Part Four

"What is the dark;
Shadows around you,
Why not take heart
in the new day?
Ever and always.
Always and ever.
No-one can promise a dream for you,
Time gave both darkness and dreams to you."

~Once You Had Gold
Enya

Late August

The campus of U.C. Sunnydale was a bustle of activity, swamped with students returned from their summer vacations to the "real world" of school. Those students that lived at the school had already been back for several days, but it wasn't until the first day of classes that things seemed to have returned to normal.

For Buffy, however, things still felt far from normal. She felt like she was in a daze, separate from the things going on around her. She had a lot on her mind. As classes began, she expected she would feel like she had returned to some degree of normalcy after a long, strange summer, but it was hard. For a moment she felt like the "real world" was slipping away from her.

"Buffy?" Someone nudged her. It was Willow, standing right next to her with a concerned look on her face. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "I was just thinking. Were you saying something?"

Willow sighed. "I was asking whether you and Angel had decided when the wedding will be yet."

"Oh," Buffy smiled slightly. "During winter break actually. We don't want to wait to long, and we want to go on a honeymoon without me missing too much school, so . . . ." There was something else she didn't say, that things had such a tendency of going wrong they were afraid that if they waited too long they'd never get married.

"So, what are you planning to do next semester?"

Buffy didn't get the connection. "Next semester? Shouldn't I be worried about this semester first?"

"No, I mean after your wedding. You're planning on moving off campus to live with Angel, right?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied, not really thinking about it. "It's too bad the mansion's not closer, but I'll manage it." She smiled, brought back to reality. "Like I wouldn't manage it."

Willow laughed in response. "You've got it bad."

"Oh yeah." Buffy grinned back.

A cry of warning surprised Buffy and Willow a moment before the young man ran into them and knocked them both to the ground. The cause was evident a moment later as a frisbee took a faltering course through where they had been standing a moment ago. The other student looked in the direction it had come from, yelling at someone else, someone Buffy couldn't see, "nice throw!" His sarcastic comment apparently went unheard by the thrower, who was nowhere to be seen. The young man dusted himself off, then helped the girls to their feet. "I am so sorry about that," the young man said. "His aim is terrible."

"Yeah, I noticed," muttered Buffy, leaning down to pick up her books.

"Here, let me help." The young man picked up a couple of Buffy's scattered papers. He had a nice smile, Buffy noticed, and she might have been tempted to flirt with him last year. That was before Angel had returned, however, and she wouldn't do anything to make him jealous. The other student, however, obviously didn't have any such thing standing in his way. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

Before Buffy could point out that it *was* only the first day of classes, she realized that was only if you didn't count orientation. "You're a freshman, aren't you?" she said instead.

"Yup!" he responded brightly. "Matthew Richardson. And you are . . . really pretty, but besides that?"

"Engaged," responded Willow under her breath.

Buffy laughed slightly.

Matthew looked confused.

"Buffy Summers," she introduced herself with a grin. "Sophomore, and *so* unavailable."

The boy shrugged. "Oh, well. It was worth a try, right?"

Buffy couldn't help but laugh slightly. "It was nice to meet you, Matthew," she said.

As Buffy moved off, he smiled slightly. "At least let me escort you two ladies as an apology for knocking you over."

"Shouldn't you be going to class, too?" Buffy asked.

"Sure, but we seem to be going the same way," the freshman said with a grin. "Besides, my friends seem to have vanished and I don't want to walk alone. So, where are you going?"

Willow sighed. Seeing that Matthew wasn't going to be shaken easily, she replied, "The science building. Buffy has elementary computer programming in the lecture hall and I have a chemistry lab."

"Computer programming? That's where I'm going," he said.

"We just can't get rid of you, can we?" Buffy asked. At Matthew's head shake, she said, "Well, if you insist on coming with us, you could carry our books. After all, you *did* knock us over." With that, Matthew was loaded down with books and marched down the path.

About half way to the class he got up the nerve to speak to Buffy again. "So, where's your boyfriend . . . er, fiancé? Does he go to this school?"

"No, he's older. He's out of college."

Willow snickered.

He turned his attention to her. "And you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Yes," was all she said in reply.

