Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Twentieth Century Fox

Spoilers: Up to BTVS season 3. After "Choices" and replaces "The Prom"

Feedback: Always slayage@hotmail.com <mailto:slayage@hotmail.com>

Rating: PG-13, just to be on the safe side. There might be some minor swearing

Summary: Alternate Season 3 ending. After the Mayor and Faith kidnap Angel and terrorize him, both Buffy and Angel are faced with decisions that will change their lives forever

Author's Note: This is *before* Angel breaks up with Buffy, but during the time where he is thinking about their relationship. I'm simply adding a story before the climactic season end, and ending their relationship my way. Also, lyrics I use are from the Madonna song, "Take a Bow"

****

"Oomph!" Buffy's back hit the ground so hard the wind was knocked out of her. As she struggled to regain her concentration, the sword the demon wielded came swinging towards her head. An instant before the blade would've met Buffy's neck, her reflexes forced her to roll inhumanly quick to her left, out of danger's way. The demon's angry growl brought Buffy instantly back to reality, and she flipped back onto her feet, facing the demon with an equally angry stare.

"Buffy!" Giles's voice turned Buffy's attention elsewhere for a moment, and the Slayer saw her Watcher reach into her Slayer bag and pull out a heavy Byzantine axe. As he tossed it to her with surprising ease, Buffy caught it mid-air and swung it down towards the demon's head. The green-skinned, reptilian-like demon possessed several limbs, as well as some extremely sharp claws, which Buffy knew, from experience, could do some serious damage. She had been hunting the thing for nearly four days, and it was beginning to *really* piss her off.

The demon moved away from the axe with ease, and that act alone only served to make Buffy even more eager to kill its sorry ass. So when it reached out with its talons and cut her midsection fairly well, Buffy had just about had it.

"Okay mister, your clock is running out. I mean it," Buffy said furiously.

"Ah, Buffy, if I may intervene," she heard Giles call, who was well out of harm's way. "Perhaps a little less quipping and a little more slaying is at hand, hmm?" As Buffy swung the axe almost as though it were a baseball bat and took the demon's head along with it, the satisfying sound of its thud on the ground allowed Buffy to ignore Giles's stuffy, but usual, British comment with no difficulty. As she walked towards her Watcher with a slight smile on her pretty features, she brought her arm up to wipe away the creature's yellow-green slime from her cheek.

"So," she asked cheerily. "What was that? 8.5? 9?" Giles simply gave her a soft smile.

"Oh, I dunno Buffster, I saw some sloppiness in that performance. I'm thinkin' giving you a 7 would be kind of me."

Buffy turned to her left to see her two best friends poke their heads from behind the tombstone they were securely hiding behind. They had insisted on coming along with her tonight, so she had reluctantly agreed after some bickering between them had occurred.

"Fine, Xand. Be like that. But just keep in mind, the next time a huge, ugly demon comes after you with a pointy, sharp object, I'll be pretty quick to remember this." The two friends smiled at each other as Xander finally stood up from his place. After a moment of unusual silence had passed, Buffy looked around for her other redheaded friend.

"Will? You okay?" Buffy asked sweetly.

"Is it dead?" Willow said, in a frightened, high-pitched voice. "I mean, dead-dead?" Buffy smiled at her, and moved to stand beside Xander.

"Yeah, it's gone. I promise." At Buffy's reassurance, Willow got up from her place on the grass and straightened her shoulders, trying to look brave.

"Good, cuz...you know, it was pretty slimy, not to mention ugly and scary." As the three Scoobies continued to giggle and chat quietly amongst themselves, Giles picked up the weapons bag and headed towards them as well. At the corner of his eye, something moved, so the librarian turned his head slowly in that direction. When he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, he turned to walk forward again, and walked write into a tall, dark man.

Giles's small shriek of terror subsided when he realized who the man was. He cleared his throat and prayed that Buffy and the others hadn't heard his manly bellow.

"Angel," he said, his tone revealing nothing of his true feelings for the vampire. "What a surprise. You just missed a world of fun." The Watcher's comment was clearly sarcastic, and Angel cracked a small, lopsided grin at that.

"Sorry, Giles. Didn't mean to frighten you."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. As a trained and experienced Watcher, I am clearly capable...of...being able to sense surrounding danger. You simply startled me a bit."

