DISCLAIMER: The characters of Buffy and company belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, WB, 20^th Century FOX, and probably some more. 

CLAIM: The other characters of Rhianna, Alexia, Solange, Gretchen, Lisa, Grace, and Seraphina belong to me. 

RATING: PG-13 for violence and sexual innuendoes.  Nothing too serious, generally if you can watch the show, you can read this.

Paths of Divergence

To Hunt the Night

The Blood of Evil

A Realm of Shadows

Immortality

Soulmates

Another autumn school morning and Sunnydale was still on the map. Buffy was walking next to Cordelia. She had pounced on the Slayer as soon as she walked onto school grounds, almost as if she had been waiting. Buffy wondered, briefly, what Cordelia was up to, but she decided that predicting Cordelia’s next conversation topic was impossible. It was better not to try.

Buffy glanced around at the students wondering around with Monday morning blues. She asked herself if they had any idea how lucky they were to be alive. Then she pushed that thought away. She had been growing increasing anxious, Sunnydale had been too quiet for too long. Buffy could remember a time when a few weeks of inaction was a time to relax, but now she was too busy waiting for the next disaster to drop into her lap. Sternly, and not for the first time, Buffy told herself to lighten up.

Luckily, Cordelia interrupted any further musings. She had navigated Buffy to an out of the way hallway. And seemed uncomfortable as she searched for words. Buffy was surprised. Cordelia was usually very composed, and almost never at a loss for words.

Finally Cordelia blurted out, "Is there something that would make you give up Angel?"

"Excuse me?" Buffy could not believe Cordelia’s question. She was used to the fact that the girl had no particular desire to be tactful, but that question was rather blunt, even for her. All of her friends had been trying to separate her from Angel for the last month, but this was a very strange way to go about that.

Cordelia looked uncomfortable. "I mean, to save the world, would you sacrifice your relationship with him?"

Buffy was stunned. To make matters worse, she didn’t know what Cordelia was driving at. "Look, Cordelia. What are you trying to ask? You already know the answer to that question."

Cordelia sighed. "It’s the demon, Alex. Or whatever she is calling herself."

"What about her?"

"She is putting together a loyal following from the students."

Buffy’s tone was meant to encourage Cordelia to spit out whatever she was trying to say. "Yes?"

"Why?"

Buffy sighed. The conversation was going nowhere fast. "We have absolutely no idea. Why, have you found something out?"

"No. But, okay, I guess what I am trying to ask is, should one of us stop her?"

Buffy was surprised. "How could one of us stop her?"

Cordelia looked sad for a moment. "I could. If I wanted to."

"I don’t understand."

"If I went back to being what I was, I could find out what she was doing, I could try to stop her, but…"

Buffy understood, finally, "But you couldn’t hang with us losers anymore."

"Yeah."

"And you’d have to leave Xander."

"I know." Cordelia’s expression contained pain. "Is it worth it? I mean, to stop the demon?"

"I don’t know. The only one who can answer that question is you."

School had finished and students were busily scurrying away from the school building. Xander stood next to Cordelia across the street and watched them go. Cordelia had been less then informative when she dragged him here.

"Cordelia, what are we doing out here?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye."

"What?"

Cordelia sighed. The shock in Xander’s voice, and the pain in his eyes, made doing this harder then she had imagined. None the less, she had made up her mind. "You know what Alex has been up to, right?"

"So?"

"Well, I can make a difference, perhaps find out what she is up to. But to do that I have to not hang around Buffy and her crowd."

"But, not hanging with us, that doesn’t mean, I mean, that’s not goodbye."

"Yes it is."

"Why? We hid from our friends before, discretion, right?"

Cordelia wondered why Xander was making this so much harder then it had to be. "It is one thing to hide from friends, it is another thing to hide from a demon."

Xander was definitely not following Cordelia’s logic. "What, you think the demon cares what you do?"

"No. But she can certainly point it out to the crowd."

"Oh."

Xander fell silent, as he realized that there was no way to convince her. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but he knew that he didn’t like it. Cordelia looked at him sadly, and then she resolutely forced herself to say it. "Goodbye."

With one parting look, she turned and walked away.

Xander could only watch her leave.

Angel walked through the early morning. The last two weeks had been very quiet in Sunnydale, and that worried him. Not that he had anything against quiet, but he knew Alec, and he knew that she was up to something. He just wished that he had some idea what that something was.

She was ruthless, and she was obsessive. Angel knew that she wanted him to open the gate for her. He had no idea what was on the other side, but he remembered a conversation with her, long ago, when she had said that she was searching for a way to be whole. Angel had the sinking feeling that whatever was on the other side of the gate would make that happen. And the thought of Alec with more power was terrifying.

He wondered if Alec knew that there was nothing she could do that would make him open that gate.

The wind shifted. Angel caught the sent of blood. He turned and headed toward the source. All of his senses were extended, but as far as he could tell, nothing was around, either demonic or mortal.

Angel saw the body, and as he looked over the scene, his face showed his concern. Something was wrong.

Buffy walked through the early morning darkness. The sky was just beginning to lighten as dawn approached, and she yawned widely as she considered the ungodly hour that she was patrolling at. It had been a standard school night, so Buffy had gotten to sleep shortly after two. And while, as the Slayer, she could function on three hours of sleep, that did not mean that she liked it. Besides, it had always been easier for her to stay up late then to get up early.

Despite the hour, or perhaps because of it, Buffy had her Slayer senses extended, keeping a wary lookout for vampires. Luckily for her, the only vampire that she could feel was currently leading her to a murder sight.

Angel had awakened her and insisted that she examine a corpse before the police found it. The only way they could guarantee that was to go look at it before sunrise. Buffy trusted Angel’s instincts in such matters, which was why she was out at this time of the day. But she did wish that he had not found the body. Or better yet, that there had been no body to find.

Buffy pulled her rambling thoughts together as Angel indicted that they were almost at the scene. The body was clearly visible, lying in the open in the park. The Slayer looked around the site, and then frowned in puzzlement. Something was wrong, she just could not identify what.

The body itself was severely mangled. Either the young woman had put up quite a fight with her attacker, or that attacker had taken sadistic pleasure in ripping her into shreds. Buffy did not recognize the victim, which was a relief. She hated finding dead friends. A closer look at the cuts on the woman’s face showed that what made them looked like claws. Which meant that this was most likely a demon attack, and Angel had been right to drag her out here.

Buffy took another look around the scene. It looked like the woman had been fleeing from her attacker. There were blood splashes in several places on the ground, almost forming a trail. Which meant that the attacker had taken its time in cutting her to pieces.

Finally she looked back at Angel, "Vampires?" Buffy was pretty sure that this was not a vampire attack, but it never hurt to get a second opinion.

Angel shook his head. "I don’t think so. There seems to be no blood missing. And while vampires don’t always feed, this doesn’t really seem like a vampire attack."

"What about Alec?"

Angel shook his head again. "Oh, she could do this. And she loves to kill. But she tends to be subtler in causing pain. She prefers to cause mental torment over a long period of time, drawing out the victims life."

Buffy sighed. A new form of evil, what a surprise on the Hellmouth. And then the Slayer closed her eyes and reached out with her magic. When she opened her eyes a moment later, they were glowing brightly. She looked around the scene, doing a full aura scan. Looking for any traces of what had caused this death.

She quickly confirmed that it wasn’t vampires. Her basic Slayer senses could have told her that, if she had bothered to use them. If it was Alec, then she had covered her tracks exceedingly well. Buffy found a few traces, but they were very hard to isolate.

Angel watched as Buffy scanned the scene. The glow faded from her eyes, and he heard her sigh again. "Well?"

"I don’t know. There is a trace of something. But I could not get a clean enough hold on it to say if it was human or not." Buffy glanced at the lightening sky. She had become adept at gauging the amount of time before sunrise over the summer. "Well, there isn’t anything more I can do here, let’s get home before the sun."

