RATING: PG-13, at worst! Nothing BTVS viewers couldn’t read

HOMECOMING

will life ever be the same?

It wasn't a dark or stormy night in Sunnydale. In fact, it was a warm, sunny

California afternoon as our heroes set out, unknowingly, on their first

Adventure since Buffy's home-coming. There had been no vamps, no monsters,

demons or evil of any kind in sight since Buffy crossed back into the

Sunnydale city limits earlier that week.

The lawn that spanned the front of Sunnydale High was a rich shade of green

that afternoon. It was a peaceful scene befitting the crew as they gathered

in a semi-sparse cluster near the library entrance. It was an unusually

stress-free moment.

Cordelia sat upon a low wall of smooth rocks that varied in size and color.

Xander stood before her, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. Their

faces were held close together as they spoke softly. His mischievous grin,

and her all-too-innocent giggle made it clear that the words they were

exchanging were private.

Willow was laying a few feet away, on her stomach; propped up on her elbows,

her ankles crossed in the air. She was engrossed in a seemingly educational

conversation with Oz, who sat cross-legged to her left. They were staring

intently at the open pages of a chemistry text book that lay open in front

of them. It was obvious that their comfort level had improved greatly over

the summer months.

Buffy, unlike her pals, was off by herself. Crouched by a small patch of

three or four dandelions, she looked appeared to be strangely content. The

wistful expression that dressed her face was decorated with wisps of blonde

streaked hair that danced in the breeze.

She'd had a feeling of serenity since she returned home to Sunnydale. At

first she thought it was the way that all the madness that she left behind

had been magically forgotten. She quickly realized how truly

freaksome that was.

'I'm just happy to be home,' she decided silently. 'Besides, why over

analyze? Things have obviously cooled down here since Spike and Drucilla

left town.' Buffy felt guilt free for the first time in months.

So caught up in her own thoughts, she failed to notice Giles approaching her

from the right.

"Buffy?" He recited her name a few times before she turned to look at him.

"Hmm?" Sighed Buffy in a far off tone.

"Buffy, I've been looking into this whole 'Principal Snyder siuation,' and,

as far as I can tell, it's all on the up and up. Principal Mullins has

replaced Snyder, because Snyder was promoted. Superintendent or something of

that sort. As for your school records," he continued, wiping the lenses of

his wire framed glasses with a white handkerchief, "If Willow can't determine

whom it was that wiped your records so spotlessly clean, I'm quite certain

we'll never know who the perpetrator was."

"'Perpetrator'...you mean 'good deed doer' don't you, Giles?" Willow

inquired, to be sure that Giles wasn't going to suggest that they 'correct'

the change to Buffy's permanent school records.

"Yeah, Giles. If it weren't for that hacker, everyone would know what a

trouble mak...gnet Buffy is. She wouldn't be allowed within a mile of any

school in Sunnydale," Cordelia stated bluntly in her usual insultingly

simple fashion. Everyone glared at her for a short moment.

"It's a real stumper," Buffy commented in a care-free voice. She wasn't

about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, in the back of her mind,

she just knew it was Willow. 'She just doesn't want to say it; in case Giles

made her "do the right thing".

"So everything has returned to normal then..." concluded Giles.

"Don't even think it!" Willow warned.

"We don't do regular normal, Giles." Buffy explained to her confused

watcher.

Xander chimed in, "No we do not...and this definitely isn't our kind of

normal. No-ho sir, this is NORMAL normal. What we're experiencing here is

some good old fashioned normally normal normal..." he paused at the sight of

the quizzical expressions that faced him. "What? I just mean this is

better."

Cordy patted his head, "good boy, Xander. You'll notice how his vocabulary

has improved over the summer. You NEED school, hunny."

Several peaceful nights and gorgeous days passed since their afternoon on

the lawn; the crew were beginning to fill their time with social activities,

and even Giles had stopped warning them not to let their guard down. While

Buffy was still training regularly, she was spending her nights warm in her

bed, except for the occasional random night patrol. Those evenings were

always evil-free, though...which should have been a good thing, but walking

through the cemetery at night, without distraction, left Buffy feeling

lonely, and dreaming of her lost lover.

