PART ELEVEN

"Riley-" she said as she swiveled around, but the words became caught in her throat as she recognised the peroxide blond leaning on the doorframe with a clown sized grin on his face.

"Spike?!" Angel shouted, surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Being a perv, it looks like." Buffy muttered, grabbing her clothes and pulling the covers higher to conceal her body from Spike's view. She looked up to find he was still there. "You going to give me enough privacy to get dressed?" she asked pointly.

She glared at the vampire, and Spike took the hint.

"Fine, ducks. Didn't want to see you in the nude anyway, feisty good guys aren't the type I like to ogle."

He stepped back into the hall with a swagger, quickly followed by Angel.

Angel angrily grabbed Spike by the throat and thrust him against the nearest wall.

"What are you *doing* here? I told you to keep out of this." He yelled.

Spike put up his hands in mock surrender.

"I'm doing my ole sire a favour. If you give me some breathing space, maybe I'll tell you."

Angel stepped back one pace, but kept his hands stiffly by his sides. Spike felt his throat for damage and walked around Angel, into the middle of the room.

"Thank-you" he said, reveling in how Angel's face had turned a new shade of purple. He was angry- It reminded Spike of old times.

"Stop giving me the silent routine and tell me why you're here" repeated Angel.

"I didn't remember you getting this touchy when you were with Darla, ducks." Spike joked. "Slayers must be a breed apart. She's certainly affected you. like. how she affected Angel."

He stepped over the discarded chains and glanced at the ceiling, the final pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

"Oh, no" He whispered.

In reaction, he suddenly kicked the chains across the room with a fury. Damn. He wasn't Angelus. He was Angel. The sucker with the soul.

"I must say, I should have guessed." Spike said between grated teeth "I wasn't expecting this new set-up, it wasn't Angelus' style. Both of you doing the naked thing- in satin sheets in your *bed*? Where's the torture, the screaming."

Spike grabbed the chains in both of his hands and rattled them.

".the chains? The Slayer's pleas for freedom? What in hells name is she doing free, walking, talking and shagging? It's too creepy. Where's Angelus? He was supposed to be here!"

"Angelus is long gone, but I'm still here." Angel said calmly.

Spike walked closer to Angel.

"Is that right? You're actually sleeping with her? Where was the 'punish naughty Buffy' plan? Man, I thought you'd changed, but you're still Buffy-whipped. I was hoping bitch's friends would come here to find something more anti-Buffy in the ring."

"What do you mean?" Angel demanded, caught off guard.

Buffy entered the hall and stood next to Angel. Unconsciously, their fingers entwined together as they faced a clearly disappointed Spike.

"I mean.Captain Sterile came back to Giles' house this morning and started spouting about your bizarre behaviour. Something about a lipstick and chains, I don't know. Led them to believe that you'd done something to Buffy. He worked those Scoobies up into quite a sweat, let me tell you."

"They think I've been kidnapped by Angel?" Buffy asked, aghast. Any chance of her friends accepting Angel had been quashed.

"Or dead. Funny about the irony. Well, it would have been if you were still in chains, sweetheart. I came here to give Angelus a heads up, as they're coming in this direction loaded with anti-vampire gear. They're going to confront you, Angelic, or maybe kill you. I left before the planning had finished, so I'm not sure. After finding you two snuggling, I'm hoping it's the latter"

Buffy and Angel looked at each other, distraught.

"Of course." Spike said, having an epiphany. "They aren't expecting tweedledum and tweedledee to be back together, shagging. Maybe if you explain to them that you weren't kidnapped, and that you'd spent the last few days indulging in animal desires instead, they'd understand."

Buffy and Angel fell into Spike's trap by believing him, nodding to each other. A good idea. that'd work.they won't kill Angel for that.

Spike lapped this moment up, and then continued talking.

"They'll be glad that Buffy's alive and Angel isn't evil, naturally. But. they'll be a touch angry too. They already think you're a bitch, Buffy. Going AWOL without even making a phone call is not going to make them happy. Especially as Angel has been lying to them all week about your whereabouts. They'll be sore.

And what about that pesky curse, Angel mate? Don't you turn into Angelus after a bit of nookie? Well, they'll assume that, anyway. I know I did. Seeing you two back together will be the nail in the coffin for your friends, Slayer. I'm looking forward to this"

"But.but." Buffy stuttered to Angel. ".we'll just tell them that story about me fighting a demon and you- you helped me. They'll believe that, right?"

