Angelus couldn't believe what he had said. Inside, Angel was still screaming his outrage and pain at what Angelus had done to Buffy. He realized that he had broken his promise to Buffy. He had promised that he wouldn't hurt her, that he'd take care of her. He'd done the exact opposite... Angelus couldn't stand seeing what just a few careless, angry words had done to Buffy, and needed to calm her down...needed her to forgive him... Angel? I need you, Soulboy! Angel heard him alright...You ASSHOLE!!! How the Hell could you do that to her?!?! He tried to get Buffy's attention by himself... Buffy? Sweetheart? Can you hear me? It's okay, Baby, he didn't mean it! He's just a careless fool of a demon! He still loves you! I still love you! Please, Baby, stop crying...I hate seeing you cry... Gradually, the tears disappeared. Seeing the effect Angel's words had had on her, her relinquished control of the body and let Angel take over, just as Buffy got up from the floor, leaving him still sitting there, as she ran for the bedroom and curled herself up into a ball under the covers... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Angelus' body was still recovering from the sudden shift. As soon as the room stopped spinning, Angel ran upstairs after Buffy. He found her in bed... He approached the bed slowly. "Sweetheart? It's okay, I'm back now..." In his mind, Angelus was murmuring, surprisingly soulful, apologies... Angel knelt on the bed, slowly making his way to her side. Her back was to him, she was laying on her side, seemingly gazing out of the window at the numerous trees. "Tell him to stop...please tell him to stop!" Buffy whispered harshly as she covered her ears with her hands. "Please? I don't want to hear anymore...please? Please? Please?" she began chanting. Angel's heart broke at that precise moment. Angelus was suddenly silent, but Angel could feel the sorrow emanating from the demon. Angel gently placed his arms around her. She shifted so that she was comfortably resting in his embrace. She fell asleep that way, still whispering, almost inaudibly, "Please..." *~*~*~* ONE WEEK LATER "Angel...!!!" Buffy screeched at the top of her voice. Angel came running into the bedroom. It was 6am. Buffy never woke before eight. The panic in her voice told him that something was very wrong. In the last week, she had become happier through Angel's attentiveness, and Angelus' silence. Buffy was sitting up in their four-poster bed, breathing heavily, looking fearfully out the window. For the past week, Angelus had been strangely silent. No taunts, no quips, not even an, 'I'm hungry...'. But right then, looking at Buffy, Angelus questioned, What's wrong? "Buffy?" He quickly sat beside her. "What's wrong, Baby?" Her eyes darted from the window, to him, and then back to the window... "They're coming. People. Many people. They're coming here! Getting louder and louder..." she looked at him once again, her eyes pleading with him. She held her head in her hands, in a frustrated gesture. "My head hurts, Angel. It hurts so much...!" Angel cupped her shoulders. "Baby? Will you be okay here, if I go and make them go away...?" Buffy nodded, obviously distracted by the pain in her head, but her gentle voice floated up to him, "...make them go away..." Angel gently kissed her cheek and left the cabin. He quickly got into the car and headed in the direction of the entrance to the land surrounding the cabin. It was a good thing that he had money. The two story cabin-like structure sat on two and a half square miles of land. Surrounding the parcel, was an electrified, six foot high, security fence. About a yard behind that, sat an even higher stone wall... The only known way in was through the front gate. Naturally, people would be curious as to the strange man that lived there. Whether or not he was from some government agency that was trying to cover something up from the American people... Something ridiculous like that. As he neared the front gate, he saw a ute and a minivan parked on the other side, a handful of people checking out the gate and the fence, with more people in the vehicles. He stopped the car behind a group of trees, and made his way to a distant part of the wall, so that they couldn't see his approach. Angel snuck up behind them, sneaking out of the barricaded land and onto the road, via a secret entrance, in case of emergencies...it seemed a good idea at the time, when he designed it... He tapped one