off nearly thirty of out tribe, vampire. However, you will find that your army is leaving. You are alone. The slayer cannot help you. You think that you can win against us? You both are ours. Why not just surrender?"

Angel looked thoughtful for a second, and then clucked his tongue.

"You know, I’ve thought about your offer. And I’ve decided to decline. Thanks all the same."

He felt Buffy inch on the ground, and he willed her strength. Again, he looked around for any signs of escape for her.

"There is no escape for the both of you. You are alone. And you will soon die."

Angel looked worried, his brow furrowed. He glanced at each of the demons in turn.

And then it all clicked.

"Why do you need the slayers powers if you are as dangerous as seem to be?" He wondered eventually, walking in front of them, their eyes following him. "So I’m just gonna lay a suggestion out on the table, here, be a risk taker. You see, I’m thinking that the Kamanche are nearly extinct. That you are not dangerous, merely smart in ways that lets you remain two steps ahead at all times. That lets you have the edge against those who you fight against. Give me a clue. Am I

warm?"Two demons rushed him, and Angel drew a sword from his back, and, in two swift moves, killed them both.

"I presume I was right."

The rest of the demons, minus the leader, advanced towards him threateningly. Angel swung the sword around.

"Come on then. Let’s just fight already."

They stopped, and one came forward, armed with an axe and a chain. Angel crouched in a fighting stance, and suddenly, Buffy was crouched next to him, groggy and holding her stake, and a dagger that one of the dead demons had dropped.

"Are you sure that you’re fit? There’s a lot of them. Sure you can take them?" He asked her in concern.

She looked at him, and smiled, her eyes cloudy with the

drugs.

"As long as I get to kick at least one demon ass today, I’ll be fine."

"Be careful."

"As always."

He nodded, and they stood slowly. The demons appraised them, and the leader stood at the front, a medieval sword that glinted, in his hand.

"Hey demon ugly!" Buffy called to the leader, inside her mind. "I warned you. But you just didn’t listen. You attack one of us, you attack us both. You’re ugly jackass is dead already!"

The leader motioned to ten of his pack.

And the fight was on.

A demon rushed Buffy, and she side kicked him, sending him tumbling to the ground, managing not to get decapitated, and staking him in the head. Another lunged at her, and she turned and executed a half-spinning hook kick to its head, swinging the dead demons sword at his throat, and tripped a little as she fought to regain her shaky balance. Angel, meanwhile, grabbed a demons shoulder as it charged at him, and while he was dazed, he flipped him over onto his back and brought the sword down, back kicking another. A demon came at Buffy again, and she connected with his head a roundhouse kick to his side. He fell, but got up quickly and grabbed her shoulder. Angel looked across, and Buffy motioned him to go on, that she was fine, and she grabbed onto his hand to keep it in place, and with her other hand she pushed down on his shoulder, forcing him to flip forward onto his back. She raised her dagger and stabbed him with it, and then rushed a demon that out numbered Angel, and slit its throat. She was breathing heavily, and sweat glistened on her forehead and upper lip, but she brandished her sword and fought next to Angel like she had never been away from his side.

Outnumbered, Angel log rolled over the edge of a stack of crates, slashing a Kamanche in the stomach, and beheading another. Buffy blocked a high punch from one of them, and then stabbed him the chest. Then she spun halfway round to face another demon and the punctured his gut with her dagger. A demon appeared behind her and brought his axe handle down on her back. Buffy, doubled over in pain, as the demon raised its axe, notices Angel as he whirled around and slammed the sharp ridge of his axe into the back of his head.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Buffy swept the sweaty hair off her face, and nodded, and they both looked at the leader and the rest of his immobile demons, eighteen of them.

"You did well. Surprisingly. But it is not over." He conceded, and motioned to his tribe, the remaining twenty. "Capture them. Do not kill them. Bring them to me."

Angel ducked an axe blow, and a chain throw and Buffy shoved the demon that brandished the weapons, and grabbed an axe from the floor, and swung it at his head. Out of the corner of his eye, Angel spotted another vampire coming at him and delivered a side kick to his stomach. He then grabbed the axe that Buffy threw at him, and severed the demons throat. Buffy turned back to the other demons, spun twice and delivered a nasty backhand punch to its face, making him fall onto the crates.