Angel took one more look at the body, and then turned to head back. Buffy also looked over the scene again; something was still bothering her. She was missing something, she knew that, she just did not know what. But something was wrong.

Giles was sitting in the library looking through a large stack of books. He had been searching ever since Buffy had called him this morning with her news. And he was still searching when the Slayer and her two Slayerettes walked in. Giles looked up in greeting.

"So Giles, found anything?" Buffy was confident that her Watcher would find the information she needed. They made a good team, Slayer and Watcher. He would tell her what was out there and how to kill it, and she would Slay it.

Unfortunately, that was not what happened today.

"Yes. Actually, I have found many things." He gestured at the stack of books. "There are many accounts of creatures that hunt and leave bodies like the one you found."

"So which one is it?"

"I have no idea."

"Great."

Giles did not like the fact that he had failed in his duty. "If we could just find some more information, we could narrow it down."

Buffy sighed. "Alright."

Buffy walked through the deserted park. All of her senses were extended. She had no idea where to find this creature, but she knew that she had to find a way. The Slayer had a feeling that it preferred to find solitary victims, so she was hunting in the more deserted parts of Sunnydale.

A scream tore through the night, and it was nearby. Buffy turned and started running. She often wondered why no one else followed screams in this town, but then again it might be a survival mechanism. When living on the mouth of Hell, chasing down screams usually got humans killed.

The Slayer reached the site. A shadow was hunched over the body of a young man. As she approached the shadow stood and turned to face her. Buffy had the impression of black scales and long spindly arms and legs, but the thing that caught her eye, was that the creatures eyes were glowing red. She wondered if that meant she was dealing with a magic user.

The hands that the creature held up were armed with long claws, and the mouth was full of sharp teeth. But Buffy was used to fighting demons, and she moved closer to attack. Closing the distance clearly surprised it, which made sense, since all of its victims were found running. Buffy had no intention of running. She was going to kill it.

The creature slashed at her with claws, but she easily evaded its clumsy swipes. That was interesting. Why would it be attacking so badly? She launched into a series of punches and kicks which were meant to distract the creature. The dead bodies to its account meant that she had to take it seriously, no matter how badly it was fighting.

Then the creature hissed at her in displeasure. And the Slayer finally realized what was wrong. It wanted her to run, so that it could hunt her down. Too bad, she thought. The creature must have realized that that was not going to happen, because it began to attack full force. Buffy decided that it must know how to fight after all, because after a full minute of exchanging blows, neither had gotten a good hit in.

Buffy made a single mistake, a slight miscalculation on the strength of a punch, and the creature managed to slash her arm. The cuts themselves were not deep, and would not hinder her. But as her blood touched the creature she felt something else, something that frightened her.

The Slayer looked at her attacker in panic and reacted instinctively with magic. She poured as much power through herself as she could and aimed it at the creature, trying to push it away. Power exploded from her eyes into its. The creature released her and backed away in pain.

And then it vanished. Buffy looked at the place that it had been in shock. At the moment she was very sensitive to power, a side effect of using that much raw magic. And if the creature had teleported she should have felt it. But it hadn’t, it had just vanished as if it had never been.

Buffy knelt beside the body in the grass. Yet another person she had failed to save. Resolutely, she pushed that thought aside.

She had the same feeling that she had had that morning. Something was wrong. Not that anything could be right with a dead body, but as the Slayer, Buffy had a lot of experience with corpses. And something was definitely wrong with this one. Briefly, she considered the possibility that it might be the host for some evil, something like a newly risen vampire. But a quick aura scan showed that it was only a dead body. Nothing was home.

She replayed her fight in her mind. There had to be a clue somewhere. Buffy remembered the feelings that had caused her to panic and use heavy-duty magic. Very few of the things that she had faced could panic her into a blind reaction. She remembered the feeling as it tried to pull something from her. Something that she didn’t want to lose. Something that she valued above all else.

Her soul.

Buffy’s first thought was, Oh my God.

She knew it was an intuitive leap, but she trusted her instincts. As the Slayer, they were seldom wrong. Buffy might not know the necessary search spells to show her if the soul housed in the dead body had moved on to its final resting place, or if it had been stolen. But she was sure what those spells would have shown.

Buffy walked back into the library. Another morning, and she was still breathing. Normally, she did not think that as she walked into school, but the previous night had been rough.

There were very few things that terrified her. As the Slayer, she was constantly facing monsters and demons out of people’s worst nightmares. She might feel fear occasionally, but she had rarely felt paralyzing terror. Yet, whenever she thought about that creature trying to pull her soul out of her body, she was terrified.

Her duty had drawn her into patrolling for the rest of the night, besides she had not wanted to sleep. But she had taken Angel with her. She had not particularly wanted to face that creature alone.

Buffy had resigned herself to living without passion, or at least to denying its existence. She knew that it was a temporary solution, but at the moment it was working. She had not, however, realized, until last night, that she would also have to live without comfort. More then anything else, she had wanted Angel to hold her and tell her that everything would be okay. It would have been a lie, but it would have made her feel better. But that had been out of the question.

The Slayer found her Watcher in the library.

Buffy finished her recounting to Giles. She had been joined by the two Slayerettes. Xander seemed a little depressed, but given the situation with Cordelia, that was not terribly surprising.

"So that’s about it."

"Your soul?" Giles was still in shock.

"Yes, my soul. I know it sounds crazy, but I am sure that was it."

Willow saw the haunted look in her friend’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what to do about it though.

Giles was trying to get more information. "Willow, can you look up the locations of all murders that match this creature’s patterns?"

Willow headed towards the computer. "Um, I don’t think a missing soul is gonna show up on the corner’s report."

"No, of course not, but from what Buffy said, this creature is also, um…"

"Shredding its victims?" Xander offered helpfully.

"Yes. Exactly."

Willow had reached the computer. "Okay."

Buffy thought for another moment, "I guess I’ll get a second opinion." She pulled a blade out from one of her boots.

Xander looked at her warily. "You know, Buffy, I don’t think they allow switchblades in school, much less that." He pointed at the six-inch blade.

Buffy shrugged. "You know, Xander, I don’t really care."

Xander shook his head. Buffy was beginning to come around, but she still wasn’t her old self, yet. Of course, she might not ever be her old self again. He mourned that fact, and he blamed Angel for it.

If he knew the full truth, he would blame Angel even more.

Buffy made a careful slice on her left thumb, and then replaced the blade in her boot. She held her crystal earring with her bloody hand, and closed her eyes in concentration.

Giles watched in fascination. She had told him about this, of course, but he had never seen it. Willow never even looked up from her computer raiding.

Buffy stirred from her trance a few minutes later. Her eyes were distant, and she appeared lost in her own thoughts.

Giles gave her a moment to recover and then, "Well?"

Buffy looked up in surprise. "Oh. Anna thinks that this, hunter, is from a realm that is very close to ours."

"Why?"

"Because of the way it disappeared. It had to have retreated into another realm for me to loose contact with it like that. And creatures from the mortal world don’t have that ability naturally. And I saw no signs of magic use."

"So, now what?"

Buffy smiled. "Now I track it down." Her smile was not pretty. "Anna showed me a spell that should be able to identify where it came from."

Buffy cast her spell, while the group watched. Willow finished up her computer search and showed the results to Giles. Giles himself was more interested in watching his Slayer. Even though it was a very boring spell to watch, since Buffy just sat there with her eyes closed as she concentrated on visions, the only sign of her power usage was the steady glow of her earring.

And then her eyes opened. "I located its realm." Buffy frowned; it was hard to translate psychic impressions into words. It was a problem that she hadn’t faced before. "The places that it has crossed the, um, barrier, are pretty clear too." Buffy shook her head, wishing she could have seen clearer. "I think I found the place where it first crossed, and there are signs of, um, tampering."

