Gypsies
By Dreamer

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BtVS characters.  They belong to Joss Whedon, WB, Mutant Enemies, etc. Harmony, Michael, SU and all the gypsies, except Yanna (Ms. Calendar) and her uncle, are mine though.  Please don't use them without getting permission first.  I'm not making any money so please don't sue.

Author's Note: This is the second story in the "Half a Chance" series.  The first was "Happy ReBirthday, Angel" and if you haven't read that one yet, I recommend you do so or you'll be totally lost.  Special thanks to my beta-readers Kitty, and Jenn C.

the night Angel's soul was restored, a few hours past midnight

Buffy and Angel sat in Angel's apartment and talked of everything that had happened since her 17th birthday.  They talked of everything that Angelus had done and they cried together.  Though Buffy tried to convince Angel it wasn't his fault, he still felt responsible.  In the end, when she couldn't convince him it wasn't his fault, she simply forgave him.  Angel was pacing around the room and Buffy was sitting on the couch.  After edging around the subject of the night of Buffy's 17th birthday, Angel finally broached the subject, "Buffy, we should probably talk about our last night together."

"I know, but I don't know how to look at it anymore.  It was sooo wonderful, yet because of it, ... because of me you lost your soul."

"It's not your fault," Angel said sitting beside her, "Neither of us knew it would cause the spell to break.  All I knew was that I was with you and that I loved you ... I still love you."

"And I love you, but it is my fault.  I'm the one who pushed, I'm the one who always pushes."

"Buffy you didn't push.  We both wanted that night to happen."

"But you said 'we shouldn't'.  You were the voice of reason, which I once again ignored."

"I said 'we shouldn't', I didn't say I didn't want to.  Besides, the only reason I said that was because I was afraid I was pushing and wanted to give you a way out."

"A way out??  Well, at the time the last thing I wanted was a way out," Buffy said smiling and blushing slightly.  Angel chuckled and the air seemed to lighten for a moment.

"Buffy, I want to tell you that nothing the demon said was true.  When I remember how I taunted you with that night, I-"

"You didn't.  *Angelus* did," Buffy stated firmly.

"When I remember what he did ...  I would have done anything to prevent you that pain, to have stopped him.  Even give up that night."

"I know.  I would have done anything to keep you from losing your soul.  If only I'd know ..."

"Neither of us knew I'd lose my soul.  But I want you to know that what the demon said ISN'T true.  That night was the most wonderful night of my life."

"Come on.  You're like 240 something which means you've had like way more than 10,000 some days ... nights to compare it to.  Besides, I know you must have had more experienced partners.  I was just too naive to let myself see it before ..." Buffy said stumbling over her words and looking down at her hands and coming close to tears.  A pained look came to Angel's eyes, as listened to her, remembering how Angelus had planted and encouraged these ideas.  Angel wished he could have been there to help calm her fears and it tortured him to think she had been thinking these things of herself for the last few months.

"Buffy you have to believe me.  I love you with all my heart and soul.  Any night I see you, even if it's just to watch over you from afar, is a night I will always cherish and wouldn't trade for any night since I met you.  That night was the most wonderful night of my life.  It was ... " Angel took her hands in his, as he searched for the right words, "it was ecstasy, it was ... It was pure love."  Buffy began to smile through her tears as she watched him try to put his feelings into words, savoring the look on his face, as he remembers that night and wondering how she could inspire such a look.  Her hand reached up, unbidden, to slowly run down the side of his face. He looked back at her, as she freed one of her hands and reached up to touch his face.  She looked into his eyes as she tried to find the right words.

"Angel, I love you so much sometimes I think my heart will break.  That night was the most wonderful night of my life.  But because of what happened afterwards, I'm scared.  I'm scared of being that physically intimate again.  I'm scared of what it'll do to you.  I still can't take my eyes off you, because I'm afraid if I do it will all turn out to be a dream."

"I am here.  Harmony said the only way to break the spell is with hate and indifference.  I'll always love you, so the demon will never take control again.  NEVER.  Love will only make it stronger, but ... it won't happen again, until you're ready for it to happen.  Even if that means never again," Angel said sincerely, gazing into her eyes.

Buffy smiled and blushed.  "Well, I don't think it'll come to that.  But promise me something."

"Anything."

"When it does happen, promise me you'll be there when I wake up," Buffy said, her eyes showing the fear her voice only hinted at.

"I promise I'll be there.   There's no where I'd rather be."

"Good, 'cause if you break your promise, I'll end up beating you with a pillow," Buffy told him as she picked up a pillow off the couch and shook it at him playfully.  Angel laughed and snatched the pillow from her.  When she tried to get it back, he held it above his head out of her reach.  She studied him seriously for a moment, with the pillow poised above his head.  She stepped up to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him.  His eyes widen for a moment before he put his arms around her waist, game forgotten.  As he brought the hand holding the pillow0 down, Buffy skillfully took the pillow from him without breaking the kiss.  When the kiss was finished, Buffy stepped back out of his embrace and held up the pillow.  Angel looked down at his now empty hand and laughed.  Buffy put the pillow back on the couch and sat down beside it, waiting to see what his next move would be.  He studied her for a moment before taking a step towards her.  Before he could even finish the step, he gasped and a surprised look came over his face and he sank to his knees.  Buffy was by his side in an instant.  "Angel??"

Angel had his hand over his heart and a smile was creeping onto his face.  "Angel!  What's the matter?" Buffy asked again, when he didn't reply.

"I can barely feel him.  It's like a voice has suddenly been silenced to the faintest whisper from across the room and I've got this funny feeling in my chest ... and everywhere," Angel said in wonder, a look of utter awe on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked again, beginning to edge towards hysteria.

"I think it worked," Angel said focusing on her, "I think ... my heart's beating."  Buffy took his wrist, which was beginning to warm.  Her look of fear instantly changed to a look of joy, as she checked and found a pulse.  She jumped up and ran to the window and could just barely see the sun peeking over the horizon in a beautiful sunrise.

"The sun's coming up," she said turning back to him.  He approached her slowly and hesitantly reached out to touch the silver cross that hung about her neck.  He touched it and nothing happened.  He looked at the window decisively.  She took his hand and stood by him as he opened the blinds and looked out into the morning sunlight.  She hugged him, as he stood and stared at the sunrise and let the light wash over him.  She could feel tears in her eyes and she realized the day she had never dared dream of had come.  She smiled up at him, before glancing at her watch.  "Oh my god!!" she said, when she saw the time.

"What?!?" Angel asked startled out of his reverie.

"I've got to get home and get to school!" she paused for a moment and looked at him, "God, how I would love to just stay here with you.  But my mother would notice me not coming home, and even if she didn't Snyder threatened to call her next time I was even late for class."  She sighed and looked towards the door with disgust, as if it were the cause of her having to leave.

"Go.  I'll be alright," Angel whispered in her ear.  She turned back and smiled, before kissing him soundly.

"Enjoy your day and remember you eat food now.  See you after school." she said as she kissed him again and ran out the door.  He laughed as he watched her go and wondered what he was going to do all day.  Buffy ran home, got ready, ran to school, and then slept through half her classes.  At least *some* things were back to normal.

Part 1

There was a large group of people sitting around a large campfire.  The group was mostly made of men.  The people's age ranged from about 21 to 100 and all had dark hair.  A youth approached the group and said he had news on Angelus.  The leader nodded for him to start.  The youth cleared his throat and began reciting the message, "Gilt remains undiscovered.  Since the last report, Gilt found that Yanna was working on a spell to give Angelus his soul back without making him suffer.  He was going to suggest she be disowned by the clan, but this is now unnecessary, since she died 2 weeks ago.  She was murdered.  By whom is unknown, but Angelus is a probable suspect.  A week ago, informants told Gilt that some huge magical occurrence happened.  Then Angelus activity almost completely stopped.  When he was seen, he acted like he had his soul again.  Gilt was convinced that the curse or a similar spell had been put on him, until he saw a man that looked like Angelus with a girl in the daylight.  Gilt found and questioned a friend of the girl.  The friend told Gilt that the man was Angelus.  A spell was put on Angelus that makes him human during the day and a vampire with a soul at night.  The only way to break the spell is if no one in the world cares for Angelus and Angelus cares for no one.  Gilt says that Angelus has made many friends and it would be almost impossible to break the spell."  As the youth finished his report, there was an uproar from the council.  The arguing went on long into the night.  The council couldn't agree on whether they should find a way to make Angel suffer or kill him.  Finally a plan was agreed on.  Beshok, a huge Angelus hater, would lead a team of 6 young warriors and 2 mages.  Trisn, a man about 24 years old and a childhood friend of Yanna's, would be second-in-command.&nb sp; The 10 of them would go to Sunnydale and stay with Gilt.  The mages would try to break the spell that lets Angelus be human during the day and Beshok would do whatever he deemed necessary to make Angelus suffer.

The last bell rang and Buffy sighed happily, as she left class.  The school day was over.  She headed towards the library, after stopping at her locker.  When she arrived, Oz and Willow had beaten her there.  Giles was hunched over a book at the table.  "Hey," Buffy called out, as she walked in. 

"Hey Buffy," Willow said.

"So any prophesies or baddies I should know about?" Buffy asked.

"I don't think so.  Giles said we're going to be researching something, but then something in the book distracted him," Willow said.

