TITLE: Did you ever think of me as your enemy? (Eden)
AUTHOR: Nate-feel free to send feedback!
DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemies, the WB, FOX, Kuzui Enterprises and whoever else owns the copyrights. I'm only using them for the fun of writing and reading.
SUMMARY:I don't want to spoil you too much, let's just say it was originally supposed to be a Buffy/Angelus story, but in the process of writing it I found out i'm too much of a B/A shipper so I changed the storyline along the end of it. Blame it on the writers! If I had B/A relief I would make it a B/As story!
SPOILERS: there are referneces to events that happened in episodes:   BtVS: Passion, Becoming p.2, Graduation day p.2, The initiative.
ATS: I Will Remember You, Eternity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Eden – (Sarah Brightman)
 

Did you ever think of me, As your best friend?
Did I ever think of you, I'm not complaining.
I never tried to feel.
I never tried to feel. This vibration.
I never tried to reach.
I never tried to reach.
Your eden. (Your eden. Your eden.)
Did I ever think of you, As my enemy?
Did you ever think of me?
I'm complaining.
I never tried to feel.
I never tried to feel. This vibration.
I never tried to reach.
I never tried to reach. Your eden.
(Your eden. Your eden.)I never tried to feel.
I never tried to ...(Your eden.)
 
 

They kept running down the street, away from their pursuer.
“Where are we going?” Cordelia asked.
“To my abode”.
“Your place? Why can’t we go to my beautiful-“
“Because Angel been to your apartment. He’s invited there”, Wesley explained.

Angelus kicked the door open. He looked around. “So what should I do to let Cordy know I was here? Leave a note?”
The TV was turned on loudly, Angelus turned his head.
“Phantom Dennis”, he smirked. A flying book hit his head.
“Hey now, I didn’t even got started”, Angelus huffed, rubbing his head.
Some more flying furniture headed his way and Angelus moved quickly to avoid it.
“Now that’s rude”, Angelus said grabbing a vase that was about to hit him.
“You stupid ghost. You think you can stop me? You’re worthless. You weren’t any good even when you were alive. Buried alive by his old lady. Ha ha you have got to be kidding”, Angelus laughed briefly, breaking the vase to pieces on the wall.
Wind started blowing in the house. Angelus growled and left the place.
“No fun”, he muttered. “I guess I’ll make an appearance to Sunnydale. See what good ole Buffy is up to”.

“You could have just say no”, Cordelia said all of a sudden.
“Wh-what?” Wesley asked, confused.
“When I asked you if you saw that movie, you could have just say ‘no’ instead of ‘as a matter of fact blah blah blah’”, she said, mimicking his voice.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t realized that bothers you so much. It’s not like Angel being uncontrollably unleashed in the streets in his evil murderous psychopathic persona”.
“Sheesh, here you go again. How long have you been in the states Wesley?”
“Hmmm, for about a year now, I suppose”.
“And you still haven’t learn that?”
“Haven’t learned what?”
“Argh! Never mind!” She huffed and looked at him for a moment.
“So what are we going to do? I thought those drugs were temporary”.
“I think there were some side-effects that we have not considered”, he said pensively.
“Can’t we reverse that? He will stalk us and boy, do I don’t need to even mention the things he did two years ago when Buffy-“
“Good heavens! We have got to warn Buffy!” Wesley cut her out.
“Hmm.. and that’s because?”
“He’ll be back to finish off what he started”. Wesley picked up his phone. Cordelia look at the old designed dial ring.

Buffy was snuggling close to riley’s chest. She has been crying hysterically with no apparent reason until she fell asleep in his arms. He didn’t know what’s wrong with her or what to say, so he just held her.
Buffy couldn’t tell riley why she was so upset. He still didn’t know about her life, about Angel. Angel… Buffy sighed quietly, drifting off to sleep. How could she tell riley she was- is- in love with someone else. Moreover a vampire. The lowest of the low. How could she tell riley that he’s only her rebound guy, the guy she chose to compromise on to sooth her mooning and yearnings to her demon lover.
How she would still be sacrificing her life for him, even if he’s not her boyfriend anymore. Their love was stronger than death. Their bond was stronger than life. And she felt something was wrong even if he was miles away, she could feel he was harmed. And it scared her. She was scared that after all she’s been through, after all the time that passed, she was still not over him, unable to move on, even though it looked like she did. How on earth could she tell all that to riley?
So she came over to his place, to see him and make herself believe she really loves him, give him her body again, but her dream, along with the bad feelings, were too much and she burst into tears when he opened his door.

The phone in Buffy’s house was ringing. No one picked it up.
Joyce was awake, even though it was late at night, or early in the morning. She was in her daughter’s ex-room. It was now a gallery to all of her art works. She figured that since her daughter was living in the dorms now, she could use the free space in the house.
So she was busy arranging her recent works and some of her own drawings and paid no attention to the ringing phone.

“There’s no answer”, Wesley put the funnel back on the hook.
“Why would he go to Sunnydale anyway? I wouldn’t wanna go back to that hole”, she shrugged.
“From what I’ve read about Angelus it seems that he doesn’t rest until he gets what he pleases”.
“Oh I get it. At least Buffy is the one to have the headache over this one-“
Cordelia suddenly slumped her head on the table, grasping Wesley’s arm and breathing heavily.
She saw Angelus laughing evilly. Flash. Buffy facing Angelus. Flash.
Blurry images. She lifted her head from the table.
Putting her hand to her forehead, she sighed and closed her eyes briefly.
“Now you’re telling me! Thanks a lot!” she called when she opened her eyes again, looking up at the ceiling.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing we didn’t already know. looks like the mail was slow today”.
“And I’m guessing Buffy was involved?”
“Yeah, headache for nothing. Oh well, I should visit my hometown anyway. Remind them I still exist”.

It wasn’t long before sunrise, when Angelus got to Sunnydale.
He stopped the car and looked at the building.
Buffy woke up with a start. She was breathing hard and cold sweat covered her body. She looked down at riley and then got off his bed quickly. She realized she fell asleep with her clothes on and walked out of the room. She closed the door quietly behind her.

Angelus saw Buffy going out of the building, putting her hands around herself to protect her body from the cold night breeze.
She was looking around and he knew she was feeling him.
He moved closer, until he was in her sight.
She paced slowly towards him.

It took Buffy just one look into his cold evil eyes to realize it wasn’t Angel.
“You!” she hissed.
He grinned. “Did you miss me, lover?” he taunted her.
Before she could say another word, he kicked her in the stomach, and ran away from there.

Buffy rushed into Giles’ apartment. Just like she had hoped, Giles was awake, sitting in front of the table, reading a book.

“Buffy! You startled me!” he nearly jumped off his chair when she stormed in, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Giles, big troubles!” she said, panting. She ran all the way.

“What happened?” he closed the book.

“It’s Angel. Well, not Angel. Well…”

Giles gazed at her. She sighed.

“It’s Angelus. He’s back in town”. She said finally.

Giles took off his glasses. “What? Did you two… I thought …”
“Giles, we didn’t do anything!” she cut him off. “Honestly, I haven’t even seen him since that 5 minutes visit to L.A!”

Giles gazed at his watch. “There are only less than 20 minutes left until sunrise. I hope he won’t do anything until then…”
 

“Hey there, good-looking”. Josephine turned around, she blushed as she saw the dark, tall handsome man standing in front of her.

“Hi…” she smiled shyly.

“What are you doing alone this early in the morning?” he asked her.

“Oh, I’ve just came back from a party, but the guy ditched me in the middle of nowhere”. She said.

“It’s a bit dangerous for a pretty thing like you walking alone in the darkness. What’s your name?”

