Relapse

By Jade Munro

Summary: Starting from the end of ‘Reunion’, my take on what happens next. Which includes Angel, Darla and Dru being bad, plus a crisis in Sunnydale.

Spoilers: Very spoilery for season 2 Angel and season 5 Buffy.

Notes: I’ve taken a couple of liberties in this fic. You’ll notice them as you go along, but they’re not mistakes, they’re intentional. I mean, if the published Buffy books can get away with it, why cant I?

Also, it was originally written in series form on a couple of mailing lists. If any scene changes seem odd or "jumpy", that’s why.

Dedication: That feedback machine Sara-Lee.

~::~+~ -|- ~ * ~::~ -|- ~::~ * ~ -|- ~+~::~

"You’re all fired."

Angel simply turned and left the room, leaving behind the stunned faces of his now former employees. He walked towards the kitchen, taking a bag of blood out of the fridge and ripping into it. His face scrunched in as though he’d just tasted sour milk but he still finished it, before tossing it away and wiping at his mouth.

His hunger for fresh blood had been unbearable since drinking from Kate. The darkness inside him had been growing since setting eyes on Darla. It had almost overcome him when Drusilla majestically swept into the decrepit motel room and turned her, and it had finally flourished when he condemned a room full of humans to an ugly death.

He wasn’t about to lose any sleep over that last act. He wasn’t about to feel any guilt or remorse. Even beings with souls could be evil. Like him. The key difference between himself and the lawyers of Wolfram and Hart was that he was meant to be evil, to kill and commit unfathomable acts of brutality. He was a vampire, after all, only cursed to have the soul that those humans had ignored. They had brought their ugly demises on themselves.

No, he wouldn’t lose any sleep for that. Not one solitary second.

He pulled off his shirt then kicked away his pants, before lying down on his beautifully soft bed. He sunk into it, feeling the mattress mold around his prone form, letting himself become totally relaxed. His thoughts wandered to Darla and Dru, falling asleep with their images on his mind, making him dream of them.

He woke eight hours later with a smile etched across his face.

* * *

Drusilla stood at the door of the wine cellar, a dreamy look on her face, as she waved air towards herself, taking in deep breaths.

"Daddy was here," she said happily, doing a slight swirl into the room. She inhaled deeply again, smiling brightly, swaying to a song only she could hear. Darla watched her, grinning, before joining her and wrapping her arms around the insane vampires waist.

"He was. My boy’s coming back."

"Or maybe he wasn’t that far gone to begin with," the very much alive Lindsey suggested from behind them. He took a sip from the finest wine he’d managed to find in the old cellar, allowing it to slide over his tongue a few times before swallowing. Looking up from the vintage bottle he was holding, he saw the two ladies eyeing him curiously.

"Think about it. He’s always been drawn to you both, always felt the connection. We know he wants you," he told Darla, "And we know just how bad he can be."

"I can feel Angelus, screaming to be free…he gets louder all the time…" Drusilla moaned.

"We won’t have to wait long. Angel has a soul, it makes him weak. All he has to understand is he was born to be bad…with us," Darla said, smirking wickedly.

"And I know just the thing to make him see."

* * *

Angel sighed heavily when he walked in to the lobby to find Cordelia and Wesley sitting impatiently on the couch, both nursing large cups of coffee. He didn’t want to have to deal with them, though he knew he’d have to.

"I fired you," he said simply. They both jumped slightly, surprised.

"You did," Wesley conceded, "But you aren’t exactly in the most desirable mind set."

"You’ve lost it," Cordelia blurted.

"I’ve lost it? Funny…I feel fine."

"You’re not fine! You haven’t been since Darla came back. Angel, you need help," Wesley reasoned, trying to get through.

"I don’t need any help. Did either one of you think that maybe I’m okay for the first time? Because, you know, I’m seeing things a lot clearer lately. Those lawyers got what they had coming. And, I have to ask, why do you care if they’re dead anyway? If I remember right, not too long ago they had you both in the hospital."

"Angel…don’t do this to yourself. You’ve got so much to gain, but if you keep this up--"

"Explain to me Cordelia, what do I have to gain? So I might be human one day. Does that really matter? Because I don’t really see myself being that happy. Besides, you saw how much good being human did for Darla."

Cordelia had had enough, so she walked to him and got right in his face, "So that’s it? You’re just throwing all the good you’ve done away?"

"You gonna stop me?"

"You’re damn right I am! Remember what I said the day we found out what Shanshu meant? We’re family. So I’m not going to let you--"

"We’re not family. I was your boss. My family? I let them kill a room full of people last night. Leave," he ordered, turning his back on them and walking away.

"Angel…" Wesley began.

"Now!" Angel yelled. Cordelia and Wesley flinched away from him, finally giving up and gathering their things. They took their time, waiting to see if he would change his mind and speak to them. He didn’t. Casting mournful looks in his direction, they left without another word.

* * *

"Knew you’d come," Darla purred when she saw Angel walk through the doors of Holland’s mansion.

"I guess you know me better than we both thought," he replied, taking slow strides right up to her. He stopped when he was less than a foot away, looming above her, and they both had to struggle to keep from just taking the other, right there.

The space between them was charged, a mixture of anger and lust so strong it was almost overwhelming. The rest of the world vanished as they stood and stared at each other, conflicting emotions warring within them. The connection was only broken by Drusilla’s giggling.

"You’ve come home," she said to Angel, her voice full of childlike joy. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, swallowing hard though his mouth and throat were dry. He still wasn’t so sure. He hadn’t committed himself to either be good or bad. Now was the time he had to make that choice.

"Not yet, sweetie," Darla told her grandchilde and sire, "He still has to decide. Lindsey!"

The only surviving lawyer of the previous night’s massacre quickly made his way in, eager to find out what she wanted. When he saw Angel his mouth curled into his obnoxious smirk.

"Angel," he said in greeting, "Surprised to see me alive?"

"A little. Maybe a little disappointment mixed in with that surprise. Why didn’t you kill him?"

Darla had moved next to Lindsey while the two spoke, caressing his neck. She could see that Angel’s anger was growing as he watched her touching the other man – he always had been possessive of her.

"Because," she said, her grip on his neck tightening, making a small cut on his throat as she shoved him into Angel, "You’re going to."

"What?" the two asked in unison. By now Drusilla was side by side with Darla, looking on in anticipation. She’d known what her plans for Lindsey had been the moment she’d insisted that he be spared.

"Go on, Angel…you know you want to. After what he did. Everything else he’s done. Give him what he deserves."

Angel had been holding Lindsey by the shirt, looking down into the young mans eyes, taking in the smell of his blood, searching for fear. He found none. All he found was emptiness.

"He’s not afraid, it doesn’t matter to him. His own death means nothing. Think about what other people mean to him," she said, continuing to coax Angel into murder. Angel just kept staring, almost fascinated by finding nothing in his face. It was emotionless, and he knew that Lindsey wasn’t, in what were possibly his final moments, thinking about his life, about his crimes, feeling any remorse. He didn’t see any hatred. The guy was staring into the face of his could-be killer, and he felt nothing.

Angel felt his own anger surge, his jaw clenching and unclenching. The hatred that ran through him was so pure it couldn’t be put into words. He felt Darla and Drusilla gently place their hands on his arms, and he could feel them gazing at him expectantly. He morphed into vamp face, baring his fangs and growling, waiting for some kind of reaction from the man he held on to with an unbreakable grip.

All he got was a smile.

With a final roar, Angel viciously sunk his fangs into Lindsey’s neck. Darla and Dru ran their hands over his body, feeling him as he drank, taking down huge gulps of blood. Both were smiling broadly, panting excitedly and Lindsey began to go limp, sliding down to the floor, Angel following.

"How did you think this would end?" Angel asked him, blood dripping from his chin. He returned to the bite on his neck, finishing the job, drinking until there was nothing left. Releasing the body, Angel stood and simply brushed off his pants, before turning back to ‘his women’. They both almost latched on to him, Drusilla clinging to an arm, running her cheek across his shoulder, while Darla brought his face down to her, licking the blood off his chin and lips, before sinking her tongue into his mouth. He didn’t resist, instead relaxing and allowing her to taste, to have her way with him. When she was finally done, she looked him in the eye hungrily.

"Welcome back."

* * *

Angel aggressively crushed his lips to Darla’s, holding her by the hair as he forced his tongue into her mouth. She obliged him, more than willing, gripping him hard by the shoulders and digging in her nails. The smell of blood was already in the air, Lindsey’s body lying still beneath them as they practically attacked each other. The anger and the lust were still thick in the air, and they both enjoyed it, using it to fuel them. The kiss was only broken when Drusilla pulled Angel away, bringing his face to her own.

"Not fair. I’ll be sad if you play without me," she whispered in her little girl voice. Angel smiled gently at her, before leaning in and planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Why would we do that, Dru?" he asked mischievously, before licking and nipping his way from her ear to her throat. While he was doing that, Darla busied herself with taking off his red silk shirt, tossing it away before running a hand along his smooth stomach. She felt his muscles tighten under her hand in response to her touch, saw the bulge in his pants. She lightly traced his navel with the tip of her finger, smiling when she heard him whimper and pull away from Dru.

"Some things don’t change, do they Angelus?" she asked. His eyes snapped open when she said his other name, and he turned to look her hard in the eye.

"My name is Angel," he told her roughly, grabbing her by the throat.

"Angelus," she said cheekily, luxuriating in the pain he was causing. He glared at her for a moment longer, before tearing away her top, leaving her chest bare. He bent his head and took one of her nipples his mouth with familiar severity, making her throw her head back in a unique combination of pleasure and pain. She held his shoulders while Drusilla ran her fingers through his hair, watching with excitement.

It wouldn’t be too long until it was her turn.

"Let’s go upstairs," Angel ordered, "I don’t feel like tripping over bodies."

He lifted Darla with one arm, and pulled Drusilla along with the other. The first room they found was the bedroom. It was full of antique furniture, most from the 18^th century. Darla took in the sight of the room, and laughed in delight.