"As if an outside force interfered?"

Buffy was grateful for her Watcher’s sharpness. "Yes. Exactly, It’s as if that force first brought it into this realm. And after that, it could go back and forth whenever it wanted to."

Giles decided that it was time for a plan. "Okay. We have two problems." Now was the time to be rational. "One, this creature, hunter, whatever, can phase." At the looks of incomprehension from the group, he tried rephrasing. "Escape back to its own realm when it is danger."

Buffy nodded her head in agreement. "And two, we don’t know where to find it."

"Precisely."

The Slayer thought about that for a moment. "Alright, I’ll deal with the phasing part, you try and figure out a way to summon it."

Giles thought this through. "I have a few leads."

Buffy cut him off before he could ramble about books. "Good, go at it." She made a few shooing motions towards the books.

Before he could head into the depths of the stacks, Willow spoke up. "We may have another problem."

"What’s that, Will?"

"You said that there were signs of outside interference?"

"Yep."

"Any indications of who?"

Buffy looked grim, "No, but I have a pretty good guess."

Xander entered the conversation. "Alec."

"That’s my guess."

Willow continued her explanation, "But that’s my point. If Alec brought this, thing, here, won’t she try and stop us from killing it?"

"She hasn’t done anything like that before, but no one knows how she’ll react."

As Willow searched for a tactful way to speak her point, Xander barged strait ahead. "How do we fight a demon and a vampire?" Willow glared at him, but it was hard to rebuke him, since she had wanted to ask the same question, if in a slightly different fashion.

Buffy was annoyed. "Shut up, Xander." She turned to look at her Watcher. Giles could see the pain of choice on her face, and he realized that Anna had already given her the answer to Xander’s question, she just did not know what to do with that answer.

Buffy informed Angel about the new information after school. She also told him what she had learned from Anna. "Anna told me there is a way to protect you. But it will change you. It will change us both."

Angel looked at her seriously, but his eyes were full of emotions that she could not identify. "Does that frighten you?"

"No." Buffy sighed, and admitted the truth. "Yes. I am scared. I don’t know how to make this choice. Danger in all directions."

Angel half-smiled, and then laid one hand on her cheek. That hand was cold to the touch, but she took comfort from it anyway. "We change when we love. Do you know that everything that I am is because of you?"

"What?"

Angel smiled at her tone. "It’s true." He had not meant to tell her this today. In fact, he had not been sure he would ever tell her. But she seemed so confused that he had to try something. "When my soul was first restored to me I withdrew from the world. I couldn’t handle what I had been, and I saw no way to make up for it. So I just did nothing and felt guilty. Eventually, Whistler found me, and told me I had a choice."

"A choice?"

"Yes, a choice. I could stay what I was, or I could become someone." Angel smiled at the memory. "He took me to see you, in LA." Buffy’s expression was surprised, as far as she knew they had first met in Sunnydale. "I saw you when you were Called." Buffy remembered that time. She remembered how hard those changes had felt. She wished that they had been the hardest changes she had faced, but it seemed her life as the Slayer meant she was always adjusting to harder and harder changes.

Angel saw the wistfulness on her face. He knew she was wishing she lived in a simpler time. Angel finished his story. She needed to hear it. "I took one look at your face and I knew that I would do anything to help you. And so I became what I am, for you."

Buffy thought about this for awhile. She understood his behavior when she had first met him a little better. Why he had been drawn to her, and why he had helped her, despite the fact that she was a Slayer.

She finally asked, "How do we make this choice?"

"We are walking a tightrope, Buffy. And life is never easy when constant balancing is required."

Buffy knew that he spoke the truth. But did it make her choice easier? She realized that it did. She needed his help in order to defeat the hunter. And if Alec showed up, she would need his help with the demon. If she could see the problems further down the road, then at least she would still be alive to deal with them. That was all that mattered, surviving to face the next problem. "Alright, I think this is our best shot. What about you?"

"Yes."

Buffy returned to the library. There was still another hour before sunset. But she had a lot of things to set up before they could destroy the hunter. The sooner they could take it out, the fewer people it would kill.

Giles was reading one of his reference books, but he looked up as the Slayer walked in. Buffy took one glance around the room, assuring herself of privacy, before she asked her question. "Do you know how to summon it?"

"I think so." Giles was not sure, but he knew that this needed to happen as soon as possible.

"Okay. We’ll summon and kill it tonight."

"How?"

Buffy shared her plan. "I’ll fight it in its realm, and Angel can fight it here."

Giles had some concerns with this plan. "Do you know how to get into its realm?" It was his lesser concern, but it was still a concern.

"Not yet, but Anna can tell me. I’ll ask her when I go home. We have to wait until after dark to summon it, anyway."

He was not surprised by this comment. The creature hunted only at night, after all. However, he still had another concern. "Can we trust Angel?"

Buffy’s voice was hard as she answered, "You worry about summoning, I’ll worry about Angel." She clearly would take no more arguments along those lines.

Buffy stood alone. She was surrounded by light. Dimly she could make out the shape of crystal walls. In the center of the room glowed a burning red vortex. Buffy hated to see it. She knew the powers of such portals, and the knowledge that one lay under her control was frightening. A figure of light formed before her. For a moment the figure looked into the gate to Hell, and then the light faded.

Rhianna turned to greet the Slayer. "Hello, Buffy."

"Hello, Anna."

"Well?"

"We’re gonna try it." Buffy sighed. "It will make things harder, but life will never be easy for us."

"I understand. Do you want instructions?"

Buffy gave her friend a crooked smile. "That’s why I’m here." Anna nodded her head and a beam of light shot from her hands and engulfed the Slayer. Buffy bathed in the light as the knowledge she needed was transferred to her.

When it was finished, Anna studied her friend for a moment. "I would like to meet him."

"What?" Buffy was shocked.

"When you are done, bring him here. I want to meet him."

Buffy was confused. "I don’t understand."

Anna suddenly realized that Buffy did not know everything. "Your will be close enough that you can bring him here. And close enough that you will be able to use some of your magic through him."

Buffy was stunned. She had not imagined that such a thing was possible. And then she smiled. It would make her Slaying easier, and Anna deserved to meet Angel. "Alright. I’ll bring him."

The room dissolved into light.

Buffy opened her eyes. She was kneeling in the center of her power circle. Buffy wondered how long she had been gone; a quick glance at a clock showed that it had been over an hour and a half, and it was now after sunset. Too long, on this night.

The Slayer reached out with her senses, searching for one vampire. Angel was not in the immediate vicinity. She swore under her breath, and then forced herself to stay calm. Buffy thought for a moment, and then concentrated all her Slayer senses on her ring. Through it, she could dimly sense Angel. But at least she now had a direction to follow.

Buffy was about to head out the door, when she realized that time was of the essence, and she needed weapons. Most of the stuff she had in the house was for vampires, but it was better then nothing. She quickly gathered up as many stakes as she could hide on her person. She had a pair of throwing knives that she stashed in her boots, and a single long blade that she hid down the back of her neck. She grabbed a couple of vials of holy water, and then headed out the door in a run.

The Slayer tracked down Angel. He was standing over the body of a high school aged girl. Buffy tried not to look at the face; she definitely did not want to recognize someone. There would be time enough for grief after vengeance. Another road she had often traveled: destroy first, grieve later.

Buffy’s words came out more sharply then she had intended, "What are you doing here?"

Angel looked at her in surprise. "I heard the screams, but the hunter was already gone before I got here."

"Why were you trying to battle it? You know we have to fight it together."

Angel could not understand the depths of the worry in her voice. After all, she had fought the thing once. And then he realized it. If she or one of the Slayerettes lost their soul to the creature they would die, but that was not necessarily true for him.

