"Buffy, are you okay?" Riley asked his girlfriend as he helped her slowly rise to her feet. Buffy held her head with one hand, while the other gripped Riley’s arm.

"What happened?" She groaned.

"Hostiles 13 and 17 escaped. Did you see them?" Buffy looked over at him, accusation in her eyes.

"You had Angel and Willow the whole time and you never said anything. Why?" She asked him. Riley flinched from the harshness of her tone.

"I couldn’t. I was under orders. They were taken last week while I was with you. I didn’t even know about it until the next day," he explained.

"And the part about consorts?" Riley refused to meet Buffy’s gaze, knowing that she wouldn’t like the answer.

"She has allowed him to feed from her," Professor Walsh said, coming from behind Riley. Buffy looked at the woman. "At least twice. Once from her wrist, the other after they made love." Buffy paled at the information. "Angel and Willow. That’s not possible. He would never do that to me. And what about his soul?’

"No," Buffy denied, "she would never do that to me. Willow knows how much Angel meant to me. How much he still means to me." Walsh looked at Buffy, compassion in her eyes at the blonde’s distress.

"I’m sorry, but I have the whole thing on tape if that is what you need for proof," Walsh told her. "I know this must be difficult for you, but I need to know where your loyalties are. Do you want to help us or are you going to protect the hostiles and their consorts."

Buffy looked down at her hands, her head clearing up. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute. She was remembering all those times when she picked up the phone in her dorm, only to have the caller hang up. How Willow refused to let her see the phone bill. The occasional trip out of town. "She’s been seeing Angel. She was still talking to him. And all that time she acting so upset over Oz leaving and the entire time she’s been with my boyfriend. That lying little tramp.’ Buffy stared straight at Walsh, all hurt and pain completely gone from her eyes. In their place was a coldness as she spoke.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, do you know of any place that they might have gone for help? To hide out?"

"They would probably head to one of three places," Buffy supplied. "There is Angel’s apartment that he’s had since he’s been in town. Then there is an old mansion over on Crawford street that he stayed in last year."

"What’s the third?" Walsh inquired, pleased with the fact that Buffy was so willing to turn against her former friends. ‘Yes she will go far with the Initiative. Very far indeed.’

"Giles," Buffy replied simply. "That’s the most likely place. Angel and Willow would probably figure that he would help them."

"Will he?"

"I don’t think so, just because Spike is with him," Buffy reasoned. "Plus, Giles still has some personal issues regarding Angel, so I don’t think he would be to happy to hear about the changes in Angel and Willow’s relationship."

"Then I would suggest that be the first place we go to," Walsh stated. "Buffy, take Riley, Graham and Forrest with you. Report back to me with your findings. We will go check out the other two locations." Buffy and the others nodded at Walsh, quickly grabbing their weapons and leaving the bunker.

Giles was startled from his research by the insistent pounding at the door. He put down the cup of tea in his hand and went over to answer it, surprised to see Buffy, Riley and some commandos at the door.

"B..B..Buffy what is going on here?" Giles was startled as Buffy pushed her way inside, the others following her. Buffy looked around the townhouse, checking every room making sure that it was indeed empty. Giles grew angrier by the minute at the invasion. While he was used to the members of the scooby gang just dropping in, he did not like the idea of this particular form of invasion. "Buffy, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Have you talked to Willow or Angel today?" Buffy asked as she reentered the living room. Riley signaled for the other men to wait outside and keep an eye out in case the others showed up.

"No, nor did I plan to," Giles answered. "Isn’t Willow still away on her trip?"

"Well, apparently she never left," Buffy sighed as she sat on the couch. "Her and Angel were captured last week by the Initiative."

"And the Initiative being those men that just invaded my home?" Buffy nodded. Giles turned to Riley, "You knew about this?"

"Yes," Riley said, refusing to back down this time. Now that he knew that Buffy accepted his role in Willow’s disappearance, he was sure that her Watcher would understand. "She and Hostile 13 were taken when they were spotted on campus together. When it was discovered that she was his consort, it was determined that she would be held to see if anything was done to her to make her be with him."

