Finding Herself

Finding Herself

Disclaimer: Do I own them? Nope. See, my name is RACHEL, NOT Joss. None of these characters belong to me. I'm not making money off them, blah, blah, blah. Do you really think I would put B/A thru all of this and have Buffy sleeping with Riley? YUK!
Rating: Do you watch the show?? You can read this. Maybe PG-13ish
Summary: Begins with post-"Forever" and develops into the end of Glory. B/A
Spoilers: "Forever" (The B/A scene) and mostly everything in the B/A history that is concentrating on S5/S2
Authors Notes: ************ <~ Denotes flashback and <>are thoughts. Also, "Intervention" has NOT and WILL not take place @ all.
Distribution: My site, Angel Forevermore, the groups I send them to and if everyone else can just tell me where it's going first. I'll probably say yes!
Feedback? <G> Does Angel look hot wearing leather pants? (All together now, Nod your head "YES!")

Buffy walked into the house, sighing as she closed the door. Everything was so quiet, so…dead. Of course everything was dead…her mother and right now she felt as she were dead also.

Today had been the day from hell. The funeral. Buffy had been acting like a robot all day-mostly to keep herself from breaking down and crying. She knew that if she started right now, she'd never be able to stop. So she pushed her feelings away, kept them hidden from everyone-especially Dawn. There was so much that Dawn was going through; it was bad enough that her mom was now dead.

However, there was one person…ONE person in the whole world that still seemed to be able to break the "Buffy wall." And as Buffy sat down on the couch, she thought about him…her angel. OK, well…maybe not *her* angel anymore, but he had come to her town tonight, comforting her after the funeral.

She remembered everything: every touch, feeling, words, and…kisses that they had shared in that five-minute meet. Yes, kisses. They had kissed…she said she was `needy.'

***********

That's a bad idea." Buffy said, sitting up to look into Angel's eyes. "I'm seriously needy right now.

***********

And Angel had said "yes." He had been okay with it!

**********

"Let me worry about the neediness." Angel said. He looked into her eyes before speaking again. "I can handle it."

***********

<God,> she thought, sighing and pushing the hair out of her face. <Why don't I just scream at the top of my lungs, `Angel, I love you!'> But even afterward, although Angel was already apologizing, Buffy actually found everything okay. Once again, even after two years, he knew exactly what she needed.

**********

Angel sighed, saying, "I'm sorry."

"No. I'm *so* grateful that you came, Angel. Buffy replied firmly. And it was true, she was more grateful than Angel could ever understand. "I didn't think I was gonna be able to make it through the night."

"Well, we still have a few more minutes until I have to go." Angel said, looking up into the sky. He wanted to stay as long as he possibly could…both of them did.

"Good." Buffy replied, lying down on his chest again. Although the pain of her recent mother's death was still pounding throughout her body, she finally felt some sort of peace. "Good…"

**********

<I'm such a fool.> Buffy thought. Buffy massaged her forehead, feeling as though she was now thinking herself to the point of a headache. <God, I don't even know where we stand, anymore.>

Buffy was so deep into her thoughts, she almost missed the sound of the phone ringing-she was doing some majorly heavy brooding. However, on the third ring she caught the phone and walked over to pick it up. "Hello?" She asked.

"Buffy! Thank God you're home!"

"Willow?" She asked, confused. Willow, her best friend, sounded out of breath and incredibly freaked out. "What's wrong?"

"They got her Buffy." Willow tried to explain, panting in between every other word.

"Who got who?" Buffy asked, starting to feel a deep fear in her body.

"Glory…well, Glory's minions. They got her…" Willow explained again,

"WILLOW! WHO?" Buffy shouted in the phone. She knew that there was only one person that Glory really needed, and that was…

"Dawn." Willow said. "They got Dawn."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What?" Buffy asked. <Please tell me that I heard something wrong.> she inwardly pleaded. "Glory got…"

"She got Dawn." Willow explained. By now her breathing had slowed down to normal and she spoke to Buffy in a rushed manner. "The minions broke into Giles's place and tied her up and dragged her away."

"How?" Buffy thought. "How would they know she's the key?" <God, no. This can't be happening. I just lost my mother and now I'm getting ready to loose Dawn.>

"Well…she doesn't." Willow said. "We think she's just using Dawnie as bait…to get you out and-"

"And exchange Dawn *for* the key." Buffy said. "Do you think that could be what she's up to?"

