Disclaimer: The great, wonderful, superb, characters of Buffy The Vampire Slayer belong to the WB, Mutant Enemy, and the magnificent Joss Wheadon. All other characters and situations in this story are yours for the taking. Personally, I don’t care since I’m doing the same thing. Beg, borrow, and steal . . . Just don’t get ‘um too dirty. Thanx! This takes place after Killed by Death. I have finally admitted to Surprise and Innocence. I’m writing this story after some of the comments that were exchanged on the past two or three shows. PS: < > Denotes inner thoughts.

Part one

“A nickel for a spool of thread . . . a penny for a needle . . .” Druscilla was humming softly. She walked slowly up to the little girl walking her dog alone in the night. Druscilla smiled, still singing her eerie song. She bent down to pet the dog as it barred its teeth and growled.

“That's the way the money goes . . .” Druscilla grinned, grabbing the dogs neck, twisting until it snapped.

“Pop! goes the weasel. Did you like my song?” Druscilla asked.

A tiny figure leaped through the bushes.

“No,” Buffy said smugly, “She doesn’t.” Buffy Summer's sent a flying kick to Druscilla’s head. Buffy stepped back, in a fighting stance. She looked over at the little girl. “Run!”

With the slayer momentarily distracted, Druscilla was able to regain her balance and attack. With a shriek Druscilla clawed at Buffy’s throat knocking her down. Buffy and Druscilla struggled on the cold, damp ground neither one gaining the upper hand.

Angel grinned into the night. He could smell the fear in the warm night air, and practically taste the slayer. A tiny figure came running towards him.

“Mister, Mister!,” the little girl screamed, “You gotta help! There’s this lady with a weird face. She killed Charlie!” Angel bent down, holding the little girl’s hand. She was in hysterics by now.

“And this other lady! She came, and she jumped, and she told me to run away! Mister you gotta save her.” The little girl had streams of tears running down her face, soiling her pale complexion. Angel reached out to pick her up.

“I guess that we need to find out what those naughty ladies are doing,” Angel smirked. He lifted the little girl up on his hip and started following the smell of the slayer.

Buffy shoved the heel of her hand in to Druscilla’s chin, hard. Druscilla fell backwards, and stumbled along the ground. Buffy reached behind her back and pulled a stake from under her jacket. In one swift move, Buffy plunged the sharp wooden stick deep in Druscilla’s chest.

Druscilla stumbled back, a look of pure shock on her face. She reached up to pull the stake from her chest as she burst into a pile of dust. Nearby you could hear an animal-like howl.

Angel growled as he watched Druscilla turn to dust. The slayer turned in direction of the noise. Buffy prepared herself as the demon in Angel turned his handsome face into something that Buffy could only describe as the Devil itself. Angle was about to lunge at Buffy when an evil grin spread over his face. Still holding the little girl, he ran out into the night.

Part two

Spike looked up when he heard some one open up the steal door of the factory.

“Oh joy,” he whispered under his breath, “Its our pal Angel.” Spike wheeled himself toward the front entrance. It was nearly sun up. Not that it would have been too terrible for Angel to bite the big one so to speak, but Druscilla was with him.

Spike watched as Angel walked in. Alone. Well, almost alone. Angel was carrying a small girl.

“Where’s Dru?” Spike asked. Angel smiled wryly, growing tired of Spike and the games they played. He set the slumbering girl down.

“Well there’s the pinch. She’s gone Spike,” Angel shook his head and walked over to Spike. “Just think of her as dust in the wind.”

“What? Are you kidding?” Spike asked worried.

“No sorry, Spike. The slayer got her.” Spike exhaled slowly. He couldn’t believe it. His dark plum, his black goddess, was gone. Angel reached out from behind his back.

“Hey, Spike,” He said, “Don’t worry. I got a present for you that’ll make it all better.” In a split second Angel had embedded a stake deep in Spike’s heart. Spike burst into dust. Angel grinned turning to the little girl who had woken up. Dusting himself off, he made his way over to where she was huddled on the floor.

