"Giles," she yelled, "we about ready for this little powwow?"

Will frowned, but backed up as the Watcher entered the room, taking a seat several feet from his girlfriend.  Willow and Xander were both studying objects in the library so intently that Will knew they had seen Buffy’s slight and were trying to help him save face.

"I had rather hoped to wait on the others," Giles explained, "but I guess we can go ahead and begin."

"Good," Buffy said shortly, "I’d like to get this over with."

Giles shot Will a curious look.  The vampire shrugged, having no idea what had set Buffy off.

"Trapping Angelus is our first order of business," Giles said, then slowly added, "by using Buffy as bait."

Will growled low in his throat.  "I don’t like this," he said.  "We’re needlessly putting her in danger."

"We’ve agreed this is the only way," Giles reminded him, no more excited at the prospect than the blonde vampire.

"So we just wait around for him to find her?" William scoffed.

"That is the plan," Giles confirmed.  "Buffy will wait in the Master’s deserted chambers beneath the library."

"This is too dangerous," Will bit out.  "We can’t count on the fact that he’ll be drawn to her."

"He’ll come," Buffy said quietly.

"How can you be so sure?" Xander asked skeptically, afraid for his friend’s safety.

"Because he watches me every night," Buffy said boldly.

"What?" Giles, Xander and Will chorused.

The silence hung in the air for several minutes as Buffy stared at her shoes, chewing on her bottom lip.  She hadn’t meant for it to come out like that, but their insistence on treating her like a child and Will’s hypocritical anger had been too much.

"Like I just said," she repeated calmly, "he watches me every night.  He wants me.  He’ll come."

"How do you know he watches you?" Will snapped, his anger getting the better of him.

Buffy met his gaze evenly, "Because he told me," she replied.  "He found me last night.  Of course, you would have known that if you’d been with me instead of ... "

"Instead of what?" Will demanded, rising to his feet.

"Never mind," Buffy said tersely.

"Tell me," he ground out between clenched teeth.

Willow, Xander and Giles looked nervously at the exits, wondering if they should leave the couple alone.

Buffy’s expression turned mercenary as she asked with faux lightness, "So how is Drusilla doing?"

Will’s expression looked like she’d slapped him.  "What?" he asked quietly.

"Drusilla," Buffy repeated, "how is she?  I know you saw her."

Incredulously, he asked, "Is this what this is all about?  You’re mad because I saw Dru?  You think that it’s equal with you talking to Angelus?"

"I don’t see how it’s any different," she replied.

"Me talking to the woman that I loved for decades, the woman that I *still* love is supposed to make up for you talking to a murderous, lying beast?"

Buffy was absolutely still, staring at him and Will realized what he’d just said.  Quickly, he snapped his mouth shut.  Buffy’s eyes welled with tears, but she did her best to blink them back.

"Luv," he pled, inching towards her.

"Don’t come near me!" Buffy spat, moving away from the vampire.

Will screwed his eyes shut, unable to believe he’d just said something so stupid.  It was true, he did still love Drusilla, but he wasn’t in love with her, not the way he was with Buffy.  But she was too  young to understand the difference.  This was the first time she’d ever cared about someone and he had wounded her so deeply.

"Buffy," he tried again.

She wouldn’t look at him.  Her back was to him, her attention firmly fixed on her Watcher.

"Are we going to do this or not?" she asked, her voice quavering.

Giles frowned but nodded.  "Yes," he said.  "We’ll meet there just before midnight.  That will give us several hours to ... prepare."

Buffy nodded in reply and dashed out of the room, leaving the others to stare after her.

The Watcher glared at the vampire.  "I don’t suppose I need to tell you just how intensely stupid you just were," he hissed.

"No, mate," he replied glumly.

"Well good," Giles spat," because if she rushes into this situation unprepared, simply because you upset her, I swear to God I’ll see you dead."

Lifting his head, Will met the Watcher’s gaze, "Nothing’s gonna happen to her," he said firmly.  "I wasn’t thinking.  It was a stupid thing to say."

"You’re damn right it was," Giles agreed.  "In the future why don’t you try to keep in mind that she isn’t one of your vampire whores.  She’s a sixteen year old girl."

Will flinched from the venom in Giles’ tone, but he figured he deserved it.  With a curt nod, he left the library, intent on finding Buffy before her showdown with Angelus.

