"And what's that supposed to mean Nutz Normal Nutz 3 140 2001-11-02T10:24:00Z 2001-11-02T10:24:00Z 7 4571 26060 217 52 32003 9.2720

Breaking down the Walls

TITLE: "Breaking down the walls" Chapter 10 - 10/? - Rated R-13 - B/A Angst, series 6 predictions
AUTHOR: Charlie/Selwyn29
EMAIL: selwyn29@ntlworld.com
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, they're Joss's, I'm just making them feel better.  PAIRING: B/A, and loads more
TIMELINE: After end of series 5 Buffy, series 2 Angel
SPOILERS: Anything is possible... say all, up to B5/A2
SYNOPSIS: My take on series 6 and what should happen, please read the rest or none of this will make sense.
FEEDBACK: I live off it J
RATING:  R-13

DEDICATION:   To, Trammie and Mark my Beta readers who I owe so much thanks to.  Huge, huge, huge, huge thanks go out to Falco (the good twin).  Without her and especially her love of Bowie and Spike I would never have managed to do this chapter.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the figure beside Spike asked, defensively.

"Exactly what I said, surprisingly.  Never thought I'd see you in a place like this."  Spike replied, finishing it off with.  "Tweed."

Giles looked at him for a second and ordered another two whiskeys, then he turned and grabbed the lapels of Spike's duster, yanking him off the ground.

"Don't call me that.  It's 'Ripper' or nothing!" he said into Spike's face, menacingly.

Spike nodded and Giles let him go to sit back down on the stool.

"As long as you're buying the drinks, I'd call you 'Deborah' if you wanted me to."

"Are you calling me a poof?"  Giles asked, his eyes blazing.

Spike held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Easy Ripper, just having a bit of a joke."

"Well, watch what you're saying."

Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes, picked one out, placed it in his mouth and lit it.  He offered the packet over to Giles who was ordering the next round in.  To his brief surprise Giles plucked a cigarette out of the packet, reached across for Spike's zippo and lit it.  He took a long drag and let the smoke sidle out of his mouth.

"God I needed that." he said, relaxing back onto the barstool.

"All that bloody time, I stayed at your place and never once did I find the fags.  Oh, I found the whiskey, but not the fags."

"It's been a long time since I've felt like having one."  Giles replied.

"So what I'm wondering is, why the sudden Jekyll and Hyde?  One minute, mild mannered stuffy librarian, the next this."

"Don't you ever just get sick of where your life is?"

"Yeah, all the bloody time.  You're looking at the vampire who isn't vampy, Scourge of Europe who can't even strike fear into the heart of Xander or anyone.  But do you see me suddenly going out on a binge, drinking and smoking myself to…" Spike looked up as two more shots of whiskey were placed in front of them, he nodded complacently and shot another glass.  Giles followed suit.

"Anyway, I know my history, you were never the Scourge of Europe, that was Angelus."

"You're always so damn picky on the details.  I assisted, I was scary!"  Spike replied, indignant.

"'Scary monsters, super creeps,  
  Keep me running, running scared'" Giles started singing softly.
"You're just taking the piss now!  And with a damn good song too."
"I only know the good ones."  Giles replied.
"You never struck me as a Bowie man?"  Spike asked, his eyebrows raised.
"I've got the original 45 version of 'You've Got a Habit of Leaving' by Davy Jones and the Lower Third, back at my place!"
Spike looked at him, his eyes wide.  "You have that album?  That's one of the hardest to get hold of!  Bloody hell, Ripper."
Giles looked smug for a moment, then ordered a full bottle of whiskey from Willie.  He poured another two glasses and shot one back.
"Of course, I saw Bowie in concert in New York in 1978."
Giles almost choked on his whiskey.
"You saw the World Tour?" he asked, disbelief in his voice.
"7th May 1978, Madison Square Gardens, if I remember rightly.  Unbelievable.  Sang Space Oddity as an acoustic."  Spike necked his shot as Giles took the information in. "Had to drain two huge security blokes to get in, mind you, gave me indigestion for the next two days, but I'd say it was worth it."
Giles looked shocked for a second, but then recovered a little and reached across to take two cigarettes out of the packet, he put them both in his mouth and lit them with the Zippo.  He handed one to Spike and poured two more whiskeys.  Taking a drag on the lit cigarette, he exhaled deeply and lifted his glass.
"To Bowie, the greatest musician of all time."
Spike picked up his glass and raised it.
"To Bowie." he replied, they chinked the glasses together and then both poured the liquid down their throats at the same time.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
Buffy and Angel strolled slowly through the darkness, hands clasped gently.  It was like they had been transported back three years previously, when they used to spend their nights patrolling the town and just spending time together.
Buffy giggled and Angel turned to look at her.
"What?" he asked.
"Déjà vu," And saw the confused expression on his face.  "Any second now I'm expecting you to suggest we go make out in the graveyard like we used to."
"I don't think I ever suggested that."
"Don't get all noble on me, I was just paraphrasing, I'm sure you put it more eloquently and persuasively." Batting her eyelashes at him.
Angel looked at her for a moment, all his puffed up resolve crumbling at her smiling eyes shining in front of him.
"Well, you know, we could, if you wanted to." he said, almost shyly.
Buffy turned to face him, and reached up and attacked his lips passionately.
"Why sir, I do believe you are propositioning me." she drawled, in her best fake southern belle accent and wriggled her body against him.
Angel growled in response.
"We don't have to sneak around in graveyards anymore." she told him.  "We live together.  Share our lives, the same house, the same bed."  
"I know." 
"And I know that you know.  But I just like saying it, our house, our bed."  She kissed him again.
"Speaking of bed, we'd better get to Giles' or we will never make it home before dawn." she continued and took him by the hand once more and they made their way to the apartment.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 