“We didn’t like him very much,” Angel said, “He was a bad guy. Now come over here and tell me your name.” The little girl walked to him.

“Emily Warner,” she whispered, scared. “I wanna go home! Please mister?” Angel shook his head, patting her blond hair. He wiped the tears gently from her green eyes as he started to talk to her.

“Your Mommy told me to watch you for a few days. She thought it would be nice if we had a little visit. My name’s Angel.” Angel grinned an evil grin. “You know, you remind me of someone I know very well. Someone I miss very much. I bet you that you can help me get her back, Emily. Do you want to help me?”

Emily shook her head, “No.” Angel frowned.

“Not even a little bit?” he asked teasing her.

“Will you let me go home?” Emily asked. Angel nodded. “Okay then,” Emily said defiantly, “I just want my mommy.”

Part three

“Seven year old, Emily Warner was reported missing last night after wandering away from her house while walking her German shepherd, Charlie. No trace of the little girl has been found in the Sunny Dale area.”

Buffy reached up to flip the T.V. off. She sighed grabbing her bag and heading out the door on the way to school. It’s all my fault.

Giles ambled out of his office when he heard the doors of his library open and something hit one of the hard wooden tables with a bang. He flinched as a chair scraped against the hard wood floor and a very upset slayer threw herself down into it.

“I take it that the hunt didn’t go as planned last night?” he asked quietly. Buffy shot him a dirty look.

“I killed Druscilla,” Buffy said darkly. Giles looked up quickly from the book he has been thumbing through.

“You did? Oh, but that's good. Very good. She was very powerful Buffy. You should be proud of yourself,” Giles murmured, placing his book down. He walked over toward the slayer shaking his head. “But you aren’t happy.”

Buffy looked away and got out of her chair. She started pacing the room, nervous.

“Did you hear about that little girl who went missing Giles? Emily Warner?” Buffy asked.

Giles nodded silently.

“Angel’s got her,” Buffy said stonily, “Angel’s got her.”

“Yeah I know,” Harmony said to Cordellia, “Its a real tragedy. I knew a girl who knew Emily Warner’s sister. I told my mom that I needed to stay home today and grieve. Do you think she would let me? No! What is this world coming too?”

Cordellia forced a smile at her. “Uh guys,” she said looking at her friends, “I got to go to the library.” Harmony raised her eyebrows.

“You’re doing this because?” Harmony asked, accusing. Cordellia sighed.

“I left my makeup bag in there during third. I need it,” Cordellia lied.

“Ok,” Harmony said, “For a minute I thought you were going to ditch us to hang out with those losers. I mean dating one is enough.” The whole group started laughing as Cordellia walked away.

< Why do I hang out with those people? > Cordellia asked herself. She shoved open the library doors to where the rest of the group was sitting. Xander had his hand resting on top of the slayer’s arm, comforting her. Cordellia frowned angrily as Xander waved at her, never letting go of Buffy.

“So,” Cordellia started, “Buffy, I heard that yet another person died last night. How’d you do it? Oh sorry. I mean, what’d you do about it?”

The whole room turned to her shocked. Buffy jumped up and fled from the room. Xander shot Cordiellia a dirty look as he and Willow followed Buffy out of the room.

Cordellia shrugged her shoulders. “What?”

She started to fallow them, but Giles grabbed her arm. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”

“It’s not your fault, Buffy,” Willow offered looking over Buffy’s head at Xander for support.

“Yeah,” Xander said joking, “If you wanted to kill some one you would have killed Angel.” Buffy burst out in another bout of tears.

“Sorry, Sorry, Bad joke,” Xander apologized petting Buffy’s hair. The three were huddled in the girls rest room. Perched on the sink, Buffy laid her head against Xander’s chest for support.

Willow walked around, looking under the stall doors for any sign of feet. All clear.

“So, um,” she started nervously, “Are you going to be okay? I mean . . . I don’t know what I mean.” Buffy smiled at her a little bit.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I’ll be fine. I just feel like I could have done some thing. I mean, I’m the slayer. It is my fault.”