Buffy visibly pulled herself together. Arguments were also something that could wait until the danger was over. "Alright, it doesn’t matter." She sighed and looked around, doing a quick scan. They were alone. "I have everything I need. Are you ready for this?" Buffy was not sure if she was, but it needed to be done before they went into battle.

Angel just nodded his head.

Buffy took off her ring, and Angel handed the Slayer his. She held them together between her hands, and then she concentrated hard. The two were enveloped in a ball of glowing light. She slowly spread her hands apart, leaving the ring suspended in the light. It was a harder spell then the original one that Anna had used on her ring, because she also had to wipe that previous spell out.

The glow began to fade, or perhaps it was better to say that the glow sank into the rings. And then that glow vanished and the rings separated one landed in Buffy’s right palm and the other in Angel’s.

Buffy used one of her knives to carefully prick one finger. She allowed a single drop of her blood to fall on the ring that she held. She looked up at Angel. He was watching her intently. She smiled in reassurance, and then handed him the blade.

Angel carefully mirrored her actions. And then he held out the ring to her. Buffy gravely accepted the gift, and then she returned the other ring to him. Both put the rings back on.

Buffy knew that the spell had been set, it just needed to be sealed. But she was frightened. Her only love was a vampire. Most of the time, she ignored that fact, but at this moment it was all she could think of.

Angel watched her compassionately. He knew what thoughts were going through her head, and truth be told, he had a few doubts of his own. The blood of a demon was nothing to play around with.

Buffy gave a metal shrug, it was stupid to try and back out now. The spell was already in place. She looked at the blood on her ring for another moment, and then raised her left hand to her mouth. It didn’t taste like blood, or at least not the blood that she had tasted when she sucked on a paper cut. In fact, for the first moment it did not taste like anything at all. And then it burned. It was a cold so intense that it burned. Buffy shivered in response to the wave of cold fire that swept through her. She could feel change.

But what she felt most of all, were the emotions that existed on the surface of Angel’s mind. Concern, fear, and love. And then she felt those emotions change as he felt her own emotions. Buffy had no previous experience to compare it to. She knew that from this moment on she would always be able to feel his surface emotions, and that he would be able to feel hers.

The Slayer looked at the ring she was wearing. Once again she could see the pulse of light, the echo of a predator’s heartbeat. Buffy looked over at Angel, and on his ring, she could faintly make out the pulsing glow in the rhythm of her own heartbeat. If she trusted Anna, Angel was now protected from Alec’s direct control. Her own soul would act as a shield.

Across the newly widened link, Buffy could feel Angel’s shock and awe. Feelings that she echoed. The changes were staggering to think about.

Buffy knew that she would adjust to the changes. In a few days she doubted she would be even aware of them. But she did not have a few days; she had a fight to the death this very night. Buffy’s life as the Slayer had taught her that the second rule of Slaying was: Adjust Fast.

Angel and Buffy recovered enough from their shock to move on with the evening’s plans. The two headed towards the library at a full run.

Giles stood in the library facing two Slayerettes. They were dividing up weaponry. The Watcher was a little concerned about that. The Slayer was trained in the uses of such equipment, and there was a vast difference between a stake and a crossbow. Unfortunately, everyone was going to be fighting a very nasty creature this evening and although a stake through the heart might kill it, it was going to be very hard to stake. Luckily, the teenagers seemed to be sticking to simple things, quarter staves and knives, mostly.

He was also worried about Buffy. It was nearly two hours after sunset, and she had promised to meet them in the library. He hoped that she had gotten enough information from Rhianna so that she could fight the hunter in its own realm. But he could not know that until she showed up.

Giles heard a sound behind, and he turned to the library doors. Buffy stood before them. She was dressed all in tight black clothing and her hair was tied up. Angel stood behind her. As always, Giles felt a pang at the sight of the vampire. He knew that the other teenagers also felt the same, but they all pushed the feeling away. They were about to do some serious fighting, and Angel would be very useful.

Buffy saw the collection of weaponry on the table and decided to do some upgrading. She would not be fighting vampires this night. The Slayer walked to the table and replaced most of her stakes with knives.

The Watcher examined his Slayer carefully. There was something different about her; he just could not pin it down. He watched as Buffy took a look at the weapons that the Slayerettes had appropriated. She looked concerned for a moment and then spoke determinedly, "Good," and she nodded at their weapons.

Buffy picked up a pair of swords. She examined them carefully, and then she tossed one to Angel. Angel caught the sword, and then looked a question at the Slayer. Buffy just smiled in response.

Giles, however, noticed the glow of her ring pulse brighter for a moment. He realized, then, that Buffy had taken Anna’s advice. She had protected Angel with her own soul. The two were closer then they had ever been, close enough that they could send each other their thoughts. Which was, probably, a good thing in this situation, but it was also extremely dangerous. Giles knew that his Slayer was racing down the course that Anna had set. He knew where that course would leave her, but he did not know how to stop it. Giles also realized that the Slayerettes had missed the implications of the ring flash. But he did not feel like telling them about it. They would find out soon enough.

Buffy looked up from her preparations and spoke to the Slayerettes. "Alright, this is the plan. Giles summons this thing." Giles nodded his head in agreement. "Angel and you guys will fight it here. I will deal with it in its realm. Don’t let it touch you, we have no idea how quickly it can suck out your soul."

The Slayerettes agreed together. And Buffy turned back to glance at Angel. Whatever they said obviously reassured her.

Xander carefully walked up to Buffy. She was frowning in concentration. "So now what?"

"Now I step into the other dimension, and then we fight it in both realms." Buffy answered the question almost absently. She was looking around the room.

Angel could feel her worry. "What is it?"

Buffy turned to face him, as she struggled to put her thoughts into words. "I’m not sure I should cross here."

Angel was confused for a moment, and then he realized where they were standing. "The Hellmouth."

"Yeah. I think that I’ll cross at home. See you soon." Buffy turned and walked out the library doors.

The Slayerettes just watched her leave. And then they turned to regard the vampire suspiciously. Angel returned their looks blandly.

Buffy wandered through a desolate landscape. Over a year of patrolling allowed her to identify Sunnydale’s streets, but she knew that she was not in Sunnydale. Or at least, she was not completely in Sunnydale. Everything was dark, and nothing seemed to be alive. A cold wind chilled her to the bone. Buffy hurried up; she needed to get to the library.

As Buffy walked up the stairs to the school entrance she passed someone walking out of the school. She could not tell who it was. He appeared as a dark figure that glowed from the inside. With a start of shock, Buffy realized what she was seeing. She was seeing the soul shinning through flesh. No wonder a creature from this dimension hunted souls, if she came from this cold and dark realm, she would do anything for that light. Buffy hurried on. She wanted to escape from this place as soon as she could.

Sunnydale High’s janitor walked down the front steps. He never even noticed as he passed Buffy. She was less than a shadow in the mortal realm.

Buffy walked through the archway that replaced the front doors of Sunnydale High in this realm. She realized that many of the doors in the town had not been present as she walked by them. But some had. Somehow, she knew that a creature from this dimension would not be able to open those closed doors. Briefly, she wondered why those doors had been closed. But that knowledge was not important, and she headed towards the library.

The halls of the school were both familiar and alien. The basic layout was the same, but they were filled by strange shifting shadows. The light sources seemed to be moving. Nothing seemed to be alive in this realm, but she knew that there were other hunters, like the one that had been hunting in the mortal realm. She kept a wary eye out as she navigated towards the library.

Her encounter with the janitor had given her reason to expect what she found in the library, but it was still surprising. The three glowing shapes that marked her friends were clearly visible. But what shocked her was Angel. She had no idea how she identified him so quickly, but his soul was a part of her now. The glow that marked his soul was bright. Much brighter then the other three. She wondered briefly if it glowed so much brighter because of the darkness it lived in.