Angel grabbed onto his sash, yanked him up to face height, and slid the sword into his gullet. Buffy axed another three demons, with Angel’s help, and they both backed off a little bit, Buffy’s energy level dropping severely. Angel looked over at her, and smiled a little. She laughed, which sounded more like a cough, and they held sword, axe and daggers between them.

Buffy, in true slayer style, swung her axe around, and aimed it at a demons head. It flew out of her hands, and gashed the demon she was aiming for, and through that one, and into the one standing behind him. Angel aimed a dagger, and killed another, and then the demons, angry, surged at them, the blow sending both Angel and Buffy to the floor.

A demon threw a punch at Buffy and it hit her squarely in the side of the head. Wincing, she took it in her stride and delivered a high kick to his chest, and a sword through his stomach. A demon yanked her up from the ground, and she somersaulted out of his grasp, and roundhouse kicked him twice in the face. He tried to punch and stab her, but she grabbed onto his arm, sidesteped him and threw him into Angel’s grasp where he strangled him to death. One of the demons axe kicked at Angel, but managed to roll out of the way just in time so the demons legs hit thin air rather than Angel’s head. Angel smashed his arm down on the demon’s cheekbone, breaking it, and then backhand punched him in his face before slitting his throat.

The leader, incensed at the intrusion and massacre wielded his sword to strike Buffy. He swung at her, but she sidestepped him and Angel tackled him from behind, knocking him down to the ground. Angel grunted as the demon squirmed and hit out, but his sword fell short of his grasp, and he cannot reach it. His pack fell back when they saw that Angel had their leader, unsure of what to do. Buffy, tired and weak, her body soaking with sweat, her body shaking, crawled across and dragged the sword over to her. Angel punched the demon hard, and his head rebounded off the floor.

"Call your pack off." Angel ordered tersely. "Tell them to back off!" The demon told them to stand back, and they did so. Buffy collapsed against a crate, and slid to the floor, and Angel looked at her, wanting to help her, but then back at the demon.

"You know that you can’t win." He bit out. "We’ve shown you that we are more powerful than twenty of your pack combined."

"I still have some left."

"Tell me why you need slayer power." Angel demanded. "Tell me why you want ours."

"You know why, vampire. You and the slayer are one of the greats. You have survived the greatest of evils, and still you continue to fight for your cause. Our prime cause was forgotten two centuries ago. But we fight because we can, because we are pure blood Kamanche. And because we feed from your power. It makes us thrive."

"It doesn’t make you stronger." Angel pointed out. "Why go through this that gives you no benefit?"

The Kamanche leader remained silent and Angel put the dagger to his throat, his eyebrows raised.

"Death does not frighten me, vampire. The Kamanche have a new cause. The powers that we take possession of, are stored. Stored in our place of worship, for another place, another time. Once we die, we are reincarnated into much more powerful and agile demons than we have had to be while we watched our tribe putrefy away. This way, there is only greatness left for us. We are the beginning of a new race of pure blood demons. The Great Kamanche."

Angel let go of him, snarling. He jumped up, and walked across to Buffy. She helped herself up, and Angel held her close.

"No cause of yours will be fought on our streets anymore, Kamanche. Go home." He dismissed.

The demon leader was helped up.

"You will not fight us?!"

"I don’t believe in your cause, Kamanche." Angel told them, kicking open a wooden door, and turning round, weapons discarded, Buffy under his arm. "Watching your tribe fall down to near extinction and all you have to hold onto is gathering power that you receive when you die? That’s desperation. I know of some friendly psychiatrists that could help with this."

"You think that you are greater than us?!"

Buffy smiled slyly, and held onto Angel.

"We don’t think, Kappache demon leader. We know." She sung out. Angel helped her out onto the street, and in the dim light of near dawn, he saw for the first time how her shirt was in tatters, showing her pale milk skin, and how she was bruised and cut mostly everywhere. She looked up at him, and she fingered a cut on his forehead that was healing quickly.