Angel decided to drop the touchy subject, but Xander's next comment made it difficult for him to suppress another grin.

"Yeah. Too bad you were fired, eh Giles? Cuz I guess those extra senses just went *right* out the window when that happened," he called from his place beside the girls. They seemed to find the comment mildly amusing, and each cracked a small smile. Giles, on the other hand, kept a straight, British face, and said nothing. But his Slayer came to the rescue, as she walked over to him and her boyfriend.

"Oh Giles, you know we love you, job or no job." She moved in between the two men, gave Angel a quick kiss, while she gave Giles a light punch in the arm.

"You know, as much as it may surprise you all, I *am* a librarian at a place called Sunnydale High School. And although it doesn't pay marvelously, it does pass as an occupation."

"Oh yeah," Buffy said, playing the part of a dumb blonde for a moment. When Buffy realized the joke was obviously lost on Giles, she decided to shut it down. "Well, guys, you can call it a night. I'll take care of the slime ball here," she said, motioning towards the decapitated demon. "And you all can get some well-deserved sleep." She looked at her watch. "Wow, four o'clock. Some *really* well-deserved sleep."

After the gang had said their goodnights, Buffy and Angel were left all alone in Restfield cemetery. They hadn't spent any time together in the last few days, so she really wanted to find out how he was doing. As he took her hand in his and twined their fingers together, she figured he was thinking the same thing.

****

After walking hand in hand for nearly another hour, Angel decided that he should let Buffy get some much-needed rest. As they started towards her house, Angel found her with a pout on her lips.

"I don't wanna go home yet," she said in that whiny voice Angel couldn't get enough of. "Not like I'll have that long to sleep before I have to get up for school anyway."

"Buffy, you love me right?" Angel's question caught her unawares, so she slowed her steps and looked at him.

"You know I do," she replied seriously, perhaps becoming a little worried. She tugged at his hand a little, trying to get him to spit out whatever it is he was trying to say.

"Well, then I suggest you let me get back to the mansion before I go up in flames," he said teasingly, a smile playing on those lips she loved to kiss. Realization hit Buffy, and she smiled as well, smacking him on the arm playfully.

"Not funny." She reached for his hand again, still smiling, and the two lovers finally reached the front of the Summers house. Angel walked her to the front door, and they were careful not to speak in a loud tone, mindful of Buffy's mother who lay sleeping upstairs.

"Goodnight," she said, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips. The kiss soon became more passionate than Buffy had intended, and she reached her hands up to tangle into his soft brown hair. She couldn't help her reaction around him. He just had this affect on her that she couldn't explain. All the air would just go out of her lungs, and she felt as though the only way to regain that oxygen was through his mouth. Pretty ironic, considering that Angel didn't actually *have* any breath.

Buffy figured her affect on Angel was probably pretty similar, because he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. When they pulled apart, the only sound was Buffy's heavy breathing, and she moved her hands to his cheeks, held them there. Then she kissed him one more time, but this time made sure it was a brief, innocent kiss. When she pulled away, she was smiling as she said, "goodnight", and quickly went inside her house, closing the door before she was tempted towards Angel again.

Angel just stood there, staring at her front door for a moment, his thoughts deeply troubled.

****

Faith loved working for the Mayor. Hey, the hours were good, the job was fun, and nobody told her what to do. Well, not really...

The knock on her swanky apartment door startled her, and she moved to open it. Her surrogate father stood there, his hands in his pockets, a smile adorning his face. As usual.

She loved his high spirited moods, because whenever she was in a lousy one, he found a way to make her smile as well. As she motioned for him to enter, he gently touched her shoulder. "Hello my girl!" He sounded even cheerier than usual, and Faith was interested to find out what had brought on the good mood.

"Hey boss," she started, placing a slight smile on her face. "What's the what?"

"Well Faith, one helluva brilliant idea just popped into my head! I wanted you to be the first to hear it." He sounded quite excited, so Faith played along and asked the big question.

"What did you have in mind?" He simply continued to look at her for a moment, a huge grin still on his face.

"Okay, okay. Here it is. We're gonna take another shot at Mister Angelus." The small smile that was on Faith's face was already disappearing. She was hating this plan already.