"It’ll be just like old times," she said. Angel set her down, pushing her onto the bed and turning his attention to Dru.

"Undress," he commanded flatly. He walked towards the bed to sit next to Darla, taking off his belt and wrapping it around his hand. She curled up next to him, wrapping one arm around him waist, kissing and licking his shoulder, while unzipping his pants. He let her do what she wanted as he watched Drusilla begin to do a slow strip for him. Her top was first to go, running it over her body as she swayed sensually. Darla’s hand had snaked into his pants, wrapping itself around his hardness, slowly gliding along his length.

Angel stretched out his arms behind him to lean back, watching Dru, now naked, slowly dance for him as Darla gave him a hand job. Soon his own pants were almost off, stuck around his ankles until he kicked them off along with his shoes. As soon as he was nude he felt cold lips seal around him, making him close his eyes and hiss between gritted teeth. He stroked Darla’s hair as she took him in as far as she could, slightly grazing him with her teeth on the way on the way up. Each time she reached his end she swirled the tip of her tongue around the tip, before resuming her actions.

"Stop," Angel demanded when he felt himself come close to losing control. Darla did as she was told immediately, watching him like a cat as she waited for his next order.

"Both of you, lay back on the bed," he instructed. They did as they were told, each seductively lying down. The watched as Angel stood tall over them, twisting his belt. He bit into his bottom lip, sweeping his gaze over their bodies as they waited for him.

The raised the belt high over his head before bringing it down across Dru’s stomach. He continued to rain blows on her for the next few minutes, moving across her entire body, from her feet to her breasts. He didn’t stop until she was bright red with welts, tears streaming down her face though she had been giggling and gasping in pleasure through the whole experience. He repeated his actions on Darla, though he was even more violent with her, using the side of his belt so she had streaks of crimson all over her body. Angel knelt beside her, languidly lapping up all of the blood.

Eventually he’d licked her clean, so he moved his face to the juncture between her thighs. Inhaling deeply, taking in the scent of her arousal, began slow movements with his tongue along her inner lips, while reaching with his left hand to fuck Drusilla with his fingers. Before too long he had them both writhing and moaning under his ministrations, so he sped up both his actions in an effort to make them come together. He wanted to hear both women scream his name.

And he always did get what he wanted.

Soon their moans became sharp cries, his hands now working both of them while he sat back on his heels and watched them. As soon as one began to come, he’d slow down, letting the other catch up. He wouldn’t let them go until the timing was perfect.

Once he felt them start to clench around his fingers he went harder and faster, relishing in their cries of his name as they wailed it over and over. He didn’t stop until their shudders ceased. Both watched him through hazy eyes as he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked them clean, smirking. They both sat up, panting, wanting him more than anything.

"Dru…" Angel purred, moving to lean against the headboard, indicating for her to straddle him. She eagerly did so, her eyes wide with anticipation. Darla watched in disbelief, her jealousy obvious. Angel spared her a glance over Dru’s shoulder, winking.

"Don’t worry, you’ll get yours," he promised. Scooting forward slightly, he made room for Darla to sit behind him. When she was positioned properly, pillows up around her, her legs on wither side of Angel, he leaned back onto her.

Drusilla slowly lowered herself onto him, taking him fully. She began an even rhythm on him, ending each downward thrust with a sharp forward movement. Darla caressed him wherever she could reach, keeping her lips attached to any part of him that she could. Both Angel and Drusilla were soon reaching their peaks, and Angel grabbed both women by their hair, pulling their faces to either side of his throat. They knew what he wanted, both vamping out and savagely ripping into him with their fangs. It drove all three into orgasm, Drusilla and Darla clutching at Angel’s shoulders and torso, Angel gripping the backs of their necks, stroking them. He made himself feel the pain, not the pleasure of what they were doing. He soaked it in, reminding him of the animal he knew he truly was.

It was only when they were done that he asked himself what the hell he was doing.

* * *

"We don’t know for sure if he’s totally lost it, he might just be in a really bad mood," Cordelia reasoned.

"I think its fair to say Angel’s mental state is dire at best, Cordelia," Wesley said.

"Have to agree with that. But, what do we do about it?" Gunn asked.

"We have to make him listen to reason. Though, I confess I’m not sure we can. In fact, I’m certain Angel wont listen to us. But we’re in a fortunate position. Only one person can help Angel now, someone who understands him and who he will listen to."

"Who?" Cordelia asked anxiously.

"Look at the calendar. Angel has an important date marked in for tomorrow."

Cordelia went to Angel desk and picked up the calendar, noticing that in large red letters he had written ‘its today’. She knew instantly what that ‘it’ was, and who Wesley was referring to.

"So, do we fix her a room?"

* * *

"Now hearing the case of inmate 7901-554, Faith, surname unknown."

She stood at the side of her counselor, head bowed. Today was the day she’d been anticipating yet dreading. Having just turned 21, she was eligible for release. She wasn’t sure whether to be happy about that or not. Angel had promised that he would be here, regardless of if it was day or not, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her worry was growing as each minute passed and he failed to show; some of it was worry for herself, but the much larger part of her was fearing for his safety. It simply wasn’t like him to just forget about her. He’d told her for weeks how important her release hearing was to him. He’d vowed a number of times that he would be there.

Her head snapped around when she heard the large doors of the courtroom opening. Her face was full of hope, though it faded quickly when she saw who it was.

Wesley and Cordelia, but no Angel.

Frowning, she turned back towards the judge, sitting. Silently, she sat and listened to her counselor and various other state officials discuss her mental well being, letting them decide if she was worthy of release.

"Faith seems to show genuine remorse for her crimes," Dr. Dalton said proudly, "Her improvement over the last few months has been outstanding."

It went on for another hour or so. Different people offering different views, the judge sitting tall above them, nodding in the appropriate places, tapping a finger against his chin thoughtfully. Faith zoned out for the bulk of it, until she heard the judge calling her name.

"Huh?"

"Is there something else that interests you young lady?" he asked impatiently.

Faith shook her head in apology. "Sorry. It’s just that a friend of mine promised to be here. He’s not exactly the kind to be a no show."

The judge only raised his eyebrows at her, mouth pressed in a tight line. He said nothing for the next few moments, instead fussing with the papers in front of him.

"I’ve made my decision," he finally informed the court, "It is clear to me that further incarceration will not enhance Ms Faith’s rehabilitation. However, due to the violent nature of her crimes I believe full release to be premature. She is to meet with a state psychiatrist on a biweekly basis. During the event of a location change she is to inform all required officials…"

He went on with the conditions to her release for a couple more minutes, Faith only hearing every other word. The gist of it was that she had to be a real good girl, and they would be watching her like a hawk.

Once it was all over, Wesley and Cordelia moved to speak to her.

"Congratulations," Wesley said in a voice that was almost sincere. He and Cordy simply stared at the Slayer, their faces showing that they weren’t about to start with the niceties.

"Um, yeah. So why isn’t Angel here?"

"We need to talk to you about that," Cordelia told her.

"Why? Something happen to him?"

"Yes. But it’s best we don’t try to explain now. Go sort out your release. We’ll discuss this over lunch." Faith nodded wearily at her former watcher, allowing the security guard to lead her away. Cordy and Wes watched her go, uncertainty clear.

"You think she’ll be able to help?" Cordelia wondered out loud.

"I hope so."

* * *

"What now, Angelus?" Darla inquired. Angel glared at her, telling her without words not to call him that.

"Sorry…Angel," she conceded, "What do you want to do now?"

Angel though for a time, before deciding. "My job is to fight evil. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do."

Both Darla and Dru looked confused, neither understanding what he meant.

"We’re going to finish what you started. We’re going to Wolfram and Hart."

Both girls’ eyes lit up. They were excited, like children who were about to go to a theme park. Angel watched them with mixed feelings. He knew what he was doing was wrong but, like two nights before, couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when he knew the law firm would kill a child to get what it wanted.

To hell with playing nice. Someone had to stop them, so it might as well be him.

* * *

"He let people die?" Faith asked quietly. Cordelia and Wesley nodded in confirmation, and she looked away sadly. She didn’t know how to take this piece of news. For the last few months Angel had been her rock; just knowing that he’d been out there, fighting for redemption, helped her get through each day. Now this?

"It’s shocking, we know," Wesley sympathized. Faith chewed on her bottom lip then ran a hand through her long, dark hair.

"What do you need me to do?" she questioned.

Cordelia looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What he did for you, duh."

"Right…I don’t know. You think he’ll listen to me?"

"He should. You’re the only person who understands what he’s going through. If anyone should be able to reach him, it should be you," Wesley insisted. Fatih considered it some more, before taking in a deep breath and standing.

"Okay. Where is he?"

* * *

The silent alarms sounded in the large W&H building when the three vampires walked through the doors. Of course, the trio knew it, and wasted no time in moving straight to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" one of the guards asked in a low, arrogant voice.

"Actually, yeah," Angel said, vamping out and pulling the man by the shirt, "We’d like to speak to you’re lawyers."

* * *

Angel stood silently in the corner of an office, taking in the carnage that surrounded him. He, Drusilla and Darla had gone from office to office, destroying anything and everything. The two female vampires had gone on a gleeful killing spree, feeding on any humans that happened to pass by, or were stupid enough to try and confront them. Anyone with half a brain could see that they weren’t to be stopped; security had dropped like flies, causing for more ‘extreme’ measures to be taken in ridding the firm of the vampires.

An array of demons had been let loose. They had been dispelled, but it was neither quickly or easily. Angel looked down at his blood soaked clothing, unable to comprehend his own brutality. He’d practically gutted one of the demons; having trapped it in the large metal bars that had been activated, he’d ripped open its insides as it had been pinned to the ground. The high pitched wailing that had emanated from it pierced Angels eardrums, angering him, making him tear it apart more forcefully and methodically. The demon was by no means innocent, he knew.

That didn’t mean he felt any better about it.

