Part Eleven: A slayer is found

New York: 5th September 1999

Deanna Murrey walked towards a club that her new friends had agreed to meet at. She had just moved to NY and after a first traumatic day at school she was glad she had been invited to one of The clubs. Jen had told her it was one of the most elite clubs in NY. It had opened six months ago and now it was the only place to be seen. The place was called 'Miss Edith's'. She saw the dark doorway and the lit neon sign above it. A man stood at the entrance taking names. She joined the queue and watched with a sinking feeling as a number of people were turned away. When it was her turn the man asked for her name. She gave it hoping that she was on the guest list. He smiled at her and handed her a small silver bracelet.

"Next time all you have to do is show this and you get immediate entry ." He told her

She entered the club and looked around. It was dark and there were lots of little booths with transparent material covering them. Dotted about were tables with about three of four stools at each. The bar was on the right and had two busy staff serving the many people. The place was crowded but not over much. Most were young and had expensive clothes and jewelry. The strange thing was that although the band was playing no one was dancing. She looked around then spotted Jen talking to a bar man.

"Hey, Jen." she said brightly.

Jen turned and threw her a cheerful smile.

"Deanna, hi. Meet a friend of mine. This is Ben, he works for Spike and Dru. They own this place. Cool names huh? She informed her new friend.

"Why is no one dancing?" Jen looked confused for a minute then smiled.

"No one dances until Spike and Dru come out and dance first. It's one of the rules. In fact they usually turn up about now." Just as Jen said this Dee spotted two people walk out from a door at the back.

The minute she saw them she new there was something odd about them. If fact she felt a little cramp in her stomach just before they had entered the room. The man was tall and had bleached blond hair. He wore a long leather trench coat, a red silk shirt and a black t-shirt. The girl was shorter and had long black hair. Her dress was just above her knees and had a high neck. It was a moss green colour. They headed for the dance floor and began to sway in time to the music.

Spike led Dru to the floor and took her in his arms. Suddenly a warning feeling rushed up his spine. He looked at Dru, she had felt it too. The only people that he knew who gave off that buzz were slayers. But it wasn't Buffy, her buzz was much stronger. He looked around the room scanning the crowd for unfamiliar faces. At the bar Jen was sitting with a new girl. She was tall and had long golden brown hair to her waist. The most startling thing about her though were her eyes which sat wide and big above her high cheek bones. They were deep emerald green. Dru turned to see what he was looking at and froze. The girl was the double of her long dead sister. Those same green eyes, so innocent. Then it hit her, this was the slayer. Then she felt a vision of knowledge about the girl. She didn't know she was a slayer. She didn't even know about the night world. Spike too had sensed this and looked at Dru.

"She doesn't know does she pet?" He asked her. Dru shook her head in mute reply.

Slowly they left the dance floor and other couples went up to dance. Spike and Dru made their way over to Jen and her new friend.

"Hi cutie." Spike said to Jen, "don't keep us all in suspense, who's your friend?"

"Hi Spike, this is Deanna she just moved here from LA"

"I'm Dru and this is Spike. How are you finding the city?"

"It's different from LA, much colder but I like it. The clubs great by the way."

"Thanks."

"You know we're having a party tomorrow night and I was wondering if you would like to come and bring Deanna". Spike said addressing Jen . He knew he was taking a risk asking a mortal like Jen to come to the private night. Once a month Spike held a night when all the non mortal members could come and relax. Witches, warlocks, werewolves, shape-shifters and even some Lamia would come. He could lose thebusiness by doing this but he had to get this new slayer to the club so that he could get to know her.

Jen thought fast. This was the first time that Spike had ever paid her any intention. It was because of her friendship with Dee. Spike must really like her. She could tell that he didn't really want to invite her and had only used it as a way of getting Dee to come.

"I'd love to come Spike, but I'm afraid I have cheerleading practice, but if you picked Dee up at her apartment I'm sure she would like to go."

"I really don't th..." Jen cut her off

"You should go you'll have a great time and you can tell me all about it in the morning." She told her friend. She was glad she had had the sense to take this new girl under her wing. Every girl under twenty-seven and over twenty had been after Spike since he andDru had made it clear they were not an item. To think a high school junior had captured his eye was totally crazy. Her stock would go way up when they found out her friend was seeing Spike. In fact she was sure that Dee had just made history, as the girl that became popular in less then twenty four hours at a new school. She couldn't wait to see the faces of some of the seniors that had wanted to date him.