“Josephine. What’s yours?”

“Angel”.

“Wow. That’s a pretty name”. She smiled.

“Not as pretty as you. Would you like me to walk you home?” he offered.

“Sure”. She agreed and they started walking.

“So… are you from around?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been away for a while, but I’m back now”.

She raised her head to look at him. Seeing his vampiric features, she couldn’t help but unleashing a yelp.

“Home sweet home”. He smiled wickedly at her, revealing his fangs. He gripped her tight. She was frozen with fear. He roared and sank his teeth in her neck, and her body collapsed limp against him.
 

Buffy gazed at the window, tears in her eyes. Giles was searching his books. They were all set in a big messed pile on his desk.

“Just when I thought I was moving on…” a tear rolled down her cheek.
“This has to happen. I should have been there with him. Help him fight…”

Giles took off his glasses, rubbing his nose bridge. “It’s not your fault, Buffy”, he said softly.

“Who did this to him? Maybe it was Faith in one of her games? She tried this before”, Buffy turned to face Giles.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should phone Cordelia. Perhaps she knows something”. Giles pondered.

“I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. I was having this dream… and I had a feeling Angel wasn’t there anymore. That he was gone”, she smeared her tears over her face and sniffled.

“When I find out who did this to him I’m going to kill him!” she said finally.

“Buffy, we shouldn’t rush to any conclusion without…”

“I’m not rushing to anything, Giles. I’m gonna kill that person slowly and painfully”.

“Buffy, we don’t know who or what is behind it”, he sighed. “Why don’t you get some rest, you’ll think more clearly in the morning”.
 

Buffy woke up a couple of hours later, she walked pass Giles, opened the door and picked the newspaper from the threshold. She walked back into the room, seething with anger. “I’m going to kill whoever the hell responsible for this!”

“Uh, good morning”. Giles raised his head. “I suppose you had trouble finding a rest, in the two hours since I’ve last seen you”. He said.

“You bet I had!” she threw the morning paper on his desk.

The headline said: “A YOUNG WOMAN WAS FOUND DEAD IN AN ALLEY”.
Giles kept reading the article.

“Her body was drained of blood…” he stopped reading and raised his head. “Work of Angelus I suppose?”

“You suppose right!”

“I tried to reach Angel’s number. There’s no answer”.

“Do you think Angelus hurt Cordelia?”

“I don’t know. Cordelia knows to take care of herself”, Giles said, picking up his phone again.

“A real Sunnydale woman…” Buffy smirked. She moved again to the window, staring outside.

“Maybe you ought to tell riley about Angel. Perhaps he could be of help”, Giles suggested.

“Yeah, sure. ‘riley, I gotta tell you something. My ex boyfriend is a vampire, he was cursed and had a soul, but now he’s evil again and he’s out loose on the streets’. Sure, I can tell that to riley!” she huffed frustrated and started pacing back and forth, brooding. Her eyes fixed on the floor.

“Maybe this group of his will help us catch him”, Giles offered.

Buffy lifted her head. “No way!” she protested. “No way on earth will I let them hurt him!”

“They’ll just make him harmless”.

“They don’t settle with that Giles. They torture the demons, they study them.. God knows what they are doing there! I will not let them hurt him until I’ll be convinced there’s absolutely no way to bring Angel back”, she said determined. “And then I rather just kill him and put an end to this”. She closed her eyes.

There was a knock on the door. Buffy and Giles exchanged looks and Buffy went to open the door.
Cordelia and Wesley were standing in the doorstep.

“What are you doing back here?” Buffy looked at Wesley. “I thought you were back in the motherland”.

“I’m a rouge demon hunter”.

Cordelia stepped inside. “Wesley quit the council. Wesley works for Angel now… “ she looked down sadly, “Or worked”…

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief.
“He really pays you to work with him?”

“Yeah! Can you believe how much money this guy has? I wonder where he got that”, Cordelia said.

“His father was rich. After Angel killed his family he kept the money safe”, Buffy said knowingly, straight faced.

“How do you know that?” Cordelia asked.

“He told me. We used to talk a lot when we couldn’t… uh…” She blushed. “You know…”

“Angel is rich and he never told us! His faithful subjects! That’s rude”.

Wesley took off his glasses and coughed. “Well, as much as I’d like to participate in this chitchat, we have great worries upon us. Angel has turned”.

“We are aware of that”, Giles said, handing him the newspaper.

“You are?”

“Yeah, what happened?” Buffy asked, staring at Cordelia.

“He was helping this actress, Rebecca Lowell…”

“Rebecca Lowell? Raven from ‘On your own’??” Buffy asked, surprised.

“Yeah! He didn’t even know who she was can you believe that?”

Giles and Wesley both coughed. “Oh yeah,” Cordelia nodded. “So anyway, she was stalked, or wasn’t stalked. Turns out, she wanted be famous again and wanted Angel to make her a vampire… she drugged him and he was Angelus, until *I* played a trick on him, and knocked him out cold…”

“You?” Wesley cut her out. “If I recall correctly, it was I who pushed him into the elevator!”

“But I dazed him with my wonderful act!”

“Um, is that it? I got the part where you caught him, then what?” Buffy interrupted their argument.

“Then we tied him up until he was back to himself”.

“And what has changed?”

“I guess there were side effects. That lady was using Doximall”.

Giles looked at him. “Good heavens! Synthetic contentment!”

“So that Rebecca is responsible for the situation?” Buffy asked.
 

“Okay, what’s up?” Xander asked, as he entered the apartment along with Anya and Cordelia.

“Cordy!” Xander called when he saw her in the apartment. She looked at him up and down. “You haven’t changed at all! Still a loser”, she said. He smirked and nodded. “I am an advanced loser now”.
He saw Wesley behind her. “And you’re still with Queen Elisabeth”.
Cordelia huffed. “We are work colleagues now”.

Buffy walked into the room, with bleary eyes. “Hey”, she approached them. “Buffy! Good morning!” Willow smiled widely.
Buffy sighed. “Not so good, Angelus is back”.

“Angelus?” Anya looked at her. “As in evil Angel Angelus?”

Xander looked at Buffy, an angry expression on his face. “I knew it was going to happen!”

Buffy folded her hands. “I knew you’d say that!”

“Buffy, is it true?” Willow’s voice was trembling.

Buffy lowered her eyes.

“What? Did he came back to town and you just gave him a happy?” Xander sounded furious.

“I didn’t do anything!” Buffy yelled at him.

“What about riley?” Willow asked.

“There’s no need to blame Buffy, apparently, something else caused the reappearance of Angelus”. Giles walked towards them.

“Who’s riley? Your new boy toy?” Cordelia asked.

“You mean you didn’t give him a happy and still he turned into the demon again? Some trustful guy you got there”. Xander said angrily.

“Xander! I’m sure Buffy didn’t have anything to do with it. She loves riley now. Right, Buffy?” asked Willow.

“Yes, well”, Giles interrupted the silence. “Willow, I suggest you start working on the curse again”.
“Again? Oh no, I think we better cure Angel once and for all. I say we slay him”. Xander looked firmly at Buffy’s face, waiting for a response.

Willow stepped forward. “Xander, no. I think we should try the curse again. I already know I can do it”.

“Yeah, but this time, make it a little permanent?” Cordelia interfered.

“No, Willow. Xander has a point”. They all looked surprised at Buffy.

“What are you saying? You want to kill him?” Willow couldn’t believe her ears.

“I don’t want to kill him. But I also don’t want him killing anyone else. If he touches one of you… I couldn’t live with myself”.

