Disclaimer: As much as I wish I could claim credit fo rall the characters mentioned in my work they belong to Joss Whedon Fox and all those other lucky people



As the morning sun stole across the room she opened her eyes with a reluctant start. This dream of hers kept haunting her and despite the many times she had experienced it she knew that she was missing some vital piece of information. With a sigh she sat up and jumped out of bed and went to look out of the window. Soaking up the early morning rays she felt slightly more refreshed. All that changed as a memory of the previous night hit her causing more pain than any other monster had ever inflicted. As her eyes searched her reflection they came to rest on the silver ring that hung on a chain round her neck. A single tear fell from her eye and as the memories began flooding back she whispered out a name that could never be forgotten a name that was carved into her soul- Angel

He saw her, heard her whisper his name and despite the distance that separated them, as well as events that could never be changed, he knew that her name would be his last word when he met his dusty end. He had been promised the greatest gift of all, but he knew from one previous experience that it came at great cost. He loved her too much to risk her life. It wasn't even that she was the Chosen One, the protector of her generation, he refused to be the cause of further pain, hadn't she suffered enough?

The distant sound of a phone ringing startled Buffy for a second, waking her from her thoughts. "Damn it" she said, "who could be calling at this time?" Answering the phone she was greeted by the weary voice of her Watcher, Giles, who if the truth were told was more of a father to her than her real one could ever be. She listened patiently as Giles described the reports on the news, ten people had been killed in unusual circumstances and the gang were meeting at the Magic Box in thirty minutes. With a sigh she quickly went to get dressed and when the phone began ringing again as she ran out the door she left the machine to pick it up. "Buffy its Wesley, we really need to talk there's been an accident."

Having picked up the breakfast order from the Expresso Pump, Xander made his way to the magic shop. He couldn't stay long just wanted to see if there was anything he could do. Nothing could prepare him for the sight that greeted him as he entered the shop. Lying on the Floor Buffy lay not moving and appeared to be surrounded by a green force field of some kind. Panic was etched clearly on the face of Anya while Tara and Willow appeared to be doing some serious research. Giles on the other hand was deep in conversation with some one and it didn't sound like good news. A few minutes later Giles hung up promising to keep whoever was on the other line up to date on the developments in Sunnydale. Slowly he turned to face the Slayer's friends and his face said it all. "It appears that both Buffy and Angel are under some kind of spell or trance and unless we figure out what's going on we could lose both of them"

A green mist was swirling around her and she seemed to be heading towards an opening of some kind. She had been floating for what felt like hours and yet she knew it couldn't be. She realised then that the mist was slowly fading and she came to an abrupt start. Buffy knew she wasn't alone and as she turned around ready to fight a figure emerged from the shadows. They looked at one another unable to take in what they were seeing. "Angel" she whispered.