After a moment, Buffy spoke to the younger student. "Listen," she said, "the attention is flattering, and you're nice and all, but you don't have to find a girlfriend on the first day. Join a club or something, meet people there." She smiled then, softening her statement. "Besides, if you don't stop hitting on me, someone may beat you up."

"Your fiancé?" Matthew asked.

"No, me."

Matthew chuckled slightly. "Point taken," he said as they walked in the doors of the building.

Willow took her stuff from him then. "This is where I leave you two," she said, nodding towards some stairs. "Have fun!" With an impish grin for Buffy, she headed up the stairs.

After a moment, Matthew spoke again. "We could still be friends, right?" he said. "I haven't done something really stupid?"

"You're a freshman. You're supposed to be stupid," Buffy teased. "Actually, if it means you'll stop hitting on me, friends would be fine."

"Well, good." He looked genuinely relieved.

Buffy laughed slightly. She was feeling like a normal student again, fully part of the college reality. "Here we are," she said, opening up one of the double doors. As a couple of boys sitting in the lecture hall waved at Matthew, she took her books from him. "I think your friends are waiting for you," she said.

Matthew nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Buffy," he said. Then, with a mischievous smile, he added, "Give my regards to your fiancé."

Trying not to smile and not quite succeeding, Buffy replied, "It was nice meeting you, too." With that she took a seat closer to the front next to someone she vaguely recognized, probably from one of her other classes.

The professor was a short man whose girth made him decidedly round. He had balding hair and a monotonous voice. Buffy had to fight to pay attention. Behind her, someone snored slightly, and she considered falling asleep herself. The vampires had not slackened off at all, and Buffy had not gotten much sleep the night before. She wondered what Angel was doing right now. Had a new artifact been found in Sunnydale that could bring about the end of the human race? Or could it be something good, instead? If there was anything, Angel would tell her about it tonight. They'd talk about work, or school . . . or maybe they wouldn't talk at all . . . .

Buffy's thoughts continued on that vein for quite a while before something interrupted her. It was . . . a sound. The barest whisper, or a distant roar. Buffy heard it first, but soon others began to glance around as the sound grew louder. No one could fail to notice when the roar transformed itself into a tremor, one that shook the building. Behind her, the snoring broke off, and the teacher in front of the room stopped lecturing. A scattering of noises -- things rolling or sliding off of desks as the tremor grew worse.

Suddenly, a creature burst through the floor nearly at the professor's feet. With a startled cry he fell as the ground broke beneath him and a many tentacled creature heaved itself through the hole in the earth. Luckily perhaps he was knocked unconscious when he hit the floor, either fainted or having struck his head, for the creature's tentacles left bloody lines where they touched him.

While other students reacted in fear, either running from the room or sitting frozen at their desks, Buffy immediately began to size up the situation for attack. She saw quickly that to get within reach of the tentacles would be foolhardy at best. Instead, thinking quickly, she focused on the creature's one eye amidst its writhing limbs. She only could see it for a moment before the tentacles hid it again, but that was enough. Praying that it was vulnerable and at the same time hoping no one would notice her actions, Buffy took out a stake she carried with her at all times and hurled it towards that small target.

The simple weapon hit its target with such force that the creature staggered back. Its balance gone, tentacles hanging lifeless, it tumbled back down the hole it had created. It fell into the caverns that ran beneath all of Sunnydale and did not rise again.

For a moment the lecture hall was completely silent. Buffy sprang out of her seat, running to where the creature had disappeared and where the professor lay still. He was bleeding badly, and Buffy tried briefly to stop the flow of blood. She looked around quickly to see who was left in the lecture hall. It was mostly empty except for the few students either passed out or too stupefied to move. One of the later was Matthew, staring at her from several rows back.

"Matthew!" she yelled. "Call 911. He needs to go to the hospital."

Without a word, he ran from the room. All she could do now complete, Buffy spared a glance down the hole in the floor and into the caverns. The creature was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it," Buffy cursed softly.