"Sure" Spike interrupted "Especially after Riley's testimony this morning and my own input before I left Rupert's house."

"What did you say?" Angel asked, chewing his words.

"I told them in Jack and Jane language that Angelus had kidnapped you." Spike replied, pointing to Buffy.

Buffy's eyes widened. "You bastard" she whispered.

Angel hit Spike in the stomach and the impact threw him halfway across the room.

"Stay out of this, Spike."

Buffy grabbed Angel and pulled him away from the fallen vampire. They didn't have the time to do some payback, that could wait.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"I don't kno-" Angel started to say.

Suddenly, they heard a car door slamming outside.

Buffy gasped. "They're here! We have to get out of here, they won't understand!"

"Now?" Angel asked, mentally evaluating how dangerous it would be to stay. There had to be a way they could explain this without anyone ending up dead.

But a group of angry vampire-haters who'll either kill him for kidnapping Buffy or abandon them for secretly getting back together. it could get pointless.

Buffy nodded to the front door.

"Think back a year and remember how they reacted when they discovered you were still alive. Faith tried to kill you, Xander wasn't giving us any love, and Giles hated my guts. They'll be too angry to give us the benefit of the doubt this time, we have to go NOW!"

They ran back to the bedroom, smashed the window and quickly climbed out of it, allowing them to escape into the night.

Across the mansion, the front door burst open and the Scooby's entered. Willow, Tara, Anya, Xander, Giles. Riley.. the entire group was there. Willow was holding an axe, Tara possessed a small bag of powder, no doubt for a spell of some kind. Xander held onto a sportsbag, Anya had a stake, and Riley was equipped with a semi automatic and a scowl.

"Check all the rooms, and find Buffy" ordered Giles. Holding his large cross in front of him, he noticed the discarded chains, heaped in the corner on the hall. The gang spread out, and Riley walked into the bedroom.

Suddenly, Spike stood up, causing the gang to turn and aim their vampire gear at him. Recognising the vamp, they brought their items back down.

"What happened?" demanded Xander, not in a mood for games. "What did Angel do to her?"

"It's more complicated than that." Spike moaned, lowering his voice to indicate that he was in pain. Which wasn't an act, as after Angel's attack, he really was.

"What do you mean?" Giles' ordered. "Is she still alive? What has he done?"

"Nothing, I- I was wrong."

The Scooby's froze to their spots.

"You mean Angel didn't kidnap her?" Willow asked, frowning.

"He told me that he had, but it turns out he was lying. I got here just now, and they were at it, you know. like gyrating animals. Angelus and Buffy, they were in it together."

Giles shook his head. "Buffy would never-"

Riley walked out of the bedroom, holding Buffy's jacket. His face was unemotional.

"Window's smashed in. The sheets were crumbled, like they were disturbed. Whatever happened here, Buffy was not forced to do anything she didn't want to."

"You got that right" Spike grinned. "Her and Angelus were dancing to the rhythm - and I'm not talking about their feet."

From the other side of the mansion, Riley put up his hand. "Stop it." He said weakly.

Spike paid no attention to the commando's commands.

"It was sweaty, pulsating, even I got hot under the collar, and I only got a fleeting glance before a fist came out of nowhere and hit me."

Riley stormed over to him, pointing his gun at the vamp.

"Shut up, damn you"

"But what I did see" Spike continued, "Was a lotta flesh. Angelus had a big dog grin on his face, Buffy's was flushed , they must have been going for hours. And the best bit? How they moaned each others names.they were really lost within each other, nothing could touch them. Truly happy, soul-mate style. Well, Angelus obviously was. You know how Angel loses his soul, right? The 'True-Happiness clause?"

Riley made a passing glance at Xander, extremely aware of the clause. He began to walk away from Spike, but at the last moment he turned and butted Spike in the chin with his gun.

"Scum" he muttered as he walked through the Scooby's to the front door of the mansion, pushing them out of the way as he did so.

He didn't even bother looking back.

The Scoobies were left in silence. Giles reluctantly broke it.

"Buffy." Giles whispered, broken apart by the news. "And Angelus? It can't be, not after all that's happened. She couldn't."

Spike groaned yet again. Riley had hit him hard.

"I caught them off guard, actually saw them together. They whacked hell out of me before running out."

