Haunted

by vampchick

When three of Buffy's friends from LA show up in Sunnydale and ask her help to get rid of an angry ghost, Buffy follows them to LA and meets the Charmed Ones, who make her fondest wish come true.

5. Chapter four: The Plot is Revealed

CHAPTER FOUR

Phoebe and Doyle had arrived about an hour ago, and now Phoebe and Wesley, who had insisted he search with her, were looking through every inch of it. Paige and Prue were searching through old musty books with Cordelia at the counter while Fred searched the Internet. Leo still hadn't returned and Cole had shimmered out 15 minutes ago to find some information. Gunn had come up with nothing and was now going through a pile of old home owners records. Piper had once again joined Angel on the couch, and the two were talking while doing their share of the research. "Well, what I mean is, she has a chance at a normal life now. She can have everything I can't give her and I know she will want one day. I'm not saying I'll stop loving her or she'll stop loving me, but she deserves the chance," Angel was saying quietly to Piper. Piper nodded. "Yeah, I understand that, Angel. I really do. Leo wanted that for me too. And I had the chance to have it. With the guy next door, too. But then I realized that I can't. Have a normal life I mean. Dan could have gotten real hurt and then there was the entire witch thing. That's when I knew that I couldn't have the normal life. No picket fence or dog. No being a normal housewife. You didn't think, Angel, that Buffy can't have that normal life. No matter what. She's screwed into this supernatural life, just like me and my sisters. If anyone could have given her a happy life, it was you." Angel regarded the young witch for a moment.

She was right. Buffy couldn't have the normal life he had left her for. "But, deep down I think you knew that," she said. "And I know you would never leave her just coz you got tired of trying. So, I'm wondering why else you would have left her." Angel looked into her eyes and saw that she knew the truth. She knew he didn't leave her just because of the things he couldn't give her. "There was something else. The curse the Gypsies put on me," he said, knowing she knew about it. the two had talked about their lives the entire time. Piper knew about the curse and how it had been broken. She knew all about that, but now she was wondering what else he had left the Slayer for. "Yeah. Is that why? Because of the entire happiness clause? Come on, Angel. You wouldn't let that happen again." Angel shook his head slightly. "No, Piper, at that point I didn't care. We were getting close again and all I could think of was of what would happen if it happened again. I didn't want to hurt her, and I knew that if it did happen again, no matter if I could stop it or not, I knew I wouldn't because it would mean that just once more, I could be with her. And I couldn't let that happen." He watched as Piper's brown eyes searched his face. "Now, that I understand," she said softly. Angel nodded and looked back down at his book, as did she. They looked up when the telephone rang. Wesley was the one to answer it.

"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless," he said into the receiver, and Angel receives strange looks from the Halliwell sisters. Angel looked at them and threw up his hands. "It wasn't my idea at all. It was Cordy's." This time Cordelia got the strange looks, but ignored them and got back to her book, and smiled when Doyle came out carrying a tray of mugs and sat one in front of her. "Mr. Giles?" Wesley said into the receiver in confusion. Angel and Cordelia looked at him. "Yes, it is good to hear you too. Yes. You understood right. Yes, we realize that also. Oh, dear. Are you certain that is very wise? Yes, I suppose so. Alright then. We'll keep a look out. Yes, good-bye to you too." Wesley hung up the phone and turned to Angel. The vampire looked at him expectantly. "Well?" he asked. Wesley swallowed. He really disliked telling Angel of the arrival of Buffy. Especially since Giles had told him that she would be there any minute. "It seems Giles had some news. It appears that Buffy-" He was cut off when a familiar voice finished his sentence. "Is here."