“No,” Xander said firmly, “Buffy you did all you could. I know you. You probably chased Angel half way across town. You may be the slayer, but you’re still just human.”

He looked slowly around the room.

“So, this is what the girl’s rest room looks like. Cool.” The slayer cracked a small smile.

Part four

Angel added the last touches to the drawing of Emily that he had been making. He folded it carefully and started to write Buffy a note. < On second thought > He just signed his name. Love Angel.

He waved at one of Spikes underlings.

“Here,” Angel said, slapping the letter against his chest. “Take this to the slayer. I want her to get it. Do you hear me? Make sure the slayer gets this.”

“But . . . She’s the slayer,” the vampire said surprised, “She’ll kill me.”

“That's nothing compared to what I’m gonna do to you Marcus,” Angel growled. The vampire nodded and headed out of the factory. Angel picked Emily up.

“Are you hungry?” he asked her. She nodded. “Good,” Angel murmured, “So am I.” He set Emily down and went out after Marcus.

Buffy felt a chill up her spine. As if some one was watching her. It always felt like someone was watching her lately. She turned quickly when she felt the presence of a vampire nearby. It growled, stepping out of the shadows. Buff threw her hands up in a fighting stance. The vampire kept his distance.

“Message from Angelus,” it said. It held the letter and an arm’s distance away from it. Suspiciously, Buffy reached out and ripped the letter from it’s hand. With her other arm, she threw the vampire down. It put up a fight, but it was young and stupid. No match for Buffy. With a quick move the vampire was dust.

Buffy bent down to retrieve the letter. Looking around first, she opened it. It was a drawing of Emily, with tears rolling down her face. A small caption in the corner read, “I want my mommy.” Buffy’s heart wrenched as she stared at the drawing. In a swift move, she ripped the letter apart. Buffy threw down the pieces and hurried home. In the distance, watching her, Angel smiled.

Xander poked his head out of the shower just in time to hear the phone ring. He wrapped a towel around his waist and hurried into his room. He picked it up on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Xander, I'm so glad you’re home,” a relived voice on the other end answered him.

“Buffy?” he asked confused.

“Yeah. It me. I hope you’re not busy.”

“No. No, I’m not busy,” Xander said intrigued.

“Good. I was going to call Willow but her lines busy. Probably on the net. And mom’s not home. And I just really needed to know there was someone else out there.”

“What’s wrong Buff?” Xander asked. Buffy sighed.

“I just . . . Angel sent me a note. He didn’t kill that little girl, yet.” Xander listened quietly.

“Listen Buffy,” he began, “I’m going to come on over to your house.”

“Are you sure? What about your parents?”

“Mom’s on a business trip and Dad called saying that he probably won’t get in tonight. You stay there. I’m coming over.”

Xander hurried to get dressed. He was worried about Buffy and what she would do. They had all seen how “rational” Buffy was when she got upset..

Part five

As Xander got out of his car a chill went up his spine. He shivered as he walked up to Buffy’s door step. Before he could even knock on the door, Buffy pulled him inside. She gave him a big hug.

“I wish I knew what I did to deserve that,” Xander laughed. Buffy smiled at him.

“You’re here.” Xander turned away from her as he started to blush.

Buffy smiled as she came into the living room, hands full of junk food. Xander was thumbing through the video tapes and mumbling little insults.

“God, Buffy,” he said as she laid down the snacks. “All you guys have are chick flicks.”

“Yeah. That is the movie genre in the Summer's house.”

“So,” Xander asked, grabbing the remote from Buffy’s hand as he sat next to her on the couch.

“So what?” Buffy asked.

“How are you?”

“Xander!”

“I mean,” Xander said exasperated, “Are you going to go all crazy on me and try to go to the factory alone to get back that little girl?” Buffy sighed. I don’t know.

“I don’t want to face Angel.”

“Cause you love him?” Xander asked bitterly.

“No. Not any more.”

Xander looked at her questioning. Buffy continued.