“Then I’ll do the curse right now! Except… I don’t have the materials and the curse here, right now”. Willow bit her lips.

“Willow, I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t come to you to do the curse every time he gets mean again”. Buffy’s eyes were filled with tears.
“I think it’s better if he were dead. I wouldn’t have to worry he will turn evil ever again”. She walked silently out of the apartment.

Giles and Wesley exchanged stares.

“That was harsh. It’s nice to see that after he gave so much for her, she gives him up!” Cordelia huffed.

“What did he give up for her? Give up more opportunities to make her miserable?” Xander asked.

“It’s true, Cordelia. It was better for Buffy when he left. Now she has a new sweet boyfriend. And he’s human, and he hunts demons”. Willow said.

"Boy, Angel should hear that! He mourns about her being all broody and heart broken and she has a new boyfriend anyway". Cordelia sighed.

Xander chuckled. “So he should move on. Into the dead”.

“You don’t know…” Cordelia shook her head.

“What *are* you talking about, may I ask?” Wesley asked, stepping closer.

“That’s right, you don’t know. Angel turned human when he fought with some yucky demon. He and Buffy spent the day and night together. Then Angel learned from the Oracles…”

“The Oracles?” Giles and Wesley both asked, stunned.

“Yeah, anyway, it turns out he’s a warrior and supposed to help Buffy fight the apocalypse, yadda yadda, but he was human and it would have get her killed sooner, so he asked them to turn back the day so he won’t be turned into a human and that day never existed. Only Angel remembered this day… he told Doyle, Doyle told me and died…” it seemed like Cordelia’s eyes were moist for a moment, she paused but recovered soon. “And now you know too”.

“Wow, that’s amazing. Did they have a lot of sex when he was human?” Anya asked, stealing all the stares.

“Ewww gross, Doyle never told me *that* part!”

“That’s so sad. Now I must do the curse!”

Xander looked at the ceiling, then back at the others. “I still think we should kill him. He’s dangerous. He’s *not* Angel right now”.

“We’re not going to kill him”. Said Willow, looking over at Giles. “Are we?”

“No, I don’t want to kill him. I want to seek for a way to make the transition irreversible”. Giles took off his glasses, pondering.

“Irreversible? You mean making him have a soul forever?” Anya asked.

Cordelia smiled widely. “You think it can be done?”

“I don’t know. I must consult…” he pondered again, not finishing his sentence.

“Books?” Xander offered.

“I’m going to try and find the remainders of Miss Calendar’s Clan”.

“The Kalderah tribe? The Romany?” Wesley lifted his eyebrow.

“Yes. I will find them, with the help of the council”.

“Good luck”. Xander muttered.

“And how would you convince the council into helping you? They turned their back on us”.

“I’ll find a way”. Giles collected his books from the table, putting them back to their places.

“Go on to your business”. He hurried them.
“What should we tell Buffy?” Willow asked, just before going out.

“Nothing, for now. I need you to gather materials for the curse. If I fail, we shall at least try and get Angel’s soul back. I shall go now and buy a ticket to the next flight to England”.

“England?” Xander turned around. “You’re going to England?”

“Yes. I’m afraid that’s where the council is located”.

“Then I’ll be going with you!” Wesley announced. Giles looked at him. “I am capable on doing it on my own”.

“Angel is my boss as well as well as a good friend. I know he would have done the same for me”.

“You sure have changed from the last time you were needed to help Angel”.
“I have to remind you I did try to help. The council refused my request, which is the main reason I think our trip to Great Britain will be a waste of time”.

“I’m going to England, join me or stay here”, Giles said, determined.

“You leaving me to do the curse alone?” Willow asked frightened.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll do fine. With the help of Xander and Cordelia”.

Anya coughed.

“Perhaps Anya could be of help too”, he said. “As for Buffy… Keep an eye on her. Before she does something she’ll regret”.

“We’ll watch her”. Willow assured him.
 

“Ah, it’s so good to be alive! or not alive, again”. Angelus grinned, licking the blood off his lips. He had just taken the life of a young teenaged girl. The younger the victim was, the fresher and tasteful the blood was. He felt his body filling with energy.
The feelings that rose in him when he saw the slayer looking at him again, caused him disgust and hatred. He felt violated, all he wanted was to run away from her.

He watched helplessly the human whose body he had taken a couple of centuries before, touching, kissing, embracing and loving his worst enemy- the slayer. He had to admit she was a lot prettier than the other slayers he had encountered over the centuries. The modern slayers tended to nurture themselves better, and have some kind of life, beyond their duty. That only attracted him more to the damned girl. He knew he wanted to kiss her. Show her all the demonic passion that burned unused in him, before killing her.
Then something changed, and the stupid human moved away from Sunnydale, and started helping all the poor and hopeless people, could that get any worse? Angelus didn’t even want to know. Now he was back into his old domain.

Living again underground, in the sewer system wasn’t working for him. He also disliked the ignorant vampires, which were hiding there. He was gonna go to his house, but seeing his precious mansion being violated by the slayer and her lover, made him sick to his stomach. It has been a while since any living or undead creature been putting their footsteps in the place and the strong vibes of love were still in the air. Yuk.

He walked in the tunnels. The other vampires kept their distance from him. He enjoyed the respect and the fright they had for him.
He could smell the sun disappear into the horizon. The other vampires stared at him, wondering whether or not he will go out. Most of the vampires that lived underground preferred catching the rats in the sewers than surfacing and take the chance of getting killed by the slayer. There were a few brave ones who went out, but only a few of them returned. Now there were stories running around of soldiers with guns capturing vampires and doing who knows what to them.
Angelus decided to go out. He sniffed and marveled the scent of the night. He stopped when he saw two young girls, walking hand in hand.

“Young blood”. He grinned. But he let them pass near him and walk away harmless.
A memory pressed back in the back of his head. He remembered that actress Rebecca who brought him forth, by passing the stupid curse.
Stupid mortal. The retard soulhaving boy was attracting all the females around, and he never even tried to violate any of them. What a shame. Angelus could see that cop, what was her name anyway? Kate, making Angel the googly eyes, and giving him all the hidden invitations, which the idiot of course being himself, didn’t even notice. Angelus snarled, that woman was annoying anyway, too manly for his liking, he would have snapped her neck without even tasting her blood. When did all his passion for destruction and mutilation turned into the passion of having one woman? He remembered tasting her. Her blood was more powerful than any blood he ever tasted before. He had to admit it was pretty good for a vampire with a soul. Who ever heard in history of a vampire slayer giving herself up for a vampire? Now he was thirsty to have her. In any mean there is. The immortal blood boiled in his veins and screamed her name. And suddenly he smelled something close.
A slayer.
She was around. The slayer who had tried and failed to bring him forth. The slayer who turned and was put into comma by Buffy.
He walked after the smell.

“Hello, Faith”. He smiled looking at the girl who was busy kicking a boxing sack.

“Angel!” Faith glared at him in shock. “How did you find me here?”

he shrugged, looking around. “Why are you hiding in this hideous place?”

She hugged the boxing bag. “I’m waiting for my moment”, she said looking at him. “What are you doing back in town? I thought you left for good”.

“I came back for a visit. Heard you’ve been naughty”, he said. He didn’t know that, but he had a gut feeling that she done something. When you turn evil, it’s hard to turn back into the other side again.
Humans needed powers for that. And Faith was helping the mayor, double-crossing her friends, stubbing them in the back with a knife. He liked her.

“Well yeah, you want to give me another heart to heart talk?” she said, careless.

“I don’t see how it can be done”, he said, transforming into his demon face and snarling at her. “Since I don’t have a heart”.
Before she could say a word, he pulled her closer, and kissed her.
Blood started oozing from her mouth.
She kicked him away from her, setting herself in a defense position.
She smeared the blood from her lips.

