Disclaimer: Still not mine. I keep hoping.

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The vampire's teeth brushed her neck and then his head suddenly jerked back. Buffy looked down and saw Willow and Xander both determinedly but ineffectually pummeling the monster with their fists. The vampire grinned.

"Awww. That's so cute." He raised his foot and kicked Xander, sending him sprawling. He landed hard and didn't move. Willow froze, her fists still raised but now uncertain. He looked down at her and laughed. "Look, small fry, I'll get to you in a second. Trust me, this one isn't gonna fill me up." Buffy struggled desperately as he squeezed her arms tighter to her sides, bringing his head down to her neck again. "Stop moving around so much, you're only going to make this worse," he said. Willow was standing directly in front of them, unsure what to do. She looked back at Xander and was relieved to see him pushing himself up dazedly, then back at Buffy who was about to get bitten. Then her eyes moved down the vampire and she had a sudden flash of memory. A flash of an accident Xander had while playing tee ball...Willow wrapped one of her small hands around the other in a double fist and thrust upwards with all her strength.

"Shyaaaah!" the vampire cried out, dropping Buffy to cradle his injured privates. Xander winced at Willow as he got to his feet, while Buffy grabbed her hand.

"Good job, Will," he said.

"Let's go!" Buffy ordered, and the three ran as fast as they could, their diminutive legs pumping hard as they rounded the corridors and headed for the relative safety of the common room.

"Almost there," Xander panted, then skidded to a stop when heard Willow shriek. Both he and Buffy turned to see their friend now in the vampire's clutches. He smirked at them triumphantly.

"All of a sudden, I feel like eating your friend here first," he said to them conversationally. "Don't worry, though, I'll get to you all. It's a little early, but I've been given the go ahead to eat you, so I'm thinking no one's going to mind."

"You get away from her, you...you...bad guy...or thing..." Buffy snarled.

"Ooooh. Scary. You're gonna have to work on the insults, babycakes. Oh, wait, no, sorry, you won't have time...and don't even think about it." The last was directed towards Xander, who was poised to duplicate the maneuver that had been so effective for Willow earlier. "The first time it was kind of funny. Try it again and I'll tear this one's legs off. That'll be even funnier."

"You're bad," Willow squawked and the vampire laughed.

"Why thanks, sweetie. It's nice of you to notice."

"Let her go."

That voice, deeper, more menacing, and coming from behind him, got the vamp's attention. Buffy's eyes lit up.

"Angel! He's going to help us!" Her look of joy quickly changed to one of horror when the orderly's face morphed to ridges as his eyes glittered dangerously.

"He's going to eat us!" Xander corrected fearfully as the vamp holding Willow dropped her to defend himself from Angel's attack. He practically lifted his dazed friend to her feet and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!" he cried to Buffy, and the three friends ran for their lives. They reached the playroom and their noisy entrance caused more than one child to look up, several of them whimpering. Xander grabbed Buffy's hand with his free hand and they moved to a corner where they stood huddled together, still panting from their run and the burst of adrenaline.

"Angel's a monster," Buffy sniffed, still not quite believing it.

" And he's got spikey monster hair, too. We should have known...they're all monsters," Xander said softly, shaking slightly. "Oh man."

"We've got to get out of here," Willow squeaked, speaking for all of them.

"Pssst! Kids!" The harsh whisper made them all jump. They turned as one in the direction of the voice and saw a strangely dressed man in an odd little hat was standing in the corner, wedged behind a bookcase so he couldn't be easily seen. He was beckoning them over with an exasperated look. "Can't believe he screwed this up already..." they heard him mutter as they tentatively approached.

"Who are you?" Buffy demanded, crossing her arms.

"And whatcha doin' hiding in the corner?" Xander added suspiciously.

"Don't get too close," Willow cautioned, her eyes wary. "He could be trying to trick us."

"Jeesh," the strange man muttered, "Tough crowd. Look, the name's Whistler-"

"Oooh!" Willow cooed. "Do you whistle?"

"No, I-"

"Then why they call you Whistler?" Buffy frowned.

"Pretty dumb name if you don't know how to whistle," Xander scoffed. The man's eyes were starting to glaze over slightly, and he held a hand up to silence them.