"Yeah.  He was listing book titles and stopped right in the middle of one.  We haven't been able to catch his attention since," Oz added.

Buffy looked from one to the other and said in a sarcastic tone, "And I'm sure you've been trying."  Willow blushed and Oz was about to defend Willow's honor, when Buffy's facade broke and she burst into giggles.  "I'm teasing.  Shesh.v Giles? ... Giles!"  There was still no response from the British librarian, so Buffy pulled the book out from under his nose.

"What? Buffy I was reading that," Giles said.

"And I was trying to get your attention.  What's up Giles?" Buffy asked handing the book back to him.

"Nothing at the moment.  I'm doing some research so that we're not caught off guard again, but I'm afraid that there's not much you can help with unless you have a suggestion," Giles said.

"What about my little problem," Oz said, "Is there anyway I can control it?  Do you know if I can wolf out, when it's not the full moon?"

"I don't know.  I don't remember anything of that sort, but it's certainly something to look into."

"I'll see what I can find on the internet," Willow said, turning to the computer.

"I'll get a book and join you," Oz said going over to the card catalog.

"Well since this isn't mandatory, I'm gonna split," Buffy said, heading for the door.

"How did hunting go last night?" Giles asked, stopping Buffy.

"Okay," Buffy said turning back, "I bagged two vamps and Angel bagged 5.  They still think he's on their side and keep walking up to him.  They practically ask him to stake them."  Buffy smiled at the irony.

"How's Angel adjusting to a non-nocturnal lifestyle?" Willow asked.

"Slowly.  He loves being in the sunlight, but he can't get used to getting up when the sunrises and I think he's having trouble going to sleep when it's dark out.  Monday, he was late for his first day at work 'cause he over slept.  Every other morning this week, I've gone over to his apartment before school to make sure he's awake.  This weekend, I'm getting him an alarm clock," Buffy said laughing.  She had never thought she'd ever see Angel cranky, but that's what he was when you tried to wake him up too early.  She'd learned ways to wake him up in a good mood though.  She smiled at thoughts of morning kisses, but her smile disappeared as a shiver went down her spine as she remembered the tail end of a dream she'd had last night.  It was all very strange.  There had been a campfire, and two men arguing over it, but she couldn't understand what they were saying.  Then the fight had ended and the mean one had turned toward her.  The nice one had stepped back and hung his head, as if ashamed.  Then Angel had appeared in the background, being held by two men and calling her name, as he tried to escape.  She had stared at him for a moment, before turning back to the mean man.  He had approached her with a knife raised to kill her as she woke up.  The dream had the same weird feeling as the other dreams that had come true, but she didn't want to worry Giles and decided not to tell him until it started coming true.  She shook off the feeling as she realized someone was talking to her.  "What?"

"Has Angel started any classes yet?" Giles asked.

"Oh yeah.  He got some stuff yesterday so he can take two classes on a home schooling basis.  Thanks for getting him the job at the community college, Giles.  Historical Research assistant may sound boring, but it's better than some jobs.  Besides it means he's in the library all the time and since he usually knows the info they want from memory instead of from researching, he can study in his spare time.  Thanks for all the help you've been giving him, Giles.  It really means a lot to him and to me."

"Well I know it's been a long time since he's been to school.  After a few hundred years it's natural to forget a lot," said a little stiffly.

"That's not what I mean.  Before he lost his soul, he was already brooding and feeling guilty.  It was even worse when we brought him back.  When you spent time with him and didn't blame him for what Angelus did.  It really helped him to forgive himself," Buffy said earnestly.

Giles sighed, "Buffy, I know they're not the same person and Angel shouldn't blame himself for what the demon did.  I just want to make sure we're not caught off guard again."

"I understand.  Well, since I'm not being of much help here anyway, I better go.  I told Angel I'd meet him outside.  He said he was coming over after work so he should be here any minute now.  He loves to sit outside in the sun.  I'm going to have to introduce him to suntan lotion soon," Buffy joked.  She rushed out to the front lawn to wait for Angel and started pacing impatiently.  The memory of the dream was really starting to give her the wiggin's.  Angel arrived a few minutes later to find a very agitated Buffy.  The minute she saw him she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Angel asked, surprised by her reaction.

"I ... I was just worried."  Angel led her over to a bench and sat down next to her.

"Why?  It's daylight."

"I had one of those weird dreams last night and it's giving' me a major case of the wiggin's.  Something up," Buffy told him.

"Buffy dreams are just dreams.  There's nothing to be scared of," Angel said gently.

"No.  These weird dreams have been right before and as a Slayer I should trust my instincts.  Well, I'm getting a major wiggin's here and it says some thing's going to happen," Buffy insisted.  Angel gave her a doubtful look.  "Don't dismiss my wiggin's."

"Did you tell Giles?"

"No.  He's already in over research mode and obsessing about being caught off guard.  I don't want to add to it, so I wasn't going to tell him about it until they started coming true."

"If you don't want to tell Giles, we can't do much more than be careful.  But if Giles isn't worried about your dreams coming true, there's probably nothing to worry about."

Buffy nodded, satisfied that he would at least be careful, but slightly offended that he was doubtful.  She went to put her head on his shoulder, but he raised her chin with his hand and kissed her.  When the kiss ended, she smiled up at him.  She snuggled up to his side, put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.  He closed his eyes and tilted his head back so the light could fall directly on his face.  It was becoming a routine now, sitting in the sun in the afternoons.  Angel couldn't get enough of the sun and Buffy was content to just be with him.  Angel marveled at the warm, lazy, peacefulness of it all as Buffy dozed on his shoulder.  Now that he was learning how hard it was to live a life during the day and another one at night, he had gained even more respect for her.  He gazed down at her lovingly.  She opened one eye and looked up at him.

"What?" she asked.

"You're beautiful in the sunlight," he told her softly.

She smiled up at him and whispered back, "So are you.  You know if we're going to keep having these daily sunbaths, you're going to have to learn about the wonders of suntan lotion."  Angel just looked at her puzzled for a moment.  She laughed, "It protects you from the sun," she explained.

Angel gave her a puzzled look and looked up at the sun and back.  "I know you can get a sunburn, but I've don't remember the sun being able to hurt you any more than that," Angel said.

Buffy laughed.  "It can do more than that, but it gets complicated.  I'll see if Cordy doesn't have a pamphlet or something.  She's so in too make-up and keeping her skin healthy she probably has one.  Besides, if you heal with vampire speed at night, you may undo the damage you do during day.  Humans can't heal that sort of stuff without doctors, but vampires might."

"Something else to ask Giles," Angel said.

"Now you're starting sound like the rest of us," Buffy laughed.  "So where's Harmony?"

"She went back to SU.  Something about paperwork and the old coots being mad about something.  From the comments Michael was making, I have the feeling she broke a few rules.  I hope she doesn't get into too much trouble."

"The way I've heard her talk about the council at SU, she probably argues with them all the time.  Stubbornness obviously runs in the family," Buffy teased.

"Me?  Stubborn?  Well, I guess it's true about opposites attract, since I fell in love with a stubborn rebel."

"Me??  A rebel?" Buffy said in mock surprise.

"Who's the one that keeps breaking the prophecies?  Who's the one that's dating a vampire?  Who's the one who decided she didn't like the one for every generation thing, so she made it two for every generation?" Angel teased

"Me.  And you forgot not using the handbook, having friends, and family.  Those are against the rules too."  Buffy was quiet before continuing somberly, "I wonder if Giles wishes I weren't so unruly?"

"Giles couldn't be more proud of you.  I know from experience that you're the best slayer in the last 200 some years and you only break the rules that need breaking.  Having friends and family is one of the things that makes you such a great slayer.  Giles would never want another slayer and I don't think he'd ever want you to change.  And neither would I.  I like you just the way you are."  Buffy smiled at him and kissed him.

"I love you," Buffy murmured as she closed her eyes again and settled her head on his shoulder.  Angel kissed her hair and went back to his thinking.  They sat silently unaware of the of the 7 men approaching them from behind.

Part 2

When Beshok, Trisn and the 8 others had arrived in Sunnydale, Gilt had a little more to report.  He told them that the girl Angelus had been seen with was a human girl named Buffy.  She went to the local high school and was Angelus's girlfriend, before he lost his soul and after it was returned again.  She helped restore his soul and was probably the one who had given Angelus the moment of pure happiness that caused him to lose his soul.  Beshok decided that they would capture the girl, torture and kill her in front of Angelus.  Trisn argued that she was human and killing her would be murder.  Their mission was to torture Angelus, not the girl's family and friends by killing her.  Beshok said that by releasing the demon she had caused many deaths and much pain, so her punishment was only fitting.  Besides, they were on a quest for vengeance against Angelus, the great enemy of the clan, and anyone who was his friend was an enemy of the clan as well.  Beshok overruled Trisn and sent Trisn and the 6 fighters to capture Angelus and the girl.  The plan was to capture Angelus and the girl at the high school, where they spent their afternoons, and bring them back to the hotel.  Gilt said he had watched them sit outside most days for at least a half hour before going inside the high school.  They were hoping to capture them there.  Once they got back to the hotel, they would torture the girl and eventually kill her while Angelus watched.  It was going to be a little hard though, since Angelus had to be kept conscious so he could see everything.