*****

Angel leaned over a table in a back room of the Sunnydale Natural History Museum, notes and drawings on a recent acquisition spread out before him. Unlike a lot of things that surfaced in Sunnydale, this item seemed to be mostly harmless. There were very few things in the museum that didn't have some sort of occult connection, which was fortunate since that's where Angel's knowledge lay. Already he'd built a reputation in the museum for "finding" the legends behind the more obscure relics. Usually he already knew what it was, but he also had plenty of ways to find out if he didn't. Angel was organizing the various notes and some actual research he'd done when a knock came on the door.

"Hey, you've got a phone call," said one of the other research assistants poking his head in the door.

"Who is it?" Angel asked, looking up from the papers.

"Buffy," he said. Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "She sounded upset."

Quickly getting up from the desk, Angel didn't ask anything else. He just hurried out of the room to the nearest phone. "Hey," he said by way of greeting. "What's wrong?"

The person at the other end of the phone let out a sound of relief. "Angel," she said. "Could you come get me?" He was right, she did sound upset.

Trying to keep his voice calm, he asked, "Where are you?"

"At school," she confirmed. "Please? I . . . need to get out of here."

"Of course," Angel said quickly. With a glance at his coworker, still hovering nearby, he said, "I'll be right there." After a moment Angel asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine." She still didn't sound happy. "Thanks. I love you."

"I love you," Angel replied softly and hung up the phone. Quickly he gathered up his jacket and headed for the door.

The other researcher looked at him in surprise. "You're leaving?"

"I've got to," Angel replied. "If anyone asks, the notes and research on that new vase are on the desk, complete." He hurried out the door before anyone could protest.

Fifteen minutes and several violated traffic laws later, Angel pulled over near U.C. Sunnydale next to Buffy. She nodded goodbye to a young man who stood with her at the curb. Both of them looked far from happy, though Buffy looked happier - or at least relieved - as Angel pulled up. She got in the car quickly.

"Thanks," she said, and leaned over to give him a small kiss.

Angel smiled very slightly. "No problem," he said. As they pulled away from the curb, he asked, "Where are we going?"

Buffy sighed. "I hadn't really thought beyond getting out of here. How about your place?"

"All right," he relied softly. When Buffy said nothing more, he glanced over at her in concern. She was staring distractedly out the window.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Buffy said nothing for a moment. "One of my teachers got attacked," she said softly, "right in front of the class. I think I killed the creature, but I'm not sure." She paused. "The police questioned everyone in the class . . . that didn't run away, that is."

Angel looked at her alarmed. "Did you tell Giles?"

They were almost at the mansion. "Yeah, I did. He and Willow are hitting the books." She paused, and when she spoke again he could barely hear her. "I just had to get out of there," he said.

Angel didn't know what to say in response. He knew that Buffy needed reassurance and he was at a loss for words. He was saved from having to say something immediately as they arrived at his house. As they both got out of the car, Angel went over to Buffy and simply held her.

Standing outside the door, she returned his embrace wholeheartedly, sniffling slightly with suppressed tears. "Why can't I just have a normal day?" she asked softly.

They both knew there was no answer to that.

Part Five

"And now I hear you speak each and every word
That I didn't think lonely people heard
You took a long night and turned it into day"

/i>

~Sudden Gift of Fate
Mary Chapin Carpenter

By Saturday, neither Buffy nor Angel knew anything more about the unusual activity surrounding their wedding preparations, but both were more at ease than they had been days before. The fact that they had both spoken at length to Giles had helped. Neither of them had truly realized the amount of strain the increased vampiric activity was putting on them until they talked about it. Now everyone had joined in the patrolling like they had during the demon epidemic, and everyone was able to sleep easier.

That same comradery was the other reason Angel was feeling especially content today. The group of them were gathered in Weatherly Park for a picnic lunch. Angel was not used to fitting in a group. As a vampire, he could not be part of human society. With a soul, it was neither desirable nor possible to be part of vampire society either. Since regaining his humanity a couple of months ago, however, Buffy's friends had accepted him as a member of their group. A year ago they never would have invited him to something as simple as a picnic. Of course, a year ago he wouldn't have been able to go to one unless it was after sundown, but that wasn't the point.

Now, as they waited for Xander to arrive with the food, Angel listened as Willow, Oz, and Buffy discussed their first week of classes. He leaned back on his hands, closing his eyes and letting the sunlight fall on his face. Buffy sat close enough to him that their legs touched. She had teased him a couple of weeks ago when she noticed that he had a slight tan. Angel enjoyed every minute of it.

