DISCLAIMER: All characters and settings belong to Joss Whedon et al. I'm just playing nicely with them cos Joss won't.
TIMELINE: About a year after the events in "To Shansu in LA"
SPOILERS: Yes, everything up to and including BTVS S4 and AtS S1
FEEDBACK: Please ! - I'm starving here ()
DISTRIBUTION: Absolutely - just let me know where
RATING: PG for now
DEDICATION: To Kim, Leisa and Rosi.

The late morning sun was filtering softly through the shaded windows as Angel entered the new offices of Angel Investigations. It hadn't been easy finding another place as well suited to his fairly unique needs as his original premises had been. It had also been really difficult to come to terms with losing all the beautiful and familiar things which he had gathered over the years and which had been destroyed in the explosion and ensuing blaze. The important thing however was that neither of his employees had been killed or even permanently injured. Angel hadn't had a family in a very long time and he wasn't about to let anything happen to this one if he could help it.

"And exactly how would you know where a cool place to hang out is, now if it was all the answers to last night's edition of Jeopardy, then maybe" Cordelia's voice met him as he entered the main office. She was over by the filing cabinets and had flung the remark over her shoulder at Wesley who was seated at the desk and apparently researching on the computer. Wesley was just about to reply to this remark when he noticed their employer and said "Good morning" to him instead. Cordelia walked over to the desk to join them and smiled at Angel. "Hey" he returned her smile "good date last night?" Cordelia waggled her fingers "so so, he wasn't as boring as Mr Commodities last year but he was no Einstein, he did take me to a really cool bar though, where some actual famous people go", this last accompanied by a meaningful glance at Wesley. "Going to see him again?" Angel asked. He glanced up from the coffee he was pouring as she began to reply, then rapidly replaced his coffee cup on the table and leapt for Cordelia, catching her just in time to prevent her falling, as she was hit by one of her brain crunching visions.

Wesley already had a glass of water and two painkillers in his hand as Angel gently helped Cordelia to the couch when her vision ended. Once she'd taken the painkillers he looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to tell him the contents of her vision. Cordelia however just stared at him wordlessly. "Well, what'd you see?" he prompted eventually. "I." she looked over at Wesley desperately. "I." She looked back at Angel "I'm not sure you want to know" she said eventually.

A short time later Cordelia was following Angel around his room as he moved back and forth packing a few clothes and many more weapons into his bag. "But are you sure the right thing to do is to go running over there, you know how you get around her and I'm not sure that I can cope with the broodathon when you get back . assuming you actually get back which we can't even be guaranteed of" Cordelia trailed off in the face of the stony silence and even stonier face that Angel was presenting her with. "Well, won't you at least wait until night fall?" she pleaded. Angel put his hand on her shoulder, he knew that she was merely concerned "Cordelia, you know that I have no choice here, that I would go no matter what the danger to her was and in this case I absolutely have to go". At that moment Wesley entered the room to tell Angel that the car was ready as requested and caught the end of what Angel was saying. "Ah, yes, go, um the car is ready Angel, now where exactly are we going?" Cordelia glanced up at Angel and knew that she couldn't dissuade him. Looking over at Wesley, she sighed heavily and answered for Angel "Home, we're going home".

It was still only early afternoon as the big, black convertible sped down the expressway. The roof was up and the windows were tinted but Cordelia wasn't about to let her employer take any chances with the sunlight and had insisted that he travel under a large, dark grey blanket. She was riding shotgun while Wesley drove. She had been grumbling about Angel's refusal to let her drive his car since they'd pulled out of the parking garage nearly an hour ago. Angel was just letting her voice drift over him, there were some advantages to travelling under the blanket, she couldn't tell for sure if he was listening to her or not. He was desperately trying to figure out what he was going to do when they reached their destination. He'd faced many dangerous adversaries over the last couple of centuries, risked his own life to save others many times, would risk more than that to save this particular life - but this vision of Cordelia's, it didn't make sense, wasn't possible. He sighed as he realised that most people would think that his very existence didn't make sense. If there was one thing he should have learnt from the last two and a half centuries it was that anything was possible.

Angel was still lost in his own thoughts when he realised that Wesley has asked him a question. "Sorry, I was miles away" he admitted. "Yeah, well not that many miles away I guess" Cordelia cut in "We just passed the Sunnydale sign, so I guess we've pretty much caught up to your thoughts huh?" "Yes, I was just asking where we were heading for specifically" Wesley added. "I guess we need to get indoors before you start getting the tan to end all tans" Cordelia said, determined to keep her mind focused on Angel and not let it worry about how she was going to cope with being back in her home town, back where she might run into her old friends and they might realise that she wasn't quite the up-and-coming starlet she'd been claiming to be. Angel hadn't even given her time to change her clothes before they left.

