Buffy and Angel sat together on the love seat in her living room, the Codex between them. Their friends, though exhausted, sat before them, waiting to hear what the book had to tell.

“This thing sure doesn’t read easy,” Buffy murmured. “I think I'm figuring out why Latin's a dead language."

“Here,” Angel said, pointing to a part of the text. “This talks about the Chosen and the Champion…and,” he scanned down the page, then looked up at their audience, “…everyone else.”

Xander sat up. “We’re in there? Really? Cool! What does it say? Any mention of lottery numbers or amassing great fortunes?”

Angel ignored him. “Ok…but I’m paraphrasing here: What is destined to be will be undone by love. A—a soul will fall, slain by its other half, only to return as lost as it left.”

“What?” Cordelia asked impertinently. “Is there a Cliff Notes version to this thing?”

“You’re the one who said we should get the book where everything’s, air-quote, ‘Written,’” Xander reminded her.

Angel scanned the page, trying to decipher the language. “The halves will be separate once again until the seventh moon of the seventh year. In their hands does destiny lay.”

“Where’s the part about us?” Anya asked.

“The Slayer, the Chosen, will assemble with the Champion. They together will call on the eight, combined to form the ten. The Witch, the Wolf, the Heart, the Weapon…”

“The Visionary, the Conscience, the Father, yadda yadda yadda. We know. Skip ahead,” Cordy said as she lounged on the couch.

“They will be guided by the Powers and will not know their own will. Once inside, the battle will begin. The Chosen against the Champion. The angel versus the hunter. The devil versus the god.”

Willow raised her hand. “Huh?” she asked.

“Second that,” Gunn called from the couch.

“Inside what?” Anya asked.

Giles held out his hand. “May I?” he asked Angel, who handed him the book. Giles quickly scanned the passages Angel had read aloud.

“Undone by love…” Giles mused. “There’s really no guess work involved in that…obviously, it’s referring to you two,” he said, indicating Buffy and Angel. “Slain by the other half…”

“I’m the other half of Angel?” Buffy asked.

Giles’ brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. It could mean Angelus versus Angel,” he mused. “Angelus is the other half of Angel…Angelus killed Angel, in a sense, when he came forth.”

“No,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “Angel was always there. He just… couldn’t get out.” She took his hand supportively.

Giles gave her a half-smile. “Yes, well…‘the soul returned as lost as it left.’”

“Returned…when?” Gunn wanted to know.

“When I was returned from Hell, I didn’t know why I had been spared. What my purpose was,” Angel reminded them softly, thinking aloud.

“The next part,” Wesley spoke up as he paced the floor. “Doesn’t it say the souls are separate until the seventh moon of the seventh year? This is the seventh year of the new millennium.”

“But it’s not the seventh full moon. It’s only February,” Oz said.

“Yes, but it is the seventh moon if you look at it in cycles…there are four phases of the moon each month. Four last month, and tomorrow marks the third for this month. Seven,” Wesley told him.

The werewolf shook his head appreciatively. “Huh. Moon math.”

“And here I was just afraid of converting to metric,” Xander quipped.

“So we’re three for three on prophecies,” Gunn said. “Angel’s turned, undoing destiny, he’s killed and returned from Hell, and now we’re all meeting together on the sevens.”

“They will not know their own will,” Giles read aloud.

“That’s the part I’m not liking,” Buffy said. “I like being very familiar with my will.”

“Once inside the battle will begin,” Giles continued to read. “My best guess is that this refers to the circle Cordelia saw us form in her vision.”

“What does it mean?” Willow asked.

“I have no idea,” Giles said. “I’ll need some time to read into this further. It would be helpful if we had our research tools.”

“They’re all back at the shop. It’s not safe for any of us to go out there, including Spike. They’ve seen him now. They know he’s with us,” Buffy said.

“Plus the fact that there are a hundred vamps running around out there with pictures of us on the sides of their milk cartons,” Xander said wryly.

“We have to go,” Angel said, standing. “Spike, me, Buffy. Just us three. No arguments this time,” he said when Gunn began to protest.

“Angel’s right,” Wesley said, “as much as I hate to admit it, we’d do more harm than good if we tried to leave before daybreak. But we need our supplies. Books, the computers.”