Dee looked at her knew friend and realised it was no use arguing. Besides since her parents death three months ago she had plenty of free time. It might even be fun. She nodded her head and gave Spike her address. He agreed to pick her up at eight.

Dru and Spike stayed talking to them for a half hour more then went to chat to the other patrons.

Dee sat lost in thought. There was something very attractive about Spike. Why on earth he was taking an interest in her she did not know. After all she was only a kid, he must be at least be twenty-five. It was starting to get late so she finished her drink andbid goodnight to Jen. She left the comforting darkness of the club to face the eerily quiet darkness of the street. It was cold and she pulled the coat around her securely. It was so silent, no noise at all. It gave her the wiggins that everything was so still. Just as she passed an ally she heard a scream. Without thinking she ran into the ally and towards the sound. What she saw there, nothing in her seventeen years could have prepared her for. Standing in front of her was the creature that had haunted her nightmares for the past year. A vampire. It was feeding off a young girl. It looked up at the sound of her footsteps. The ridges on it's face casting shadow on it's eyes but they still glowed yellow into the night. Long fangs glistening with blood shone in the moonlight. Suddenly the creature lunged at her. Almost instinctively she used the monsters own weight against him and flipped him into the nearby trash cans. The creature got up and attacked her again. Swiftly she delivered a round-house kick to his mid section then kicked his legs out from under him. Just then a voice called to her.

"Slayer, catch." He said as he threw a stake to her.

As if someone else were guiding her arm she neatly caught the stake and plunged it into the vampires heart. Then gasped as he turned to dust.

The man entered the ally and walked up to the girl lying on the ground. He looked at her and shook his head sadly.

"She's dead." He said. Dee looked up at him and got another shock. Standing there was Spike. He smiled at her.

"Nice work for a beginner. Your fist kill too. You haven't even had any training."

"What was that thing?" She asked hoping he would just let her believe it was a trick of the light, anything but the truth. She saw him frown then he looked her in the eye.

"Don't play games pet. You know what that was. In fact I'll bet you've been dreaming about just such creatures. It was a vampire and you slew it. Just as you were supposed to." His tone softened a little. "Come on, I'll take you back to the club and try and help explain all of this to you." He held out his hand and she took it gratefully.

Part Twelve: Contemplation
Sunnydale: January 5th 2000

Willow sat in her room and thought about Andrade. She had sensed her power today and even though she should have been afraid of her she wasn't. For some reason she had immediately liked the older woman and trusted her completely. Why she was almost looking forward to going to live with her. On this thought Willow drifted off to sleep.

Xander lay on his bed and thought about the last twenty four hours. First he found out Angel was dead then almost as quickly he found out that they could bring him back. Not only that, Dead-boy would now be human. Boy, did life suck. Still maybe, with Angel being human it would even out the tension between them. On this thought Xander fell asleep while his Patsy Cline cd played on into the night.

Oz sat in the tree outside his window and sniffed the night air. He could smell the vanilla candle burning three streets away in Buffy and Angel's apartment. As always her window was open. He thought of the sorceress and wondered if she would tell Willow that she was her mother. When the woman had appeared he had been startled at the familiar scent she was giving off, almost identical to his Willow's. She even looked like her if you dismissed her hair which was black instead of auburn. But with his excellent vision he could tell that her hair colour was not naturally black. In fact he would bet his guitar that her hair was exactly the same shade as Willow's.

Cordelia sat on the edge of her bed brushing her long dark hair. When she was finished she snuggled down under her feather quilt and closed her eyes. Somehow sleep just wouldn't come. She thought about Xander and the lingering jealousy that he felt for Angel. She was fed up with the way he went on about Buffy and Angel's relationship. She had hoped that he would put his animosity for the kind vampire aside because when he returned she knew he and Buffy's relationship would only be stronger. She loved Xander with all her heart and deep down inside where no one else would ever find it was the pain that he constantly caused her. The pain of knowing that he did not love her completely. The knowledge that he would always love Buffy was starting to weaken the foundations of a relationship that had been rocky from the word go. That night she prayed to which ever god was listening to put their little world to rights. But most of all she prayed that Xander would see her as his only love, as he was hers.

Buffy lay on their bed, her head buried within his leather jacket. Surrounded by his scent she thought of his smile and the way his eyes would caress her when he thought she didn't notice.

She remembered the way he held her when they slept and how safe she felt just knowing he was always there. It was funny all the little things you remembered about a person when they weren't there. A smile, a touch, a look. Everything held a memory of her Angel. When she had returned to their apartment she had seen his journal lying open at his desk, his antique fountain pen beside it. The answer phone had flashed with a message. She had pressed the tape and played the messages.His voice rang out into the silent room.