"I guess we should head for Crawford Street" Angel told Wesley, "at least I know it's daylight-proofed". Wesley turned the car towards the old mansion where Angel had once made his home. He pulled into the garage of the property, the door of which had rolled back with the push of a button on the remote that Angel had produced from somewhere in the depths of his blanket. Angel twisted around and aimed the remote again, closing the door behind them before throwing off his blanket and following Wesley and Cordelia out of the car and into the mansion itself.

His two friends looked around the enormous main hall of the mansion as Angel moved about it switching on lights and lighting the fire that had already been set in the huge, stone fireplace. They looked at each other, both wondering exactly how and why the place was still so lived in looking. Neither of them said anything though. Angel finished with the fire and asked if either of them wanted tea or a soda. Cordelia followed him as he headed toward the kitchen to get the drinks they'd requested. "Um, are you stocked up here?" she asked hesitantly, "Y'know, do you want me to make a run to the um.." Angel smiled at her; "I'm fine, I can always pick up some more supplies later". He headed toward the refrigerator and opened it to get their sodas. He stopped suddenly as he was about to remove the canned drinks noticing that in fact his emergency stock of blood was missing from it's normal place. Turning to Cordelia he said "Looks like he got here ahead of us".

**************

He stopped suddenly as he was about to remove the canned drinks as he noticed that in fact his emergency stock of blood was missing from it's normal place. Turning to Cordelia he said "Looks like he got here ahead of us".

**************

Night was just falling as a tall, dark figure emerged from the shadowy depths of the alleyway running beside the Bronze. Moving swiftly and silently and with a certain arrogant grace he seemed to merge into the shadows as he disappeared from sight.

**************

Angel and his friends were seated around the fire that was blazing in the huge hearth in Angel's mansion. Cradling coffee mugs and balancing several volumes taken from Angel's extensive library they were researching in an attempt to discover exactly what was at the root of Cordelia's vision. It just didn't seem possible, but then in Sunnydale the impossible was beginning to seem commonplace.

Angel closed the book he had been flicking through and slammed his fist on the cover in frustration. A cloud of dust rose from the abused volume causing to Cordelia to sneeze loudly. "Angel, you know I have a dust allergy, not to mention an old book allergy, d'you think you could vent on something, you know, clean the next time" she exclaimed. But even Angel could tell that her heart wasn't in it, she was unable to hide the underlying anxiety in her voice.

Wesley closed the book he was reading " We're not achieving anything here, we still have no idea what's going on. I don't mean to belittle your vision Cordelia, but it was rather vague, are you absolutely sure that you saw Angelus and that he was in Sunnydale?". Cordelia sighed. "Wes, I would think that you of all people would realise exactly how sure I can be when I say I saw Angelus, not our good Angel, definitely the big, bad, nasty version, ya know Soul-less and less fussy about his diet!" Wesley picked up another book, "Yes, I suppose you would recognise the difference and you did grow up in Sunnydale so I suppose the location is also correct, if I could just figure out."

Angel unfolded his body from the chair and began to pace restlessly around the room. He wasn't sure he should have brought his friends with him, he had no idea what was going on, he knew however that if Angelus was really involved it was going to be dangerous. He smiled slightly as he thought how dangerous it would have been to try to stop Cordelia coming with him once her mind was set on it. He was always fondly amused by her protective instincts towards him, sometimes she acted like she was his mother, instead of which she could be his many times great-granddaughter. Shaking his head he returned his mind to the problem facing them.

"I think we have no choice but to contact Giles" he said finally. "I agree" Wesley added at once, "He does have some particular texts that are missing from your collection". "Yes" agreed Angel "in any case, he has a right to know if Buffy is in danger". "What about Buffy?" Cordelia asked "Don't you think that she has a right to know too?" "Of course" Angel answered "I just don't think that I'm the best person to warn her about this, I'm not even sure what I'd be warning her about, and I don't know how she'd react to having to face Angelus again, that whole thing was really rough on her". "Oh yeah, it was a real picnic for the rest of us, who didn't sleep with our boyfriends thereby causing them to lose their souls and " Cordelia trailed off having noticed the look that Angel was sending in her direction.

**************

Buffy hummed a little tune to herself as she removed her clothes from the dryer. God it was nice to be doing something as normal as laundry. She laughed as she thought she must be getting mature or old or something to enjoy doing laundry. Her head close to the drum as she leaned in to remove the last few items, she didn't hear the door to the laundry room open quietly behind her. She did however notice the tingle in her spine that told her there was a vampire in the vicinity and she pivoted gracefully, smoothly turning toward the door whilst palming a stake from her back pocket. She relaxed her fighting stance almost immediately as she saw exactly who had opened the door.