“Awww, you look so cute with that lipstick”. He said.

“Angel, what are you doing? I thought we’re beyond that game!”

he laughed. “Oh no, sweetheart, I’ve just started playing!”

“What are you saying?”

“Remember that little magic you pulled back then? It really worked some miracles! I remember I had a good laugh seeing Angel trying to be me. It was a nice try, poor acting though. I couldn’t believe how ignorant you were not seeing it. But your spell worked, a bit late, but it was worth waiting. I’m free again. And I owe you my freedom”.

“What? I thought you pretended to turn evil. You were back to yourself! Did it really worked?”

He moved quickly and grabbed her by the neck. She felt her legs leaving the ground.
“No, but it was a nice try”, he laughed.

“Angel… no…” she paled, she put her hands around the hand that grasped her throat firmly.

“You should meet the women in L.A, they are a lot more efficient than you. One woman, an actress even! Gave me some drugs. Worked better than your stupid magic! Now this is what I call 21st century!” he laughed again, licking his fangs. “Magic out, it’s all about drugs”.

“Angel… no! we can work together…” she murmured, choking. She started to wriggle, trying to get away from his grasp.

“I work alone”. He said, looking at her. An evil gleam shined in his dark eyes. He moved over to bite her. She tried to kick him, but her mind was blurred from the suffocation, she couldn’t even reach her stake. She just let his fangs pierce her neck.

“Good slayer”. He growled.

She lay there, her body drained of blood, looking helplessly at Angelus. He was standing above her.

He sneered, knowing her weak spot. “I guess Buffy is better than you in just any way there is, even her blood tastes better”.

“Please…” she whispered.

“What do you want?” he asked, a little bored of her quiet fight to stay alive and in consciousness. She was stronger than his other victims.

“Turn me!” she managed to raise her voice, gathering all her remaining strength.

He laughed.

“You can’t let me die…”

“I believe that’s what I’ve just did, hon”. He turned to walk away. Then he picked her up again.

“Oh, well, I’m getting bored of being alone anyway”. He said and cut his hand, putting his bleeding wrist close to her face.
The minute she smelled the blood, she pulled his hand closer, sucking his blood. “Yes…” she mumbled. “I want more!”

He had to pull his hand away, she was too eager to drink. “That’s enough”. He said, holding his wrist, stopping the bleeding. “Welcome to the family. Except there’s only me now”. He said, pondering, as she stood up. “I wonder where Dru is. I miss her”.
 
 

She looked at him with her new vampiric face. “Lets go hunt!” she said.

“You need to rest. You are weak. Your body just started the process of dying. You still need to be buried and rise from…”

“Nuh huh. I’m not going to rise from my grave only to be staked by Buffy and her scooby gang. I’m going with you!”

He shrugged. “Okay, you like being a rebel, huh?”

She smiled. “Have you ever seen a slayer turned into a vampire before?” she asked, clinging onto his arm.

“Only once. Last century. It took the next slayer a long time to stake her in their battle. Vampire slayers has more powers than ordinary vampires”. He said.

“Really? Cool. I’m Faith the Slayer Vampire!” she waved her hand, like she was holding an imaginary sword. “Think I could take out Buffy?”

“Don’t you touch her. She’s mine”. He said. She snarled, unhappy.

“Oh, gee. Don’t tell me you love her too”.

He turned his head sharply to gaze at her. She didn’t seem to think too much of what she said. “Oh, yeah. I just love that girl”. He said, relaxed again.

“Your vamp face is so cool. Do I look like that too?” she asked as they walked away.

“Yeah, you look very frightening”, he winked at her.
 
 

“Hello, Buff”. Angelus was standing in front of her. She looked at him. “Angel…” she tried to stabilize her voice.
He moved towards her and she stepped back, frightened.
“You’re gonna wish you’ve never came back!” she pulled out a stake.
“Awww, don’t be like that. We can have fun too”. Suddenly, from no where, a sword flipped into his hand.
He jumped forward quickly to attack her. She was spry enough to jump away from his hit, then kicked the sword away from his hand.
She then quickly kicked him hard straight in his face. He staggered backwards, she nailed him with her hands to the wall, holding her stake close to his heart.
“Buffy…” his voice changed. It was soft now. She lifted her eyes to his face, and saw Angel looking down at her.
He had an unmistakable innocent and miserable gaze in his eyes.
“Angel?” she hesitated.
“I love you”. He whispered, his eyes filling with tears. She looked at him confused.
“What are you waiting for? Kill him!” she heard Faith. She looked back, and saw Faith standing behind them, looking like a vampire.
Faith pushed Buffy against Angel, causing the point of the stake to pierce his heart. Angel exploded into dust.

“No!” Buffy yelled.
 

“Buffy! Are you okay?” riley was holding her hand. Buffy was pale, looking around like a blind person seeing the world for the first time. Her breath was fast and strenuous. “I’ll never forget, I’ll never forget”, she murmured, staring into space.

“What? What is it?” riley shook her shoulders. He forced her to look at him, holding her chin.

She was frightened. “riley?” she asked quietly, catching her breath.

“Yea it’s me, relax”, he said. He looked over at the door. “I’ll bring some water”.

“What are you doing here?” Buffy asked, getting up from the bed.

“I came to see you. You left without a word”.

“I’m fine really. I just had a little nap…” she said.

“You weren’t here all day. I have to go down to the base, it’s already past sunset”, he said getting up.

“Where’s Willow?” Buffy asked getting up from the bed too.

“She had to go home. She didn’t tell me why”, he said walking out of the room. “You sure you’d be fine? You want me to stay?”

“No, go, it’s all right”. She smiled faintly.
 
 

“Buffy! What are you doing here?” Willow looked at her surprised.

“Why, are you busy? riley told me you went home. Why did you go home?”

“Oh. I like home! Home sweet home!” Willow smile uncomfortably and Buffy gazed at her. “My mom needed my help. Uh, the computer was stuck. Are you all right? You look a little pale”. Willow looked at her worriedly.

Buffy gave her a weary smile. “I didn’t sleep very well”.

“Angel again?” Willow pushed a little box beneath her bed.

“What’s this?” Buffy lifted a crystal ball from Willow’s table.

“Oh, that’s my… my paperweight!”

“Willow, you don’t need a paperweight”. Buffy eyed her suspiciously.

“Yes I do. I need it for my works. I use a lot of papers… and it’s my paperweight”. She blushed a little, embarrassed.

“But you don’t do your works at home anymore. It wouldn’t be… an orb of Thesulah, by any chance. Would it?”

“A What?” Willow looked at her.

“Willow, I told you I don’t want you to do the curse again. You could get hurt”. Buffy held the orb in her hands, looking sadly into it.

Willow bit her lips nervously. “But I want to! I know I can pull it right. And I know you don’t want to kill Angel”.

Buffy sighed sadly. She looked out the window. “He’s out there now. I should go find him. riley is out there too. I must find Angel before he does”.
 

“Argh… I forgot how much I hate flying…” Murmured Giles, taking out his handkerchief to clean the cold sweat from his forehead.
Hours and hours of flying above the ocean just didn’t do good for his nerves system. Wesley seemed weary from the long flight as well.

The cub stopped in front of an old morbid castle, a few kilometers north of London. They walked pass the giant old iron gates.

“I see they haven’t cut the bushes since I’ve last been here”. He, referring to the bushes that grew wild without a care.
“Who could ever imagine I’d found myself back here”, Wesley looked up at the demonic statues made of stone that were placed in both sides of the gate. “I’ve always got a chill from this place”.