They all turned to the doorway to see Buffy herself standing there and Dawn by here side. At that moment, everyone in the hotel froze, until Cordelia stood up and went to hug the blonde and the young girl who had just arrived. "Hey! Nice to see you two. Dawn, long time no see." Dawn smiled and returned the brunette's hug. "Ditto." Cordelia stepped back to allow them entry, but Dawn was the only one who moved. Buffy was standing in the same spot, her eyes connected with Angels, who wasn't moving either. They just looked at each other, years of pain and sorrow showing in their eyes. Buffy stopped breathing, and just stared at his dark orbs. They reflected all sorts of different emotions and she was sure hers were doing the same thing. Suddenly, all the pain from their past together resurrected and tears formed in the base of her blue eyes. He noticed them, she was sure, for he rose from his place on the small couch where a brunette girl sat, staring back at her. Angel walked over to Buffy and Dawn, and gently embraced his love. He shushed her and stoked her blonde hair, oblivious to the people around them. All that mattered was the girl in his arms.

Piper's words to him earlier echoed through his head. That no matter how much time passed, her heart would always belong to him. He pulled back from the embrace and held Buffy's face in his hands, wiping the tears that had slipped from her eyes away. He smiled as she did, and pulled completely away. "What a way to say 'Hello', huh?" she asked. He nodded and turned to Dawn. He noticed she was crying too. He hugged her, and she returned it. "Good to see you, Little One," Angel said. Dawn smiled when he said 'little one'. That was the name he had called her when he lived in Sunnydale. He was the only one that was allowed to call her that. Not even her mother could. Only Angel. "You too," she said as they pulled apart. They both turned to face the others in the room. Dawn automatically recognized Wesley, the man who had came to replace Giles as Buffy and Faith's Watcher. She had heard the Council had fired him and that he had come to work for Angel. She, of course, recognized Cordelia, considering she had hugged them, and also because she could never forget her hero. She had always admired Cordelia. But there were two men she didn't know, along with 5 brunette women who she had never seen before. They all sat looking at them all. The girl who sat on the couch with Angel had a few tears in her eyes and Dawn wondered why.

Angel turned to the both of them and waved his hand for them to enter. "Come on in," he said, addressing them both but looking at Buffy. They both nodded and followed him in. Buffy looked around and smiled at Wesley. He returned it and came forward. "Buffy, pleasure seeing you again. Dawn. I am glad to see you also," he said. Dawn smiled at him. "Same here, Wes," Buffy replied. The Slayer looked around at all the other people and recognized the Irish man she had never really been properly introduced to, Doyle. She smiled and extended her hand toward him. He took it and smiled. "At least now we can actually shake hands," he said with a smile. Buffy nodded and looked around again. Her gaze fell on the brunette who sat on the couch, looking at her. "Piper? Is that you?" Buffy said, walking toward her old tutor who had helped her with quite a lot of her homework in high school. Piper nodded and came to embrace the Slayer. They pulled back and looked at each other. Dawn looked at Angel and smiled. The vampire smiled back. "Who are the rest of these people?" Dawn whispered to him, the smile still on her face. Angel laughed softly and nodded. "Buffy, Dawn, these are the Halliwell sisters. They're here to help too," Angel said, indicating four of the brunettes, including Piper, who was still smiling at Buffy. "Yeah, I know Piper," Buffy said, turning around and her eyes met with Angel's again. Before they could stay connected, Angel reluctantly looked away and walked toward the other three sisters. "This is Prue, Phoebe and Paige. Piper's sisters."

They all turned when they heard Dawn giggle. She looked at the others looking at her and shut up. "Uh, sorry. It's just that all their names start with 'P'," she said. They all smiled and turned around. "Why are they helping?" Buffy asked. Phoebe smiled. "We're witches and we were sent to help." Buffy nodded. Angel kept his gaze fixed on Buffy. She looked more beautiful than he ever remembered. Her hair was the length it was when Whistler had first revealed her to him. He also noticed that she had grown into her body. He knew that she wasn't the 16 year-old girl who had fallen in love with him once upon a time. She was a grown woman now. His thoughts were interrupted by Gunn clearing his throat. The vampire turned around to see Gunn standing beside Fred. Angel looked at them apologetically and introduced them. "This is Gunn and Fred, they work with us." Gunn nodded in their direction while Fred gave them a little wave. Buffy smiled while Dawn returned the wave. After the introductions were over, the hotel lobby became quiet. Everyone stared at each other. Buffy and Angel avoided eye contact, knowing that if they did, they wouldn't be able to break it. Buffy still shuddered at the feeling of his arms around her. To have him hold her again, the way he used to, had made her feel more welcome than ever. She managed a glance at him, and saw his face. His face. The face that haunted her dreams at night and invaded her thoughts at day. She remembered his face in her dreams, how happy it was. Now it held confusion and pain, and she knew that it was her presence that was causing it.