The Scoobies shared a look. Of disgust and betrayal.

Inside, Spike grinned. His plan to separate the Slayer from her friends was working perfectly, thanks to Angel. And Spike's own ingenuity. Adam would be pleased, and Spike would have his chip taken out in return. Things were coming together quite unexpectedly.

"They haven't gotten far" Spike added, indicating to the bedroom. "Angelus was about to sire Buffy when I came in, they were so desperate that I don't think they'll be leaving town until he's done it. They were saying something about being together forever?"

Willow's face was one of horror. Giles' simply shook his head softly, not willing to accept this news.

"That means we haven't got much time" said Xander, indicating to the door.

"Wait!" Giles shouted. "I don't believe Buffy would behave like this, I-in spite of the way she's been acting recently, she's a good person at heart."

"But Angelus is a killer, and no-one gets into her veins like he does. If anyone could warp her morals, he could."

"What, you're willing to accept this, just because Spike says so?" Giles asked, pointing his hand at Xander.

"Look at the facts, Giles. Look around us. Buffy has been here, and now she's gone- with Angelus. I'm not saying that she's not redeemable, I'm saying that where Angelus is concerned, she's vulnerable."

The tension was insurmountable, as Giles and Xander continued to stare each other down. Willow walked into the centre of the room and put her hands up.

"While we're here 'discussing' this, they're getting further away."

"You're right" Xander finally said, breaking his stare. "Lets go."

He ran to the front door, as did the others. Giles followed behind them, shaking his head. Never would he believe that Buffy would want to become a vampire. Never.

"What do we do when we find them?" asked Anya. "We can't stake Buffy. Even if she has turned loopy."

Xander held up the bag he was carrying. "I have the tranquilliser gun. We shoot her unconscious, we stake Angel. Lets go"

They left, without one other glance at Spike.

As he watched them leave, his smile widened even further. Spike felt like cackling. Buffy had virtually no chance of explaining the truth to them now that they thought she'd sold out on the good fight. Or even if she did explain everything, by the time she'd told her story, it'd be too late. The Scooby's were going to attack first and ask questions later. That meant that she was going to be zapped with that gun.

And Angel?

He was going to be dust.

PART TWELVE

Buffy and Angel didn't dare check to see if they were being followed as they ran through the town, away from Crawford Street. As two people with super-human strength, they had reached the Bronze within ten minutes of leaving Spike at the mansion. They didn't consider stopping there, but it was reassuring to know that they were on the other side of Sunnydale already.

They continued to run, with no idea where they were heading. Buffy thought about this as her and Angel passed through yet another street. The mansion was gone. All the usual haunts, such as her home or the burnt out high school, were bound to be checked by the Scooby's. There was nowhere- no place they could seek refuge in. All they could do was stay on the streets, and how long could they feasibly do that? The sun-rise was imminent, and she didn't want to start her new relationship with Angel, her fellow refugee, watching him turn into a ball of flames when the sun appeared. They had to find shelter, preferably *now*.

Thinking about her friends, a barrage of other questions whirled around Buffy's head. What did the Scooby's actually know about their tryst? Did they find the chains? What conclusions had they jumped to? Did Spike make things worse? She should have let Angel beat him unconscious. Or they could have taken Spike with them.

Better yet, she could have staked him.

She decided to do put that idea on her 'things to do' list- just in case she ever managed to patch things up with the Scooby's, and had some time to spare.

Buffy slowed down her pace, due to a guilty conscience rather than a lack of energy. She couldn't believe how things had escalated so rapidly. One moment, her and Angel were rediscovering their feelings for each other, the next, her friends had decided to get involved. They were only doing what was best, and it meant so much that they'd try to rescue her, but if they'd found her and Angel together like that...god knows how they would have reacted. It wasn't as if fleeing had helped that situation, but her and Angel had to make a decision on impulse. It was probably the wrong one, but it was too late now.

It was ironic, really. She wasn't responsible for being kidnapped. Angel had applied all sorts of sexual torture on her during her short stay at the mansion, and there were times in which she genuinely hated him. And now? Now she was hiding his actions from her friends, she wanted to protect him from them. They'd never understand why he did what he did, and they certainly wouldn't understand that she enjoyed it. The bathroom, the cake... and that day. That glorious day where they made love repeatedly. No, it would take a lot of explaining to get herself and Angel out of this situation with all her friendships intact.

Let alone breaking up with Riley.