He heard hysterical laughter coming from the hallway, looking up just in time to see Darla almost skip into the room. She saw him in the corner, her lips curved into a sweet smile, and flightily made her way to him.

"Don’t just stand there. You’re missing all the fun," she said in her version of a deep voice. The lust in her eyes was evident; a fresh kill always put her in the mood. A series of fresh kills was likely to send her into overdrive and Angel into exhaustion.

"I’m not missing any fun," he said gravely. He himself hadn’t killed any humans. It was a small comfort, considering that by now Darla and Dru would have killed dozens. His sire looked up at him, pouting slightly, and started to run her hands over his strong, broad chest.

"Oh, don’t start that," she breathed out, leaning in to kiss him deeply, "I think we should get going, anyway."

"I thought you were having fun."

"I was…but its not the kind of fun I want to be having," she said suggestively. At the same moment, they roughly grabbed each other, kissing furiously. Darla did a small leap, her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist. Angel slipped his hands under her shirt, running them over her bare back, simply enjoying the feel of her usually cold skin, warmed by her recent feeding. He felt the first pangs of guilt begin to stir, but he quickly pushed them away.

He simply wasn’t going to play by the rules of the Powers anymore. After all he’d given up, to have them repay him by allowing Darla to simply die…

Angrily, he tore away her underwear, then quickly undid his pants. He plowed into her in one swift, aggressive movement, making her let out a strangled cry. He didn’t give her time to adjust; spinning around so that it was her back against the wall, he pulled out, and rammed in again.

Thinking about all that had happened during the last few months, he fucked her in a blind rage. Uncaring that a massacre had gone on and in all likelihood still was. It all could have been prevented.

Their climaxes came hard and fast; Darla with a screech, Angel with a roar.

Setting her down, he saw her smile, temporarily satisfied.

"Let’s go," he said gruffly. Darla nodded and followed him out, smiling when she saw the blood stained walls. They’d had one hell of a time…

"Where’s Dru?" Angel asked.

"In the lobby, last time I checked," Darla replied. Without another word, Angel hurriedly led them both to the elevators. Getting off at the ground floor, they found Drusilla standing over a guard, while a demon looked on, mortified.

"You are a very rude boy," she scolded gently, waving his own stake in his face, "It’s not nice to wave big sticks at people."

"Dru, get off him, lets go," Angel ordered. She hesitated a moment, before leaning back slightly.

"Cant I just take one more?" she childishly pleaded. Angel shook his head sternly, and started towards her when a large growl was heard, and a demon lunged out at her. It savagely clawed at her, managing an enormous slash across her ribs before Angel easily snapped its neck.

The demon that had been watching them turned and bolted, smashing through one of the large windows, determined to escape the wrath of what he knew were three of the most depraved, vicious vampires in history.

Not one of the trio noticed him, all attention on Drusilla and her badly wounded side. Angel carefully helped her to stand, before deciding it would be easier to simply carry her. She was light in his arms, and he held her effortlessly, deciding to take her back to Holland’s mansion. Once he settled her there, he explained to Darla that he would be going back to the hotel, under the pretence of getting his things. What was awaiting him came as a shock.

"Angel," Faith calmly greeted him. Angel stood and stared at her, mouth hanging open, shock written over his features.

"So," she continued, "Blood yours?"

Angel recovered enough to look down at his drenched shirt, and bloody hands. Part of his face was sticky also, so it was obvious that he wasn’t a pretty sight.

"I can explain…"

"Yeah, don’t bother. Your guys already told me what I need to know. But, I guess they aren’t your guys anymore, are they?"

"You don’t understand," he said, his voice solemn. Faith balled her hands into fists, before replying angrily.

"Like hell I don’t! I know exactly what you’re going through. I did it with the Mayor, remember? You think you can’t do any good the way things are going, so you latch on to who you think will appreciate you. You think, screw the world, I’m gonna do things my own way. Tell me, am I hitting any marks here?"

Angel didn’t respond. He looked away guiltily, not wanting to meet her demanding eyes.

"Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’ll tell you something, Angel, that isn’t gonna get you far. It’s a one way ticket to a place you don’t wanna be. And you should know that."

"Yeah. I probably should."

* * *

"You gotta be kiddin’ me!"

"No, man. I swear, I saw ‘em. They wrecked the place, good. Not more than twenty of us must’ve got out."

Willy frantically wiped at the bar, his nervousness starting to gain full control of his actions. He listened as the two demons spoke over a couple of vodkas, hoping against hope that they didn’t mean who he thought.

"So, you’re telling me that Angelus and his two gal pals are back, yeah?" the first one asked, its red eyes shining under the dim lights. The second nodded slowly, shakily bringing his shot glass to his disgusting lips, throwing back the clear liquid.

"I’m telling ya, alright. But, I heard Darla got dusted a couple of year’s back. And Dru, didn’t she go to some country in Africa or something?"

"Yeah, I heard all that too. I was happy about it. Remember the last time we saw them together? If this times anything like that, all hells gonna break loose. And, you know, not in the fun way."

Willy had heard enough. He threw his towel over his shoulder, and waved his arms over his head to attract attention.

"Sorry, but we’re closing early today. Gotta close early," he yelled. The demons filling the bar growled in annoyance, hastily leaving. A few hissed in his direction, and he apologized as they filed out.

"Sorry, way it goes sometimes. Got stuff to deal with. Tell you what, happy hour at lunch tomorrow."

Once the last one had left, he buried his face in his hands, trying to calm himself. Not much scared him, but Angelus, and that freaky bitch Drusilla, were very high on the list. Possibly highest. He’d never actually met Darla, but had heard enough about her to know that she helped make Angelus what he was. Which happened to be one of the most depraved, sadistic vampires in history.

Grabbing his old leather jacket, he started heading for the magic shop. It was common knowledge that the new owner was closely tied to the Slayer, so most demons kept clear of it, not really feeling like becoming prey to a certain pissed off blond.

Opening the door to the Magic Box he saw a an older man in a suit working the register, while Xander and some other chick talked quietly in a corner.

"Oh, hello," the man, who turned out to be British, said while walking towards him, pleasant smile plastered across his face. Willy nodded uneasily by way of reply, then got right to the point.

"Slayer here?" he asked. The man’s smile faded, and he regarded the bartender seriously.

"Maybe. Who wants to know?"

Willy didn’t have time to respond when he saw Buffy emerge from a room in the back. Her surprise was clear when she saw him, and she quickly walked to where he and Giles were having a ridiculous standoff.

"Willy? What is it?" she wanted to know, immediately concerned. He cleared his throat, and began shuffling his feet.

"Well, uh…I been hearing things. Stuff that, maybe, you’d want to know," he began. He paused for a minute, unsure how to continue. He was about to go on when the door opened, and Spike, covered by a blanket, burst in. Uncovering himself, and seeing the smaller man, he broke into a grin.

"Willy, how are you mate?" he asked in his most friendly voice. Willy groaned inwardly; having to tell the Slayer about her ex was bad enough. Telling Spike about his was nightmarish. So, maybe the vampire couldn’t hurt him, but he could be really unpleasant to be around.

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy commanded, keeping her eyes glued to the self proclaimed snitch.

"Like I was sayin, I heard some stuff that you might wanna know. Its…its from LA," he paused again, seeing the worry flare up in Buffy’s eyes. Spike, on the other hand, was smiling from ear to ear.

"Oh, something happen to me old grandsire? It’s bad news, right? Continue."

"Well, not just Angel. It’s more than that. From what I’ve been hearing, that Darla is back. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know. And, so are…"

"So are who?" Buffy demanded, her impatience reaching its peak.

"Drusilla…and Angelus," he spoke so quietly that they all had a hard time hearing him. Buffy’s face fell, while Spike’s smile disappeared, replaced by a scowl.

"Thought you’d wanna know…" he trailed off, turning and leaving without a sound.

They all just stared and watched him go. Xander and Anya scared. Giles confused. Spike furious. Buffy heartbroken.

* * *

"So, what are you gonna do? Are you going to keep fighting, or are you going to give it all up cause things got a little too hard?"

"As I recall, Faith, you were willing to give up."

"And I had you to help me. Now I’m returning the favor."

"Maybe I don’t want you to."

"I didn’t want you to help me. But you did anyway. You cant just give in, Angel."

"I’m not giving in. I’m just doing things differently."

"Yeah. And I can see that’s going well."

Angel was quickly growing tired of the conversation. He pushed past her, taking off his shirt. Faith followed, standing at the door of the bathroom while he cleaned himself off, watching the bright red blood swirl around in the sink. She watched as he frantically scrubbed at his arms and chest, remembering how she had done almost the exact same thing after she’d accidentally killed the deputy mayor.

Drying himself off, he tried to leave, but found the doorway blocked by the determined young woman.

"Get out of my way."

She moved, staying behind as he went to put on some clean clothes. He came out of his room again, wearing a fresh, blue-gray shirt and black jeans. She followed as he walked toward the exit of the Hyperion Hotel, jumping in front of him as he neared the door.

"I’m not letting you do this."

"Back off, Faith."

"Make me."

Angel’s eyes narrowed, as he reached behind him to grab one of the stone artifacts that the hotel was decorated with.

"You gonna use that?" she asked, eyeing it.

"If I have to."

"I don’t believe you."

Angel quickly spun his arm around, brining down the heavy stone on her forehead. She hadn’t had time to react, convinced that he wouldn’t have done it. Blood started to ooze from a split above her brow, and he felt himself go completely empty.

"I’m sorry," he whispered to her unconscious form. Then he stepped over her and left, not looking back.

* * *

"Faith? Faith, can you hear me?" Wesley softly called to the rousing Slayer.

"Yeah, keep it down a little. Man that hurt," she grumbled, clutching her head.

"Here, take these," Cordelia instructed, holding out two aspirin. Faith accepted them, but ignored the offered water, dry swallowing the pills.

"What happened?" Wesley asked.

"Me and Angel were talking. Guess I said the wrong thing…"

"Do you know where he went?"

"No. He was trying to leave, but I wouldn’t get out of his way. So he knocked me out."

