Chapter Summary: Moving along from "Inca Mummy Girl" through to "Lie to Me". Summarizing for the non-Spuffy times. Instead of Buffy and Angel moving closer towards a relationship, Buffy forced herself to try to do things with Angel to forget about the bad boy Spike. She finds herself still thinking of Spike a lot more often than she should, and she isn't thinking about killing him. She actually looked through all of Giles' books to find as much information about William and Spike that she could.

Author's Note: Not all dialogue or scenes are going to be exactly like the episodes because I am tweaking them to fit the progression of this story. Credit to the great Joss Wheadon and his writers for the quotes that I do use from the episodes. Blood play will more than likely have some part in almost every chapter from here on out. It might just be a little bit or a lot as we are moving things along with Buffy and Spike. Also, Buffy has not cut her hair as short as she did in canon. She left it as long as it was in "School Hard".

Disclaimer: All characters originally created by Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy belong to them by all rights. I just sneak them out of the vaults to play with them whenever I can. I do not make any money off of this. I have only the satisfaction that others enjoy the creativity and storylines that I come up with for our heroes, heroines, and villains.

'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.

 

The weeks following the Parent-Teacher night passed in a blur of various activities for the Scoobies. Instead of growing closer, Angel and Buffy seemed to only go through the motions of an early relationship. Buffy tried to get closer to Angel, but one look at her neck, and he would withdraw further away from her. She had a feeling that there were a lot of things Angel wasn't telling them about Spike. She spent many hours hidden in the book stacks at the library searching for any information Giles had on Spike or "William the Bloody".

After Xander's failed attempt to date a foreign exchange student, who turned out to be a life force sucking Inca Mummy, Willow was determined to step up her pursuit of her childhood friend. Halloween was approaching, and she wanted to find just the right outfit to make Xander notice her.

Thinking along similar lines towards Angel, in an attempt to push all thoughts of Spike from her system, Buffy picked up an elegant costume at a place called Ethan's. The ivory gown had yellowed some over the years, but its lace was still intact over the silk main skirt and bodice with various pearl embellishments.

What Buffy failed to realize about her purchase was that it was a wedding dress crafted in England around the late 1800's. Something drew her to purchase the dress. She originally thought it would be something that Angel would enjoy seeing her in, but if she'd wanted to entice Angel with something from his era, she was about 100 years too late. Angel was turned into a vampire in the 1700's. Was her mind subconsciously being drawn to purchase something that Spike would recognize, or was Buffy just that off on her history lessons?

Buffy stood in her bedroom and tried to get ready to take the younger children of Sunnydale out trick or treating. "I swear Principal Snyder just loves to be an ass." She grumbled to herself while she fanned out the layers of lace and satin of the dress hanging from her closet door. "I still don't see how he can force us to do half of the things he does. I should punch him in the nose and be done with it. He has to be some sort of demon."

Buffy picked up the ivory accented silver combs from her dresser. They shimmered in the trickles of light from her vanity. The combs were a gift from her grandmother on her 15th birthday, the year she was called to be the Slayer. Grandma Summers told her that they were a gift from her grandmother when she turned 15.

The combs were so elegant. Buffy rubbed her fingers over the prongs. Hand carved ivory roses nestled along the width of the top of the combs. Buffy looked down at the wig on her dresser. "Nah, I'd rather go with my real hair. With my luck some kid would pull the wig off, and Grandma's combs could be lost."

Buffy pulled up the sides of her hair and looked at one side of her face and then another. She plugged her curling iron in. It was going to take her an hour just to curl her hair if she wanted it to look like the wig did.

Buffy didn't want to look like herself for one day, the Slayer. She wanted to be looked at as a lady and not some tomboy or fighter. For once she wanted to be cared for and doted on by the man she wanted in her life, even if she wasn't quite sure who that was at the moment.

'Maybe I should give up on men completely. Maybe then I could get Spike out of my head, and I wouldn't have to worry about Angel freaking out like he did the other week.' Buffy shivered at the memory of the look in Angel's eyes when he confronted her in the cemetery about their relationship. She knew she had been trying harder to get together with Angel since Spike arrived in Sunnydale, but it seemed as if Angel was pushing her away.

The anger and pain in Angel's eyes when he yelled at her in the cemetery scared her. Even in the middle of her battle with Spike, the evil vampire never looked at her like that. She wondered why Angel was so angry. Thinking back on that night, she couldn't find anything that should have upset him that much.

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

"Are you saying you want to go on a date?" Angel inquired.

"Date? I never said date." Buffy stammered over her response.

Angel, in his superior acting way, took the whole situation tongue in cheek style. "So you just want to have coffee or something." He knew that Buffy had a bit of a crush on him. Before the episode at the school with Spike he would have even said that she was falling in love with him. Now, he wasn't so sure. She'd been acting weird lately.

"Coffee?" Buffy frowned. Why was this sounding like her conversation with Willow earlier that day?

Angel sighed. He figured the only way out of this mess was to toss it off as nothing he was seriously considering. He always wanted to come out on top, whether it was for the brush off or the seduction. "I knew this was going to happen."

"What? What do you think is happening?" Buffy wondered what Angel was assuming. All she'd done was find the bracelet on the ground and attempt to carry on a bit of conversation with him. What unspoken words was he pulling out of the air on her?

"You're 16 years old. I'm 241," Angel spoke in a very condescending tone.

"I've done the math," Buffy answered meekly. 'And Spike is a little under 150.' Her thoughts wandered briefly.

"You don't know what you're doing. You don't know what you want." Angel looked off into the distance.

Buffy started to get ticked. 'Oh so this is how he wants to play it?' She absentmindedly rubbed her neck. It tingled and itched all of a sudden. "Oh, no. I think I do. I want out of this conversation."

"Listen." Angel grabbed Buffy's arm and turned her retreating form around to face him. "If we date, you and I both know one thing's gonna lead to another." There was no way he was letting anyone walk away from him. He would have the last word, and he would be the one to end things.

"One thing already has led to another." Buffy stared up into Angel's eyes. "Don't you think it's a little late to be reading me the warning label," Buffy sighed. She wanted to scream out her frustration over the situation.

"I'm just trying to protect you. This could get out of control." Angel growled low when Buffy rubbed the barely visible lines on her neck again. "That is one reason why I won't let this go any further."

"What?" Buffy looked at him in shock. "What is one reason?"

"You touch it all the time." Angel pointed to Buffy's neck. "You let him that close to you."

"Is that what this is about? A macho contest between vampires?" Buffy was enraged. She hadn't realized that she touched her neck that often, but sometimes it tingled. "I was fighting for my life. He sunk his claws in after he saw the Master's mark. Would you rather he finished with the biting me he was about to do before he saw the scars?"

"No, of course not." Angel reached out to Buffy only to have her back away from him.

"Don't touch me, Angel." Buffy felt revulsion at the mere thought of him touching her at that moment.

Angel dropped his hands to his side. "I just can't stand that he touched you."

"So instead of showing me that you care for my safety or love me in any way, you are going to run away because some vampire scratched me in a fight?"

"It's more than that, Buffy. You don't understand about vampires and marks." Angel tossed out the remarks in anger. "He's preparing you."

"Preparing me for what? To kill me?" Buffy spat back at Angel. "You know what, I don't care." She stepped away more from Angel. "You're punishing me for something I had no control over. This just isn't worth it." She turned and ran away from the cemetery before Angel could stop her this time.

Angel threw his hands up in the air. He growled and stormed off in the opposite direction. He hoped that he found some demons on the way back to his apartment. He needed to kill something.

A small glowing red ember burned in the darkness. A rolling deep chuckle echoed in the silence. 'Trouble in paradise.' Spike pressed the cigarette butt under his boot to put it out and headed in the direction the Slayer left in. 'Good, because she is mine Angelus, not yours.'

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

Buffy sighed. "Not like normal worked for me either. I swear that I should never listen to Cordelia about anything ever again." She flopped down on her bed. "I almost ended up reptile fodder because I wanted to have a normal party night like any teenager should have."

Buffy fell back on her pillow. "Stupid frat boys and their demon sacrifices." She rested her cheek against the pillow. She stared at herself in the vanity mirror across the room. "Who am I really supposed to be? Where do I fit in?"

After being drugged at a fraternity party that she went to with Cordelia, and being offered up as a sacrifice, Angel apologized for his comments. They made up a little bit, but they were still distant. She hoped that tonight's costume would help to show Angel that she wasn't just the Slayer. She could be a lady too.

A knock on her bedroom door brought Buffy out of her self-involved reverie. "Yes?"

Willow walked in shyly. Her hands were clasped in front of her over the short black leather skirt she wore. "Hello Buffy."

"Oh wow, Wills." Buffy sat up quickly. "You look fantastic." She pointed to the white sheet in Willow's hands. "What is that for?"

"I don't think I can go out dressed like this." Willow shifted from one foot to another. "This is so I can go as a ghost. It was the backup costume I purchased at the shop after you talked me into this outfit."

"Wills, you can't back out now. You are going to knock Xander's socks off with that outfit." Buffy tried to encourage her friend to help break the lack of confidence Willow had. "Xander would have to be blind not to notice you in that outfit. It's the only way you'll get his attention. I know you can do it."

"I don't know, Buffy." Willow fidgeted. "I feel naked."

"Turtlenecks, baggy sweaters, jumpers, jeans and ankle length skirts will not a Xander catch." Buffy rubbed Willow's arms in comfort. "He's kind of dumb when it comes to you. He's too blind to see what is right in front of his face." She directed Willow to sit down in the chair in front of Buffy's vanity. "Tonight we're going to give him a Willow tinted pair of glasses."