On one such occasion, as she sat on a stone-carved bench, Angel's leather

jacket hanging off her sagging shoulders, she spoke his name aloud. This was

the first time she had permitted herself to do so, since she send him, and

his newly regained soul, to Hell in the Acathala's vortex.

"Angel..." just the sound of her voice calling out to him so softly stung

her eyes with the hot, salty tears she'd been denying for so long. "I'm so

sorry, my love" she continued, her voice quivering and slightly cracked,

"our last kiss was so soft and warm. I felt your love wash over and through

me as I never had before. It felt as though we were joined together finally,

and forever. I know you felt it, too. You had..." she paused, "no clue what

I was about to do...to you.."

"How-" Buffy's voice cut out abruptly into a sob, "NO!! How could I betray

your love that way? You trusted me, you closed your eyes, and you didn't

even know that while you were kissing me hello," her words were bare a

whisper, "I- I was kissing you good-bye...How could you have known?"

She broke down into uncontrollable tears intertwined with hysterical wails

of frustration and anger. Suddenly she stopped.

"Who's there?" she demanded loudly, drying her wet cheeks with the back of

her hand. The vibe was strong, there was someone lurking in the shadows.

She sensed it.

As she stood to survey her surroundings, the feeling subsided and gave way

to a new emotion. "Angel?" Her head began to reel, slowly at first, but it

gained speed very quickly. Tears streaked her face once again, and the world

became a much darker shade of black.

"Buffy...?" A familiar voice called to her gently, but she couldn't place

it. She struggled to retain her semi-conscious state. Her eyelids fluttered

slightly. She could make out a large, dark figure that seemed to be hovering

over her. It was stroking her hair, and speaking to her softly, but she

couldn't grasp the words.

She soon realized that the softness that cradled her was a bed, and red

quilt. 'This scent is so familiar,' she thought, "Where...am..." she began

to ask, but slipped into the numbing darkness once again.

"Buffy, get a move on! You'll be late!" Joyce called to her daughter through

the closed bedroom door. She peeked in. "Buffy?"

Buffy was in the shower, sitting on the floor of the tub with the cold water

pouring down on her, still wearing the shorts and T-shirt she woke up in.

She was so confused. She had an eerie feeling that she was being watched.

"I just know this is something evil," muttered Buffy. After all, the

daylight hours were usually quiet, and wiggens-free. A time for research and

planning.

"What happened last night?" she questioned herself aloud. She struggled to

remember, "It's all so...fuzzy. Did I really patrol last night? Was it ALL a

dream?" Suddenly the line between reality and fiction grew very vague.

Almost non-existent.

"I'm losin' it. I'm REALLY losin' it!" She was within an inch of panic.

"What the hell is going on?! Am I really going crazy?" She was interrupted

by her mother's voice speaking sternly from the hallway.

"Buffy! School! NOW!"

Buffy carefully took off her wet cloths from under her towel, and headed for

the bedroom. She changed cautiously, trying not to show too much skin, then

she left for school. She did a lot of thinking, and looking over her

shoulder, on the way.

'I'm not going to tell them,' Buffy decided firmly, 'I don't want to freak

them out for nothing...and I don't want them to think I'm ready for the

funny farm.' This was something she'd have to work out by herself. One way,

or another.

She was extremely conscious of everyone around her throughout the day, and

after school, she stopped off at the library to report to Giles that she had

staked a vamp the night before, so that she'd have an excuse for some extra

patrol effort. Giles looked worried.

"Now don't go all overreaction-guy on me, Giles. It's probably nothing. You

have to expect that vampires are going to be attracted to the Hellmouth,

it's natural for them, but there's no great evil 'about to rise in

Sunnydale'." Buffy hoped that was enough to convince him to let up. The last

thing she needed was the crew trying to investigate, and back her up. Not

this time.

"Yes, I suppose you could be right," Giles conceded reluctantly.

"Let's not tell the guys about this, okay? I don't want to put a damper on

their 'normal lives' stuff. Not yet anyway. Okay?"

"Alright then. Do you want some back-up tonight?" Giles inquired.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Oh good, there's a program on Greek mythology on cable tonight. I would so

hate to miss it."

Buffy smirked, "Why I think you're becoming spoiled, Giles," she teased.

Giles just cleared his throat, straightened his shoulders, and returned to

the dusty old books he'd been shelving before Buffy got there.