"Look Buffy, we don't know." Willow said. By now, both of the girls were frustrated and mad beyond belief. "What do we do? Dawnie might be-"

"Do NOT say that. Dawn is *not* dead." Buffy said. That was literally the ONLY thought that was racing throughout her mind right now.

Willow took a deep breath. "Okay…what do we do, Buffy?"

"Call everyone. Get them to Giles." She said.

"You're on your way, then, right?" Willow asked her next.

"Yeah, I just…I have a call I have to make." Buffy said distantly, keeping her voice as emotionless as possible. "I'll be there in a minute. Just get the gang there."

"Okay, Buffy. See you there." And with that, the two girls hung up the phone.

Buffy buried her head in her hands. <Not NOW.> she thought. She sighed. Buffy closed her eyes, willing away the tears that were so close to spilling out. <No…I can't cry now. I don't have time.>

Buffy reached forward and picked up the phone, placing the receiver next to her ear. Never had that buzzing that she heard seemed louder. With tears beginning to fall down her cheeks, she dialed the number she had in mind.

When the person on the other line picked up, Buffy took a deep breath before saying, "Hey…It's me, Buffy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The crew at Angel Investigations had recently moved back into the Hyperion Hotel. Several days had passed since then and now, the gang was back to normal…even though Wesley was now the boss instead of Angel. Everything was running smoothly.

"Hey," Angel said, walking in from the parking lot. He had just gotten back from visiting Buffy and was trying not to make a big deal of it. "What's up, you guys?"

Gunn greeted him with a nod of his head and went back to sorting weapons. Cordelia and Wesley, on the other hand, could see through him, and knew that something major had happened in Sunnydale. Cordelia walked up to him, saying, "What happened?"

Angel shrugged it off. He really didn't want to talk about how he had been kissing the woman of his dreams…the woman he was forbidden to be with. "It was no big deal…we talked some, and just sat together." He avoided looking into Cordelia's eyes.

"How is Buffy?" Wesley asked him.

"How do you think?" Angel asked back to him. "Her mother just died. She's not skipping through the graveyard, smiling and laughing."

"Well, I figured that, Angel." Wesley replied, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Just…did your visit help?"

Angel looked down at the floor. He could still smell her on him…against his coat, feel her lips on his. "Yeah…it helped." <Helped make everything a hell of a lot more confusing.> He thought.

"Well, that's good, right?" Gunn asked the group. No one said anything. Both Cordelia and Wesley knew that Buffy and Angel had a history…A very long, angsty, and never-ending history. Oh, if Gunn only knew…

To the left on Cordelia's desk, the phone rang out. Cordelia walked over and picked it up, cheerfully saying, "Angel Investigations, how may we help you?" She paused a second, listening to the voice on the other line. "Oh…Oh, God. Okay, hold on." Cordelia covered the phone with her hand, looking at Angel. "It's for you."

"Okay.." Angel replied, walking over and picking up the phone. Cordelia gave the phone to him and walked several feet away, standing next to Gunn and Wesley.

"Hello?" a weak, meager, and frail-sounding voice said into the phone.

Right away, Angel knew who it was. "Buffy…" Angel said in surprise. "What…what's wrong?" He asked, skipping past the pleasantries.

He heard Buffy begin to sob. "Angel…they got her, they got her!"

Angel licked his lips nervously…"Who got who?" Angel asked. Behind him, he could feel his three friends begin to get worried.

"Glory…" Buffy managed to say. "She kidnapped Dawn."

"Oh God." Angel whispered into the phone.

"We think she's just using Dawn to lure me out…to tell Glory where the key is…Angel…SHE HAS THE KEY!" Buffy shouted into the receiver, before choking back her sobs.

"Buffy," <My love,> He added silently. "Everything will be okay. What…what do you want me to do?"

"Angel…come back…come back to me." She said. "I need you…I need you, and Cordelia, and Wesley to help me with this. I can't let Glory get Dawn…my sister, the key…the only person I have left with me." Buffy was on the verge of hysteria.

"Buffy…" Angel whispered into the phone. "All right. We're already out the door." He spoke without even looking back at Wesley. If this was a case where Buffy was involved, Angel was taking over. No `buts' about it. When Buffy's or one of her friend's life was in danger, Angel swore he would protect them.