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

"Dru, I don't bloody want to go out there." Spike paced back and forth in front of Drusilla. "This is a night off for demons, remember?" He grew more frustrated with the lack of a cure for Drusilla daily. She nagged him constantly about his promise to kill the Slayer. When Dru wasn't simpering about the Slayer, she was yammering on about the return of her daddy. It was all enough to nearly drive him insane.

"Spike, the pixies tell me that a change is coming." Drusilla stood in Spike's path to keep him from pacing. She was mad over all the time Spike spent each night watching and studying the Slayer. Now when she actually wanted him to find the Slayer, he wouldn't. "She will be weak tonight. She'll never suspect my Spike until it is too late."

"Halloween is for humans, Dru." Spike zigzagged around Dru. "Demons do not hunt on Halloween, especially vampires. It's tradition."

"You never wanted to follow the traditions before." Drusilla stomped her foot to the ground like a child in a temper tantrum. "You don't want to kill her. She swims around your thoughts like little fishies. Bad fishies."

Spike grabbed Dru's upper arms and squeezed tightly. "I do what I wish, and I've never violated the Halloween tradition." He squeezed tighter until Dru yelped. "If you weren't so whacked out, you'd remember that."

"If you don't kill her, she will destroy us. The stars have painted the sky with the last moments before our final death at her hands." Although Dru's vision showed her only her own death, she wasn't going to share that tidbit with Spike.

Spike pushed Dru away from him with a hard thrust. "Enough!" He growled and stalked towards the exit from the factory. "I'll go out, but I am NOT bloody hunting tonight. I just want the hell away from you!" He slammed the door shut behind him.

Dru's eyes twinkled with delight. "You won't have to hunt." She spoke softly with a very sane clarity. "The little lamb will fall right into your arms, and you will be unable to resist the pull of her blood." She giggled and clapped. Then, she headed back to her room.

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

Buffy trotted down the stairs of her house to meet Xander at the door. She opened the door, standing behind it, waiting for him to see her.

"Private Harris reporting for ..." Xander's voice trailed off, and his toy gun lowered from his mock salute. "Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe." His mouth gaped open at the sight of Buffy in her Victorian style dress. "I completely renounce spandex."

Buffy lowered herself in an exaggerated curtsy. "Thank you, kind sir." She giggled playfully.

Xander bowed in return. Their attention was drawn to the shuffling at the stairs.

"Wait until you see ..." Buffy sighed and shook her head. "Casper." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Will! That's ... a fine "Boo!" you got there." Xander teased his friend in the same joyful manner that they always shared.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Buffy reopened the door. "We need to get to the school before Snyder has a fit."

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

Several hours later, Buffy knelt down in front of her three charges. "So what did you guys get?" She shook her head in mock disgust at the toothbrushes they all showed her. "Awful. She must be stopped."

The children snickered and nodded. Buffy stood back up. "I think we have time to do the rest of this block before we need to get back." She took the youngest child's hand in hers and continued along the sidewalk.

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

Back in his shop, Ethan Rayne continued the incantations he'd prepared and recited all day long. With a chaotic prayer of supplication to Janus, he finished the rites and completed his plan for chaos and revenge.

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

All around Sunnydale, a costume purchased from Ethan's transformed its new owner into what they masqueraded as. Xander became a real soldier, equipped with a proper gun. Willow dropped to the ground unconscious for a moment before she awoke in a ghostly form. Buffy nearly fainted, but she righted herself on a nearby fencepost. She gazed out at everything fearfully. She wondered where her fiancé was and how she came to be in her strange location.

It didn't take Willow long to round up Xander and Buffy. Willow managed to convince them both that she could help them find safety in a nearby house, which happened to be Buffy's. Willow didn't tell the other two who's house it was though.

"Why are we here?" Buffy's English was articulately spoken. Gone were the California bits of slang she usually uttered. In its place, Buffy spoke the Queen's English with perfect clarity and form, complete with an aristocratic English accent.

"This is your house, Buffy," Willow explained. "We should be able to find weapons here."

"Weapons?" Buffy gasped and clutched her hand to her chest. "I am not accustomed to handling such matters, and please stop calling me Buffy. I don't know who she is. You may address me as Lady Elizabeth."

Willow rolled her eyes. They needed the Slayer right now not a pampered princess. "She couldn't have gone as Xena this year?" She muttered to herself.

Cordelia joined the group shortly after the three of them arrived at Buffy's house. Strangely Cordelia seemed unaffected by amnesia or costume changes. Willow decided that they needed Giles' help. She walked clear through the wall to the outside.

Lady Elizabeth, Buffy, shrieked and stuttered, "She ... She ... Oh dear Lord!" She fainted dead away just as Angel came into the house through the kitchen.

With lightning reflexes and vampire speed, Angel caught Buffy before she hit the floor. "I'm glad both of you are here." He looked up at Xander. "It's crazy out there. What happened to Buffy?" He cradled her head in his lap.

"Unhand that woman." Xander pulled back the mechanism of his weapon, readying it to fire. "State your name and your purpose."

"Are you crazy, Xander?" Angel lowered Buffy's head to the floor. He stood up to full height. He gripped the barrel of the weapon and pushed it away from pointing at him. "You know who I am."

"Actually he doesn't." Cordelia stepped up alongside Angel. "Buffy, Xander and half this town have flipped out."

"I don't understand." Angel looked down at Buffy. She was starting to stir. "Why is Buffy in that gown? Is that a wedding dress?" He thought he recognized the style and embellishments.

"It must have been her costume. She probably wore it to impress you." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I know Xander was doing the whole five and dime soldier thing for his costume, and now he's a real military man."

"Oh dear." Lady Elizabeth, Buffy, waved her hand in front of her face. "I swear that I must be having a fit of the vapors, or maybe it's jitters before the ceremony." She looked up at Cordelia in her cat outfit, soldier Xander, and Angel. "Or perhaps not. I declare this is my worst nightmare come true."

"Let me help you, Miss." Angel bent down to help Buffy stand back up. He wrapped his hands around her tiny cinched waistline. He drank in her scent with his face pressed up next to her cheek. She smelled like Heaven.

"Take care to keep your space, Sir." Elizabeth pushed herself away from Angel. She flicked open the fan that hung from her wrist and fanned herself. "You have no right to such liberties."

"Oh please." Cordelia laughed. "Spare us the Miss innocent act. I don't care what century you think you are from, Buffy, but that is ridiculous."

"It was commonplace for such things to be said in the late 19th century, Cordelia," Angel explained. "If my guess is right her dress is dated around the late 1800's."

"I really don't care what either of you think." Elizabeth stomped her foot down in a petulant fit of anger. She turned to Xander. "I demand that you return me to the church where I am to be married to my betrothed. William will be quite upset if I am not there on time."

"Look lady, I don't know anything about a church. We have to get ourselves set up tight in here." Xander shouldered his gun by the strap. "You need to stay out of the way while we men get this place secure."

Elizabeth pouted. She flicked her fan closed quickly and slapped it against the layers of satin covering her hips in a gesture of defiance. She stomped into the kitchen and plopped down on one of the stools around the island.

Angel followed "Buffy" into the kitchen. He started to offer some comfort when he looked up at the now open door. "I don't remember leaving that open." He slowly moved towards the dark opening.

A cloaked figure jumped out at Angel. He grabbed Angel around the neck and tried to choke him first and then bite him.

Elizabeth screamed in a high pitched wail. She backed up against the sink to get away from the battle.

"Buffy, I need a stake," Angel called out to Buffy. He kicked the intruder in the gut. He followed the kick with a punch to the jaw. The two wrestled along the floor between the kitchen and dining rooms. "Now Buffy!!" He turned around in full demonic visage and growled at Buffy.

Elizabeth, who had been halfway towards Angel with a large knife, dropped the knife as soon as she saw the beast looking her way. She ran out of the house. Her only thought was to get as far away from the monster as she could. She shrieked and dodged through the neighborhood, in-between the houses to get away from the many creatures filling the streets.

"William, where are you?" Elizabeth cried out into the black night. Frightened and confused, she crouched against a wall outside a broken down church on the outskirts of one of Sunnydale's cemeteries.

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

"Why did she run off in the first place," Cordelia whined. Children and adults dressed like demons and other things ran through the Sunnydale streets. She really didn't want to be out in it. Unfortunately, they were trying to find an escaped Buffy who didn't realize she was the Slayer.

"I vamped out during the fight in the kitchen," Angel ground out annoyed. "She saw it and ran."

"Way to go big guy," Soldier Xander taunted. Something inside of him told his amnesiac mind that he didn't like the man. "Now we have to go find her instead of building our stockade."

"Buffy can handle herself. We don't have to be out here." Cordelia wanted to get back home as soon as possible and forget that this night happened.

"The real Buffy could, but not this one." Angel remembered the style of dress that Buffy wore. The combs and jewelry pieces screamed Victorian noblewoman to him. He was positive that the dress was a wedding dress to boot. "This one doesn't know the right end of a stake. She is helpless out here."

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

"Did you hear that?" Spike pulled back from his little band of demons to stand up straight. "Somewhere out there is the tastiest morsel you could ever sink your teeth into, and all we have to do is find her first."

The band of demons growled and squawked in approval to go get a bite to eat. Spike wanted to find the Slayer all right, but not for the reason he gave. Oh, he'd have a bite to eat, but not in the way they expected. He needed to make sure that no one else found the Slayer before he did. Only he was allowed to touch her.