"Hey Buffy " the tall, dark vampire said softly. "Angel" she replied, "I wasn't expecting to see you". "Well, I tend to specialise in the unexpected if you remember" he replied. "What's up? Did Cordelia have a vision? Do you need my help?" "No, nothing like that, though I do need you"

"What?" Buffy thought she must have misheard him. He laughed softly "Sure, I've always needed you, just haven't always been able to admit it. But you know the therapy must be working or something because I'm not afraid to say it anymore, I need you". Hope sprung into Buffy's eyes, had Angel really come back to her. Caution remained there also; she found it hard to believe that Angel would change his mind just like that

"You want a hand with that?" He reached over and took the laundry basket from the top of the dryer. "Huh, oh sure" Buffy replied, her thoughts still on Angel's reason for being here. Together they headed towards Buffy's dorm room. Still distracted she didn't notice his slight hesitation as they reached the door of her room, "Hmm, can I come in and you know talk for a while?" he asked. "Of course, come in, make yourself at home, my dorm room is your dorm room" Buffy babbled, startled out of her thoughts by his question. She ushered him ahead of her into the room and taking the laundry basket from him returned it to its place in the closet. Turning to face him, she discovered that he had moved over to the bed and was now lounging on it. He seemed completely relaxed and somehow different. Of course she'd expect him to be different, had noticed it when she had followed Faith to L.A. and confronted him about helping her, but there was something tonight that she hadn't noticed even then. She couldn't put her finger on it but knew that there was something.

"You want a soda or something?" she asked. "No, I thought I might go for something a little stronger" he drawled in reply. Buffy had half turned toward the small refrigerator where she and Willow kept their supply of sodas, now she swung around, that hadn't sounded like Angel, that sounded more like..he sprang up lithely from the bed and lifted his face towards her to reveal his glowing, yellow eyes gleaming at her from his vampiric visage.

****************

Hi, you've reached Buffy and Willow, we can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message and we'll get back to you" Giles groaned with frustration as he heard the message again. He'd been calling repeatedly ever since he'd heard from Angel and as yet had failed to reach either of the two college students.

He picked up the phone again and dialled the number of the Mansion. This time the phone was answered on the first ring "Giles", it was Angel's voice "did you get hold of Buffy to warn her yet". "Unfortunately not, I'm afraid. She should have returned to her dorm room by now, I spoke to her earlier in the day and she told me she intended to spend the evening there studying, she has a paper due, I am really starting to get concerned". "I think I'll have to go over there and check things out" Angel replied. "Yes, that's probably a good idea, Wesley arrived here a few minutes ago and is starting to look through my library, I'll stay here in case she tries to contact me and assist Wesley in his research". "You have my cell phone number?" "Of course, I'll be in touch should I hear from her, and Angel," "Yes" "Do be careful, from what you say I suspect that both you and Buffy are in very real danger". "Thanks, Giles, I will be". Angel replaced the telephone in its cradle and headed for his supply of weapons.

******************

"Well, here we are Lover, back where we started out. By the way did I ever thank you for that, I mean not the sex obviously 'cos that wasn't up to much, but for freeing me? ". He smirked down into her face as she struggled against the chains he'd used to bind her. Maybe he'd gone overboard with the chains actually but he knew the Slayer well enough to know that it was better to be safe than sorry.

She'd been easy enough to overpower, shocked as she was by what she thought was Angel's having lost his soul again. He knew that she wouldn't stay subdued for long though and wanted to be sure that she would be in no position to demonstrate her ire when she recovered from her current state of numbness. He easily hefted her small frame into one of his powerful arms and used the other to push open the door of his old apartment. He walked through the dimly lit room and deposited her on the bed. Buffy's eyes widened in horror as she realised where they were.

******************

"Buffy, are you here?" Angel gingerly pushed the door of her room, which he'd found ajar, further open and peered around it. The room was empty so he entered it. Looking around he noticed a heavy, cream envelope propped up against Buffy's pillow. Cautiously he walked over and picked it up. Opening it he removed the single sheet of paper it contained, recognising the stationery as that favoured by himself in all of his incarnations both mortal and immortal. He unfolded the paper and found a drawing of Buffy in the embrace of a figure that could have been himself, but that he realised was actually his alter ego. He was too late, Angelus had Buffy and Angel had no idea where he would have taken her. Taking his cell phone from his pocket he called Giles and updated him. "I'll be right over to your place, we need to figure out where he's got her" he finished. "Are you sure that he hasn't just um.." Giles couldn't bring himself to say the words. "No, I'd know if anything like that had happened, wherever he has her, she's still alive" Angel replied.

**********************

Buffy gave herself a mental shake since a physical one was out of the question bound as she was hand and foot. She had to overcome her sense of shock and figure out what was going on and how to get out of here. Well actually she had a pretty good idea of what was going on, Angel had lost his soul again. Despite being in imminent danger of being killed Buffy couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy that somebody else had given him that moment of true happiness required. How could he have taken comfort in somebody else, did he love her now more than he had ever loved Buffy. She supposed she had only herself to blame, she had after all rather rubbed his face in the whole Riley thing.

