"So, has your math teacher forgiven you?" Xander asked Buffy that night at the Bronze.
Buffy sighed. "It took ten minutes after school of begging, groveling, and explaining, but, yeah, the suspension's off. Thank God! My mother would so kill me if she found out how close I came to getting suspended!"
"Well, you were pretty rotten to him," Willow reminded her with a small smile.
"I know," Buffy admitted. "I thought love was supposed to bring out the best in people. Seems to be bringing out the worst in me lately."
"You just aren't loving the right person," Xander said with a grin, that he quickly hid from Cordelia who was sitting only one table away.
"Excuse me a second, will ya?" Cordy said to her click, standing and walking towards his table. "I heard that, Xander. No hitting on other people, deal?"
"Yes, ma'am," Xander said weakly, staring up at her with a repentant expression.
Cordelia shook her head and sighed. "I can't believe I'm actually talking to you in public," she said.
"Well, no one's holding you here," Xander pointed out with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes and bent down. "Kiss me," she commanded him, and the two became completely and totally involved in one another.
Buffy and Willow exchanged amused glances. Almost immediately, however, Buffy jumped up from her chair and practically bounded across the dance floor to the other side, where Angel had just walked in. "Hey," she said, "it's about time you showed up."
"Sorry," Angel apologized.
"Well, come on," Buffy said, grabbing his arm. "Go be social with me."
"Hey," Angel protested, "you didn't say anything about being social over the telephone."
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Angel, it's been almost three months. Move on. No one's mad at you or anything. Besides, you are staying here all night to keep me company." Angel immediately opened his mouth to protest some more, but Buffy stopped him. "You owe me," she reminded him. "For that little stunt last night when you took off and didn't tell me. Ringing any bells?"
Angel resigned himself to obeying Buffy and just nodded, allowing her to lead him to the table where she, Willow and Xander were sitting. "Hey, Angel," Willow greeted. "Feeling better?"
Angel smiled slightly. "Much," he replied, glancing at Buffy sideways. "I'd be feeling even better though if some people would leave me alone."
"Oh, you know you don't mean that," Buffy said.
"I don't, huh?"
"Of course not! Hey, I'm the light in your life, all you have going for you, the one thing that keeps you going, the only person you have to talk to, the . . . "
"You really don't know that much about me, do you?" Angel said, raising an eyebrow.
"And that means what?" Buffy asked, crossing her arms. "You don't have any ex- girlfriends do you, I mean, post-soul?"
"Of course not," Angel answered sarcastically, "I was saving myself for you sixty years before you were born."
"Just the answer I wanted to here!" Buffy said cheerfully, wrapping her arms around him. The two kissed and Willow glanced from one kissing pair to the other and put her head in her hands in frustration.
"Guys!" she protested, a slight whine to her voice. Xander and Cordelia broke apart, but Buffy and Angel ignored her entirely. "Hello! Yo, you two, please?" she begged and they finally broke away from one another.
"Sorry, Will," Buffy and Xander said at the exact same moment, much to the annoyance of Cordelia and Angel.
Willow rolled her eyes and took a sip of her soda as Cordelia pulled up a chair. Angel and Buffy were still busy staring into each other's eyes, and Willow decided it was best to leave them alone for the moment, she had a feeling they both needed to reassure each other that both of them were okay. She smiled, feeling a shiver run up her spine at the romanticism of it all, then thought of Oz and Xander. Oz had a gig that night, so he wasn't present to remind her that Xander was in the past. Xander had Cordy now, and the two of them seemed perfectly happy. Happy enough that Cordelia had renounced her crowd for condemning them. There was definitely no way Xander would break up with the most popular girl in school for his shy lifetime buddy.
The night passed quickly by, and the mood was relatively relaxed, much to Buffy's surprise. Angel truly seemed to have pushed aside his guilt for her sake, and she had never been more grateful for anything in her life. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed their relationship until tonight, when it slowly started coming back.
"I'm gonna head home," Willow said, standing and interrupting Buffy's happy thoughts.
