Exiting the mansion, Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing the cool skin with her fingertips. The heavy scent of the night blossoms blooming on the trees filled her nostrils, as did the smell of danger. She knew that well. Where was it coming from?

"Slayer."

Buffy whirled and her face whitened. Stepping from the shadows, Darla glided around her, her leather skirts swishing behind her and her blonde hair gleaming pale in the moonlight. "Well, well, well, you and Angelus socializing once more?" the vampire drawled, and Buffy smiled, her hands on her hips.

"What do you want Darla?"

"You dead," the demon hissed. "You see Slayer…you're the only obstacle standing in my way."

"Of what?" Buffy inquired in a bored voice, although she had a sinking suspicion she knew exactly what Darla was planning.

"Of getting my lover back of course," the vampire laughed, an evil sound that grated like nails. She picked a leaf off of a tree and examined it with gentle fingers. "Angelus and I…" she murmured gleefully. "I can smell him from here you know."

Buffy winced at the intimate words and Darla giggled girlishly, her voice changing, becoming sweet and childlike.

"Oh yes…my Angelus…my blood runs through his veins…" she remarked with a malevolent grin. "Can you smell him like I can Slayer? I didn't think so."

Buffy tightened her facial muscles, trying not to react. Angel's sire was deliberately taunting her. "At least I can make him happy," she snapped back, searching for her stake and then realizing she didn't have one. Panic swept over her for one brief moment until she saw all the branches surrounding her. They would do just fine.

Darla's eyes glowed with fury. "You think I didn't make him happy? One hundred and fifty years we spent together…those decades full of sex and blood and sweet kills. You think he wasn't happy…deep inside me? After a long day of torturing…you think he didn't want my blood more than anything? You're wrong, girl. He was my slave. I made him," she growled.

Buffy tried not to gag at the pictures Darla was painting. She didn't want to imagine their past, their history together. Burning bile swept up her throat as she saw in her mind's eye…Angel's fangs deep in his lover's throat, his body thrusting into hers…that cry of fulfilment…shaking her head, she dispelled the images, focusing once more on her enemy.

"Do you think I didn't make him happy?" she snarled back. "Darla…you may have made him…but after he got his soul…did he really want anything more to do with you? Didn't think so." She watched without pleasure as the demon's features took over, ridges appearing on her forehead in her blind fury. "He may have fucked you…" Buffy emphasised. "But he made love to me."

With a scream, Darla lunged for her, taking Buffy by surprise. They rolled on the ground, each fighting for the upper hand. Buffy punched her clean across the face, trying not to flinch as the vampire's nails raked across her cheek.

"BITCH!" Darla hissed, and they jumped up, punching, kicking, their dance of death fuelled by hatred neither could even begin to fathom. Buffy high-kicked her in the jaw, sending the demon whirling backwards. She continued the assault, propelling her fists into Darla's stomach, wincing as the vampire grabbed her by her hair and forced her head back.

"I hate you, you whore," Darla spat, and Buffy laughed breathlessly.

"Is this gonna be a catfight then?" she snapped, slapping Angel's sire across the face viciously. "I'm up for that."

"Bitch…bitch," Darla snarled, her eyes clouding over with rage, righting Buffy in the jaw and following it with a few kicks to her side. Although winded, the Slayer grabbed her by the leg and propelled her to the ground, straddling her to deliver a few hits to the face. She held Darla's hands above her head with one arm and kept hitting her.

Unable to fight with her hands, Darla resorted to an assault with her mouth. "ANGEL NEVER LOVED YOU!" she screamed, "HE WAS WILLING TO DIE FOR ME!"

Buffy attempted to block her out, reaching blindly for a branch. She didn't care what Angel had said. She was staking her and she was doing it now. This bitch didn't deserve to live. Didn't deserve anything.

"No…nooooo!" Darla shouted, wriggling as she saw the Slayer's intention, taunting her more with her cruel words. "He held me afterwards…said he'd be there always. Said he wasn't ever going to leave me."

Those words were like a sword to Buffy's belly. They cut into her, spilling her guts onto the ground. He had left her…but he would stay with Darla always? Buffy abandoned her search for a stake, punching Darla in the face as hard as she could.

Using all her lower body strength, the vampire finally managed to send Buffy flying over her head, and they both stood up, facing each other down. "You won't get Angel," the Slayer vowed, and Darla smiled, reaching into her boot and pulling out a knife.

"I can promise you won't be there to see it," she hissed, coming closer and slashing out with the blade. It gleamed sharply in the dim light and Buffy knew real fear.

She ducked, narrowly missing being staked with the knife, and then ducked again. Darla was stabbing out with it with ruthless precision, and Buffy was only escaping out of luck. And then she stumbled, and Darla found her target.

The knife sliced through Buffy's side, hitting her flesh with force. Removing the knife, Darla watched the Slayer fall to the ground and cocked her head. "Hmm…" she murmured, "Not quite the cut I wanted."

Buffy gasped as she lay one hand over her side and felt the blood seeping through the thin fabric of her top, and oozing onto the ground. This was even worse than when the vampire had stabbed her in the stomach. "No…" she protested weakly when Darla advanced once more on her.

The blonde vampire paused for a moment, standing over her. "Ah…Slayer. I almost want to put you in a museum like that," she sneered, her face a picture of delight. "Bloody, helpless…why it's better than sex."

Buffy sat up, wincing as the wound opened even more. But she had to run. She should scream. Angel would hear her. He had to. Dizzily she tried to stand up, but her legs failed her and a fresh spurt of blood soaked the grass.