Giles knocked on the heavy english oak door. Several minutes passed until the little porthole in the door was opened. And an old gloomy man looked at him.

“What do you want?” he asked bitterly in a heavy english accent.

“Greetings. Rupert Giles, to see the council”. Giles said and cleared his throat. “And Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, too”. Wesley added.

“Wait here”. The man ordered and shut the porthole close. Giles sighed. “What a warm hospitality”.
“Almost like the weather”, Wesley agreed, tightening his coat around him.
 

“She said it was on the shelf, right?” asked Xander, walking inside Willow’s room in the dorms, looking for Willow’s transcription of the curse. “She said it was in that book whose name I forgot”. Answered Anya, walking behind him.

“Great. That helps”.

“Sorry”.

“Look in that shelf. I’ll keep looking over this one”. Xander suggested. “Not that I care, really. I want to bring that murderer down”.

“I think I’ve found it”. Anya waved some papers that were attached to an old book.

“Great! Let’s get to it right away!” Xander turned to walk out of the cage.

“Aren’t you anxious to do the curse?” Asked Anya while they ran out of the building.
 

“I just want to get it over with. How can we walk the streets quietly when a vicious creature drawing a plan against us?”

They heard a loud noise and froze.

“What was that?” asked Anya, looking around.

Xander took out a cross. “I don’t know, but it ain’t no cat!”

A cat was running in front of them, mewing. A trash can was rolling on the ground.

“Or maybe it was a cat”. Sighed Xander.

They kept walking, until they heard a growl. “A cat?” they exchanged looks.

A vampire was standing in front of them, growling.

“Good kitty”. Said Xander, smiling nervously. Anya looked at him.

“What should we do?”

A Second vampire came, standing near the first one.

“I’d say… RUN!” Screamed Xander and they sprinted away.
 

Giles covered himself up from the cold. It seems like hours have passed until the old man opened the door.

“The councilors are waiting for you”. He said coldly.

“Thank you”. Giles and Wesley walked inside slowly. He knew the council still thought of him as a failure ever since he failed their test.
They blamed him for having a fatherly love to the slayer.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Giles?” he saw the head-councilor, whom he knew when he first became a watcher. His father had just deceased, and it was his turn to become a watcher. It was 4 slayers before Buffy was called. He failed miserably in his first attempt to be a watcher. The slayer was merely 17 when she died. He decided to watch another man performs the job. Then, when Buffy’s watcher was killed, just before she moved to Sunnydale, the head of the council called him and told him he's getting a second shot. He knew he wouldn’t fail this time. But training Buffy for almost 3 years, and getting to know her as a person, was far beyond the comprehension of the council. He was fired and banned. Wesley took his place. Now Wesley was fired himself, there was just no need of watchers anymore, now that both slayers were out of control.

How would the council react when he will ask for help in finding a cure for a vampire they have been trying to eliminate for over a hundred years? And the fact he was still in contact with Buffy even though he was fired, didn’t help much. Buffy has quit the council, which only made them hate him more. Blaming him for turning her against them.

“I need your help”.

“We know you do”.

“You know?”

“Yes. The mouth of hell is screaming for a prey. The dark ages are coming. A new slayer is being called”.

Both Wesley and Giles glared at him. “A new slayer?”

“Yes. We’ve lost Faith”.

“She’s dead?”

“Worse. She’s undead”. The councilor eyed him.

Giles frowned. “Oh dear”. He considered the situation for a moment, holding his hand to his forehead.

“I assume Buffy knows about the situation”. he looked at the councilor.

“You shouldn’t have come here”.

Giles looked at him, worried. “I must… I must find…”

“The gypsies lost clan. We know”.

“You do?”

“There’s nothing that you do that we don’t anticipate. However, Angelus must be brought down. By the slayer”.

“I know. But we could try to save Angel. I’m not sure Buffy is capable of killing him”.

The councilor gave him a stern look. “We are aware of that. However, Buffy is not necessarily the Slayer I was referring to”.

Giles’ eyes widened. “Angel cannot die. You got to help me find a cure”.

“Faith is a strong vampire. Very powerful. The two slayers shall work together in order to bring her down”.

“We’ll deal with this problem better when we have Angel on our side again”. Wesley said.

The councilor laughed. “You really think you could recruit the Romany into helping Angelus? The legends about him have passed on from father to son for generations. He is the nightmare which hunts their worst nights. Help you save Angel!” he sneered.

“We can try. You can at least give away their location. Don’t you want to stop the chaos?” Wesley folded his arms.

“Everything that happens is meant to happen. If Buffy dies, so be it”.

“Listen to me you obstinate mule!” Giles pulled out a dagger, making the old councilor step back.
Wesley looked at Giles in awe.
“I did not come all this exhausting irritating flight to England, only to be bloody renounced by arrogant group of ignorant old men who don’t care enough to even try and do their duty for a change”, Giles raved, moving closer to the old man. Wesley grabbed the old man from behind. “Now if I have to threat you to give us the location, I will”. Giles concluded.
Wesley nodded and tilted his head closer to the old councilor,
“And you better not try anything foolish. We will get the location out of you even if we-“
“*Galati”, the old man said quickly.
“-Have to torture you all day long”, Wesley continued talking, then fixed his glasses on his nose. “What did you say?”
“I know some elders of the tribe are housing in the area of Galati*, a few kilometers from the city”.    (*Galati pronounced Galachi in Rumanian)
Giles looked at Wesley and put the dagger down. “Then we’re going to Romania”.
 

“Hey sexy,” a young guy approached Faith who was busy dancing sensually by herself. She smiled at him.
“Mind if I dance with you?” he asked, moving closer.
“Not at all”, she nodded and put her arms around him.
They danced closely until the song was over.
“Do you want to take a walk outside?” She asked him. “Breathe some fresh air?”
“Cool”, he shrugged and they walked out into the alley.
“You don’t mind walking here in the dark with a total stranger?” he asked her.
Faith smiled. “What’s your name?”
“Parker. Parker Abrams”. He said.
“Hi, I’m Faith. See? We’re not total strangers”.
“You’re cool. I like you. Are you a freshman?” he smiled.
“Dropped out”, she shrugged.
“Really?”
“Yeah, from junior year in high school”.
“Why?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it”, she said quietly.
“Okay,” he put his arm around her.
She sniffled and he embraced her into his shoulder. “Shhh, it’s ok, pretend I didn’t ask”. He tried to comfort her.
“Ok”, she said raising her head, he leaned over to kiss her when he noticed her vamped face and flinched.
She roared and sank her teeth in his neck. He opened his eyes widely until his soul left his body and he fell down to the floor.
Faith licked her lips, reverting to human face.
Angelus walked out of a darker corner, wearing a long black coat.
“I see you had fun”.
“That was fun, but not satisfying. I need more”. She said.
“Any sign of my girl?” he asked.
Faith shrugged. “Probably humping the bones of that goofy boyfriend of hers”.
Angelus smirked. “I should meet this boy. He could use some tips-“

Angelus didn’t finish his words, Faith was electrified by something. Angelus snarled stepping back. He saw the 3 black figures standing behind the corpse Faith drained.
He wasted no time and lunged at them.
They tried to fire at him, but he kicked the guns out of their hands.
He snapped the neck of one of them, kicking out the other, the guy was dazed and stepped backwards falling on his buttocks. Angelus knocked him out cold with a smack to his head.
The third one grabbed a hold of a tranquilizer arrow, sticking it in Angelus’ neck. Angelus staggered backwards, until he dropped to his knees. The guy who managed to gain control spoke to an invisible being. “A-team. It’s Forrest. Alpha code blue. We got 2 hostiles. 2 operatives are down”.
 