"Consort?"

"Yeah, ain’t that a bitch," Buffy spat as Giles sat on the chair. "Apparently the entire time that little miss Willow was mooning over Oz, her and Angel have been together. They even did it while they were being held by them. I can’t believe I actually felt sorry for her when Oz left. What an idiot I am." Giles looked on in disbelief at his former Slayer. He couldn’t believe that Buffy actually thought that Willow and Angel had been together the entire time. Giles knew that the two of them had stayed in contact. It had come in handy a few times when something had come up that either Giles or Angel had needed help with. Giles even knew about Angel’s soul being permanent. If the two of them had found love with each other, he was happy for them. He just wished that Buffy would feel the same way considering she had also moved on.

"What do you mean, Willow and Angel did it?" Buffy, Riley and Giles all turned and saw Xander standing in the doorway.

"Oh Xander, I’m so sorry," Buffy ran over to the boy. "I found Anya. She was with Spike."

There was something in the way the Buffy said "with Spike" that made Xander pause. "What do you mean, With Spike?"

"As in, they were together. I found them with Angel and Willow."

"Where is she now?"

"We don’t know," Riley said, coming over to the boy. "They escaped from the compound and have not been found yet. We had assumed that they might have come here, looking for help."

"Buffy, do they know that you are involved with the people that held them?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, I tried to stop them, but somehow, the implant that is supposed to render them unable to hurt a human malfunctioned and they got by me," Buffy informed him.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for," Xander told them. "Let’s go find and kill us some vamps." Buffy looked in surprise at Xander. "Spike took my girlfriend and Angel is risking his soul with my best friend. I’ll be damned if I just sit by and do nothing."

"Let’s go then, "Riley said, pleased at this turn of events.

"Giles, you’ll let us know if you hear from them, right," Buffy said over her shoulder, not even waiting for a reply. Giles watched in sadness as two of the young people that he had come to care about left his home, intent on finding their former friends and killing them. Or capturing them and returning them to the Initiative. Giles mourned the lose of the friendships between the people. Than Giles did something he knew he shouldn’t, but also knew he had to. He reached over to his phone and dialed a number in that he had only used once, instead always relying on Willow to do the talking. He knew that he would only get the answering machine, but he wasn’t willing to wait for them to arrive.

"Angel Investigation, we help the hopeless. Sorry we can’t take your call right now, but we are busy with a client, so please leave your name, number and problem and we will get back to you." *BEEP*

"Angel, this is Giles. I heard what happened to you and the others. Buffy just left. If you are still in Sunnydale, get out now. I am leaving in a few minutes and coming to Los Angeles. Don’t worry, Buffy doesn’t have your address, at least not from me. She knows that Willow has been in contact with you and is not happy. And Xander is with her. They are both working for the Initiative now. I have that cell phone that Buffy insisted I get so call me if you get this message and are not going to be at the office. Be safe." After he hung up the phone, Giles dialed Buffy’s dorm room so that if they checked to see his last call, they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to Angel.

Giles quickly packed some clothes and other items he felt he might need, depending on how long of a stay he would be having at Angel’s. He hoped that the vampire and hacker were okay. He also wondered about Anya’s involvement with Spike. He knew that Anya hadn’t believed that Willow would just leave and he had no idea that Spike was back in town. Could Spike have actually been helping Anya search for Willow. Is that why the two of them were together? Giles let his questions go through his mind, knowing that the answers would have to wait until he met up with the others. He turned off the lights of his house, shutting the door behind him. He looked around, making sure that there was no one about. He locked the door up tight, having a strange feeling that he wouldn’t be returning to Sunnydale again under pleasant circumstances, if at all. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to be something that had nothing to do with hellmouths and demons, at least not in the strictest sense. It was going to be a war. One started by humans who had no regard for the lives that they threatened. One that he wasn’t sure that he wanted them to win. Giles placed his bags in his car and pulled out of his driveway, leaving his home, Sunnydale and the slayer behind.

THE END (ain't I a stinker) *VBEFG*