On her way home, Buffy bumped into Cordy and Xander on their way to

Willow's. Cordy made some tactless remark about the circles under Buffy's

eyes.

"Yeah, well I've been staying up nights figuring on how to be as sensitive

as you, Cordelia, but I just can't seem to nail it," quipped Buffy as she

walked away.

That evening at dinner, Buffy explained to her mother how Giles had asked

her to step up her patrol.

"He just thinks it's too quiet, mom, nothing to worry about. Really. He just

gets paranoid. You know the type."

"No, Buffy, I don't. Enlighten me. What type of person tears a girl from her

family after she's just returned home, for no good reason?" Joyce was

annoyed.

"The British, librarian/watcher type?" She had thought this would work

better. Now her mother might call Giles just to give him a piece of her

mind, and they'd see her fraudulent stories for what they were, and question

her until they found out what really happened. And then they wouldn't let up

on her. Her mom would worry, and Giles would research, and they'd decide

that she was losing her mind. That panic zone was looking pretty near again.

"I'm sorry, Hunny. I guess I'm going to have to learn to be more

understanding about this slayer thing. It's just hard, you know?"

"I know just where you're coming from. But really, Mom. It's nothing to

worry about." Buffy tried assure her.

Still in semi-denial, Joyce just nodded and gave a slight smile.

All through the meal, Buffy felt as if there were someone peering in the

windows, and lurking behind the doors.

If only she knew.

By the time they had finished dinner the sun had set. Buffy retreated to her

room to arm herself for patrol. But what weapons would she need? She didn’t

know what it was that she was up against this time. Since she’d had the

eerie feeling during the day she realized that this wasn’t likely a vampire.

"Now what?" She demanded of herself, an expression of frustration embedded

deeply into her features. She decided to put on some more comfortable

clothes.

Although fashion had never presented at obstacle in her fighting before, she

thought it might be wise to wear something a little less restraining than

the form fitting brown slacks and strappy heels she was wearing. She opted

for a pair of light gray sweats rolled down at the waist and a tight black

tank top with a hooded sweatshirt that matched her pants and sneakers.

Still, she’s Buffy, so she looked stunning.

"Alright. As for weapons…"she pondered with a sigh, "Eeny meeny miny moe…."

"Buffy?" called Willow softly through the door, "Can I come in?" The door

creaked open slowly.

"Sure," offered Buffy, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice.

What else could she say? It wasn’t going to be easy getting rid of Willow,

though, and Buffy felt hurried.

"I was reading the Tarot cards—

"Tarot cards?"

"Buffy, there’s a thing. A dark thing. And it’s all around you. It’s like a

cloak," Suddenly she didn’t sound like Willow. She was confident in her

words, and the way she was speaking made everything she said sound definite

and accurate. She continued, "It’s all over you, Buffy, around you. Even

inside you. It’s so dark," she began to tremble.

"You’re scaring me! STOP IT! There’s nothing dark—" How could she know? Why

would she even suspect after all the calm that was Sunnydale recently?

"You knew!" Willow’s eyes narrowed into small accusing slits, "You already

knew! Even before I saw it…Buffy why didn’t you tell us?" Willow asked in

tone that was stern. Gilesish.

"I’m the slayer. ME. All the dark danger stuff is mine. ALONE." She

insisted.

"I thought we were kinda like ‘Team Slayer’. We can all handle a piece of

the big, bad boogedy monster. We’re here for you, Buffy, and right now, you

need us. This is big."

"How can you speak for everyone? Hmm?" Buffy sounded a little emotional.

"Cordelia and Xander? They seem pretty happy with teenhood. And Oz? Oz didn’t

bargain for me when he fell for you. He doesn’t need this. He’s got enough

to deal with. He just found out he’s a werewolf. And you don’t need it

either, Will, please…Just go home."

"I will NOT! Let me help you. I know a spell of protection, and I can see

people. I mean really see them. Their auras. I can tell you who’s what, and

who to kill," Willow presented her qualifications. She was excited to tell

Buffy about some of the things she’d learned over the summer.

Buffy hesitated, but realized that help might be necessary. "Alright, but

not a word to the others. It doesn’t seem to present a threat to the general

public….yet. Agreed?"

Willow gestured that her lips were sealed, and Buffy began to relate to her

the happenings of the previous night.