"Angel…thank you." Buffy said. "I'll…I'll be at Giles. So will everyone else. God, we don't even know where to look, what to do when we find her…IF we can find her."

"Don't say that Buffy. We will find her." Angel said. "I won't let anything happen to Dawn."

Buffy sniffed back tears. "I knew you'd say that." She said. "Get here as soon as you can."

"You know I will…we will." Angel corrected.

"Thank you." Buffy said, emotionlessly. Angel began to hang up the phone when he heard Buffy begin to speak again. "Angel…I love you." And Buffy hung up the phone before Angel could reply.

Angel wanted to jump for joy that she loved him, he wanted to go walk around smiling…but there was too much going on right now. Dawn was in trouble and Buffy had asked for his help. There was no way he could screw up now. Angel turned around, looking at his associates. "We're going to Sunnydale." He said forcefully.

"Angel-" Wesley began.

"*Don't* argue with me right now, Wesley." Angel said, walking over to grab his black jacket. "We're going. No questions."

Wesley looked down at the floor before talking again. "I was just going to ask you whether you wanted us to pick you up in the back or front?"

Angel stopped and looked around, feeling embarrassed that he had jumped to conclusions the way he had. "Oh…the back is fine." He began heading that way.

"Oh great. Another trip to Sunnyhell." Cordelia said sarcastically as she, Gunn, and Wesley walked out, preparing to go to Sunnydale.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy walked into Giles's house breathless. She looked around the room nervously, glancing at the members that stood around her. "Where are they?" She asked, looking over at Giles.

"Who?" He replied.

Buffy walked inside, setting her Slayer bag down on the floor. "I…I called Angel. He and his crew are coming down here to help us."

Willow and Xander immediately looked as though they were getting ready to say something; however, with the look on Buffy's face and the expression in her eyes, everyone in the room knew that this was no time to be talking back. Buffy sat down on the cough, letting out a huge sigh. A full 24 hours hadn't even passed since they had buried her mother, and now she had to go straight into Slayer-mode to save Dawn. Couldn't she get a break? No, of course she couldn't…she was the Slayer, she had to be *strong*.

Finally, Buffy sat up, sniffing back her tears and looking around at her friends. Anya, Tara, Willow, Xander, and Giles…her friends that she could count on. They stood silently, watching her. Watching the Slayer try to deal with everything that was going on in her life. Buffy looked at all of them and attempted to smile, trying to keep the atmosphere as light as possible. "Okay…" Buffy whispered. "Where do we stand with Glory? Where do we start looking?" She looked at Giles, waiting for some kind of answer.

"Well, I guess that-" Giles's voice stopped when there came a knocking on the front door. Giles closed the book that he had open and walked over to open the door. When he opened the door, Giles somewhat gasped in surprise. "Angel…Cordelia…Wesley?" Giles said, looking at the ex-watcher. "Oh, do come in, please."

Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, and a tall stranger walked inside Giles's house. Angel closed the door behind him and looked around, taking in the old, somewhat familiar settings in. It had been two years since he was here last…and nothing had changed. However, the members of the `Scooby gang' had. He glanced around the room…Willow, Xander…Anya? Angel thought. And…someone new who sat at Willow's left side. <Oh, Tara.> Angel thought, thinking back to what Cordelia had told him about Willow and Tara.

"Giles…" Angel started, "nice to see you again." Although he spoke to Giles, his eyes were on Buffy. The woman who had just said she loved him less that two hours ago now sat less than 6 feet away from him. Her arms were wrapped protectively around herself and tears rimmed her eyes, threatening to spill any second. Millions of thoughts were racing throughout her mind right now. More than anything, Angel just wanted to take her into his arms and wipe her tears away. Make everything feel better, because no one such as she deserved pain this great at all.

"Likewise, Angel." Giles said. He nodded to Cordelia, Wesley, and the man at their side before looking back at their boss.

"Oh…this is Gunn." Angel said, looking over at Gunn.

"Hey, how you doing, man?" Gunn asked, shaking Giles hand very quickly.

"Nice to meet you…Gunn." Giles said. "This is, uh, Tara and Willow, Xander and Anya, and I'm Giles." Giles explained, pointing out each member in the room. He glanced over at Buffy nervously, who seemed that she was in an entirely different universe. "So, uh…how-how long have you been working with Angel?"