Buffy pulled herself together. Angel had sensed her shock and was reacting to it. There would be a time to think after the fighting was over. She pulsed her thoughts to him, I’m in place. Angel sent back a query, but she refused to answer. The only thing that she told him was that the hunter would attack him first. He needed that warning.

There would be time to talk about souls later.

"Alright, she’s in place." Angel said the words calmly. He turned to look at Giles, to ask him to begin, but Xander cut him off.

"Wait, how do you know?"

Angel looked at Xander. He was annoyed at both the tone and the time a conversation would waste. "She told me."

Xander was not ready to believe that. "How?"

Angel turned to look at Giles again, surprise on his face. "You didn’t tell them?"

"It wasn’t mine to tell them. It’s her life, and yours."

Angel sighed. This was not the right time to get into this. "Buffy shielded me from Alec’s control. A side effect is that we can send each other thoughts."

Xander was not satisfied. "How?"

Angel’s voice hardened. He was willing to put up with quite a bit from these two, but not when the stakes were life and death. "Listen we don’t have time for this. Giles, start the spell." He turned to regard the two Slayerettes. "You two get ready. We can all fight later." And then he smiled as Buffy sent one more message. "She says to be careful."

Willow and Xander took up position on the far side of the library. They stayed together, so that they could guard each other, but they were mainly present for distraction. If they could get a clean shot at its back they were supposed to take it, otherwise they were just supposed to stay alive.

Giles just nodded and began the necessary incantations.

Buffy carefully walked around the room. Until Giles summoned the creature, and Angel told her its location, she would not know where it would appear. She was also feeling increasingly nervous. It was like feeling other people watching her, but no matter how hard she looked she could not find any trace of other presences. But her Slayer senses were warning her of danger. For once, she wished they would shut up.

She thought she heard a noise and as she whirled to face it she missed the sight of glowing red eyes opening to regard her back, before they vanished from view.

A shadow appeared in the circle that Giles was using as a focus. Angel got his first look at the hunter. And for a moment, surprise clouded his reactions. He had seen such a creature before, or not seen it, but something like it. The form was different, but something about its essence was familiar. And then Angel remembered. He remembered the creatures that Alec had called children. Her shadow slaves. He had only seen them once, but this hunter appeared to be of the same type.

Angel’s moment of hesitation allowed the hunter to attack the victim nearest it. It slammed into Giles knocking him to the ground, and knocking the wind out of him. Angel shook himself free of his memories, and blurred forward. Despite his speed he knew that he would not be able to reach the creature before it could further hurt the Watcher.

The hunter, however, heard Angel move and looked up in surprise. The creature saw the brightness of the vampire’s soul, and immediately forgot the Watcher at its feet. As Buffy had predicted, the creature’s first move was to attack Angel.

Angel had no intention of letting the creature touch him. The sword that Buffy had thrown him gave him the advantage of reach, and he used it. Although the sword strokes bounced off the hunter’s scales, the force of the blows still seemed to have an effect, even if it was minor. Angel decided that a club would have been a better choice. Unfortunately, he did not have time to change weapons.

Although none of the blows were serious, the creature phased away in order to evaluate the situation. It did not like surprises.

Buffy saw the hunter phase into existence. She attacked immediately, not wanting it to recover from the change in location. Unfortunately, it did not seem to need much time to recover, even if it was very unhappy to have company waiting for it.

The Slayer used her sword to slash at it, and retreated from its blows. She had the feeling that she could get in better blows if she used punches, but she definitely wanted the longer reach in this fight. She had no intention of losing her soul because of stupidity.

One good solid blow sent the creature reeling. Buffy knew that its scales were proof against the sword, but she backed it up even further with a solid kick to its face. And then she pulled her best throwing knife from her boot and threw it at the hunter’s face.

As the blade sliced through the air, the creature vanished. It had phased back into the mortal realm.

Although Angel was prepared for the creature to reappear, he had underestimated how quickly it could function after phasing. Before he could move to attack the hunter was already in motion.

The hunter slashed at his arm. Angel was just a split second too late at dodging, and his blood touched the creature’s claws. And then he felt it, just as Buffy had described, he felt it attempt to swallow his soul.

Before Angel found out if the curse was proof against a soul-eating demon, Xander drove a knife into the creature’s back. The weapon did not penetrate very far, but it did distract the hunter enough for Angel to throw it off of him. Xander himself quickly retreated as the vampire and the hunter resumed their conflict.

Angel sent Buffy a constant update on the hunter’s current position, as he fought it. It was very distracting, but it would allow her to be in position. He had help in this fight, Buffy did not. The fight itself was pretty equal. Neither could get in a good blow. Unfortunately, the hunter could survive a single blow; Angel was not too sure that he could.

However, Angel had underestimated the Slayerettes. They ran forward together and attacked with quarterstaves the next time the fight turned the hunter’s back to them. The hunter turned to face the Slayerettes, who immediately backed away from it; they had no intention of getting slashed.

Angel took advantage of the hunter’s distraction to reverse his sword and give it a good blow to the head. The hunter phased away from the pain.

Buffy was waiting as the creature phased. Her blow was already in motion when it appeared. She used her long blade to pierce at the hunter’s throat. If the creature had been human it would have died. But although the blow opened up the throat and left her knife embedded in it, no blood was shed. Buffy briefly wondered if the creature had blood. However, the blow did force the hunter to phase away from her. Buffy watched her blade fall to the ground.

As Angel had hoped, the hunter phased back to him immediately. It meant that Buffy had been in position. He hit it at full strength in the side of the head. If it had been human, the blow would have crushed its skull and snapped its neck. But it wasn’t. Even so, Angel could see that it was in severe pain as it phased away from him.

Buffy watched as the hunter phased back to her, in order to escape Angel’s attack. This phase was extremely slow, and she could see that it was reeling from Angel’s last blow.

The Slayer had all the time she needed for her strike. A single sword thrust to its heart. A scream of pain and rage filled the room. Buffy wondered if it was vocal or psychic, but it did not matter.

The hunter attempted to phase away from the source of its pain, but as it disappeared from the realm, it dragged Buffy’s sword with it. Despite its escape, Buffy knew that it was mortally wounded. She just hoped that it would do no more damage before it died.

Angel watched as the hunter phased back into the mortal realm. Buffy’s sword was embedded in its chest, and as he watched, the creature collapsed to the ground, and stopped moving.

Willow moved forward to study the fallen hunter.

"Don’t touch it."

Willow looked back at Angel in surprise. The slashes on his arm were already beginning to heal. "Why not?"

"Just don’t." Angel turned to look at Giles, who was climbing to his feet. "Does sunlight touch this spot?"

"Yes."

Angel nodded his head. "Good. That should destroy it for good."

"What?"

Angel looked at Giles in surprise. He had thought that the Watcher would have identified the creature’s type. "It was one of the shadow breed."

Giles instantly realized what that meant. "Oh my."

Buffy looked around the room carefully. Angel had said that the hunter was dead, but something still seemed wrong. The shadow library still looked the same as it had when she entered.

She turned to examine the glowing shapes of her friends. The glows seemed stable, which probably meant that they were safe. Besides, she reassured herself, Angel would have told her if someone had been hurt.

And then it hit her. The glows were brighter.

Which brought up another concern, Buffy knew where the Hellmouth was located. She concentrated hard, and sure enough she could just barely see a faint red light seeping through the floor. Which meant that the Hellmouth’s energies could be accessed from another realm. Which was definitely not a good thing. Sealing this realm had just become critical.

"Giles." Giles looked up from studying the creature. Angel’s eyes were distant, as if he was looking across the realms. Giles saw that his ring was glowing. "Do you know how to seal that realm?"

Giles was surprised. "I don’t understand."