“When?” Anya asked.

“Now,” Buffy said, standing next to Angel. “We can’t waste any more time. We’re running out of it as it is.” She turned to Spike. “You coming?”

He nodded, surprisingly quiet since they had arrived at the house. “I’m in. It’s dark. Stick to the sewers. No vamp’s gonna be hanging around there if they can walk the streets freely.”

Buffy nodded in agreement. “Let’s go.” She turned to the others. “No one leaves this house. We’ll be back soon.”

Giles had been madly scribbling on a piece of paper. He handed it now to Angel. “Bring these texts if you can. They should be all we need. I hope.”

Angel took the list. “Keep reading,” he said.

Minutes later the three walked out into the night and quickly disappeared into the sewers of Sunnydale.

*~*~*

The trip to the shop was uneventful but as they approached the manhole leading to the alley behind the shop, Buffy cautioned them. “They may have come here, thinking we’d try to return to the shop.”

“Then I go first,” Spike volunteered and climbed the ladder. “Stay put until I tell you it’s clear.”

Buffy hid her surprise as Angel glowered behind her. A moment later Spike returned. “All clear,” he said, appearing above them. They climbed up and entered the shop.

“Quickly,” Angel ordered, gathering books. Buffy grabbed the laptops and their cords, placing them inside the bag she had grabbed at the last minute.

Spike gathered the spell ingredients Willow had given him, then helped Angel and Buffy with the books. They were in and out in less than ten minutes.

The trip back to the house was a bit slower as they carried heavy books and computer equipment with them. Spike walked a bit ahead of them, on the premise of being the lookout.

Angel and Buffy trudged along side by side through the damp sewer. “So are you going to tell me what that was all about earlier?” she asked him.

He glanced at her sideways. “What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about the End of Days?”

Angel was silent. “Buffy,” he said finally, “there are some things that I need to tell you, but now isn’t the time. I need you to trust me. Tomorrow night, when it’s over, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. But I can’t now.”

“Why?” she asked, hurt creeping back into her voice.

“There are things that I’ve done that I’m not sure you’ll understand right away.”

“But it’s okay for Cordelia and Gunn and Wesley to know.”

He hesitated. “They’re my friends.”

“I see,” she said, her voice small.

“And your opinion means more to me than theirs does. I could take it if they judged me, but not you.”

She shifted the books in her arms and stopped walking. “Tomorrow night,” she said, looking to his eyes, seeking confirmation.

He stopped next to her. “I swear.”

“What if I don’t make it?”

“You will,” he said fiercely.

Seeing that he wouldn’t reveal anything else she gave in. “Fine,” she said and continued walking. Spike came back quickly around the bend.

“Heads up, kids,” he said, and threw his books to the ground. Two vampires came running out of the dark and Spike attacked. Buffy and Angel dropped their loads and joined him in the action. The vampires were inexperienced and the fight was over almost before it began.

“Quickly, quickly,” Spike grimaced as they rushed to gather their supplies. Noise sounded from the opposite direction and he looked up to see several more vampires heading their way. “Oh, crap,” he muttered to himself, then shouted “Time to go!” to Buffy and Angel. They looked down the tunnel and saw the vampires gaining on them. They ran quickly down the pipes to the manhole closest to Buffy’s house.

“There’s no way we can get all this stuff out of here before they reach us,” she cried as they ran.

“Never mind that. Go, up top. I’ll pass the books to you. Get to the house,” Spike said, lifting her onto the ladder.

Buffy threw a glance at Angel. “Go,” Spike told him. “She can’t carry all this alone.” Angel nodded and shimmied up the ladder. Spike tossed the books up to them, handing them the last one as the vampires reached him.

Above, Buffy and Angel raced to the house. Buffy burst through the door and threw the books onto the floor, then whipped around and ran back outside towards the sewer.

“We have to help him!” she shouted and dove headfirst down the manhole.

In his mind it hadn’t even been a question, of course they wouldn’t have left Spike there to die after he’d helped them, but watching Buffy’s blind reaction stunned him.

