Buffy stood in the middle of the room in her fighting stance, sword ready. All of a sudden the vibrating and moaning that had been coming from the ground a moment ago stopped abruptly. Buffy looked around, confused. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure approaching through one of the cave entrances. She resumed her fighting stance and strained her eyes to see her adversary, but he was hidden in the shadows.

The figure stepped into the light. It was Angelus.

"Angel," Buffy whispered. 'What's he doing here?' she thought.

"Hello Buffy," Angel said, grinning, as he walked closer to her.

"Angel, as much as you really need to be killed, this isn't a good time."

"Really. And why is that?" Angelus was enjoying himself immensely.

Buffy sighed. "There's some monster." She threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "Okay, do you want to be first of second?"

"I'm afraid there is no second." Angelus said as he came closer to her. "Only a first." He was now very close, and Buffy fought the flood of memories out of her head and concentrated on the task at hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked bravely.

"The monster...he couldn't make it. It might have something to do with how he doesn't exist."

Buffy looked at him suspiciously. She didn't know what to do. This whole conversation was like deja vu of Angel with his cryptic messages.

"You're gonna die now," said Angelus clenching his teeth. A whole army of vampires filled in behind him, and gates on the entrances to the caves slammed shut. "I'm gonna kill all your friends, too," said Angelus.

"Over my dead body," said Buffy, holding her ground.

Angelus grinned. "That's the idea."

All of a sudden it clicked for Buffy. The weird prophecy, Angel being here, the doors shut and locked. It was a trap! With all her anger from being tricked Buffy swung her sword violently at her former lover. He ducked, and the rest of the vamps came rushing toward her. Buffy was suddenly nervous.

"Don't kill her!" Angelus called to them.

They all turned to make sure they were hearing right. Buffy included.

"That part's for me," Angelus said, his game face on.

The mob of vampires attacked. Buffy held them off at first by swiping her sword at them, chopping off the unfortunate onešs heads. Until one of them got the brilliant idea to go under the sword. He grabbed her legs and lifted her up over his head, and slammed her down to the ground. Her sword clattered into a corner. Another vampire drew back to punch her in the face, but she kicked him all the way back to the other wall. One came up behind her and spun her around to face him. She punched him in the face, and he did the same to her. From behind her a vamp took a crowbar to the side of her head, ripping open the skin and causing her to lose her balance. The vampires used this opportunity to pummel her some more. She regained her sense of balance and staked two of the vampires around her. But more still came. She was growing tired and annoyed that Angel wouldn't fight her himself. She got kneed in the stomach, and she doubled over and the vamp kicked her in the face, straightening her up again. She staked him hurriedly, ignoring the pain in her ribs. Two vampires grabbed her weak arms as another punched her again in the stomach and once in the face. She was sufficiently beaten, and the two vampires dragged her in front of Angelus, who wasn't dirty at all.

"This is it Buffy. Nice knowing ya," he said, smirking.

"Oh come on, Angel. Do you really need a hundred of your little followers to get me for you? Can't you fight me yourself?" Buffy challenged.

Angelus swept his eyes over her tattered clothes, the bruises on her arms, and the blood spidering down from her temple, and he chuckled. "You really think you can fight me?"

"I think I can handle it," Buffy said with a smile. She jumped and kicked him in the chest, knocking him backwards to the ground. She tore her arms out of the vampires' grasps, and turned around and staked them both. She dove into the corner and picked up her sword, unbothered by the now small group of warriors. When she turned around to face Angelus, he had a sword too. They stood facing each other, their swords crossed. "This is it," said Buffy, narrowing her eyes. "I'm ready."

"Finally!" said Angelus, rolling his eyes. His game face on, he smiled. They began to fight. Their swords clinked as they lunged for each other. With a wild swipe Buffy slit Angelus' arm. He yelped in pain, but kept fighting with renewed vigor. Angelus could not get the upper hand. Buffy pushed him back and back to the wall. With a flip of her wrist, Angelus' sword clattered to the floor and slid across the room. The other vampires in the room took this as a sign of defeat and thundered for the exit, knocking the cage down. Buffy had Angelus pinned to the wall with her sword across his neck.

Giles, Xander, and Willow were running through the caves. "Shh, quiet," whispered Giles as he slowed to a tiptoe. They got to the end of the tunnel and peered through the gate. They saw Buffy holding Angelus by the throat with her sword.

Her sword whipped behind her and came to the ground with a loud clash.

"What is she doing?" Giles asked harshly. Angelus looked confused as Buffy grabbed his throat with her hand.

"I like the traditional way better," she said, drawing a stake from her sleeve. Angelus seized his opportunity and punched Buffy in the face. She staggered back, but soon regained her footing. The pair moved back to center ring and resumed fighting.

Willow saw the look in Buffy's eyes and knew she meant business. 'It's now or never,' she thought, and backed into the cave away from Giles and Xander who were watching the fight intently. Out of her bag she drew the Orb of Thessulah and the ritual.

Willow held the orb up and looked through it. It sparkled and flashes of light illuminated it. Willow hurriedly read the first paragraph to herself. Then, as soon as she was sure of the directions, she read the Latin out loud. With each word the orb grew brighter and brighter. Something inside swirled, but Willow continued reading. She got to the end of the paragraph and the orb was an intense red swirled with yellow.

Angelus sensed something was going on. He raised his head and growled in Willow's direction, searching for the orb containing his soul. In the moment that Angelus' attention was diverted, Buffy kicked him backwards. He shook himself back into the present and resumed his fight with Buffy.

Willow was hurriedly skimming the next passage when Xander came up behind her. "What are you doing?" he asked. "If you haven't noticed, we have a pretty intense situation over there."

"I'm going to save Angel," she replied. "I'm going to need some help."

"You can't save him! She's going to kill him. We'll all be better off."

"Think of all the times he's saved your life, Xander. And Buffy needs him." Willow pleaded. "C'mon Xand, do it for Buffy."

He thought about it for a moment. "OK," he whispered.

"We need Giles, too." Willow told him. Xander nodded and grabbed Giles and dragged him over to them.

"I'm gonna save Angel," Willow told him.

"Now is not the best time," said Giles, anxiously glancing back at the fighting pair.

"No! Now is the only time. We have to save him before Buffy kills him," and under her breath, "or vice versa."

Seeing the determined look in the young womanšs eyes, Giles consented. "All right. What do we have to do?" Willow brought them closer and whispered their part in her plan.

Angelus' well placed punch cracked into Buffy's nose, leaving blood dripping down onto her white tank top. "My new shirt!" she exclaimed. She kicked him in the gut, and he doubled over. Then, with a precise punch she hit him up into the face and Angelus was flung backwards where he hit his head on a rock and fell unconscious.