of the men, closest to him, on the shoulder. "What do you think you're doing?" he said in a low, deadly voice... *~*~*~* Buffy sighed in relief. She could hear the angry words that they were too afraid to voice to her Angel, but they were also fading. They were leaving. After a few minutes, her head ceased to hurt with the additional thoughts. Unfortunately, the pain came back as she remembered some of the thoughts that related to what was going on up there... She wasn't some crazy, mental patient... She WASN'T... *~*~*~* I heard that he was a spy... He's been buying women's clothing and stuff... Maybe he's gay! Probably a cross-dresser... God! You guys are so stupid! He's probably just some rich guy with a live-in... He hasn't been seen with anyone... She's probably nuts... Yeah! She's probably some crazy looker or something that he uses for sex...! Crazy... Using her... Crazy... Crazy... Crazy... Buffy blinked back tears. They didn't know her! She wasn't really crazy, she'd just been through a lot. It wasn't her fault that she could hear their thoughts. It wasn't her fault that it hurt her so much to hear so many... She was the Slayer. That particular job came with to many drawbacks and too few perks... I'm NOT crazy! I can just hear them...it hurts when they all speak to me...I'm NOT crazy! *~*~*~* Angel hurried back to his love. He found her still sitting in the bed, just as he'd left her. The look on her face was enough to make him rush to her side and take her in his arms... She went willingly... Angel always knows what speaks to a girl's heart... *~*~*~* ONE MONTH LATER It hadn't taken long for Angelus to make his presence felt once more... Why the HELL did you invite that woman up here??? Angel was starting to get irate with his demon. They'd been through this a dozen times in the last week. Because Buffy wants to see her. And what Buffy wants, Buffy gets... You make her sound like one of those dominant women... Who cares...? We love Buffy, Buffy loves us! Occasionally, we all get along and everybody has a happy... You're starting to sound like that pipsqueak, Xander! Angel laughed when he realized that Angelus was right. Don't deny that it's true...Buffy is the center of our universe and even YOU, Angelus, have accepted that. I could feel your 'one moment of true happiness' when Buffy let you come out and play again... Angelus growled. Yeah, okay, so we're both whipped vampires. But that girl still has to be knocked down off her notches...! It was then that they both realized that Buffy was there. She was staring at them with raised eyebrows. In the last month, she had improved dramatically. Her speech was less like Dru's and more like Buffy's. She was also less easily upset. She was also getting used to being able to hear both of them at the same time... It's strange, she thought. I can't hear Angel's or Angelus' thoughts when they're controlling the body, but I can hear them when they're suppressed... None of them could understand it. It didn't matter though. They were getting on so much better. When Angel had pointed out that she was getting better, she had thought about faking a setback or something. Remembering Angelus' words from over a month back, gave her pause. She hadn't wanted them to leave her, but at the same time, she didn't want them to stay just because they wanted to help her get better. So, she decided to just act normal. No pretense. She was almost herself again. She could feel it. She was a bit worried about this visit though. They had invited her mother up for a few hours. She could still hear thoughts, even though she was almost recovered, which was why it was only her mother. She had spoken to her Angels about what she had felt. About her fears. What she was going to do. It was probably the best thing she had ever done. That night, Angelus had come out and had given her what she had needed. Buffy smiled when she recalled exactly what had happened that night. Angel had had his turn to prove to her exactly how much he wanted to stay with her...then Angelus had a go. In a few hours, it had become a contest on who loved and needed Buffy more... By dawn, Buffy was exhausted. But both vampires had proved exactly what they had set out to prove, but had exhausted her at the same time. Buffy hadn't had an outlet for her Slayer strength in six weeks, because there just weren't any demons to slay up there, but that night...God! When she had woken up, she had been damn thankful that