"Hey wait, Will," Buffy said, standing as well. "Let me walk you, you know how Sunnydale is at night." Angel had already stood as well, and she smiled and linked arms with him. "We'll give you a fighting escort," she said.
Willow giggled. "That's okay, Buffy," she replied. "You two stay and have fun, I think I'll survive."
"That's what they always say," Buffy said coolly. "Don't you watch any movies? It's either that or 'I'll be okay', and before you know it they're killed off. Nope, we're going too," she vowed. "Wanna come, Xander?" she asked, turning to her other friend, who was busy making out with Cordelia once again. "Guess not," she muttered.
Willow closed her eyes for a moment, then grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and shrugged into it. "Let's get out of here," she muttered under her breath, eager to get away from the constant reminder of Xander's new relationship. Buffy and Angel exchanged looks before following her out into the night.
"Will . . . " Buffy started as they walked, "I really think you should just tell him."
Willow looked at her and sighed. "He'd never give me the time of day," she said softly. "He can do so much better than me, he knows that."
Buffy stopped long enough to glare at Angel, who'd smirked in typical Angel fashion at Willow's comment. "No picking on Xander in the presence of Will, kay?" she told him.
"Nah, that's all right," Willow said before Angel could reply. "Remind me of all his bad points. Pretty please?"
"Well, for one thing he's obnoxious," Angel started, "and prejudice."
"Prejudice?" Buffy echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Against vampires," he replied. "Hey, I may not be one anymore but I still have some loyalties."
"Well, that's true, I guess," Buffy agreed, "he is rather prejudice against vampires. Though that's usually okay."
"He babbles," Angel continued, "he's probably incapable of having a serious conversation . . . "
"He's always hitting on me," Buffy added.
"He doesn't bathe properly," Angel insulted, then clarified at Buffy's puzzled expression, "vampires have a heightened sense of smell. He always smelled bad until I became human and couldn't notice it anymore."
Buffy grinned. "I'm so glad I know that," she muttered to herself. "In fact, he hits on anything with a skirt, not just me . . . " She turned to look at Willow's depressed expression. "This isn't helping, is it?"
"Not really, but thanks anyway," Willow replied. "Though that bathing thing was kinda an eye-opener," she added under her breath, glancing at Angel.
"He doesn't," Angel said with a shrug. "Unless he just started doing it right two months ago, he probably still smells disgusting to a vampire. In fact that's probably what attracted all those bugs to him."
Buffy laughed. "His B.O. made bug-lady fall in love with him? And the Mummy?"
"I'd guess so. You release more pheromones when you don't bathe regularly."
"Guys," Willow said, making a face, "can we please change the course of this conversation before I get sick?"
"Sorry," Angel apologized. "Seriously, though, Willow . . . you really can do a hell of a lot better than Xander."
"Maybe," Willow said softly, "but I don't want anyone else but Xander."
"And I *really* don't want to deal with this right now," Buffy said, coming to a halt. Willow and Angel turned to see what she was looking at; two vampires had appeared out of nowhere, looking ready to fight. "If you'll excuse me for a moment," she continued, shrugging out of Angel's jacket and handing it to him to hold for her before taking several steps forward to greet the unwelcome intruders.
"Well, well, well," one of the vampires sneered, "if it isn't the mighty Slayer."
"Well, well, well," Buffy mocked, "if it isn't a bunch of disgusting vampires waiting to be killed." She slipped easily into a fighting stance as the two vampires charged and attacked. She immediately lost the smirk when she noticed their skill, and became engrossed in nothing more but survival as she narrowly dodged a kick the vampire had thrown her way. The other vampire took advantage of her moment's unbalance to grab her from behind and toss her over his shoulder; she landed on her feet. "Bad throw," she muttered, reaching behind her and pulling a stake out of the back of her jeans. She moved to insert it into the vampire's heart and he easily side-stepped it, causing her to stumble. The first vampire attacked, and she fell to the cold earth.
Angel, watching, immediately took a step forward, only to stop when he felt Willow's hand on his shoulder. "No," she said intensely. "Angel, you're still weak, and you're human. She has to do this on her own."