"Boss, I dunno, I mean-"

"Now Faith," he interrupted, "I know that the last plan involving Angel didn't work out quite as we planned, but we just need to be more careful this time. Trust me. I have this all figured out. I mean, I just can't figure out why we didn't think of this sooner." The rogue Slayer took a seat on her couch as the Mayor sat down next to her.

"I do trust you," she amended, "really, I do. But the little Scooby gang," she said with disgust, "as much as I hate to admit it, are just too damn smart to fall for anything."

"Well, who said anything about a trap?" he asked, seriously. "What I'm talking about, my dear girl, is an offer. An offer I know Buffy won't be able to turn her back on."

"Okay, really, you are being *way* too mysterious right now. Just spit it out," she urged, smiling again.

"Alright, Miss impatient. We kidnap Angel, hold him for ransom. The catch being...that the ransom won't have anything to do with money." Faith looked at him, a confused look on her face. She still wasn't really getting it. "The ransom reward is Buffy," he said matter-of-factly.

"Interesting," Faith said quietly.

"Interesting?" The Mayor asked her, incredulously. "What do you mean, interesting? This plan is going to work, Faith. You have my guarantee on that. The only thing we have to decide is what to do with her once we have her. I mean, do we make her disappear, or is their some way we can force her to cooperate with us?" He thought for a moment. "Maybe a spell," he said quietly to himself. Faith wasn't so sure about this plan. She loathed the idea of working with Buffy. The Mayor forced his attention back to her again. "Well, we'll figure out the technicalities later." He sat up and headed for the door again.

"How about we just kill her, boss?" Faith suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, that'll probably be the safest course of action," he replied a moment later. "Nevertheless, when you have Angel, I want you to...you know, screw around with his mind a little, like I did the other night. If you can alienate him from the group, from Buffy, then at least if the plan doesn't work out, we'll get something positive out of it. But I like to think optimistically!" he said, one thumb up, the cheeriness returned to his voice.

As Faith opened the door for him, he turned toward her one last time. "The best part is, you can have whatever fun you want with Angel while we have him. I mean, he will be tied up, you know?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before he left and as she watched his form disappear down the hallway, Faith's lips began to curve up into a wicked smile.

Maybe this plan wasn't so bad after all.

****

The school day was painfully uneventful, and Buffy was glad when it was over. The gang, as usual, met in the library for any updates about the big showdown between the Mayor and Faith.

Walking through the swinging doors of the least frequented room in the entire school, Buffy stopped in her tracks at the nervous and gloomy faces looking her way.

"Geez, who died?" Buffy said lightly as she moved further into the room. She took a seat in one of the empty chairs at the study table and her expression turned serious instantly. "I don't wanna know, do I?" she quietly said, looking to Giles for some explanations as he walked out of his office, a cup of tea in his hand. His face was just as grim as the rest of the group, with the exception of Cordelia, who didn't seem too concerned. Buffy took that information with a grain of salt, though, as Cordelia didn't seem to be concerned about much other then when her next hair or waxing appointment was.

"Giles, what's the story," Buffy demanded. "You guys are freaking me out here." She gripped the arm of her chair tightly, but released it when she realized she was a millisecond from crushing it between her fingers.

"Buffy, I'm afraid some alarming news has come to our attention. Something you will no-doubt be very upset about." Wesley's comment from the book stacks surprised her, and she turned her attention towards him as he descended the steps with a few musty volumes in his hands.

"Well, somebody spit it out!" Buffy had just about lost her temper, so Giles immediately put a piece of paper in front of her on the varnished table. She reached out and opened it with trembling hands, and the more she read, the more tormented her eyes became. Willow and Oz looked down, sad expressions on their faces. Xander also looked sympathetic. As much as he hated Dead Boy, he didn't want to see Buffy go through any more heartache. When Buffy put down the note, she sat back in her chair, no one able to decipher what she was truly feeling.

"Giles," the Watcher faced Buffy, prepared to do whatever she wished, or offer any comfort he could. What Buffy said next, he was not prepared for.

"Tell them I'll do it."