"Perfect, just what we need. More great news," Cordelia complained.

"Am I missing something here?"

Wesley took of his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "There’ve been reports on a massacre at Wolfram and Hart. The official explanation is terrorists, but it’s safe to assume--"

"That it was a little more vampish. Right. Any idea where they might be holed up?"

"We were certain that they wouldn’t have had time to find their own place. So we sent Gunn to check Mr. Holland’s home. Seems it’s their, at least temporary, residence."

"Okay. This Holland, he’s one of the guys they killed right? So who’s this Gunn?"

"He works with us sometimes," Cordelia offhandedly explained, "Okay, so how do we deal with this?"

"We keep trying to reason with him. And if that doesn’t work…"

"I catch him, and we make him listen," Faith said, not the least bit deterred in her determination to save the vampire.

"That should work. As long as we don’t…have…another…crisis!" Cordelia growled out as she was hit by a vision. Wesley immediately jumped up to steady her, easing her onto the couch.

He kept a firm grip on her shoulder until the vision passed. "What did you see?"

"What the hell was that?" Faith asked, alarmed.

Cordelia took a minute to compose herself, making sure her voice would be even when she replied.

"We need to call Sunnydale."

* * *

The Magic Box was filled by a deafening silence. The entire Scooby Gang sat around various corners of the shop, each contemplating the news they’d just heard.

"Are you alright?" Giles suddenly asked Buffy. She swallowed hard, then shrugged meekly, aware that all eyes were on her.

"I guess. Not the news I was expecting to hear, that’s for sure."

"We could just curse him again," Willow suggested.

"How about no. As long as that damn clause is in his curse there’s too much risk of this happening again. And how could he be stupid enough to--"

"Xander, that’s enough. We don’t know how this happened. But, you’re right. There is too much risk. And the fact that Cordelia and Wesley haven’t called…" Giles thought out loud.

"You think they’re dead?" Buffy asked, her voice low.

"Possibly. I’ll try to reach them. But, much as I hate to say it, we need to concentrate on Glory. She should be our top priority right now."

"Forget that. You lot can go look for this Glory…I’m gonna pay my family a visit," Spike informed them.

"And do what?" Xander demanded.

Spike reached in to his coat pocket, pulling out a stake. "Kill ‘em."

As he turned to go, the phone rang. Giles quickly answered it, signaling for someone to stop Spike from leaving.

"Magic Box, you’re one stop…" he trailed off, listening to whoever it was on the other line. After a few minutes, he hung up, turning to face the expecting eyes of his odd little family.

"Oh dear…" he sighed.

* * *

"What is it now?" Willow asked, worried.

"That was…that was Cordelia," Giles said, frowning, deep in thought. A quick wave of relief swept through the room, though it quickly passed.

"What did she say?" The urgency in Buffy’s voice was clear, and was not lost on any of them.

"Well…the good news is, Angel hasn’t lost his soul," he slowly told them. Buffy closed her eyes, saying a silent thank you. The last thing she needed now, or ever needed, was to face her worst nightmare.

"And the bad news is…" Xander prompted.

"Well, it seems that…Darla is indeed back. As is Drusilla. It…was quite a story, to tell the truth," the perplexed Giles managed.

"Okay, so start from the top. Like why are demons going around saying Angelus is back? And how the hell is Darla alive?"

"Just, calm down Buffy. Cordelia explained it all to me. As I said, Darla and Drusilla are back. A law firm, Wolfram and Hart, does special dealings with demons and the like. It seems Angels been, well, a thorn in their side. Darla was resurrected, human, though she’s since been turned again, this time by Drusilla. Angel took it rather badly, he…"

"He what? Giles, what did he do?" Buffy’s panicked voice demanded.

"The thing is, while Darla was a human…he saved her. Her soul. She didn’t want to become a vampire again. But, Wolfram and Hart…they sent a squad to her flat. Held her and Angel down while…"

"They made him watch?" Willow asked, a tinge of disgust in her voice.

"Yes. It was, apparently, more than he was willing to take. A couple of nights ago he allowed them to kill a number of the lawyers."

"Angel let people die," Buffy murmured, as if saying the words would make them seem less surreal. No one heard her.

"And, last night the three went on a rampage. The entire firm has been destroyed, dozens of people, and we’re assuming demons, were…well, slaughtered."

"So, Angel hasn’t lost his soul, but he’s Mr. Killing Spree anyway? Don’t you think that should cinch it? Stake and heart getting up close and personal, anyone?" Xander’s rising voice almost echoed through the shop.

"No, he may be helped. Faith was released from prison yesterday--"

"Crisis, boiling point. Two psychos on the loose. God, why is it always like this with Angel, huh? First he loses his soul, now he’s insane. Tell me, what did Faith do?" he almost shouted.

"She tried to talk to him--"

"Tried. And Angel did what?"

Giles hesitated before answering. "He knocked her out."

"Knocked her out," Xander repeated, "It’s time we end this. No more debating. I’m not gonna sit back while people are getting killed."

"No one else will be killed. Wolfram and Hart…Cordelia and Wesley agree that it was a special circumstance. He could have killed them, and Faith. He didn’t."

"So what, you’re just going to forget? Like last time? Since when were you so pro-Angel anyway?"

"Since Cordelia had a vision and we’re going to need his help." Silence hung in the air again as the group took a moment to absorb all that had been said. Buffy stared ahead blankly, feeling as if an enormous weight had been placed on her chest. She had stopped paying attention to Xander’s diatribe, though she vaguely heard Giles’ last sentence.

It was her weary voice that broke the painful quiet. "What was in the vision?"

Giles took off his glasses, nervously tapping them against his thigh.

"Dawn."

It was all he needed to say. Everyone was on immediate alert. Buffy jumped from her place on the counter, in full Slayer mode.

"The details were very sketchy. But the description of the young woman she saw fits Glory. There were a series of demons coming for Dawn, and an image of what appeared to be a sacrifice."

"And the sacrifice Glory needs is the Key. When? Do you know how much time we have?"

"No."

"Okay. We keep Dawn under constant and heavy protection. Whatever it is that’s gonna happen, it cant be done without her. You guys, look up all you can about ancient powers. Read up on anything that relates to something called ‘the Key’. I’m talking prophecies, the works. We need to know what her purpose is."

"Anyone else feel like we’re missing some major back story?" Xander questioned. The others made gestures to show their agreement, and Buffy let out a frustrated breath.

"I don’t have time to answer all your questions right now, okay? All you need to know is Dawn is the Key, and Glory needs her to do…whatever it is she’s trying. We need to know what that is, and we need to know soon."

The others looked ready to ask more questions, but stopped themselves when they realized just how serious Buffy was. All of them started on the research, except Spike who had been standing in a corner, uncharacteristically silent.

"I’m going to LA," he announced. Before anyone could say anything to stop him, he had breezed out the door, blanket protecting him from the sun that still had an hour before setting.

"He doesn’t know where Angels new place is, does he?" Buffy asked.

"Not that I know of."

* * *

Faith held the bleach blond vampire against a wall by the neck, not letting him move.

"You’re not going anywhere until you explain just what the hell you’re doing here," she told him. Cordelia and Wesley watched on, both eager to hear his answer.

"If…you let…go, I might…tell you," he rasped. Faith eased her grip on him, allowing him room to speak.

"I’m here to get Angel," he said sincerely. Cordelia let out a short bark of laughter, not believing a word of it.

"I am! You had a vision, yeah? Showed the Slayers sis in trouble. I’m here to take him back so he can help."

"What? Why?"

"We’ve all got our reasons…not that I’m gonna tell you mine, but I still have ‘em."

Wesley shook his head, skeptical at best. "And we should trust you…why, exactly?"

"Well, from the looks of things, you haven’t been doing much of a job in getting to him. Thought maybe I could do it."

Cordelia eyed him coolly. "And that wouldn’t have anything to do with Drusilla being involved in this, now would it?"

Spike faltered a moment. "Well, it might," he conceded, "But, look I’m not here to cause more problems. Slayer’ll have my head if I try anything. Besides, can’t hurt humans remember."

Wesley thought for a moment. "I hate to say it, but we might actually need his help. There’s no way we could confront those three on our own. We don’t know how far Angel is willing to go."

"Okay, so we take him. What’s to stop him from just running out of town with Drusilla?" Cordelia asked.

"What difference would it make to you? Say I do leave with Dru, which I wont, bitch did leave me for a Chaos demon, but say I did. That’s just the two of us out of your hair, ain’t it?"

"Okay. But you can hurt demons, which means if you wanted you could kill Angel. What’s to stop you from that?"

Spike didn’t answer right away, unable to explain his intentions. He himself wasn’t too clear about what had made him come all the way to Los Angeles, a place he detested.

"Look, I’m not here to kill Angel. I’m not stupid enough to try that, cause I know it’ll make me a dust pile before I could enjoy it."

Faith hastily released her grip, still eyeing him suspiciously. Spike smoothed out his clothes and rubbed at his neck, waiting to hear what they would say. He knew that this Slayer would dust him without a second thought; unlike Buffy, she didn’t give a damn that he couldn’t hurt humans. She knew that he would right away given the opportunity. She didn’t trust him enough to take her eyes off him for a split second, ready to beat him to a pulp as soon as she felt inclined.

He decided he liked her.

"Alright. We’ll go. But if you try anything--"

"Without a blink. I got it."

The four turned to go, crosses, holy water and stakes at the ready. As they walked out the doors, Wesley realized he had one more question to ask.

"Spike, how did you find us? I can’t imagine that Giles or Buffy would have told you."

"Old guy leaves his organizer lying around. He really ought to be more careful about that. You find out all sorts of things…"

* * *

Angel quietly sat in a corner of the antique filled bedroom. The image of Faith lying unconscious, bleeding by his own hand, was fresh in his minds eye.

His guilt was becoming unbearable. It was eating away at him, slowly consuming all that he was. He couldn’t ease any of it by telling himself that it was the demon, that he had no control. He had contributed to the deaths of dozens of humans, and had taken a life himself.