The first thing they saw when they reached the courtyard of the apartment block was Giles' front door slightly ajar.  Both their defences came up immediately as they quietly walked towards the door.  Taking a deep breath Angel pushed the door open a little more.  Noting there was no one remotely near the entrance, they slowly make their way into the room.  They were faced with utter devastation, two of the dining chairs had been knocked over, books were on the floor and there was shattered glass near the breakfast bar.  Buffy bent down and touched a small red spot on the floor, she looked up and caught Angel's eyes, the liquid on her finger gleaming in the moonlight.  Over in the lounge area things were much the same, books and papers were strewn everywhere, cabinets and drawers were open and their contents spilt out. 

"Giles?"  Buffy asked quietly and then again, a little more loudly and with a little more panic in her voice.

"Someone's taken him, Angel, someone's broken in and taken him." Her voice trembling with emotion.

Angel began to pick his way over to the passageway leading between the lounge and the back of the apartment.  He only got a little way down when he banged into a familiar figure.

"Spike!" he growled, pushing the younger vampire up against the wall.

"Where is he, what did you do?  What happened?"

"What am I supposed to have done now?"  Spike asked, his voice slurring slightly.

"Who took him?  Who broke in?"

"Shit, we've been robbed?"  Spike said.

Angel took the pressure off the vampire's chest slightly as he began to realise that Spike didn't know what was going on.

Spike took the opportunity that presented itself, when his sire let go of him, and began to make his way into the main body of the room, staggering slightly, he looked around wildly at the site of destruction.

At that moment, Giles appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking a little dishevelled with a record in his hand.

"Found it, finally." he began.

"Giles!"  Buffy exclaimed.  "You're alright!  You're not hurt, or unconscious or anything."

"Ooo… Sherlock Holmes."  Spike retaliated in a singsong voice.

"That's what I taught my Slayer, great powers of observation."  Giles said to Spike.

Spike began to giggle quietly.

"What's going on?" she asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. 

"We're just having a drink.  It is allowed."  Giles answered.

"But the door open, the chairs knocked over, the glass and the blood!" she exclaimed.

"So we knocked a few chairs over, and Spike spilt the whiskey bottle.  We are adults."

"Bugger off, Ripper, you knocked over the whiskey!"  Spike yelled.  "And cut my soddin' finger in the process."

"These vampires, they bleed so easily."  Giles said.

"So everyone is alright?"  Angel asked, a calm voice amongst the fray.

"Yes, yes, we're fine."

"We're bloody brilliant."  Spike slurred.  "We're starting a band, aren't we, Ripper?"

Giles walked, rather staggered, across the room towards Spike and clasped his arm around his shoulder.

"We're gonna be the next best thing." he shouted, bouncing up and down, jolting the vampire along with him.  "Now did you come round for a reason, or just a social visit?"

"I came to tell you what we had found while we were out on patrol."  Buffy said through gritted teeth.

"And?"  Giles asked, his voice mocking.

"Well," she began hesitantly.  "We didn't find anything."

Giles just began to giggle, sending Spike into fits alongside him.  They both collapsed down on the sofa laughing together.

"I thought you might want to do some research?"  Buffy asked.