"Don't know when to give up do you?" Darla mused, swinging the knife back and forth in a mesmerizing hypnotic motion. "What a solider," she mocked, and grabbed a lock of Buffy's hair, forcing her head back and baring the smooth throat. "Mmm…"

Licking her lips, Darla bared her fangs, and Buffy closed her eyes. Muzzily she wondered what everyone would think when they found her body. Willow and Xander would cry. So would Giles. Would Angel? She wondered painfully as she felt the tip of Darla's fangs sink into her neck.

And then nothing…no blinding pain…no feeling like the life was being sucked out of her. A faint stirring on her face made her open her eyes. All that was left of Darla was dust. "Angel…" she murmured sarcastically, just before blacking out. "What a hero."

~~~
"I'm all right Mom, really," Buffy laughed into the phone, concealing the wince of pain the action brought as she talked to her mother. "Just a little scratch."

Giles shook his head, smoothing down the comforter on the hospital bed that the Slayer lay on, his hands shaking slightly.

Joyce Summers spoke worriedly to Buffy for a few more moments and then finally they said a heart-felt goodbye. "Wonders of modern technology," Buffy muttered jokingly. "Both in the hospital but still able to talk."

Giles nodded, sitting down beside the bed, and regarding the blonde. "Where is Angel?" he asked without preamble. She sighed and leaned back, holding her side to minimalize the pain.

"After he brought me to the hospital I guess he went to talk to Spike and Dru. Course he could've gone back to LA for all I know," she uttered with no small amount of rancour in her tone. "Anyway, at least Darla's dust."

"Good thing," Giles agreed and their eyes met. "I must admit I'm surprised Angel staked her."

"So am I," she blinked, remembering clearly what he had said to her about the whole 'staking my sire' business. "But I guess people surprise you."

Giles smiled and gazed at her. "You really have grown Buffy."

Surprised, she turned her head. "What do you mean?"

"I just hadn't realized how…mature you'd gotten," Giles said, shaking his head and smiling again, just slightly. "I'm very proud, I must admit."

She blushed and grinned, waving a hand to dismiss his comments. "Color me stunned. You? Proud? I must be doing something wrong here."

He chuckled and then looked up at the door, going quiet as he saw who stood there, watching them. "I'll go and check on your mother and Dawn," he assured her, standing and nodding to Angel. "Make sure there's not an excessive amount of worry."

"Thanks," she replied gratefully and watched as Angel closed the door behind her Watcher, walking hesitantly over to the bed.

"How are you Buffy?" he asked, going over to the window and staring up at the moon. She shrugged and then gasped a little. No big movements was what the doctor had said, but she kept forgetting.

"A little shish kabobed, but I'm all right," she answered flippantly and he turned slightly to regard her with tenderness in his dark eyes.

"Don't pretend with me," he urged her and she sighed, pressing a hand to the bandaged wound beside her abdominals.

"It hurts…tons. Like someone's slicing a knife continuously into me;" she painted the picture for him and watched his mouth tighten.

Buffy's green eyes followed his every expression. "I gotta admit…shock is the word to describe how I feel about you staking Darla," she commented.

Angel laughed, shaking his head, the sound and movements borne from frustration and anger more than anything else. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" she inquired hesitantly and he touched her chin, tilting her head up so their eyes locked.

"That I would do anything to save you…anything, Buffy. Look, I know that you think my leaving is a testament to how little my feelings must have been for you. But you've got it backwards. It was because of how much I loved you that I left;" his eyes pleaded with hers. "I left because I loved you too much to put you at risk. Every time I was around you…the temptation got greater and greater…to hold you. To make love to you. And you know I couldn't. But I could feel my resolve weakening. And I knew that I had to leave before I did something drastic. Also, I wanted you to have that life I couldn't give you. You deserved more. You do deserve more."

Bowing her head slightly, she breathed in, absorbing his words. "Okay…" she returned, choosing what she said with care. "I realize that you believe I deserve more. But don't you get…that you're always going to be the one I want? You know…I was watching Roswell once with the gang," she smiled slightly and he nodded.

"The alien show? Yeah, Cordy watches that."

Buffy giggled and then tears filled her eyes in the same breath. "I was watching it…and something the character Liz said to Max…she said, " Don't you realize what you are to me? You're the love of my life. Everyone else is just going to be second best.'" Buffy paused, and watched Angel take this in, his face reflecting both joy and sorrow at her words. "You know…personally, I prefer Maria, but Liz…she has a way with words," Buffy remarked lightly, and reached up with her hand to curl her fingers into the hair at the back of his head.

Pulling his head down, she kissed his forehead gently. "I won't ever give up on you Angel…" she told him firmly, and he smiled, touching his forehead to hers.

"Hold me please…" she asked plaintively; despite the pain in her side, she needed to be closer to him.

Carefully he lifted her up and onto his lap, burying his face in her hair as she snuggled against his coat. "I love you Buffy," he murmured softly. "Sleep."

"Sleep," she repeated drowsily, closing her eyes and letting him rock her tenderly into oblivion.

Am I real am I true?
Am I borrowed, am I blue?
Is it just the dust of leaving you, settling?
Am I fair am I strong
When I'm there do I belong
Is it only skin I touch when I reach for you
Oh the leaves they fall they go so far sometimes
Do I blame the wind or the tree that let it go
Or do I
Wave goodbye
Settling
Do I stay and do I fight
Is it wrong when nothings right
Is it just the closet light
I leave on for you?

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