He had betrayed the people he cared about.

Seeing Darla walk through the finely crafted door, shutting it behind her, he pushed the thought from his mind. She was his reminder that after all the good he’d done, he’d gotten nothing but a slap in the face as a return.

As Faith represented the idea of redemption, Darla represented the idea that sometimes it just wasn’t worth fighting anymore. But that’s all they were: ideas.

He had to find out for himself which road he wanted to travel. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. The idea of redeeming himself, of becoming human, had become less appealing lately. What was supposed to be the light at the end of the tunnel now seemed more distant, and less bright. It seemed less…spectacular.

But the darkness…that was within arms reach. It was tangible. He could feel it all around him, enticing him. It had presence. The light was just, well, there.

"Hmm, you don’t look too happy," she purred, settling herself on his lap, "Not to worry. That can be changed."

Angel pulled himself from his thoughts, forcing all his attention to the body that was grinding down on him.

"How’s Drusilla?" he asked, groaning as Darla started to lightly nibble at his ear.

"Fine," she said impatiently, starting to unbutton his shirt. Angel sat and let her do what she wanted, letting himself become lost in her touch.

She was on him. Around him. Filling his senses.

This was the dark.

* * *

"You’re sure this is the place?"

Faith, Spike, Wesley and Cordelia stood outside the doors of the large home. All words were spoken in hushed tones, the area eerily quiet.

Wesley could feel his skin crawling. He could feel the evil that surrounded him. All his basic human instincts were telling him to run, to get as far from here as possible. He ignored them, instead pushing the doors open. He was first to step inside, and so was the first to set eyes on the blood-smeared floor.

"I’m sure."

The others followed him in, all of them ready to defend themselves. The house was dark, only the moonlight allowing them to see.

The four split into pairs; Cordelia with Faith, Wesley with Spike.

"We’ll go check downstairs," Faith whispered. As those two moved off, Wesley and Spike started to check the floor they were on. There was no sign of the three vampires. If it hadn’t been for the blood they’d seen earlier, it would have simply seemed that no one was home. But the fact that Spike had been able to enter was all they needed to confirm that the owners were, indeed, dead.

"Nothing here. Let’s go up." Spike was already half way up the stairs by the time Wesley opened his mouth to reply. He cursed under his breath, grudgingly following him, though making sure he stayed a decent distance away.

Spike made it to the top of the stairs without making a single sound. Holding a stake at the ready, he listened intently, trying to figure out where they all were. He knew they were here. He could smell them.

"Its not nice to come to our home with one of those. It says all sorts of bad things."

The voice came from his right. It was unmistakable. He turned to see Drusilla, wearing a bright red sleeveless top and black leather pants. One arm was clutched against her side, but otherwise she seemed fine.

"Dru. I suppose the stake here does come off as a bit hostile."

He stood frozen in place, watching her as she glided towards him. She was stunning. When she finally reached him, she lightly traced one of her long nails down his cheek.

"You’ve been a naughty boy. For her. She’s still here, all around you…you’ve been infested with her." She growled out the last words while slashing his cheek, making him cry out with the sudden pain. When he looked at her again he was scowling, his raw hatred flowing through him. The last two years of anger and frustration came to the surface, making him breath heavily even though he didn’t need to.

"Just like my Angel…you love her," she spoke the word love like it was the most repulsive thing in the world, a poison to her tongue. When he didn’t try to deny it, she grew even angrier.

Wesley watched from the sides, fascinated by the reunion of the former lovers. He made sure he stayed well hidden, not needing to attract any attention to himself.

Drusilla almost snarled at her childe, leaning in close to lick the blood off his face, then whisper sweetly in his ear.

"The Slayer will be next. You’ll see. We’ll drink her dry…and other nasty things…" she said with a dreamy smile. Spike knew what she meant by that. And he wasn’t going to let it happen.

"No, you wont. Goodbye Dru."

He grabbed her around the waist, holding her close while he slowly pushed the stake into her heart. He stared into her eyes while he did it. They were wide, full of hurt and betrayal. Her mouth was turned down into a pout.

"Spike…" she pitifully whimpered.

And then she was gone.

Angel and Darla came out of their room just as Drusilla exploded. They saw Spike gaping down at his hand, which was still clutching the stake. Both of them were shocked beyond words. Wesley, too, looked on in disbelief.

Spike watched the dust that was once his lover settle around him. Swallowing hard, feeling himself begin to tremble, he dropped the sharpened piece of wood.

Finally, he started shaking his head, trying to clear it. He took three deep breaths, closing his eyes, hands balled into fists. When he was done, he seemed completely calm, looking around and resting his gaze on Angel and Darla, both of whom looked like they’d just been having some fun. But Spike would have been able to tell even if it wasn’t for their rumpled appearances. He could smell it.

Forcing himself to break into a smile, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up, taking a long, slow drag before he spoke.

"Hello, mate."

* * *

"Spike…what are you doing here?" Angel slowly managed to ask.

"I’m here to get you. There’s some trouble down in Sunnyhell, Slayer needs your help."

"Cordelia would have had a vision."

"Cordelia did have a vision," she informed him from her place at the stairs. She and Faith stood with Wesley, who had whispered to them that Spike had just rid the world of one of the most insane beings in history.

"Oh…what was in it?"

"Dawn’s being targeted by some psycho chick," she said simply. Then, when she noticed his and Darla’s appearance, "You didn’t! Curse! Happiness clause! Ringing any bells?"

"No…Cordelia, its not what it looks like…"

"Pfft. Is so. I can smell it," Spike added helpfully. Angel shot him an exasperated look, while self-consciously smoothing out his clothes.

"Shut up, Spike. So Buffy needs help? Do you know anything other than ‘some psycho chick attacking Dawn’?"

"Nope. Just that we need to get to Sunnydale, tonight."

Angel nodded in acceptance, ready to leave with them, when he felt Darla wrap her hand around his arm.

"You’re going back to her? Just like that?" Her jealousy was barely disguised. Angel looked – and felt – lost, unsure of his own feelings.

"I’m not going back to her. I’m going to help her," he reassured his sire. Darla slowly released her firm grip on him, stroking his neck with her knuckles instead. Still gazing up at Angel’s beautiful face, she began speaking to Spike.

"I’m impressed, William. I never would have thought you could kill her. You didn’t happen to get cursed with a pesky soul too, did you?"

Spike visibly flinched when she called him William. He hated the name.

"No soul. Got a little chip stuck in me head, though. Can’t hurt anything non demon."

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but could we save the freaky family reunion for later?" Cordelia requested, her voice light. The others muttered their agreement with the sentiment, all except Darla and Angel making their way down the stairs to the waiting convertible.

"You don’t have to go…she doesn’t need you. She has them. When it’s all over she’ll just go back to forgetting you."

Angel swallowed hard, knowing that he would go fight by Buffy’s side no matter what, but being unable to deny the truth in Darla’s words.

"I’ll be back soon," he promised, "You’ll be waiting for me?"

Darla frowned in annoyance, hating that he still chose Buffy over her. Then a thought flashed through her mind, making her visibly brighten.

"Don’t worry, sweetie. I won’t leave you."

* * *

Buffy anxiously paced around the Magic Box, chewing on her nails as she did so. They’d gotten a call from Wesley a little less than two hours ago, saying that he, Spike, Cordelia, Faith and Angel were on their way to town.

She couldn’t predict how she would react to seeing Faith or Angel again. So much had happened since she’d last seen them both. Things would have been awkward enough under normal circumstances, but having just broken up with Riley made things – with Angel at least – much more complicated. But the news that Angel had allowed people to die, and possibly even taken some lives himself, coupled with her mixed feelings towards the rogue Slayer…she decided it was best not to think about it. To keep calm.

The bell on the door chimed, startling her. She whirled around to see the five of them walk in, Angel coming last. He and Faith looked equally uncomfortable, both clearly uneasy in what they would perceive as unfriendly territory. Which made sense, as all the looks being cast towards them were accusing.

Not a word was said as the four from LA stood uncertainly, not moving further into the shop. For Wesley and Cordelia it simply felt odd to be back in the place they’d both virtually been escaping roughly two years before. Neither of them had missed it that much; for them, it was a reminder of who they were, before they’d grown into almost entirely different people. It was ironic, if they thought about it. LA was generally a place that people went to if they felt lost, becoming more disillusioned the longer they stayed. The two of them – and to an extent Faith and Angel – had managed to find themselves.

Buffy felt a whirlwind of emotions rip through her at seeing them. The urge to scream at them both was overwhelming, but she kept silent, knowing now was neither the time or place. She had to put her own feelings aside, because what was happening was more important.

"Um, hey," Xander said with an awkward wave, "So, uh, what took you guys so long?"

"We had to go find soul boy over there. Turns out he was busy getting all pelvic with his sire. Not that I blame him, really. She always was a pretty piece," Spike flippantly notified them. He had to hide a smirk at the impact his words had on his grandsire, though he felt a slight jab of guilt at seeing Buffy’s expression turn to one of pure pain at the news. But he knew that if he ever wanted to have a chance with her, he needed to try and wipe out the love between them. Probably a waste of time, but it was worth a shot.

Angel felt his own guilt soar as Buffy stared at him with hurt filled eyes. She was clearly waiting for him to deny it, to say or do something to convey to her that no, it wasn’t true.

He looked away.

Giles cleared his throat, trying to turn the focus of conversation away from the private matters between the former couple. Everyone made themselves give their attention to the Watcher, even though they wanted to know more about what had gone on between the two vampires.

"Right, well, we can worry about that later. In the meantime, we have Dawn’s safety to concern ourselves with."

"Whats the deal with her being ‘the Key’?" Willow asked, prying her angry gaze away from Angel.

"I think it’s best of Buffy explains…Buffy?" he called, when she didn’t seem to register what he’d said. She seemed to snap out of a trance, blinking a couple of times before addressing Giles in the most articulate way she could manage.

"Huh?"