****

Everyone looked straight at Buffy, bewildered expressions on their faces. Willow, Oz and Cordelia stayed silent, but Xander, as Buffy had guessed, was the first to speak.

"Are you nuts?! Buffy, this is just another one of their lame attempts to get rid of you, you can't be serious."

"Buffy, Xander's right," Giles began. "We can't decide to do something so rash until we've discussed it and carefully analyzed every possible angle. I understand that you're worried about Angel, but he wouldn't want you to jump into this sort of danger blindfolded."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Giles, Buffy. To agree to their offer would be incredibly selfish and stupid," Wesley added. Buffy had heard enough. She jumped up, out of her chair.

"Alright, all British people and Xander...shut up! Please!" Buffy's outburst surprised everyone, and the room was soon quieted. "My decision may be selfish and stupid, but it's the only option I have." Her voice was strained, and everyone in the library could detect her imminent tears.

"You don't know that for sure Buffy." Willow's soothing voice calmed her for the moment, and the Wicca took Buffy's hand in hers, squeezing it lightly. "We have to at least *try* to think of something, before you go out there to get killed. Please." Willow sounded quite frightened herself, and Buffy never stood a chance against her friend's persuasive pleads. "We'll figure something out."

"Alright," Buffy said quietly after a moment of silent deliberation, as she took a seat once again. "But we can't take long." She wiped away a lone tear that had found its way down her cheek. The Slayer looked at the clock, and then at her friend, the fear in her voice easily detectable.

"God only knows what she's doing to him."

****

Pain found its way through every bone in Angel's body, and it was safe to say that even his hair hurt. As he continuously struggled against the strong metal chains around his wrists, he could feel the wetness of the blood there stream down his arms. His bare chest was covered with red welts and cuts, and he had learned, from experience, that torture was definitely not a friend.

Faith was relaxing for the moment in the abandoned warehouse they resided in, examining the rest of her tools of torture. She reveled in the fact that she was causing Buffy's beloved beau so much pain that he would gasp every so often, even when she wasn't sticking sharp objects into his delicate skin.

"So, honey, how you holdin' up?" she asked with phony sympathy and sweetness. Angel took in a sharp breath as another spasm of pain went through his body, but he forced himself to look at her levelly as she kneeled in front of him.

"I'm great Faith, thanks for asking," he replied through gritted teeth. Faith slapped his cheek playfully and made him wince. The way he was playing along made it all the more enjoyable for her, and she decided that the physical torture could take a break for a little while, and the mental could begin.

"You know it's over, right?" she began, mockingly. "I mean, for you. Either way, you're pretty much going to be done. Think about it. Either you die, right there where you kneel, or I kill Buffy and you'll be so destroyed that your pathetic little existence won't even be worth it." Angel simply glared at her smiling face, silently promising himself that he wasn't going to fall victim to her games. "You love Œer, right Angel?" Faith seemed to be serious, so Angel decided to seriously answer her.

"I love her."

"Aww, that's sweet." Angel looked down at the ground beneath him. "Me, personally, I don't get that. You say you love her, and you look so sincere when you say it, but...if you love her so much, why do you keep holding her back?" Angel was dreading what Faith was about to say to him. This was the conversation he'd least wanted to have.

"Can we just get back to the torture, please?" He asked politely, seriously.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm not kidding, here. Really, I wanna know. Why don't you just let her go, so she can find a nice, normal guy to boink?" Angel's anger grew the more she spoke. "I guess it won't matter much when I'm through with you guys, but let's just pretend for a second that you some how find your way out of this little mess. Where do you see your future going? In the long run? Cuz the way I see it, fifty years down the line, you're the exact same age you are now, and your precious little Buffy will be a wrinkly old prune. Probably senile. And probably hating your guts. You just think about that for a while, Angel."

<Good job, Faith> she told herself. <Keep going, you're doing great> As she looked into his tortured eyes, she knew she was getting through. He hadn't interrupted her entire speech, so she guessed he was listening intently.

Angel was paying close attention to what the rogue Slayer was saying, and as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that she was right. She was repeating some of what the Mayor had already told him, but the more it was said, the more it sunk in. He didn't really need that much convincing, though. He had been telling himself this very thing for the past couple of weeks, telling himself that he wasn't good enough for Buffy. He never would be.