Angel didn't realise that Buffy had stopped running until he was half-way down the road.

"Buffy?" Angel softly whispered as he returned to her side. She was shaking, so he tried to comfort her by holding her by the shoulders and kissing her head. "You want us to go back, don't you?"

Buffy relaxed in his arms, and they started to walk down the street again.

"Yes. No! I-It won't do any good. We have to wait for them to calm down first, then, uh, we should approach them. They might listen if we find them rather than if they find us." Buffy replied, running her hand through her messy hair. "We should go to Giles' house"

"You mean that *you* should approach them?" Angel asked slowly.

Buffy nodded, surprised. How'd he know that she preferred to face them alone? She hadn't implied it, in case he became upset. She knew that if the situation was reversed, she'd want to be with Angel as he faced his friends.

Angel's face became clouded, and he let go of her.

"Well, yeah," she said in an attempt to defend her decision, "They've come to one of two conclusions. One-you kidnapped me. Two- we faked my disappearance. Either way, they're going to be livid, but maybe they'll listen to me if I face them on my own, without my lover hanging on my arm."

"Or your neck" Angel muttered to himself.

"Don't say that" Buffy sighed. "This has nothing to do with you being a vampire. This is about me going AWOL for days on end, and about you knowing more than you pretended to."

This time, Angel was the one to stop moving. Stepping to the side of the road, he twisted around to face her.

"Yes it does, it has everything to do with my being a vampire. We both know that they won't accept this-" Angel's features dissolved as he allowed his vampire face to appear "-being your boyfriend. They barely wanted me to be with you last year, so what makes now any more different?"

Buffy shook her head.

"For a goddamn vampire, you have a pretty petty view of things. The 'vampire' issue wasn't the problem last time, it was your eating my friends which got them to hate you. They were finding it hard to deal with you being good again, but all they needed was time. Even I can understand that one." Buffy said, raising her voice.

Angel grabbed her, and forced her to look into his yellow, demonic eyes.

"I ate your friends BECAUSE I was a vampire, little brain" He whispered.

Buffy pushed him off of her, trying not to become angry.

"You know what I meant. They accepted you pretty well- even Giles, and he was my goddamn watcher- everything was fantastic until we screwed up and had sex." Buffy said, before groaning at her poor choice of words. She hadn't meant their night of love-making all those years ago, when the Judge had been assembled, to sound so negative, as if it hadn't mattered to her at all. Because it had mattered. More than words could describe.

She looked up at Angel, hoping he hadn't taken offence, but he'd already started to walk away, back towards the Bronze.

"Angel!" she shouted, catching up with him.

"'Screwed up', huh?" he hissed, with the vampire features still dominant. "I can't do this all over again."

"You think that *I* want to do this? We haven't even gotten back together yet, and we're fighting!"

Angel silently turned around to face his lover. They stared at each other, neither attempting to be the first one to apologise. Buffy was angered by Angel's defeatist attitude, and Angel wasn't about to let Buffy's comment about their one night of uninhibited passion pass him by.

Angel's intense glare burned through Buffy's body so much that she swore that she was on fire. She tried to continue sulking in return, but couldn't control herself any longer, and her stuck-out bottom lip eventually fizzled away completely, and she eventually began to laugh. Angel held on a little longer, but the laughter became contagious, and soon he started to find the funny side too. They already had enough problems, without adding to them by fighting with each other.

"We do this every time," Buffy managed to say between her gulps of laughter. "We take ourselves far too seriously! When we're just having fun, we do great. As soon as we start psychoanalysing our relationship, everything falls apart"

Although Angel's face still possessed a demonic character, which was no doubt a physical reaction to the stress he was suffering, he agreed whole-heartedly with what Buffy was saying. Taking her into his arms, he hugged her tightly, letting his skin absorb the warmth which emanated from her body.

"We're scared," He said "We take ourselves so seriously because we're scared that we'll lose each other. But you know what?"

"What?" Buffy asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's never going to happen. You're stuck with me, and so are your friends."

"Thank-you" Buffy whispered. "But at the moment my friends are probably baying for my blood too. We have to find them."

Suddenly, a piercing voice caught their ears.

"She's here!"

They broke away from each other and looked up, not sure what to expect after a long day of constant surprises.