she didn't have to do any slaying. She probably would have ended up dead if she even tried to kick a fly's ass, let alone something with any strength at all... They were together now. All three of them comfortable with each other, more finely attuned to the other two. Even Angel and Angelus were arguing less...well, serious arguing anyway. "You wanna kick my ass, Angelus?" Buffy asked the opinionated demon. HELL no, Lover! I want your ass over here, now! Angel groaned at Buffy's choice of words. He echoed Angelus' sentiments... Buffy laughed at Angelus' frustrated words and Angel's painfully obvious condition. Then she cocked her head slightly, then turned back to them. "Sorry, guys, Mom's gonna be here any minute. She's at the gate." Just then, a buzzer sounded from the intercom... "Umm, hello? Angel? Am I at the right place...?" came Joyce's voice over the intercom... Both Angel and Angelus groaned... Dammit, Soulboy! You're the one that told her to come...! Don't remind me... Buffy laughed. *~*~*~* Wow. I hope I don't get lost... Joyce stared at the road ahead. Buffy had buzzed her in, but she hadn't said that the driveway was this long. She had stopped in town to ask for directions. She had received many curious looks. Also fearful ones. The town was full of gossip. Joyce had either glared or just ignored them. There was no point to enlightening them on the subject. She was just glad that she'd have the opportunity to see her daughter again. Nothing about this trip had been mentioned to Buffy's friends. Angel had specifically asked her not to say anything until after she had seen Buffy, because knowing Xander, he would have found out and tried to follow her, thus causing everyone else to follow him in an attempt to stop him... Joyce just shook her head as she finally pulled up at a structure that could hardly be described as any old cabin. Even though it was built like one, it was simply too large! She thought about Xander, again. That boy could be such a pain in the ass! Normally, Joyce wouldn't have even thought such a thing about anyone, but really! He acts as though Buffy should answer to him. Joyce walked up to the front door and knocked. I wouldn't be surprised if they all breathe a sigh of relief if a demon came up and just thumped him! A burst of feminine laughter echoed from behind he door. Almost immediately, the door was opened by Buffy herself. Joyce stared at her daughter. She appeared to be positively radiant. Being up here with Angel is obviously doing her so much good! Buffy threw her arms around her mother..."You're totally right about that, Mom!" Joyce was confused, "What?" Her daughter grinned. "One, Angel is terrific! Two, Xander is an ass!" "Buffy!" her mother sounded shocked. "I thought that Angel was doing you some good! I did not think that he was terrific, and from the hint in your voice, I would say we're speaking of two different kinds of 'terrific'!" Joyce shook her head with a knowing smile. "I don't want to know..." Buffy threw back her head and laughed. Angel came up behind her, making sure to keep out of the sunlight, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "What's so funny, Baby?" Joyce was amazed at the scene unfolding before her. She had never seen so much love and adoration shinning from her daughter's eyes, and she had never seen Angel look so happy and relaxed. Buffy turned her head so that she was looking at Angel's face. "Mom and I were just discussing yours and my sex life..." Joyce commented, "Well, it's not every day that you see a vampire blushing...I didn't even think that they could..." Buffy couldn't help poking fun at Angel. "Apparently so..." Angel was getting extremely embarrassed, so he pulled them both inside and went to get them some lunch. Angel returned with various dishes and set them on the kitchen table. As the three of them began to eat, Buffy said, "You can ask, Mom." Joyce had forgotten that Buffy could hear her thoughts. She looked nervously to Angel. "Don't worry, Mom. Angel won't mind." Buffy assured her. Joyce cleared her throat. "Okay, well, there are a couple of things that I'm curious about." She looked toward Angel. "They concern you, Angel. You're eating with us. Why? I didn't mean like that exactly...it's just...well..." Joyce frowned at her inability to piece together a sentence. Buffy laughed. "Angel has recently discovered a liking for certain sweets and toppings, Mom, so he's decided to try everything in case