"Don’t you think you should explain? About Dawn?"

"Oh, right. Uh, well, thing is…she’s not my sister. Now look, before you ask me, I can explain. Remember a few weeks ago, when my mom first got sick? I did that spell to see any magical influences. Mom was fine, she was normal. Dawn…wasn’t. Pictures of her, her room, even her; they all started fading away, like she wasn’t meant be there. Like it wasn’t real. Then I met that monk, and he told me that she was the Key. That they put her in my life because they knew I would keep her safe. All our memories of her, everything was built to make us believe the lie. It’s all false," she finished quietly. The others – except Giles – all looked stunned, completely thrown.

"Why didn’t you tell us when you found out?" Tara asked, not quite as shocked or hurt as the rest as she hadn’t been part of this little family as long.

"She doesn’t know what she is. She thinks she’s real, a normal fifteen year old. I couldn’t tell you, I didn’t want anyone acting weird around her. She wouldn’t understand."

"Does Glory know what she is?"

"No, and hopefully it stays that way. Look, we can’t mention this anymore. At any place, any time, never. The only reason I told you all is so you know how important this is. It’s not just because she’s my sister. The world might be at stake, here. Whatever it takes, we need to make sure she’s safe. Nothing can happen to her."

Willow overcame her own confusion and fear soon enough to start wondering about Buffy. The emotional rubble was piling up at a rapid pace for her and, if the trend continued and things did manage to get worse, it was likely she’d need a long, long time to recover.

Meanwhile, outside, Darla listened intently. She’d followed Angel to Sunnydale, taking one of Holland’s luxury cars. She debated with herself over when to make her presence known; she wanted to wait, but the temptation to just waltz in was too strong.

Vampires weren’t known for denying themselves of what they wanted. She went in.

Opening the door, she sauntered across to where Angel stood gaping at her, frozen. She ignored most of the others in the room, only interested in him, and Buffy.

"Hey, precious," she whispered, lightly nuzzling his chin, "Told you I wouldn’t leave."

Faith had had it. She stormed over to them, stake at the ready to off the blond bitch. Just as she was about to end it, Angel blocked her arm, not letting her.

"Don’t," he said simply. Then he gazed down at his sire, who looked pleased with him. "I thought you were going to wait for me."

"I’ve never been that patient. You should know." Her voice held a hint of playfulness when she said it, implying all sorts of things that no one, especially Buffy, wanted to think about. Angel only smiled down at her, an odd gleam in his eyes.

"That’s true. But you shouldn’t be here. Look, go to this address. I’ll meet you there." He scribbled down the address of the mansion, handing it to her. She purposefully brushed her fingertips with his, before turning to face Buffy, who stood with her arms crossed, her gaze hard. Smiling sweetly at her, she turned and left, head held high, knowing that her brief appearance had done its intended damage.

Buffy watched her go, clenching and unclenching her jaw, fighting the urge to go stake her, and to give Angel a black eye or two. But the time for that would come. Right now she had other things to worry about, so once again she was forced to set her personal feelings aside.

"You done protecting your sex kitten?" Faith asked angrily, fuming that he’d stopped her from doing the job. When he’d agreed to go help Buffy, she’d been hopeful that it would help pull him back from the edge. No such luck, it would seem.

Angel ignored her. Instead, he turned to Giles. "So what do we do now?"

Giles glared at him for a moment, beginning to detest Angel anew. "Well, we have four superpowered…beings. Two should stay with Dawn, while the other two patrol."

"I’ll take patrol," Angel said without hesitation, "Faith should come with me."

Before she could agree with him, Buffy spoke up. "I need to patrol. Of anyone here, I know the most about Glory, which isn’t all that much. Besides, neither of you know what she looks like."

Her voice was hard, completely emotionless. The way she was looking at Angel made everyone think of the old line ‘if looks could kill’. Spike, at least, loved it.

Angel looked uncertain, before finally shrugging. "Okay. Lets go."

* * *

Buffy and Angel had been patrolling for more than an hour. Not a word had passed between the two. Not even a glance. Finally, Buffy couldn’t take it anymore. She had too many questions, and wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass to ask them.

"What about your soul?" she blurted. Angel looked startled. He’d been so lost in his own thoughts, trying to sort out the mess that was his mind that he’d forgotten she was there.

"My soul?" he asked in confusion. Buffy let out a frustrated sigh, jabbing a finger in his chest.

"Yeah, your soul. Is it bound now, or what? Why aren’t you totally evil?" Angel was stung by her last question. But he knew he shouldn’t be. That she would insinuate that he was evil was understandable. It was basically what he had been telling himself for days.

Clearing his throat, running a trembling hand through his hair, he finally answered.

"It’s a happiness clause. I can’t lose it if I’m miserable."

That stopped her. His voice sounded so lost, so weak and defeated. So much like it had that night on the hilltop. He’d been ready to die, then. She only hoped that wasn’t the case now, after how far he’d come.

"Angel…why are you doing this to yourself?"

"It’s not important."

"It is important! You let people die! Maybe even killed some, for all I know." She saw him flinch at her last sentence, and a brand new terror seized her, her mouth hanging open.

"Tell me you didn’t," she pleaded. Angel tried to avoid her intense stare, but she wouldn’t let him, pulling him around to face her.

His face told the story. Buffy brought a hand to her mouth, stunned beyond words. Slowly, she backed away from him, not wanting to be too close. The only sounds around them for the next few minutes were on the leaves rustling. Angel didn’t dare move, didn’t try to speak. He just stood, waiting for her to say something, even if it was to express her hatred.

"How many?" she asked, her voice full of trepidation. She still didn’t look at him, keeping her eyes locked on her feet.

"One. Lindsey McDonald. He was a lawyer at Wolfram and Hart."

Buffy bit her bottom lip and began playing with the button on her jacket. It took all of her willpower to not grab him and ram his head into the ground. After all, he wouldn’t be any good to them if he was unconscious.

The two started walking again. This time a half-hour passed before Angel spoke in an attempt to ignore the unbearable tension.

"So…uh, how’s Riley?"

If it was possible, the tension grew even thicker. Buffy’s face became harder, while Angel became even more apprehensive.

"He’s…gone. He left."

Angel only raised his eyebrows, keeping his head down. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

More silence. Besides one vampire attack, which had been over all too soon, everything was quiet. Buffy found herself silently praying for something powerful to attack them, anything to distract her. The intensity of the patrol was too strong, even though no real threats had presented themselves, and only a handful of words had been spoken.

Finally, she had to lash out. She’d been keeping her emotions under control, but she had to say what she was thinking. She wasn’t about to let him fall apart. Her voice full of fire, she turned on him.

"Angel, you--"

She was cut off by a huge demon lunging at her. It gave her a classic spear tackle, knocking the wind out of her. Angel was about to make a move to help, but was stopped when another demon struck him from behind. Quickly, and with savage force, he turned and punched it as hard as he could. He ended up hitting its large teeth, cutting his hand in the process. Allowing himself a glance to check the surrounding areas, he saw that there were at least five other demons. Two of which were advancing on Buffy.

"Buffy!" he cried out. The demon that had attacked him clawed at his arm, and he turned and swiftly snapped its neck. It fell to the ground in a heap, but he didn’t notice as he elbowed another in the stomach.

Buffy kicked away the demon that had been straddling her, doing a backward roll to get back to her feet. She swept around, tripping another while pulling a knife from her pocket.

"We need to get out of here. There’s too many," she grunted as she stabbed one, then another. She’d only managed to wound them, though; they were simply too big for any serious damage to be done with such a small weapon.

"I noticed!" Angel yelled. He flipped one over his shoulder, then spun arounf to face her. When he saw Buffy about to be skewered, he dove forward, earning himself a minor cut across his ribs.

They were surrounded. The demons circled them, hissing or growling, sneering in smug satisfaction.

"You okay?" Buffy asked.

"Just fine," Angel replied. They were back to back, readying themselves for attack when they heard a voice call out from the side.

"Hey, back off! I said back off!"

The demons all turned to the source of the commands. Clearly startled, they backed away, afraid of whoever it was. When Buffy saw who it was, to say she was shocked would be an understatement.

"Ben?"

"Hey, Buffy."

* * *

"Damn it, Dreg, it took me over four hours to summon all those demons! Can’t anyone appreciate that I put in a lot of hard work, here?"

Dreg cowered as Glory continued her rant. During his time with her he’d learned that when she was in this kind of mood, you stayed out of her way. That meant no direct eye contact, no standing at your full height and definitely no speaking.

"This always happens. Whenever I start to get somewhere, it’s ruined by my pain in the ass--"

* * *

"Brother."

Ben sat before the assembled Scoobies, all of whom gave him their undivided attention.

"You’re Glory’s brother?" Giles asked in astonishment. Buffy laughed shortly, making everyone eye her quizzically.

She looked sheepish for a moment, then explained. "Sorry. I was just thinking that, every time you meet a nice guy in this town, they turn out to be something different than what you thought."

Xander couldn’t help but let his worry grow. Buffy was developing serious ‘man issues’, and it was highly unlikely that they would be resolved anytime soon. Her father, Angel, Parker and now Riley…Spike was right. She did have ‘bleeding tragic taste in men’.

After a beat, Willow spoke up. "So, are you a demon?"

"I guess, technically. I mean, I’m just a guy. I don’t really have any major powers or anything. See, thing is, we left our dimension a while ago. We were like royalty there. So, when we left, we were told we wouldn’t be allowed back. They saw it as kind of a betrayal. For me that was fine, I liked it here. Glory…she didn’t. She’s spent the last, oh, who knows how long trying to get back. That’s why she needs the Key."

"How are you royalty?" Tara wondered.

"Are any of you familiar with an entity called the First?"

They all froze. Buffy and Angel both felt sudden and strong waves of fear.

Upon seeing the reaction, Ben continued. "I’ll take that as a yes. Glory and I…we’re children of the First."

Everyone, including Spike, was stunned. Faith was first to recover.

"Okay. So why does Glory need the Key? What’s her plan?"

