The lights went out. He would have to go outside to cut it off. Cordy and Wesley knew then that he was on the streets, they kept their thoughts to themselves, afraid to say it aloud. As if doing that they would stop the mayhem to happen.

    Angelus rejoiced. He was free. Well, maybe not completely, he could feel the soul still present, but the demon was in control. He stopped and contemplated for few seconds the thoughts of killing the women and the watcher, as a warm up for the action he was expecting to have in Sunnydale. But it would just delay him and he didn't want to let the lady waiting.

    Giles took some deep breaths to calm down in order to pass on to the others the news Wesley had told him on the phone call. He faced the group gathered in his living room and thought about how unfair life was, they would have to face Angelus again. He feared for all of them including him. The kids weren't the same. He was not the same. Bloody hell, even Spike had changed, although he would dust himself before admitting that.

    "I have some disturbing news."

    The animated talking stopped and he got their full attention. Giles removed his glasses to polish them with a handkerchief and started to clean an inexisting dirty on the lens. He paced around the room trying to start but he couldn't form the words. He looked to the gang and sighed.

    "Is he scaring anyone else or it's just me?" Xander asked trying to light the mood.

    "He's right Giles, you're scaring us. Whatever it is, tell us." The slayer asked him.

    "There's no easy way to do this, so I'll be straight. Angelus is back, Angel was drugged by a woman who wanted to be turned and she gave him a tranquilizer which induced him to a status of perfect happiness."

    He observed their expressions as they absorbed the information and in all of them he saw fear.

    Buffy was the first one to react and her first words made Giles sure about how bad the news had affected her.

    "I'm going to look for Willow. It's not safe for her to be outside alone."

    "She's not alone, Tara is with her." Xander did regret what he said when he got a frozen look from the slayer.

    "I want to have all of you near me. No one leaves this house at night alone. It's a order." Her eyes passed through the room stopping on each one of them to make sure that they got the message.

    "Not even you." She pointed to Spike.

    "Why not? Do you think I can't deal with Angelus?"

    "That's the reason Spike. I don't know if I can trust you. What if the two of you decide to blow the world again?"

    He started to answer but Buffy was outside already.

    Willow was walking on the park when she saw Angel. The sadness she was felling because of her argument with Tara blowed away when he walked in her direction looking happy to see her. She admired how he moved, he was so confident, a smile playing in his lips, the glint in the eyes and all of that seemed to be to her!

    <This can't be happening. I must be day dreaming>. She looked the stars above her head and chuckled. <Ok, night dreaming, but it doesn't change the fact that this isn't real.>

    He approached her and took her hand pushing her in his direction. She held her breath when she felt his cold lips touching her own lips briefly. Then he kissed her hand.

    "Willow."

    When he spoke the spell was broken and she realized that just now he had talked to her, and even if he hadn't, she would have gone with him wherever he wished to take her.

    His hand touched her chin making her look straight into his eyes. It was all that she needed to know that she was lost.

    "Angelus."
 

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

    Buffy walked for two hours, considering the size of Sunnydale it meant that she covered the whole town and even then no sign of Willow. She entered the coffee shop to use the public phone in order to check with Giles if her friend was there already. After getting a negative answer, she called her dorm and left a message to Willow call Giles and doesn't leave the dorm alone. Every passing minute she was getting more concerned with Willow's safety.

    She sat on a bench at the park and started to cry, the sobs shaking her body. She did something that she hadn't done in a while, she prayed. After ten minutes she decided that she couldn't do that alone. She wouldn't give up on her friend, even if that meant that she would have to search on the hellmouth itself.
    She gave a few steps when something shining in the grass got her attention she took it and Buffy felt nauseous when she saw that she had in her hand Willow's cross. She ran the whole away to Giles, she ignored the people staring at her, and she ignored the burning sensation in her lungs, all her thoughts where in Willow.

    <Please, be ok. Please be ok.> The tears soaked her face but she didn't worry in drying her face, that would make her slow down and she couldn't do that.

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

    Angelus was surprised, she knew exactly who he was and didn't seem to be scared at all. That was the second time he had underestimated her. The first time he did that, she had managed to bring the soul back. He should stay alert and not allow that to happen again. This time he thought she would scream and beg for her life, but no, she just stared at him, with a smile in her lips. At his request she had dropped her cross on the ground and now they were going to a place he had prepared before going to look for her.

    She was sad, he could feel that and she had the sweet scent that he already knew. He sniffed again, intrigued. She had another scent all over her, a female one. He growled at her.