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

(To Be Continued)
 

Chapter Summary: Continuing with the infamous Halloween episode from Season 2, we pick up where chapter 4 left off. Buffy, now calling herself Lady Elizabeth, found herself at a church near one of the cemeteries during her search for her fiancé William. Angel, Cordy, Willow, and Xander get into their own scuffles while they look for Buffy. Spike and some transformed trick-or-treaters are on a mission to find Buffy first. Part 2 will take us through the end of the episode. Part 3 will pick up at the episode "Lie To Me".

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter was a long time in coming. I'm pretty nervous about it. Had a rough time of things IRL, and I had a hard time working this chapter to my satisfaction for believability. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: All characters originally created by Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy belong to them by all rights. I just sneak them out of the vaults to play with them whenever I can. I do not make any money off of this. I have only the satisfaction that others enjoy the creativity and storylines that I come up with for our heroes, heroines, and villains.

'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.

 

Larry, the pirate, jumped out at Willow and Cordelia in an alleyway. Their party split up into two groups about ten minutes prior to cover more ground. Larry pushed Cordy up against the wall.

Willow tried to help. Instead of shoving Larry away, her ghostly form went right through him. She fell to the ground hard. "Ouch!" She quickly jumped back up and dusted herself off.

Cordy struggled in Larry's grasp. She screamed and kicked at the pirate. "You are so going to regret this, Mister." She choked out during the grappling session.

A blur of camouflage barreled down the alley. Xander literally rammed Larry in the gut to get him away from Cordy. Once he had Larry separated from the cat woman, Xander pummeled the pirate in the gut, chin, and cheek. He finished with a solid punch to the pirate's nose.

Angel, who arrived at the same time Xander did, helped Cordy back to her feet. "Everyone okay?"

Xander bounced on the heels of his combat boots. "That was strangely satisfying. I somehow feel vindicated."

Willow nodded. "Stupid ghost outfit. Remind me to listen to Buffy next year for Halloween."

"This better not happen again." Angel growled. He was uncomfortable with being away from Buffy in her current state. "When I find out who did this, I'm going to kill him."

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Willow informed them about her trip to get Giles and their visit to Ethan's. "I think Giles is going to do the job for you."

"Some guys have all the fun." Xander snapped his fingers in a darn motion.

"We still haven't found Buffy." Angel stomped out of the alley. "I'm not stopping until I do."

"Let's think this through," Cordy spoke up. "She thinks she is getting married." She caught up to Angel, and everyone else followed closely behind. "We haven't checked a single church yet. Wouldn't she try to find a church to locate whoever she thinks is her fiancé?"

Xander slapped his forehead. "Good thinking, Catwoman." Xander shouldered his rifle and picked up his pace to match Angel's. "Where are the churches, and do we take each one together or split up again?"

"Splitting up didn't work too well for us last time," Willow whimpered. "I vote we stay together."

"I don't care what we do. I just want to do it and get home." Cordelia looked down at her torn costume and dirtied hands. "I so need a manicure right now."

Angel rolled his eyes. He mentally counted, 'One Mississippi ... Don't kill the children. Two Mississippi ... They don't know any better. Three Mississippi ...'

Xander pulled a Sunnydale map out of his big BDU leg pocket. "Ghost lady ... you seem to know the most about this town. Where are the churches around here?"

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

Spike's nostrils flared and his senses tingled. He was getting closer to the Slayer. His search led him to the doorway of a small church along the outer edge of the cemetery.

All the way around Sunnydale he focused on the smell and taste that he remembered of Buffy's blood. He knew that their previous meeting had lightly scarred her neck because he mingled blood from his own tongue with hers to seal the wound he created. That taste of her blood helped him to locate her specific blood scent amongst the others that invaded his senses.

Spike felt the draw of the Slayer's blood and scent that he followed through the streets of Sunnydale. It was more than just Slayer blood, it was the blood of the one he would claim. He'd given it a lot of thought during the time they'd been apart. Dru's prattling was getting worse and worse. Even after only the brief sharing of blood with Buffy, he wanted more in a way other than draining her. He felt like he needed her, like she was home to him.

Even his demon seemed appeased at the thought of having the Slayer be his own. Was there some part of the Slayer that was a demon as well? The demon wanted the claim as much as the man did. It was an odd compromise between the two and a strange thing for them both to agree on.

The tiny troop of transformed trick-or-treaters hovered outside of the holy building. The little demons knew a church wasn't somewhere they would like to be. They gladly took up positions outside to stand guard at Spike's order.

Spike's demon hissed within at the thought of entering the place of worship, especially on Halloween. His senses told him that the Slayer was inside. If Buffy was as weak as Peaches said, he decided it might be better to approach the woman in a casual and caring manner. Inside a church the Slayer would feel safer. 'I should probably put the demon face away in any case. That will help with the unease.'

Spike mentally put a collar on his demon and locked it into submission. He wanted his demon under control and not the other way around. Once his initial bloodlust stage was gone as a fledgling, Spike found that he could communicate on certain levels with his demon. Something told him that this was not always the case with vampires, if his true Sire was any example to go by.

Although Spike wanted to deny it, a large part of his humanity remained after his turning. He still longed for many of the things that William enjoyed as a human. He still wrote in a journal that he kept well hidden from Dru and the other minions. He spent many years learning to hide the pieces of him that his vampire family would not accept. He'd quickly learned that a certain image needed to be maintained to retain the fear and loyalty needed for a Master Vampire as well.

Spike tentatively stepped across the threshold, turned down a small hallway, and emerged into an open meeting area. He noticed the scent of fresh magic in the air, and he felt the prickling sensation of magic around him once he passed into the church. Someone wanted them to be undisturbed. He was a bit unnerved because he was unaware of who wanted to cloak his and Buffy's presence. Was Dru messing around in places she ought not to again?

Spike hated magic in general. It served its purpose, but there were always consequences for spells or loopholes that allowed danger to creep in. He almost turned back around to leave, but a small whimper reached his ears. He knew who that frightened sound belonged to, and it called out to him to find her.

Without his demon guise, Spike's eyesight was more limited. He tripped over some loose boards in the floor, fell back against a wall with a large cross on it, and jumped away as quickly as he could when he started to burn.

The soft weeping of the woman, who sat crumpled in one of the pews, turned into a gasp of shock at the noises behind her. She stood up quickly and turned to search the shadows for whatever had joined her. She'd seen some scary things tonight, and she wasn't eager to meet any more of them.

The tightening in Buffy's stomach that she'd felt since she left the house, and the seemingly familiar tingling sensation in her body, finally evened out when the stranger stepped into the church. She'd known as his presence drew closer to her position over the last hour. No matter how scared she was to be in the church alone, she knew the coming presence was the man she sought. She comforted herself with the knowledge that everything would be all right soon. "Wi ... William?"

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

Ethan laughed hard when he felt the tendrils of his protected magic snap into place. It was an extra spell he attached to Buffy's dress to keep the Slayer occupied if she found her "love" that the dress compelled her to find. It also sent him an image of the "love" that the Slayer found. "Oh this is too perfect." He sneered at Giles. He couldn't have planned the whole situation better himself. He never would have figured that the Slayer would seek out a vampire, especially the one he recognized from the image, as her fiancé.

"What are you laughing at, Ethan? I don't find any of this a bit funny." Giles punched Ethan in the jaw. He manhandled Ethan up against the wall. "You are in a lot of trouble here, Ethan. Make it easier on yourself, and tell me how to break the spell now."

"They don't make Slayers like they used to, eh Ripper?" Ethan taunted the man who used to mean everything to him. "They are quite naughty now. Might even get themselves killed with their tastes if they aren't too careful."

"Ethan, I'm tired of your games." Giles tightened his grip around Ethan's neck and squeezed.

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

Spike stopped dead in his tracks. 'What the hell did that bint just call me?' He listened for the sounds of any movement coming towards him.

Elizabeth's heart fluttered. She felt him. She knew he was near, but why wasn't he answering her. "William?" She spoke out tentatively again.

Intrigued, Spike stepped into the chapel area. No one had called him that name in about over a century. The woman he saw illuminated by the moonlight looked nothing like the Slayer he'd fought in the school. Although the beauty of the Slayer when she fought was radiant, the woman before him glowed with another kind of beauty, elegance, and grace.

"Whoever you are, show yourself." Elizabeth started to get even more nervous. She fiddled with the fan in her hands. With a flick of her wrist it opened, and she fanned it rapidly in front of her face.

Spike walked further into the chapel to stand in a large beam of moonlight. He tilted his head to the side while he regarded Buffy. The gown was obviously something from his era. 'Why would the Slayer wear something like that?' He looked closer at her attire. His fingers itched to run through the curls framing her face. 'I'll be damned even more if that isn't a wedding dress.'

"Don't just stand there." Elizabeth nibbled on her lower lip in nervousness. "Please say something." She raised her fan up to her face. Only her eyes peeked over the top of the fan to look at "William". He was everything that she'd imagined her fiancé would be. He looked so regal and handsome. His cheekbones made his face seem like it was chiseled out of marble.

"What would you like me to say, pet?" Spike smirked.

'Oh for the love of God that voice,' Elizabeth thought to herself. She nearly swooned at the sound of his voice. She gathered her courage, moved closer to the man in the moonlight, and strengthened her resolve. "How about telling me why I woke up with no memories and no fiancé by my side?"

"How should I know about that?" Spike looked a bit chuffed at the Slayer's questions. "I wasn't there when you got out of bed this morning."

"Oh my!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Of course you weren't, William. That would be improper before our wedding day." She slapped Spike on the chest with her closed fan. "I meant where were you when I came back from fainting. All I saw were these strange people and creatures, with no sign of my fiancé."