Damn, she needed to stop this, she needed to concentrate on how to get out of here. She had heard Angel leave shortly after he'd left her on the bed and reckoned he had gone to hunt. He wouldn't want to get carried away and kill her too quickly just because he was hungry. No he'd want to keep her around for a few days, torture her, kill her slowly. She looked around and was amazed at how little had changed, it was hard to believe that it was nearly three years since the last time she'd been here. The last time had been the day after her seventeenth birthday, she'd gone to find Angel, worried because he hadn't been there when she'd woken up. He'd been here all right but he hadn't been her Angel, just the demon that wore his face.

Just then she heard the door open. She forced herself to lie still on the bed and listen carefully as Angel came back into his apartment. She stiffened involuntarily as she realised that he wasn't alone. For a moment she thought that he had brought his victim home, perhaps to taunt her as he fed in front of her. The other person who had entered the apartment was a blonde girl but she didn't appear to be struggling. Angel held her by the hand but she appeared to be a willing accomplice. Perhaps he had used his perfect face and form and his old-fashioned charm to lure her here. As the couple advanced further into the room the flickering light from the candles which lit the room caught the girl's face. Buffy gasped in shock. "You, but you're .".

"Dead, well I was dead for a long time before we met little girl, perhaps it would be more true to say dust ?". Darla walked slowly towards the bed and Buffy, enjoying every moment of the fear and confusion that she could sense from the Slayer. "How, I mean, well yeah I guess I mean how ?" Buffy stammered. Darla's mouth sketched a smile, so cold and cruel that it seemed wrong to even call it a smile. "Oh, I have friends in high places, well actually low places, the very lowest places" she replied airily.

Angel walked over and stood behind Darla, his huge hands reached around her to caress her waist, she leaned back towards his firm torso and growled, a soft, low growl. Angel responded in kind and used his hands to mould her body back against his own. Dipping his head into the curve of her neck he nuzzled against her jugular. "Angelus, please we have company" Darla scolded him playfully, all the while pressing herself ever more firmly against him. "Hell, I don't care, maybe she'll learn something, as I recall she had plenty of room for improvement" was his response. Darla pulled away from him abruptly, not liking to be reminded that he had shared his body with the Slayer of all people, that magnificent body which truly belonged to her. If it weren't for her admiration of his body the worms in Galway would have eaten him more than 200 years ago.

Buffy noticed Darla's response and filed it away, it was always useful to know your enemy's weaknesses. Her mind was racing, first Angel reverting to the demonic Angelus, now Darla showing up. For a moment she questioned her sanity, even by her admittedly wacky standards this was very strange. She decided that there was no point in going down that road however, the situation certainly felt real enough, she would have to take a leap of faith in her own mental health and deal with things as they happened.

Angelus pulled Darla back into his arms. He began to whisper to her, so quickly and softly that it was beyond even Buffy's enhanced hearing. After a moment Darla relaxed against him and allowed him to kiss her between murmurings. Buffy realised that whatever he was saying it wasn't in English. She tried to ignore the vampiric couple and concentrate instead on how to loosen her bonds. She had heard a faint groaning sound from one of the links earlier when she had tested the chains and figured that there was a weakness there that would yield eventually to her subtle yet powerful movements against it.

Her mind began to wander again even as she continued her attempts to sever the weak link. She was finding it difficult to watch Angel kissing another woman. Even though she realised that this was Angelus and that her Angel was possibly gone forever this time a searing pang of jealousy coursed through her as she watched them. At least she knew now how he'd lost his soul, she wondered if it had always been Darla for him. He must have loved her a lot to have spent so much time with her. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, that same something different that she had noticed with Angel back in her dorm room. It was as though a thought, something really important was just beyond her grasp. Like she could just reach out a tendril from her mind and grasp it and use it. But when she attempted to latch on to it, the thought slithered away.

******************

Angel reached Gile's apartment in record time even for him.. He knocked softly and the door was opened immediately by Wesley. Giles was anxiously pacing around his living room as Angel entered. Angel realised at once that both ex-Watchers were even tenser than when he'd spoken to them earlier. "Hey, what's happening?" he asked. "I'm afraid it's even worse than we thought" Wesley answered. "Mr Giles and I have been researching to try and find out how Angelus could be here when um you are also." "Good God man, would you get to the point" Giles interrupted. "Angel," he continued "We think we have some idea of what is happening, and more to the point who is causing it to happen. We fear that Angelus is not the only demon to be brought forth to battle against you and Buffy".