“My Angel’s dead. I’ve got to get over that. And Angelus is the one who killed him.”

“Then why don’t you want to kill him?” Xander asked quietly.

“I’m afraid.” With nothing but the television alighting the dark, Xander held the slayer in his arms.

Buffy looked up at Xander. He was so strong for her right now. And he had been in the past. Xander was always there for her. Buffy took a deep breath and Xander ran a hand through her hair. His gaze intensified, waiting.

Buffy touched his lips, thinking. She always felt so conformable around Xander. Especially lately. She craved his voice and his touch like a desert craves water. Now that Buffy thought about it, she always had. In his own way, Xander was all that she had ever wanted. Buffy couldn’t believe it. She loved Xander. She always had.

Xander reached down and tilted her chin up to meet his lips. Once they connected, he deepened the kiss. Buffy thought about something that she had said to Xander a long time ago. “You were there to bring me back.” He did.

Angel growled, staring at Buffy and Xander silhouetted through the Summer’s picture window. A rage filled him like he had never felt before. He picked up one of Buffy’s mother’s heavy plants and heaved the terra cotta pot at the window, smiling at the sound of breaking glass.

Buffy let out a shriek as the world seemed to explode around her. Xander threw his body on top of Buffy’s as the glass rained in around them. The pot thudded against the far wall, knocking down a statue that shattered when it hit the ground. Xander hovered over Buffy’s body until he was sure the glass rain was over.

He helped Buffy sit up and look around the room. He stared out the window watching as a tall figure walked calmly away into the distance.

“What happened?” Buffy asked. Xander frowned.

“Angel.”

Part six

“So Angel broke your window last night?” Willow asked. Buffy nodded. Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes.

“This is the first actual attack on you home isn’t it Buffy?” Gile’s asked. Buffy nodded again. “That's strange,” he said pacing the library. “Very unlike Angelus. It’s not in his character to do things out of rage like that. Do either of you know what could have caused this?” Buffy and Xander exchanged nervous glances.

“I have no idea,” Buffy lied. Xander looked at her strangely. This look didn’t go unnoticed by Cordellia.

“Well,” Giles began, “I’ll reference my books. Although I don’t know if that will help. Did you say that you saw Emily alive?”

“No,” Buffy shook her head, “But I know Angel. She’s alive. She’s bait.”

“The question is,” Willow began, “Are we gonna bite?”

“So,” Cordellia asked, looking at Xander. “What were you doing at Buffy’s late at night? Is there something that I should know?” They continued to walk down the hallway.

“Look Cordy,” Xander said seriously. “I don’t know. I went to Buffy’s because she was upset. She needed me.”

“Little Miss Buffy! Little Miss Buffy Summers! Is that all that you care about?” Cordelia shouted.

“Might as well!” Xander said raising his voice too. “Apparently she’s the only one worth it!” Cordellia slapped him. Xander reached up and rubbed his face where she hit him.

“You need to take a good look at your priorities Xander Harris,” she said coldly. “When you have it all figured out you can come to me and tell me how sorry you are! Until then, don’t call me and I won’t call you.”

Willow watched Buffy as she headed to her first class. She was strangely quiet. Willow sighed, and ducked in to the computer room. Since she was subbing for Mrs. Calendar, Willow wanted to get there early. She noticed Principal Synder sitting at the head of the room.

“Principal Synder?” she asked, worried. What now? Principal Snyder got up and walked over to Willow.

“Rossenburg . . . Good to see you finally get here. I was forced to watch these hooligans that you call students. You were hanging around with that Summer’s girl? I’ve seen you two together. Thick as thieves.” When Snyder said “thieves” he looked as if he meant it.

Willow tried to force a smile as the principal left the room. Unintentionally she murmured under her breath, “Wish Angel had gotten him instead.” Willow reached up and clamped a hand over her mouth, shocked at what she had just said.