"So that is a wedding dress then, pet?"

"Of course it is a wedding dress, William!" Elizabeth huffed in frustration. "What else would I wear for you on our wedding day?"

"Our wedding day," Spike choked. "Are you off your rocker, Slayer?"

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears. "You don't want me anymore, William? After everything else I've suffered tonight to find you, you don't want me?" She plopped down in a nearby pew in a very unladylike fashion. "And don't call me Slayer. I don't know who that is."

"Fraid you do, pet." Spike sat down on the pew next to Buffy. He pointed to her stomach. "You feeling a bit tingly in the nether regions?"

Elizabeth blushed. "William!" She grabbed her stomach. "Those are wedding day jitters, and we should not be talking about my nether regions right now."

In an uncharacteristic reaction, Spike drew both of Buffy's hands into hers. "What is your Christian name?"

"Elizabeth Evelyn Winters, but you should know that." Elizabeth stared at William in confusion. This day kept getting more bizarre. People she didn't recognize thought she knew them. Then one person she knew didn't seem to know her. "When will this nightmare end?" She buried her face in her hands and wept.

"I don't want to be your nightmare, pet." Spike lifted Buffy's chin with his fingertips. "Though I might have been a nightmare of yours at one time, I don't want that any more."

Elizabeth raised her tear stained face to look at the man she believed was her fiancé. "William, please explain this to me. Make all this confusion go away." She slid across the last bit of distance between them and buried her face in his chest. She sought the protection of his embrace to make everything right again.

"I think there are a few things you should know, including the fact that I am going to make you mine." Spike ran his fingers through the somewhat tangled curls on Elizabeth's head.

"It's all I've wanted from the moment I met you." Elizabeth sniffled and muttered into his duster. "Forgive my forwardness, but we were supposed to be married today. In my memory you've always stirred something in me that wants you and needs you."

"There's a story that I need to tell you about us before I can go through with a binding and claiming." Spike inhaled a deep unnecessary breath before he old the woman before him all about herself, demons, Slayers, and more. He told her about a binding ritual that would link them together because he believed the origins of his vampire demon and her Slayer calling were closely related.

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

"You never should have left me, Ripper." Ethan choked out. "You don't belong with these children." He tried to sway his one time lover back to his side of the fence. "They can't give you what I can."

"The only thing you can give me is the means to break this harmful spell you've cast." Giles tried not to let Ethan's words affect him. Although he was furious with the worshipper of chaos, he wasn't entirely unfeeling when it came to Ethan. He forced himself to be strong. The only way to make Ethan break was to berate his feelings. "You are nothing to me otherwise, Ethan Rayne. You were just a stepping stone to bring me back to my proper path."

Ethan gasped in shock. His eyes turned steely and cold. "Then you can go to hell, Watcher." The word Watcher came out of Ethan's mouth with a disgusted sneer. "You'll get nothing from me."

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

Buffy's attention wandered away from Spike's preparations. She'd absorbed a lot of information in the last half hour. He explained to her what true century she was living in and about her calling. It all sounded so odd and far-fetched. For being her supposed enemy, William seemed to know an awful lot about Slayers that had nothing to do with fighting. She couldn't believe that he'd actually started off trying to kill her when he arrived in the town.

Originally Spike patiently waited for everything he told Elizabeth to sink into her brain. He'd even told her that the tingling sensation she felt in his presence was due to him being a vampire.

Even though Elizabeth ran away from Angel when his vampiric visage emerged, she showed no fear at the knowledge of Spike's undead state. He'd also changed faces to show her exactly all that he was. After a shriek of fear, Elizabeth calmed back down enough to trace William's ridged brow and fangs carefully.

Angel's voice sounded hard, cold, demanding and angry to Elizabeth. William's voice was comforting, patient, accepting, and nearly tender. Even when he looked like a vampire, her thoughts did not waiver from completing the ceremonies William told her about.

Spike saw Buffy's mind wandering away from the task at hand. He needed her focus to be on him and every word spoken, or action performed, during the ceremony. He was positive that his thoughts about the Slayer being part demon were factual, but he needed Elizabeth to know and accept each part of the ceremony. If he was right about the Slayer's demon, it wouldn't matter if her present mind didn't remember her past. The demon would still be there under the surface to accept or refute the ceremony. The demon would be influenced by Elizabeth's current state though, which put things more in his favor.

Elizabeth found that she felt safer with William, who she found also called himself Spike, than with Angel. A part of her told her mind that she should probably wait to do the ceremony. Most of her mind, heart and soul told her that this was what she needed to do. It said that she would be safer after doing the ceremony, safer from something that she didn't realize she should fear yet.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Spike asked Elizabeth again. His demon was chomping at the bit to emerge and take what he wanted. His former poetic side wanted to be sure he wouldn't be rejected later. He'd faced enough rejection for an unlifetime of lifetimes.

"All I could think about from the moment I found myself lost was that I had to get back to you, William." Buffy cupped Spike's cheek in the palm of her hand. She caressed the sharp angles of his cheekbone with the tip of her thumb. "I had to find you, or I thought I would die inside."

"You won't be able to change this if you ever come back to your Slayer mind again, pet." Spike reiterated while he clasped Buffy's left hand in his left hand, facing each other. "You'll be linked to me, and after the claim you will belong to me. That git of a Sire of mine will never touch you again, or I'll kill him."

"I don't care, William." Buffy tightened her hand in William's grasp. "Whatever I think as this Slayer you talk about, I don't know why she would reject you when you are all I remember. You have to have meant something to her too, and do you realize how crazy this all sounds?"

Spike chuckled. "Everything will be perfectly clear soon, luv. You'll know exactly what we are to each other." He unclasped the heavy silver rope style chain from around his neck. "This should be long enough." His necklace was the best and safest item to use as a handfasting cord for the ceremony.

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

"Angel," Willow tried to get the dark vampire's attention with her voice. She grew increasingly frustrated at not being able to touch anything.

For the last couple hours the Scooby group searched the various churches they found. They spent a great deal of time rescuing people and subduing others. It wasted a lot of time, but they had to be careful.

Each of them, except Xander, was leery of killing one of the "demons" because it could be a costume converted human. None of them were able to figure out who the real monsters were. Even Angel's senses were all screwed up because of Ethan's spell. Humans who were turned into their demonic costumes still felt like demons to him.

Willow stepped into Angel's path a few feet in front of him. "Angel, look," She pointed at the cluster of demon's around a church.

"Hello, that can't be a good sign," Cordelia added in her two cents worth. "I wonder what they have cornered in there."

"Most of the attacks so far were chaotic." Xander observed, "Those guys there seem pretty organized towards one purpose."

Angel inhaled the night air deeply. The breeze tasted of magic. "I can't smell Buffy, but my instincts say that she's in there."

"Then we need to make a plan to get those demons away from the church." Xander pulled out a little notebook from his breast pocket. "We have four of us. That is plenty of people to create a diversion and get inside."

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

"This is going to hurt some pet, but you will heal quickly." Spike lifted Buffy's wrist to his mouth, his fangs slipped from his gums, and he slit her wrist in a thin line parallel to the bottom of her palm.

Elizabeth yelped in pain, but the pain quickly disappeared. She watched the blood bead and trickle from the cut with fascination. She found herself entranced while she watched William repeat the same actions to his own wrist.

Spike clasped just above Buffy's left wrist with his left hand. Both bleeding wrists fit snug against each other, and he wrapped the silver chain around their joined wrists and then criss-crossed over each of their hands. The words of an ancient language flowed from his fanged mouth without conscious thought.

Elizabeth gripped William's wrist tighter when hers started to ache and pulse with prickles of an icy cold nature. She nearly panicked after she looked down to find their hands glowing silver around hers and gold around William's. "William ... William ..." She tried to get William's attention.

Spike kept chanting from the depths of his being. His demon fully emerged and roared out in release. He felt like his heart was beating and being ripped from his body. Were it not for their joined hands, and the increasingly stronger grip of the Slayer, he would have fallen over.

"Will ..." Elizabeth's voice trailed off from the refined tones of the gentry to a guttural growling language that matched the one Spike continued to speak. The Slayer's eyes flashed silver with her natural green as a ring around them, and she seemed to pick up where Spike's chanting had now stopped.

Vampire and Slayer gripped each other's hands harder, digging their nails into the other one's flesh. Gold and silver light splashed together to combine into another light that crawled up their joined wrists to consume their entire bodies. The chanting grew louder, more feral, and ultimately took over both creatures in the chapel who chanted jointly again.

Buffy called out "One Body".

Spike called out "One Soul".

Simultaneously they screamed, "Whole"!

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

Ethan Rayne laughed roughly after he told Giles how to break the spell. He'd felt the crackle of a stronger and ancient magic snap into place between the warring powers in Sunnydale. 'Ripper will never have her back as the innocent little Slayer that she might have been before tonight. I'm surprised that she bound herself to him though.'

"You have no idea what's begun, Ripper." Ethan rested on his side and clutched his ribs. "You can't stop it, and I warn you not to try. If you don't accept it, you'll lose her completely." He taunted.

Giles smashed the statue of Janus on the ground. "What are you ..." His voice faltered when he turned around to face an empty floor. He groaned.

Ethan was a bit off his rocker. Was he simply trying to put Giles off balance about which way it was, or was it more than that? When Ethan Rayne was around, no good could come of it. He was certain this was not the last he'd be seeing of Ethan in the near future. "Knowing Ethan, I must be prepared for anything."

A sinister laugh echoed around the back room. "You'll never be prepared for what's to come, Ripper. It's far beyond what I've done." The echo trailed off into nothingness once more.