As the duo settled down again and seemed to drift off to sleep, Trisn motioned his men forward.  At his signal, the men attacked.  Two went after Buffy and four others went after Angel, while Trisn held back.  One yanked Buffy off of Angel and behind the bench.  He held her in front of him with her arms pined behind her back, as two others grabbed Angel from behind (one on each arm) holding him against the bench.  One approached Buffy to hit her and knock her out, but Buffy had other plans.  She leaned back on the guy holding her and solidly kicked the man approaching her with both feet.  He flew back into the two holding Angel, freeing Angel to deal with the two approaching him from the front.  As Angel began trading punches with his attackers, while Buffy started working on getting free.  With one foot, she pulled the gypsy's leg out from under him, as she pushed back and out with her arms.  The gypsy lost his grip on her arms and lost his balance sending him onto his back.  She roundhouse kicked one of the men approaching her, before turning around to the dazed gypsy and knocking him out cold.  "STOP!!!" Trisn shouted, as a gypsy raised a knife to stab Buffy in the back, "No blood shed! We need them alive!"  Everyone looked over at him, including Angel who also saw the knife poised above Buffy.

"Buffy!!" he yelled.  Buffy turned around and kicked the knife out of the surprised gypsy's hand.  Angel's attackers put his momentary distraction to good use.  They punched him in the stomach and face.  Angel stumbled back as Buffy jumped over the bench to stand beside him.  Now they fought together and the gypsy's got the worse beating.  Trisn tried to help, but things seemed to get worse and worse for his side.  He stepped back for a moment.  He watched as the girl beat his warriors into a bloody pulp and his warriors weren't quite holding their own against Angel.  He had expected this much from Angel, he was a trained fighter after all, even if he only had human strength, but he hadn't expected this girl to be stronger and as skilled as Angel.  He knew if they concentrated their efforts on Angel they would be able to capture him, but then the girl would attack from behind.  No, they didn't have enough men for this.  ; It was time to call a retreat.  He picked up the still unconscious Penok (the one who had originally held Buffy) and called a retreat.  The gypsy's gladly ran off in every direction knowing where to regroup.  Trisn took off with Penok over his shoulder.  Beshok was not going to like this.

Buffy watched the leader pick up his comrade and walk off.  She stared at the man from her dream for a moment, before turning to Angel who had slumped gratefully back onto the bench.  He was bruised and bloody.  "Angel, are you okay?" Buffy asked sitting down next to him.

"I don't think anything's broken, so I should be fine.  I can't believe they were beating on me so easily though."

"You're human now, remember.  Come on.  We'd better get to the library," Buffy told him.  He put his arm around her shoulder and they went to the library

Part 3

The gang was gathered in the library, when Buffy and Angel went in.  "Buffy!" Xander shouted, as they came in.  Everyone looked up at Xander's exclamation.

"I'll get the first aid," Willow said, as she ran towards Giles office.

"What happened?" Giles asked, as Buffy helped Angel sit down before sitting on the table.

"We were attacked out front," Buffy said.

"In the sunlight?" Oz asked.

"Yeah, there were 6 of them and a leader.  They sent four after Angel and two after me.  Angel got the worst of it," Buffy told them, as Willow returned with the first aid kit.

"Then they didn't know you're the slayer?" Willow asked as Giles started working on Angel.

"I don't think so.  They obviously weren't expecting me to put up much of a fight."

"What did they want?" Giles asked.

"They wanted to kidnap us.  The leader said they wanted us alive.  I don't know why," Buffy replied.

"They were Romani.  I saw one of their rings.  I'm pretty much on their highest enemies list," Angel replied.

"Romani?!  Well that would explain why they were after you, but why try to capture Buffy as well?" Giles asked.

"Last time they put a curse on me to torture me.  If they found out about the spell Harmony cast, they might be looking for a new way to torture me," Angel replied.

"And killing Buffy would be the best way to do it," Willow said.

"I thought you said they wanted you both alive," Cordy said.

"Well, that could have just been to make sure there were no witnesses," Oz supplied.

"Maybe, it gets weirder though Giles.  I had a dream last night that I was attacked by a man with knife, just like today except a different guy was holding the knife and that leader guy was in my dream too," Buffy told them.

"What??" Giles and Angel exclaimed.

"Wow," Oz said in awe.

"Buffy's dreams score again," Xander said.

"Could this be an after effect from the time, when everybody's nightmares came true?" Willow asked.

"I don't think so.  These aren't nightmares, they don't even feel like dreams.  Besides they're not coming true.  This guy didn't attack me and Angel in my dream," Buffy said.

"Are you sure the leader was the man from your dream?" Giles asked.

"Way positive," Buffy confirmed.

"What happened in your dream?" Angel asked.

"There was a campfire and two men were arguing over it.  The leader and this other guy.  Finally, the gypsy from today lost the fight and stepped back.  He hung his head in shame and looked at me, like he was trying to say he was sorry.  The other man came towards me ... he was definitely evil ... he looked like he was going to enjoy hurting me.  Then Angel was in the background being held by two men.  He was trying to get free, but he couldn't and he was calling my name.  Then I looked up, and the mean guy was over me about to stab me with a knife.  And then I woke up," Buffy said.

"So the gypsy was a good guy in your dream?" Xander asked.

"Yep."

"Why would he attack us, if he was on our side?" Angel asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said.

"Buffy," Giles said thoughtfully, "You said these didn't feel like dreams.  Do you mean to say you've had more than one?"

"Sure.  There was the time when they were trying to raise the master from his bones, and the dreams I had before the Judge was reassembled, and when James and Grace were in my dreams."

"Who?" Angel asked.

"The ghosts," Willow said.  Angel still had a blank expression on his face.

"The ones that were causing all that weird stuff to happen at the school," Xander supplied.  Angel was still lost.

"The snakes, the wasps, the reenactments," Cordy said.

"Grace is the one that took over Angelus, James took over me.  They took over us at the school, had a big fight, I shot you, you fell over the rail, and then you saved me in the music room," Buffy told him.

"Those were ghosts?" Angel asked.

"Yep," Buffy replied.

"Buffy, you said that your dreams didn't feel like dreams," Giles said.

"Yeah, well sort of.  They felt like dreams, but they didn't feel like normal dreams.  Plus they gave me this huge wiggin's.  They remind me of something ... I know!" Buffy exclaimed as she laid eyes on the book titled "Vampyre".  She went over and picked it up.  "It remind me of the dreams I used to have, when I first came to Sunnydale.  The dreams always gave me a major wiggin's and this book was always in the dreams.  Then I show up for text books in the library and you show me this.  The exact same book as the one in my dreams!"

"They're like those dreams?!  Why didn't I see this before?" Giles exclaimed.

"What?" Xander asked.

"All slayers have the dreams when they first become the slayer.  All slayers have special powers and the level of power varies although there are some constants," Giles said as he was looking through a bookshelf, "All slayers have the super strength, the enhanced hearing, and the faster healing rate.  Most also have a sixth sense that allows them to sense vampires.  For some this sense is with them from the start, and with some it manifests after awhile.  In some cases, where the slayer is brought to a large mystical disturbance like the Hell Mouth, this sense has extended towards any unnatural phenomenon.  The dreams happen to all slayers, but ... yes here it is," Giles said pointing to a passage in the book, "'The initial dreams can last for only a few days or up to a year or more.  They are dreams of slaying vampires, vampires feeding and of the 'Vampyre'.  They are the signal that the girl has the powers of a slayer.  The dreams will leave as soon as she accepts her duty.  The prophetic dreams are dreams that give the sleeper a clue of what is to come.  Every few hundred years, a time of great enough peril arises and a slayer will have a prophetic dream, but in all of history, only 5 slayers have ever been prophetic dreamers.  Slayers that did not always have these dreams at a time of great peril.  Two of the slayers were daughters of seers, one was born on the Hellmouth, and two were the slayers during the two worst times in history.'  Don't you see?  It simply means that you are coming into your full power.  Some slayers are late, although I've never heard of one taking quite this long, but if you started having the dreams last summer it wouldn't be unheard of.  I just never thought that your 'wiggin's' could be the extension of the sixth sense."

"But I don't have the sixth sense Giles.  I can't feel vampires.  Sometimes I know when someone's following me, but I can't tell if they're a vampire or not," Buffy said, her frustration evident in her voice.

"But you definitely get a wiggin's when their something weird going on," Xander said.

"Yeah, but I don't get a wiggin's everytime," Buffy replied.

"Well maybe it's like slayer instinct.  I mean we all have instincts, but they only act up sometimes.  And yours usually acts up when we have nothing to go, so that could just mean when we're on the right track and doing what your gut or you instinct wants, it doesn't act up," Willow said.

"So that explains the wiggin's, but why is she having the prophetic dreams?  She wasn't born here," Cordy said.

"Mom's not a seer," Buffy added.

"And it's not one of the greatest perils ever.  Is it?" Oz asked.

"No," Angel said.

"So why's she having the dreams?" Cordy asked again.

"Maybe it's cause the Hellmouth opened," Xander suggested.

"No.  If that was one of the greatest perils in history, I should have had a dream about it and I didn't," Buffy said.

"These dreams started after you died, right?" Willow asked.

"Yeah."

"Well maybe that's it.  I mean, we know that Buffy dying and coming back messed up the mystical balance.  It made Kendra the Slayer," Willow said.