"But she needs help, she's losing," Angel protested, wanting nothing more than to help his girlfriend.
"She'll be okay," Willow said reassuringly.
Sure enough Buffy was back on her feet and whirling around, managing to stake one of the vampires in the heart. He disintegrated into a pile of dust, and Angel breathed a sigh of relief as the other vampire took off in fear. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking a step forward, eyes shining with concern.
"I'm fine," she replied, kissing him and accepting her jacket back. "Well, I told you Willow, it's not safe to walk in these parts." Smiling, she continued in the direction of Willow's house, Willow following. Angel watched them for a moment before following as well, but his thoughts were distracted as he replayed the fight over and over in his mind.
"Giles, she needs to work on her fighting techniques, a lot more intensely. She almost lost yet another fight tonight, I don't know why she's so off her mark, but she needs help," Angel said into the phone to Buffy's watcher.
Giles sighed. "Are you sure this is about Buffy's fighting technique, and not the fact that you're no longer capable of being her knight in shining armor, so to speak?"
"It's not about that at all," Angel replied, sounding offended. "She needs more intensive training. I know I have no right to comment on how you teach her, but I'm doing so anyway. She needs to practice more, to take her training more seriously, or she won't last long."
"Angel, she has been the slayer for three years now, and has defeated more prophecies, thwarted more demons plans, and saved more lives than any other slayer in past history. She is more than capable of defending herself in the typical vampire-slayer brawl."
"Then why did she almost lose tonight? And what about the two times before hand? If I hadn't shown up both times she would have died."
"We don't know what went on during that first fight," Giles reminded him. "By all rights Buffy should have been killed then, and we still don't know what that vampire is or was up to. The second you might be right about, but I'm relatively certain was a one time occurrence."
"And tonight?" Angel questioned.
"She didn't lose," Giles told him simply. "She might have almost lost, but she did not. That's what counts. I'm sorry, but I - I don't believe this is about Buffy's abilities at all, so much as your own."
Angel sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I - I can admit that I don't like not being able to help her," he said after a slight pause. "But she needs to be that much more capable in a fight."
"I will increase my training sessions with her," Giles conceded. "However, I still do not believe she needs them."
"More training can't hurt her," Angel retorted, "it can only help her."
*I can't say the same thing about my back*, Giles thought sarcastically. "True," he said instead. "Good night."
"Night," Angel replied, hanging up the phone.
"I think that's enough for one day," Giles gasped from his position on the floor, allowing Buffy to help him up with one hand.
"I don't understand," Buffy whined, "what's with this extensive training thing? I thought I was doing better."
"You are," he assured her.
"So . . . why am I here?" she asked, perching on the edge of the table and watching him as he hobbled towards a chair and sank into it, utter exhaustion clear on his face as he closed his eyes for a moment.
"I just thought you could use a little more work in some areas," Giles lied, taking a sip from Buffy's water.
"Some areas?" Buffy repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What areas?"
Giles sighed. "Never mind," he wheezed. "The extra training sessions are off."
"They're off? As in I can actually have Saturday's off like normal people again?"
He nodded. "Yes, Buffy."
"Good," she said, grinning. "I'm gonna go see our resident ex-vampire, do you mind?" She hesitated as she walked towards the door and turned back. "Unless you need some help . . . getting home or something?"
Giles shook his head. "I'm fine," he breathed weakly. "Go ahead."
Buffy blinked, then shrugged and left the library and an exhausted Giles, who silently vowed never to take Angel's advice on Buffy's training ever, ever again.
"Hey," Buffy said when he opened the door. Angel blinked; she looked exhausted, her hair was clipped up in back with lose strands hanging out from the fashionable clip, and dark shadows lay under her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, opening the door wider so that she could come in.
"Giles!" she exclaimed, falling back onto his couch gratefully. "He's on this weird extra-training kick. Every damn Saturday for the past three weeks it's been all-training, all the time. I don't know *what* his problem is."