"Oh dear."

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

Willow ran through the church's walls in search of Buffy. While Angel and Xander subdued the trick-or-treaters outside, Cordelia pushed against the door to get in. The door wouldn't open or budge for her.

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

It was Buffy, the vampire slayer, whose eyes searched out the truth and depths of Spike's gaze. Although the spell was still in place for the moment, the ritual brought the Slayer side of her forth enough to break through the enchantment surrounding the dress. "Spike?"

Spike growled deep and low in his throat. "Slayer?" He held Buffy's wrist securely to keep her from backing away.

"What ... How ..." Buffy felt a connection to Spike. Being this close to him, she actually felt a warmth or peace surrounding her that seemed to satiate even her need to fight him. 'Why isn't my Slayer side going all stake happy on Spike?'

"I know you felt it just as much as I did, pet. You can't deny it." Spike backed Buffy up against the back of one of the pews. He pressed his body along the length of hers. The hardness of his cock was unmistakably felt by Buffy.

Buffy gasped in shock. 'Oh my god! Is that his ... Oh my!' Her hand started to tremble, but she made no move to get away from him.

"You accepted, Slayer, and now you are going to be completely mine." Spike's voice was firm, but there was no sinister hint in the tone, only determination. He jerked their joined hands to bounce Buffy's body against his and bring her lips closer.

Buffy raised her free hand to cup his cheek and caress it. She knew she surprised him with the gesture. She drew his face down to hers where her warm lips awaited his touch.

Spike ran free hand through Buffy's hair. He fingered one of the ivory combs in her hair. His lips touched Buffy's, and their kiss instantly deepened into something more passionate than either expected.

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

Willow gaped at the couple in the chapel. "Buffy, it's a spell!" She called out to her best friend. When both Spike and Buffy seemed to ignore her, she ran back through the walls of the church to get the rest of the gang.

"Angel!" Willow tugged on Angel's arm. She was surprised that she actually touched him. She noticed the little demons all seemed to be back to little children. Before she was able to say another word, she vanished.

Angel turned around in search of Willow. Instead of Willow, he saw Cordelia standing on the outside of the church still.

Xander stared blankly at Angel. "Merciful Zeus, what was that?" His gun was toy gun again, and he knew exactly who he was. "Where's Willow?"

"I don't know, but we have to get into the church." Angel ran over to the door.

"It wouldn't budge for me," Cordelia stated dryly.

"The spell is over." Angel pushed ahead of Cordy and opened the door. "Something about it must have been keeping you out of there as well as being responsible for the transformations."

Cordelia shrugged and followed Xander and Angel inside.

Angel was the first to see the embracing couple inside, and his demon came to the surface in an instant. He growled, ran at the pair, and knocked Spike forcefully away from Buffy's throat.

Buffy cried out in pain when Spike's fangs were ripped from her neck. Her hand still had the silver necklace in it, and she raised that hand to her neck to try to stop the bleeding. The necklace flashed briefly and the wound instantly sealed itself.

Spike snarled and rolled around on the ground with Angel in a battle of fists and fangs. He kneed Angel in the chest and pushed the older vampire off his body with his feet.

"Angel," Buffy called out and ran over to the vampire after he hit the wall. She turned towards the shadows, searching for Spike. She couldn't see him, but she felt his presence strongly. She knew he was still in the church.

"Where did he go?" Angel held the back of his head.

"He isn't here anymore," Buffy answered. She tucked the necklace into the top of her dress quickly before she hoped anyone noticed it.

"Are you sure? It still feels like ..."

Buffy cut Angel off, "I'm positive. He's gone." She pulled Angel up off the floor. "Let's get out of here."

Angel looked disbelievingly at Buffy. He knew his Childe was still in the building. Why was Buffy covering for Spike? He wrapped Buffy's hand onto his arm and escorted her out, despite the unmistakable growl that echoed around them.

Angel, Xander, Cordelia and Buffy walked out of the church. While the others rambled on about the events of the evening, Buffy remained quiet. She looked back once more at the church. She swore that she saw Spike leaving it, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

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

"Angel just go home," Buffy sighed. Couldn't Angel get the hint that she didn't want him around? "I'm tired, and this has not been a good day. I just want to go to bed."

"If you are sure you're all right." Angel squeezed Buffy's arm gently. "You know where I am if you need me." He stood on the porch of Buffy's house with her.

Buffy nodded and shut the door. She pressed her back against the closed door, scooted down it, and crumbled herself to the floor with her head buried in her hands.

Angel listened to Buffy crying. He wished she would let him comfort her. With a heavy step he scuffed his way along the sidewalk and left the yard.

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

After a long hot shower, Buffy laid on her side in her bed. She felt so alone. She wept softly at first and then harder. The whole night's memories were a mass of confusion in her mind. One thing was clear though. She honestly thought William, aka Spike, was her fiancé. She sought him out specifically as the only name and man she remembered at the time. Why hadn't she remembered Angel? Wasn't he more special to her than Spike?

Buffy clutched the single ivory comb in her hand that was all that remained of her grandmother's set. She'd searched all around the areas she remembered being during the night without finding its mate. She set it on her nightstand.

The romantic side of Buffy wanted to believe that Spike ended up with the missing comb. She wanted him to have kept the comb as some sort of memorabilia for the brief time they shared before her reality crashed in on them.

Buffy tried to settle herself on her back. The cold metal against her bare skin reminded her of the silver rope chain she now wore. She fingered the cool metal.

'What did Spike say?' Buffy thought about the ceremony. 'Ah yes. He was going to bind our demons together and then claim me. Since when do I have a demon?' She sighed and continued to finger the silver chain with care. 'I don't think we finished it though.'

Buffy felt like there was an invisible string between her and wherever Spike was. It was pulled more tautly in the beginning than it was now. What did it all mean? She needed to find a way to research it without Giles knowing. She figured he would freak out if he knew what happened with Spike before the others arrived.

Buffy rubbed the fingertips of her one hand over her slightly swollen lips. If she closed her eyes she could imagine the feel of Spike's lips still against hers. She reveled in the memory of the best kiss she'd ever been given. Her core heated and tingled at the thought of his body that close to hers again.

The longer she thought about Spike and the different times they'd met, fought, kissed, or argued, the more worked up she got. In frustration she bent over the side of her bed and opened her nightstand. She removed a slender silver object from the drawer in the piece of furniture. "Looks like you and me are friends again tonight."

Buffy plopped back onto her back on her bed, ran the cylindrical object down her body, and finally twisted a dial to make it vibrate when she reached her aching and extended clit. "Oh gosh," She sighed. She stroked and twisted the vibrating toy around her clit. She alternated with short plunges of the toy into her heated channel.

Buffy's back arched off the bed. She pinched a nipple between the thumb and index finger of her free hand. She was lost in the sensations the toy caused as her mind wandered through all of the favorite fantasies her virginal mind came up with. When at last her body tensed completely, it was the image of a bleached blonde vampire with searching blue eyes thrusting into her heated core that sent her over the edge.

"Spike!" Buffy called out her release. She collapsed against the bed. Her body continued to quiver in tiny spasms of aftershocks. She fought to regain her composure and breath. She beat the back of her head against her pillow. "I'm a horrible Slayer. I call out my mortal enemy's name when I orgasm."

Buffy turned onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow. She dropped the toy back into the nightstand drawer without even looking at it or the drawer. As she drifted off to sleep, her thoughts were still centered on Spike. She smiled devilishly when sleep claimed her, and her dreams began.

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

'Oh no you aren't a bad Slayer,' Spike thought from his place at the bottom of the tree that reached to Buffy's window. 'You are the perfect kind of Slayer ... My Slayer.' He listened for a few minutes more until he was sure Buffy was asleep.

Spike strolled casually away from Buffy's house. He rubbed his fingertips over the ivory carvings of the comb in his pocket. He should have thrown it to the side after he left her, but he couldn't let it go. It was all he had to remind him that Elizabeth and the Slayer were his for a while.

Spike was certain that the Slayer felt the same attraction that Elizabeth did for him or the binding ceremony between their demons wouldn't have worked. It was simply a matter of Buffy's twisted knowledge of vampires getting in the way. He was no saint, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel. He'd felt and cared for Drusilla for a close to a century.

The only problem Spike now had was feeling too much. He never did anything half way, and there was no way he could kill her now. He wanted her as his Mate, and now he knew that somewhere deep inside her, Buffy wanted that too. The initial connection was formed with the Slayer's demon as a part of the whole woman that was Buffy Summers. He'd have to figure out how to reach that part of her.

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

Angel kicked open the door to his apartment. "Stupid little girl," He growled. The silver chain wrapped around Spike and Buffy's wrists when she pulled away from Spike hadn't gone unnoticed by Angel. "She is going to end up dead." Verbally he told himself that was why he was upset, but mentally he knew that he was upset because Spike seemed to be closer to Buffy than he was.

"I have to find a way to get Spike out of town." Angel mused over what he could offer Spike to get him to give up on his Slayer quest. It dawned on him that Spike's main priority always used to be Drusilla. He knew his insane Childe was in town as well, and the demon grapevine told him that Drusilla was sick. "Maybe if I offer to help him make Dru well in some way, he will leave."

Angel plopped down on his bed with a delighted but sinister smile on his face. "I don't know what exactly he started, but I'll make damn sure he doesn't finish it."

Angel assumed that what happened with Spike was the only thing keeping Angel from Buffy. It still stung that Buffy pushed him out of her house after he walked her home. "Once he's gone, Buffy won't be able to refuse me."