"Yeah and Buffy easily kicked the Master's butt after that," Xander chimed in.

"That's right.  He tried to do the hypnosis thing again, but it didn't work.  And I felt stronger than I ever had before.  I never thought about it.  Giles, is it possible?" Buffy asked.

"I suppose so-"

"Great.  Then we know that the gypsy guy appeared in my dream means something," Buffy said.

"But if the gypsy appeared in your dream as a good guy, why would he attack you?" Cordy asked.

"He didn't attack us until the end.  He just ordered his men to capture us," Angel said.

"Maybe he had to capture you two for a ritual, he didn't like," Willow suggested.

"Or it's an army thing.  He was just following orders whether he liked them or not," Xander chimed in.

"But if all the gypsies hate Angel, why would he be sad about capturing them?" Cordy asked.

"The Romani hate me, not all gypsies," Angel said.

"Maybe he didn't want to capture Buffy.  They wouldn't hate us all, just 'cause we're Angel's friends, would they?" Oz suggested.

"They might.  Willow, you and Oz try to find something about the Romani on those dread machines.  The rest of us can try to find something in the books," Giles said.

"I'll get snacks," Xander said, jumping up and heading out the door.

"I'll help," Cordy said as she followed him out.

"I have a feeling they won't be back for awhile," Buffy said.

"They probably won't have any snacks either," Willow added.  They laughed as Giles headed off into the stacks.

"So, how are you doing?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Okay.  Being human hurts more than I remember."

"Don't worry.  The sun'll be down in a few hours and you'll be healing at your normal rate again."

"How are you doing?"

"Fine, as long as Giles doesn't remember I'm supposed to be having a training session right now."

"Buffy, when Xander and Cordelia get back to take over the researching, we can have your training session," Giles called from the back of the stacks.  Buffy groaned and Angel smiled in amusement at her.

Part 4

Gilt, an older man with graying hair, and the two mages sat on the hotel bed, watching the scene before them.  Trisn and the 6 warriors had just returned without Angelus or the girl.  "What do you mean you retreated?!?" Beshok asked.

"They were beating us and we had one man unconscious, so I called a retreat," Trisn explained between clenched teeth.

"How could a vampire in the sunlight and a girl beat up 7 warriors?"

"Angel is unaffected by the sunlight so that made no difference.  He is an experienced fighter you know, but she-"

"What?!?"

"She was stronger than she should be," Trisn finished, trying to hold his temper.

"A puny, teenage GIRL beats up 7 warriors and all you can say is 'she's stronger than she should be'?"

"It's true. She was stronger than any of us," one warrior chimed in.

"She knocked me out in one punch," the groggy Penok added.

"This could be a sign," one of the mages suggested.

"It's a sign that we shouldn't have attacked this girl.  She's done nothing to us!" Trisn exclaimed.

"She's Angelus's girlfriend.  She would give the beast pleasure, when he should suffer!" Beshok shot back.

"Maybe she doesn't know about his past," one warrior suggested.

"Yes.  She might not know.  We could tell her the truth and turn her against him.  Wouldn't that be fitting revenge?" another asked.

"Yes, it would," Beshok said evilly, "But if she will not turn against him, we will torture him by torturing and killing her in front of him."  A smile crossed his lips, as he thought of all the ways he could torture her.

"She's too strong!" a warrior cried in fear.

"Lies!!  What are you really afraid of?!?  Tell me!" Beshok ordered.

"Excuse me, sir," Gilt interrupted quietly.  All heads turned toward the quiet spy.  "I have seen this girl fight at night with Angelus in the past few days.  She's easily as strong as a vampire.  She might be like Angelus.  Human during the day and a vampire at night."

"Then why was Angelus only as strong as a normal man?" Trisn asked.

"I don't know," Gilt said simply.

"Well find out!!  If we can't capture them, we will capture one of the girl's friends as bait, but only if we need to.  Only Angelus and the girl should have to suffer, for now," Beshok said.  He was answered by a chorus of "yes, sir".  "We shall have vengeance!!"  A chorus of hurrahs was heard as Trisn and another warrior slipped out of the room, of the hotel.

"I can't take it anymore!  Did you hear him, Jer?  It's crazy!" Trisn said, remembering the bloodthirsty look in Beshok's eyes and wondering at how his fellows could follow him so easily.

"That Buffy girl never did anything to us," Jer replied, a little shaken by Beshok's reaction to their failure.

"No, not just about that.  Did you see how happy they were together?  I saw his eyes before we attacked.  Those aren't the eyes of the cold-blooded killer Angelus we were told about," Trisn said as the walked down the street, remembering the happy couple he'd seen and the letters Yanna had wrote him.

"Of course they were Angelus's eyes," Jer snapped, the childhood tales of the enemy Angelus nagging at the corners of his mind.

"But Angelus is a killer.  Those weren't the eyes of a killer.  Yanna wrote to me about this, but I didn't believe her until I saw it with my own eyes," Trisn said wonderingly.  Jer gave him a confused look.  "Don't you see.  The demon and the soul are like two separate people.  She said they were like two completely different people, Angel and Angelus.  We're torturing the soul, Angel, when we should be torturing the demon."

"Yanna told you this?"

"Yes."

"But...even if it were true.  What can we do?  The clan is convinced that he should suffer," Jer replied, torn between the evidence before him and his loyalty to the clan.

"Yanna lied to the clan and did nothing to torture Angel, but that's not enough.  We should help him, we should warn them," Trisn said, thinking of the injustices that Angel must have suffered.

"We can't work against the clan!!  The clan is our family.  Are place is with them.  Yanna had been away too long and was on the verge of being thrown out.  She was probably crazy.  We should go back and help," Jer said stopping, pleading with Trisn.  He could not imagine life without the clan, and he feared for his friend who seemed to be talking of not only leaving the clan, but working against them.

"No!  If anyone's crazy it's Beshok.  He proved that a few minutes ago," Trisn said gesturing back towards the hotel.  Afraid he was losing Jer to the clan he took a deep breath and continued a little more calmly, "They're wrong and we both know it.  You saw the look in Angel's eyes, when the knife was drawn on the girl."

"Yes," Jer agreed reluctantly, "But I will not work against the clan."

"Fine, but we will not help them either.  Agreed?" Trisn asked.

"Agreed."

Part 5

"I think I found something," Willow exclaimed.  Buffy and Giles stopped sparring and took a break.  Giles went to look over Willow's shoulder and Oz turned his chair to get a better look at Willow's computer.  Buffy grabbed a slice of pizza from one of the two almost empty pizza boxes and sat down next to Angel.  Angel and Cordy looked up from the books they were reading and Xander continued to eat cheese curls from a bag in his hand.  "The Romani are actually a group of clans.  I've found a site on Ms. Calendar's clans.  Hers is the only one that ever dared to curse a vampire.  It says the Romani are total vengeance believers.  Some clans have carried a grudge for centuries.  They have many practiced in the use of magic.  They kind of sound like Angelus's human cousins.  They rarely kill their enemies outright.  They torture them and let them live with the pain.  Some clans will even kill innocent people if it will hurt their enemy.  Sending a member of the clan to make sure their enemies stay in pain and torture is actually very common."  There is a moment of silence as Willow scrolls down and they all try to deal with the impact of what they've just found.  "The clan used to be quite large," Willow continued, "But it's numbers are dwindling.  As the children learn about the outside world, they learn how vengeance driven the clan is and see it as wrong and repulsive, so they leave."

"So Ms. Calendar wasn't the only one who was rebelling," Buffy remarked.

"No.  Their numbers are dwindling every day," Willow replies.

"The gypsy who lead those men wasn't that old, but the man he was arguing with in my dream was close to 50," Buffy said.

"Yes.  It's possible that the young man doesn't agree with torturing Angel, but he doesn't want to rebel.  The older man is probably the one at the bottom of all this," Giles said.

"So what do we do now?" Cordy asked.  There was a long silence.

"Maybe the gypsy will come to us," Willow suggested hopefully.

"Everyone knows that all the teenagers, hang out at the Bronze.  That'll probably be the first place he'll look," Angel said.

"Yeah, besides all work and no play make for a cranky slayer.  Let's go," Buffy said.  There was a chorus of agreement, as everyone, but Giles, filed out of the Library.  Willow went with Oz in his van, Xander went in Cordy's car and Buffy and Angel walked.  Angel dropped her off at her house.  She said she needed to stop and pick up a few things, since it was well past sunset, and tell her Mom she was going to the Bronze.  Angel had to go back to his apartment to change his shirt, because he had a blood stain on the one he was wearing.  When one of the gypsies had punched him, their clan ring had cut him.  He left her about a half block, before she reached her house. Buffy still hadn't figured out how to tell her mother yet and preferred keeping her in the dark.  She kissed him good-bye and he left for his apartment.

It was about a half hour after sunset.  Jer and Trisn were walking in the park, when they heard a commotion near by.  They came to the edge of the clearing and stopped.  In the clearing was a mob of about 20 vampires.  They had captures Beshok, Gilt, the two mages and three of the warriors.  The two other warriors were lying a ways away on the ground, dead.  "You see.  I was right, wasn't I Spike?  I knew those nasty gypsies were in town," a female vampire said.

"Of course you were right, Luv," said Spike.

"Miss Edith doesn't like gypsies.  You're going to pay for what you did to my Daddy," she told the gypsies.