"Giles, skip the pleasantries." Buffy said, interrupting him. "We need to deal with this now. *Right* now." She looked up at him.

"Buffy, chill out." Xander said calmly. "We can deal with this easy." And Anya nodded in agreement, having no real clue about what Buffy was going through…she was just agreeing with Xander.

"You don't have the slightest idea about dealing with something like this! Neither of you do!" Buffy lashed out at him, standing up. Angel stared at her sudden change in emotions, wishing he could wish all her pains away. `You didn't just lose your Mom three days ago and now your sister is kidnapped!"

"Woah…wait a minute!" Cordelia said, stepping in. "*Sister*?!" She looked around the room. "Since when did Slay-gal get a sister? I thought we were helping her save this `key' thing."

Buffy looked as though she was about to either slap Cordelia or suddenly break down and start to cry uncontrollably. "God, I can't deal with this right now. I'm going patrolling. See if I can find anything about Glory and Dawn." Buffy walked over and grabbed her back, walking out the door and slamming it behind her.

Angel looked back at the door. He wanted…no, needed to follow her. She would be in no condition to fight with all the emotions she was dealing with right now. "Giles…maybe I should-"

"Go after her?" Giles asked him back.

"Yeah." And with that, Angel began heading towards the door. "Wesley, Gunn, Cordy…help them, okay?" Angel asked, looking back at his associates. He barely saw them all nod before following Buffy into the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Buffy!" Angel yelled, catching up with her.

"Angel," Buffy acknowledged, but continuing to walk away from him. "You don't have to come with me." She looked down at the ground, keeping her voice emotionless.

"Yes I do. I said I was coming down here to help you out." Angel replied, matching his pace with hers. "If you ran into Glory, you wouldn't have a chance against her."

Buffy chuckled. "You still know exactly what to do." Buffy said. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring ahead of her now. For several moments, no words were shared between the two. You could barely tell it, but there was actually tension between Buffy and Angel. It had been a lifetime since they had patrolled the streets of Sunnydale together…almost an entirely different lifetime. However, once again, the big, bad evil had brought them together.

Buffy and Angel walked for hours it seemed without a word being shared. By now they had reached the sea caves of Sunnydale. The two had patrolled here together in the past, and they walked along the rocky mounds, keeping their ears out for anything unexpected.

Suddenly, Buffy let out a sob and fell to her knees. In a flash, Angel was right there, holding her shoulders, comforting her. "Angel…" Buffy began to sob. "I can't- I can't do this. I can't loose my sister. Dawn, she's all I have left…I just can't loose her." She moaned over and over again.

"Shh, Buffy…" Angel soothed her, wrapping his arms around her. "It'll be okay. Everything will be okay."

"No…it will never be okay. Nothing can ever be okay again." Buffy sobbed into his chest. "nothing will ever be the same ever again."

"Buffy, you can do this…you can get through this. I told you this before, but I'll tell you again, you're strong."

"No I'm not, Angel!" Buffy screamed at him. "I'm weak, small, and I don't know what I'm doing anymore!" She looked at him. "I'm either TOO strong, not being able to let *anyone* in, or I am too weak and I can't concentrate on my job…being a Slayer. And I can't keep this up, Angel! *Everyone* that I love…Mom, Dawn…" her voice died off, unable to finish her thought or sentence.

"Buffy…Dawn will be okay." Angel said. Buffy finally looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Angel tentatively took one of his hands and wiped the tears off her satiny cheek. "You know I won't let anything happen to her. You *know* that."

Buffy sniffed back her tears and tried to gain control of herself again. She stared into Angel's eyes, wondering how she'd ever let him slip out of her hands so easily. "Angel…I *love* love, love, love, love, LOVE you…and if…if I somehow lost you also, then I would just die, I really would-"

And suddenly, his lips were on hers…pushing hard against hers. Very quickly, their simple kiss began spiraling out of control. <No!> Buffy thought. But she didn't pull away, she didn't stop.

Angel's hands traveled down her back, feeling her lips on his again. Finally, he had been allowed to see heaven again…to hold his love in his arms. He deepened the kiss, inwardly knowing that what he was doing was entirely wrong. Although he knew that Riley had gone, he knew that this couldn't be…he couldn't be doing this all over again.

Angel was about the pull back, say some kind of apology, and start moving on, but he didn't even get the chance. To the couple's left, they heard a high-pitched scream echo out into the night followed by a shrill, "Get your hands off me!" It was unmistakably Dawn.