Slowly, Angel raised his gaze, his eyes looking into hers; reading her soul like he always used to. She looked away quickly. Wesley was the one to break the silence. "Buffy, the girl we encountered, Amber, although I believe you are very familiar with her, she mentioned that her two roommates were off fetching you," Wesley said, looking at the Slayer. She hadn't changed much since he had last time seen her. At least her appearance hadn't. He wasn't sure about anything else about her. Buffy nodded, looking relieved to have something else to focus on then Angel. Wesley nodded and continued. "Where are they?" Before Buffy could answer, the younger girl did. "Allie and Kristi went back to the beach house. We tried to get them to come with us, but they wouldn't. So we took them back and they told where your new offices were. Then we came here." Wesley nodded. The uncomfortable silence returned. Paige couldn't stand it. "Okay, this silence thing is getting irritating. Why doesn't anybody talk?" she said. "Paige!" was the answer she received, and it had been delivered by her sisters. She looked at them and ignored their angry faces. Paige didn't like this silence and she was going to make it go away. "Listen, I may not know what happened in your guy's past, but I do know when there are issues to be worked out, and this silence isn't helping any. And, if you guys don't wanna work on the issues, can we at least work on getting rid of the ghost? I mean, those girls are still at that house. We should probably work quick, shouldn't we?" Everyone in the room stared at the young witch.

After a moment, Buffy stared at Angel. He looked at her again, and she shivered from head to toe. "Uh, come on. You two stop staring at each other. Paige is right. We gotta find some way to get rid of the ghost guy," Cordelia yelled, drawing the young lovers back to reality. "Cordy's right. We should. But, I still haven't found out anything about who the ghost might be. I figured that would probably help," Fred said, looking up from her computer. "Oh, we already found out who it is." They all turned to Buffy. "Willow found him on the Internet. Some gangster guy. His name was Robert James Barber. He killed like a lot of people before he died and then some gang got him back. He died, I think Will said, in 1945. There was a picture of him and both Allie and Kristi I.D.-ed him. So you don't have to worry about who he is." They all nodded, but Angel just smiled and looked at her again. Even if Willow had found the guy, he felt as if she had. No matter what, she never ceased to amaze him. "But, the thing we can't figure out is how to get rid of him. Well, exorcism came to mind but we don't exactly know how to perform one," Dawn said, as she sat down on a chair beside the man named Gunn, who smiled at her.

The girl who had been introduced as Prue smiled. "Oh, we know how to do one of those. We've done them a few times," she said. Buffy looked at her oddly. "So, why haven't you done it yet?" she asked. All four of the sisters grew silent. Piper smiled and leaned toward the blond. "Buffy, honey, don't ask that question. We don't know. We wanted to wait to find out who this ghost was. Now that we have, I guess we could perform it," she said. "All we have to do is find one in our spell book and get the items. Of course, they are sorta tricky, but I'm pretty sure we can handle it." Her smile grew when she saw the familiar white lights of a whitelighter appear. Within the blink of an eye, Leo stood next to Dawn's chair, causing the young teen-ager to scream. Leo held out his hands to quiet her. "Hey, hey, calm down! I won't hurt you. I'm one of the good guys," he said, and lowered her hands when Dawn stopped screaming. Leo turned to Buffy and extended his hand. "You would be the Slayer, I presume? Honor meeting you. I'm Leo Wyatt. Whitelighter." Buffy shook his hand uncertainly. "And that would be a?" she asked. He explained and she nodded, while Dawn looked at him with amusement. "So, you can actually appear like that anytime?" she asked. Leo smiled and nodded. Phoebe smirked. "Piper, you might wanna lower your husband's ego before it becomes the size of Prue's." The statement got her a glare from Leo and a smack from her older sister.