Wesley picked up the scroll of Aberjian from where it had been lying on the table. He pointed to a particular passage "See, this is another whole passage regarding the vampire with a soul, well you actually. It speaks of a mighty battle between the vampire with the soul and a demon, a battle that has been fought within for over 2 centuries but will now be fought without. The demon will call forth to help him another of his kind, one he has loved. The overlords of Hell have sent them, from the deepest of the demon dimensions, to battle the vampire with a soul and his consort the slayer. They will attempt to prevent the warriors for the forces of good from fulfilling their destiny. If they succeed a millennium of darkness will fall upon the earth ".

**************

As Wesley finished speaking a hush descended, each of the men lost in his own thoughts for a moment, contemplating the meaning of the prophecy. Giles and Angel silently reassuring themselves that Buffy had cheated prophecy before and might well do so again.

A loud banging on the door rudely interrupted their thoughts. Angel was at once alert, moving smoothly and silently towards the door, his every enhanced sense alive to danger. As he neared the door his attitude relaxed slightly as he heard Xander's voice from the other side. He opened the door and Xander almost fell through followed closely by Anya. "Hey, Dead Boy" he greeted Angel as he passed. "Don't suppose you've been using your old apartment, over by the Bronze by any chance?" he asked. "No" Angel answered tersely. "Well somebody is, we passed by there on our way over and there were lights on in there. Then we saw you and some blonde chick going in there, well not you I guess, him".

"Giles, where do you keep your weapons? " Angel asked quietly. Giles directed him towards the weapons chest with a small gesture, barely pausing in his pacing to do so. "What are you planning?" Wesley asked Angel. "I really don't know, I'm going to go over there and see what's going on, he's just arrogant enough to have brought Buffy there". "It definitely wasn't Buffy I saw him with" Xander interrupted. He joined Angel at the weapons chest and began to take a bundle of quarrels from it. "You're not coming with me" Angel told him quietly. Xander was about to protest when Angel continued, "We left Cordelia at the mansion in Crawford St., I'm not happy about her being alone there, I need you to go pick her up and bring her back here. She should be alright here, the vampires can't come in, the place in Crawford St. belongs to me and is open house for them". Angel handed his car keys to the younger man. Xander for once didn't argue, simply took Anya's hand and headed towards the door to do as Angel had asked.

Angel finished arming himself and turned to Giles and Wesley. "I have to do this alone" he told them. He cut off the protests from both men "I'm just going to see what's going on there, I need you two to continue researching. We need to know who the demon that Angelus has brought forth to assist him is. If Buffy is at the apartment I'll contact you immediately. In the meantime we really need to know who we are taking on". Without giving them any further chance to protest he moved to the door in a couple of long, lithe strides and disappeared into the shadows outside.

*******************

Buffy was despairing of ever managing to break the chains that bound her, weak link or not. She seemed to have been lying here for hours, sawing away at her bonds and still they held firm. Logically she knew that she hadn't actually been there for more than one hour but it was certainly the longest hour she'd ever experienced. She looked around her again. Angel and Darla had left the room some time before, though not before they had made her feel physically ill with their lovemaking. She shook her head, she must not let herself get distracted by her jealousy. It was, in any case, pointless. Angel was gone and she certainly wasn't jealous of Angelus, even if he did share that magnificent physique.

She forced herself to breathe quietly so that she could use her enhanced hearing to full effect. She wasn't able to hear any sound except the low hum of the small refrigerator. Of course that didn't mean that one, or even both, of them wasn't in the apartment. It wasn't as if they had to breathe or even had heartbeats. Normally she would simply know if a vampire was in the room with her but her slayer sense was a little thrown by being here in this apartment where there had always been a vampire with her and she had nevertheless always felt safe.

Just then she heard a sound from outside the door of the apartment. A tiny shuffle really, without her slayer powers she wouldn't even have noticed it. She tensed and re-doubled her efforts to free herself. She watched mesmerised as the door opened slowly and the familiar brown, spiky head of hair came into view. It was just Angel, or rather Angelus, back again from wherever it was he and Darla had gone. His blonde sire didn't seem to be with him this time. Angel didn't turn immediately towards the bed and Buffy. In fact he seemed to be checking the place out, as if he was expecting to be ambushed almost. Eventually his examination of the apartment led him towards the bed and as soon as he noticed Buffy he moved swiftly towards her.

Buffy tensed for another attack, whether he would choose to attack physically or just taunt her verbally. Instead he swept a glance over her, a glance that she would have sworn was designed to check for injuries if she didn't know that this was not her Angel. His eyes met hers and he breathed her name and in that moment she knew that this was her Angel, she didn't know what the hell was going on but she knew without doubt that this was her soul mate. He began to examine her chains to figure out how to release them. Buffy continued to stare at him as he did so, she was completely confused. Had Willow somehow re-cursed him in the time since he'd captured her. Angel found the weak link in the chain as she had and used his vampiric strength in an attempt to break it. His efforts to free her were interrupted suddenly by a drawl from behind him "Lover, you've finally made it, I was getting worried".