Faith was having a deliciously good time.

****

As the minutes ticked by at Sunnydale High, Buffy and the gang continued to work out every detail of their plan. It wasn't without risk, of course. It wholly relied upon Willow performing a spell she had never done before, and Buffy herself having to kick Faith's ass to get her and Angel out safely.

Buffy had absolutely *no* problem with the Œkicking Faith's ass' aspect of the plan.

"Okay, are we missing anything?" Buffy asked the group, her voice urgent. The second someone told her everything was in order, she would be out the door.

"Buffy, I still don't like the idea of you going in there alone." Xander's worried voice made Buffy smile slightly, and she appreciated her friend's concern.

"Don't worry. If I know Faith, and I think I do, she'll be asking for a one-on-one. If that's the case, there won't be a need for anyone else to get involved." Cordelia's loud sigh of relief at Buffy's theory made everyone turn in her direction.

"What?" she asked incredulously. "You think I wanna be near Faith? That is one crazy bitch!" No one could argue with Cordelia's statement, so they all returned their attention to the task at hand.

Giles looked at Willow with trepidation. "Willow, are you certain you can handle a spell of this magnitude?" Willow smiled softly, but nervously, and Buffy knew that she could count on her friend for anything.

"Hey, if I can restore somebody's soul, I can do a simple teleportation spell," the brave redhead replied with practiced calm.

"I'm counting on you, Will. This whole plan sorta completely depends on you." Buffy's statement only served to place fear back in Willow's eyes as they widened slightly, but Buffy stood in front of her and placed her hands on Willow's shoulders, steadying her. "I'm not trying to scare the living crap out of you. But you can do this, Will. I know you can." Buffy's smile reassured the practicing witch slightly, and she returned to the study table to set up for the spell.

Buffy turned back to Giles. "Okay, so, I call them, go to the Mayor's office alone, and they take me to Angel from there, right?"

"Well, y-yes, I suppose so. But Buffy, how can you be certain that they'll take you to Angel? They may just expect you to give up, without any questions, without a fight."

"I'll just tell them there's no deal if I don't know for certain that Angel's alive."

Cordelia's voice caused Buffy's head to turn in her direction. "What if Angel isn't alive?" Buffy quickly looked down at the floor, and she could faintly hear Xander chastise Cordelia for her blatant comment. The silence of the room was deafening, and Buffy lifted her head up to stare blankly at the wall.

"If Angel isn't alive-" Buffy stopped for a moment, unable to continue. When she found her voice again, it had more confidence than she had expected. "Then I'll kill them all myself."

Seeing the fury in her eyes, everyone knew that she was dead serious.

****

As Buffy waited for the Mayor to enter his office, six or seven vamps surrounding her as she sat in her chair. When he entered the room, his minions all cleared the way, allowing him passage behind his desk.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." Buffy looked at him, a confused look on her face. "Oh alright, it's not a surprise, but I've always wanted to say that." He laughed at his own comedy, but the smile quickly faded from his face when he realized no one else thought it was funny. "Anyway," he continued quickly, "I'm glad that we came to this little agreement. Truth be told, I wasn't sure you'd show."

"Yeah, well, I did. Can we get on with it?" Buffy asked coldly, standing up from her chair. As she did so, every vampire in the room was already in fighting stance, ready to take her on if need be. "I'm assuming these polite young men will be escorting me there?" Her statement was said as more of a question, and the Mayor couldn't help his smile at her never-ending sense of humor.

"Yes, they will. Boys, off you go." As he sat comfortably in his chair, the minions took hold of Buffy's arms and showed her the way out. "Oh," he called back. "And...Miss Summers?" Buffy turned around to look at him once more. She found him with his trademark grin.

"It was nice knowing you."

Buffy could only glare as she was pushed out of the room.

****

The drive in the tinted, black limousine was a bumpy one, and Buffy felt almost sick with the blindfold over her eyes. The Mayor was being extra careful this time, taking every precaution necessary to ensure that the rest of Buffy's friends would be nowhere near to assist her.