"Of course, Dru, but we've got to get them back to our place or else the slayer might show up," Spike said irritably.

"Yes, come along," Dru said as she danced away.  Jer and Trisn were quiet as the group walked off.

"What are we going to do?" Jer asked, fear evident in his voice.

"We've got to get help," Trisn said, determinedly.

"But we don't know anyone who could help us."

"The girl, Buffy.  She was really strong and Gilt said he saw her fight vampires.  Maybe she can help us," Trisn suggested hopefully.

"But she's the enemy!  She's a friend of Angelus.  That would be betraying the clan."

"You said yourself she might not know about his past.  Besides, she's the only hope we've got," Trisn replied.

"How will we find her?" Jer asked resignedly.

"Well, she dates a vampire.  We better check all the places teenagers hang out, and all the places vampires hang out," said Trisn.  He'd have smiled at the irony if weren't standing a few feet away from the dead bodies of his friends and fellow warriors.

"Where do vampires hang out?"

"Where they can find people alone."

"Like the park," Jer said, "Come on, lets see if we can find her."  Jer and Trisn set off in a random direction to look for one teenage girl.

Buffy sat impatiently at her table at the Bronze.  Angel had left for his apartment an hour ago.  She knew it was near the Bronze and didn't know what was taking him so long.  Willow and Oz came in off the dance floor and sat down next to her.  Willow took one look at the expression on her best friend's face and knew who she was thinking about.  "Where's Angel?" Willow asked.

"He stopped to change his shirt, before he came.  It had blood on it," Buffy said distractedly looking around.

"Those are probably killer stains to get out," Oz said.

"Yeah."

"Where's Xander and Cordelia?" Willow asked, trying to get Buffy's attention.

"Probably in a closet somewhere.  Cordelia still won't dance with Xander," Buffy said.  Buffy caught sight of Angel coming in the door and she smiled.  As she was lifting her hand to show Angel where they were sitting, Willow grabbed her hand.  Buffy looked over at her astonished to see that two gypsies had just arrived at their table.  If she had lifted her hand, they would have known Angel was here.

"Buffy Summers?" one asked.

"That would be me, the girl you attacked this morning," Buffy quipped, "and you would be?"

"My name is Jer and this is Trisn.  We are members of the Romani clan of the late Ms. Calendar," he said.  Willow quickly whispered something in Oz's ear and he walked off in Angel's direction, as Jer continued, "We are sorry for attacking you earlier, but we didn't consider that you might not know who Angelus is?"

"Is that so?" Buffy said calmly.

"No," Trisn said with a look toward Jer, "You were a friend of Angelus's and according to clan tradition any acquaintance of the enemy can be brought down to hurt the enemy.  I-"

"We however disagree with that tradition as do many of the younger members of the tribe," Jer interrupted, "so we came to tell you of Angelus's past.  When you hear his past, I am sure you will no longer help him and then the clan won't have to argue about whether we can hurt you or not.  After all hurting Angelus is one thing, but hurting an innocent is another.

"We shouldn't be going after Angel either.  Even the clan knows that a vampire is a human body with a demon instead of a soul.  It's wrong to torture the soul our clan returned to the body for -"

"Shut-up!  You're talking treason," Jer hissed, scared by what his friend was saying.

"No," Trisn said firmly, "I'm second-in-command and I'll give the orders.  We're not going to hurt the soul for what the demon did and we are not going to make this poor girl think that she's dating a demon instead of a soul."

"It's against all clan beliefs!" Jer said, trying holding to what he had been taught and push away the treasonous and rational thoughts in his own mind.

"Beliefs rooted in vengeance.  Now is NOT a time for vengeance.  Yanna spoke well of him and that's enough for me.  Now be quiet and follow orders!" Trisn ordered Jer, effectively ending the argument as he once again gave Buffy and Willow his full attention.  Buffy and Willow had listened to this argument with interest, as had Angel who had snuck up unnoticed behind the two and Oz, who had returned to sit beside Willow.  "I'm sorry for my comrade Ms. Summers.  I'm afraid most of my clan has a large dislike for your boyfriend.  We wouldn't have even come to you, but we need help.  The rest of the gypsies in town have been take hostage by a group of vampires.  I caught only two names: Spike and Dru.  I cannot guarantee you anything in return, but I will try to change the clan's mind, when we return."

Buffy looked both of them in the eye and knew that neither of them was an enemy of hers, but one was Angel's enemy and the one's being held by Spike and Drusilla, were probably all Angel's enemies.  Buffy looked up at Angel, who was standing behind the two gypsies and back.  "Angel and Angelus are two different people, for lack of a better word.  I understand that Angelus hurt you deeply, but Angel has done nothing to you and should not have to pay for Angelus's crimes.  If you swear to try and convince your clan of this, and swear that neither of you will try to hurt Angel, I would be willing to help," she told the gypsies, then she looked up at Angel, "but it's you choice.  I do this with you, or not at all."  The gypsies looked behind them startled.  Angel walked over to stand beside Buffy, as the gypsies watched his every move.

He turned and faced the gypsies.  "I'm very sorry for what Angelus did to your clan and I want to thank you for putting the first curse on me.  I know that it was meant to cause me pain and in that respect the curse succeeded, but it gave me the chance to find love.  If you promise me that your clan won't harm Buffy, or our friends in any way, I'll gladly help," Angel told the gypsies.

"I can try to convince them, but I can't promise.  But if a gypsy is saved by someone, that someone becomes a friend of the clan and cannot be harmed.  If you and your friends help save these gypsies, it is almost guaranteed that they will become friends of the clan, but I cannot say how they will react to you," Trisn told Angel.

Angel nodded, "Then I'll help you."

Part 6

"Well we're dealing with Spike and Dru, so we'll probably need the whole Scooby gang.  Any clue to where they maybe?" Buffy asked.

"They left a present at my apartment.  I think he was one of the gypsies.  He was dead, when I got there.  She left a message.  'Come.  We have your friends,'" Angel told them.

"So that's why you were late," Buffy commented.

"Yeah, it took me awhile to clean up."

"So that's one less gypsy to save.  How many were captured?" Buffy asked Trisn.

"Seven: two mages, Gilt, Beshok, and three warriors."

"That leaves six to rescue and at least one of them will be able to do magic.  When we get there you two will have to make sure they know Angel and I are on their side.  I don't want them attacking us, while we're trying to save them," Buffy told the gypsies, "If they want us to come, they must be somewhere they think we can find them.  Any ideas?"

"We moved hideouts after Giles burned the last one down.  I helped pick that one out.  They probably moved after I got my soul back, but if they want us to find them that's the first place to look."

"How many entrance?  What's the layout like?"

"It's small warehouse.  It's got a few private rooms, but mostly there's just one large room.  There's two entrances to the large room almost exactly opposite each other.  There's also a door off the large room leading into a hall the connects all the private rooms.  There's also one entrance directly into one of the private rooms from the outside.  The second level is the same as the first, but it was trashed when we moved in.  It was never repaired."

"Would they have them in the large room or in one or two of the smaller rooms."

"There are cages in the large room against the wall opposite the private rooms.  One of them was made to whole several animals at once and could probably hold all the gypsies.  That's where they're most likely to have them."

"Where's the warehouse?"

"South side of town.  The old cosmetic factory."

"The one that got closed down for testing on animals?" Willow asked.  Angel nodded.

"Why a cosmetic factory?" Buffy asked.

"Hey I heard about that place when they shut down.  Some of those testing devices looked more like torture devices.  I'd hate see what vampires could do with that stuff, if they got their hands on it," Oz said.

"They were worse than most, probably an effect of the Hellmouth.  They didn't even have any windows so they could control the light.  Thinking back on it, I'm surprised it got shut down so quickly.  Us being on the Hellmouth and all," Willow said.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"It was like a mini-crusade, except for animals.  A town north of here, found out about the factory that was doing the same thing in their town and they shut it down.  They started south and stopped in every town that had a cosmetics factory and either shut it down or praised it for being animal friendly.  They shut down about 8 in all," Willow said.

"Sunnydale was the second town they hit.  After seeing the horrors that went on there after only being open for two years, they were probably inspired to keep shutting down factories," Oz added.

"When they left, they put all the animals they rescued up for adoption.  We adopted a dog that had been in there, but he only lived a year or two," Willow said.

"Was their anything left in the factory when you guys moved in?" Buffy asked Angel.

"A lot of the stuff they used for testing was still there."

"So we better get there fast, before they start trying to use them.  Willow, Oz you see if you can find Xander and Cordelia.  Get Giles and some supplies and meet us there.  If we're not outside, we'll probably already be inside waiting for reinforcements."

"Right," Willow said, as she and Oz went to check the make-out corners of the Bronze.

"I was planning to go hunting on the way home so I've got my supplies, we can come up with a plan on the way there," Buffy said as she led the way to the door.

"Hunting?  What can you hunt in Sunnydale?" Jer asked.

"Vampires and demons mostly," Buffy replied.

Jer and Trisn stopped and stared at her.  "You hunt vampires?" Trisn asked in astonishment.

"Yeah," Buffy replied, they still stared at her, "Oh right, you guys don't know.  Well, I don't have time to explain so let's just say I'm not a vampire, but I can easily kick your ass.  Now, lets go."  She turned around and walked out the door.  Angel smiled and followed her out.  Jer and Trisn stood there for a moment longer, wondering just who they were going into battle with, before following them out.