Spike, the vampire that had tried to kill her and her friends countless times. Spike, who had now taken his place as the brute strength in the Scooby gang. Buffy hadn’t even hesitated, hadn’t waited for Angel to follow, to help. She had just gone. Jumped in headfirst to save a friend. You knew about this, Angel told himself. You left. It's natural. Spike's strong, this is a good thing. He can protect her...them, he corrected himself. He stared down at the open manhole. But I'm back now, he thought, and jumped down.

Hitting the bottom he quickly assessed the situation. Five vamps, Buffy battling two, Spike dealing with three. Two more heading full speed towards them. Angel’s face morphed and he took on the two newcomers. He ducked the punches of the first vamp and returned with two of his own. The vampire was thrown backward and the second took the opportunity to rush in. Angel grabbed him by his shirt and spun him around, crashing him into the sewer walls. They were face to face when suddenly the vampire hissed, shocked, “Angelus!” and dropped his hands to his sides.

“Stop!” he shouted to the other. Angel continued to hold him against the wall, ready to pummel him. He spared a glance to the other, who had backed down immediately.

“Forgive me, Master, we did not know it was you,” he said reverently.

Angel didn’t miss a beat. “Let my friends go…the Slayer, when I turn, she’s mine.”

The vampire nodded quickly and called out to the others, still battling Spike and Buffy, though it was now only two against two. “Stop!” The vampires looked up, a mistake, as Spike and Buffy dusted them at the same time.

“Too late for them. Now go,” Angel said fiercely. “Tell your friends that the Slayer and her group are not to be harmed until I give the order,” he said, his voice a low growl. The vampire looked confused as he glanced from Angel to Buffy and Spike with wild eyes. Angel leaned in conspiratorially. “We’ll plan something…special for them.”

It took a moment but Angel’s words finally dawned on the minion. He gave an evil smile and nodded curtly. Angel released him and the vampire and his friend took off down the pipes.

“What was that all about?” Buffy asked, brushing herself off. “You let them go?”

Spike walked up beside her, giving Angel an appraising look. “They recognized the lord and master, didn’t they?”

Angel grunted. “Something like that.”

“Well, whatever. Let’s go,” Buffy said. “Sewers…not my favorite hang-out.”

“That was an awesome dive, there, luv,” Spike said, climbing up to the street. “The way you leaped through the manhole then rolled to the ground? Perfect ten.”

Buffy smiled. “One of my better entrances,” she agreed. “Second only to the swan-dive through the stained glass window at St. Martin’s.”

Spike nodded with a wicked grin, remembering. He glanced at Angel. “That was great,” he said enthusiastically, placing a hand on her back. “You looked like the bloody Messiah, sun streaming in behind you, vamps poofing all over the place.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t get poofed yourself,” she grinned. “Never thought I’d see you in a confession booth.”

“Blocked the sun, didn’t it? Anyway, good timing back there,” he told her, slightly embarrassed.

She knew this was Spike’s way of thanking her for coming to his aid. “You weren’t too shabby yourself. When you rolled that guy over my back and staked him through the side? Very sleek,” she added.

Angel quietly seethed as they walked up to the house. Spike turned to Buffy, an odd look on his face. “What?” she asked.

He leaned in close to her face, intimately, then moved smoothly to the side and plucked a leaf from her hair, brushing her cheek with his hand as he did so.

It was enough. Angel stormed into the house. Buffy looked at Spike, perplexed and he gave her a wink. “Thank me later,” he murmured, leaving Buffy on the front porch, as confused as ever.

She shrugged, confused, and walked into the house. “Everything okay?” Willow asked, rushing to her side.

Angel moved in and grabbed Buffy’s arm, pulling her up the stairs. “We talk, now,” he growled.

“Guess not,” Anya said to Willow as they watched Buffy be virtually dragged up to her bedroom.

Buffy began protesting loudly, struggling against the vampire. “Now,” he snarled again and yanked her up another three steps.

“Hey! Hey! He can’t do that!” Xander cried, running to the bottom of the stairs.

Spike put an arm out, blocking Xander’s way. “Let them be. Angel’s just a bit fired up. They’re just going to,” he cast an eye up the stairs as a door slammed shut, “work some things out.”

Chapter Thirteen: Working Out The Differences
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