Buffy turned to Piper. "You married your guide?" she asked. Piper nodded. "Yup." Angel tried not to smile at the look of confusion on his beloved's face, but failed miserably. He turned to Leo, intent on getting his mind off Buffy. "Leo, did you find out anything?" Leo nodded. "Yeah, a little. I know who he is. Or was. He was a mob boss named-" "Robert James Barber. Yeah, Buffy and Dawn told us that. Anything else?" Leo nodded and continued. "Yeah. Turns out vanquishing him won't be too easy. A normal exorcism won't work. You have to come up with some other way to do it." Cordelia glared at him. "That's it? They didn't tell us how we can get rid of him," she asked. Leo shook his head. Prue leaned in toward her. "They never do. They are very big on making us found out on our own." Cordelia glared again, this time up at the ceiling. "Thanks," she muttered under her breath. That was when Angel noticed the duffel bags Buffy and Dawn were carrying. "Don't you guys have somewhere to stay?" he asked. Buffy looked at him and shook her head. "No, we were gonna look for a hotel, but we wanted to come here first to let you know we were here." Angel took that in and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, uh, why, why don't you two stay, uh, here. No reason for you to pay money for a hotel when you're standing in one that doesn't charge money for staying." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. He didn't even know why he had said them.

No, he knew why. It was because he still loved her. Because he still wanted her. Piper's words echoed through his head once more. He looked up at Buffy, to see she was looking at him. Her eyes held pain of the past, and yet they held want and lust. He also saw something he hated to see in her eyes: fear. She was afraid to stay there, afraid of him. That they would get lost in each other and he would become evil again. His own eyes reassured her that it wouldn't happen. She shifted her shoulders and looked at him. "Well, um, thanks for offering. It would be a big help considering we are practically broke, but I think I'll let, uh, Dawn decide." Both the Slayer and vampire turned to look at Dawn, who was shaking her head up and down so fast Angel was afraid it would pop off. Buffy smiled at Angel shrugged. "Guess we are staying at Angel Investigations." Dawn silently cheered, while Cordelia looked worried, and Piper looked as if she had a plan in mind. Piper had a feeling that Dawn wanted her sister and Angel to reunite. Maybe she could arrange that to come true. With a little help from the teen-ager and from her own sisters, she could make it come true.

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Amber sat on the couch in the living room. She was trying to occupy herself with the TV Guide crossword while she waited for her roommates to arrive home. It had been over 3 hours since Allie had called, saying Buffy was taking the job. Amber had been glad. Buffy was gonna help, and at the same time, people from an agency that deals with the weird stuff that they had going on was going to too. As far as Amber could see, they had the upper hand. When the door opened, Amber sat the crossword down and rose to see her roommates enter the house. "Where's Buffy at?" she asked. "Oh, she and Dawn went to see that Angel guy. I think she went to yell at him or something. She knows him," Allie said. Amber nodded. "Yeah, Cordelia told me. She works for him. She said they went back to Sunnydale or whatever. She went to high school with her. Not sure what kind of connection Angel had with her though." "They used to date," Allie said. Amber looked stunned. "What?" Kristi asked. Amber looked at the brunette. "Buffy dated him? Why does she always get the really hot guys?" Amber yelled. Allie smiled. Kristi smiled too. "Because she's Buffy, what else?" she said. Amber smiled this time. Allie walked past her and sat her bag down on the couch and sat down next to it. "She said they'll stop by after they get done there." Amber nodded, then realized what her friend had said. "Did you say that Dawnie is here too?" she asked. When Allie nodded, her eyes grew wide. "And you did explain that there is a murderous ghost here, right?" she asked. Kristi came over to a chair and plopped down into it. "Dawn knows about ghosts and stuff, along with Joyce. What I'm still hazy about, is how they all even know about it," she said, sliding off her leather coat.