Armed with a pocket sized book of shadows, and some smelly herbal mixture

stuffed into a bad with the other usual tools of the trade, two parts of

‘Team Slayer’ set out to track the dark evil. They could feel it with them

with each step they took, but it kept its distance. They saw nothing for a

huge chunk of the evening.

"Okay, this isn’t working," Buffy was becoming more frustrated my the

minute, "Let’s sit for a while."

They had covered the entire town twice. It was exhausting. They spotted a

bench a few blocks ahead, so they made their way to it, and sat.

"Oh, Buffy…"

They had accidentally made their way to Angel's apartment.

"Oh…" Buffy was trying to hide her feelings about being so close to the

place where she’d changed Angel forever; the place where she’d first killed

her lover, but Willow could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Maybe this is a good thing. Face your demons…and…stuff," Willow did in her

best optimist impersonation.

Buffy began to walk slowly toward the entrance of the apartment, as if in a

daze. Being drawn by some magnetic pull.

"Buffy, I meant to face them from here. Buffy! Buffy where are you going?"

But of course she knew the answer already, so she jogged to catch up with

her friend, and walked by her side.

Buffy raised her hand to knock on the door, but stopped short of the

surface. Then she put her ear to the door. "Will, do you think someone else

lives here by now?"

"I don’t know…maybe…Buffy, I don’t think this is such a good idea."

Buffy knocked. No reply. She knocked again. Nothing. She wrapped her fingers

around the doorknob, her eyes wide in fear and anticipation. They stung with

dryness. She tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. A wave of

disappointment washed over her like a lead blanket.

"Stay here. I’m gonna go try the window. If it’s still boarded up, we know

nobody lives here."

"Wait! Do you really want to go in? I mean are you sure you wanna wake up

all these old ghosts?"

"I do. I definitely do," she resolved, convincing herself of her own

emotions.

"Alright then. Stand back," ordered Willow taking a bottle of salt from her

bag. She positioned herself in front of the door, and drew a circle around

herself with the salt. "The circle is open, may it never be broken, my

intentions are pure, my protection is sure. "She closed her eyes for a few

moments in meditation, "Lock unbroken, my hand is your key. I will it so, so

mote it be."

She reached for the knob, but before she could touch it, it sprung open,

leaving both girls in awe.

" Wow! Clearly you’ve been practicing," marveled Buffy.

"Thank-you," Willow replied, feeling quite proud of her accomplishment. A

coy smile crossed her lips as she gathered up her tools and joined Buffy

inside the apartment. She stopped dead in her tracks. "It’s here isn’t it."

"I think so…I don’t know…" Buffy began to feel dizzy again. "Will --- oh…. I

don’t feel so good." She walked over to the bed and sat down. Willow rushed

to close the door.

"Are you – " Willow began.

"Oh my—Willow, I was here!"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"No, no. I mean last night. After I passed out. I was here last night. The

smell, the feel of the bed, the blanket. Someone brought me here while I was

unconscious."

"But who?"

"I…I don’t know," squinting at the wall as if trying to see through it,

Buffy struggled to remember. "Angel?"

"Are you sure you’re feeling okay?" Willow was becoming concerned.

"I don’t know anymore."

Buffy was crying freely by now, and her face was blotched with red. Willow

put her hand on Buffy’s shoulder as she sat down beside her on the bed.

It was all so strange. Why would anyone bring her here? And who? It couldn’t

be Angel. She’d watched him being sucked into Hell. She’d send him there.

"Do you think Angel came back? Could he be getting his revenge on you for

stopping his Armageddon sending him to Hell?" Willow tried to come up with a

theory. "I mean he was so evil. It’s something he would do…if he could get

back here somehow. But then why didn’t he kill you last night?" she was

talking more to herself than to Buffy at that point.

"Willow," Buffy began slowly, looking at her hands. The hands at which the

love of her life had died, "He wasn’t evil when I sent him to Hell," she

managed to choke out, "And he’s never coming back!" She sobbed harder.

"You mean the restoration worked?"

"It did. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you."

"I felt so guilty. Like if I had only done something better, or faster—" She

shook her head as if to clear the thoughts from her brain. "Alright, so

where do we go from here?"

They sat in silence for a few long minutes, as Buffy tried to compose

herself enough to come up with a plan. ‘Where do we go from here?’ she

thought to herself. It was a good question.

