Previously: Xander, Anya and Angelina left. Everyone surprised that Angelina's favourite weapon of choice was a broad sword as well as a stake. Xander and Anya picked up their weapons and then they were gone.

Chapter 25

Xander, Anya and Angelina made their way through the town. Every so often, one of them would point out a club, bar, restaurant or café that was good. They exchanged thoughts on vampires and other demons. Angelina never once mentioned Lorne.

They were walking past a cemetery when they heard a scream. Running towards the sound, they found a vampire trying to take a bite out of… Dawn!

Xander and Anya recognised the girl, Angelina figured it had to be Buffy's sister. They had the same nose and dress sense. Angelina strode towards the vampire. She dropped her sword in order to attract its attention, giving time for Dawn to run to the safety of the two people behind her.

'Oops, my bad' Angelina looked down at the sword. 'You can have mine as a sorry?' and she bared her neck.

The vampire must have newly risen. It was none the wiser about slayers; how quick they were, how strong, etc. It charged towards Angelina. It was quick, but Angelina was quicker.

Within seconds her stake was in her hand and she ducked under the arm that swung out at her. The vampire turned only to receive a kick to the face. Unperturbed by the pain, the vampire charged again. This time it's hand connected with Angelina's chest, knocking her back a few paces. It swung round behind her and was about to have her by the throat, but Angelina recovered quickly. She ducked and rolled away form the hands and was on her feet again in no time. The vampire came again, but Angelina threw a punch to the face and kicked it to the ground, where it stayed for a few seconds.

That few seconds was all it took. Angelina sat on the vampire, trapping its arms and legs with her thighs.

'It's time for you to stay dead!' she said as she plunged her stake into it's heart. The vampire turned to dust and was no more. Leaving only the Scoobies and Angelina in the street.

'Wow! That… was cool!' Dawn exclaimed. Angelina rose and was greeted with the biggest hug Dawn could throw at her.

'If it wasn't for you I'd probably be dead by now!' Dawn let a few tears slide down her face.

Angelina brushed them away and explained she knew her sister and that Xander and Anya were showing her their patrol rounds. Dawn understood what that meant. Stying with them until they returned to Buffy.

The rest of the patrol must have been uneventful because they arrived a lot faster than any of us had thought. Buffy was shocked to hear about Dawn's near death experience, but very relieved to know that Angelina had distracted the vamp so Xander and Anya could protect her sister.

I, having seen Angelina's last performance, would have loved to watch this one. That vamp had no idea what it had gotten into when it met her. She probably toyed with it a while, before giving it the death it deserved.

Everyone was very impressed with Angelina after Xander and Anya gave their account of the story. All the while, Angelina sat there being modest. We all heard a couple of 'That didn't happen like that'. The two were making her seem like a god and it must have been bothering her.

Buffy decided that after saving Dawn's life, Angelina was entitled to the rest of the night off. Angelina began to argue, but Buffy reasoned that there was plenty of time to get used to the routes and patrolling teams. Xander would join Giles for his sweep. Angelina wasn't going to win this and she obviously knew, because she agreed and asked to go home. She had study to do.

Buffy said it was ok to leave, she could protect herself anyway and that she would probably see her tomorrow. Everyone else said goodbye and congratulated her, as Angelina said her goodbyes.

Dawn seemed to have found a new idol. Angelina had after all, saved her life. Dawn gave her another hug and a 'thankyou' and then Angelina disappeared into the night.

Giles and Xander then left for the next sweep and Anya started to count the money, claiming I may have taken some for gambling purposes. Like I'd take her money. I could take it off someone better than Anya.

We had a fairly short time to wait before the Whelp and Rupert appeared. It was going to be a quiet night in Cleveland.

We took the same route as everyone else had; only difference was, we took it backwards. Along the way, we took a couple of vamps by surprise; none of them expecting someone to be there when they rose. Quickly we turned them to dust and continued on our way.

No nasties jumped out at us and we soon returned to the store.

Anya had counted and stored the money in the vault, Xander and Giles had just left, she had informed us. Which meant that Anya was kicking all of us out. She had to wait for Buffy to return though, so Dawn could leave. We said 'goodnight' to Anya who said it in return, who then locked the door as soon as we were outside. I looked back through the window but she had disappeared. Bloody vengeance demon.

Dawn then began her account of the day. Buffy seemed interested; especially about Candice's dad, the 'Ancient One'. I on the other hand, pretended to look interested. No demon was worth knowing about, unless I could kill it.

It was going to be a long walk home.

Angelina hadn't gone home.

Upon hearing that Willow was unwell, she had taken it upon herself to go and visit her for the group. No one had wanted to risk getting sick, but if she was a slayer, she healed fast. Right?