"Hey!" he snapped. "Never mind about my name! It's not important...ah crap kid...don't cry." The last was directed at Willow, whose eyes had filled with tears at his unkind tone. The other two were glowering at him, and Whistler sighed in frustration. He turned his head to the wall and muttered inaudibly, "Kids and dogs, kids and dogs, I told the Powers I don't work with kids and dogs..." Looking back at then, he smoothed out his tone and said, "Look...just kind of think of me as a messenger."

"Messenger?" Willow repeated perplexedly, and all thee kids seemed puzzled. Whistler swallowed hard.

"Yeah...like an angel...sorta," he mumbled, hoping the Powers would understand his need to tell that little white lie. Balance demon, a bit beyond a seven year-old's comprehension of the universe.

"Angel's a vampire," Buffy informed him sagely, and Whistler sighed.

"Yeah...you weren't really supposed to know that...but buck up, kids. I really came here to tell you two things. First, you can trust Angel. Yeah, he's a vampire, but he's a good guy. One of a kind..."

"I'm not buying," Xander said, and Willow looked doubtful.

"I believe him," Buffy said slowly. "You're on our side. And so is Angel...I just know it."

"You'll always believe in him, won't you doll?" Whistler smiled wonderingly, and the three children exchanged confused looks.

"What's the other thing?" Willow piped up.

"Someone else is coming to help you," Whistler cryptically intoned, waving offhandedly. "I can't say more."

"Is it the police?" Xander asked.

"No."

"A fairy?" Willow guessed. Whistler rolled his eyes.

"No. I can't-"

"My parents?" Buffy tried hopefully.

"No."

"A teacher!" Willow crowed triumphantly.

"No! I said I-"

"Superman?" Xander speculated.

"No, now listen-"

"Oh!" Willow exclaimed excitedly. "Is it Ralph Nader?"

"It's an Englishman!" Whistler cried desperately, his eyes on the ceiling. "As in a man. From England. Coming to help."

"Prince Charles?" Buffy said, nonplussed. Willow got even more excited, grabbing Xander's arm as she tried to contain herself.

"Oh! And Princess Di?" she squealed.

"No, and no! Just...just listen for the accent. You know what a British accent sounds like." All three nodded, though Xander seemed unsure. "Great. That's it. Trust Angel, watch for the Brit. I'm out of here."

"But-" The door crashing open distracted Buffy from her protest. Angel came running in, skidding to a stop when he saw them, his human face showing clear relief. The three children and the vampire eyed each other warily, no one willing to make the first overture.

"I don't know...I still don't think we can-Whoa! Where'd he go?" Xander gaped at the empty space where Whistler had been standing moments before. Buffy and Willow shrugged, equally mystified.

"Whistler?" Angel asked, and the children nodded. He shook his head. "I hate when he does that."

"Must be an angel thing," Willow surmised, then blushed at the strange look Angel gave her. "I meant the angel angel." The vampire decided this wasn't important and focused his attention on Buffy.

"What did Whistler say?"

"He said you were a good guy and we should trust you," Buffy said, her eyes shooting daggers at him that said that had better be true. "And someone else is coming to help us."

"Not Prince Charles," Willow said a bit sadly. Again Angel gave her a long look.

"Is she, you know, alright?" he asked Buffy, not unkindly, then felt a tiny foot kick at his shin. The dark-haired boy's eyes were blazing.

"I don't like you! You better not be mean to Willow!" he said.

"Cut that out," Angel said, looking around to see if they'd attracted attention. Sure enough, he saw some of the nurses and orderlies pointing in their direction and whispering.

"Uh-oh," Buffy muttered. Angel agreed with that assessment, and began to formulate a plan of retreat.

"I've got to get you out of here," he muttered.

"Angel?" Buffy said in a strained voice.

"It's okay, Buffy. I'm not gonna let you get hurt. Get ready to run, kids."

"Angel!" Buffy said in that same pinched tone. He looked down and saw she was fidgeting, her face flushing, her whole manner conveying distress and possibly pain.

"What? What's the matter?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"I hafta...you know..." came Buffy's mortified whisper.

"What?" Angel hissed impatiently, then felt his sleeve tugged firmly. Willow looked up at him with wide eyes and announced in an exaggerated whisper. "Buffy has to go potty."

Angel stared at her in horror, then looked at Buffy, squirming miserably, then at the other vampires, now preparing to cut off all the exits. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Finally he said one quiet, all-encompassing word.

"Damn."

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To Be Continued...