Buffy walked in the woods. She was tired but she was determined on finding Angel before riley does. There was no way she was gonna let riley put his hands on Angel. Let alone this group. She wondered why she was so protective of Angel. After all, it wasn’t even him. it was Angelus, her evil rival. A vampire who needed to be put down. And still, she didn’t want him to be tortured. She was planing on sheer killing. She wondered if Willow was still trying to do the curse. She didn’t want to face Angel in the last moment, just so she kills *him* again instead of Angelus. She thought about her dream. Faith in game face… what did all this mean?
 

“The tranquilizer will wear off soon. This one is a strong bastard. I think the strongest we ever faced”, Angelus could dimly hear Forrest enthusiastic voice. “You should have seen it, the bastard killed Graham in an instant and knocked riley out cold with one blow!”
“I wasn’t ready!” Angelus heard a thicker voice protest.
“The girl was tagged”, a third voice announced.
“So how do you know her?”
“I saw her once… old acquaintance of Buffy”… the thick voice sounded hesitant.  “C’mon, let’s get it done with this guy”.
Angelus was dazed, but he could see the white wearing man approaches his with a syringe. With all the powers he could forge, he quickly launched at the medical man and snapped his neck.
“Code Red!” Forrest announced. Angelus kicked the two operatives away, managing to escape.
“Lock the entrance to room 4A!” riley called out.
Angelus saw the iron gate starting to close and jumped spreading out, slipping underneath it to the other side.
riley who was running after him clashed against the heavy gate. “Open the door!” He slammed it with his fist, frustrated.
Forrest huffed behind him. “Way to go, brainy. Couldn’t you wait till we get out of the room?”

Angelus ran away, hitting whomever got in his way. He saw Faith in a cell, he thought for a slight second then lashed into the glass wall, breaking it to pieces. The alarm started beeping dissonantly.
“Hostile 42 has escaped”, a mechanical feminine voice announced in the background.
“What *is* this place? The Pentagon?” Faith asked.
“I dunno, but I really don’t feel like staying. Let’s get out of here!” Angelus urged her to go.
She kicked away an operative, knocking him onto another.
“Look, an exit!” She pointed out at a sign that lead to an emergency exit. They ran out, crushing the door and escaping into the fresh night air.
“Quick, let’s find someone to kill and a place to hide”, Angelus encouraged her to keep running.
 

Buffy yawned and left back to the dorms. No Angel. No riley. No nothing. And she was so tired. It will be sunrise soon anyway. She’ll be much stronger after a few hours of sleep.
She turned to walk away when she heard a noise behind her.
She froze. Someone was there behind her.
Buffy turned around sharply, sending out her arm, hitting a girl in the face. The girl seemed careless, and hit Buffy right back.
“All right stop it!” Buffy shook the girl off her back.
“Are you Buffy?” the girl asked.
“Yeah…” Buffy answered cautiously, standing still in defense position.
“I’m Agatha, the vampire slayer”.
 

Angelus watched Faith grabbing the frightened guy and pulling him into their hiding place in the sewer. “I’m *sooo* hungry!” she said, leaning in to bite him, he was shaking with fear. Angelus raised his eyebrow when Faith leaped backwards. “Ouch!” she cried out.
“What’s wrong?” he moved closer.
Faith didn’t give up and tried to bite him again. “Argh! I can’t bite him!” she winced. “It’s like an electrifying force frying my brain”.
Angelus moved in to bite the guy, vamping out. He pierced the guy’s neck, drinking. “I can. What’s wrong with you?” he dropped the body to the floor. Faith sniffed the wound in the dead guy’s neck and started nibbling on it, sucking the last drops of blood from his body.
“That’s so weird”, she said, licking her lips.
Angelus shrugged. “We’ll have to catch another one for you. We don’t have much time until sunrise though and those crazy toy soldiers are out there too”.
“I need someone to eat! I’m starving!” Faith said angrily.
They walked out. They saw a man getting out for work in the early morning.
Faith grabbed him, sporting her game face and growled. She tried to bite him and jumped back again.
“Dammit!” She cursed as Angelus burst out in laughter.
She watched as he fed of the guy.
 Taking only a few sips, Angelus let Faith drink the rest of the blood. She drank eagerly, draining the man out.
They headed towards the sewers again.
“That’s not fair! You get to feed, I get the leftovers!”
“Those guys probably did something to you. I heard them saying they tagged you. I guess that’s it”. He said after he finished laughing at her.
“They’re going to pay for it!” Faith gritted her teeth.
 

“Oh no, not another one”, Buffy huffed looking at the girl. “How old are you?”
“Fifteen. I’m gonna be 16 in 4 months”.
“Good for you. So since when you’re a vampire slayer?” Buffy asked, the sun was already up and they started walking. Buffy was leading the way to Giles apartment.
“My watcher came to me last week. He said my destiny awaits. He said I had to come here to join forces with the old slayer”.
“Old? He actually used the word ‘old’??” Buffy stopped walking.
“Yeah. Anyway, I only got to kill my first vampire last night. My watcher said the bad slayer died. And that you will help me”.
Buffy looked down. “Faith died…” she whispered.
“My watcher had to stay in Michigan”, she explained. “He said a good friend of his used to be your watcher… Rupert Giles?”
“Yeah”, Buffy opened the door. Xander, Anya, Willow and Cordelia were there sleeping, scattered all over the room.
“Morning!” She called out. Xander stirred on the couch. “I didn’t do it!” he called out.
Buffy curved her face. Cordelia woke up. “What time is it?” she yawned.
“6:30 or so”, Buffy said moving closer.
“AM? Are you normal?? Oh wait, I know the answer”, Cordy sighed and got up.
Willow woke up too, and looked at Buffy with bleary eyes.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“This is Agatha. She’s the new slayer. Faith is dead”. Buffy said quietly. Everyone stared at her.
“Well, I don’t wanna say ‘yay’, but Faith *was* evil”. Willow said.
“I’m not so sure… or maybe I am… “ Buffy wrinkled her nose. “Or not”.
She sighed.
“I wish Giles was here…”
 

Giles looked at Wesley, it was night in their area. They just left Galachi, and headed towards the presumed location of the gypsy camp in the woods.
“We are close to Transilvania county”, Wesley said.
“Oh yes. The big myth of Dracula”, Giles said taking off his glasses and cleaning them with his handkerchief.
“It’s fiction, Wesley. The vampires activity in this area, is not higher than other places. There’s not even a hellmouth here”.
“Not that we know of”, Wesley said.
They heard footsteps behind them and stared at each other, terrified.
Giles turned around quickly holding out a cross.
“Tourists?” the man who was wearing worn off clothes stared at them, blinding them with a flashlight.
Giles lowered the stakes. “We’re… um, passing by…”
“Well, you’re trespassing!” the man snapped at them in heavy accent.
“We were not aware this was private property”, Wesley said.
The man lighted a sign with his flashlight. “Loc al mau. Intraria nu ye parmisa”. Wesley read out the sign and scratched his head. “Private property… no entry permitted…” he whispered. “Well.. we didn’t see the sign in the dark”, he said. “I apologize”.
“Go back to the city. Evil things are in the woods!” the man pointed his finger at them.
“Ah, we’re looking for a gypsy clan. The kalderah, I believe they are located here”. Giles said.
“The Kalderah people”, the man sneered. Giles and Wesley looked at his rotten teeth, and his stench of his alcoholic breath was heavily noticed. “What is left of them. Who survived the animals of the night, died by the human animals that hunted them down in the war. And the rest scattered all over Europe and the world”.
He looked at them, rubbing his thick bristles.
“What do you want of us?”
“Lead us to your elder”. Giles asked.
The man started walking and the two british men followed him.