Cautiously, Willow took a seat next to Buffy on one of the large sofas at the Bronze.  The Slayer didn’t react, not even to glance her way.

"You okay?" the redhead asked quietly.

"Yup," Buffy replied automatically, sounding anything but convincing.

"Buffy," Willow said in a slightly pleading voice.

Turning to face her friend, Buffy didn’t look happy.  "I’m not going to fall apart, if that’s what you’re asking," she said.

Willow shrugged, unconvinced.  "Wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"There’s nothing to talk about," Buffy said, "Will still loves Drusilla and I’m just some stupid little girl he was using to distract himself while she was out of the picture."

Willow sighed and patted her friend’s hand conciliatorily.  She really didn’t buy that Will thought of Buffy as a little girl, but there was no doubt that he’d royally screwed up with the whole Drusilla thing.

Will cursed under his breath.  He hadn’t been able to find Buffy.  She wasn’t at the Bronze, Willow informed him she’d left only minutes before he’d arrived. Her house was empty, as were the cemeteries.   It was quite clear she didn’t wish to be found.  Realizing he was about to be late, he took off for the Master’s deserted caverns.

"So nice of you to join us," Giles said sarcastically as Will came to a skittering halt in the sewer tunnels leading down to the Master’s former prison.

"Everybody here already?" he asked.

"Everything is in place.  Buffy is inside waiting.  Now, we just have to make ourselves scarce so we don’t tip off Angelus."

Will nodded and followed the Watcher into one of the side tunnels that branched off of the main one.  Willow, Xander and Jenny were already there waiting when they arrived.  Will bristled slightly at the sight of the gypsy holding the orb.  Try as he might, he still harbored much hatred for the beings that had cursed his eternal existence.

"You sure this will work, Gypsy?" he asked icily.

"As sure as I can be," she answered evenly, not easily cowed.

Will nodded.  "What can I do?"

Giles threw him a stake.  "Be ready to kill your Sire if this doesn’t work," he said baldly.

Will swallowed harshly.  If this didn’t work, it would be doubtful that he would be able to stake Angelus, but the implication was that he should die trying.

Buffy paced around the large cavern wondering how on earth the Master had lived down there for so long.  "Not exactly homey," she muttered to herself.

"What?  You mean you don’t want to play house down here?"  Angelus purred.

Buffy twisted around quickly, unnerved that he could have gotten so close without alerting her to his presence.  Nervously, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, regarding him carefully.  She could see that he’d disturbed the line of sand that Jenny and Willow had left just across the entrance to the cavern, thus alerting them to his presence.  With any luck, they’d already be started on the spell.

His vision flicked to the left and then the right before lighting on her.  Slowly, his lips curled into a sensuous smile that made her shiver.  "We’re all alone," he said.

She licked her lips nervously.  "Yeah," she said lamely.

He walked up to her, clearly unafraid and ran one finger across her lips and then down her neck, stopping at her collar bone.  "You’re nervous," he said with a chuckle.  "I can hear your heart beating a mile a minute."

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to say anything.  How did he do this to her?  He was just so captivating, like some huge jungle cat that someone kept as a pet.  You could domesticate him, dress him up in expensive clothing, but there was something completely wild and undeniably dangerous about him.  She swallowed heavily.

"Where’s William?" he asked quietly, leaning in so that his lips were almost touching the shell of her ear.

"H-h-he’s not here," she stuttered, disgusted with herself for being so effected by him.

"Do you know where he is?" he asked, pulling back so he could look in her eyes.

Buffy looked away, trying to hide the pain on her face.  Angelus smiled wickedly.

"Is he with Dru?" he asked lightly.

"I don’t know," Buffy bit out without looking at him.  The fact that Will hadn’t shown up before they’d put their plan in motion had done nothing to allay her concerns about his involvement with Drusilla.

"Stupid boy," he said, running his knuckled against her cheek.  "It’s completely beyond me why he would want that anorexic lunatic when you are so much ... riper."

Buffy quickly turned her head, looking at him, searching for some clue that he was mocking her.  But if the heat in his eyes was any indication, he wasn’t playing.  He did want her.   And god help her, she was afraid she wanted him too.

Nervously, she licked her lips.  Angelus’ vision immediately dropped to follow her tongue’s path along her lips.  He’d intended to make a serious impact on her, but he hadn’t anticipated she would do the same for him.  Nearly groaning at the sight of her little pink tongue dancing along her mouth, his lips parted ever so slightly and he began to pant.  Buffy took a slight measure of satisfaction in that.  Her knees felt like jelly and she was half afraid she was going to pass out, but at least she wasn’t the only one who was getting hot and bothered.

