Part Ten
“You want me?” Buffy asked confused. Angel shrugged nonchalantly.
“What can I say? I remember . . . everything Buffy.” He walked up to her tapping his temple. “I want you.”
Buffy smirked, “What makes you think I’ll bite. What makes you think that I’ll fallow you?”
Angel grinned pulling her closely.
“Easy,” he started, “You still love me.” He turned his face into that of a demon and prepared to feed.
“I’ll never let you,” Buffy hissed, struggling to get away. Angel transformed his face back and kissed her forehead.
“Lets make a deal.”
“So, let me get this correctly,” Giles started, “You and Buffy are together Xander. Angel knows. Angel wants Buffy. Angel has Buffy.” Xander nodded.
“And how do you know this? ”Giles asked.
“I just feel it. I just do.”
“Yeah, so what are we going to do about it?” Cordellia called from the library door way. Xander turned around, surprised to see her. Cordellia scowled at him.
“Just because I’m here doesn’t mean that I forgive you Xander. Lets just say I owe Buffy.” She marched past him, up to Giles.
“How can I help?”
Xander moved over to where Willow was sitting. Willow looked at him apologetically.
“I called her Xander, she has every right to be here,” Willow said defensively. Xander frowned, picking up a stake. He started to sharpen it angrily.
“So, what can I do?” Cordellia asked. Giles turned away from her and began to pack up his weapons.
“I don’t see that there is much you can do Cordellia,” Giles started. “We’re going to get Buffy back. To do that we’re going to have to fight for her.”
“Hey,” Cordellia said defensively, “I kicked a guy.” She took a deep breath and started again. “I want to help Buffy. I want to help you. I know there’s something that I can do.”
With frustration Giles tossed his bag up on the table and turned to face her.
“You can drive.”
“What’s the deal?” Buffy asked. Angel smiled, putting an arm around her shoulder.
“You promise to come with me . . . with out a fight. And Little Emily goes free,” he whispered in her ear.
“What happens when I come with you?” Buffy asked. Letting her guard down a little, her voice faltered. Angel grinned.
“What ever I want.” Buffy shook him off of her.
“What’s keeping me from killing you right now?” Buffy asked icily. Angel smiled.
“Spit fire to the end. I like that. You can’t kill me, cause you’d never find her.”
“What makes you think that? Odds are, she’s somewhere in that factory,” Buffy bluffed. Angel nodded.
“Yeah. You’re so right about that.”
Buffy went to pull a stake from her sleeve.
“No . . . No. . . No,” Angel scolded. “I gave orders that if the slayer or any of her friends came near the factory, my “friends” are to rip her apart. Piece by little piece.”
Buffy swallowed convulsively, trying to decide what to do.
“How do I know that she’s alive?” Buffy asked.
“She is,” Angel said plainly.
“How do I know that you’ll keep your word. How do I know you’ll take Emily home?”
Angel held up his hand in a tight fist. On his ring finger was the Cladagh ring he had worn as a match to hers.
“This is how,” He said fiercely. “I can’t even lie to you now. I want you Buffy.” Angel held out his hand. With a deep breath, Buffy grabbed it.
Part Eleven
“Oh my God,” Willow whispered as Cordellia’s car scratched around a corner.
“We’re going to die before we even get there!” Xander screamed, bracing himself against the door as Cordellia turned again, not even bothering to pause at a stop sign.
“You know when I told you that I wanted to get there in a hurry Cordellia,” Giles said, “I meant in one piece!” Cordellia slammed on the brake.
“Get over it!”
Buffy found herself huddling closer to Angel as they entered the factory. The other vampire snarled and hissed at her. She couldn’t believe how many there were.
“You brought the slayer?” One of them called, stepping forward bearing his teeth. Angel smiled.
“She won’t be the slayer for long.”
Buffy turned her face away and shivered. In the corner of the room, Emily was huddling. Buffy broke away from Angel and ran to her. Angel watched as she tried to comfort the little girl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a vampire leap on Buffy.
The huge vamp grabbed Buffy’s neck, holding her up in the air, teeth poised at the pulse point of Buffy’s vein. Angel rushed to Buffy. He threw his arm back and punched the Vampire as hard as he could. Reeling back, the vampire dropped Buffy to the ground where she went to hug the little girl.