“Stop”, the man held out his hand and the two stopped walking.
“You be quiet now. The children are sleeping”.
Giles and Wesley looked around at the gypsy camp. A few caravans stood in a circle. Lamps were above each door. A fireplace was in the middle of the ground between the caravans. A few horses were tied to a short fence, not far from there, and the stench of their excrement was in the air.
The fire was dim.
A man walked out of one of the trailers. “Been out drinking all night again ah?” the man sounded angry. He looked at the strangers.
“You. The elder woman was expecting you”.
He led them inside the trailer. An old wrinkled woman was staring at them.
“The spirits said you are coming to seek our help”, the woman spoke in Rumanian but the man translated it.
“Yes, we come to beg for the lost soul of Angelus”, Giles talked slowly.
“There is no way!” The man said, even though the woman didn’t speak.
“He lost his soul again. By something-“
the woman talked, interrupting Giles. “His soul was restored by the spirits. It is men work to have taken it back”, the man translated.
“We were thinking…” Wesley started talking. “Of giving him his soul back. Permanently”. He said. “Angel helps a lot of people”.
“He was meant to suffer! Not to help people!” the man spoke on his own again.
The woman talked again and the man looked amazed at Giles.
“You knew Jannah?” he asked.
“Jannah?” Giles seemed confused.
“She left to America. When she was a young child. How she was called? Jennifer”.
“Jenny…” Giles whispered, taken aback.
“She was my daughter. Your friend has killed her and my brother”.
“I know. But even Jenny…” he swallowed. “Jenny knew it wasn’t Angel. She tried to give him his soul back”.
The man sighed. “I know”.
The woman spoke again. “We shall give you the spell to restore your friend's soul. Our transcription was lost during the war, when the nazis hunted us down. But to know if it is permanent will be the spirits choice”.
“How do we know, then?”
“You will know”.
“That’s it?”
“You have to change only a little the words in the spell you have tried the last time. The spirits wants you to leave now”. The man handed him a piece of paper. “And never call for us again. This is for Jannah alone, we do this”.
 

“What are we gonna do now? Shall we do the curse? I have the materials”. Willow said, looking at Buffy.
She shook her head. “No, Will. I don’t want you to-“
A knock on the door interrupted her. She went to open the door. It was riley. He was bruised and messy.
“I thought you’d be here”, he leaned to kiss her, but she backed off.
“What happened to you?” she asked. He looked at her friends who were staring at her.
“So that’s riley?” Cordelia asked. Willow nodded. “Pretty much a let down”.
“Remember your friend?” riley pulled Buffy to the kitchen, away from her friends earshot. “The one I sle- the one who fooled me it was you?” he asked.
“Faith”.
“She’s a vampire. I caught her with her friend. They escaped, but she’s tagged”.
Buffy stared at him in shock.

“After Angel you would have think she’d pick a guy who cares more on his looks, I mean, this guy is not even undead and look at him!” Cordelia said.
“Buffy needs a normal guy”, Anya said. “But she can’t have Xander. She knows that”.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. “I’m not even gonna go there!”
“Did Angel really gave up his humanity for Buffy?” Willow asked, smiling.
“So I’ve heard”.
“That is so romantic”, Willow said, drifting off to other places with glassy eyes.
“What is?” Buffy approached her. Willow straightened up. “Oh, nothing!” she waved her hands.
“We have a problem”, Buffy said looking at them. “Faith is not dead…”
Everyone glared at Agatha. “She’s alive? Then how come-“
“She’s undead. A vampire”.
“Oh boy…” Xander exhaled.
“A vampire with her strength…” Anya said. “Imagine the sex she and Angelus must be having”.
“Anya!” Buffy stared at her.
“What? She’s a vamp, he’s a vamp. He looks pretty hot for a vamp”.
“Anya!” Willow rebuked her.
 

Angelus was hitting the boxing sack with no mercy. The sweat was glistening on his bare muscles. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt. Faith watched him hitting the sack.
“Lots of sexual frustration there”, she commented.
He stopped punching the sack, but didn’t turn to face her, just held the sack. “Keep out of it, defective slayer, or I won’t bring you dinner”.
She huffed. “Why are you getting so defensive?”
She moved closer to him touching his arm. “That’s a strong muscle”.
She touched his arms with her fingers. “If you want we could-“
“Get away from me!” he pulled away his arm and walked away.
“I’m going to kill someone, see you later”.
She hit the sack furiously. “Dammit!”

After a while she walked out. The sun sank in the horizon. Faith knew she had to find Angelus so she could feed.
She was angry with the people who did this to her. She was only beginning to enjoy the drinking and the lifetaking of people, and they took it away from her.
She bumped into someone and snarled. She raised her head.
“William the Bloody!” She said, looking at Spike.
“And you are?” he asked, suddenly intrigued.
“I’m Faith. I was a vampire slayer-“
She touched his chest and trailed her finger on it.
“You are. Bloody hell. This is too good to be true”.
She was obviously seducing him.
“I’m so hungry”, she said in a sensual voice.
“But I have a small problem”, she nibbled on his ear.
“How can I help you, pet?”
“I can’t… kill people. I can only drink them after they’re dead”, she explained, looking him in the eyes.
He sighed. “Sadly, I have the same problem”.
She let go of him at once. “What? Then you’re of no use to me!” she growled angrily and started to walk away.
“What? Spike has a chip in his head, so he’s not good anymore for anything?”
Faith stopped walking and turned around to face him. a gleam sparkled in her eyes. “Do you want to show me?”

Angelus walked inside the abandoned building. This could be a nice residence. Not as nice as the mansion, but better than living in the sewers.
He heard a noise behind him and turned around to see the young girl.
“Well, hello gorgeous. Aren’t you looking for troubles tonight?”
“Yeah, and my troubles are you”. She said.
Angelus looked up. “Oh I love it when they’re witty”, he smirked.
“I’m glad. It would be a shame it if you didn’t, since it’s the last thing you’d love”.
“And the wisecracking keeps on coming”, he sneered. “Let me guess, you’re the very new vampire slayer”.
“Bingo. And you are going to be very dead”.
Angelus sneered again. “What is it with the powers that be choice of slayers? Every new one is funnier than the previous”. He vamped out and looked at the young girl.
“How many vampires have you staked in the few days since you answered your callings?”
“Not enough to make me satisfied. I want you as a trophy”.
“Okay, it’s a shame really. I guess Buffy will get to meet yet another new slayer. Don’t you envy her?” he asked and lunged at her.
She kicked him away, taking out her stake.
“Oh scary”, he laughed and tripped her. She quickly jumped on her feet again.
“You’re spry”, he smirked, then punched her in the gut, making her stumble and crouch.
“That’s very sad. But hey, be happy! At least you’ll be dead quickly. I’m a nice guy, I don’t torture newcomers”.
She quickly lifted herself up, hitting him in the jaw. “Thanks, that’s very thoughtful of you!” She swung her hand to stake him.
“Hey!” Buffy called out, making them both look. “Now there’s my favorite slayer!” Angelus called, looking at her, licking his fangs.
“Buffy, what are you doing? He’s mine!” Agatha called. Angelus punched her, throwing her away across the room.
“Girls, don’t fight, There’s enough of me for everybody!” he gazed at Buffy and smiled. “Actually I’m a one slayer’s vampire”.
Buffy walked towards him. “Tonight we’ll put an end to this whole story”.
Angelus looked at her and smirked. “Oh yeah I know. You got a normal boyfriend now. Wonder what your ex-boy-toy would have said. In his name, I can say I’m very offended. I mean, I played it clean, had no sex, and basically no unlife either”, he said, looking at her.
He ran over to her and threw her away.
Buffy hit the floor hard on her back, her right knee pulled up to her chest. Angelus walked over and crouched over her, holding himself up with his arms and grinning down at her. “Oh I like this position, don’t you?” She threw Angelus over her head using her leg. He flipped backward and landed flat on his back. Buffy did a kick-up, and brought herself up to a standing position, Agatha watched her in awe. Buffy spun around to face Angelus as he got up on his feet. He lunged at her with a wide punch, but she ducked it.
She came up behind him, and he turned around to face her.
He tried a left-hand punch, but she blocked it and flew into a half spinning in to out crescent kick. Angelus ducked it, but she
knocked him off his feet, spinning downwards with a back leg sweep.
Angelus growled and got up, laughing. “You’re good”, he turned over to the new slayer. “See kiddo, that’s after 5 years in the business”, he surprised Buffy with a kick to her face which dazed her and brought her down to her knees.
He pulled her up close to him and smacked his lips over hers quickly.
He hit her hard in the head, making her fall before she could respond.
He was planning on grabbing her the same way he defeated Faith, but Agatha threw a net over him and he tripped and fell.