Amber shrugged, as did Allie, even though she knew how. "Who knows. People find out in all sorts of different ways. So, Amber, do you have that guy's business card? With an address and stuff? You know, in case we need to find him?" Allie asked. Amber nodded and reached over the coffee table to grab a small white card. She handed it to Allie as she took a seat beside her. Allie looked at the card. Her brow furrowed as she studied it. "What is this, a lobster? Or is it a butterfly?" Amber leaned over to see the card. "Oh, the girl, Cordelia, told me it was an angel. Looks like something else doesn't it?" Allie nodded and sat the card back on the table. "Oh, well. At least we have the address." Kristi leaned over and snatched the card off the table. "Isn't this the address of that old abandoned hotel? Hyperian or something? You know, the hotel that had a lot of deaths all the time?" The other two girls shrugged. Kristi sat the card down. "Am, did the ghost try anything while we were gone?" Amber shook her head. "Naw. Nothing. Which I found a little weird. But, I just sorta ignored it. I didn't sleep though." The two girls nodded. "Well, maybe we should go to the hotel and see these people just in case. You know, before something bad happens," Allie said, picking up the card once again and sticking it in her pocket. Amber and Kristi nodded and stood up.

Amber slipped her shoes and jacket on. She turned and froze in place. "Uh, guys. We have to get out of here NOW." Allie and Kristi looked at her, then turned and saw what she meant. The ghost stood behind them. All three girls huddled close together and walked backwards slowly towards the door. "WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE? I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE! NOW YOU MUST DIE!" the ghost yelled. Just as Allie pulled open the door, it shut again, locking. The girls turned around to stare at the ghost in horror. "Please, just let us go, and we won't come back. We'll leave. We promise," Allie said nervously. "NO! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE! YOUR TIME IS UP!" The ghost rose his hands and a green bolt flew out of his palm. It zoomed past the girls and struck the wall behind them. The three of them looked at the wall, seeing that now there was a large hole where the bolt had struck. They turned back to the ghost. He rose his hand again and another green bolt emerged. It flew towards them. They screamed and ducked. The bolt hit the door, busting open the lock in the process. Allie grabbed a hold of Kristi and Amber and pulled open the door, dragging them through it in the process. They ran to Allie's parked mini van and jumped in, Allie locking the doors in the process. They stared at the house. The ghost was in the same spot. The girls still watched the house. He didn't move. "I don't think he can leave the house," Kristi said.

Allie looked at her. "We still can't take any chances. The ghost is now trying to kill us. We can't go back in there. Let's go. Maybe they all found out how to get rid of him." She started the car and they drove off, heading toward the Hyperian hotel, in hope of help.

"Is this room okay, Dawn?" Angel asked as he helped Dawn settle into the room he showed her. Dawn looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, it's fine, Angel. It's big. A lot bigger than my room or any of the other hotels in LA. Thanks." Angel returned her smile. He unpacked the rest of her stuff and put the now empty suitcase in a closet. He turned around and watched as Dawn stuffed the rest of her clothes in a drawer. The brunette turned and looked at the vampire. "What?" she asked. Angel looked startled. He hadn't realized he had been staring at her. "Uh, nothing. I'm just sort of amazed at how much you changed since I last saw you. You've sort of, I don't know, matured, I think." Dawn smiled again at him. "Well, it has been close to three years. I've changed a lot. But, you look the same." Angel shook his head. "But I'm not." Dawn laughed. "Yeah, so I see. You aren't so broody anymore. You seem more active. You know, with more people to keep you company." Angel nodded.

The two of them were silent for a few moments, then Dawn said, "Go see her." Angel looked up at her. "Excuse me?" he asked. "Go see Buffy. I see it in your face, Angel. You want to go talk to Buffy, so go see her. I know the only reason you are helping me settle in is so you don't have to see her. But you want to, Angel. And if you didn't you wouldn't have offered us to stay here. Go talk to her. I'll be okay." Angel just looked at her for a beat. The Dawn that stood before him now wasn't the same. She had grown into a teen-ager. Her hair was longer and she was taller and he noticed now, that she was like her sister. She knew what he was thinking. She could figure him out. It was true. He had offered to help Dawn settle in as a way to keep from making contact with Buffy. And Dawn had known that. Now she was giving him The Look. He smiled. Usually Cordelia gave him that look and it didn't work. It was the look that said do-it-or-else. But when Dawn gave him that look, he did what ever she told him to. He nodded and turned to leave the room. Before he shut the door, Dawn heard him mutter, "Summers women. Gotta love 'em."