Part 7

Xander waited on Buffy’s porch after school for her. He needed to talk to her. Alone. There just wasn’t a way he could have done that earlier without hurting Willow’s feelings or making Cordy hate him even more. Xander had no idea what he was going to say to Buffy. He knew what he felt. He loved her. But Xander had no idea what to tell her, and he had no idea what Buffy was feeling. Xander jumped out of the Summer’s porch swing when he saw Buffy approaching.

Buffy sighed when she saw Xander jogging toward her. He probably wanted to talk. She definitely didn’t. Buffy forced a smile. “Xander!”

“Buffy. Hey. Hi. What's up?” Xander was babbling. “How was your day?” It took him all of thirty seconds to get to the inevitable “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Buffy asked innocently, opening the door to her house. Xander followed her impatiently inside.

“You know what about.”

“I just didn’t think that it meant that much to you Xander,” Buffy explained.

“Why,” Xander asked, “Cause it didn’t mean that much to you? I got news for you sister, It meant a lot to me.” Xander was getting angry. Buffy reached up to grab his hand.

She shook her head slowly.

“No Xander, it meant a lot to me. More than you can imagine.” Xander sat next to her on the couch. < How can that be possible > he wondered wryly.

“Then, why didn’t you say anything? Today? Earlier?” he asked earnestly. Buffy sighed.

“In front of everyone. In front of Giles and Willow? In front of Cordellia?”

“Okay,” Xander murmured, “Good point. But where does this leave us. How do you feel about me Buffy?” Buffy looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Don’t make me answer that, Xander. Please?” she begged. Xander’s eyes bored into her own.

“I need you to.”

“I love you.” Xander stared at her shocked. Buffy loved him?

“Since when?” Xander asked. Buffy looked away, staring at the wall as if she had never seen it before.

“I don’t know. I realized it last night. Looking at you. Being near you. I don’t know when it started. I just do. I love you Xander. God help me, but I do.” Xander rubbed his eyes, and Buffy took it as a sign of rejection, so she went on.

“I don’t expect anything Xander. You’re with Cordellia. I understand. Its okay. I . . . I just need us to be friends. I just need you.” Xander looked at Buffy surprised.

“How can you think that? I’ve always loved you Buffy. I never stopped. I moved on. But I never stopped. I still love you Buffy. With all my soul. Can’t you see?” He moved toward Buffy, reaching out to her and pulling her in an embrace. Xander went to deepen the embrace when both of the teenagers heard a loud crash a few feet away from them.

Part eight

“Buffy?!?” Joyce Summer’s called out, surprised. She had dropped her groceries on the kitchen floor. Both Xander and Buffy separated, jumping up.

“Mom!” Buffy cried, “Xander was just leaving. Weren’t you Xander? I’ll go walk him out.”

Buffy pushed Xander to and out the door. He grabbed her hand quickly and gave her a small kiss before he left.

“I’m going to call you tonight,” he warned. With that, Buffy shut the door to confront her mom.

“So Buffy,” Joyce started, “Are you and he . . . Were you going to . . in my house. Under my roof?” Buffy looked down at the floor as her mom verbally berated her. She was so emotionally exhausted that Buffy burst out crying. Seeing the tears on her daughter’s face, Joyce stopped yelling. She watched, amazed, as Buffy jogged up the stairs to her room.

Xander wandered around town. Thinking. That's it he thought. I have to do it. Xander headed to Cordellia’s house.

Cordellia was surprised when she say Xander waiting for her on her porch. She came out of the house slowly, unsure of what to expect. Xander looked up when Cordellia shut the front door behind her.

“Coming to apologize so soon? You’ve come crawling back?” she asked coldly. Xander shook his head.

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” Cordellia asked coldly. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want to apologize,” Xander said. “I needed to tell you good bye. I’m sorry Cordy, but its over.” Cordellia couldn’t believe it. Xander was breaking up with her.

“Then go!” she shouted. “I never want to see you or your loser friends again! Don’t ever bother me again! Go away!” Cordellia slammed the door as she headed back inside her house.

Xander walked away, sadly. Wishing that it had gone better.