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

(To Be Continued)
 

Chapter Summary: Picks up from the episode "Lie to Me" and continues through to a confrontation between Angel and Buffy at the Bronze. Spike and Buffy both witness the exchange between Angel and Drusilla at the beginning of the episode. Drusilla tries to warn Angel of what is coming, but he won't listen. Ford arrives, and he attempts to integrate himself into Buffy's life.

Author's Note: Some dialogue was taken from the episode "Lie to Me", and some of the dialogue in scenes from the episode has been rewritten to fit the purpose of this story.

Disclaimer: All characters originally created by Joss Wheadon and Mutant Enemy belong to them by all rights. I just sneak them out of the vaults to play with them whenever I can. I do not make any money off of this. I have only the satisfaction that others enjoy the creativity and storylines that I come up with for our heroes, heroines, and villains.

'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.

"Come on, Mom! She's always late." A young boy kicked his feet out from where he sat on a jungle gym. The sun set a long time ago, and everything around the school park was dark.

"Are you lost?" A deceptively soft voice called from the shadows. A dark haired woman, dressed in a very old fashioned white gown stepped from the shadows slowly.

"My mom's just supposed to pick me up is all." The boy scooted under the bars to the other side of the jungle gym. It kept the jungle gym between him and the strange woman.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" The dark woman moved closer to the jungle gym.

"No, thank you." A tendril of fear grew in the boy's mind. He was always nervous when his mother showed up late, and tonight he was getting scared. He watched the woman's every movement.

The woman wrapped black painted fingernails with white tips around one of the bars of the gym. "My mummy used to sing me to sleep at night." Her head tilted to the side, and tendrils of her long black hair floated onto her cheeks. She sang a few lines of a song in a whispery monotone voice. "Run and catch. The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch."

The boy moved around the jungle gym, entranced by the movements of her hands. Her voice had a hypnotic quality to it that lured him closer.

"She had the sweetest voice." The woman closed her darkly colored eyelids as if she remembered something from days gone by. She snapped back to the present, her eyes opened, and her eyes narrowed on the boy in front of her. "What will your Mummy sing when they find your body?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to people." The boy tried to back a way a little, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot.

"Oh. Well, I'm not a person, see? So that's just ..."

Angel ran in-between Drusilla and the young child that she taunted and stalked to make a meal out of. "Run home!" He ordered to the child. He waited to be sure the boy was gone before he turned to face the stalker.

Drusilla gaped at Angel, amazed and transfixed by his presence. "My Angel!"

Angel's eyes briefly traveled down Drusilla's torso, before he forced them back up to her face. "Hello, Drusilla."

Dru sauntered closer to Angel. Her dark fingernails trailed down the white of her dress that was tinted a light blue in the moonlight. Each step she took was more deliberate in her attempt to be innocently seductive. "Do you remember the song Mummy used to sing me? Pretty."

Angel gulped. Buffy usually patrolled this area during the night. He wasn't sure if she'd already been through or not, and he really didn't want to be caught with Drusilla. "I remember." He wasn't ready to explain Drusilla to Buffy. No matter how trapped his demon felt behind the soul, he still hungered for the woman before him. Buffy would never be able to touch the part of him that Drusilla could.

"Yes, you do." A light seemed to fade in Dru's eyes.

Angel broke the spell of memories. "Drusilla, leave here." He tried to reign in the demon's needs. He wanted to use his Sire voice on her, but it wouldn't come out. Dru's Sire really didn't want her to leave. "I'm offering you that chance. Take Spike and get out."

"Or you'll hurt me?" Drusilla grinned. She knew her Angelus was still inside the body before her somewhere. 'Oh yes my lovely Angel is still in there.' She delighted in the guilty look that crossed over Angel's face.

Angel looked down. He closed his eyes and licked his lips repeatedly. 'Why am I fighting my nature? For Buffy? Because of the soul?'

"No. No, you can't. Not any more."

Angel continued to talk without looking up. He thought maybe that would make it easier to say the words he rushed to say. "If you don't leave, it'll go badly ... for all of us." He made the mistake of seeking out her face again.

"My dear boy's gone all away, hasn't he? To her."

"Who?"

"The girl. The Slayer." Dru ran her hand up Angel's chest, wrapping it in the lapels of his jacket. "Your heart stinks of her, but it won't do you any good. She's already lost to you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dru." Angel had enough problems with Buffy without Dru trying to get to the Slayer first. He needed Spike gone, and the only way Spike would leave was if Dru did too.

Dru tutted a sound from her lips, and she stepped closer. Only a couple inches separated her face from his. "Poor little thing. She has no idea what's in store for her."

"This can't go on, Drusilla." Angel placed his hand over Dru's. The coldness of her touch would have made most people drop the hand, but to Angel it was like a warmth that no human could match. Her touch was familiar, craved, and remembered. "It's gotta end." He sighed out the last few words. His heart would have raced, if it could still beat, and his chest heaved from the unnecessary breaths he took.

"Oh, no, my pet." Drusilla lifted her face right up to Angel's lips. Her lips took a detour to his ear without touching him. "This is just the beginning."

Angel almost pulled Dru back to him when she started to walk away from him sideways. His hand started to reach out for hers as it left his chest to fall back down to her side.

Drusilla walked away without ever taking her eyes off of Angel, until she could no longer see him with her vampiric sight. She headed off in the direction of the mansion. She needed to scold Spike for trying to keep Angel's presence from her.

Angel gulped hard. He forced himself to turn, look away then walk away from the woman that he still loved with some part of his undead heart. His demon roared within at Angel's betrayal of the woman he sired.

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

Buffy watched everything unfold between Angel and Drusilla from a nearby rooftop of one of the schools. The dark beauty of the woman transfixed her, but she had no idea who the woman was. The tingles at the pit of her stomach were familiar though.

Ever since the binding in the church, Buffy had honed the tingles to help tell her if Spike was near. This woman felt almost like a family member to her; like Spike, but not. She hadn't read about any Childer that Spike created in the books in Giles' collection. 'Who is she?'

Buffy's anger grew at how attached it seemed Angel was to the woman. 'After all the lectures he's been giving me lately about vampires, souls, and good versus evil? Hypocrite.' She huffed. She knew this woman was a vampire. She vowed to find out who the woman was, and why she felt similar to Spike. It was hard enough to be away from Spike. She wasn't about to let another woman stand in her way.

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

Spike tossed his cigarette to the ground. He ground out the last red embers beneath his boot. He pushed off from the wall he rested against just below where Buffy was up on the roof.

Spike sensed Buffy's tumultuous mood. He could tell she wasn't pleased about what she was seeing. To tell the truth, he wasn't too pleased about it either. He'd long since given up on winning Dru's affections, but Dru and Angelus together were not a good combination.

If Drusilla suspected anything between Buffy and Spike, he had a feeling that her sharing that bit of information with Angel would not be good for him. 'Even with him all soul having, I'm sure he wouldn't like it. Stupid git wants what should be mine ... again.'

Spike waited until he felt Angel and Drusilla were far enough away from him. He then lingered long enough to be sure what direction Buffy headed off to. "Not this time, you pillock." He sneered, "Not this time." He headed off in the same direction Buffy did.

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

Rupert Giles watched Jenny Calendar walk away from him. He smiled at Buffy, who arrived shortly afterwards, and they both headed to the library. "Hello. Did we hunt last night?" He kept his voice low enough not to alarm anyone who walked around them.

"I did a couple of quick sweeps downtown," Buffy answered distantly. Her mind was elsewhere. She needed to find more of Giles' hidden books. Somewhere, she would find the information she needed to continue her search for the woman from last night and Spike's interest in her from Halloween.

"Any encounters?"

"Nothing vampirey," Buffy lied. There was no need to worry Giles about any other mysterious vampires in her life. He already watched her too closely after the whole "costume" incident. God only knew what Angel told him about that evening.

"I've been researching your friend Spike. The profile is fairly unappetizing," Giles stated matter-of-factly in true Council fashion. "I still haven't got a lead on why he's here."

"You'll figure it out." Buffy twisted her hands in front of her chest. 'I so hope he doesn't figure it all out, especially not before I do.'

"You all right?" Giles turned his head to look at Buffy. "You seem a little glum."

"I'm fine."

Giles stopped at the entrance to the library. "Why don't you take the night off?" Apart from Spike's presence things were quiet on the Hellmouth lately. He knew that Buffy needed to be able to spend time with her friends and relax. She always seemed a lot more refreshed after a night out with them.

"Okay. That'd be nice." Buffy smiled warmly. 'If Giles isn't expecting me to be out patrolling, I can spend more time looking around without a Watcher curfew to report in.'

"You could spend some time with Angel." Giles was unaware of the impact his words had on Buffy.

"I don't know." Buffy frowned. "He might have other plans. He seems busy with other things lately." She turned abruptly and walked off to class.

Giles stared after Buffy a bit bewildered. As far as he was aware, Angel was still the main male interest in her life. Although he didn't approve of the match, there were worse things than having a souled vampire watching out for her. "How odd?" He muttered out loud.

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

Willow and Buffy sat in their literature class next to each other. They passed notes back and forth with questions and answers about the woman Buffy saw last night.

Willow was worried about her friend. She lost a lot of her perkiness since Halloween. If she really thought about it, she would have realized that Buffy hadn't been the same for a couple months since Spike arrived in Sunnydale. She knew her friend was hiding something from her. Despite her best efforts Buffy wouldn't share whatever it was that was bothering her.

Buffy sighed at the end of class and entered the hallway. "I don't know if she was a vampire. I don't think so." She hated lying to her friends, but they wouldn't understand why she felt the pull from the woman to her. "They seemed pretty friendly with each other."