"The Key that unlocks the door to hell. She needs it to open that portal, and go home. But, if she does open it from this end, it can’t be closed. So all the most ancient, ultimate evils will just come pouring through. It’ll be the end of this dimension."

* * *

Darla waited impatiently for Angel to show. It had been well over two hours. She paced across the spacious mansion, her heels clicking on the hard surface.

The door suddenly opened. Angel finally came walking in, looking more than a little shaken. She crossed the floor to him, caressing his face.

"Did they upset you? Want me to make you feel better?" She accentuated the question by licking his cheek. Angel didn’t react to it, and she pulled away, already getting angry.

"Is this about her?"

"No…it’s not that. I just…I was in a fight before, got kind of beat up." He sounded unconvincing even to his own ears. Now, more than ever, he was unsure of which side he was on. Seeing Buffy’s reaction to his unspoken confession had felt like a knife in his chest. No one else knew about it yet. He was scared of how Wesley, Cordelia and Faith would react, even though he told himself he shouldn’t care. But the fact was he did.

Steeling himself, he looked into Darla’s eyes. Forcing a smile, he leaned forward and kissed her hard, trying to reassure both of them that this was what he wanted. She returned the kiss with just as much vigor, slipping a hand under his shirt.

An hour and a half later, Darla watched as Angel slept. He turned restlessly, seemingly having a nightmare. That was a major disadvantage to having a soul; everything you could block out while you were awake, came back to haunt you while you slept.

Smiling slightly, she stroked his bare chest. Partly to comfort him, mostly to satisfy herself by touching him. Angel – still sleeping – lifted his hand to cover hers. He seemed to calm a little, his furrowed brow relaxing.

"Buffy…" he sighed.

Darla’s smile vanished. She abruptly pulled away from him, a dark cloud passing over her features. She’d had it. She needed to get rid of Buffy, and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

If anything, Darla was a resourceful vampire. She knew how to play her cards, and so knew she had an ace up her sleeve with the information she’d heard earlier that night. Which was why she’d taken it upon herself to find out where this Glory’s hideout was.

* * *

"Answer the damn door!"

Dreg scurried off to do as he was told. Glory’s mood hadn’t improved. If anything, it had gotten much, much worse. Opening the door, he saw another blond woman standing there.

"I’m here to see Glory. I’ve got some news she’ll want to hear. About the Key."

"Oh, uh, just a minute," he quickly scurried off to speak to his ‘mistress’, ducking when he spoke to her in case she felt the urge to thump him. "Excuse me, your most ultimate sensualness, but another lady – who bears no comparison to your spectacular beauty – is here to give you information about the Key."

Glory’s eyes grew bright, and she excitedly pat Dreg on the top of his head. Almost running out to the main room, she saw Darla sitting languidly on the couch.

"You have information about the Key?"

Darla smiled up at her, running a hand through her golden tresses.

"You could say that."

* * *

"Finally, something’s going right for me!" Glory exclaimed. She was jubilant, to say the least.

"It is," Darla agreed, "Works out well for me, too. You want Buffy out of the way, I want her dead. You’ll get what you want, I’ll get who I want."

"You can keep her busy?"

"Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered."

* * *

Buffy had been working out for more than an hour. Normally that wouldn’t seem like much for her, but as she’d managed to break most of the equipment with her pent-up anger and frustration, she might as well have been going for a full day. She’d been imagining the punching bag – which she’d ripped to shreds – was Angel. She hadn’t gotten a chance to say all that she wanted, and so had become even more pissed off. When he’d left the Magic Box, she knew he’d gone to the mansion. To Darla.

She needed to kill something. And fast.

The opportunity presented itself when she heard Darla’s voice float through the door.

"Hello, sweetie."

"You really must have a death wish. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Came to see you. I just finished up with Angel. Only a little over an hour tonight. He must be tired."

The words stung, just as Darla knew they would. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards, but that stopped when Buffy retaliated.

"Maybe. Or maybe you’re just not doing it for him. After all, he still has his soul."

Both women were fuming. They stood with their arms rigid at their sides, hands balled into fists.

"I don’t see him here with you."

Buffy barely flinched. "It’s not like he has a choice."

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Faith asked. She was certain she’d heard an odd banging coming from outside. She, Spike, Wesley and Xander were at the Summers’ residence. Buffy had insisted that they stay there, not wanting to scare Dawn unnecessarily. The others were at the Magic Box, researching.

"Hear what?"

She raised her hands to indicate for everyone to be quiet. They were all still, and clearly heard an odd bang and crunch come from the front of the house.

"That. Take Dawn to the basement. I’m gonna check this out."

She waited until Dawn – despite her protests – had been hustled downstairs before moving towards the front door. She didn’t even make it before it was kicked in, pieces of wood flying into her face. A huge demon lunged at her, hitting her with a powerful clothesline. She fell hard, her head bouncing off the floor. She was groggy for a minute, but forced herself to recover when she saw the carnage that surrounded her.

Spike was struggling with another one more than double his size. Xander and Wesley were in the basement with Dawn, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before the intruders figured that out. If Dawn was who or what they were looking for.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike take a stiff kick to the ribs. The demon then whipped its tail around, the razor sharp ends cutting his forehead.

Spike finally vamped out when he smelt his own blood. When the tail came around for another swing he caught it and, using all of his strength, hurled it into a wall.

Faith got another to the ground with an impressive drop toehold. Seizing the opportunity, she broke a leg of a nearby coffee table and shoved it into the things neck.

When she got up again, she came face to face with a cheerful looking blond.

"Glory."

"Yeah. You wouldn’t happen to know where my Key is, would you?"

Faith took a huge swing, connecting with the other chick’s cheekbone. She hardly reacted, though, except to express her annoyance.

"Haven’t people in this town ever heard of courtesy?" she questioned, swatting Faith away with the back of her hand. Taking a second to smooth out her now creased top, she sighed and looked around.

"Come on, guys! Let’s find her some time soon, can we please?"

* * *

Buffy and Darla had started to circle each other like the predators they were. This was what they’d both been waiting for. The chance to tear in to the other.

"How does it make you feel, Darla? All your years of experience, and you can’t make him truly happy. How does it make you feel that someone with no experience upstaged you?"

Darla threw the first punch. It was a wild one, which Buffy easily dodged. She responded with a knee to the stomach, making the vampire double over, then followed it up with a kick to the face. This time Darla flew back, though the gym mats softened her fall.

She quickly recovered, throwing Buffy over her with her legs when she’d come forward. It gave her enough time to get into an upright position, and the two were once again at a stand off.

"He can never be yours, Buffy."

"Maybe. But I’ll never let him be yours."

She emphasized that by delivering a spinning kick that caused Darla’s head to whip around sharply. She went for another, but Darla dropped and pounced at Buffy’s other leg. She fell in a heap, confused for a moment, allowing the vamp enough time to pull her up by the hair and throw her back.

Her head hit the wall, breaking the thin layer of plaster, and Darla quickly staddled her. She rained down punch after punch on Buffy, before grabbing her by the neck. She pressed in with all her vamp strength, cutting off Buffy’s air supply.

Gasping for breath, Buffy reached up and clawed in to the demonic face, which loomed over hers.

Darla shrieked and held a hand to her bleeding temple. Buffy used the distraction quickly, grabbing her enemy by her hair and slamming her face first into the wall. It became indented again, and she thought in passing that Giles wouldn’t be too impressed given a troll had only recently destroyed the rest of the shop.

Vampire and Slayer continued their gritty fight, moving away from the wall in to the center of the room. There wasn’t anything available to use as a weapon there, so it became just the two of them, hand to hand.

After a couple more minutes of back and forth fighting, Buffy finally gained the decisive upper hand.

Darla missed a backhand, leaving her open to attack. Buffy took advantage, palming her in the chin, then jumping and delivering three simultaneous kicks to her torso. She had almost been running up Darla’s body; when she was done with that, she twisted her feet around the vamps neck, and flipped her to the ground.

She quickly moved to the weapons case, pulling out a stake. Just as she stalked back towards Darla – who was struggling to get up – Angel came in.

* * *

"Dawn, you have to keep quiet," Xander scolded gently. The sounds of the struggle upstairs were loud and clearly audible. Dawn was lightly sobbing, scared not only for her safety but also for that of her mothers, who was sleeping in her room.

"Why are they looking for me? What do they want?" she asked, sounding almost pitiful. Xander put a comforting arm around her shoulders, shushing her.

Wesley was up at the door, poised to attack anything that came through it. He had his favorite weapon – the Bavarian hunting axe – but it didn’t offer any feelings of security as it usually did. He tensed whenever something passed, ready to lay down his own life to protect the girl who the fate of the world depended on. His mind was racing, trying to determine just how Glory figured out who the Key was.

One of the windows behind them shattered. A long, scaly arm reached in. It came totally unexpected, startling them all.

Dawn screamed.

Xander quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Glory had heard.

Wesley swore under his breath when he saw a shadow paused in front of the door. He prepared himself, hoisting the axe above his head. When Glory came walking through, he didn’t even get to hit her with it when she blocked his arm and unceremoniously shoved him down the stairs.

She happy jumped down them, seeing Dawn shrinking down behind Xander. She simply took a handful of his shirt and threw him away, then knelt down in front of the trembling girl.

"Hi! I’ve been looking all over for you!"

* * *

"Buffy, don’t!"

Angel rushed towards her, intent on stopping her from dusting his sire. But Buffy wasn’t about to let him.

With all her Slayer strength, with the force of her repressed anger and frustration from the last couple of years, with her current anger at him and at the world, she slugged him as hard as she could in the jaw.

Then, without a blink, she turned and held Darla on the ground. Pausing for the briefest moment to make sure Angel would see it, she plunged the stake into her heart.

With a strangled cry of Angel’s name, she was gone. Dust.

Everything was still. The only sound was Buffy panting. It stayed that way for the next few minutes; Angel recovering from Buffy’s blow, Buffy calming herself.