he finds other tasty treats..." Joyce joined her daughter in laughter. Angel's face was turning beet red again. Joyce had come to accept her daughter's relationship with Angel. They were getting along so much better now. "Which brings me to my next question. How on earth are you two able to do...certain activities... without...you know..." *~*~*~* Angel looked at Buffy, just as she looked at him. Angelus thought, Soulboy reckons we should tell her... They'd begun to get used to the telepathy thing and had been using it to their advantage. Buffy nodded. Angel cleared his throat, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. "Well, I guess the only thing we could say, is that we've made peace with the demon..." Buffy bit back a grin as the blood drained from Joyce's face... "You mean..." It was definitely not Joyce's day when it came to stringing together a sentence... Buffy grinned. "Yup! Angelus is a whipped vampire, as he put it earlier today...!" Hey! I resent that! "No, you don't! Now, hush, Baby." Buffy said, just as she picked up her fork and resumed eating. Angel frowned inwardly. Joyce was stunned, "You can hear him?" Buffy put down her fork. "Yeah, but only when he's inside Angel. It's different when he comes out." At her mother's confused look, she tried again. "You see, I can't hear Angel's thoughts, but I can hear Angelus. But after Angel and I...you know... and Angelus comes out, I can't hear his thoughts, but I can hear Angel's." Joyce began to understand. "So, you can hear whichever one of them isn't in control?" Buffy nodded. "So...umm...everything's fine?" Joyce looked uncomfortable. She was thinking too much... Buffy flashed her a well-satisfied grin..."Oh, yeah!" *~*~*~* "Well, that went well..." Buffy commented as she and Angel cleared up. Angel turned to her in disbelief as Angelus made a crack. Yeah, right! You're not the one she had under the microscope! No! She wasn't nosy AT ALL...! Buffy laughed. "Well, at least she didn't come up her to drag me off somewhere safer..." Both Angels growled possessively at the thought. Suddenly, Buffy froze. Her partners questioned simultaneously, "What's wrong, Baby?" Buffy shook her head slightly, trying to clear it. "I don't believe it. There's a demon near here...in the town." She turned to Angel, "It's so strong. I can hear it all the way down there. It's more than just evil, Angel. It really wants me." Both the demon and the soul were more than shocked. "If Buffy could hear it when it was in the town, then it had to be both extremely evil and highly emotional. Buffy frowned, "It doesn't just want me dead, Angel. It's too angry for that. This isn't just a 'kill the Slayer because of the publicity' kind of deal. This is a 'she killed my brother and now she dies' kind of revenge gig." Angel took hold of her shoulders, trying to make her listen to reason. "You can't go down there and fight it, Buffy! It'll destroy you!" He's right, Buff. We'll go... Both Angel and Buffy were floored by Angelus' statement. "You're kidding, right? What about your all-important reputation???" Angelus chuckled. Who's gonna know? Angel shrugged and put on his jacket, heading out to the car. He kissed Buffy lightly, reassuringly on the lips. Besides, no demon is going to kill MY Buffy! "I thought that she was OUR Buffy, demonboy!" Buffy heard as Angel got into the car. She's my Buffy now...you can have her next time... "I don't think so. I'll protect her this time...you're a tad useless at the moment." Oh, please. You'll need me to kick his ass properly. I'm stronger than you! Buffy heard a "No you're not!" as Angel drove off... And so it continued... Buffy shook her head and threw up her arms in a sign of defeat. Those two are going to drive my nuts! *~*~*~* Angel drove into town, determined to track down the demon and simply eliminate it. Or we could capture and torture it...Angelus suggested helpfully. Haven't had a decent helping of torture since that thing with Giles. I wonder if this demon would hold up as well as good old Giles did? Hey! I'm the Soul, remember? Yeah, but the only exercise we get is with the Buffster! Are you complaining??? Angel asked incredulously. Do you THINK I'm that stupid?!?! I'm just saying, I need a good kill, and since it's going to be a demon after my Buffy, so much the better... Angel rolled his eyes. Don't start that again.." He muttered under his breath. Angelus chuckled. As they arrived in town, they saw that everything