Part 7

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jer asked.

"You backing out?" Buffy asked, as she watched Angel finish taking care of the second vampire guard.

"No," Jer said defensively.

"Good.  Now remember, you two have that door.  It's closest to the cages.  When you hear me and Angel drawing them away, sneak in and unlock your friends.  And remember to tell them whose side we're on.  I don't want a gypsy knife in my back.  Got it?" Buffy asked.

"Yes.  What happens to you two, when we get the others freed?" Trisn asked.

"Hopefully, the rest of the Scooby gang will have arrived by then and we can overpower them.  If not, we have 3 vehicles," Buffy replied cheerfully.  Jer gulped and Trisn nodded determinedly.  Angel walked back over brushing the ashes off of himself.  "Are you up to this?" she asked him worriedly taking his hand.

"Yeah.  They won't be to happy to see me though," he replied.  She gave him a quick smile before they went to their own doors.  Buffy slowly opened hers and slipped in.  She was standing in a front office.  Now for the hard part, she thought.  She opened the next door to find herself in a room with several doors.  She opened the first door and found a small office with no other doors.  Then a scream could be heard throughout the warehouse.  Buffy immediately turned and hurried in the direction the scream had come from.

Angel took a deep breath, as he put his hand on the doorknob.  He had not faced Spike or Dru since he had regained his soul.  He was worried that the spell would break or he wouldn't be able to stand seeing them, but he remembered that people were counting on him and he reminded himself that he couldn't lose his soul now.  He could still make-up for the wrongs Angelus had done though, by destroying what Angelus had left behind.  Namely: Spike and Dru.  He opened the door and went inside.  Spike and Dru were standing near the large cage that held four gypsies.  Apparently, the few weeks of having Dru to himself had improved Spike's condition, since there was no wheelchair in sight.  A dead body lay to one side.  He had obviously been tortured, before he had died.  The four or five vamps standing around the room didn't notice him as they watched Dru try to get information from another gypsy.  Spike looked bored and annoyed, a s he leaned against the cage.  "What have you done to my Angel?!" she asked.

"Not a thing," Angel replied, "I'm surprised Spike.  Torturing potential allies?  That's not like you at all.  You should know by now they hate me as much as you do."  Spike and Dru looked up at him, startled by his sudden appearance.  The other vampires turned to face him, but waited for Spike's signal to attack.

"Yes well, they're the ones who gave you your bloody soul back the first time.  Besides, can't leave them alive.  Who knows whose soul they might return next?" Spike said.

Dru pushed the scared gypsy from her and looked intently at Angel.  "You're NOT my Daddy," she growled, "You're hurting him.  Let him go!"

"Sorry Dru.  Angel's here stay this time," Buffy said as she emerged from the private offices, crossbow in hand.  Buffy aimed and fired a shot at Spike.  He ducked and rolled out of the way as the arrow imbedded itself into the wall where Spike had been moments before.

"NO!!" Dru screamed as she ran towards Buffy.  The other vampires followed suit and attacked the slayer.  Buffy dropped her crossbow and immediately had a stake in hand.  As Buffy staked the first vampire, Angel intercepted another that was heading her way.  Dru approached Buffy warily, as they began to exchange blows.  The minions, knowing Dru liked to kill her own prey turned their attention towards Angel.  Buffy and Dru circled each other slowly, exchanging blows and looking for an opening.  Spike walked up and eyed the two appraisingly.

"Need help, Luv?" Spike asked, as Jer and Trisn slipped in behind Spike's back.  Buffy watched the two go to the cage and their fallen comrade, as Dru landed a kick to Buffy's jaw in her momentary distraction.

"No.  She didn't hurt you did she?"

"Didn't even touch me," Spike replied.

"Good."  Spike headed over to Angel to have a duel of his own.  As Angel and Spike began to trade blows, Dru's lips curled into a smile and a childish giggle escapes her lips.  Drusilla took a step back, and crooned, "Look at me, Dearie."  She held up two fingers of her right hand and slowly moved them back and forth between her eyes and Buffy's.

"Be in my eyes," she crooned.  Buffy slowly dropped out of the fighting stance, as Drusilla took another step closer.  Angel looked over and panic filled his eyes as he saw what was happening.  Spike glanced over and smiled, as he stopped Angel from dashing over to the two women.

"I don't think so mate," he said.

Drusilla took another step towards Buffy as her two fingers continued going back and forth between their eyes.  "Be ... in ... me," she crooned stopping an arms length from Buffy. Buffy stood their limply, her eyes fastened on Dru's.  Dru giggled in delight, as she dropped her right hand to her side.  She stared excitedly at Buffy for a moment before extending the fingers of her right hand like a cat.  She swung her hand up and Buffy's hand stopped Dru's hand, inches from her neck.  Buffy used the arm to flip Dru, who landed with a thud in front of her with a shocked expression on her face.

"Should have read your history.  If you had, then you'd know the Master tried the hypnosis thing too," Buffy quipped quietly as she pulled Dru's arm up behind her back.  "It didn't work then either," Buffy whispered menacingly into Dru's ear.  A whimper escaped, as Dru's arm broke with a sickening crack.  Spike and Angel looked over, both expecting to see Dru standing over a fallen Slayer.  Instead they saw, Dru at Buffy's feet as she pulled a stake out of her boot.  Spike gave a primal roar, as he leaped at Buffy.  He knocked her over, but she easily flipped him off her.  Spike stood protectively between her and Dru, ready to finish off the Slayer once and for all.

When Angel saw a triumphant Buffy standing over Dru, his heart soared.  As Spike leaped at Buffy, he was about to come to her aide, when Trisn yelled for help.  He looked over and saw that three of Spike's minions had noticed the gypsies, while their leaders were fighting.  Jer and Trisn were fighting them as best they could, but they had long since lost their stakes and Jer's cross was knocked out of his hand even as he watched.  He ran towards them and pulled one off of Jer, before it could feed.  As it charged him again, he easily sidestepped and staked it in the back.  He tossed a stake to Jer as he went after the one attacking Trisn.  The caged gypsies eyes widen, as they watched their arch nemesis work with Trisn to stake the vamp.  As Angel turned to look in the direction of the third vamp, which Jer was trying to stake, Xander burst through the near door.  "Cavalries here!!" he exclaimed as he strode through followed by the rest of the gang.

Xander and Cordy went to help Jer, while Giles, Willow, Oz and Angel started toward Buffy and Spike.  While Buffy and Spike had been exchanging blows, Dru was trying to circle around behind Buffy as she cradled her broken arm.  She didn't notice that the slayerettes had arrived until Oz shoved a cross at her.  She screamed and backed away.  Seeing that they were outnumbered, Spike grabbed the nearby Giles and threw him at Buffy.  Giles knocked Buffy over and they both unceremoniously fell to the ground, as Spike grabbed Dru's good arm and made for the exit.  Angel ran after them, but stopped at the door.  They had disappeared into the night.  Angel walked back and helped Buffy up.  Giles had already risen and was straightening his rumpled clothing.  They walked back towards the cage, where Xander, Cordy, Trisn, Jer and the free gypsy were trying to figure out where the key to the cage was.  The third vamp had made a run for it, when he had seen he was outnumbered.

"The British one had it," the tortured gypsy said.

"Are you sure?" Cordy asked.

"Yes, that one with the blond hair," one of the mages replied.

"So that means Spike left with the key.  Great," Buffy said sarcastically.

"We can always try to pick the lock," Willow said.

"I've got a better idea," Angel said as he picked up a metal bar.

"Wait a minute.  Did you explain everything to them?" Buffy asked Trisn.

"Yeah, they're not going to attack us the minute they're out are they?" Willow asked worriedly.  Oz took Willow's hand reassuringly.

"You have helped save out lives.  Why would we wish to harm you?" the first mage asked.

"Because we're Angel's friends and you guys have a total addiction to vengeance," Cordelia supplied.

"You have saved our lives.  Angelus has been the greatest enemy of the clan for nearly a century, but because he helped saved our lives here today, he is no longer an enemy to any gypsy here.  He is not a friend, but he is not an enemy.  As for the rest of you, you saved our lives and are therefore friends," the mage replied.  Everyone in the Scooby gang smiled at his words and Angel put the metal bar through the loop of the pad lock.  He strained against the bar to break the lock.  The lock emitted a creaking groan, but did not break.

"Wait," Buffy said.  She grabbed the other end of the metal bar in her hands.  "On three ... One, two, three."  The lock groaned and broke under the combined efforts of both slayer and vampire.  The heavy lock fell to the floor with a metallic clang.  The door swung open and the gypsies filed out, many giving Angel a nervous and suspicious look, but making no move towards him.

"Um ... what about the body?" Oz asked, pointing to the dead gypsy on the floor.

"We'll wrap him up and take him back with us to the clan, so that he can be taken care of as tradition requires," Trisn said, as his comrades moved towards the body.

"You said that two others were killed back at the park and there's another back at Angel's apartment.  Do you want to get those too?" Buffy asked.

"Yes," Trisn said.

"What is a dead gypsy doing in his apartment?" the second mage asked.