Buffy and Angel pulled away, both of them breathing heavy. "Dawn!" Buffy yelled, heading towards the sea caves where she thought she had heard the scream. Angel only climbed to his feet and followed. When he caught up with Buffy, she was already creeping into the caves, ready for anything.

Angel followed her inside, whispering, "Be careful." Although Buffy had filled Angel in on what happened, he was still worried about this Glory-gal. There was no telling what she could be doing to Dawn right now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Buffy and Angel rounded the corner, they spotted Glory, standing in front of two of her scabby-demon minions. Angel silently walked up behind Buffy, motioning her to stop from walking out any further. Together, the two of them searched the caves with their eyes, looking for Buffy's sister.

"Where is she?" Buffy whispered to Angel. The lights were dim in the caves. Apparently Glory had set up everything in preparation for the key. Several candles and odds and ends were scattered around the room; evidently, Glory was very prepared. Torches lit the walls of the caves, lighting the walls of the room with an eerie glow. Glory obviously expected that Buffy would give the key up in order to get Dawn back.

"Buffy…" Angel whispered back as he nudged her shoulder. He pointed over to a rock on the other side of where the couple stood. Tied to the boulder with thick ropes tied around her body, was Dawn. A very frightened, scared, but apparently unharmed Dawn.

"Oh Dawn…" Buffy whispered, looking over where she was. "Angel…what do we do?"

Angel thought for several seconds. He knew that if they did anything wrong here, Dawn AND Buffy may very well loose their lives. Angel couldn't let that happen. All they needed was a way to get Dawn out of her safely and then follow out behind her. However, both of them had to keep in mind her two minions that stood at her left-hand side.

"Where IS she, Jinx?" Glory demanded. "You told me that if we kidnapped her baby sister over here, she would give us THE KEY!"

"And…and I'm sure she will, your most Glorificus Glory." Jinx replied. "We…we just need to-"

"To give her some time," Murk replied. "The…the Slayer is probably searching for you *right now* your most highest upon high one."

"Can you believe those creeps?" Buffy whispered down to Angel. "Sucking up to get bonus points with Glory."

Angel couldn't help but smile. At least with all of this she was at least trying to keep her spirits high. "All right…here's what we can do." He began talking to her. "You create a distraction with Glory. Go and fight with her…just don't get killed. I'll go rescue Dawn and get her out of here." Buffy nodded. She was following so far. "When you see Dawn get out of here, get out also. Do you think that works?"

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good to me." Both of them started moving towards their points. "Angel…be careful." Buffy whispered to him, "get her out of her as fast as possible. And…Angel?" Buffy looked over at him with nothing but love reflecting in her eyes. Angel nodded before gently kissing her lightly on the lips.

"I know, Buffy…I know." Angel replied, before moving away, blending into the darkness as he made his way over to Dawn

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy made her way over to Glory. <All right…I can do this. I can fight her. NO ONE picks on my sister but me.> she thought, trying to remain calm. The only problem was…she could distinctly remember 3 other times where she had faced Glory and gotten her ass kicked. What would make this fight any different?

"Where IS she Jinx?" Glory demanded. "I DON'T have all the time in the world. I WANT MY KEY! WHERE is she, HUH? I WANT HER HERE NOW!"

"Geez, you're going to blow someone's ear drums shouting like that." Buffy said, stepping out of the shadows. She glanced behind Glory and saw Angel continue making his way over to Dawn.

"BUFFY!" Dawn shouted.

Glory turned slightly, facing Buffy. "Well, well, well. Look who it is. The Slayer. You got my key?"

"You know I'm going to say no, so why even ask?" Buffy replied. She saw Angel approach Dawn and begin to untie the ropes. Maybe there was some way how she wouldn't have to involve anyone but herself.

"UGG! Vampire Slayers! Who needs them?" Glory asked, throwing her hands up in the air. "I mean, all you prissy little girls do is go around-"

Buffy rolled her eyes. <More in love with her own voice than the Mayor.> she thought. Finally loosing her patience, Buffy charged.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Several feet away, Angel was still trying to get the ropes undone. "Hurry…" Dawn whispered to him. "They're gonna see you."