"Let’s go home." He whispered. And they staggered together in the moonlight to Giles’ apartment.

Buffy lay resting in Giles’ bedroom, and the gang converged in the living room. Angel stood next to the bookcase, Willow and Xander sat on the sofa and Giles sat in his armchair, drinking tea.

"So they were not as dangerous as we thought then?" Giles assuagemented.

"Oh, they were dangerous all right. They were extremely smart and they had a big enough pack." Angel explained. "They were dangerous in their individual way."

"But I am right in assuming that they are

gone?""They’ll camp down until night fall. I’ll check later, but yeah. They’ll be leaving first ferry back to Africa." Angel rationalised.

"Well, that is a relief." Giles smiled.

"Riley came in after he finished up." Willow told Angel. "He said that everything went smoothly and all were killed."

"Good ol’ Riley!" Xander said pointedly. Angel huffed and looked away, while Willow punched him the

arm."Aw! I meant that Riley and his boys did a good job, right?" Xander issued quickly. Buffy appeared at the doorway, bruised and in a shirt of Giles.

"Riley’s okay?" She asked.

"He’s fine Buffy." Willow smiled. Buffy smiled with relief, then noticed Angel standing next to the bookcase.

"I wanted to thank you for your help, Angel. I could never have - well, thanks." She offered him sincerely. Angel looked uncomfortable, and Willow stood up.

"Well, y’know, college work calls, essays, essays essays! Come on Xander. Good boy." She urged, dragging him up.

"I don’t even go to -" Xander realised. "But yeah, I could hang for a while, you know, be cool, be Xander the college man." He preened himself. "Yeah, I could do that."

"Well do it somewhere else." Willow and Xander walked past Buffy, Willow giving her a hug, and they closed the door silently behind them. Giles stood up.

"Yes, I must be going myself. I am rather intrigued by these Kamanche demons now. My perceptions of them were just so off -" Giles said, then noticed Buffy staring hardly at him. "Yes well, good job. Good job. I take it you’re feeling better Buffy?"

"Yep. Back on form. Just a little sore." Giles nodded,

"Thank you Angel, I much appreciate your assistance." and he made a hurried exit. Buffy and Angel stood looking at each other, then Buffy crossed the room, and was in his arms, silent, and unspeaking. Angel hesitated only a split second, and then he accepted her, and he closed his eyes, and laid his head on hers. They stood there for an hour, just holding, nothing else. Buffy could feel her heart breaking a thousand times, and Angel, who remembered holding her in the same way when he had told her that the Powers-that-be were erasing the day, and deeming his vampire again, felt the future slip away from him. All that he knew was holding Buffy, and her holding him back.

She could feel the tears on her cheeks, and she tried to stem them, but the flow wouldn’t stop. She tightened her hold on him, and swore she would never let him go. Ever. Angel looked at the clock. Then back at the girl that was in his

arms."Buffy..."

"Sshh." She urged. "Please. Don’t speak. Don’t tell me you’re going. Please." She begged. Angel closed his eyes and surrendered to her love, to her loyalty. To her. Then he opened them, and broke the clinch.

"I need to go."

"No, no! You can stay, we can work together, like old times, we can make this work Angel!" She hurried out in a barrage of emotions. He turned away.

"Buffy....don’t make this any harder."

"All I saw in that warehouse was you Angel! All I dreamt about, and hoped for....was you. And you came. You came to -"

"You have Riley." Angel reminded her. That stopped her.

"Riley." She murmured, and turned away from his face to pace the floor. "Do you know how similar he is to you? Not just in looks, but in fight and cause. I realised it in the warehouse. He’s you in every way but

two.""Two..?"

"Well, he’s not a vampire." She told him, and then bit her lip, the tears evident in her eyes and the stains on her cheeks. "And.....and... he loves me." Angel stood impassively.

"You think I don’t love you? Is that it?" He asked roughly. Buffy looked to the ceiling.

"Oh. It’s going to be this ‘I love you but I can’t stay’ lecture is it? ‘Sorry Buf, but ya know, I love ya an’ all, but hell baby, it’s torture being together. I need to move way across state to get away from you. I need to forget.’"