“No one touches the slayer!” Angel screamed. “She’s going to be staying with us for a little while and I want every one to make nice.” He wrenched Buffy up by the arm. She gasped at the force. He held her closely.
“I’m here,” Buffy said. “Now it’s your turn to fulfill the rest of the bargain. Emily gets to go home.” Angel smiled.
“That's what we agreed didn’t we?” Angel asked. “I was hoping that you’d reconsider. I thought that when you wake up you might want a little snack. But oh well. A deals a deal. Christian!” Angel pointed to one vampire who stepped out of the crowd.
“Take this little one home,” Angel ordered. “If I hear that you had a little snack on the way, I’m gonna let Buffy give you a bath in Holy water after she wakes up.”
The vampire nodded quickly, and picked Emily up. Buffy watched as he carried her out of the factory. Angel bent down close to Buffy’s ear.
“Now its time for our fun.” He lead Buffy away to his private room.
“Almost there,” Cordellia called as she shifted gears and pulled up in front of the factory. All three passengers breathed a sigh of relief. Giles started to open the door, when he suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Willow asked. Xander pointed out the front window at the thirty vampires who were at that moment approaching the car.
“Oh,” Willow whispered, “That.”
Part Twelve
Angel pulled Buffy to him, and gave her a deep kiss.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, walking behind her. “More than you can imagine.”
He reached into Buffy’s coat to pull out a stake and a vile of holy water which he threw against the wall. Buffy flinched when she heard it shatter. Angel smiled, slipping her coat off and dropping it to the floor. He slowly unhooked the clasp of her cross, the very one that he had given her, and threw that against the wall also.
Angel pulled Buffy’s hair back from her neck, kissing along her ear, her jaw line, and her collar bone. Until finally he found the spot he was looking for. With a feral growl, he plunged his teeth deep into her neck. With a gasp, Buffy closed her eyes and let the darkness fall over her.
“What are we going to do?” Xander asked, looking at the vampires clawing at the flimsy rag top on Cordillia’s car. Cordellia smiled as she put the car back into gear.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered, “I’ve done this before. She closed her eyes and screamed as she slammed her foot on the gas and the car rocketed forward.
Angel dropped Buffy to the bed when he heard a loud crash. Dust filtered into the room. Angel picked Buffy up and hurried to the front of the factory. A car had driven through the factory wall. A car full of the slayer’s friends.
Willow made a quick body check of every one in the car. They were all okay. Xander was sporting a pretty nice cut on his forehead, but other than that there were no serious injuries. She watched, as if paralyzed, as Giles pulled his cross bow from his bag and started to open the door. In an instant he was making his way through the dust to where Angel was standing, gripping Buffy.
Willow scrambled out of the car, following Xander, a cross clutched deftly to her chest. Cordellia followed suit, and the two ran up to stand behind Giles.
“Leave Buffy alone,” Giles demanded coldly, the cross bow pointed at Angel’s chest. Angel smirked in response.
“You can’t shoot me because you might miss and hit her. You won’t shoot,” He called tauntingly at Giles. Giles grimaced in response, setting the wooden bolt in the trigger mechanism on fire.
“Don’t bet on it. I’m a much better shot than Buffy.”
“Buffy!” Xander called, “Are you okay?” The slayer didn’t respond. She lay limply in Angel’s arms. The vampires were quickly surrounding them, ready for attack. So far the only thing keeping them from jumping were Cordellia’a and Willow’s crosses.
“We gotta go Giles,” Willow whispered and Xander started to back away from the group. Giles took quick aim with his cross bow and sent a bolt flying. It missed it’s mark by mere inches, landing in Angel’s shoulder. Angel howled in pain as the fire leapt up his arm. He dropped Buffy as he screamed in pain. She thudded against the ground with a pitiful whimper. Buffy struggled to get up, her head reeling from the blood loss.
The vampires attacked, most going for the large group of Slayerettes but a few went after Buffy. Xander broke free from the group and ran to her. She struggled to keep her own as the dark came over her. The factory was quickly filling with smoke as the fire ragged on and grew hotter. Buffy could barely breathe. The last thing that she saw before she slipped into unconsciousness was Xander’s face.