"No they won't." Angel replied. "I'm…almost…." He heard a crack and saw Buffy go flying backwards and crash into the wall of the caves. <Buffy!> he thought, resisting the urge to go help her. He watched as she slowly picked herself up off the ground and return with a kick in Glory's side and punch in her side.

"Look what YOU DID!" Glory shouted. "YOU ripped my dress!" And she picked Buffy up and threw her against another rock.

"Angel…" Dawn whispered. "Is Buffy-"

"Buffy's going to be fine." Angel commanded. Finally, with a final twist, the ropes came undone and fell to the floor. Dawn rose to her feet and began heading out of the caves. "Dawn, get out of here. Run and don't stop until you get to Giles's."

"But…you and Buffy-" the girl started.

"We'll follow along in a minute, okay?" Angel told her comfortingly. Dawn gave one more glance to her sister before running out of the caves as fast as her legs could carry her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Buffy pulled herself back onto her feet again, slower this time. Already she felt as though this might be it…the battle that the Slayer would loose. Her legs, chest, ribs, arms…everything was killing her. She glanced over at Dawn and saw her running out of the caves. <Good…she's safe.> Buffy thought. <That's all that matters now.>

Glory, on the other hand, stood victoriously over Buffy with an evil smile on her face. "Slayer, you never learn, do you? Oh-" she looked down at Buffy. "Hey, I like your shoes. Maybe I'll pry them off your dead body."

<No, I don't think so!> Buffy thought, jumping back up to her feet and standing her full height. She punched Glory in the stomach, over and over, letting her rage of the past 48 hours do the fighting for her. She kneed her in the side, kicked her in the chest, and punched her in the mouth…any place that she could get a clear shot in. All she needed was one second to get free.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Angel was at the back of the caves, looking Buffy fight Glory. She had to upper hand of the battle so far, although, he could tell that Glory wasn't affected at all. Angel was nervous…more nervous than he ever thought he could be about someone. <Buffy….come on, get out of there. NOW.> Angel thought.

Suddenly, two pairs of scabby hands grabbed his arms, and before he could react, Jinx and Murk were dragging him out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy was exhausted. Her kicks, punches, and hits were becoming weaker by the second. She wanted a break. She wanted this to be done with. Finally, Glory got her hands free and shoved Buffy back. She went flying and landed hard on her back of the rock caves. Buffy moved to sit up and coughed up blood. She knew that she couldn't take much more. Her body couldn't handle much more. Glory walked over to Buffy on her red, high-heeled pumps. "Time's up, Slayer." She said.

Suddenly, her lackeys came up behind and her interrupted her. "My most magnificent one, highest of all that is high." Jinx started. "We think we may have found something…better."

Buffy groaned and looked up to see what her minion was talking about. Her breathing stopped, her heart literally stopped, she couldn't move a muscle. "Angel." She mouthed, unable to talk. <Oh god, oh God, oh God. They have him.>

"Oooh, a new toy." Glory said, walking up to Angel. Angel struggled to get free, but her inferiors held onto him tightly. "This could be fun."

Buffy let out another groan and climbed to her feet slowly. Her body felt as though it wouldn't respond to anything that her mind told it to do. "No…let him…go." Buffy said. She looked at Angel, who stood there defiantly. <Say something, Angel!> She inwardly begged. <Get out of here!>

Instantly, Glory's arm snaked out and grabbed a hold of Buffy's neck, squeezing the air out of her. Angel struggled more, his attempts useless. <God, I'm watching Glory basically kill her.> Angel thought. <Oh God, my love.> he thought. "Tell me Slayer, what's your little friend doing here? Is he connected TO MY KEY?!"

"We believe, you're most magnificent one, that HE is her helper." Murk said. "He…he helped Dawn escape."

Glory looked as though she was going to explode before she shrugged. "Oh well. I guess that the kid sister wasn't such good blackmail." And in another flash, Glory had her arm wrapped tightly around Buffy's neck. "Okay, tell me *friend*, Do YOU know about my key?" Angel looked down at Buffy before returning his concentration to Glory. "Tell me, or I pop the Slayer's head off like *that*." Glory said, shaking her arms back and forth. "WHERE. IS. IT?" She demanded. With each word, she only tightened her grip around Buffy's neck.

Buffy looked wide-eyed at Angel. <Please…please don't say anything stupid. Angel!>

"It's me!" Angel shouted to Glory unexpectedly. "The key…it's me!"

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