The younger slayer chained his arms to the wall. He was back in his human form now.
“Now I get to play some!” she said taking out a cross. Angelus hissed. Buffy shook her head and got up dizzily.
She saw Agatha willing to torture Angel with the cross.
“No!” she called and grabbed the cross from the girl’s hand, throwing it away.
“What? Are you crazy?” Agatha protested and took out her stake.
“Let me”, Buffy said and took the stake.
Angelus smirked and looked at her. “C’mon Buff. Kill me”, he stopped grinning. “If you can”.
Buffy moved closer to him, standing on her toes so she was closer to his face. “Oh I can, and I will. And not only that…”
She touched his lips. He let out a sigh.
She kissed him softly, her tongue prodding at his lips. He let her invade his mouth and closed his eyes, giving in to the painful passion.
She let go of him and they locked their eyes over each other.
“That’s what Angel had and you can die knowing you’ll never have it”, she said taking out her stake.
 

“No! Buffy wait!” She was just about to stake him when Willow cried out, entering the place.
Buffy looked at all her friends, along with Giles and Wesley.
Willow put the crystal ball in front of her.
Angelus eyes were wide open. “No!” he started shaking the chains, trying to free himself.
“Kill me, Buffy! That’s the only way you won’t get to see me again!” he called, not another century of being trapped in this soulful body. It was the most dreadful torture. Another minute was too much.

“Not dead, nor not of the living”, Giles called. “Spirits of the interregnum I call”,  he said.
“Nichi mort, nichi de al fientei, Ti invoc, spirit al trecheri. Reda trupului ce separa omul de animal!”  Willow read the rumanian text.
“…Cast his heart from the realm of evil”, Giles read the english translation. Angelus unleashed himself from the chains, hit Willow with it, knocking her unconscious.
riley entered the door in his commando gear. Xander quickly grabbed the papers as Buffy stopped Angelus from smashing the orb of Thesulah. “What’s going on?” riley asked.
Wesley took the papers from Xander’s hand.
Feeling the powers flowing in him, he suddenly didn’t need the papers.
“Nichi mort, nichi de al fientei, Ti invoc, spirit al trecheri. Ti implor, Doname, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte. Reda trupului ce separa omul de animal! Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care i va transporta, sufletul la eiel”, the orb started glowing, and Angelus tried to kick Buffy off him, desperate to save himself from the curse. “Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Pemtru tode auma! Acum! Acum!”
the orb glowed brightly, and Buffy felt Angel’s body weakening underneath her.
Everybody looked at Buffy who burst into tears on Angel’s back.
riley looked at her confused.
Angel turned around into a sitting position, and looked at her, confused.
“Buffy?”
she cried, the tears flooding her face, she sent out her hand and touched his face.
His face was moist too. “What happened?” he whispered.
She leaned her forehead over his, closing her eyes, sitting closely to him.

“I love you”, she whispered, but everybody could hear in the silence of the room.
“I remember. It flashed me…” she cried and he put his arms around her. “I was with you… and the oracles… and the morah demon…” she sniffed. “You were human…” she put her hand on his chest. “And I felt your heart beat. How could I forget…” she cried into his shoulder. “How could I forget…”
“Could someone tell me what’s going on?” riley asked.
Buffy looked up at him. “Oh, God. I’m so… riley, I’m so sorry”, she got up on her feet, still holding Angel’s hand and he got up too.
“He’s a vampire. He escaped our lab, and he has no chip”, riley said pointing his gun.
“No, that’s Angel. He’s a friendly vampire”, Cordelia told him.
“Oh”, he nodded, as if he understood, but he was totally confused.
“riley, I’ll have to talk to you in private…” Buffy swallowed.
“Do you think his soul is permanent?” Wesley turned to Giles.
“I don’t know. I hope so, I guess time will tell”.
“Let them have sex and we’ll find out”, Anya said and everybody looked at her.
Everybody left the building. Giles was talking to the new slayer.
Angel hugged Buffy, who was still sobbing.

“I still don’t understand”, riley said, scratching his head.
“I’ll tell you”, Faith entered the building, followed by Spike.
“He’s the mad puppy who did this to us, pet”. He told her.
“Buffy and Angel are soulmates. He’s a vampire with a soul. Freaky thing, just like our freaky girl. They had this forbidden love and when they made love he turned evil”, Faith smirked. “I liked him evil”. She looked over at Spike, who kissed her arm. “But no more. He left her so she could find a normal guy and she found you. Ironic isn’t it? But obviously, it was never meant to be. I wonder what they’ll do now that they found each other again”. She kissed Spike, then turned to riley who was still shocked. “Too bad you’ll never find out”. Both she and Spike transformed into their game faces.
riley stepped backwards. “You can’t feed on me! You got the chip!” he said.
“Like we want to drink you anyway, brat”, Spike said moving closer. They both lunged at him. he tried to fight them off, but Faith was stronger than him and snapped his neck.
She hugged Spike and they both started kissing passionately, before walking out hand in hand into the night.
 

“It’s amazing”, Buffy said looking into Angel’s eyes. “I suddenly remember EVERYTHING! Like a lightning hit me”, she leaned over and kissed him. they were alone in the room. He smiled. “I’m so sorry”, he said quietly. “What for?”
“For what I have done… to you… to Faith…”
“It wasn’t you”, she caressed his face.
He sighed and closed his eyes briefly.
“I should go…”
“Please stay”, she pleaded.
“I can’t… we can’t”, he tried to explain, but she hushed him, kissing him.
“Buffy, I got new life now. I do good. I help people”.
“Help *me* now”. She said, looking at him.
He sighed. “I can’t give you a normal life, Buffy. Nothing changed”.
“I learned that I can’t have a normal life. No more excuses Angel”.
He smiled faintly. “You’re right. I’ll tell you what. I’ll go back to L.A, and keep doing what I meant to do, and you stay here and finish college. We’ll keep in touch, and if nothing change, we’ll be back. Okay?” he pulled a stray hair behind her ear.
She looked down and he lifted her chin with his hand so he could see her eyes. “Okay?”
She nodded. “I love you”.
“I love you too. Never forget that”.
“Don’t worry. I know now that I’ll never forget”.
He kissed her and she opened herself up to him.
She breathed against his soft lips, touching his face softly.
“I’ll never forget”.
 
 
 
 

THE END (is just the beginning)