A gang of vampires stood at the end of the road. There were at least fifteen of them- a biker gang by the looks of it. There was a lot of denim. As far as age went, none were over twenty years of age. Buffy had seen this before, groups of young people turned into vampires in one fall swoop. Most likely, just one of their pack was sired to begin with, and then he sired the rest of the gang himself.

That one was probably the leader. The tall vampire at the front, the black haired one which was wearing a bandanna and holding onto a large axe.

The one with a deathly leer on his face.

"The Slayer!"

*

The vampires advanced towards them.

"Buffy," Angel asked in a low voice. "What's going on, who are these guys?"

"I don't know. But they know who I am" she replied, balling her fists up. Raising her voice, she addressed the vampire with the bandanna. "You know, this really isn't a good time."

The vampire shook his head.

"No, obviously not, this brother has beaten us to you." The vampire rasped, giving Angel a thumbs up. "Don't worry. We'll take her from here."

For an brief moment, Angel wondered if his enhanced hearing had failed him. Did they honestly believe that he was going to bite Buffy? That he had somehow overpowered a slayer, and was in a position to kill her? Even more incredible, did they really think he'd have given a slayer up this easily if he *had*?

"Not going to happen" he hissed.

The leader shrugged.

"We've been trying to track the Slayer for the past week, but she's been off the streets. Now I find that when she finally does show her face around here, someone's already claimed her?! I thought you were meant to be strong, Slayer. How could this scrawny thing get you?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Buffy took a step forward, to prove that she was not Angel's snack. The vampires mouths widened in surprise. Angel simply stood behind Buffy, gloating as he watched the vampire's huddle together behind the leader.

"I wouldn't call this guy scrawny, if I were you" Buffy said in a very sweet voice, "His name's Angelus. Heard of him?"

The leader turned back to his posse for an answer, but they all shook their heads- they hadn't heard of Angelus. As a vampire, the leader obviously wasn't very confident, as he kept looking to his lackey's for guidance. Buffy could slay him without drawing breath, on a good day. The problem was that there were a great number of vampires here. Too many. With all this muscle, the vampires could probably overpower her.

Also, she didn't have a stake. With no weapon, she wouldn't be able to kill them.

All in all, maybe it was best to call their bluff. They were obviously amateurs, and they didn't seem to have a clear plan of attack. That would work in her favour, right?

The leader turned back to Buffy and Angel, with a very interested look on his face

"No, I haven't heard of him. Why, is he a new player?" leader asked, extremely interested.

"I was the Master's grandchilde" Angel/us explained to the gang of vamps, preening despite himself. He had blue blood within him, and was almost royalty in vampire circles.

Until his soul was reinstalled, of course. Now he was despised.

"Whose that, Graham?" One of the smaller vamps asked the leader.

"Rocky!" Graham hissed "My street name is ROCKY!"

Angel shook his head in disgust. Typical, Angelus went to such great lengths to gain a reputation in the undead underworld, and these chumps weren't even trembling with fear when they were in his very presence.

Oh well, they'd have his name rammed through their skulls before he and Buffy were done with them.

"You want to fight these bozos?" Angel asked Buffy quietly, hoping for confirmation.

Buffy peeked behind her shoulder to discover that some more vampires had joined the standoff, to her dismay.

"Looks like we don't have much choice, honey. We're surrounded. Also, I don't have a stake." Buffy said.

"Me neither. We're at a disadvantage." Angel realised.

Buffy stretched her fingers and fell into her battle stance.

"I love when that happens" she grinned. "Lets go"

Immediately, Buffy somersaulted directly into the mob of vampires in front of her, causing them to disperse. Graham ducked aside into an alley, but the nearest ones attempted to attack her anyway. Buffy spun around and punched the closest vampire in the throat. With a deafening crack, the vamp flew backwards, knocking a few more into the ground. Buffy didn't even reflect on this as she high-kicked another vampire in the chest, causing it to ricochet across the road.

Angel had already turned around to dispose of the vampires that had appeared behind them. He pummeled one of them with his fists, and then knocked another one unconscious with his elbow. Five vampires still surrounded him. Picking up a small, bald vampire, he whacked its head into the pavement and rolled it aside. Another vampire jumped onto his back, causing Angel to trip over a small fence, into a garden. The vampire sat on top, punching Angel in the face repetitively. Eventually, Angel managed to grab its flailing arms and throw it over his head, across the garden.

He stood up, ready for more action.

But damn he needed a stake.