Angel growled, yanking a pair of scissors out of a random vampire’s hands. They all looked the same to him now. Especially after Dru and Spike died. He was actually sorry that he had killed Spike. It was boring in Sunny Dale, being surrounded by idiots. Angel needed another vampire around to hatch schemes with and help him carry out his plans. Someone clever. Someone beautiful. Someone he was totally obsessed with.

Angel had a solution.

“What are you going to do with those?” some one asked. Angel grinned, walking over to Emily.

“Nothing too permanent,” he laughed. Ahh, twenty minutes to sunset.

Part Nine

Buffy sighs, buttoning up her jacket. It was warm out side, but that didn’t matter. Buffy’s jacket was protection against the night. Not the cold. She picked up some stakes and slipped out of her bedroom window.

She hit the ground lightly and started walking off into the dark. Behind her, a laugh cracked the silence of the night. Sauntering up to her with a charming smile on his face, was Angel.

“I’ve got a present for you Buffy,” he whispered. Buffy stood defensively, waiting for him to make the first move. Angel grinned, holding a small envelope out to her. Buffy slowly took it out of his out reached hand. She opened it wearily. Inside was a tiny, blond braid tied with a red ribbon.

“What’s this?” Buffy asked confused.

“I’m surprised that you don’t recognize it Buffy. But then again I guess you really don’t care.” Angel stared to turn away. Buffy followed him.

“Tell me Angel! What is this?” Buffy asked, frightened. Angel walked to her lazily.

“Emily Warner. Or, rather, a part of her. Her hair. I’m going to give her to you piece by piece. Maybe you can put her back together and send her safely home. But then again, maybe not. Especially since you couldn’t get it right the first time.” Angel stood, ready for the slayer to attack. Buffy didn’t disappoint.

“I’m going to kill you,” she growled, running to attack. Angel backed away.

“If you kill me,” Angel started, “Then Poor Little Emily is going to rot. Slowly . . . And if we’re lucky, painfully, she’s going to die Buffy.” Angel fashioned a fake frown on his face. “We don’t want that . . . Now do we?”

“Damn!” Xander slammed the phone down on the receiver. He had let it ring at least thirty times. Buffy wasn’t answering, and that worried him more than he would have liked. Xander looked around the room at a loss. He picked up the phone angrily and dialed Willow’s number. Willow answered cheerfully.

“Rossenburg residence. Willow speaking.”

“Yeah, Will. It’s me. Xander. Is Buffy there?”

“No,” Willow frowned a little. “Should she be?” Willow listened as Xander sighed loudly.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, worried.

“I think so. Buffy’s not home,” Xander said.

“And that's a big emergency? Maybe she’s on patrol. You know, doing slayer things,” Willow said skeptically.

“I told her that I’d call.”

“Xander,” Willow asked, “Why would you be calling Buffy?”

“What do you want?” Buffy asked, pacing. Angel grinned.

“What do I want? Well there’s lost of things. I want the sky to rain blood. I want the dead to rise. I want to be king of the world. I want Armageddon. There are just so many things Buffy.”

“Cut the crap,” Buffy demanded. Angel gazed at her intensely.

“I want you.” Buffy looked up at him surprised. Angel held a hand out enticingly.

“You’re dating Buffy?” Willow asked shocked. I can’t believe it. They were speeding to Buffy’s house; Xander under the notion that Buffy was in trouble. Xander shook his head.

“Not Dating. No. I kissed Buffy. Buffy kissed me.”

Willow looked at him confused as the pulled into the Summer's driveway. Xander slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. Willow pushed open the passenger side door and followed him to the front door that Xander was pounding on.

It flew open.

“What in the world?” Joyce called, nearly getting hit in the head by Xander’s flailing arm.

“We need to see Buffy,” Xander demanded.

“It’s an emergency,” Willow said. “I think.” Joyce looked at them strangely.

“She’s up in her room. I was just going to the gallery. You can go right on up.”

Xander rushed up the stairs pulling Willow along with him. He shoved open the door, and the room was empty.