Angel spun around to face his sire. "Darla" he breathed. Even as he spoke his fingers were snaking into the pocket of his duster to retrieve the stake he'd stashed there earlier. Well, now he knew whom the demon that Angelus had brought forth was. He still didn't know how all this was happening but reckoned that now was not the time for deep thinking. "We'll have to stop meeting like this" he said coolly and even managed a smirk. Darla smiled in return "Don't worry, we won't be meeting again. This time I'm going to kill you. I think I owe you that, don't you?" Angel fingered the stake inside his pocket and began to move towards his former lover. "I don't know about that, I quite enjoyed dusting you the last time, wouldn't mind a repeat performance". He continued to move, like a big cat poised to attack, as he spoke.

Darla leapt towards him, a stake suddenly appearing in her hand also. Her other hand snaked out of the shadows holding a small bottle. She emptied the contents over Angel. He retreated, gasping in pain, his face, neck and right hand burnt by the holy water. Darla followed his retreat with an attack of her own. Angel grasped her wrist in a desperate attempt to stop her stake finding its target. He attempted to bring his own stake out of his pocket but his damaged hand refused to comply with his instructions and the stake fell uselessly to the ground. He struggled against the petite blonde vampire, fighting now desperately not just for his life, but for Buffy as well. He couldn't allow the prophecy to come true, couldn't allow a millennium of darkness to fall on the earth.

Darla was however extremely powerful. She had obviously fed often and recently and he was no match for her, in pain as he was. He was losing the struggle as she inched the stake ever closer to his heart. He wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. He moaned Buffy's name, determined that if he was to die it would be with her image in his mind. Darla sensed victory was close, grinning at her childe as she pressed the stake ever closer. Savouring the moment of the kill, the moment she had always lived for. She prepared to plunge the stake in her former lover's heart, to repay his act of betrayal when he had done the same to her. "Goodbye loser" she murmured.

Suddenly a small, immensely strong hand appeared over her shoulder and pulled her away from her quarry. Buffy, freed of her bonds at last, flung her, head over heels, against the far wall of the apartment. "Sorry", she smiled sarcastically at Darla's crumpled form "He's not going anywhere, can't say the same for you though. You know I thought we'd sorted this out the last time, he's not your lover anymore. He's mine". With that Buffy picked up the stake that Angel had dropped on the floor and threw it straight into Darla's heart. This time she didn't even have time to murmur his name before she exploded into dust.

Buffy ran towards where Angel was still huddled on the ground. She lifted his head and examined his burns, they looked angry and painful but would heal quickly. He looked into her eyes, his love for her shining out of his own. "Thanks" he said. "Hey, nothing you haven't done for me" she answered. He took her in his arms and hugged her quickly. "We have to get out of here, he might be back anytime" he murmured. "Who might be back?" Buffy asked. "Angelus" he replied. "What the hell is going on here, he's you, isn't he?" Buffy was totally confused now. "I'm as in the dark as you are" Angel answered. "Just trust me, Angelus is in Sunnydale. I didn't lose my soul, somehow he's here too. Cordelia had a vision and then Giles and Wesley found a prophecy about it. We need to get back to the others before he shows up here".

Buffy helped Angel to his feet and continued to support him as they left the apartment and hurried as quickly as possible to Giles' apartment. Xander met them at the door, a frantic expression on his face.. "Buff, thank god you're alright". He turned to Angel "We have a problem". "Cordelia?" asked Angel. "Yeah, no sign of her at the mansion. Just this" The young man handed Angel a familiar looking cream vellum envelope. Angel removed the folded sheet of paper from the envelope and opened it. It was, as he expected, a drawing of Cordelia in the arms of his alter ego.

********************

The grinding of stone against stone as the door to his crypt was opened brought Spike fighting to consciousness from the blessed relief of the drunken stupor that had finally brought him peace the previous night. Despite the hangover that he could already feel hovering he was at once fully alert. It wasn't an easy existence he led - being known as a cohort of the Slayer wasn't exactly a healthy reputation to have in a place like Sunnydale. This wasn't the first time that some jumped up little minion, or worse yet some god awful demon, had fancied their chances at removing one of the Slayer's allies by surprising him just as dark fell. Old Spike'd been around too long to be caught out like that, come to that even as a fledgling he'd known better than that. Say what you like about Angelus, and most of what Spike liked to say was anything but flattering, but when you learnt from him you learnt from the best.

Spike remained motionless on the old stone coffin that did service as his bed. He didn't want his attacker to realise that he'd lost the element of surprise. Under the blanket he'd pulled over himself last night he fingered the stake that he never slept without. He could hear the footsteps coming nearer now. No breath or heartbeat so this was most likely a vampire. He could feel an odd tingling also, funny that had usually meant that he was in the presence of his sire. That poof wouldn't be sneaking up on him here though, he was far too busy with his do-gooding in L.A and breaking the Slayer's heart.