As the vehicle slowed and finally stopped, one of the vamps roughly untied the cloth around her eyes and pushed her out of the car. The smell of fish was so strong that Buffy had to choke back her own bile, and it was blatantly apparent that they were somewhere near the docks. As they neared one of the old warehouses, fear for Angel's condition found its way up her spine. She wasn't afraid of fighting Faith, but if the rogue Slayer had taken Angel's life, Buffy wasn't sure if she would be so full of rage that she would tear Faith apart, or so full of despair that it wouldn't even matter.

The solid metal door was pulled open by two of the vampires, and the next thing Buffy knew she was being shoved down the warehouse steps, only to land flat on her face. As she looked up slowly, groaning, she heard the hard slam of the heavy door behind her, and the obvious sound of a lock being securely put in place.

"Hey, B. Glad you could make it." Faith's voice was a welcome change from the silence the vampires offered her, and she slowly got to her feet to face her shadow self.

"Faith," Buffy said in way of greeting. She looked around the warehouse, scanning the property, and realizing the only way out was the only way in. She tried to cover her worry by continuing her conversation with Faith. "I like what you've done with the place. It has that interesting psychotic ambiance." Faith smiled at her comment, and released a bit of a giggle.

"Ah, B. Ya kill me." Just then, Faith stepped out of Buffy's way to give her a clear view of Angel, chained to the wall, and obviously unconscious. Buffy's eyes widened and immediately filled with tears at the sight of him. He was covered with the scarlet of his own blood, and she assumed his unconsciousness was a result of the intense pain.

"Angel!" Buffy headed in his direction, but Faith took her distraction to her advantage and grabbed Buffy by the hair, sending her roughly backward onto the cold, stone floor. As Buffy's head hit the ground, blackness covered her vision, and she shook her head to clear the shock and the stars. As Faith bent down towards her again, Buffy's foot came up to kick Faith in the midsection, sending her flying backwards against the wall beside Angel.

Just as Faith regained her footing, Buffy's fist was coming straight for her head. She ducked at just the right time, and Buffy's hand instead went through the concrete wall. If it hurt, she didn't show it, and she pulled her bleeding knuckles out to swing at Faith once more. When Buffy made contact with Faith's cheek this time, she also brought a knee up to slam into her ribs, causing the rogue Slayer to grunt in pain. Satisfied with the crack her bones made, Buffy stepped back slightly to regroup, as Faith took the opportunity to do the same. Holding her midsection lightly with one hand, Faith got into a fighting stance and ran at Buffy with a warrior's cry.

Buffy jumped inhumanly high and forward-flipped right over Faith's head. When her feet landed on the ground again, she felt the sharp sting of Faith's heel straight into her back, sending Buffy forward onto her face again. This fight definitely wasn't going to be easy.

Buffy just hoped Willow's spell would be.

****

"Is everything ready?" Willow asked softly, looking to the rest of the gang in the library for their support. Oz held Willow's hand and kissed it tenderly, then moved back with Xander and Cordelia. Giles came up beside Willow who was sitting on the table, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Are you sure that you're prepared to do this?" Willow smiled at the Watcher and patted him on the arm.

"Uh, Giles? Don't you think it's a little late to be double checkin'?" He smiled at the Wicca's comment, and stepped back slightly, giving her room to begin.

"Quite right, Willow. Good luck."

Willow closed her eyes and began the spell.

"Migro absisto, deduco mortalis..."

****

The fight had been going on for at least a half an hour, and the two Slayers were covered in cuts and bruises. They circled each other while remaining in fighting stance, staring each other down. Buffy sneaked a peak at Angel, who seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness.

As Buffy looked back at Faith, she decided they needed to do some more talking. "This is how you wanted it Faith. A fight to the death, right?" The warehouse was silent, save the sounds of their scuffing shoes on the ground and their heavy breathing.

"Well, somebody's death. Not mine, hopefully." Faith winked at Buffy, and kept her fists up. "You're not getting outta here alive, B. There's seven vamps outside just waiting to take you on if something, God forbid, should happen to me."

Buffy ignored her, because if everything went according to plan, she and Angel wouldn't need to exit through the door. Instead, she nodded in Angel's direction. "You see every scratch, cut, and bruise on him?"

Faith smiled, risking a glance in Angel's direction as well. "Well, yeah. I'm the one who put them there, sweet cheeks." Buffy narrowed her eyes at Faith, steadying her breathing.