"I can’t think," she said wiping the tears from her cheek with her sleeve,

"Let’s get out of here." Willow followed her to the door.

"Do you need me to cast a locking spell?" inquired the new witch hopefully.

"Nah, I think we’ll do it the old fashioned way." They both got a little

chuckle out of it, lightening the matter at hand if only for a moment.

As they stepped outside into the moonlit night, the came across Cordelia and

Xander who were strolling hand in hand. Xander stopped dead in his tracks

and glared at Buffy as though he had a bad taste in his mouth.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" he demanded, Cordelia looking at him

slack jawed and wide-eyed.

"Excuse me?" Buffy retorted, a look of surprise and defiance on her face, "As

if this is any of your business." She thought… aloud.

Xander spoke in a slow drawn out voice as if explaining something to a

child, "Well you’re snooping around the former habitat of a vicious animal,

and what I want to know is why."

"Well it’s none of your damn—

Willow interrupted, "We were just walking by, like you, when Buffy realized

that new people had probably moved in here, and she remembered that Angel

had said that Drusilla was staying there with him, probably to piss her off,

so she said, ‘Willow, we should really do the anti-invitation spell in case

she ever comes back.’ So we went to my house and picked up the stuff we

needed to do it. See?" She held out her spell book and silk bag. "But its

empty now," she continued, "so…" her eyes darted toward the ground and she

sighed.

Buffy looked at her, then Xander, "Yeah. So move along you…. you…you Xander

!" She turned up her nose at him.

Xander was speechless. He walked away, looking quite confused.

When he and Cordelia had gotten about a block away, she turned to him. "Why

is Buffy’s life any concern of yours? We got along fine without her all

summer, and now it’s back to ‘Xander the pathetic Buffy obsessive’? I do not

think so. If you want me, Xander Harris, you’re gonna have to give up this

whole quest for Buffy’s affection!" and with that, she stormed off in a

huff.

Xander stood there for a moment. Then he walked to a nearby variety store

where he bought himself a bag of cheesy chips and a Pepsi. He stood out side

against the wall and opened the bag.

"Now I know I hate Angel," he confided in one of his chips before popping it

into his mouth, and reached in for another, "but I don’t know why I said all

that. That," he continued, "was….."

"Harsh?" Willow had caught up to him after Buffy called it a night.

"Will!" He dropped the chip he’d been chatting with.

"Xander what was that all about, anyway?" she asked referring to his earlier

outburst.

"I don’t know. It was like… like I could hear my voice and feel my lips

moving, but…" he was at a loss.

"No connection to the brain?"

"Yeah."

"You’ve been spending too much time with Cordelia," she quipped with a

smile.

"Good one," Xander’s voice was full of sarcasm.

"Sorry."

"But seriously. I could swear I didn’t say that. I didn’t even think that."

Willow cocked her head to one side, folded her arms, and glared at him

suspiciously through narrowed eyelids.

"Okay, maybe I thought something like that, but I never would have said it

out loud."

"But you did."

"Yes. Yes I did. Why did I? Buffy’s never going to forgive me."

"Oh sure she will. At least by the time we’re 40, and they say that’s when

life begins."

They began their walk home.

Later that night as Buffy sat on her bed thinking about all the times she’d

spent in Angel’s apartment, she could still feel that darkness. She tried to

shrug it off, but it was useless.

"How long are you gonna follow me? HUH?" She demanded of the dark entity.

Nothing.

She reached into her night table drawer and pulled out the ring Angel had

given her on the night that she’d cost him is soul. It had been placed

carefully under everything Buffy could find to put on top of it. Hidden from

sight, but never from her mind.

She held it up to the light, and was hypnotized by its luster. All of a

sudden, it was ripped from her fingers and flew across the room. Buffy

jumped to attention.

"Alright, who are you and what do you want?!?!" she screamed.

The door flung open. "Buffy what’s goingon in—" Joyce began to ask, "Get

over it!" she yelled at her daughter. "Why are you so hung up on that evil

murderer?"

Buffy was astounded. "What?" She didn’t know her mother had been given so

much insight into hers and Angel’s relationship. "Where is this coming

from?"

"What?" Joyce was confused and holding her head.

"Mom, what do you know about Angel?"