A knock at her door caused Buffy to look up from her suitcase. She walked over to it and pulled it open. Her heart leaped into her throat when she saw Angel standing behind it. After all this time apart, just seeing him did the same thing it used to do to her when they were still together. it made her heart stop and make her gasp for breath. She felt weak in the knees and all she saw was him. She didn't see the hallway or the room. Just him. "Angel. Hi. Um, do you wanna come in?" She stepped back to allow him to enter. She shut the door behind him and clamped her hands together behind her back. Angel turned toward her, looking into her eyes. The eyes that had haunted his memory every second of the day. They hadn't changed at all, except that they were a little empty. "Is the room okay? Because you're welcome to another one if you like," he said, trying to refrain himself from sweeping his gaze over her body and inhaling her aroma. Buffy looked up at him and nodded. She suddenly found it hard to breath. "Yeah. It's fine. Thank you for asking." The room grew silent. "So, how have you been?" Angel asked. Buffy looked up at him again. "Oh, good. I guess. Um, you?" He looked at her. "Fine until a few minutes ago." Buffy nodded. She wasn't exactly fine either. Being around Angel, she was never fine. Just confused. Flashbacks from her dreams invaded her mind again. Why did they seem so real? She couldn't explain it. Seeing him again just made that feeling stronger.

"I know what you mean," she said softly. Angel took a step closer to her. Buffy's heart sped up and she suspected he heard the faster rhythm. She took a step closer to him, and now they were close. Just an arms length apart. From this distance, Buffy could smell his scent. That familiar smell of incense and the soap he used. She had missed that smell so much. Sometimes she wished she could smell it just once, to be reminded of a little piece of Angel. She looked up into his brown eyes and saw the same thing she used to. She saw pain and sorrow. But she also saw what she hadn't in a long time. Want. She knew it was mirrored in her own eyes. It always had been, ever since the night of her seventeenth birthday. Want for him. For what they could never have, only dream of. Angel took another step toward her, and now he was looming over her. She looked up into his face. Their lips were a hairsbreadths apart. Angel's mouth moved down closer to hers. Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head upwards. She could feel Angel's breath on her face. Her heart beat faster, and then.

There was a knock at the door.

Angel pulled back and Buffy opened her eyes. She looked at Angel, who was panting and looking down at her. She turned around and opened the door to reveal one of the Halliwell sisters. Phoebe, Buffy thought. She smiled at the young witch. "You wanna talk to Angel, right?" Buffy asked. Phoebe smiled and nodded. Buffy stepped back to let her in, glancing at Angel in the process. "Yeah, Phoebe? What is it?" Angel asked. His eyes ticked over to Buffy, who had walked to the bed and was now unpacking the rest of her things. "Wesley wanted me to come and get you. He said he needed help with translating something in Gaelic or some language like that," she said. Angel nodded. "Okay. I'll be right down." Phoebe nodded and turned around, saying good-bye to Buffy on her way out the door. Angel turned toward his beloved Buffy. As if sensing his eyes on her, she turned around, smiling weakly at him. "Forget it. It just happened. Luckily Phoebe stopped it," she said. But she knew she was betraying herself by saying so. She had wanted it to happen. She always did. Angel kept looking at her. She looked down. "Um, you go and help Wesley. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Angel looked at her for a few more seconds before turning and reluctantly leaving the room. After he left, Buffy sat down on the bed and stared at the wall. She closed her eyes, trying to gather herself. Her eyes opened and she finished unpacking her things. She took a deep breath and headed out the door, down to where the love of her life awaited.