Angel looked down at the floor for a moment, biting his lip guiltily. "Maybe he just feels you could use a little more training," he answered weakly after a moment.
Buffy's eyebrows raised and she stood, staring at him suspiciously. "What do you know?" she asked. "You wouldn't have anything to do with my three hours worth of increased training hell, would you?"
"Why would I?" he countered, staring at her with feigned confusion. She wasn't buying it, she crossed her arms and continued glaring at him.
"Do you realize," she started slowly, "that, for said past three weeks, I've been at school from eight in the morning till twelve in the afternoon practicing kicks and punches that I've had down cold for over three years? Now, I want you to look at me and tell me that you know absolutely nothing about this."
Angel cleared his throat. "You hungry?" he asked, turning towards the kitchen.
Buffy grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Angel, what do you know?"
"I . . . I might have recommended to Giles that he . . . well, that . . . that he increase your training a little bit."
"You *what*?" she shrieked. "Why? Why on earth would you do that? If this has anything to do with you not wanting to see me . . . "
"No!" Angel protested, immediately. "No. It's not that."
"Okay . . . then why?"
"I'm worried about you," he admitted, after a moment of silence.
Buffy looked at him in honest confusion. "You're worried about me?" she repeated. "Why?"
Angel sighed and looked away for a moment. "I don't like that I can't protect you," he admitted. "I don't like that now that I'm human you have no back-up out there, no one who can help you out if you get in trouble. I just . . . I want you to be as good as you can be."
Buffy's expression softened. "Hey," she said softly, "don't worry about me. Angel, I'm fine. I did fine for the two months you totally avoided me, didn't I? I managed to live during those five months you avoided me last year when I first found out about the vamp thing. And I'll be fine now. I'm more than fine, this is . . . this is all I've ever dreamed about, you being human, us being together completely. No stupid vampire working for Spike is going to take that away from me . . . from us. Ever. Okay?"
Angel ignored her and wrapped his arms around her; their lips met in an electric kiss that sent shivers up Buffy's spine as she wrapped her own arms around him and leaned against him, closing her eyes and savoring the moment.
"Spike, please," Drusilla begged, staring up at him with wide eyes filling with tears. "Please?"
"Dammit, Dru, no!" Spike shouted, pulling away from her harshly. "No!" he repeated.
"Why not?" she asked, and Spike whirled on her, she sounded entirely to sane and clear-headed for his tastes. "Why not?" she repeated. "Don't you want us all to be together again? One big family?"
"I'm not hearing this," Spike growled. "Dru, I'm sorry, pet, but this is one thing I'm not doing. I do *not* want him back."
"Spike . . . " A single tear dropped from Drusilla's eye.
"Give me one good reason why I should?"
"For me," Drusilla replied.
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, love, it's not happening."
"Please?" she begged again, her voice earnest.
"Why do you want him back so much?" Spike demanded. "Am I not enough for you all of the sudden?"
"I just want us all together," she answered. "Together and happy, birds of a feather."
"I don't know if I believe that," Spike said. "The way I'm viewing it you'd rather be with Angelus than me. Am I wrong?"
"Yes!" she protested instantly, her eyes wide with sudden clarity. "Spike, there's plenty of me to go around. I just want us all together again."
"And if I did bite the little brat and make him one of us again, what's to stop the Slayer and the rest of those brats into making him human again?"
"Then we'll just bring him back again," Drusilla replied simply.
Spike looked at her skeptically. "Won't that get a little boring after awhile, pet?"
"He was right," she whispered. "She's to strong to defeat in a simple fight."
"So you're thinking that having her Angel be human and himself for three months, then an evil vampire for awhile, then back to human, then back to vamp, then back to human will drive her nuts? I'm feeling some doubt, Dru."
"No," Drusilla protested. "Him." Again Spike saw a disturbing clarity and sanity in her eyes, but he suddenly understood her thinking. She wanted revenge against Angel for driving her insane, and what better way to do so than to drive him insane; not to mention weaken the Slayer at the same time.
"You've got yourself a deal, pet."