Spike could understand a little better these days how his Sire had fallen for the beautiful young teenager. Not that he himself would have been able to put up with Buffy's whining for more than a minute without feeling a serious craving for the blood of a slayer. Still he could see the appeal of all that life and energy that seemed to flow from Buffy and her friends. Especially her friends.

The tingling feeling was getting stronger all the time. He would have sworn that old Peaches was in the room. Well he was about to find out exactly who it was any second, he could hear the footsteps approaching now. Just as he felt somebody lean over him his hand snaked out from under his blanket and grasped his attacker by the throat. He opened his eyes as he began to bring his other hand, and the stake it contained, into the attack. His eyes widened in shock as he recognised the devilish brown eyes, the familiar spikes of hair. "What the bloody hell are you doin' 'ere ?" he demanded of his sire.

Angel calmly removed Spike's hand from his throat. "Spikey, Spikey, is that any way to greet your sire, a little respect please?" Spike sat up and glowered at the tall, dark vampire. As he did so, he noticed what Angel was wearing. "When did you start wearing leathers, I thought you gave all that up when you became all soul having again" he remarked. "Well, maybe I would've if I'd actually had that soul forced down my throat. Since I'm still all guilt free though I guess I've still got it in the style stakes too". "Are you sayin' what I think you're sayin' ?" Spike asked. "Miss me?" was Angelus' reply.

"Yeah, like I miss having holy water poured all over me" muttered Spike. He wasn't exactly fond of the big poof but he liked the soul-less, Dru-stealing version of his Sire even less. Oh, he could still remember being captivated by those eyes, that flashing smile, the Irish charm, and the magnificent physique. He was still glad that Angelus had found him interesting and attractive enough to change him. They'd had some really good times during the quarter-century before they lost track of Angel in Romania. Damn, he could even still appreciate the beauty of that body but he was nowhere near forgiving him for taking Dru from him. Anyway the bugger was a few sandwiches short of a picnic, always plotting the end of the world or some such.

"What d'you want?" Spike snarled. "I'm sure you didn't come poncing around in my bloody home just to catch up on old times". He wondered idly how the bastard had come to lose his soul this time. It could be considered careless to lose it twice. Actually come to think of it hadn't the old bugger said he'd never gotten it back - nah, he must have been dreaming.

"I need you to run an errand for me, deliver a message" drawled Angelus. "As I remember you were quite the little messenger boy in the old days, hope you haven't lost your touch, like I hear you've lost your teeth, huh". Spike was really remembering why he hated this bastard. "Oh yeah, what if I don't want to run your messages for you?" he asked defiantly. Angelus took a piece of cream coloured paper from this pocket and slowly unfolded it. "Well, I don't think it would be all that healthy for a certain young witch if you were to take that attitude, a certain young witch that I hear you've developed quite a crush on, well you always did have strange taste in women". As he spoke he extended the page to show Spike the sketch of Willow, bound and gagged that it contained.

Spike gulped, how the hell did Angel know about that. He hadn't told anybody. Shit he'd forgotten that dream-connection thing that Angel had always had with all of them, his children. Damn, the big wanker had been in his dreams. "Where is she?" "Safe, for now" Angel replied. "Won't stay that way though unless you go along like a good boy and deliver a message to the Slayer for me, oh and to Guilt Boy too" "Who?" "You'll see, you just tell them that they both need to come to the old High School tomorrow night. They should come alone and un-armed or they'll never see the little witch or the seer again".

*******************

Angel, Buffy and Xander were still standing in the open doorway of Giles' apartment, the shock of learning of Cordelia's disappearance still apparent on Angel's handsome features, when they heard running footsteps at the top of the steps leading into the courtyard. The two warriors immediately tensed ready to protect their friends, Angel wincing from the pain caused by moving his burned and damaged hand. The footsteps came further down the stairs and a young, blonde and obviously distressed girl came into view.

"Tara" Buffy exclaimed "Are you all right?" She glanced over Tara's shoulder expecting Willow to appear - the two young witches appeared inseparable these days. There was no sign of the redhead however. Having recovered enough breath to speak Tara opened her mouth and seemed to suddenly notice the tall, dark stranger behind Buffy. Her mouth remained hanging open in shock but no sound emerged. She pointed at him and eventually croaked "Y.y.you, w..what have you done with Willow ? ".

"Willow, something's happened to Willow?" Buffy asked at once. "He took her, we were walking back to her dorm room and he seemed to appear out of nowhere and he just picked her up and disappeared again". Tara was beginning to sob again, clearly confused about why the man who had kidnapped her girlfriend was calmly standing here with Willow's friends who apparently knew him. Buffy glanced from Tara to Angel, "No, you don't understand" she told the other student. "It wasn't him, it was somebody who looked like him. Tara, this is Angel". "Angel" Tara echoed bemusedly. She had, of course, heard from Willow all about the handsome, cursed Vampire and his erstwhile relationship with the Slayer. She pushed the fall of streaky blonde hair that she had allowed to cover her face behind her ears and looked a little more closely at Angel, noticing now the concerned, yet slightly guilty, expression on his face.