"I don’t talk like that." Angel said, put out.

"No, you don’t, but the gist is the same." She felt her temples and swept her hair away from her face. "You don’t want to be with me. And I don’t have any say in it. Again. It hurts so much Angel!"

"Buffy...."

"Go. Just go. Get out." She cried harshly, gesturing to the door. "It’s night fall, what are you waiting for - go!" Angel hesitated, looked at her in pain, then picked up his coat.

"I will go, Buffy. But I do love you. Never believe that I don’t. I’m hurting too." He told her quietly. She remained, her back to him, unspeaking, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Angel!" She cried shrilly, twisting. He paused, and turned around, and she saw his fear that she would fling herself at him. She shook her head, feeling that it was just that kind of display that made him walk away in the first place.

"Thank you for your help." She muttered. The door closed with a final, resounding click, and Buffy, full of anguish and confusion, sunk to the floor in tears and wracking sobs.

Buffy patrolled the underground half an hour later, and found a group of vampires with a girl, eating off her. She tutted in mock wonder, and they all turn round to see her, sauntering towards them, a stake in her hand.

"You know, I have had a real bitch of a week." She spoke in a conversational tone. "So I thought I’d break up some foursomes, you know, get loose a little tension, stake me some vampires. Anyone wanna volunteer?" They just looked at her, then one went to bite the girl further, and Buffy lunged.

"Buffy gets to pick? Bad choice." She managed to knock one to the ground, and she rolled on top of her vampire, back kicking a vampire that rushed her. She yanked the first vampire by the lapels of his jacket until he was standing, and she spun half-way around and threw him away like he was trash, running after him, and staking him. As he turned to ashes, she ducked a spinning jumping hook kick from one of the vampires staked him and sidestepped blows from the remaining. Another, a smartass, aimed to punch her in the stomach, then changed over at the last minute to a snap kick manoeuvre. Thinking quickly, Buffy grabbed his foot and threw it over his head, forcing him to flip over onto the ground. Buffy punched at her assailant's face, but, swiftly, he ducked it. She tried for another one, but he blocked it. She then aimed for his stomach with another punch, but was blocked yet again. The vampire reflexed to punch her, but she grabbed onto his arm and yanked him backwards, then forwards, and twisted, his arm, sending him flipping onto his back, where the stake slid into him and he exploded. The last one rushed her, but she had a firm grip on him, and threw his head backward, which sent him flying backwards onto a bench. The force of the attack made him slide down the back, and Buffy jumped onto it, and followed him over. She paused for a moment to let him get back up, and then she roundhouse kicked him in the gut, followed immediately by a punch to his face. She staked him rapidly and dusted her hands off, unsmiling.

She felt him behind her.

"I thought you had gone." She said.

"I couldn’t leave you like that."

"Well, I’m fine now. I heal fast." She paused at the double meaning (her bruises and her heart). "Packed old over-emotional silly Buffy away again. Please note."

"Buffy...please, let’s not argue."

"Why not? It’s the only thing I’m allowed to do. I mean, I can’t kiss you, I can’t love you, I can’t beg you to stay, right?" Angel sighed.

"And now I’m the bad guy." She figured. She placed her stake in her long coat pocket and walked away from him. Angel followed, slowly.

"I’m getting a train in a half hour." Buffy stopped.

"Bon voyage then."

"I wanted to say goodbye without fighting. I am so tired of all this -"

"And you think I’m not? I was fine until you came back! I was sorting my mess of a life out! And then you come back and that Pandora’s box that we called our relationship was reopened!" She cried.

"And that’s exactly why I’m going!" He told her loudly. "I’m leaving so you can have a life - the life you can’t have with me! And it’s killing me." His voice quietened. "It kills me to see you cry, to hear you say you love me, when I want to believe that we can make this work. But we can’t Buffy. We tried. At least some way, this way, you get to experience something besides the slayer world you find such a burden."

"What are you saying?" She whispered.

"I’m scared, Buffy, that in time, you’d find me a burden. That you’d find our love, our relationship a heavy band around your neck, dragging you down. I can’t do that to you, or me." Buffy, staying a distance away from him, softened a little.

