Angel sat in the large manor with a frown marring his angelic visage. His eyes were slightly moist with tears he would *not* allow himself the grace to shed. It wasn't bad enough that he'd lost his soul, spent months as Angelus, went to *Hell*, fought with another Slayer, and nearly got killed, but now, his one reason for . . . existing wanted nothing to do with him. And, for a brief moment, Angel recalled, he wasn't even existing. Lying with the Slayer, he *had* been alive.

Alive. It caused more heartache that he thought a demon could cause. In the beginning, when Angelus was in charge of his body, it had been a heartless killer killing. Somehow, it was different, him knowing and, in time, becoming friends with his victims. It had driven the demon insane, spending one-hundred-years trapped with a tortured soul. Lump living with Angel brooding and in love << Madly, passionately, and completely lost in love . . . >> , Angelus was driven completely nuts.

Now, she didn't even want to be friends. Not that he could blame her. He'd treated her like trash when he was Angelus, killed Jenny Calendar, stalked her and her friends. It's not as if he would have settled for being 'just friends,' anyway.

Spike. Spike knew. He knew there wasn't anyway they could be just friends. Angelus suspected, Angel knew that Spike was aware of just how much Angel really *was* in love with Buffy the vampire Slayer. He recalled the faint dust of . . . flushing . . . coloring Buffy's face when Spike was relating to them exactly what he knew about immortal love. And that's what it was. . . .

"Um- Angel?" came a female voice from the door.

Angel was dismayed to think he hadn't heard her. It had been like that since he got out of Hell. He'd been able to *sense* Buffy, but not hear her. He hadn't been able to *sense* Spike or the other Slayer. . . .

"Wh- yes?" Angel asked.

It was the *other* Slayer. The one that resulted from Buffy's death. It was always the *other* Slayer after him. First Kendra. Now . . . whoever she was.

"I'm Faith," she said without preamble.

"Faith," Angel said aloud. "Here to kill me?"

"That was harsh," Faith said as she stepped into the room.

<< What'd you expect? Roses? >>

"Last time I saw you, your Watcher was trying to destroy the world, you were trying to ram a stake through my chest, and fighting Buffy. What do you want?" Angel asked.

"To- uh- apologize. Xander Harris decided to use me as his personal-vendetta-seeking-weapon. I've been avoiding him, so I won't . . . drive a stake through his heart when I see him," Faith replied.

"I don't think I'd stop you. He's never done anything except cause problems. You've apologized. Anything else?" Angel asked quickly.

"From what little I've heard from B, you were kinda . . . reserved. What happened?" Faith asked.

"B-? Buffy. Oh, yeah. I guess you haven't heard about everything that happened. Spike came back looking for a spell to get Drusilla back. He kidnaped Willow and Xander. Looking for Buffy for . . . something, he ended up in Buffy's house having coffee with Misses Summers. Buffy, Spike, and I went to look for a book, and we got ambushed by a bunch of vamps. Xander and Willow were caught kissing. Oz, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia all broke up 'cause they couldn't keep their hormones in check. Oh, and Cordelia was nearly killed," Angel said.

"I missed a lot, huh?" Faith asked with a grin.

"You can't *not* be around and expect to keep up with everything. Things change *so* quickly," Angel said.

"So, what's wrong with you?" Faith asked.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Angel lied. "You should go. Spend too much time around me, and you're likely to make enemies."

"S'okay. I brought my own to Sunnydale. And you're lying, by the way. I'd say it has something to do with Buffy, from the expression on your face. What happened, Ang?"

"Don't call me Ang. It's worse than Deadboy. And, no, nothing's wrong with me," Angel said.

Faith nodded.

"I guess I should let you get on with your mopping. I do wanna warn you, though. If you don't take care of your problems, someone messes with your business and does it for you," and, with that parting shot, Faith exited the mansion.

Willow Rosenberg was absorbed in her own thoughts. It wasn't bad enough that Buffy and Angel were having serious trouble, that Miss Calendar was dead, and there was obviously *something* wrong between Misses Summers and Giles, but now she'd messed up Oz's, Xander's, Cordelia's and her own life.

"Hey, Willow," Faith said.

"Oh, Faith, hi," Willow said as she was startled out of her reverie.

"All's not happy in romance-land, is it?" Faith asked.

"So, Buffy told you?" Willow asked softly.

"No, Ang, but he didn't give me details," Faith replied.

"Angel? When did you see Angel?" Willow asked, frowning.

"Went to apologize for trying to stake him. I thought it was only fair. He's not happy. What happened?" Faith asked.

"Buffy told me that they . . . she ended their friendship. Spike started talking about how they could never be *just friends*, and it kinda hit Buffy close to home. So, they aren't friends anymore," Willow said. << Poor Buffy. >>

The two girls continued to stroll down the sidewalk, conversing casually about Buffy's ex.

"Oh-?" Faith asked, purposely in a strange tone. "It shouldn't take him too long to find another girlfriend. He is *seriously* hot." << Take it, Willow, C'mon, defend your friend's territory. >>

Willow gave Faith an odd look.

"I don't think he's gonna want anyone but Buffy. Girls came onto him a lot in the Bronze, and he only wanted and fell for Buffy," Willow said with an edge of warning.

"Skipping over to other things. What happened with you and Xander. I'm not trying to pry, or anything, just wondering," Faith said, quickly changing the subject.

"It's okay. Well, I've always had this thing for Xander, that is, until a few months ago. . . ."

Faith walked in the library to witness Buffy knocking the stuffing- or stuffy- ((**HE-HE-HE**)) out of Giles. Her face was tightened, concentrating, not on Giles, but on something . . . or someone else.

"Ah- good- Faith," Giles said as he barely ducked a kick at full-Slayer-strength. "I have some research to do. Why don't you and Buffy train together? -Good." He never waited for a response as he fled to his office.

"What's his problem?" Faith asked as she eyed Giles's path, like she didn't know.

"I think I scared him away," Buffy admitted as she took a swig of her water.

Faith examined Buffy's eyes and face. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain Buffy had been crying. A plan had been forming in the back of her mind since she left the mansion. Upon seeing Buffy, she got the rest of plan in her mind. And, it just might work.

"So, B, who were fighting?" Faith asked.

"Giles," Buffy said as if Faith was insane.

"Not from what I saw. You were totally not focused on Giles. So, who were you fighting? Angel?" Faith asked.

"-Angel? Uh- no!" Buffy said, her voice a pitch or so higher. "Why would I be fighting Angel?"

"Just an observation. Sorry, Buff, not tryin' to pry. What's his problem? He seemed, I dunno, upset. What happened this week?" Faith asked nonchalantly.

"You- you saw him?" Buffy asked, slightly surprised.

"Well, yeah, I tried to kill him. Doesn't exactly make for the closest of relationships. I apologized. You don't mind that I saw him, do you?" Faith asked.

"No. Why would I? You- you're just friends, right?" Buffy added quickly.

<< Bingo! >> Faith thought.

"I wouldn't call us friends just yet, or anything," Faith said. ". . .Well, I gotta go, Buff. Kinda wanna get some vamp-dusting done. See ya later."

"Want some company?" Buffy asked as she slid off the table.

"S'okay. Don't worry 'bout it," Faith said as she left the library.

She could barely hold her smirk back as she strolled out of the library.

Part One.

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