    She looked at him with an interrogative expression.

    "What? Are you hungry?"

    "Who is she?" He demanded.

    She dropped her head.

    "It doesn't matter, 'cause she's gone. She left me."

    He noted that she didn't try to deny anything, she just opened up to him. <She looks miserable because of this woman. Maybe I should kill her for Willow as a gift.> He gave a wicked smile.

    <Talking about mood swings, now he's happy, go figure.>

    But his next words swept her off her feet.

    "Do you wanna talk about that?"

    <He seems sincere. But probably he is just trying to screw up my mind. Not that it can be messier than it is.>

    "It's a short story. Oz left me. I met her, I felt in love and then *she* left me. Pretty much the story of my life, people that I fall in love with tend to walk away on me." She sighed. "Even Buffy and Xander, we aren't close as we used to be."

    Angelus was confused, but he got some great news.
    The group was weak, it would be so easy to get the slayer, but he wasn't as thrilled as he should be.
    All that mattered to him was the little red head. She was all the excitement he needed.

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

    Buffy arrived at Giles' and didn't waste any time trying to make the news easier to be gotten.

    "He took her."

    "Are you sure?" Tears came to Xander eyes when Buffy handed him the cross. "I don't understand. How did it happen, and Tara did he take her too?"

    "No, she and Willow had a discussion, they broke up and Willow left the dorm alone. I found it at the park, she must had been taking a walk when he..."

    "No." She started to cry again. <Oh God, not again. Not in front of them, I have to be strong.> But it was too much to her, she lost her best friend to her worst enemy, the man she had loved. She started to walk into Giles direction and before she could reach him, she fainted.

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

    If it wouldn't be a blasphemy to what he was, Angelus could say that he was in Heaven. For the first time since Angel had been cursed, the demon was satisfied. Angelus held the woman who laid on the bed with him, they had been there, just talking. What was kind of a surreal experience to him. He, the Master of vampires, was with a woman and he hadn't drunk from her or inflicted any kind of physical or mental torture. Instead he was happy to be there holding and being held, just like any simple mortal.

    <I must be under some kind of spell, that's it. She's a witch after all.>

    Satisfied with himself for solving this little conscience crisis, he drifted into sleep.

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

    Willow woke up startled, taking her surroundings, she realized that she didn't know where she was. A movement close to her caught her attention. The sight of Angel's smiling face made her heart soften, but it didn't last.

    <Oh Goddess. It wasn't a dream.>

    Angel felt a heart beat beside him and the delicious sensation of a warm body near to him. Not completely awake yet, he snuggled to the source of that warmth. Then he felt someone breathing on his neck and opened his eyes.

    "Willow? What are you doing here?"

    <Great, he doesn't remember. Maybe I can give an excuse to leave or tell him that he is still sleeping or....> She took too much time thinking, the realization of what happened did hit Angel.

    "Oh God. Did I hurt you? Are you ok? Did we..." he tried to find a way to express his thoughts.

    Noting his indecision she rushed to explain.

    "No, Angel. We didn't make love. I'm fine, not even a scar. Angelus was a perfect gentleman."

    He had some difficulty to believe in that, but it was Willow, she wouldn't lie to him.

    "Why?"

    "I don't know. Maybe he thought he would have more time."

    "How do you feel about all this mess?"

    "I can't complain. I had a wonderful time, with a very interesting man. And even got some really restful sleep."

    "What happened, exactly."

    "Don't you remember? Let's say that I know enough to blackmail you and pretty enough to make you die of embarrassment. You know Angelus isn't the most discreet person in the world." She tried to make a straight face, but his concern about what he must have had revealed won the battle. She laughed until it was impossible to breathe. He started to laugh with her. When they finished he started to dry the tears that were on her face, he rested his hand on the side of her face and she leaned on his touch. They couldn't say who had started but suddenly they were engaged in a fiercely kiss.

    Willow broke the kiss and faced him, trying to make sense about what the kiss meant. She would lie to herself, when she was with Angelus she didn't care about their acts. But this was Angel and that changed totally the matter.

    Angel felt her retraction and he didn't want that. He wanted more of her, all the things she had shared with his soulless self came to his mind. And he knew why the demon didn't hurt her. He considered her as an equal, his other half. She didn't aggravate  him. She completed him. He had been looking for her his whole and very long life, if she thought that he would let her go like that, then Angelus hadn't told her everything about him.