"Well, I’m scared that you’ll forget. That you’ll forget what we had...forget me." She laid open her fear for him trustfully. Angel inched towards her, and she froze.

"Buffy. You should know better than that. I’d never forget you. Ever. It’s not even a possibility and that’s not why I left here either. I never want to forget about you. I love you. I’ll always love you." Angel’s voice was emotional. She started sobbing.

"I love you too." She whispered softly, and he

heard."If you love me, if you do, Buffy, then...you’ll understand my reasons for going." She walked a short way towards him, and then stopped.

"I do love you." She sobbed, her voice cloudy with tears. "And I’m trying to understand why you left if you love me too, I really am. But I can’t watch you go. I can’t Angel." She broke down, and she turned away. She felt him nod, and then walk away from her. But then he stopped and turned round, and she heard him place something on the ground. Then he said

"Riley’s a good boy, Buffy. And if he makes you happy, then I’ll be happy for you." And then he left. She waited for a while, and then turned to the way he left, and her eyes fell on a piece of paper held by an empty can that he had left on the ground. She walked silently and slowly across to it, bent down, and picked it up. She read the note over and over again. She cried and she sobbed, and she understood a fraction of what he was trying to tell her. She understood his meaning, even if she didn’t accept it. And her mind cleared. It seemed as if a grey cloud had been lifted, and she saw what he had been trying to tell her. He was suffering too. And he did love her. He always had. The railway station was five minutes away. She ran all the way there, and jumped the fence, running down a platform, searching for him, feverently wishing that he hadn’t left already. Then she spotted him, standing across the platform, in the shadows. She called his name and he looked up, finding her easily, in the deserted station. She back-tracked across her platform, and with a running leap, cleared the tracks and landed with a gentle thud on his side. He came up to her, and helped her

up."Buffy, what are you doing here, I thought -?" He asked. She flew into his arms, and she kissed him. She laid her lips on his, and they wielded immediately. They kissed, and they hugged, and they loved - and they said goodbye.

He lifted his head, and he smiled. She nodded, and whispered

"I know what you’re trying to do. And I love you all the more for it."

"I love you too."

And she lifted her head for one more kiss.

Their lips clung and surrendered to the old magic and passion, and they remembered.

The train pulled into the platform with a screech of brakes. Angel and Buffy broke apart, and she waved as he climbed onto the train. She saw him take a seat, and watch her out of the window as the train pulled away.

The train soon disappeared out of sight. But Buffy still stood there, watching. Maybe she was waiting for his return, which would never come. She didn’t know how long she stood there, and she didn’t care.

He loved her, he did. And neither of them would forget. For a long, long time. What they had, was too strong, too destructive, too long, for them to just forget. She’d always love him deep within her heart. Her first lover, her true love, her Angel.

Willow approached her with a blanket.

"Buffy? You okay?" She asked gently, placing the blanket round her friend’s shoulders.

Buffy cleared her head, and smiled.

"Yeah." She smiled. "I am, actually." She nodded.

Willow smiled, and put her arm round her.

"He’s gone then?" She stated obviously.

"Yep. But it’s a good thing. I think, for the both of us, it’s a good thing that he has the courage to leave. I won’t forget that."

"I think so too." Willow admitted.

"And he’ll be around when we need him." Buffy said confidentially, as they walked away. "Another place, another time, he’ll be back." She ended.

"Oh, Riley phoned. He was worried about you, I told him that...." Willow informed Buffy, her voice fading as the two figures walked away.

"He is such a sweetie, don’t ya think?......" Buffy’s voice faded away.

Angel’s train speeded towards LA, and the brooding vampire with a soul, sat, looking out of the window, then at the piece of paper in his hand. He looked at it in surprise. It was the extract he had given to Buffy, from John Keat’s collection of works. He unfolded it, and read the words that had made Buffy finally understand

"Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles
is to school an Intelligence and make it a soul?
A place where the heart must feel and suffer
in a thousand, diverse ways?"

And he grinned, and he laughed, and he remembered. And he would not forget. And he would be back.

The End

Feedback to lesley@angel_love.fsnet.co.uk

Go here for more of Ducks's stories.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page