Angel's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Xander, better late than never. Greetings were exchanged all around, but mostly everyone wanted to get down to the business of eating. Much of what Xander brought consisted of junk food, but he had remembered to bring sandwiches for everyone as well. As food was passed around conversation continued. Angel sat up and listened while he ate.

"So," Oz was saying, "there's this battle of the bands coming up."

"The Dingo's won last year," said Willow, proud as always of anything having to do with Oz.

"So you're like returning champs," Xander remarked around a mouthful.

"Yeah, but we've got to defend our title," Oz continued. "I heard there's this new band this year that's really good. Plus, they've got groupies."

"Hey, I'm a groupie!" Willow exclaimed.

"Me too," joined in Buffy enthusiastically.

"Yeah," chimed in Xander. "We'll cheer for the Dingo's, of course. Those other bands don't stand a chance."

Oz smiled very slightly. "Well, thanks," he said.

Suddenly Angel felt Buffy tense up beside him, sensing something none of the rest of them could see. Before he could ask her what was wrong an unearthly howl broke from the nearby trees.

The animal was visible a moment later. It was nothing Angel recognized, neither dog nor were-beast. The only thing he could think of was a hellhound's uglier cousin. That was all he had time to think of as the monster ran across the short distance and slammed into Angel, knocking the breath out of him.

Before he could do anything to ward off the attack, the creature's teeth sank into his shoulder. Vaguely he heard Buffy cry out his name. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Angel repeatedly punched the monster's head with his free hand. It made a growl of pain in response, but did not loosen its hold.

Then both Angel and the creature were knocked to the ground as Buffy leaped onto the creature's back. They both grappled with the monster for several moments. Out of the corner of his eye Angel glimpsed a flash of silver as Willow tossed Buffy a knife. Suddenly the hound released Angel's shoulder with an earsplitting howl of pain. The knife was buried in the back of its neck. After a moment it fell still and died.

For a moment Angel lay where he was, trying to catch his breath. In an uncommon display of her supernatural strength, Buffy pulled the dead hound off him and flung it away. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Angel attempted to sit up and his shoulder complained painfully. The hand he put to it in response came away bloody. "Stupid question," he groaned.

Buffy reached out to him in obvious distress. "Come on," she said softly, helping him up, "we have to get you to the hospital."

Angel simply nodded and gratefully accepted her help.

"I'll drive everyone in the van," Oz volunteered, already moving out of the park.

Only Xander was not quick to follow. "We're just leaving all the food?" he asked.

Angel was briefly surprised by the comment. "Don't worry about it,"said Buffy softly, but loud enough that Xander could still hear her, "none of us rate above food in Xander's list of priorities."

"Hey!"

Despite the pain, Angel smiled.

*****

Dr. Baker arrived for his shift shortly after one p.m. In the daylight hours the Sunnydale Hospital was usually pretty calm, but there were always a couple of people in the emergency room. Today was no exception, and after coming in the door a group of people sitting in the waiting area caught his eye.

"Well," he said by way of greeting, "if it isn't Ms. Summers and friends. With the amount of times I've seen you lot in the last few months you's think we were giving frequent patient discounts."

"Perhaps you should," said one of the young men.

The blond young woman smiled. "Hello, Dr. Baker," said Buffy. "It's nice to see you." She paused, frowning. "Well, not nice, because this is the hospital, but . . . you know."

"Sure," the doctor replied, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He saw this group of youngsters more often than he liked. The last time had been nearly two months ago when a friend of theirs was brought in with a broken ankle and a deep gash in one arm. Before that it had been only a week. He didn't see that young man in the waiting room, nor a couple of the other people who seemed to be associated with this group. "Who's the patient today?" Dr. Baker asked.

"Angel," the redhead provided calmly.

Dr. Baker looked at Buffy in alarm. "It's not his heart, is it?"