appeared normal... Heads up, Soulboy, our demon seems to be in the general store. I know, I can feel him... Angel casually walked across the street from where he had parked the car, to the store. He was getting closer. Angel had to be careful. He was aware of the curious stares aimed in his direction. As Angel went to the front counter to speak to the attendant, he noticed that a few people had followed him in. Damn! Who cares?!?! They don't give a damn about us! If they get caught in the crossfire, stiff shit! They haven't done anything wrong. They're just curious. Malicious, you mean! Don't you remember what Buffy heard from their thoughts??? They don't know her. Anyway, do you think that she'll be pleased to hear that we let a few locals get killed because of what the thought of her? Okay, when you put it that way...she might get a little pissed... You think??? She'd make you come out so she could kick your ass, then you'd immediately let me back in control so that I'd feel the repercussions...I don't think so! Now, there's an idea...Angelus smirked. Shut up! Angelus did as he was told, for once. The demon was near. Angel looked around. There were eight people in the main part of the store, behind him. Too many to tell which of them was the demon. Angel turned to the shop keeper. "Has anyone...a stranger...been asking about me?" The young man nodded, "Yeah. A woman, a few hours ago..." Joyce. "Anyone else?" The attendant shook his head. "Nope." Angel decided to try something else. "Any strangers come to town recently...apart from the woman?" The youth indicated his head to the back of the store. "Just him. He's looking for some blonde chick, who supposedly moved here in the last few months. You're the only new addition this town has had in the last two years..." He broke off when he noticed that the stranger had captured Angel's complete attention. The stranger appeared to be a man in his late thirties, Angel noticed as he stepped closer. Blond hair, but violet eyes that seemed to twinkle... A Travlik demon. The eyes were a dead giveaway... Unfortunately, they didn't care if people knew about them or not. It spoke to him, "I want the Slayer." Angel growled at him, "Well, you're not going to have her..." Angel turned on his heel and exited the store, knowing that the demon would follow him. He got in to the car and drove toward an isolated area, where they could fight. Predictably, the demon got into his own car and followed... *~*~*~* Buffy began to worry. She could feel them coming closer. The feeling of evil in the air was palpable. It couldn't have captured my Angel, could it? She asked herself. No, she immediately dismissed the concept. Even if it has, my Angels would never bring it here...Of that she was certain. Something else caught Buffy's attention. There was someone else, a human, in the area. And it was near Angel and the demon. Oh, God! She had to risk it. She could tell that Angelus didn't know that there was a human there, which meant that Angel didn't know either. Buffy quickly grabbed her joggers and took off down the long driveway. Dammit! I'm gonna demand that Angel get me a motorbike! she thought, as she felt the hard, seemingly endless, track beneath her feet... *~*~*~* She watched from behind a nearby tree, as the demon got his ass kicked by the vampire. She stifled a chuckle. It wouldn't do her, or Angel for that matter, any good if she caught their attention. She didn't seem to be needed, so she just watched as the vampire took his frustration out on the demonic being that had been after his girlfriend. It was the perfect opportunity for her to study him. She didn't know his deal, didn't understand him, and she didn't like that... She raised her eyebrows as Angel knocked the demon to its knees. That hadn't been what had captured her attention, though. What held her attention was his strangeness... He seemed to be talking to himself... *~*~*~* Oh, come ON, Soulboy! I wanna have some fun! Angelus seemed to whine. Angel was getting annoyed. All the way there and all the way through the fight, Angelus attempted to persuade Angel to let him out so that he could have a go... "No, alright!" Angel growled aloud. He was glad that Buffy wasn't there. She seemed to get a kick out of watching he and Angelus argue. He did understand Angelus' point though. He carried a demon inside himself, he knew the need for violence. Angels wondered if it would really be so bad, to give in just this