Angelina knew vaguely where Willow lived. They had spoken about it at uni once. Willow had said something about being near to the magic shop.

Angelina came to a halt outside an apartment building. It looked like what Willow had described. Big, white, lots of windows and it had the word 'heights' in it. Angelina stood outside 'Cleveland Heights' for what seemed like ages. Finally, she walked through the door and towards a sign on the wall. It was a list of tenants.

'Summers – 31

Rosenburg - 34

Pratt – 41'

They were the newest tenants on the list.

Angelina headed to the elevator and made her way up to Willow's apartment.

When the elevator doors opened, she could see a small hallway, with many doors leading off it. She headed to number 31 and knocked.

'Come in' called a familiar voice. She'd gotten the right place.

Angelina opened the door and stepped inside. Willow was sitting on the couch, looking as though she would shatter into a thousand pieces if someone touched her.

'Heard you were feeling sick. Thought I'd drop by'

Willow looked confused for a second. Then she understood

'Thanks. But you didn't have to really… it's ok'

'I don't mind risking getting sick for a friend Will. It's all good'

Willow kept saying that she didn't have to be there, when it dawned on her.

'You're not really sick are you?'

Willow's face fell.

'Will, what's wrong?'

Angelina sat down on the couch next to her, as Willow ploughed into her story.

They sat there for what seemed likes ages, Angelina comforting Willow, which did seem to help because she was past the crying stage.

Angelina was thinking of something to occupy Willow's mind, when the thought of Lorne came into hers. What had he done the rest of today?

'Hey Will… got any good demon books?'

'On the shelf, why?'

'Oh I thought you could test me on what I know… just in case Giles decides it's pop quiz time'

Willow laughed.

'Ok you grab the books, I'm going to the toilet and I'll be right back'

She lifted herself off the couch and headed towards the bathroom. Funny how someone so chipper could also be so down.

Angelina shuffled over to the books and looked at the titles. Lots of them were on crystals and spells, some were of demons and one of them, looked the most interesting; Demon Myths and Legends.

Angelina picked up the book and a photo fell out. It was a photo of Willow, a tall man with short dark hair, a woman with long brown hair, a bald dark guy, a guy in black who looked like he was brooding and a green demon. Lorne.

On the back of the photo read: 'Thanks for the help Willow. Here's a present to show our thanks. From Angel and the gang.'

Willow bounced into the room. Testing Angelina must have really been a mind occupier.

'Hey who are these people?' Angelina showed her the photo.

'Oh, that's me… obviously' Willow laughed, 'Wesley, Fred, Gunn, Angel and Lorne'

'What do they all do?' Angelina asked.

'Well…' Willow said as she sat down.

***

Angelina left Willow's apartment later that night with more information than she thought she would. Not only had she not have to bring up Lorne in conversation, she didn't have to research the empath demon herself. Willow had already done it.

Willow had said that she was fascinated by what Lorne could do and wanted to know a little more, so had researched. She also noted that Angelina was extremely interested I the demon and couldn't help but laugh.

'You do know he's green right?' she had teased Angelina about crushing on the demon.

'Green's my favourite colour' was her comeback, but Willow already knew it was blue.

They had joked and laughed for a while and then Angelina had to leave, to 'study' and sleep.

She had said she would visit Willow soon and that she would come with Willow to the funeral if she needed a friend. Willow had thanked her as she left. She had also told her that Spike knew she wasn't sick.

Angelina arrived home and found a suitcase lying on the ground, which she nearly fell over. Upon further inspection, she found they were full of bright suits and shirts. Angelina went looking for Lorne, to tell him that leaving his clothes in the doorway was a hazard, but she couldn't find him anywhere. She searched the entire flat, to no avail.

She headed to the lounge-room and was about to sit don on the couch when she saw a huge pile of clothes; most of which were hers, and underneath them all, was Lorne. He must have searched through her place for something to do and decided her wardrobe was a good place to start. Not only that, but he had found her iPod and had fallen asleep with it in his ears.

Angelina slowly and carefully pulled the earphones out of his ears, as not to wake him and checked the song. 'Lady Marmalade' was the song he last listened to. She couldn't help but smile. That was her favourite song.

She turned it off and headed towards the bedroom; she was ready for sleep. But she couldn't make it to the bed because there were clothes everywhere. Her clothes and his were piled up on the bed; too much for her to lift without waking him or screwing up whatever he had been doing.

Angelina found her pyjamas and changed into them, leaving her clothes on the hook on the back of the bathroom door, the only place where there were no clothes. She then began to leave the room, so she could sleep amongst the clothes and cushions.

As she turned though, she could help but notice the beautiful sparkly silver dress lying on the bed.