"Stuff the books, there's no use reading about things, you have to live to really experience things."  Giles remarked.

"And if we don't find out what this is, we might not live!"  Buffy countered.

"Well you're the Slayer, go slay it, or something."  Spike replied. 

"Good call!"  Giles shouted and grabbed a bottle of vodka from where he had found it hidden in the drinks cabinet.

Buffy looked over and saw Angel quietly seething next to the two drunken Englishmen.

She walked over to him and took his hand.

"We're going to go," she said, aiming the sentence towards Giles.  "Call me when you've come down off the band candy high." 

She tugged Angel's hand gently and led him out of the apartment.

"Bloody kids these days, they just don't know how to have a good time.  It's always the end of the world with them.   Anyone would think they were responsible for averting the apocalypse."  Giles said in all seriousness.

Spike looked over to him, caught his eye, and they both dissolved into giggles once more.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Buffy stormed across the courtyard and down the steps to the road, Angel had to walk fast alongside her to keep up.

"Buffy, slow down."  Reaching out to grab her arm.

She whirled around to face him.

"Slow down?  I can't slow down, I have a demon to track and no one is helping me!" she yelled at him.

Angel just stared at her quietly for a second, his hand reaching up to brush her hair away from her eyes.  Her breathing began to steady and her face began to lose its angry flush.

"I'm sorry," she said.  "Giles just got to me."

"I think, we would be best going to find Wesley and the rest and seeing what they can do to help us at the moment."

"Oh great, so now we're going to replace one defective Watcher with another?"

"Wesley has changed, Buffy.  He's not the person that you knew."  Angel said, quite sternly.

"OK I know, again with the sorrys.  It's just after everything that's happened recently, I really didn't need Giles going all Ripper on me.  He's my next 'hold Buffy together at the seams guy' after you."

Angel leant over and kissed her forehead.

"It'll be alright, Wesley may be able to help us.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

The vase came screaming past her head and shattered into pieces against the wall behind her.  She bent down to pick up the broken parts as a glass came firing after it, and then a plate and a cup.  She gave a heartfelt sigh and pulled herself upright.

"Are you aiming to trash the entire place, or just part of it?" she said, weariness in her voice.

She began to stand up and walk into the other room, when a statue passed her and smashed on the ground where she had just stood.  Setting a look of concentration on her face, she walked into the middle of the other room.

Another girl stood at the far end of the room, next to a long table which was scattered with various, very breakable objects.  She had cropped blonde hair and was quite skinny, her eyes were deep, dark puddles and they began to give out a little glow as the next object was picked up.  With a look of contempt on her face the young girl held the bottle in the air with her gaze and with a small flick of her head she threw it towards the centre of the room and towards the dark haired girl standing there.

The dark haired girl stood stock still, the bottle came flying towards her, accurately aimed at her head.  She took a deep breath in and then concentrated.  The object slowed to a halt between the two girls, spinning on it's own on nothingness.

"Amy, give it a rest.  I know you're a powerful witch, quit with the proving and the tantrums."

The blonde haired girl didn't lose her concentration for a second.

"I have to do something, sitting and waiting around is driving me mad."

"Thought you'd be used to that."  The dark haired girl countered.

"I had envisaged that you'd managed to put me back in human form for better things than hanging around a dank, dark warehouse."

"Well I could always try and find you one of those wheel things that you seemed to like so much when you were a rat.  That might keep you occupied."

Amy lost her concentration for a second and the bottle dropped to the floor, shattering on impact.

"Great, that's our last bottle of sacred sand."

"Oh chill out, Ramon, it's not as if one of us doesn't help out in a magic shop."  Amy snapped back.  "Speaking of our third member.  Where is Willow?"

"She went off last night to do some more collecting, I haven't seen her since then."

"She should be here, we don't have much time left and the Slayer is beginning to get on my nerves, it won't be long before they find us here."

"She'll come along later."

"Pity it didn't work out with that boyfriend of yours."  Amy said slightingly.  "Pity he was too weak to take the strain."

Ramon turned on her, her eyes flaring.  "Leave Raven out of it, we have Willow now and she's stronger than both of us, and you know it.  She'll be along when she is ready, she has already had one success with the Watcher."

"Yes, but now we need to take out the Slayer and her mate.  Then when Willow gets here, we can start collecting more to finish the sacrifice."

Both girls looked over, momentarily, to a large clear urn, standing on an altar to one side of the warehouse.  A mist was swirling around inside of it, like a small storm.