She was prevented from any further comment by the arrival of Spike. He hurtled down the stairway and into the courtyard using all of his vampiric speed. Coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of his sire standing in the entrance to the ex-Watcher's apartment with Buffy and that young witch that Willow was going around with. What the hell, didn't they know that the old man had turned again. Angel calmly greeted his childe "Spike, what brings you here in such a hurry?". "You should know, you're the one that sent me"

"Angelus sent you here?" Buffy interjected. "Yeah, told me to tell the Slayer and guilt boy to meet him, on their own, at the old high school tomorrow night, I've no idea who guilt." Spike's voice trailed off. He peered into Angel's eyes as if seeking to see his soul there. "You're not him are you, you're soul-boy? What the .". "Yes, I still have my soul. Yes it was Angelus you met earlier. No we have no idea how this happened" Angel answered Spike's questions both asked and unasked. He extended his hand to take the paper that now hung limply from Spike's hand. Opening it he found the drawing of Willow, he handed it to Buffy and noted the tightening of her features as she became even more worried for her best friend.

Giles, who had joined the group at the door in time for Spike's arrival, ushered all of them into the apartment. Buffy took Angel's hand and led him to one of the comfortable armchairs in the seating area of the room. She began to examine his wounds. Wesley joined her and proceeded to fuss over his employer to such an extent that Buffy felt her services as a nurse were no longer needed and she sat on the arm of the chair on his uninjured side, taking his hand as she sat.

Xander had joined Anya in the kitchen where she was making tea on Giles' instructions. Giles was busy ensuring that Tara was as comfortable as possible. He seated her in another of the room's armchairs, opposite Angel and Buffy. She looked across at the handsome couple from under her wing of hair, her eyes appeared to go slightly out of focus as she trained her heightened perceptions on them. "Oh, so that's it" she murmured. "Sorry, Tara, did you say something" Buffy pulled herself away from Angel's gaze. "Um, no, n..nothing".

Tara appeared almost embarrassed as she jumped out of her chair. She came across and looked over Wesley's shoulder at Angel's burns. "I c..could do a heal.. healing spell, if that would help" she offered softly. Angel looked up in surprise, he had expected that the girl would remain suspicious of him, given that she had seen "him" abduct her girlfriend earlier in the night. Most people would have been at the very least confused but she seemed to have accepted him easily as a different person. "That would be great, thank you" he answered in his soft, deep voice. Wesley bustled off to locate the required magical ingredients from Giles' supplies. Angel and Tara then went into the small, back room so that Tara wouldn't be distracted whilst doing her spell.

A short time later they both returned to the main group. Giles had put Xander, Anya and Buffy to work at his collection of books in an attempt to find any further references to the events that were unwinding. Spike was in the kitchen rifling Giles' liquor collection. Wesley was just coming back in the front door as the vampire and the witch re-entered the room. He was holding a brown paper bag, which he proffered to Angel, whose burns were already visibly healing. "You will probably need this to er complete the healing" he told Angel discreetly. Angel smiled gratefully at his friend. "Thanks, I'll just go in back" he told Wesley and disappeared quietly. Wesley joined the research party, followed shortly by Spike, muttering that he could read just as well as the next bloke, especially seeing as how the next bloke was only Xander. Xander glared at him but, worried as he was about Willow and Cordelia, refrained from his usual baiting of the peroxide vampire.

Giles quietly slipped away from the main group after a few minutes and knocked gently on the door leading to the back room. When his knock was answered entered the room to find Angel, finished his feeding and with his features returned to normal. The burns on his face and neck were almost imperceptible now. Angel glanced questioningly at the ex-Watcher. Giles seemed a little uncomfortable. "Angel" he began "I've been thinking about how Buffy is going to cope with this. She may have to face your um alter-ego again and she has found that particularly difficult in the past". "I know" Angel replied. "It's been on my mind too. I think it may be easier this time because I will be right with her. Have you had any ideas about how any of this happened". "Unfortunately not" the British man replied. "Of course, since he wants you to meet him at the old high school, we must assume that the Hellmouth is involved. Presumably he is going to make another attempt to re-open it".

"We have to find out what he's up to. Otherwise Buffy and I are going in there blind. I have a pretty good idea how he thinks and I'm sure that he's setting up some sort of trap for us with Willow and Cordelia as bait". "Well he's not going to catch us" Buffy, who had entered the room, unnoticed by either man, interrupted. She caught and held Angel's gaze. "This time I'm going to send him to Hell instead of you" she promised in her most determined voice.

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