"Spike and Dru left him there along with a message that they were holding you hostage.  He was dead, when I got there.  I cleaned up the blood and wrapped him in a sheet.  Nothing more," Angel said.  The gypsy continued to look skeptical, even though Trisn gave him an evil look.  "I'm sorry for what Angelus did, but I'm not the demon that killed the girl of your clan.  I've always wanted to thank you for returning my soul.  I don't kill anymore and I try to make amends for what Angelus did.  Please believe me, if I had been able to control Angelus, he wouldn't have killed anyone.  He would have starved a long time ago," Angel told them earnestly.  The second mage still looked a little skeptical, but the first mage nodded his head, Gilt and the young warriors looked as if their theories had been proved correct, while Jer and Trisn beamed as if Angel was their own creation.

"Well guys, I don't think there's anything else for you to do.  You can head home.  Oz, we're going to need your van though.  Is that okay?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah."

"You guys," Buffy said turning to the gypsies, "How long will it take before this one's ready for travel?"

"Five minutes at most," the first mage replied.

"Good.  When you're done, we load the body into Oz's van.  Stop at Angel's apartment to pick up the body there, before going on to the park.  Where do you want to take them after there?"

"Back to our hotel.  We take care of it after that," Trisn replied.

"We're going to have dead guys in my van?" Oz asked.

Willow squeezed his hand supportively.  "I know, we've never had to take the bodies anywhere before.  Usually we just leave them," Willow said.

"How are you going to get the bodies through customs?" Giles asked.

"We might be able to get them through," the first mage said, indicating himself and the other mage, "After all, we haven't been of much use so far."

"We're not going to be able to fit all the gypsies, Buffy, Angel and a dead body in my van.  I might be able to squeeze in six in the back, but it would be a tight.  Once there's more than one body back there I wouldn't want to try, even that," Oz said.

"I could take three in my car," Giles offered.

"Great.  That means we can fit 6 gypsies and 1 dead body in the back of my van.  Willow can still ride shotgun, if she wants."

"Of course," Willow replied.

"Then Angel and I can ride with Giles and the last gypsy," Buffy said.

"Great so everyone's got a ride, so I'm leaving too.  Not that I don't enjoy preparing dead bodies, but I need my beauty rest," Cordy said, as she walked out the door.

"Boy does she ever," Xander quipped, when she was out of sight.

"I heard that!" Cordy's voice proclaimed from the night outside.  They laughed as Xander hurried out the door, before Cordelia decided to leave him.

"You guys ready?" Buffy asked.

"We're ready," Trisn told her.

"Okay, we'll take mage number 2- ," Buffy said gesturing, towards the second gypsy.

"Wensil," the second gypsy interrupted.

"Fine, we'll take Wensil ... Angel, you better ride up front and give Giles directions, besides that way I can keep an eye on the troublemaker in the back ... Oz, we'll lead," Buffy said, as the gypsies carried the body out to the van and everyone piled into the vehicles.  Buffy and Wensil got into the back of Giles' tiny car and Angel got in front with Giles.

Part 8

The ride was quiet and a little tense, with only short instructions from Angel on where to turn.  Giles was driving as slow as usual, until Buffy finally asked how fast they were going.  Giles mumbled something under his breath.  Buffy peeked over Giles shoulder at the speedometer.

"Giles, when are you going to get a grown-up car?" Buffy asked.

"It's a perfectly fine car and there's no reason to get a new one," Giles snapped.

"Of course," Buffy said mockingly.  Giles made an exasperated sigh and Angel gave that half smile of his.  He didn't usually get to see Watcher and Slayer interact in anything, but an all business mode.  It was something he'd missed and was glad he was able to see it now.  They arrived at Angel's apartment a few minutes later.  Buffy, Angel, and the second mage got out of Giles car.  Trisn and two other gypsies got out of the van and followed Buffy and Angel into his apartment.  The body lay, neatly wrapped on Angel's living room floor.  The gypsies went over and inspected the body.  Angel looked on, while Buffy wandered about the apartment.  She tried not to watch, as the gypsies bent over the body, feeling as if she was intruding somehow.

"You did a good job, wrapping it.  There's not much left to do," Trisn said, as the gypsies rearranged the hands of the corpse.  Buffy glanced over at the half unwrapped body and gasped.

"That's the other man from my dream!" she said, pointing to the dead gypsy and coming over to stand beside Angel.

"What?" Trisn asked confused.

"Who was he in your dream?" Angel asked.

"He was the mean one, who came at me with a knife," Buffy said.

"You dreamt of Beshok?  And he attacked you in this dream?" Wensil asked.

"Well, kind of.  It was all really strange," Buffy said suddenly uncomfortable under the mage's intense gaze.

"Have you ever seen Beshok before?"

"The corpse?  No, of course not."

"Beshok was the leader of our expedition.  He was one of the greatest Angelus haters in the clan. Was anyone else in your dream?"

"Yeah, Trisn was," Buffy admitted reluctantly, "He and that guy were fighting.  This Beshok apparently won and came after me with a knife."

"Trisn did fight with Beshok about the ethics of our mission. It seems that you have more power than you have told us."  He looks at Buffy in a new light.  "If your dreams have proved prophetic once, they are likely to be so again in the future.  Have you ever known someone was your enemy, before you had any reason to think so?" the mage asked.

"Maybe, look, what's with all the questions?  I thought I was like an official friend now or something?" Buffy said annoyed and disturbed by his questions.

"You are a friend to every gypsy here tonight.  I am trying to see the extent of your power and see what I have befriended," the mage replied.  Buffy looked up at Angel, he nodded encouragingly.

She sighed dramatically, before replying.  "Sometimes I get weird feelings that someone just isn't right, but I don't think it means anything.  I've had people pull the wool over my eyes lots of times."

"Is it only humans that can fool you?"

"I ... think so.  When I talk to a vamp, I can usually tell they're a vamp, but I can't sense them in crowd or anything.  I even had one almost ax me, 'cause I thought she was on our side and I turned my back to her."

"So there was only that one incident, where you did not know the creature was a vamp after you talked to it."  Buffy nods.  "Did it have the face of someone you knew?"

"Yeah, the girl tied with me for worst kid in school.  She was supposed to help me set up the school."

"Worst kid in school?" Wensil asked skeptically, "Did you trust her when she was human?"

"No, but I figured she could be trusted to watch my back in a fight and help me against Spike and his goons."

"So if you had gotten a bad feeling, you would have assumed it's because you knew she couldn't be trusted."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Very interesting," Wensil said with a Giles like interest.  He looked at Angel and then back at her, "Did you know he was a vampire the first time you talked to him?"

"No.  Of course, these things didn't start to really happen until I di- I mean until after Spring Fling.  I'd know Angel for awhile at that point."

"When he lost his soul, did you know it immediately?"

"No," Buffy said avoiding the mage's eyes, "I was asleep at the time."

"What about the first time you talked to him after that?" the mage asked.

Buffy continued to avoid his gaze and shifted uncomfortably.  Angel took her hand and she looked up at him.  He was looking at her worriedly.  Worrying that this was too uncomfortable to talk about.  Worrying that maybe thinking back on what he'd done, she was having second thoughts about forgiving him.  She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand, taking comfort from his presence.  "I wasn't sure at first.  I had a bad feeling, when I woke up and it stayed with me all day.  When I finally saw Angel, he ... he didn't act like Angel.  It was more than what he said, tones of voice, the way he moved, and his eyes were different.  When he left, I think I knew he didn't have his soul anymore," she replied looking around the room and trying to replay the scene in her mind.

"You knew ... hmm," the mage said half to himself.  "Prophetic dreams and those types of feelings are very unusual.  They come from a certain place inside oneself and have a different feeling to them, then an ordinary hunch or dream.  Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes," Buffy said a little uncertainly.

"Do you trust him?" Wensil asked gesturing toward Angel, "Does that *place* inside tell you, you can trust him?" Angel stiffened, beside her.

"The only feelings I get from that place about Angel are good ones.  I trust Angel with my life," she replied, then looked up at Angel, "and more."  Angel pulled her into his arms and gazed down at her, oblivious to the gypsies standing near by.  He gazed down at her and searched her eyes to see if it was true.  She looked up at him lovingly and he knew that it was.  One of the gypsies cleared their throat rather noisily and the couple were brought back to their surroundings.  Wensil was staring wonderingly, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.  Buffy blushed and went back to standing beside Angel, although she now looped her arm through his.  Wensil nodded wonderingly.

"Yes, you do don't you.  You have a great deal of power, not to mention a great deal of strength considering how well you seemed to hold your own against those vampires.  Hmmm," he said wonderingly.

"Mage," Trisn said.

"Oh yes," the mage said, startled out of his reverie.  He walked back to the body and stood across from one of the warriors.  The four gypsies picked up the body in unison and carried it out to the van.  Buffy and Angel followed them up the stairs and stood at the top watching them.  Once the body was in the van, one of the warriors jumped into the van, while Trisn and the other warrior went towards Giles car.  Wensil however, came back and stood in front of Angel.  Trisn and the other warrior stopped at the doors of Giles car and turned to see what he was doing.  The other warrior that had helped with the body, also looked out of the back of the van to watch.  Wensil looked over at Buffy, resolution written on his face.  "Well, if you trust him young one, that's enough for me.  Angel, I will be your friend whenever you need one and I will do my best for you back at the council," Wensil said holding out his hand to Angel.  Angel smiled and took his hand.  The jaws of two warriors dropped, as they watched the two shake hands.