"We aren't strong enough to take down the Slayer, especially not without Willow."  Raven pointed out.

"Yes, but I have a plan.  I remember overhearing things when I was in that cage in Willow's bedroom, things about the two of them.  We could send the creature out again, after them."

"But we haven't had full control of the soul catcher since we summoned it at the water tower, when we cast the resurrection spell, and there were five of us then."

"Yes, but you were the only one who knew what you were really summoning, the others had no idea, so it couldn't be controlled.  Now, with me here, it should be fine."

"You wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for me, smuggling you out of Willow's house when I did."

"Alright, with the two of us casting, it should be easy to keep it under our command."  Amy replied.  Then she walked over to a pentagram, which was painted on the floor, and sat down, extending her hand out to Ramon, who sat opposite her.  The two girls raised their right hands and joined them, lifting them into the centre of the circle.  By extending their arms, each one revealed an identical cuff to the one Willow had been wearing.

They both began chanting in quiet voices, whispering words to one another.  They clasped their hands tightly together and the blue stones in the centre of the cuffs began to glow.  Their voices raised into a crescendo and their heads tilted back so that their faces were lifted to the ceiling.  They began to shout words out into the cavernous roof space as a wind came from nowhere and ripped through the building, scattering the broken shards from earlier.  As the girls called out their final words their hands split apart and came to rest on their knees.  Both sets of eyes were a deep black colour and they were staring into the previously empty space in the centre of the pentagram, where now, hovered a dark shadowy object.

 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Buffy and Angel walked to Cordelia's motel room to find a note pinned to the door.

"It's late, it's night, so we're most likely to be at the Magic Box, researching."

They turned on their heel and walked over to the shop.  The bell jingled as they came through the door, to find a multitude of faces looking at them.

"Insomniacs anonymous?"  Buffy asked her friends before her.

"More like bribery.  Cordelia told us if we helped, she'd buy us all takeout later."  Anya said from where she sat at the table, idly flicking through the pages of a book.  Cordelia kicked her chair from where she was standing behind her.

"Fred?"  Angel asked, for a moment concerned that Cordelia had left her at the motel on her own.

Cordelia pointed at the table, mouthing 'underneath'.

Angel crouched down and peered under the table to find Fred, cross-legged, surrounded by books, muttering quietly to herself. 

"Are you alright?"  Angel asked, startling Fred, so she hit her head on the underside of the table.

"Ow!" she cried, rubbing her head.  "My head hurts, but I had tacos, which was nice, and then we all came here to meet Wesley and Gunn and to try and find the demon in all these books."

"Good."  Angel said, and stood back up again, standing beside Buffy.

Wesley suddenly appeared from the gallery above them, with a few more books in his hands.

"Goodie, more books, like we need some more of those."  Cordelia started.

Wesley looked at her for a second and then gave his attention to Angel and Buffy.

"Has Giles found anything?" he asked.

"His lost delinquency."  Buffy replied deadpan.  "Oh, and a whiskey bottle, and some really bad records."

"I don't understand."  Wesley replied.

"Giles has changed a little."  Angel tried to explain.

"Changed?"  Xander asked.

"He's gone all Ripper on us again.  We left him trying to start a band with Spike."  Buffy cut in.

"I have to ask…Ripper?"  Gunn said.  "As in, Jack the?"

"No, not like that, Giles used to be a bit of a teenage rebel, dabbling in black magic, drinking, loud music, all that kind of thing, and he used to be called Ripper."

"So who's enchanted the candy this time?"  Xander asked.  "And why didn't I get any?"

"Candy?"  Wesley asked, looking bewildered.

"Last time Giles went like this, it was because someone had cursed some band candy, to regress all the adults to children, for some big demon sacrifice thing.  But I haven't seen any candy."

"Maybe it's something else he ate?"  Anya proposed.

"Who was the last one there last night?"  Angel asked.

"He was with Willow when we left him, and he was all Giles, you know, all British and stuffy."  Cordelia said.

"Where's Willow?" Buffy asked.

"Her and Tara are AWOL."  Xander replied. 

"Could be something to do with the vision, you never knew, I do get them for a reason, rather than just entertainment."  Cordelia pointed out.

"The creature we are looking for could be responsible for Giles' behaviour, you mean?"

"Stranger things have happened.  And when it went through Angel and Spike, they turned into kids again."

"I did not."  Angel protested.

"You fought in the playground like children."  Cordelia said.

"Is Giles in any immediate danger?" Wesley asked.