Finally, he looked at her with hard, disbelieving eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"She came here. She wanted a fight. And what is there to feel bad about? She’s a killer."

"Like me?"

"No. Not like you. Angel, what she was doing to you--"

He cut her off with a scoff. "What she was doing to me? She didn’t do anything. She just happened to be there. What difference does it make to you anyway? To any of you? I’m here, I’m helping. So why don’t you all just back off and let me do what I want for a change?"

"What you want? You told me that you could never become evil again. That you couldn’t face being a monster. No, shut up," she ordered when he started to interrupt, "You want to think that no one cares, is that it? Well, too bad. Faith, Cordelia, Wesley…hell, even Xander and Giles, they’re all so angry with you because they care. Can’t you see that?"

Angel just stared at her, unconvinced. Buffy knew she had to swallow her pride if she wanted to reach him. Lowering her gaze, and taking a deep, shaky breath, she continued softly.

"You want to pretend that no one really loves you? Well, that’s too bad. Because I do."

When Angel didn’t say anything, didn’t make a move, she forced herself to look up at him. His face was still hard, and he clearly didn’t believe a word of what she just said.

"No you don’t," he said at last, "You moved on. Just because Riley left you doesn’t mean…look, when this is done, I’m gonna get out of everybody’s way. Out of LA, California, maybe even America. I’ve had enough."

Buffy watched him, stunned, as he began to walk out of the room.

"Your just…you cant! Damn it, Angel! What will it take to get through to you?"

He turned to her, an answer at his lips, when Giles appeared in the doorway. He looked pale, and it was painfully obvious that he was scared to death.

"Faith just called. They’ve got Dawn."

* * *

"Where would they have taken her?"

Ben scratched the side of his head thoughtfully. "She’ll need space. Plus I’m guessing she’ll want to be at least a decent distance away from here. A platform, a place to make a protective circle…there’s enough detail involved to be able to narrow it down."

Faith thought for a moment, remembering all the times she’d gone on ‘walkabouts’.

"I think I know a place."

* * *

Glory looked around her and grinned, rubbing her hands together in excitement. She watched as all the demons positioned themselves, then turned to Dawn.

"Okay, we’re about to get started! Now, just so we’re clear, yes you’re going to die. But it’ll be totally appreciated."

Dawn, her face sticky with dried tears, jutted her chin out proudly. She wasn’t chained; she was simply made to sit in an odd star shaped marking on the ground. A star that had been drawn in her own blood, from a cut made on her hand.

Glory gave her an encouraging shake on her shoulder, before turning to face the demons that surrounded them.

"Okay, let’s do this!" she yelled. Walking around to take her place at the stone altar, stepping up on it, she began to chant. It wasn’t a language by anyone’s standard, a tongue so ancient it hadn’t even been recorded.

"Achu tei rechani, osten vas myne, latvi nos del astros!"

Dreg handed her a flask, which was filled with both Glory’s blood and Dawn’s. She took a sip, making a show of swallowing. Dawn looked at her in repulsion, thinking it to be the most disgusting act she’d ever witnessed. Then Glory poured the rest of the contents over her seated body.

"Ugh…figures," she muttered.

* * *

"I can hear the chanting," Angel told them as he jumped down from a crate. Buffy acknowledged him with saddened eyes; his voice was empty. He didn’t seem to really care if the world ended or not. Or rather, if he died or not.

He caught the look she was giving him, and squashed his sudden urge to give her a hug. Now wasn’t the time, if there was ever one. Instead, he turned to Faith, who was also gazing at him, though her expression was unreadable. She was clutching her arm, and had numerous bruises on her face.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to keep his voice flat. She attempted a shrug, but had to wince with the effort.

"Five by five. You?" She indicated the large bruise on his chin from Buffy’s punch. She’d overheard Buffy telling Willow about his plans to run away after this was over, but she decided to wait until the world was safe before worrying about it.

"I guess. Just want this to be over."

Faith bit her lip, stopping herself from saying what she wanted. Nodding slightly, she sighed and walked away. Buffy watched her for a second, then jogged a little to catch up with her sister Slayer.

"Where are you going?" she asked when she reached her.

"Just walking. This thing with Angel…I heard what you said. About him leaving, I mean."

"Oh…well, it’s bothering me too. But, you know, he might change his mind."

"Or if he doesn’t, I’ll make him. No way is he gonna just give up like that."

The tension between the two was thick. They had stopped walking a few meters away from the rest of the group, both with their arms crossed, each scraping at the ground with their feet.

Buffy broke the strained silence. "Look, Faith…I’m not going to pretend that things are okay with us. You did a lot. But, I know that you’re sorry. And I know that you want to make things right. And I’m willing to help you do that."

Faith stayed quiet for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "Thanks," she said at last.

The tension eased, but just barely, as a new peace was made between the two. While it was still extremely fragile, and the slightest misunderstanding could effectively shatter it, it was enough for both at the moment. They walked back to the awaiting group, who had been watching them with curiosity.

"Come on guys," Buffy said determinedly, "We’ve got a job to do."

* * *

The fight for the world was on. Buffy, Angel, Spike and Faith climbed in from various windows around the old factory where they had found Glory. Quietly, like an elite commando team, they eliminate four demons, leaving seven between them and Dawn.

"Guys, now!" Buffy yelled out the window. On cue, Giles and the others stormed in, brandishing weapons ranging from axes to swords to plain metal bars.

Glory saw them out of the corner of her eye but continued her ritual. She was so close to the end, she could literally feel it. Every inch of her was humming with the power that was reverberating through the large room. As she held the ancient knife that needed to be used for the ceremony – the only blade that could harm her – above Dawn, prepared to sacrifice her as soon as the time arrived, she began to shake with the overwhelming mystical force that just continued to build.

She kept chanting, sweat covering her, and saw the first sign of her homecoming. A brilliant red light shot through a line on the star. It was so bright that it was almost white, and as she kept going, it kept growing. Inch by inch, it spread across the entire symbol, surrounding Dawn.

Buffy struggled with an enormous horned demon, looking over its shoulder at the proceeding ceremony.

"Somebody get Glory!" she shouted.

Angel heard her from where he was, which was under the knee of a horrid green thing. With all of his strength, he pushed upwards, running backwards with it into a wall. Having shed it, he ran forward to Dawn, intent on pulling her away.

The light started to crackle, and spark out. It looked amazing; the red, mixed with the blue sparks which resembled lightning. The floor under Dawn appeared to be opening, and she slowly began to rise, floating in the glow. Glory raised her arms, the knife in both hands, as she screamed the final verse of her chant.

Angel was almost there. He was so close to reaching her when he was tackled from the side. He landed hard, and tried to get up, but the demon that was keeping him down was much too big.

Faith saw what was going on, and quickly finished off her own demon. Breaking in to a frantic run, dodging or jumping over anything that tried to block her way, she made it to the light, and through the painful brightness saw that Glory was about to make the final sacrifice. Thrusting her hand in, she desperately pulled at Dawn’s arm, trying to get her away.

All eyes were on Faith. Even as the others tried to break away from their attackers, they were watching her.

Faith knew she wasn’t going to be able to pull her out. Taking a deep breath, she stepped in. Dawn had been screaming since she had started rising and even more when she saw Glory about to kill her. She calmed a little when she saw Faith inside the star with her, but only a little. As hard as the Slayer tried, she couldn’t pull her away.

She stared, terrified, as Glory lifted her arms even higher, about to strike down. She tried to at least move, but couldn’t. Faith saw it also and knew what she had to do. She didn’t know if it would work, but she at least had to try.

Jumping up on the stone that Glory was standing on, she blocked her arms downward decent, which had been aiming straight for Dawn’s chest. But Glory was too strong; all she managed to do was divert it, and she herself got stabbed. The blade went in from the place just below her collarbone, and she gasped in pain.

Angel watched in horror as he struggled to get up. He clawed at the ground, at anything, trying to get to her. It was all to no avail.

Faith brought both hands to the wound. She held it for a second, then noticed that Glory had let go and was looking at her with fury in her eyes. She gripped the end of the weapon and yanked it out, just as her opponent pulled back to punch her away. At the same moment, Glory’s fist connected with Faith’s skull, and Faith shoved the knife in Glory’s throat, pulling down.

The same red light that was emanating from the ground shot out of her. The ‘lightning’ began to go haywire, shooting all over the place. Glory bellowed as she felt herself slowly come apart, the damage growing. It was now all the way through her center, very near splitting her in two.

With a final wail, she came apart fully in an explosion that sent everyone flying. It lasted for a full minute; the mystical power shooting every which way, claiming al the demons as it did so. One by one, they all were sucked away by the energy, each screaming in protest.

Then, in a split second, it was gone.

The room was still; everyone was recovering from their various battles, and the amazing display they’d just been witnesses to.

All of them except Angel.

He stared at Faith’s prone body, waiting for some kind of movement. All he could see was the very slight rise and fall of her chest. And the blood which was pooling around her.

"Faith…" he whispered, finding his voice. Slowly, and trembling, he made his way to her, kneeling beside her bloody form. He gently pulled her to his lap, moving a strand of hair that was sticking to her forehead. He let out an unneeded breath when her eyes finally fluttered open.

"Hey," she said, her voice weak.

"Hey," he replied softly. He pressed a hand to her profusely bleeding shoulder, though he knew it was pointless. Faith clearly knew it too, and covered his hand with her own.

She spoke again, her voice breaking. "So…redemption…think I made it?"

Angel smiled through his tears, which were streaming down his face. "Yeah. You did."

Buffy quickly glanced around to be sure her friends were okay, checking on Dawn briefly, before going to crouch down beside Angel. She held him as he spoke to Faith, for what they all knew was the last time. Buffy also knew Faith had redeemed herself; she not only saved the world, but in the process, Angels soul. Just as he had done for her.

Faith took in a few slow, shuddering breaths before continuing. "Will you?"

Angel didn’t need to even think about what she was asking. He smiled at her again, saying the words she most wanted to hear as she took in her last breath.

"Yeah. I will."

The End