"Well I won't be done with you until you get *every*...*single*...*one*&Mac183;back." The rogue Slayer's grin faded slightly at that, but she showed no sign of fear at Buffy's cold comment.

"Well, come on then, B. What're you waiting for?"

Faith reached behind her back and pulled out her trusty knife, the light gleaming off its sharp blade mocking Buffy.

When Faith ran at her, the dagger was perfectly positioned at Buffy's heart.

Buffy wasn't ready for it.

****

Just then, Willow was just completing the spell, feeling the power surge through her. Giles placed his hand in a bowl and threw a handful of glittery, silver powder in the air.

"Attrecto plaudo, quod perdum invenietur..." As Willow opened her eyes, she brought her arms up and clapped once. "Discede!" Just as she said the last word of the teleportation spell, Willow abruptly fell backwards, onto the table she was sitting on.

"Willow!" Oz rushed to her side, supporting her head with his hands and brushing her red hair out of her face. The rest of the gang surrounded her as well, as she sat up panting, her nose bleeding.

****

The instant the blade was about to penetrate Buffy's chest, she unexplainably vanished into thin air. Faith couldn't stop her momentum, and stumbled to the floor. As she realized what had happened, she screamed so loudly the vamps from outside came running in.

"What happened, Faith?" one of the more intelligent ones asked. Faith just looked up at them, the angriest possible expression on her face.

"Untie soul-boy over there," she nodded in the direction of Angel, "I'm done playing." She pulled out a stake and watched, furiously, as the vamps simply looked at their shoes. "Hello!" she screamed. "Did you hear me?!"

One of the vamps in the back spoke quietly. "He's gone Faith."

When she turned around to stare at the empty shackles attached to the wall, Faith squeezed the stake so tightly she crushed it into smithereens.

****

When Buffy landed on the floor in the library, she released a huge sigh of relief. She heard Xander call her name and head toward her, but she was too preoccupied with Angel to pay any mind. As she crawled across the floor to Angel's unmoving body, she placed her hands on either side of his face and whispered his name. "Angel?" When he still didn't move, she placed her lips softly on his forehead and held them there for a moment. Facing Giles who was kneeling right beside her, Buffy spoke in a hushed tone. "Giles, get some stuff, some bandages."

"Of course." As the librarian walked into his office to get the first aid kit, Angel slowly came-to. The way he looked at her made Buffy's eyes tear up even more.

A small smile on his lips, Angel looked at his Slayer, and said in a small whisper, "Hey." Buffy smiled over her tears, and brought his hand up to her lips to kiss tenderly.

"Hey."

****

Faith's fist hit the punching bag so hard that it disconnected from the chain on the ceiling and smacked the ground with a loud Œthud'.

"Well, glad to see you're not taking this personally." Faith rolled her eyes at her boss's comment and sat down on a nearby armchair. "Oh, come on now. There was no harm in trying, was there?" As he stood in front of her, he placed his left hand on her cheek and smiled sweetly. "As long as you did your part and made him as miserable as possible..." He let the statement hang.

"Trust me boss, the Buffy/Angel saga is over. I could see it in his eyes."

"That's my girl! See? You always gotta look at the glass half full." Pausing for a moment, the Mayor regained his seriousness. "I just hope we're not overestimating his power over her." Standing up, Faith went to look out her window, at the clear, starry night.

"We're not," she whispered to herself.

****

As Buffy walked into Angel's great mansion, a chill passed through her that she couldn't quite explain. It was almost like an apparition; some unknown presence whispering to her that something terrible was going to happen.

<Don't be an idiot, Summers> she thought to herself. <Angel's alive, you're alive, and you're together. What could possibly be wrong?> She smiled at that, and made her way into the huge living room, where Angel sat by the fire. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and Buffy cringed at all the remaining cuts on his perfect skin.

"Hey, again," she said in way of greeting. Angel had not as of yet looked at her. He seemed to be too busy looking at his hands in his lap.

"Hi," he whispered back. Buffy moved closer to him and carefully sat beside him by the fire. He still wouldn't look at her, and Buffy was beginning to get seriously worried.