"From alcohol poisoning, yes.   But, if you're asking if I think he'll do anything stupid, I doubt he'll be capable of it."  Buffy replied.

"Let me guess, we're going to do some research?"  Xander asked.  "'Cause I haven't seen enough bad pencil drawings of demons in my short life."

A resounding thud echoed around the shop, as a dozen books on demonology were opened once more.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Even Wesley had begun to drop off on top of the book he was reading, just over an hour later.  Buffy watched from where she was slumped across the Magic Shop, as his head gradually began to drop slowly towards the pages, closer, a little bit closer and then, suddenly, he would snap up and look quickly around, and then look back at the book again.  She lifted the book off her knee and stood up.  For a moment her legs gave way underneath her and she slid towards the floor again, to be caught by Angel.  She leant back against him, letting him support her.

"Buffy?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I guess I just got up a little quickly.  I feel a little light-headed that's all."

"Did you drink anything recently?"

"Who are you, my mother?" she joked, turning around to look at him, but then, seeing the concern in his face, she changed her tone.

"No, not in a while, I guess what Giles told me about needing water was true."

He reached his hand up and touched her cheek gently.

"I think we all need to call it a night," he said. 

"That's the best idea you've had all night.  In fact, the only one, I think!"  She tried to smile at him, to stop him worrying, but she knew it wouldn't help.

"You wake them all up and send them home, I'm going to go and get a glass of water."

She walked out into the kitchen in the back, feeling his eyes burning into her as she left.

Angel managed to rouse the rest of the gang and they all started to pack up the books and straighten the shop back up once more.  Buffy walked slowly back into the room, sipping a glass of water.  Angel went over to her and walked her across the room.

"Buff?  Are you OK?"  Xander asked, concerned.

"Yes!  I'm fine, just a little dehydrated.  Anyone would think I'd been brought back from the dead or something." she said, trying to lighten the mood, but looked up to see a multitude of concerned faces looking at her, including Gunn and Fred who she hardly knew.

"OK, so the death jokes don't go down well, but I'm fine, nothing a little rest and some more water wouldn't help."

Everyone seemed to relax a little then.

"So we start again tomorrow?"  Cordelia asked.

"I think we should."  Wesley agreed.  "We have to get to the bottom of this."

"We'll go check in on Giles when we get up, with any luck, he'll have gotten over his 'embracing the inner child' and just have a vicious hangover."  Buffy said.

"He may be able to tell us more about what happened."  Angel completed.

"Someone needs to tell us, cause the, supposed, best demon hunters in the area can't."  Cordelia said.  "Don't worry, I'm picking on all of us, that's the new me, wide ranging and self mocking insults."

They all said their goodbyes and made their way out of the door, Anya locking it carefully behind her.

 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Amy and Ramon stared at the shadow creature in the centre of the pentagram.  Magical energy was charging off the two of them, crackling in the air around them.  Both girls closed their eyes for a second, and then opened them once more. 

The shadow creature began to move outside of the pentagram and leapt through the air towards the open warehouse door.  It jumped through the doorway and out onto the roofs of Sunnydale, into the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Buffy and Angel watched the group move off into the night, mainly to make sure that nothing followed them.  They stood in the shadows of the shop front, just listening as their friends moved further away.

Anya's voice could be heard piercing the air.

"Do we get to go and have sex now?  'Cause you know, looking at musty old books doesn't get me in the mood."  Xander could be heard quietly trying to pacify her.

Buffy giggled in the darkness at her friends.  Angel took her hand and they set off down the street. 

"You know, sometimes I look around us and think that our destinies have made us the most unluckiest people in the world."  Buffy began.  "But on nights like this, I realise that we may be two of the luckiest."

Angel looked at her, confused for a moment.

"Look at the group of people who surround us; two witches, who are also lesbians, one previous head cheerleader who is now destined to be the hotline to the gods, and an ex-vengeance demon, two 'stiff upper lip' Englishmen, one vampire who's been chipped, one form of pure energy who's now a hormonal teenager, a construction worker who has been a hyena, a homeless street kid and a broken scientist.  The most dysfunctional group you could imagine, yet I think we are the most functional unit I have ever known."

"It's a family."  Angel said.

"The best we could ask for under the circumstances."  Buffy answered, squeezing his hand. 

"I'm amazed at the way they have gelled together over this.  I think I even saw Fred and Tara have a conversation the other day!  And Xander has been comparing battles with Gunn."