"Thank you.  I was not expecting forgiveness, much less friendship," Angel said humbly.

"There's nothing to forgive.  If she had one of those bad feelings about Angelus and a good one about you, there's no way you could be the same person.  I may be a stubborn old fool and stick to the politics I've got, but when magic speaks, I listen."  The mage turned back to Buffy, "and as for you, I am very glad you became our friend.  I have a feeling that having you as an enemy would be great folly."  Wensil turned back and walked over to Giles car and got in.  As the mage walked back, Trisn determinedly walked over to Angel as well.

"I too, would be honored if you would consider me a friend," Trisn said holding out his hand.

"Of course.  Thank you," Angel said shaking his hand.  Trisn smiled and walked back to the car and got in.  Giles and Oz pulled away, with the two warriors who had watched still wearing looks of amazement on their faces.  Angel watched them go, still a little stunned that they had actually made him a friend according to gypsy code and custom.

"I hope they can do something for me, back at the gypsy council.  I got the distinct feeling that the gypsy council really doesn't like me. I'm just glad that they won't hurt any you. Now if they come after me, they'll have to come after me directly, and it will only be me in danger," Angel said walking back down the stairs to his apartment.

"Oh that's a comforting thought," Buffy said sarcastically, following him down the stairs to stand with him by the door. "Angel, I am in danger. If they come after you, I'm not going to just sit around and let them kill you. I'll be in their and beating them up and probably be on their enemy list quick as a wink.." Angel gave her a dour look at her light talk. "Come-on. I'm in full predict no evil mode. With two friends there, one of whom's a mage, maybe they'll at least take you off the enemy list. Heck maybe they'll even know what's good for them and not come after *my* boyfriend." Angel laughed at her possessive tone. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now, that's much better."

"I love you," he said gazing down at her.

"I love you, too," she said, as she reached up to kiss him.  He leaned down to meet her for a kiss, which quickly became passionate.  Buffy pulled away breathless and heated.  "Do you always react like this, after a battle?" she asked him teasingly.

"No.  It was just a close call.  After so close a call, I just-"

"Don't want to let go," Buffy said quietly, looking up into his eyes, "I know, but I have to go.  School night and all.  But I'll be by in the morning to make sure your not late for work."  His mouth twitched up in a half smile and she kissed him again.  She smiled at him, before she turned and walked up the stairs.  He stood in the doorway and watched her go, until she was out of sight before going in.

Buffy walked into school the next morning with a smile on her face.  She had gone over to Angel's again this morning and had a lovely time.  She was beginning to rethink her idea of buying him an alarm clock.  Willow and Oz joined her on the way to the library.  "You look happy this morning.  Would that be because it's Friday or because of Angel," Willow asked.

"Angel," Buffy said simply, as they walked into the library.  The girls smiled at each other and Willow glanced over at Oz, before the two broke into giggles.  Oz was rather perplexed by the silent exchange, but simply smiled and sat down next to Willow on the stairs.  "So how'd everything go last night?  Did you get all the bodies?  Have any trouble?" Buffy asked as she sat down in a chair.

"We got all the bodies and dropped them off at their hotel," Oz said as Giles came in from his office.

"Yeah, they took them right past the desk clerk and he didn't even notice," Willow said.

"Very weird," Oz added.

"Yes, I suspect the two mages had something to do with that," Giles said, as Xander and Cordy walked in.

"To do with what?" Cordy asked.

"Getting the dead bodies past the check-in clerk at the hotel," Willow said.

"Eeww," Cordy said, "Why do I even ask?"

"So there like Fed-Ex for corpses.  You kill 'em, we ship 'em," Xander said.  Giles scowled at Xander, as the others gave him peculiar look.

"They assured me that, with so many gypsies of the tribe having us as official friends there was no doubt we would be put on the clans list of friends," Giles continued.

"What about Angel?" Buffy asked.

"Trisn said that never in history has an enemy remained an enemy of the clan, once he was no longer an enemy of this many," Giles said, "Especially for a reason like saving one's life, but never before has an enemy been alive and an enemy so long.  They have carried grudges for centuries, but that's usually against a family or rival.  On member of the enemy group can easily be made a friend.  Trisn is hoping that with two considering him a friend, it will be enough to ... remove Angel from enemy status.  Trisn believes they will take him off the list, but they have hated him for many years. ... The second mage, Wensil, I think, was babbling something about you and power.  He said he would tell the other mages about it and they wouldn't dare go against you.  Did you tell them you were the Slayer?" Giles asked.

"No.  He just asked me some questions.  The corpse at Angel's apartment was the mean guy from my dreams.  I kinda blurted it out, and he started asking me questions about my dreams and my wiggin's," Buffy said.

"What did he ask you exactly?  Did he tell you anything?" Giles asked, slipping into Watcher mode.

"He knew they felt different and told me they came from a certain place inside myself.  He asked me if I knew what he meant, and after he said it I realized they did sort of feel the same.  He asked me what that place told me about Angel.  I said it gave me a good feeling when he was near.  He said to trust the dreams and feelings and stuff and that I was very powerful, not to mention my physical strength, which he and probably all the other gypsies noticed.  He said that if I trusted Angel that was good enough for him.  And something about he didn't like changing politics, but he listened to magic."

"Magic ... inner place ... hmm well this will definitely take some looking into.  I'll of course want you to explain more in detail this inner place, and if this is magic or slayer abilities, and see if you can call up-" Giles scholarly ramblings were cut off by the bell, much to Buffy's relief.

"Gotta go, Giles," Buffy said, as she jumped up and rushed out the door.

"Bye Giles," Willow said following Buffy.  A chorus of bye's followed Willow's, as the teenagers went off to their classes.  Giles sighed as he watched them go.  The questions would have to wait 'till later, but at least his books couldn't walk out on him.

Epilogue
A few days later at the gypsy camp

"Angel is NOT our enemy!" Trisn yelled, "He helped save our lives."

"To impress a girl, we have all done the same.  Angelus is the greatest enemy of the clan and that will not change," the clan leader said calmly.

"The girl has great power to sense the evil in things not human.  She trusts Angel and she did not trust Angelus when he lost his soul.  She said there was a difference," Wensil said.

"He and the girl saved our lives!" one of the warriors from the mission added.

"It was a trick, so we would let our guard down.  Why kill a handful of gypsies when you can get them to let their guard down and kill the whole clan?" the leader replied.

"He was honorable to our dead.  He could have hidden him and Beshok would never have been given his final rites," Trisn shot back.

"What does he care for a dead body, as anything but a way to gain our trust?  To trick us?"

"Yanna trusted Angel to the very end and fought to bring him back.  He saved her life, before he even knew she was a gypsy.  She sent her friends and family letters telling how she could not understand how are greatest enemy could be someone so nice.  He fights the vampires!  He does not feed with them!" a man shouted, coming forward.  There was a chorus of assentive murmurs from around the campfire.

"Sit down Kental, before you bring more dishonor upon your family.  Your sister was lucky she died when she did, else your family would already be thickly coated with dishonor," the leader ordered, "You forget.  Angelus was the one that killed your sister."

"Angelus killed Yanna, not Angel!  Angelus is a demon and Angel is a human soul!  The council MUST come to acknowledge that!" Trisn cried.

"Trisn's right!  Yanna was not bringing dishonor upon our family, she was trying to set right a wrong this clan started long ago.  It was her clan that betrayed her, by not telling her the curse could be broken.  She was betrayed!  Not the Clan!" Kental cried.  A loud chorus of shouts greeted his cry.  Everyone had been upset that she had not known the curse could be broken and died because of it and there was great discontentment among the clan because of it.

"That's enough!" the leader bellowed

"NO!!  The soul has been restored capturing the demon in a souled body thereby torturing him.  Angel, the soul, has saved the lives of our fellow clans men and is happy!  My friend Angel is happy, and the demon Angelus is being tortured by being trapped inside of Angel!  By hurting the soul of Angel, you help our greatest enemy!  I will not stand by and watch it happen!"

"Then you are disowned from this clan, for taking on our greatest enemy as your friend.  It is ruled that Buffy, Willow, Giles, Xander, Cordelia and Oz are officially friends of the tribe and not to be hurt in anyway.  Angelus however is still the greatest enemy of this clan.  Any who disagree should leave now with Trisn, to save themselves the dishonor of being disowned later," the leader ruled.  About 2 dozen people got up and left with Trisn, about a quarter of the gypsies there.  Kental, Jer, the first mage, Gilt, and all the warriors from the Sunnydale excursion were with him.

Wensil stepped forward into the firelight.  "The young girl, Buffy, has great power and she sides with Angel and she trusts him.  If this clan attacks him, she will defend him and the clan will become her enemy.  I pity anyone who would have her as an enemy, for they will surely regret it in the end.  People of the clan have always joked that my choice in the politics of the clan is the only thing that stays the same.  I am changing them, because of this girl.  When magic speaks, I listen and obey.  You would do well, to do the same," Wensil said, before he turned around and left.  Three of the four mages left, followed him.

"Well, those who would have turned against us have left," the leader said addressing the remaining gypsies, "and now only the true members of the clan remain making us stronger.  We can no longer harm Angelus through his friends, but he is still the greatest enemy of the clan.  So we must find a way to torture him.  Any suggestions?"

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