"Hi, you've reached Angel and Buffy's apartment. We're not in right now but just leave a message after the tone and we'll get back to you. Beeeeep.

Hi, Angel, this is Tom Walters here from Walters Solicitors. The investment you made in Compucore has just tripled in value.All your other investments are also showing tremendous profit. The new ID is on it's way, it should be delivered by courier day after tomorrow. Also the new will you had drawn up is just waiting for your signature so if you could get back to me and let me know when it would be convenient for you to come round. Bye.

Beeeeep. Hello, this is Veronica Cartland from Sotheby's, just to let you know that the bidding for lot #503 reached £900,000. It's being couriered out to you and should be there by the end of the week. We'll add the bill to your account. Bye."

The messages ended. Buffy thought about how smart Angel was. He always knew how to handle a situation in business and in everything he did. She smiled when she thought of the way he wouldn't even bat an eyelid when he heard the figure quoted for "lot #503" and giggled quietly to herself. By this time tomorrow she would have her Angel back and very soon she promised herself, they would start making those babies she had always dreamed of having. Angel's babies. On this thought she finally fell asleep.

Part Thirteen: Explanation Time
New York: 5th September 1999

Back at the apartment, Dru was reading a book. She felt the slayers presence near and then felt Spike's too. They were coming up here. She got up from her seat and put the kettle on. It was an old custom. In times of crisis one would always make a cup of tea. The strange dreams she'd had for the last week now made sense. They had been about her, the slayer. Just then they entered the apartment.

"Dru, she just killed her first vamp." Spike called.

Dru came out of the kitchen and carried the tea tray over to the table. She poured a cup of tea with lots of sugar for Dee while Spike settled her on the couch.

"Here luv, drink up." Dru said as she gave the shaking girl the cup. My she was Edith's double.

"What is it?" She asked, her voice wobbly.

"It's tea, ducks, to calm your nerves." Dru replied.

Dee sat, her mind in a whirl as she sat silent while Spike related what had happened to her. Only catching snatches of their conversation.

"Must be ...... replacement. What about....council have...sent..watcher?"

"Bloody idiots....useless....couldn't find a.......on a Hellmouth. Only........competent....Giles. Should .....call.....?"

"No....slayer.. missing....preoccupied.....in hell probably. Poor Buffy......in love.....like Angel......can't be helped."

"Kitten" Spike addressed her. "Do you have any idea what you are?"

She shook her head.

Then Dru stepped in.

"You're a Slayer. You were born with the skill and strength to kill the vampires. There has always been a slayer. Until two years ago there was only one. But the current slayer was killed then brought back to life by CPR. Upon her death another slayer was activated. So now there are two slayers. Kendra was the new slayer, but she was murdered last year, you are her successor. How long have you had the dreams for?" Dru asked her while reading her mind.

"Almost a year."

Spike swore under his breath.

"I can't believe it. She's been without a watcher for a year. Fools, all of them except Giles. She was meant to be trained from birth

Part Fourteen: Of premonitions and prophecy.
The library: 6th January 2000

At two o'clock the Library started to fill up as everyone arrived. Once they were all there Giles gave everyone something to do until four o'clock.

Willow and Buffy were given the task of finding a restraining spell in case anything went wrong and Xander and Cordelia skipped out to get some snacks. Oz sat with his guitar softly playing Adia. Jenny sat at the computer surfing the net, looking for any information she could find about vampires being brought back to life.

Giles himself sat in his office pouring over one of his books of prophecy.

His eyes widened as he read the prophecy.

"And so the chosen one shall chose her own path. One with much sorrow and grief, but from the ashes will rise eternal happiness and love. The slayer will give to the world one of the Warriors and the Warriors in turn will rid the world of all supernatural evil. For this alone the powers that rule will grant life eternal to the slayer and the Angel once fallen but now risen."

Giles smiled and closed the book. Well it meant that everything would go well today, however he wasn't going to tell the others this one just yet. First of all he intended to do some research on the 'Warriors'.

"Willow?" Buffy spoke to the red head.

Willow was sitting staring off into space. She was thinking of the ritual that they would be doing this afternoon.

If everything went according to plan then not only would Buffy have Angel back for good but he would also be human. She knew that Buffy would waste no time falling pregnant, and that very soon her babies would be born.