"Angel?" She spoke with great uncertainty in her voice, and she was desperately searching his eyes, trying to get them to meet hers. "This may be a stupid question, seeing as how you spent the whole day being tortured, but...are you okay?" Angel finally met her gaze, and she saw the tears there, clouding his beautiful brown eyes. Buffy reached for his hand quickly, and held it in her own. "What is it?" she whispered to him. "What's wrong?"

Angel brought her hand up and kissed the back of it tenderly, held it against his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to find the words to tell her something that would change both of them forever. "We need to talk, Buffy," he began, his eyes still closed. His mysteriousness was frightening her, and she was beginning to get a little frustrated with him.

"Angel, what? Tell me. Please." Her voice was worrisome, and he looked straight into her eyes again.

"We need...we need to talk about...us." Realization hit Buffy like truck and her eyes widened. She pulled her hand softly out of his grasp, and faced forward again, becoming the one who was unable to make eye contact. Angel looked at his empty hand for a moment, then cleared his throat.

"Go ahead," Buffy said abruptly. "Say it." She waited for Angel to speak, waited for the words she knew would destroy her.

"I have to leave," he said quietly, looking at the floor beneath his feet.

In that moment, both their worlds shattered into a million pieces.

Buffy breathed in deeply, and although she knew what he was going to say, actually hearing the words was a completely different thing. She wiped away the first tear that rolled down her cheek, and found the courage to look at him again.

"This is because of what the Mayor said, isn't it?" When he didn't answer, she nodded knowingly. "And Faith. She said something to you, too." Buffy found the courage to slide closer to Angel and brought her hand up to his cheek. She turned his head toward her so that he would look at her.

"I love you, Angel," she whispered tearfully. "Doesn't that mean anything?" Angel took her hand in his again and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"It means everything, Buffy." His tone was just as soft as hers was. "That's why I have to go." When a tear found its way down Angel's cheek as well, Buffy sniffled and wiped it away with her thumb. She continued to stroke his face tenderly and look deep into his eyes.

"Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me." Buffy began to weep softly, and Angel pulled her close to him, enveloping her in his arms.

"Oh, love," he said, his voice choked, as he held her tightly. "Please, don't cry. Please...I just...I have to do this. If I don't, what we share will eventually destroy us both. And I won't let that happen. I can't." Angel's voice was firm, but Buffy could clearly hear the anguish and torment as well.

When she pulled out of his arms, she embraced him in passionate kiss, locking their lips together with a fierce abandon. She was kissing him so deeply, almost desperately, perhaps for a moment believing that it could save them. Angel held her tightly, but the intensity of the kiss caused Buffy to eventually pull away, panting heavily for air. When her eyes met Angel's once again, she knew the kiss had changed nothing, and she mentally chastised herself for being so naïve as to think it would.

Buffy and Angel stared at each other for what seemed like forever, but just as Angel reached his hand up to touch her face, Buffy suddenly stood up and left the mansion without another word.

Angel tasted her tears on his lips, and watched her go.

What other choice did he have?



////Take a bow, the night is over

This masquerade is getting older

Light are low, the curtains down

There's no one here [There's no one here, there's no one in the crowd]

Say your lines but do you feel them

Do you mean what you say when there's no one around [no one around]

Watching you, watching me, one lonely star [One lonely star you don't know who you are]

I've always been in love with you [always with you]

I guess you've always known it's true [you know it's true]

You took my love for granted, why oh why

The show is over, say good-bye Say good-bye [bye bye], say good-bye

Make them laugh, it comes so easy

When you get to the part

Where you're breaking my heart [breaking my heart]

Hide behind your smile, all the world loves a clown [Just make 'em smile the whole world loves a clown]

Wish you well, I cannot stay

You deserve an award for the role that you played [role that you played]

No more masquerade, you're one lonely star [One lonely star and you don't know who you are]

Say good-bye [bye bye], say good-bye

All the world is a stage [world is a stage]

And everyone has their part [has their part]

But how was I to know which way the story'd go

How was I to know you'd break [You'd break, you'd break, you'd break]

You'd break my heart

I've always been in love with you [I've always been in love with you]

Guess you've always known

You took my love for granted, why oh why

The show is over, say good-bye (chorus)

Say good-bye [bye bye], say good-bye

Say good-bye////



THE END