once... *~*~*~* Buffy was nearing the group. She could feel their presence getting stronger. She could also pick up on a few of the townspeople. Damn! I'm getting too close to town... The added thoughts, even though they were feint, were numerous. They were beginning to give her a monster migraine... Soon, she wouldn't be able to differentiate between all of the thoughts floating through her mind. Angelus', the demon's, and the human's thoughts were still by far the strongest, but she still had to hurry... Buffy paused in shock. No. It can't be... It was then that she realized who the other person was. You've got to be kidding me...why on earth is she here? Buffy resumed her pace, but picked it up a lot... *~*~*~* She watched in fascination as he turned into Angelus before her very eyes. It was easy to see that they were two very different beings. She had witnessed Angel in vamp mode before, but this was darker. Angel had never had a look that cold on his face. She could tell that the demon noticed the change in his captor as well, she could almost smell his fear. She was captivated by the vampire's voice, as he calmly described exactly what he was doing, and what he was going to do to the demon, for even thinking about hunting down has Buffy, not to mention killing her... She paused, there was someone behind her... She thrust her arm up, in an attempt to get rid of them, but found it immobilized by a hand that had clamped itself around her wrist. She spun around to face her opponent, but immediately relaxed as she recognized her, "Buffy!" "What are you doing here?" Buffy asked. Faith grinned. "I'm here to save your ass..." *~*~*~* Angel looked up as he noticed movement behind him. It was Buffy. What the hell is she doing here? I don't know, but Faith's with her... That slut just spells trouble... Don't talk about her that way... Why the f*ck not??? She's tried to hit on me more than once... She's not that bad, she's just had a bad life. She's still a slayer...and she's not ALL bad. Yeah, right. You might wanna go over there and make sure she doesn't try to kill Buffy. Not that Buffy couldn't kick her ass; but... ...yeah, I know. If Faith gets highly emotional, Buffy might be distracted enough for Faith to get her... Angel rushed to Buffy's side. *~*~*~* The sister Slayers spotted Angel abandoning the unconscious, and profusely bleeding, demon, and rushing toward them. Buffy immediately took charge, "Don't worry, Angel, she's not going to kill me...but my head is starting...to..." Buffy put a hand to her head and began to sway dangerously, just before she collapsed. *~*~*~* Come on, Buff, wake up! came Angelus' pained thoughts. Hey, B, you aren't gonna let me take all the Slaying glory, now, are ya? I wonder who she is? But Mr. Ryan and the young lady seem to really care for her welfare... Buffy felt a small prick in her arm. She struggled to open her eyes...she was so tired... *~*~*~* When is she going to wake up? Angelus asked his soul. Angel was worried. It had been five hours since her faint. I don't know... Where's the other Slayer? I don't care... Come on, Soulboy, we don't want her to run off with anything...Buffy would be pissed when she wakes up... IF she wakes up. Angelus began taking his frustrations out on Angel, She's gonna wake up, God damn you! She's gonna wake up, and she's gonna be fine! She'll be fine, Angel echoed. *~*~*~* Looking back, it had been a pretty bad time for them, considering how well Buffy was actually doing. Buffy had awoken barely an hour later. She and Faith had talked, and sorted out their feelings toward one another. They had never realized just how jealous they were of each other. Buffy had been jealous of Faith's carefree lifestyle, whereas Faith had been jealous of Buffy's family, friends and skills. Only, Buffy wouldn't really deal with her family and friends much, anymore, and they were about even in the skills department... They were truly sister Slayers... It hadn't been until Faith had left, that Buffy realized something about herself, something about her body... She could hear someone in her mind. It wasn't her Angel, or Angelus. The people of the town were too far away, the doctor and Faith were long gone. She couldn't understand the thoughts. They were incoherent, gibberish to her. Something told her that things were about to change. She would always have her Angels, but someone else was going to join them... Buffy smiled... She was pregnant... The End 