Angel’s gaze focused on the Watcher. "Buffy says that the entire dimension has a very thin barrier with this one. Creatures from that realm can see us." Angel looked as if he was going to add something, but changed his mind. "She says that where the hunter crossed the barrier is weaker. In order to prevent any more crossovers she wants the entire barrier strengthened. So, do you know how to?"

Giles thought about it for a moment or two. "Yes. But it will also stop anyone from crossing that barrier."

"Okay. Tell me how."

"But, who is going to seal it?"

"Buffy."

"But, how will she get out?"

Angel looked surprised by the question. "She’ll teleport."

"But…"

Angel sighed. "She can always teleport to me, now."

Giles took that comment in silence.

Buffy stared into the depths of her glowing ring, listening as Angel repeated Giles’s instructions. She hoped that he did not feel like a medium, although she was beginning to feel like a ghost haunting her friends.

When the translation was complete, Buffy sent Angel a wordless pulse of gratitude. Angel returned her a pulse of love. Both ignored the overtone of longing in each other’s emotions. The glow of her ring faded back to the pulse of his heartbeat, and Buffy sighed in pain.

Buffy concentrated on finding the barrier between the realms. When she had a firm hold of it, mentally, she began to cast the sealing spell. Buffy wished that she could get Anna’s help for the spell, but she knew, instinctively, that she was better off not involving any other realms.

The Slayer’s earring began to glow to be swiftly joined by her glowing eyes. She concentrated on the space between her hands, a space that was soon filled by a dark mist. The mist began to unravel, and a single thread extended outwards. The dark thread began to dance across the room, and in fact, the entire realm.

The luminous shapes of human souls began to fade from sight.

The library was quiet. Angel was collecting discarded weaponry, carefully checking each piece he picked up for necessary repair work. The Slayerettes were sitting at the table, recovering. Giles was packing up the ingredients used in the summoning spell.

The library doors opened. A demon walked onto the battlefield. In the months since she had arrived on the Hellmouth, Alec had not made a single move to attack any one of them, but her expression was not amused. She walked over to the fallen hunter and gave it a once over. Then she looked up and glared at Angel.

The Slayerettes slowly rose to their feet and backed away from the demon. But Angel only dropped the knives that he had been holding and regarded the demon calmly.

"Your Slayer has left you alone. I am surprised that she trusts you."

"Buffy trusts me."

The Slayerettes made a move to enter the conversation, but Giles motioned them to stop moving. He realized that this confrontation was taking place on more than one level, and he did not want to upset the balance of power.

"Really? I would have thought that you have proven untrustworthy."

Angel smiled in response. "Just try it."

The demon glared at the vampire for almost thirty seconds. "What!"

Angel’s smile grew. He held up his right hand. Alec saw the ring, and the heartbeat that was formed of light. A mortal rhythm. She understood what had happened. Angel’s taunt validated her analysis. "A gift of love."

Alec hissed in response. And then she turned on the Slayerettes. Her eyes began to glow red, her fingernails lengthened into claws, and her fangs were clearly visible. In less then a second she no longer looked human. And yet, she did not look as demonic as many of the other creatures that the Slayerettes had fought. Hers was a very subtle evil.

The demon looked around the library carefully. Angel stood in front of her, separated by almost five feet. The students were huddled against the wall to her right. The Watcher was backing into his storage room. She guessed that he was looking for weaponry. She wished him luck. No mortal weapon could hurt her. Alec allowed no trace of her thoughts to show on her face, and then in a single blur of movement she rushed forward to kill the children.

But Angel had seen her start moving, and he was nearly as quick as she was. He managed to tackle her before she reached the mortals. The two demons fell to the ground together. Alec was careful not to hurt him. This was not the time for that, yet. But she was surprised to see him wear his human features. Was he unaware of the fact that her blood gave him power?

Buffy looked around the realm in despair. Angel had informed her of the events in the mortal realm, but she still needed time to complete the sealing spell. Her instincts screamed at her to go to her friends and her love. She was not used to leaving them in danger, not when she had the power to help them. But this would be her only chance to seal this dimension off from her own. That needed to be done also.

As Rhianna constantly told her, sometimes there were no right choices.

And then Buffy forced herself to remain calm. The sealing was close to being finished. And Alec would not hurt Angel because she wanted him, so he was safe. Angel would not allow the demon to hurt her friends, so they would be safe too.

Therefore, her duty lay in finishing the sealing spell. She sent Angel the estimated time to finish her spell and a plea to keep her friends safe. Buffy felt him acknowledge her message, and then focus his full attention to the demon.

Buffy heard a whisper of a sound behind her. She whirled to face it. A single shadow blended out of the darkness. It had glowing red eyes.

Buffy concentrated on the spell. She needed to finish it as soon as possible.

Angel managed to toss the demon off of him. He knew that she was not fighting him at anything near her full strength. He wondered at that decision. But he was grateful for it. The longer she waited the better chance that Buffy would get here in time to help him.

The vampire climbed to his feet to face the demon as she climbed to hers.

Alec watched Angel with wary fascination. "Why do you fight to protect them? They are only human."

"They are friends."

"Really? I have been here for a few months, and they have never seemed very friendly towards you."

"They are still friends."

"Why?"

Alec seemed truly curious, and so Angel told her the truth. "Because they are hers."

The demon absorbed this information for a couple of heartbeats, and then she made another move to attack the mortals that were clustered together, but Angel moved to stand in her way. He did not attack, but his posture showed that if she attempted to move past him, he would. "You won’t hurt me." Angel was confident of this point.

But Alec only smiled. "I never said that." Her voice was almost dreamy as she continued, "Oh, I plan on hurting you." Her smile grew. "I just won’t kill you. My blood makes you so very hard to kill." The demon laughed as she faced the vampire. "Which is a very good thing, for me."

Angel was silent as he faced down the demon from his past.

The Slayerettes finally realized that they were not the true targets of the demon’s attention. They backed away from the looming conflict. Neither of them knew a way to affect the outcome, and neither wanted to be hurt.

Alec rushed the vampire in a blur of motion. Before Angel could react her claws ripped at his left shoulder, leaving bloody slashes. The pain of the wounds and his hatred of the demon shredded at his control, and he allowed his vampiric features to show. Besides, Angel knew from past experience that mortal weapons could not hurt the demon, he just hoped that demonic ones could.

The demon continued to attack with lightning slashes. Angel vainly tried to intercept them, but he was less then successful. Alec’s claws continued to slash at him from all directions. At last, Angel turned into her claws, slowing her down enough that he managed to slash at her.

As the two parted Angel saw blood on Alec’s arm. His claws had hurt the demon. It was a paltry response to the deep gash she had opened in the last encounter, but if Alec could be hurt, then she could be defeated.

Alec glanced from the blood on her left arm to the understanding on Angel’s face, and she realized that Angel had finally realized the truth of his lineage. She rushed him again, but with a different purpose in mind. Using her superior strength, she managed to tackle him and grab hold of his arms. For a moment the two of them stared into each other’s eyes from inches apart.

Angel’s pain came to Buffy across the link. She had just finished the sealing spell, and she could no longer see the glowing shapes of human souls. The Slayer had also gained an audience. Nearly a dozen shadows were grouped by the only entrance to the library. Buffy guessed that they would attack her when she wanted to leave, or when their numbers grew. She sensed their hatred. After all, she had taken the only thing of light from their world. Oh well, they would just have to live with it.

Buffy knew that Alec was hurting Angel. She also knew that the teleport was going to take her time. Teleportation across realms was very difficult, even though she had an anchor in Angel.

The Slayer decided she had to help him. She concentrated all of her magic into raw balls of psychic energy, and then she threw the energy to her love. Buffy hoped it would work, but she could think of nothing else to do.

Buffy turned to face the shadows. As she started her teleport, the shadows backed away from her steadily glowing eyes.