Buffy looked at him blankly for a moment. Of all the times that he had treated members of this group, the only other time the man named Angel was a patient had been the only time he'd come close to losing one of them. He'd been brought to the emergency room only alive due to the quick thinking of a passerby who knew CPR. His heart had stopped two more times after arrival, and getting him breathing on his own had been even more of a problem. Though he had not spoken of it to Buffy at the time, he'd been amazed that Angel had been able to leave a couple of days later as if nothing had happened.

Finally Buffy shook her head. "No, not his heart. We were having a picnic and he got attacked by a wild dog. It bit his shoulder." She seemed remarkably calm about it.

Dr. Baker could only nod slightly in response. "Well, then I suppose I'd best go take a look," he said, taking his leave.

The young blond jumped to her feet. "Can I come with you?" she asked, a touch of the worry curiously absent before present on her face. "The nurse wouldn't let me . . . ."

Looking at the partially disguised concern on the girl's face, Dr. Baker nodded. He remembered that she "used to be involved" with Angel prior to his last visit. By the time he left it seemed that "used to be" no longer applied. In the midst of their discussion, Dr. Baker had briefly noticed a ring on her left hand. Guessing that they were now more than just "involved," he led her down the hall.

One of the nurses was taking care of Angel's shoulder. He was sitting shirtless with his back to the door. From the door the doctor could see that the wound was messier than "bite" would imply, but not too bad. The nurse had already cleaned out the bite, and now she was stitching up one of the deeper cuts on his upper back.

"Well," she was saying, "it missed your tattoo. That's interesting. Where'd you get it?"

"I got it . . . a long time ago," Angel replied.

The nurse sounded amused. "A long time ago? You're not that old."

Joining Dr. Baker in the doorway, Buffy Summers laughed slightly. "Watch out, he's taken," she said.

The nurse turned around in surprise. Angel did not turn because of the work being done on his shoulder, but his voice sounded pleased. "Hey, Buffy."

Buffy entered the room, circling until she and Angel were facing each other. "Hey," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"It doesn't hurt now," Angel replied.

Dr. Baker couldn't help but smile at that. "It shouldn't," he replied, "considering the pain killers you were given."

Angel winced slightly as the nurse added another stitch. Buffy reached out and placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "So," Dr. Baker said after a moment, "not that it's any of my business, but I seem to see you lot quite often. What's up with the two of you?" For a moment Buffy looked panicked, and Dr. Baker wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. "I noticed your ring," he explained.

The flash of relief on the girl's face made Dr. Baker wonder what she thought he'd been asking. "Yeah, we're engaged." Then her face lit up as she grinned at Angel. "Do you have any idea how fun that it to say?" she said.

Angel smiled in response, but said nothing.

Dr. Baker nodded, pleased that his guess was confirmed. That was the only thing he liked about having certain frequent visitors. He felt like he got to know their lives a bit. "Congratulations, then," he said with a smile.

"All done!" interrupted the nurse as she reached for some gauze. "As soon as I get you bandaged up you'll be free to go." She began applying the bandages on his back to match those for the front half of the bite.

"Good," said Angel in relief.

Buffy nodded in agreement. "The whole gang's waiting for us. I talked to Giles on the phone, and he said he'll meet us at your place. He'd better have some information for us, because I'm sick of waiting."

"Now, Ms. Summers," Dr. Baker interjected, "he really ought to get some rest. Those pain killers are going to wear off pretty soon."

The patient nodded, looking as though he was trying to reassure the doctor. "I'll rest as soon as I can," Angel said, though Dr. Baker didn't believe that anymore than he had Angel's assurances that he would see a heart specialist after the last time he was hospitalized.

"There, that's it," said the nurse and began to put away her supplies. Angel stood and gathered his bloody, torn shirt, careful not to move his injured shoulder. His younger fiancée took his hand as he stood, and together they made their way out of the room.

"Angel, Ms. Summers," Dr. Baker called right as they were leaving, "could you do me a favor?"

The young couple looked at him curiously. "What is it?" Angel asked.

"Could I please *not* see you or any of your friends for a couple of months?" he pleaded.

Buffy laughed at that. "We'll try our best," she replied.

"Thank you again, Doctor," the young man said as he left, and the two of them went to gather their friends.

Smiling slightly, Dr. Baker made his way to the rest of his patients.

Go to Part 6