Slowly, he leaned in towards her.  She gave fleeting thoughts to William, to the fact that his betrayal didn’t justify her betraying him, but as Angelus’ lips touched hers, she forgot about everything else.  He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close as he nipped and licked her lips, kissing her deeply one second, tasting her with his tongue, and pulling back to place feather light kisses on her lips the next second.  She clung to him, her fingers biting into his leather clad shoulders as she fought to remain standing.

It was a fight she lost.

Before she knew what was happening, Angelus was stretched out on the ground and she was sprawled on top of him, kissing him as if her life depended on it.  He met her passion with equal ardor, twining his fingers through her hair so he could kiss her deeper.  She smiled against his lips in satisfaction as she felt the deep rumbling in his chest.  He was purring.  She’d heard that vampires could do that, but apparently she didn’t affect Will like that.  He never purred for her.  He always held back, trying to protect her from himself.  She didn’t need protecting, she was the Slayer, damn it.  She pushed herself more fully against Angelus, her legs gripping his sides as he mauled her mouth.

Will blinked in shock as Jenny collapsed and Giles barely managed to catch her.  The orb was no longer glowing, but magic still hung thick in the air.  He hadn’t actually believed it would work, but after everything that had happened, the strange near-possession of the little gypsy, William had to believe.

"Buffy," he gasped, running toward the caverns.  He was sure it had worked, but not sure it had worked in time to save Buffy.

As he tore around the corner, Will saw Buffy kneeling next to Angelus, who was shivering violently.  As he approached, Angelus let out a frightened yelp and cowered further against the stone wall.

"Stay back," Buffy said, holding her palm out towards Will.

Will looked at her, stunned.  "Buffy," he pled.

"Back!" she repeated.

Will watched as she leaned forward, gently touching the clearly terrified vampire on the arm.  He allowed the contact, but his eyes kept flitting back to Will as if waiting for the younger vampire to attack.

More cautiously, Giles and Willow approached, having left Xander to care for the still disoriented Jenny.

"Is it supposed to be like this?" Buffy asked the Watcher, her voice choked as she tried not to cry.

"Like what?" Giles asked.

The Slayer turned around to face him, tears welling in her eyes.  "Pain," she said.  "Is he supposed to be in this much pain?"

Everyone looked to the former Scourge of Europe.  He was trembling like a leaf in a gale force wind, sweat beaded on his forehead.  There was no denying that he was in a tremendous amount of pain, physical as well as emotional.  It was a sobering and rather pathetic sight.  The knowledge that he’d willingly subjected any creature to this much abject misery did not sit well with the Watcher.

"I ... um ... don’t know," Giles said.

"Can’t we make it stop?" Buffy asked pitifully.

"Nothing can make it stop," Will said bluntly.  "He has two and a half centuries of sins that he’s responsible for."

Buffy glared at Will, and he met her gaze unashamed.  It was clear she was done with him, clear that she intended to play protector to his murderous beast of a Sire.  She had no idea what she was protecting.  He’d be damned if he’d sit by and watch her feign ignorance about Angelus’ past, or write him off simply because he spoke to Drusilla.

Giles sighed heavily, pouring himself a sizeable glass of Scotch before sinking back in his favorite chair.  It had been an ordeal getting Angelus out of the caverns, across town, and into the Watcher’s home.  It appeared that Buffy was the only human the disoriented and wounded vampire would let near him.  The car ride had been absolutely horrid and they’d finally had to kick William and Xander out and make them walk because of the violent reaction Angelus was having to their presences.

Giles had been half afraid it was just a ploy and that Angelus would attack the minute they pulled away, but the vampire had settled down almost immediately as he clung to Buffy in the backseat of Willow’s father’s car.  Giles still wasn’t entirely sure why the Slayer was being so overprotective of the until-recently-vicious vampire.  He suspected it had more than a little to do with her tumultuous relationship with William and probably a healthy dose of attraction to the wickedly attractive Angelus.

Giles was torn from his thoughts as William walked through his door, slamming it unceremoniously.

"Where are they?"

"Upstairs," Giles answered blandly, but as William mounted the stairs, he said, "Don’t you dare go up there!"

"Why not?" Will countered, glaring at the Watcher.