"He’s that college boy you were dating, right? The stalker guy. Did he

murder someone? Was it him who killed your friend? Are you still seeing

him?" her voice was becoming stronger and more demanding.

"Nevermind, Mom." Her mother obviously didn’t know what was going on. Buffy

grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. She stopped dead. On the floor,

in front of the door, was the ring; it’s luster now an eerie glow. She

picked it up and saw that it had left a burn mark on the carpet. It was

still warm.

"Bye, Mom!" She called on her way downstairs. She was on her way to Giles’.

This was getting too weird.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Giles answered the door in a bathrobe, a glass of red wine in sherry in his

hand. He had just gotten out of the shower, and was settling in front of the

television to watch that cable special he’d mentioned.

"Buffy," a note of surprise and embarrassment in his voice. A smile crossed

his lips. "Can this wait until tomorrow? My program is about to begin."

Buffy reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring. She held it out

towards him. Giles glanced from the ring to Buffy, a puzzled expression

creasing his brow. He took it from her hand, and walked over to his

bookshelf. Buffy followed him inside and closed the door.

Giles picked up a very thick book bound in cherry colored leather. Burnt

into the front cover was the title ‘Haites Souls’.

"Yes, yes. Here it is," he indicated a passage toward the front of the book.

It read:

"Metal reacting to contamination of a damned soul burns with the heat and

light of the fires of Hell."

"So what you’re saying is that there’s an evil ghost living in my bedroom?"

"Yes, I’m afraid so."

"Oh this is just awesome," Buffy stated in a voice heavy with sarcasm.

"there are evil demons in my bedroom waiting to possess me as I sleep."

Giles was speechless which gave Buffy a strong feeling of non-confidence.

"You may contradict my theory anytime, Giles." She urged, flopping down on

the couch.

"To be perfectly honest, Buffy, I can’t. I have no idea what this thing

wants, or why it’s set up camp in your bedroom. Tell me what happened

exactly." He instructed.

"Well I was in my room, holding the ring, and—"

"From the beginning, Buffy." He pushed. He’d known she was keeping something

from him.

"Okay, alright…. SHEESH!" she relayed the entire story to her watcher.

Giles was still searching through his books when Buffy entered the library

the next morning. Xander, Willow and Oz were there, too.

"So, Buffy," Oz began, "I hear there’s a live performance of Poltergeist

goin’ on at your place. Very cool."

"Really it’s more like the Exorcist," corrected Giles with a chuckle.

"Gee thanks, Giles." Buffy was not impressed.

Giles returned to books. "Right, sorry."

"Have we made any progress?" inquired Buffy hopefully. "I don’t think I can

stand another night in Mom’s room."

Giles replied optimistically. "Yes, actually. Xander was telling me about

the scene he caused last night, and it seems that he was relaying a message

to you."

"No kidding," Buffy responded dryly.

"No, I mean…read this."

Buffy read aloud the passage Giles pointed to from a book titled ‘Modern

Views on Damnation: first in the series of books in the field of Hell and

Hell-bound souls’.

"Okay…" Buffy cleared her throat. " ‘The soul, in this case, is not always

evil, as the fact is that many souls are tricked or forced into Hell. The

certainty is that the soul bares a message. A soul cannot escape Hell

arbitrarily. It must have purpose.’ Oh. So Casper’s trying to communicate.

Isn’t that special? Can’t we just get a Ouija board and have done with it?"

"No. The Ouija board will open the door to all souls, and… Just keep

reading," Giles instructed.

" ‘The soul has it’s own method of communication. It may be temporary

possession, automatic writing, telepathy, or any number of other common and

uncommon practices.’ Oh this is fun stuff, Giles. I told him I was going to

be possessed." She informed the room.

"Not you, Buffy. The people around you," explained Xander, "like me."

"Oh, I see. So now you’re gonna blame--- Hey, wait," Buffy thought for a

moment. "My mother said something really nasty about Angel last night, too.

Right after my ring… ya know." Buffy made a flying gesture with her hand.

"What if… it could be anyone warning you about Angel. He had so many

victims." Willow pointed out.

"This is true," agreed the watcher.

Buffy twisted her lips slightly then said, "you guys are no help at all."

Willow looked almost hurt.