Angel felt Buffy’s desperation, and sensed her plan. The magic she threw him burned, but he was able to direct it. It exploded from each hand into Alec’s face. Most of its force dissipated on the demon’s shields, but it still threw the demon across the room. Angel clamored back to his feet and rushed her, attempting to take advantage of her distraction. Unfortunately, Alec had recovered enough to meet his attack head on, and the two continued to exchange glancing claw attacks.

None the less, the magic attack appeared to weaken her. She seemed slightly tired, and slightly slower.

Buffy appeared behind the demon. She had been following the situation through Angel, and as she recovered from the teleport, she threw the pair of knives that she had been holding ready.

Both knives flew at the demon’s unprotected back, and both vanished as they annihilated themselves against the shields that the demon had covering herself. Buffy was not surprised. But the moment of hesitation for the demon, as she located the source of her new danger, allowed Angel to throw the demon away from him.

Before the demon could get to her feet, Buffy ran forward and opened a vial of holy water on her. She was not sure that it would have any affect on the demon, Angel had specifically said that he had never seen anything hurt Alec. But Buffy saw the slashes on her arms, and realized that Angel had managed to hurt her. Thus, the holy water was worth a try.

Her hope was extinguished as she saw the liquid run down the demons face. Alec only smiled as she identified what the Slayer had done, and then she jumped to her feet and reached out to grab Buffy by the throat.

Buffy fought the hold, but before she could do anything about it, the demon tossed her into a wall, the demon’s claws left scratches on her neck. Luckily, they all were shallow.

Alec turned back to Angel just as he was climbing to his feet.

Angel moved forward warily, looking for an opening to exploit. Before he could make a move to attack, Alec blurred forward and clawed at him. Angel felt blood run from the slashes on his side, but the wounds were not serious. He tried to claw at the demon in return, but she danced out of his way before he could hurt her.

Buffy pushed off the library wall and used a quick spin kick to knock Alec off balance. The demon recovered as the Slayer closed the distance to throw a few punches at her face. Alec easily caught the first punch, and used the hold to deliver a backhanded slap that sent Buffy reeling to the floor. And then she turned in time to intercept Angel’s attack.

Buffy realized that demon was both faster and stronger than either of them. She only hoped that numbers would make a difference.

Buffy was breathing hard and she shook her head to clear her vision. The demon’s last blow had momentarily stunned her. Alec also looked tired, but Buffy had no idea if she actually was, or if it was just a ploy. Buffy pulsed a message to Angel, since she did not particularly want Alec overhearing a planning session, So how do we kill it?

Angel moved to circle the demon to the left, and Buffy mirrored his motions to the right. Alec allowed them to circle her, and she kept her eyes on Angel. Which made sense, given that Angel seemed to be the only one able to hurt her. Angel sent her back his reply; I have no idea.

"Great. What about blood loss?" Buffy knew the question would be painful, but she did not have time to be subtle.

The Slayer had underestimated her love. Like her, Angel was completely focused on mayhem, which did not allow him time to regret his nature. I don’t think so. He answered slowly, as he considered the option. Her blood is not a good thing to be playing around with.

Okay. Well, keep your mind open. Buffy summoned enough magic to be able to see Alec’s shields. She had used a lot of magic this night, and even sight was beginning to hurt, but she also had no choices.

Giles slowly aimed the crossbow he had reacquired at the demon. He had watched Buffy’s knives go up in flames, but he had treated this bolt with holy water. He hoped it would make a difference. He had not seen the holy water that Buffy had used earlier run down the demon’s face to no effect.

Giles pulled the trigger.

Buffy saw the bolt fly past her, and strike Alec between her shoulder blades. Like every other use of mortal weaponry, the crossbow bolt was destroyed before it could hit the demon.

But Buffy saw something else, she saw that the shields on the demon’s back had grown weak. Much weaker then they had when she had thrown her knives. Briefly she wondered what Giles had loaded that bolt with, and then decided it didn’t matter.

The demon turned to glare at the Watcher and the Slayer. Buffy had already seen her opening, though. She pulsed another message to Angel, asking him to distract the demon.

Angel bounded forward in a blur of motion, claws extended, to slash at the demon’s back. Alec heard him move, however, and turned in time to get an arm up to protect herself. Angel’s claws opened gashes on her arm, even as Alec’s ripped at his face.

Buffy took advantage of the demon’s distraction to throw the rest of her knives, four altogether, at Alec’s back. She saw the first two detonate against the demon’s shields, but she also saw those shields fail. The second two embedded themselves in flesh. One on each side of the spine, just below the shoulder blades.

Alec staggered in pain, and Angel took advantage of her distraction to slash at the demon’s throat. If the girl had been human, she would have died of blood loss in short order. Since she was not, the edges of her throat sealed back together before she lost much blood. But the demon still needed time to recover; she was off balance and not sure of which direction her next attack would come from.

Buffy closed in and started to pummel the demon. She opened her mind to Angel’s, allowing him to see her each of her attacks before she executed them. The vampire entered the fray. The two kept Alec off balance with a series of lightening punches.

Finally, Angel managed to catch Alec as she reeled from a blow and snap her neck. But Buffy realized that such an attack would not kill a vampire, so it would not kill this demon. She looked around the library and saw Angel’s discarded sword lying on the floor. She grabbed it and tossed it to him. In a fluid motion, he caught the blade and decapitated their foe.

Willow had watched the end of the fight in awe. She had seen Buffy fighting numerous times in the past, but she had never seen anything like this fight. Angel and Buffy had moved together as one creature, as if they could see each other’s thoughts. She thought about that for a moment, and then realized that it was probably true. Willow knew Buffy better then any of the others did. Since her return, Willow was the one who had talked to her the most. Probably because Xander’s hate of Angel made his and Buffy’s relationship strained. However, Willow did not hate Angel. She just was worried for Buffy.

When the demon died, Willow could see the exact moment when the two slipped out of sink with each other. She could not imagine what it was like to be that close to someone. But Willow also knew that there were major problems involved with closeness between those two.

She only hoped that her friend knew what she was doing.

Buffy slowly limped over to stand with her love. Angel was gazing down at the body of the demon. Buffy could feel his surprise. The truth was she was surprised herself, surprised and relieved. The thought had crossed her mind during the fight that they could not win, but now it was done.

As the Slayer regarded the body of her foe, she wished she could do an aura scan, to make sure that the demon was dead. But she had used too much magic already; her body was close to burnout. The thought of using any more was physically sickening.

The two watched as the demon’s body slowly began to dissolve into black vapor. For a moment the vapor seemed to pool together into a form, and the Slayer and the vampire tensed, preparing to resume conflict. But then the vapor dispersed and vanished from the room.

Willow carefully walked forward to the two battered fighters. "Is it dead?" Xander walked up to stand beside Willow. Their eyes begged her to tell them that Alec was gone for good, and that the nightmare was over.

Buffy glanced at her friends in surprise; "I hope so." Before she could say anything more, the adrenaline that she had been supporting herself with cut out. She staggered, and felt Angel support her. The pain from torn muscles and slashes came to her. Angel was not much better. None of the slashes that covered his body were serious, just painful. The demon had kept her promise.

Giles walked forward to look his Slayer over. The deeper slashes should be cleaned, but none of her wounds would take long to heal, at least for a Slayer. Buffy herself seemed more concerned about Angel, but that was not terribly surprising. He remembered what love was like.

Unlike the rest of the group, Angel was not beginning to relax. Something was wrong, he knew that. Alec was a major demon, and even though her blood allowed him to hurt her, she should not have been that easy to destroy.

He could feel the weariness and pain that filled Buffy, but he made no move to comfort her. Angel knew that she would be all right, a quick glance assured him that she had no serious injuries. Comfort was not a good thing for the two of them, and so he left her with her Watcher and walked over to the spot where the demon had fallen.