"Because I don’t fancy having to replace my mattress.  Didn’t you see the way he clawed up Mr. Rosenberg’s car because of you?  I don’t know how Willow is going to explain that one."

Will frowned, but conceded defeat,  walked across the room, poured himself a Scotch, and sat down on the sofa.

"What are they doing up there?" he barked.

"I assume Buffy is trying to get him to take the sleeping draught," Giles said with a sigh, in no mood for teenage theatrics, especially from a hundred and some year old vampire.

"I don’t like it," Will said.  "She shouldn’t be alone with him."

Giles shot him a withering glare.  "Honestly, William, I don’t think Angelus presents much of a danger to anything beyond the upholstery at this point," he said.

Will frowned, but remained silent.  He knew his Sire well, knew just how sadistic he was capable of acting.  He didn’t like the fact that both Buffy and her Watcher had temporarily written off how dangerous Angelus was.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later before Buffy came downstairs, looking completely worn out.  Giles looked at her sympathetically.

"How is he?" he asked quietly.

"Awful," she replied honestly.  "I don’t think he understands what’s going on."

"To be expected," Will said.

Buffy looked at him quizzically.

"His soul’s been floatin’ in the ether for two and half centuries.  It has to be a little disorienting when it’s shoved back in the body with the memories and all."

Buffy nodded as she stepped off the bottom step, but didn’t come any closer.  "Was it that hard for you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nah. It was rough, but not like that.  I was only a demon for a few decades.  He has centuries to contend with."

"Do you think he’ll survive this?"

"I don’t know," Will answered, though he wasn’t sure he particularly wanted his Sire to survive.  "Come on," he said, "I’ll walk you home."

Buffy started to protest, but realized there wasn’t anything more she could do at Giles’ house.  Angel was sedated, unconscious in the spare bedroom upstairs.  He’d be all right at least until tomorrow.  Reluctantly, she followed Will out of the house.

They walked in silence for several minutes before Will said, "What’s going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked defensively.

"I mean you seem awful close to a dangerous demon."

She stopped walking and stared at Will, her hands situated firmly on her hips.  "Did you see him? she demanded.  "Do you honestly think he’s a threat to anyone like that?  He’s scared, hurt, alone."

"He’s a *monster*," Will replied acridly.

"Angelus was a monster," she clarified, "whoever he is not is not responsible for the demon’s actions."

Will snorted.  "Tell him that," he said.  "Make sure he understands he’s not responsible when he remembers the faces of every person he ever murdered joyfully."

Buffy swallowed harshly.  "Maybe you should leave," she said.

"Oh really?" he asked.  "And why is that?  You want to be alone with my Sire that badly?"

Buffy glared.  "It’s not like that."

"Could have fooled me," he bit out.  "I know the two of you were up to something.  I know what you look like when somebody’s taken you for a tumble.  I know what you *smell* like when you get excited.  Don’t you dare lie to me and tell me nothing happened."

Buffy blushed crimson, but didn’t drop her gaze.  She wasn’t the one who had some explaining to do.  She didn’t owe him any answers.

"What did you want me to do?" she asked.  "Should I have let him beat the crap out of me while you guys were trying to cast that stupid spell.  I did what I had to do. I *distracted* him."

He smirked maliciously at her.  "It looks like you were the one who got distracted, babe."

Buffy fumed.  "You *fucked* Drusilla!" she shouted.  "I kissed Angelus to keep him busy while you guys restored his soul.  I didn’t go behind your back and mess around with one of my exes.  I don’t *love* him!"

By the time she finished her tirade, tears were streaming down her face.  Will stood stock still, staring at her.  She thought he’d *slept* with Drusilla.  Instinctively, he reached a hand out towards her, but she stumbled backwards, avoiding his grasp.

"Buffy," he pled, starting towards her.

She immediately backed up.  He stopped.

"Luv," he said softly, "I didn’t ... I mean, I care about Drusilla, but I didn’t *touch* her."

"Liar!" she hissed.

"I’m not lying," he said sincerely, "I swear to you I didn’t do anything with Drusilla besides talk."

"I don’t care what you did with her," she swore.  "Sleep with her as much as you want.  I don’t want to see you again."

The look on Will’s face was one of such abject misery and despair that Buffy had to turn away.  Quickly, before she lost her nerve, she sprinted off towards her house.  Silently, Will watched her go, wondering how he was ever going to make the situation right.

The End

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