Suddenly Willow found herself looking on a pretty scene. Her friend was sitting in a rocking chair on a front porch. In Buffy's arms was a tiny bundle. She was quietly singing the baby to sleep. A car turned up the drive and a man got out. The sunlight glinted off his dark hair and for the first time Willow saw what Angel looked like in the sun. He even had a tan. He ran up the front steps and quietly walked to where Buffy sat. He looked at her and the baby, his eyes full of love and wonder. The baby upon seeing her father turned her head and looked at him and smiled. Her eyes were green and brown, but strangely seemed to glow with a golden light for a moment.

"Willow, hello? Earth to Willow snap out of it."

"Wha... Oh sorry Buffy, guess I was gone for a moment there." Willow shook her head clearing the strange picture from her mind. What was wrong with the baby's eyes?

"Willow, I think I found a spell that would hold him if something went wrong."

Buffy passed the large tome to Willow who carefully read the spell through three times before smiling and nodding her head.

"This one's perfect Buffy. It will hold Angel without harming him, in fact I think it would be a good idea to set the spell before the revivification ritual is performed. That way if anything goes wrong we don't need to worry about losing him before we can say the spell."

Part Fifteen: Death gives up an Angel
The library: 4 pm

The Scooby gang sat around the library table talking quietly to each other. At exactly four o'clock Andrade made her appearance.

"The sun will set in a matter of hours. We have some preparations to make before we start." She told them.

Andrade studied the spell and gave the Slayerettes their orders.

A pentagram was drawn on the floor with black ink. Andrade had mixed some of her own blood in the black liquid before she asked Buffy to draw it.

She then sent Willow for some herbs that would be needed for the spell. She sent Xander and Cordelia to the local church for some Holy water and asked that it was blessed by the priest. At six o'clock everyone was gathered.

Willow carried out the spell to create an energy field around the place in the pentagram where Angel would appear.

Andrade had asked for Angel's remains. Before handing the tied scarf over to her Buffy had sent a silent prayer to anyone that would listen, to help them. Andrade took the pouch and emptied the contents onto the floor in the middle of the pentagram.

They were ready to begin.

Andrade called the slayer into the pentagram. The others stood outside of it.

"Ancients heed me now,
Powers that rule attend me.
I Andrade, daughter of Diana call upon you.

Release to me the fallen one
give life once more to Angel
I command thee to listen.

Water most Holy.
Blood most pure.
Sacred vow now bind.
The body,
The blood,
The soul
To this our mortal realm."

Andrade took Buffy's arm and withdrawing a silver blade drew it down the line of her vein.

As the sun set her blood flowed into the silver chalice and mixed with the Holy water and herbs.

Tiny magical lights started to race around the chalice. They made a soft humming sound. As her blood flowed from her Buffy could feel the pull of the lights as they started to race around her too.

They were drawing energy from her and sapping her strength, but oddly she felt comforted by them.

Andrade motioned for Buffy to leave the circle.

The black orb which rested on the ashes emanated a black light. Casting everything it touched into darkness. The tiny lights that danced around the chalice were becoming faster and were glowing brighter and brighter. As Andrade poured the contents of the chalice onto the orb and the ashes, the lights followed the red liquid and entered the orb.

Andrade started chanting in Latin.

The light inside the orb intensified until it was a blinding white. Inside the pentagram the orb disappeared and the light escaped . It created a vortex and raced around inside the pentagram. The ashes where swept up into the supernatural tornado, inside the wall of light that had been created, an image started to form.

A scream of pain and anguish was heard. It cut at the soul of every mortal present. As suddenly as the wind and light had started, it stopped.

Lying in the middle of the pentagram was the body of a man. He was curled up in the fetal position. Silently shaking as he shivered in the cold.

Buffy's soul sang in happiness to be reunited with her lover, her mate, the other half that made her her. Without listening to their warnings she rushed to his side. Buffy sank to her knees beside her Angel. She reached out a hand to stroke his naked back, as she whispered his name.

"Angel?"

Part Sixteen: do you remember the one about the amnesia victim?

His skin was warm to the touch. He looked up at her. There was not a hint of recognition in his eyes. But deep inside he knew that he should know her.

Buffy saw the confusion in his eyes and her heart bled when she realised that he didn't know her.

"Please... help me?" He whispered.

"Always" she reassured him.

She held out her arms to him like a mother to a child. He let her hold him, grateful for the sense of being loved and the protection that she gave him. In her arms he fell into a deep unnatural sleep. Buffy sat holding her only love in her arms gently rocking and making reassuring sounds. She smiled to herself as she felt his heart beat steadily in his chest.