Buffy was hurled to the ground, and the weight of three vampires pushed down on her as she tried to shake them off. One vampire impatiently tried to bite her neck, but she headbutted it off of her, rolled away and tripped another vamp over before she managed to get back on her feet. She dual punched two oncoming vampires as they approached, and then ran over to the garden where she'd seen Angel fall into. Graham tried to stop her, but rather than pummel him, she grabbed his head and swung him into the road instead. Her main priority was Angel.

The vampires were hot on her tail. They'd catch up with her sooner or later, there were too many of them. As she jumped over the small fence, Angel grabbed her and pulled her to him, behind a tree in the garden.

"We need stakes, now!" Buffy said, turning as the first of the vampires jumped the fence.

Angel looked up at the tree, reached over and grabbed a branch from it, giving it to Buffy.

"Will this work?" He asked, snapping one for himself.

"It has before, but weapons are a better...weapon" Buffy admitted.

No time to think, she clutched the branch, whirled around and stabbed the approaching vampire through the heart.

It exploded into dust.

"YES!" Buffy screamed, her confidence returning with a weapon in her hand.

"Buffy-" Angel said, pointing at the vampire.

"What?" Buffy asked, before her face dropped in complete surprise.

The dust dissipated to reveal Xander, who stood mere metres away from Buffy, aiming an empty crossbow in her direction.

An arrow laid embedded in the grass, the real reason why the vampire had turned to dust- not the branch, as Buffy first believed.

"Xander!" Buffy shouted, confused.

Xander didn't smile, but nodded, and threw her a stake, to which Buffy gratefully accepted.

Following Angel's lead, Buffy glanced across street to discover that all the other Scooby's were fighting the vampires too. Willow, Giles, Anya, Tara... she didn't notice the absence of her military boyfriend though. It didn't even occur to her, as she was so happy to see the others.

Happy to see them helping her and Angel, that is. That had to be a good sign.

Angel jumped over the fence to come to the Scooby's aid. Willow passed a stake to him as she ran by, without making eye contact as she did so. Angel didn't have time to lament about it, so sighed and threw himself back into the action.

The vampire's numbers had dwindled immediately after the Scooby's entrance, but they definitely outranked them, nevertheless. Buffy leapt forward and punched one vampire in the jaw. It tried to hit her in the stomach, but Buffy grabbed his hand, flipped him over her shoulder and staked him. Suddenly, something threw it's arm around her throat and pulled her backwards, leaving her no choice to bite the assailants hand. As it yelled in pain, it let her go, revealing itself to be Graham.

He clawed his hand in pain, and glared at her, not realising that this would be his last moment as one of the undead.

"Rocky?" Buffy scoffed "You named yourself after a rooster from that Chicken Run movie?"

And with that, he was dust, forever without the chance to explain that he'd named himself after that Sylvester Stallone movie, NOT the children's film.

As Angel watched this happen, he marvelled at how confident Buffy had become. One year ago, she would have had doubts at her ability in a situation like this, but now she was as quick as lightening in dusting the last of the vampires that dared confront her.

He turned away, shoving a vampire into Tara's stake as he did so, and faced a burly vamp himself. He snapped its neck and passed it to Tara to stake. As she silently did so she looked up at him, and they shared a weak smile.

Hearing a scream from across the road, Angel turned around in response, and bumped directly into Xander.

The human had obviously been waiting for this confrontation. His eyes were steel, and his mouth was pursed in hatred.

"You know, I don't understand what's happening here between you and the biker mice..." Xander said bluntly, stopping Angel from passing him. "I interpreted this little ruckus as some sort of domestic brawl between you, our soon to be Vampire slayer, and some common vampires. A turf war, or something. The problem is, Giles didn't see it like that. He thought that if you both were as evil as Spike said you were, you wouldn't bother getting caught up in a fight with a dumb group like this."

Angel glanced behind Xander's shoulder to see Buffy struggling with a female vampire.

"Look, I haven't the time to do this" Angel said, attempting to leave, but Xander blocked his way and held strong.

"No, you're listening to me. So that's why *we're* here. What's the betting that when we're done killing these vampires, you and Ms. Summers are gonna turn on us? Well that ain't gonna happen."

"Why?" Angel asked, engrossed in looking past Xander's right shoulder.

Xander raised his stake, and Angel's eyes drifted to it.

"Because you'll be dead" Xander said coldly.

Go to Part 13