"Who's friendly?" Xander piped in behind Willow and Buffy.

"No one!" Buffy rolled her eyes. Xander butting his opinions into the mix was the last thing she needed right now.

"Angel and a girl," Willow tossed back to Xander.

"Do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy huffed. She should have known that Willow wouldn't keep anything to herself. Sometimes the young genuis' attraction to Xander was annoying. It was one of the reasons Buffy hadn't shared everything about her current predicament with the redhead.

"Hey, it's me! If Angel's doing something wrong, I wanna know." Xander punctuated each word with two fingers motioning from Buffy to the ground. "'Cause it gives me a happy." Anything that put Angel in a bag light made Xander happy. Even if Buffy never looked at him like a boyfriend, he was still jealous of anyone who garnered Buffy's attention that way.

"I'm glad someone has a happy." Buffy looked up into Xander's smiling face. 'What would it take to wipe that grin right off his face?'

"Oh, you just need cheering up." Xander, Buffy and Willow walked up into a mezzanine sitting area near the window. "I know just the thing. Crazed dance party at the Bronze."

"I don't know." Buffy briefly basked in the sunshine coming through the window. She remembered Spike forcing his way into the school through this very window a couple months ago. 'You can't even tell that he was ever here.'

"Very calm dance party at the Bronze?" Xander moved his arms back and forth a little slower as he made his way to sit next to Willow on the couch. "Moping at the Bronze?" Buffy's moods frustrated him. 'If Angel makes her so depressed, why does she still try to go out with him?'

A new male voice snuck up on the group. "I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that." A slightly taller teenager walked up behind Buffy with his hands in his pockets.

Buffy twirled around to face the new addition with an ecstatic look on her face. All of her worries evaporated in that moment. "Ford?"

"Hey, Summers." Ford wrapped his arms around Buffy and hugged her tightly. He patted her back. "How you been?"

"Oh, my God! What are you doing here?" Buffy squeezed the reminder that she had a happier past before Sunnydale and slaying.

"Matriculating."

"Huh?" Buffy's mind was confused, and it didn't register exactly what Ford meant. Besides that, a little of her less than stellar high school education showed through.

"I'm finishing my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred." Ford held both of Buffy's hands in his.

"This is great!" This was the first good news Buffy had in weeks.

Xander tapped his hand on his leg. 'Sure, we can't get her to cheer up, but one look at whoever that guy is and we don't exist!' Even his thoughts grumbled out his jealousy.

"Do you think so?" Ford played off his nervousness by acting coy and shy. He had a job to do here, and he couldn't afford to screw it up. "I didn't think you'd remember me."

"Remember you? Duh!" Buffy wanted to slap Ford upside the head. She never heard anything so foolish. "We only went to school together for seven years! You were my giant fifth grade crush."

Willow looked at the pair of old friends with a smile. As long as Buffy was happy, she was happy for her. Xander, not able to stand being ignored any longer, opened his mouth, "So ... you two know each other?"

"Oh, um ... Sorry. This is Ford." Buffy motioned from Ford to Xander and Willow. "Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow."

"Hi," Xander ground out.

"Hey," Ford responded.

"Nice to meet you," Willow added in her perky flavorful tone.

"Ford and I went to Hemery together in L.A." Buffy and Ford sat down next to each other on a couch opposite of Xander and Willow. She tucked her skirt underneath her and crossed her legs. "And now you're here? For real?"

"Dad got the transfer and ... Boom!" Ford shrugged his shoulders. "He dragged me out of Hemery and put me here."

"So you two were sweeties in fifth grade?" Willow loved getting the gossip and dirt on Buffy's former life. She rarely talked about her early days as the Slayer or her pre-slaying life.

"Not even!" Buffy rolled her eyes and huffed at Ford. "Ford wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Well, I was a manly sixth-grader," Ford teased. "Couldn't be bothered with a girl that young." He continued his taunt.

"It was terrible. I moped over you for months." Buffy pouted, "Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyl's song "I Touch Myself"." She gulped nervously and looked at her Sunnydale friends. "Of course I had no idea what it was about!"

Ford and Xander both shared a look of yeah right, and Willow stared off in the distance with a lost smile on her face.

"Hey, are you busy tonight?" Buffy quickly changed the subject. "We're going to the Bronze. It's the local club, and you have to come."

"I'd love to, but if you guys already have plans, would I be imposing?" Ford asked Willow and Xander.

"Oh, only in the literal sense," Xander's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Okay, then." Ford stood up to leave. "I gotta find the admissions office to make sure my transfer's in order."

Buffy stood up next to Ford. "I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys in French." She wrapped her hand on his Ford's arm.

"It's good to meet you." Ford walked with Buffy down the stairs.

Xander's fake grin disappeared the moment Buffy and Ford were out of view. "This is Ford, my bestest friend of all my friends." He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, doesn't she know any fat guys?"

Willow's eyes bulged with recognition and knowledge. "Oh, that's what that song is about?"

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

The Bronze was alive and hopping with teenagers and college-aged students. As soon as Buffy entered the main area of the club near the pool tables, she felt the music vibrate through her very being. She walked over to the pool table where Willow, Xander and Ford were playing. "Hey, you made it," She spoke to Ford.

"It wasn't hard to find."

Willow giggled. "Buffy, Ford was telling us about the ninth-grade beauty contest and the swimsuit competition." She loved having some tasty dirt on her friend that showed she was just like the rest of them.

"Oh my gosh, Ford, stop!" Buffy glared at Ford half in mocking jest and half in seriousness. "The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill." She leaned against the pool table more heavily.

"You can't touch me, Summers." Ford lined up his pool cue for the next shot. "I know all your darkest secrets."

"Care to make a small wager on that?" Xander teased. He felt vindicated that he knew at least one thing about Buffy that her former friend didn't.

"I'm gonna get a drink." Buffy placed her hand over Xander's. The testosterone levels were rising quickly, and she knew what the tone in Xander's voice meant. "Ford, try not to talk." She walked over to the bar.

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

"So you think you know everything there is to know about Buffy?" Xander waited for his turn to shoot.

Willow gave Xander a look of warning. She was positive Buffy would be upset with Xander if he started a fight with Ford.

"I'm positive." Ford missed his shot. He pressed his fingers to his temples. He rubbed small circles on each side of his head in an attempt to alleviate the pain. "She's quite an amazing woman."

"Don't be so sure of that." Xander sunk the intended pool ball.

"She's not an amazing woman?" Ford questioned. 'What kind of friends did Buffy have in Sunnydale?' He wondered to himself. 'Probably ones that aren't planning on exchanging her life for theirs,' His mind answered him.

"Oh she's amazing all right." Xander sunk another ball swiftly. "She has many hidden talents."

"Xander," Willow warned. She turned to Ford. "We just love Buffy a lot, and we don't want to see her get hurt."

"I'd never hurt her," Ford answered a bit too quickly. 'At least I won't be the one that hurts her physically. I have to think that she would do the same thing if our situations were reversed.'

"Good then, we're all okay with everything." Willow pulled Xander up to stand next to her after he missed sending the third ball into the corner pocket. "Right, Xander?"

"Whatever, Wills." Xander stepped back for Ford to take his turn. "So long as Buffy is happy."

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

Angel stood up next to the bar after Buffy approached it. He looked down at her, drink in hand. "Hey. I was hoping you'd show here tonight." He smiled warmly at her. "I wanted to see you."

"You could have seen me last night." Buffy glared at Angel. "What happened to you? I thought we were going to patrol together?"

"I decided to stay home instead," Angel lied. He rather hoped that his checkered and brutal past would not be a subject he needed to air out with Buffy. He really wasn't in the mood to explain Drusilla to her yet either.

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

"That's Angel." Willow noticed Buffy and Angel at the bar a few feet from them.

Xander powdered the tip of his pool cue. "He's Buffy's beau. Her special friend," He taunted Ford.

"He's not in school right? He looks older than her." Ford glanced back and forth from Xander to the scene at the bar.

"You're not wrong." Xander picked up all the balls from the end of the table to rack them back up for another game of pool.

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

"What did you do last night?" Buffy questioned Angel further. She knew he was lying to her, but she was curious how far he'd take the lie.

"Nothing." Angel shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing at all? You ceased to exist?" Buffy inwardly raged. 'Of all the pompous ways to act. Does he really think I'm that stupid?'

"No, I mean I stayed in ... read." Angel looked away quickly then back at Buffy. What was she hinting at? She seemed to be fishing for information. Did she realize that he wasn't at home?

"Oh," Buffy's simple but soft response showed none of the fury that welled inside. 'How could he not know that a Slayer was near him? Some wise old vampire he is. I'm surprised he's lasted this long.'

Buffy forced herself to leave Angel's side. Angel followed right behind her. Her line of questioning made him uneasy. He needed to know why she was so curious about his activities last night.

"Didn't want that soda after all?" Ford smiled at Buffy.

"Not thirsty," Buffy felt Angel's presence behind her, but she refused to look back at him right away. It was Willow's greeting to Angel that forced her to turn around.

"Hi," Ford offered a polite greeting to the new guy. He needed to be sure of everyone involved in Buffy's life. The only way his plan would work was if he had everyone secured and away from Buffy at the right time.

"This is Ford." Buffy pointed over her shoulder at Ford. "We went to school together in Los Angeles."

"Nice to meet you." Angel stepped forward. He shook hands with Ford out of civility.

"Whoa." Ford pulled his hand back. "Cold hands."

"You're not wrong," Xander piped in from the sidelines.