Dawn had just opened the door to her room when Piper was about to knock. "Oh!" Piper yelped in surprise when the door flew open. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Piper, isn't it?" Dawn asked. Piper smiled and nodded, lowering her fist to her chest and covering her heart with her hand. "Yeah, I'm Piper. And you're Dawn right?" Dawn nodded. "Okay. At least I got the name right. Dawn, I was kinda hoping I could talk to you in private about something I sorta hope you'll help me with." Dawn looked at the older woman in front of her. She looked like the other three witches downstairs, which made sense, since they were sisters. But Dawn wasn't sure if she had ever seen any sisters who looked so much alike. She and Buffy didn't really resemble each other. At least not in appearance. In spirit, they were like twins. They both had the energetic spirit. Dawn nodded and stepped back to let Piper in. "What do need help with?" Dawn asked. Piper looked at her. "Angel and your sister." Dawn looked confused. "Huh?" she said. Piper smiled at the young girls confusion. "Angel and your sister. From what I hear, they were the love of each other's lives, and still are. I can sorta tell just by looking at them.

"Now I know everything about the curse and what happened to break them up. But I can tell that they are still in love and want to be together. I want to get then together, but I need a little help. Are you interested?" A huge smile appeared on the teen's face. "Yes! Yes, I am so interested. But how do we get them together. I mean, the curse.." Piper waved her hand to cut Dawn off. "No worries about that. You know me and my sisters are witches. Well, I talked to them already, and they offered to help. Well, Phoebe did. Paige and Prue want nothing to do with it, because they have the hots for Angel and want him for themselves. But Phoebes offered to help, and the two of us came up with a something. The two of them are afraid to be together because of the curse right? And because Angel wants Buffy to have a normal life, which he can't give her 'cause of the whole 'grrrr' thing, right?" Dawn nodded, still not understanding where Piper was heading with this. "Well, what if Phoebe and I wrote a spell? One that would turn him human, but with his strength? Would that change anything?" Dawn looked at the young witch. A spell to turn Angel human? But still be able to fight like he does now? That would make Buffy happy. Am Buffy happy equals Angel happy. So maybe if we all did do this, maybe this would work. Maybe Buffy and Angel could work it out then and they could get back together and Dawn could have her surrogate big brother back.

Dawn smiled at Piper and extended her hand. "You got yourself a deal, Miss Halliwell," she said. Piper grabbed her hand and shook it. "Let's do this, Miss Summers. We will bring those two wild crazy kids back together." All Dawn did was smile and nod. This is soo gonna work. I know I will get those two together again. Buffy will never cry herself to sleep again, Dawn thought. Piper released her hand and opened the door. "Come on, Dawn. Let's get to work. We'll go out to…" Piper looked at her watch. "Uh, a late lunch/dinner. I'm sure we deserve a break. We'll work it out then." Piper held open the door and motioning with her arms for Dawn to leave. Dawn smiled and grabbed the coat that was spread over a chair. She held it against her chest, smiled at Piper and bounced out of the room. Piper giggled at the young girls excitement and shut the door. Maybe this won't be so hard after all.

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"It still makes no sense at all," Wesley said as he slammed the thick book shut, causing a cloud of dust to blow into the air. Buffy closed her eyes and coughed, waving her hand in the air to wave the dust away. Angel glanced at her and smiled slightly at the Slayer, who coughed again. No matter what she did, he always found her beautiful. She opened her eyes and looked at him, as if feeling his eyes on her. He looked away quickly, but he knew that she had seen him. She always saw him looking at her. He looked back up. She was still looking at him. He met her eyes. No matter what, he always felt as if he was drowning whenever he looked into them, whenever he even thought about them. He could live forever just looking into the eyes of his love. They were a safe haven; a place he felt safe. Now he was drowning. But he still saw a lot of pain left in them. Pain that he had put there. And as he looked into her eyes now, he realized that he wanted to do anything to make that pain go away. Anything, just as long as he didn't have to see that pain in her eyes. "Well, MAYBE if you actually knew which book to look in, we could get this done quicker!" At the sound of Cordelia's voice, Angel and Buffy jerked their eyes away from each other. They turned their attention to the other people in the room. Wesley glared at Cordelia. "Well, if perhaps a certain woman would actually pick up a book and work a lot harder, I could find the right book!" Wesley yelled in response. Angel rolled his eyes and looked back down at the book in front of him. The Never Ending Arguments of Cordelia Chase and Wesley Wyndam- Pryce continues again, he thought. Cordy and Wes fought all the time. They could find the simplest things to fight about and turn them into another World Wars.