Buffy felt her love retreat, and though she longed to follow him, she knew that it was a bad idea, and so she just let him go. She watched as Giles looked over the slashes on her arms. He sent Willow off to the bathroom to get water and Xander to get the first aid kit that he kept in the library. She snorted to herself. Weaponry and first aid, the most important things to have at Slayage headquarters.

Angel let his gaze wander around the library. He was not sure what he was looking for, but something was definitely not right. And then Angel sensed it, a presence that was dispersed throughout the room. He was surprised that Buffy had not identified it, but then he realized that her magic use this evening had burned all of her senses, at the moment she was as blind as any other mortal was.

Buffy felt the spike in Angel’s emotions. She turned to look at him in shock, and then pulled herself free of her Watcher’s ministrations. She started to walk to his side, but she never made it. Because a shadow appeared between them.

The shadow coalesced into a familiar form. Buffy had Slain a lot of demonic creatures. Very few had ever come back to haunt her. "But you’re dead."

"Oh please." Alec sounded like a typical teenager. There was nothing apparently demonic about her. "I am so harder to kill, then that." She smiled at the stunned expressions around her.

The demon walked up to the Slayer. Buffy saw Angel tense behind the demon, prepared to move if Alec attacked, but she herself was calm. Maybe that was shock, but she had the impression that the demon was not going to attack.

When the two were only a foot apart Alec spoke to her. Almost a girl to girl chat. "A gift." The demon glanced significantly at Angel. "In return for the one you gave me."

Buffy understood what Alec implied, but she refused to comment.

The demon turned to face Angel, and then she returned to her shadow form, and vanished.

Buffy stared at Angel in shock. Like her, he had understood what Alec had meant about gifts. But that did not change the fact that neither had any idea how to stop this demon. She was clearly playing with them. The question was, why?

The Slayerettes gathered around the Slayer. Buffy knew they were seeking reassurance. But she had none to give them.

Xander spoke up, Willow was still stunned from events. "What gift?"

Buffy snorted. "She wants us to know that she is more powerful then we are. When I took away her power," she glanced at Angel, "she wanted me to know, despite that, I still hadn’t evened out the game."

No one had a response to that.

Finally, Giles spoke from behind her, "Well?" It was a question about the future. He wanted to know what she was going to do.

The Slayer turned to face her Watcher. "We fight the fights that need fighting. Even if we don’t know how to win." Buffy smiled. "She won’t get what she wants."

Xander asked, "But how can you fight something that can’t die?"

But Buffy shook her head. "There is a way to defeat her. After all, someone did it before. We just have to find it."

Angel patrolled the night alone. Buffy was recovering from her wounds and magic usage. He had offered to patrol so that she could stay at home. She had agreed, which spoke volumes about her condition.

He saw a lone figure ahead of him. It was only visible because of the bright light of the full moon. Angel closed the distance, and as he approached he heard the sound of a human heartbeat. He wondered what this person was doing, alone in a graveyard, even though it was still early evening.

And then Angel got close enough to see who it was. He was very surprised. When he reached speaking distance of the young woman he came to a stop and greeted her, "Cordelia."

She gave him a half-smile. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

"Why?"

Cordelia sighed. "I just wanted to know, I mean, how is Xander?"

Angel realized that this girl really did care for Xander. And now she had chosen a path that meant she could never be close to him. Angel hid a grimace at the thought, but it really sounded like another relationship, or un-relationship, that he could name.

"Xander’s fine." He assured her.

Cordelia smiled in relief. "Good." She thought for a moment. "This is really hard, you know?" Angel only smiled sadly. Cordelia realized that her words were pretty tactless, given his situation with Buffy. "So how did the demon killing go?" It was weird, she had always hated being forced into nasty situations, but now that she had left all those situations behind her, she missed them.

Angel saw her loneliness and recognized it for what it was. He carefully explained the details of their last confrontation.

Cordelia took in the description, but her only comment was, "Damn. I wish that bitch was dead." When Angel looked surprised at her vehemence, she elaborated, "When she is gone, I can have my old life back." Angel nodded his head in agreement, even though he knew that it was never possible to reclaim an old life.

When she had the information she had come for, Cordelia, at last, answered Angel’s original question. "You’re the only one I can talk to."

Angel was surprised, "Why?"

Cordelia only smiled a very sad smile. "I have to stay away from losers. But no one knows you, so they will just think you are a cute older guy. Thus, you are safe." Then she turned and walked into the night, heading for her home.

Angel stood with Buffy in a room of glowing crystal. He looked around in amazement. Buffy had warned him, but nothing could fully prepare him for this sight. And perhaps, she did not realize what this place would be for him. After all, Buffy was fully human, even if she was the Slayer.

But in this place, Angel finally found the truth of something he had believed for a hundred years. His soul was still human. In this alternate reality, only that soul was present. He had all of his memories, but for the first time in two hundred and twenty years he did not hear the song of evil.

For the very first time, Angel stood beside his love and her blood did not call out to him. It was the strangest feeling he had ever felt. It was freedom.

Buffy felt the awe that Angel was experiencing. She did not understand what was causing it, but she did not have time to reflect on it, because Rhianna was standing before them. Anna stood before the portal to Hell, and she looked over the Slayer and the vampire. Buffy decided that an introduction was in order. "Anna, this is Angel. Angel, Anna."

Anna spoke formally to the vampire, "Greetings, Angel."

"Hello." There were so many things that Angel wanted to ask this person, but he did not know how to start. And then all questions were blown out of his head as Anna spoke to them.

"I asked Buffy to bring you both here because I have something I must tell you." For a moment she looked guilty, and then she pressed on resolutely. "Before I left the mortal realm I put you both under spells." The two lovers looked at her in confusion. "It is within my power to undo those spells, if that is what you want."

Buffy finally recovered enough from her surprise to ask, "What kind of spells?"

"Memory blockage. But you know that, don’t you, Buffy?"

The Slayer nodded in agreement. She knew that Angel was still missing memories. She had thought that was due to his suffering, now she knew that it was deliberate. But she had all of her memories, didn’t she?

Anna saw the questioning look that Buffy wore. "Your memories are intact, but I blocked certain patterns of thought." Buffy looked surprised for a moment, and then she understood. She did not remember things with as much pain as she had during the summer.

Angel finally spoke up. "What memories?"

Anna looked at Buffy, and Buffy sighed as she answered his question. "What happened to you over the summer." Angel’s eyes narrowed in speculation. Buffy had systematically avoided almost every mention of the summer. Now he knew why.

Buffy turned from Angel to Anna. She couldn’t face him at the moment. "Why?"

Anna smiled. "I could say because my actions are making me guilty, or because I worry about the curse, or any number of other things. But the truth is that my motives are my own. The choice, however, is yours."

Buffy turned back to look at Angel, a question in her eyes. Angel nodded in acknowledgement. They both had the same thoughts. Buffy answered Anna’s question for both of them. "We want our memories back."

"Okay."

The world dissolved into light.

Looking at the sleeping form of her only love, Buffy realized, at last, the truth of Anna’s words. She and Angel were soulmates. Their souls were now linked for all time. Even if he died, he would never leave her. And if she died first, which was entirely possible given his life span and her calling, her soul would stay with him and he would continue her work. But Buffy also knew something else. Something she desperately hoped none of her friends knew.

The curse now bound both of them. One moment of true happiness and both of them would lose their souls. Those souls would be together, but Angelus would be back and the Slayer would be dead. Luckily, her life as the Slayer did not lead to many happy occasions.

Looking into Angel’s face Buffy knew that he would always be there to guard her back. He would tell her when she was being stupid or wrong. The two of them would walk together through all the ages of time. He would be her best friend forever.

But none of that made up for the one thing that he would never be. They could never be lovers, ever again.

And God, how it hurt.

Back to: The Coming of the Light.