"I just wish we could find whatever it is that is causing all the trouble."

Buffy nodded in the darkness, understanding his frustration.  It was like they were trying to fight something that wasn't there.

They headed out towards the cemetery in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.  As they reached the gates they stopped for a moment, and Angel bent his lips down and caught Buffy's in a gentle kiss.  She found herself lost in the moment, enjoying the sensation of his mouth against hers.  However, their destinies were not to let them enjoy this moment for long.

Suddenly Buffy felt a tingle run down her spine.  She opened her eyes and looked over Angel's shoulder to see the shadowy creature they had been tracking, leaping off the top of mausoleums, across the cemetery.  She broke away from Angel and headed off through the gates.

Angel immediately saw the creature jumping through the night and followed close behind her. 

They chased across the cemetery, following the creature's every move on it's erratic path through the gravestones.  They ran up the side of the hill in front of them and came to an abrupt halt, as they found themselves inside the courtyard of the mansion.

"Did you see it go inside?"  Angel asked.

"I think I did, it definitely didn't go anywhere else."

They both stood there for a moment, gathering themselves.  Then they cautiously moved towards the French windows and into their home.

Buffy stood at the entrance uneasily.  Fighting demons was her calling, and something she knew she was good at, but this one had invaded her home, her sanctuary.  The one place she had felt safe since she had returned.

"Let's go kill it," she said, and felt Angel's hand rest on her shoulder, giving her the strength she needed.

They began to walk through the lounge, checking out each and every shadow, poised, waiting to make their move should any of them, well, move.

They tracked through the house, walking up the darkened staircase that was never used.  In fact, Buffy didn't even think she had ever been to the second storey of the house.  They walked into room after room, each one as dusty and empty as the last.  The last room they entered was a large room with a draped window.  The drapes had been thrown open, framing a spectacular view across the cemetery and beyond.

"Wow."  Buffy whispered into the darkness.  "This room is amazing.  We could make a fabulous den up here."

"Spike and Drusilla used to stay in here sometimes."  Angel said, crushing a stray doll's head underneath his foot.

"Eww, Spike had sex in here?  Remind me to get Willow to do a cleansing spell."  Buffy remarked.

Angel looked across at her for a moment, and she let her mind go back to the job in hand.  They moved back out of the room and into the hallway.  Slowly they made their way back down the stairs and through the passageway into the main body of the house. 

A shadow crossed their bedroom floor and they both ran full pelt into the room.  They stood, stock still in the centre for a moment, adjusting to the darkness.  The shadow moved again, and they both relaxed a little.

"Just a tree."  Angel whispered.

Both walked out of the room and into the lounge again.  They stood in the centre of the room and looked into every corner.

"Maybe it just drifted through and went out the other side?"  Buffy asked.

"Possibly, but wherever it went, it doesn't seem to be here now."  Angel replied.

 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Ramon and Amy were still in the same positions in the pentagram.  Beads of sweat were clinging to each girl's forehead.  They raised their hands from their knees and joined them once more in the air.  Each girl opened her eyes to stare at the other.

"Now!"  They both shouted in unison.  A powerful force of energy rushing through them, knocking both girls flat to the floor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Nothing had moved in the mansion for a couple of minutes now.  Buffy began to make her way across the room towards Angel, intending to lead him into the bedroom, her thoughts directed entirely on the soft bed and his arms.

She had only moved a couple of steps towards him when she felt a rush of cold air around her.  She looked behind Angel and saw the creature flying towards him.  Before she could shout a warning or reach him, the creature has rushed through him at full force and pitched him to the ground.  She began to run towards him, to help him, when the creature connected with her also.  All the breath was knocked out of her body, as the ground came up to meet her at an alarming rate.  She hit the concrete floor hard, resting her head on the cement.  She tried to look over to Angel, but could just see his body crumpled on the floor.  Then the world went black around her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

He awoke moments later, disorientated.  His eyes opened and he looked around him.  The place seemed familiar, somehow, but he wasn't sure why.  He forced his lids open a little more, to take in the scene.  He pushed his hands against the ground and raised himself to his feet, stretched his body and then stood up.  He stumbled a little, and his head hurt.  He couldn't remember anything from moments before.  Then a familiar sight caught his eye.  The blonde body crumpled to the floor.  He immediately began to walk towards her, his mind processing just one thought.

'There's the Slayer, and this time, I'm going to kill her.'

END OF CHAPTER 10

Feedback – or maybe I won't write anymore…….

Chapter 11 – coming soon