Angel and Buffy's Apartment: 9.30 pm

Buffy sat on the edge of the bed watching Angel as he slept. Every now and again she would reach out and touch him. Making sure he was real, checking to feel that reassuring warmth of his skin and that wonderful feel of his pulse beneath her fingers. He was really there. Alive!

Buffy changed into her night clothes and slipped under the covers with him. She snuggled up against him and sighed as she felt his arms come about her. In his sleep Angel smiled.

8.am

Angel woke up in a strange bed and felt a warm body next to his. For some reason he couldn't quite remember who he was, or where he was. Something terrible had happened, he knew, but then everything had been alright again. If only he could remember something, a name, anything.

Buffy murmured in her sleep and snuggled closer to the warm body next to hers. What a nice dream, she thought as she placed her hand over Angel's heart, feeling the steady rhythm. In her dream Angel was human. Her eyes opened wide as she remembered. Angel was human!

"Angel?" She asked tremulously. As she pulled herself out of his embrace to look into his eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"I..uh I'm a little lost. I don't seem to remember my name." He told her in a panic tinged voice.

Buffy looked deep into his eyes, she could feel the pain starting again, deep inside. What if he never remembers? She thought. What if he doesn't love me anymore? What will I do without him? Tears welled up in her blue-green eyes and silently ran down her cheeks.

Angel looked at the beautiful woman in his arms and when he realised she was crying immediately felt guilty, he knew the tears were his fault. He silently cursed himself for making such beautiful eyes sad. She obviously knew him and was distressed by his revelation. Somehow it felt right to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. She wrapped her arms around him and held on to him for dear life. He suddenly saw himself standing with her on a dock and remembered what he had called her. Buffy. He felt his soul leap with joy at the name.

"Your name's Angel, this is our apartment. I'm .." He cut in.

"Buffy?" He asked softly

Part Seventeen: There's hope yet!

She lifted her head and looked at him. She nodded her head, yes. Then the most wonderful thing happened. She smiled at him. In that smile he saw all the love she felt for him and realised that although he might not remember anything else one thing he did know was that he loved her just as much. At that moment he felt like the luckiest man in the world. What could he have done to deserve such unconditional love and acceptance from such a wonderful woman.

"How much do you remember?"

"Not a lot" he replied. "Who am I? Why can't I remember?"

"You're the man I love...will always love. We're not sure why you can't remember but Giles said he thinks your memory will come back to you bit by bit. There are a few things I might have to remind you of. You might not even believe what I tell you at first, but trust me. We've known each other for almost four years. We've not always been together. But we've always loved each other. The last five months have been wonderful. We've been living here, happy for maybe the first time since we met. The last three days have been hell. I thought I'd lost you. I thought you were dead for good this time."

He looked at her strangely at this last remark and then asked her what she meant.

"It's nothing to worry about right now." She answered.

"How did we meet?"

"Ah.. Well..you ....um ..hmmha." She giggled. "You were....following me, at night. I heard you so I went up a blind ally and hid. When you turned in to come after me I knocked you down." He looked skeptical at this and raised an eyebrow as he took in her slight figure compared to him. She smiled mischievously.

"I'm a lot stronger than I look. Anyway, you got up and after a cryptic warning you gave me this and left." Buffy pulled out a silver cross and showed it to him.

At the sight of this his eyes lit in recognition. He caught a flash of memory.

"I'm a friend'
'Maybe I don't need a friend'
'I didn't say I was yours.'

"I remember, it was dark. I think I loved you even then" he told her. "What was I warning you about?"

"I don't think we ought to get into that right now. Are you hungry?"

At her question he realised that he was indeed very hungry, starving in fact.

"I feel like I haven't eaten in years." He said to her.

She smiled and laughed a little.

"You don't know the half of it." She said under her breath.

He got out of bed and walked to the fridge. Buffy sat quietly on the bed preparing herself for what would surely come next. He opened the door and stared at the contents of the fridge. It was pretty normal except for one thing. Some fruit, pizza, butter, milk and lined up in neat little rows on the top shelve were...bags of blood? Angel stared in confusion. Buffy gracefully swept off the bed and crossed the room to stand beside Angel. She closed the door and sighed.

"That's something else that I'll have to explain. Why don't you go have a shower and I'll make breakfast."

"Sure." He replied, feeling a little confused and uneasy. Why was there blood in the fridge? What on earth was going on. Why would he need to warn her? Why the present of the silver cross? One thing was for sure he wanted answers and fast. He headed towards the bathroom, questions cluttering his head.

Go to Part 18