    He had a chance and wasn't going to waste it.

    "Willow, I'm not going to leave you."

    As she didn't give sign to have understood what he mean he added. "You can fall in love with me, I'm not going to walk out on you. I'll stay."

     "It isn't this easy Angel, we can't just decide that we are going to fall in love. We have to consider others people feelings."

    "If you're talking about Buffy, you don't have to worry about her feeling towards me. She moved on, has a new life and someone with her. Why should you deny yourself to have the same. Just because this someone in your life would be me?"

    "You are right. I feel the same way, I want you, I know you."

    "Better than this, you understand me, you accepted me. It's a thing that I have never had before."

    She had tears in her eyes, as she thought about how lonely he was. Never being understood, always keeping distance from people.

    "I have to see the others, they must be worried with me. I don't how long I've been with you."

    "The sun will rise in a hour, if you hurry up I can take you wherever you want."

    She looked at her disarranged clothes and decided that she hadn't time to be futile.

    "Fine, let's go to Giles' place."

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

    The gang was defeated, they had looked for Willow the whole night and now they were back at Giles' house. They were discussing the best away to continue to search during the daytime when they heard a knock on the door. Spike who had gotten up to take some blood from the fridge opened it.

    "Willow!"

    All the talking stopped when all of them ran to the door to check if she was fine. But they stopped when saw Angel at her side. Buffy took Mr. Pointy and shot it in Angels' direction. Willow saw horrified the stake and jumped in front of Angel, the stake hurting her next to the shoulder. Angel held her and tried to enter with her into the house but he wasn't able to enter.

    "Invite me in!"

    "No!"

    "It's ok, Buffy. He has the soul back." Spike said motioning to Giles to permit his sire to get into the house.

    "In this case... I invite you."

    "Giles, are you going to believe in *Spike*?"

    "No Buffy, I'm following my instincts. If you had used yours Willow wouldn't be hurt."

    Angel laid Willow on the couch. Giles inspected the wound and said that it wasn't very bad but she would need some stitches.

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

    Giles took Willow to the hospital. Angel didn't go with her because the sun had already raised. Xander left with Anya and Spike went to Giles room to get some sleep. Being left alone with Buffy, Angel took a seat and invited her to do the same.

    "Buffy, we need to talk."

    "I hate this sentence. Nothing good comes after that."

    "This time you are kind of wrong. It's a good thing, for me at least and for Willow."

    "What do you think that you and Willow can have in common?" She was growing nervous and Angel knew that like any other woman she hated the idea of  hearing from a man that had once loved her, that he was in love with someone else.

    "We have a very important thing in common, our feelings. We have no doubts that we are truly soulmates."

    Buffy started to pace in the room and Angel shot a nervous glance at Mr. Pointy rested on the table. She stopped in front of him.

    "So, you think that you do love her."

    "I don't think Buffy. I love her, she completes me."

    "And does she love you? Are you sure about that? She said it to you?"

    "We are very sure about our feelings."

    "I just will ask it one more time. Do you *really* love her?"

    "Yes. You can ask it how many times you want, I don't have any kind of problem in expressing my feelings about her."

    "If you love her, then why are you wasting your time here with me? Go to that hospital and say all this things to her."

    "Thank you Buffy, your acceptance means a lot to Willow."

    "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now go. Sunnydale is provided with a very wonderful sewer system, I'm sure you will find one that leads you to the hospital."

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

    Angel found Willow and Giles leaving the hospital. Giles drove her to her parents house and Angel took the same way by the sewers. When he got there Giles had left already.

    Willow was resting on the couch when he knocked on the door. He entered quickly and took off the coat that was covering his head. He gave her a breath-taking kiss.

    When she made a pause to catch her breath, Angel filled her with the news of his talk with Buffy. What earned him another kiss from Willow.

    "Willow, we need to talk."

    She was going to say something when he stopped her.

    "First I have to know one thing. Is it ok if I stay here with you today?"

    She made an affirmative sign with her head.

    "Great. The second thing is, I'll leave the town tonight." As dropped her head, he cupped her face with his hands. "And I'll come back saturday, because we have a date. I mean if it's ok to you."

    She quickly agreed with him.

    "And on this date we're are going to discuss if you are going to move in with me or if I'm coming back to Sunnydale."

    She gave him the biggest smile she could.

    "Now, how about we go to your room and try to get some rest?" Before she could answer Angel took her in his arms and started to climb the stairs.
 

THE END

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