"I’m joking! I just can’t stand the fact that we’ve got so much information,

and still we’re less clueful than Allicia Silverstone."

"You got a point there," Oz concurred.

"Okay, fact check," Buffy announced. "It’s a post-Hell-bound soul, it has a

knack for possessing my friends and loved ones, it’s over, under and through

me, and it has less than love for Angel…"

"It could be any number of souls," restated an exasperated Giles.

"I’m gonna check something out," Buffy told them, her voice laced with

hesitation. "I’ll meet you guys back here in an hour or so."

"Wait! Take this," Willow her some sort of rock. "It’s for protection."

"Thanks. I hope I don’t need it." With that, Buffy was out the library

doors.

Buffy was completely out of breath when she reached Angel’s apartment.

Huffing and puffing, she stood in front of the door. Once she’d regained

some strength, she wound up for a massive kick that knocked the door off of

it’s top hinge. She entered slowly.

"Alright show me! Show me you’re here!" Her demands were followed by

silence. Her face grew red with impatience. "What do you want?"

Just then Oz entered the apartment. "Buffy."

She spun around to face him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, annoyed.

"You have to get over Angel. You have to stop thinking about him. He’s evil.

A demon with a soul is still a demon. You know that. He’ll never be human."

"Oz, can we save the Dear Abby for another time? I’m busy."

"No, we have to talk about this. Now!"

"What?"

Oz approached her, and seized her by the arm. "It’s no good, Buffy. You have

to stop loving me. It never would have worked. And stop feeling guilty. It

was all my fault. I can’t control my demon. I don’t know what might have

brought it out again. I need to be here. In Hell. Where I can’t hurt anyone

ever again. Especially you."

Buffy struggled to make sense of it any other way she could, but in her

heart she knew. It was Angel. Her lost love had come back to make her

forget.

"Stop! Stop saying this. Tell me what we have to do to be together again,

Angel. I don’t wanna live without you anymore. I love you. And you love me.

You brought me here. To take care of me when I fainted. You touched my hair,

you called my name." Tears stung her eye lids and she her vision became

blurred with their salt water. "I love you!" She repeated.

"You can’t love me. And you can’t go on hating yourself. Please, Buffy. Try.

Try to let go."

"I can’t."

She didn’t notice Willow and Giles standing in the doorway looking over to

where she and ‘Oz’ stood almost embracing. Willow cringed at the close

proximity of Buffy and Oz. Giles looked at her, and put his fingers to his

lips in ‘Shh’ fashion. She stood frozen as if in stone, her eyes wide, and

holding her breath. She could see what was going on, but it was difficult to

watch.

"Good-bye, Buffy. My love. I will always love you."

"Don’t go!" She screamed, clutching his arm tightly in her strong grasp.

"I have to. I’ve done what I came to do. I can’t stay."

Any further protests were silenced as ‘Angel’ pulled her close to him, and

covered her mouth with his. Tears streaked down Buffy’s cheeks, as she

kissed her lover farewell once more. The last kiss. His embrace loosened,

and Oz fell to the floor. Buffy collapsed onto the sofa behind her, and

wailed uncontrollably.

"NO! NOOOOOOOO!" She cried out.

Giles rushed to her side, and Willow cradled Oz in her arms, a single tear

falling from her chin. Buffy pounded on Giles’ chest.

Angel was gone. Forever.

The room became extremely cold. Buffy could see her breath, and watched in

amazement and confusion as the large puffs expanded, and disappeared. She

looked at Giles. Willow and Oz were standing by now.

"Buffy…" Willow said in a frightened, quivering voice. "What’s going on?"

Buffy jumped to her feet. It sounded like an enormous clap of thunder as a

blinding flash of light illuminated the entire apartment. They each shielded

their eyes as the light dimmed, and there, in the center of the room stood

Angel. Steam rising from his body. Buffy ran across the room and into his

arms.

"Buffy!" He was ecstatic. "Buffy, I love you!" He lifted her from the floor

and kissed her like he’d never kissed her before. All of their passion and

longing expressed in a kiss so powerful that the others could only stand and

look on.

"We should go," uttered Giles finally.

Willow nodded in agreement, and she and Giles helped Oz out the door.

"I’ll never leave you, Buffy."

"Angel…" Buffy called his name through her tears of joy. "I love you, too."

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