Buffy glared at Xander.

"So, you're visiting Buffy?" Angel sized up the boy from head to toe. Something smelled off about him. There were various scents all over him, but something wasn't right.

"No, I'm actually here to stay." Ford and Buffy shared a familiar glance between them. "We've just moved down."

"Hey, Angel, do you wanna play?" Willow made her best effort to break some of the tension between all the males and Buffy.

Buffy's head snapped up at the tingling sensation of another presence on the fringes of proximity to her. "You know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight." She looked up at Angel and then Ford. "I'm a little hot. You wanna take a walk?"

"Um, sure. That'd be nice." Ford grinned. 'Excellent. He must not mean much to her despite Xander's efforts to tell me otherwise.'

"Okay, then," Buffy glanced at Angel and then over to Xander and Willow, "I'll see you tomorrow." She brushed past Angel quickly.

"Good night," Angel grumbled. 'What the Hell is going on here?'

"Take care," Ford tossed Angel's way as he slipped past him to follow Buffy out the door.

"Okay, once more with tension." Xander continued to powder the tip of his stick. A part of him delighted at the terse expression on Angel's face. Another part of him still felt the pain of being left out of Buffy's love life.

"He just moved here?" Angel questioned.

"Yeah, and boy does he move fast." Xander stared off into the distance.

Willow constantly shifted her weight from one foot to another while she stared at the ground. "Angel, we could still play." She looked up to find Angel no longer standing at the side of the table. "See you made him do that thing where he's gone."

Xander smirked and huffed. "Like I care if Angel stays." He readied his stick to make the break on the next game. He wished Angel and Ford would both disappear.

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

A lone figure extinguished the cigarette he held in-between his fingertips, and he set down the empty beer bottle. He sauntered behind the two Scoobies playing pool. With a natural stealth, he disappeared into the alleyway behind the Bronze to follow Buffy and Ford from the shadows.

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

"So that was your boyfriend?" Ford asked Buffy. The two of them walked down the alley behind the Bronze.

"No ... Uh yeah ... Maybe." Buffy sighed. What was Angel to her? "Can we lay off the tough questions?" She asked Ford for a bit of a reprieve over explaining Angel at the moment.

"Sorry." Ford shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, what else do you do for fun around here?"

A loud crash echoed into the alley from around the corner of the building. Buffy gripped Ford's shirt tightly. "My purse! I left my purse at the Bronze. Could you get it for me?" She asked in a bit of a panic. That noise sounded like a fight, and she had a good idea what kind of fight it was.

"Okay." Ford turned and started to walk back to the Bronze.

"Good. Run! Thanks." Buffy fidgeted. Once she was sure Ford was running back to the Bronze she took off around the corner.

A mixture of growls and sobbing stopped Ford's retreat. He headed back in the direction Buffy disappeared in. A crying girl ran past him before he reached the corner of the building. He slowly walked closer to investigate.

Ford ducked away from a flying trashcan. He watched Buffy kick and punch a vampire in the chest and face. 'Yes! This was just the opportunity I needed.' He edged closer to the fight. The vampire disappeared in a cloud of dust after a few more moves from Buffy. "Uh, what's going on?" He played up the innocent act.

"Um," Buffy stuttered. 'Shit! What am I going to say now?' She licked her lips. "There was a cat, and there was another cat. They fought, the cats, and then they left." She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. 'Smooth one there, Summers. You sound like a moron.'

"Oh, I thought you were slaying a vampire," Ford smiled with a frank tone.

"What? Whating a what?" Buffy's mouth opened wide. There was no way she heard him say what she thought she heard him say.

"I know, Buffy. You don't have to lie." Ford grinned at the ease with which he slipped into his well thought out speech. "I've been trying to figure out the right time to tell you. I know you're the Slayer."

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

"Just like that, he told you?" Willow twirled the phone cord in-between her fingers.

"Just like that," Buffy answered over the phone. She sat on the island in her kitchen at home. "He found out right before I got booted from Hemery."

"Wow, it's neat." Willow tripped over whether or not she was saying the right thing to Buffy. "Isn't it neat?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Buffy smiled warmly. "I don't have to constantly worry he's going to find out my dark secret." She inwardly chuckled, 'Or at least not that dark secret.'

"I'm happy for you, Buffy. I hope this makes it easier for you this time." Willow offered her support. "If you want things to work out that is."

"I don't know." Buffy rubbed her wrist absentmindedly. "Ford is a great friend, but I'm not sure I really want a boyfriend right now. My life is kind of complicated." She whimpered softly through the burning pain in her heart and wrist. The pain reminded her of why she was lonely.

"Buffy ... Buffy, are you still there?"

Willow's voice pulled Buffy back into the realm of the present. "Yeah, I'm still here, Will." She choked on the loneliness she felt. "Sometimes I feel so lonely."

"I'm here for you, Buffy." Willow offered the support of a best friend. "I'll always support you."

"Thanks, Wills. I'll see you tomorrow at school." Buffy hung up after her friend said good-bye. "Some things you just can't help me with." She hopped off the island, returned the phone to its cradle, and walked up the stairs to her bedroom.

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

"Those would be the things that I'll help you with, Slayer." Spike's accented voice caressed the night from the other side of Buffy's back door. He stalked over to the tree that grew up to Buffy's window. He climbed halfway up, nestled himself against the trunk, and lit a cigarette. Tonight he would watch Buffy from his perch to make sure no one else came near her.

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

"98 ... 99 ..." A knock at her balcony door stopped Willow mid-stroke. She walked over to the door and peeked out of the blinds. Her eyes widened in surprised. She opened the door. "Oh! Angel, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Angel leaned against the invisible barrier that kept uninvited vampires out of the homes of humans. He rested his hands on either side of the door frame.

"Oh ... Well ..." Willow backed up a couple steps away from the door. When Angel stood still, she asked him, "Well?"

"I can't. Unless you invite me, I can't come in." Angel tried to be patient and sound caring. How long had Willow been friends with Buffy? Surely she should remember the basics about vampires.

"Oh!" Willow slapped herself upside the head mentally. "Well, okay, I invite you to come in." She backed completely away from the door. She turned around, and she noticed her bra sitting on top of her bedspread. She quickly scooped it off the bed and hid it.

"If this is a bad time, I ..."

"No! I just ..." Willow stepped closer to Angel and whispered, "I'm not supposed to have boys in my room."

"I promise to behave myself." Willow's innocent attitude was endearing. He fought against letting loose the amused chuckle in his throat.

"Okay, good," Willow answered hastily.

"I guess I need help." Angel twisted the silver ring around on his finger several times.

"Help? You mean, like, on homework?" Willow's brow furrowed. "No, 'cause you're old, and you already know stuff."

"I want you to track someone down ... on the Net." Angel glanced at Willow's laptop.

Willow beamed. "Oh! Great! I'm so the Net girl." She was excited about helping Angel now.

Angel followed Willow over to the small desk next to her bed. "I just wanna find everything I can: records, affiliates ... I'm not even sure what I want to find."

"Great, what's the name?" Willow sat down.

"Billy Fordham," Angel's eyes never wavered from the screen as he spoke.

Willow froze. "Uh, Angel, if I say something you really don't want to hear, do you promise not to bite me?" She turned back around to face Angel.

"Are you gonna tell me that I'm jealous?" Angel knew he was angry over Buffy's brush off in the Bronze. He was also jealous of the look she got in her eyes when Spike's name was mentioned. Another boy in the mix would not work well with Angel's plans.

"Well, you do sometimes get that way." Willow only wanted to see Buffy happy. She hoped Angel wouldn't stand in the way of that happiness if Buffy chose Ford over him.

Angel shook his head back and forth. "You know, I never used to. Things used to be pretty simple." He lowered himself to sit on Willow's bed. "100 years ... just hanging out, feeling guilty really honed my brooding skills."

Willow typed away on her laptop while she listened to Angel. 'My gosh, he does brood doesn't he?' She thought to herself.

"Then she comes along." Angel sighed. "Yeah, I get jealous."

Willow turned around in her chair for a moment to offer her supportive friend face to Angel.

"But I know people, and my gut tells me this is a wrong guy."

"Okay." Willow faced her computer screen again and restarted her search for specifics on Ford. "But if there isn't anything weird ... Hey, that's weird." She frowned.

"What?" Angel sat up straighter behind Willow.

"I just checked the school records, and he's not in them." Willow punched in a couple more commands. "I mean, usually they transfer your grades, but he's not even registered."

Angel stood up next to Willow. He read the search page on the screen. "You said he was in school with you guys, right?"

"Let me see if I can ..." Willow was cut off by her mother's call from the hall. "Willow, are you still up?"

"Go!" Willow panicked. She pushed Angel towards the door. "Um, I'm just going to bed now, Mom!" She held the door open for Angel. "Come by tomorrow at sunset. I'll keep looking."

"Don't tell Buffy what we're doing." Angel evened his gaze on Willow. "If Buffy knows we're investigating her friend, she'll try to stop us. We have to find the truth to protect her."

"You want me to lie to her? It's Buffy!"

Angel sighed. Sometimes he wanted to strangle humans because of their ultimate sense of black and white. Why couldn't they see the gray areas? "Just don't bring it up till we know what's what."

"Okay, it's probably nothing anyways." Willow fidgeted.

"That'd be nice." Even if the words came out of his mouth, Angel refused to be satisfied with anything but the information he needed to remove Ford from Buffy's life.

Willow closed the door. She paced around her bedroom in her pink and gray bunny slippers for another 15 minutes before she was settled down enough to attempt going to bed.

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

(To Be Continued)

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