He heard a soft giggle beside him. He looked over and saw Buffy smiling and giggling softly at Cordelia and Wesley's antics. Angel looked at her face. He saw her small smile. How her eyes lit up with every giggle. He felt himself fall in love with her all over again. Footsteps on the hotel stairs drew his attention upward. Piper and Dawn were walking down the steps, Dawn's coat in her arms. "Going somewhere?" Buffy asked, noticing her sister's coat in her arms. Dawn looked at her older sister. "Yeah. Piper offered to take me out for a late lunch/dinner. That's okay, right? I mean, you don't need me for anything? Or Piper? Or Phoebe?" Dawn asked. Buffy shook her head. "No, not that I know of. But Piper and Phoebe, I'm not so sure about. You'll have to ask him." Buffy pointed her thumb at Angel. Dawn looked at the vampire and gave him the famous Summers puppy-dog face. She knew that it proved lethal to him several times with Buffy, and once or twice with herself. But, the point was that it worked, and the way he was looking at her helplessly, she knew it was working now. "Uh, I, uh, I guess we could do without two witches for awhile. Just as long as there's some way we can get in touch with you in case there's an emergency."

Dawn jumped up and down on her feet. The puppy dog face conquers once again. She looked at Piper to see her smiling. "Yes. Prue and Paige have my cell phone number so you can reach me. We'll be in touch. Phoebes, you gonna come?" Phoebe looked up from the Book of Shadows to stare at her older sister. "Why?" she asked. Piper looked at her sister. "You know, so we can get to know Dawn better. And to talk about that THING we were discussing. You know, about the SPELL you thought could HELP out with BUFFY and ANGEL?" she said. Phoebe just stared at her older sister for a few moments until realization hit. "Oh, yeah. Right. The spell. That we were talking about. To help out with the entire situation. Right. Uh, let me get my coat." Phoebe got up and walked out of the room. Angel looked at Piper. "What spell? You guys came up with a spell to get rid of a ghost?" Piper looked at him. Uh-oh, she thought. "Um, well, sorta. We think it will make the entire situation easier. We just sorta need to discuss it. Ya know, just figure out if it will work and stuff." Angel nodded. Piper looked over to Prue and silently begged her older sister to not tell any of the others about their plans. Prue looked back at Piper and smiled, nodding. Piper sighed, relieved.

Phoebe reappeared with her coat on, walking towards Piper and Dawn. "Okay. I'm ready. Let's go." Piper nodded. She grabbed her coat off a nearby chair and slipped it on. "Okay. We'll be in touch." The three of them walked out of the door. Buffy stared after them. "Weird," she said. Fred looked at the blond. "What do you mean?" she asked. Buffy looked up at her. "Oh, uh, nothing. Just, they seemed a little…" "Weird?" Fred finished for her. Buffy smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I don't know. Just, they were a little jumpy. Or, I don't know. Might just be me." Fred nodded and looked back at her laptop. Buffy looked back at her book. Angel shifted beside her and she glanced at him. Their eyes met. Yet again, the entire world around them disappeared and all that was left was them. She felt her heartbeat quicken. She felt a light sweat begin to form on her forehead. They both looked into each others eyes. They read each others souls. As always, Buffy felt all of the walls around her lower the gates and allow his eyes entry. She could feel him look right through her, into her. Her breath caught. She saw something she never thought still existed in his eyes. Happiness. She knew it was because her. Being near her again. It made him happy. She never thought she would ever see something like that again in his eyes. She had barely seen it when they had been together. Just once, on their one night together. their only night.

She looked away when something crashed through the doors. Or, rather, some ones. Buffy rose as she saw Amber, Allie and Kristi come through the doors, running up to the counter where they all sat. "What happened?" Buffy asked, taking in her friends exhausted and frightened appearances. "Ghost. He, he tried to kill us. We barely got out," Allie said, trying to catch her breath. "Are you guys alright?" Fred asked. Allie looked up and nodded. "So you're saying that the ghost has attempted to take your lives?" Wesley asked, coming up to them. They nodded. "So, what do we do? I mean, we can't go back there," Amber said. Angel stood up. "You guys will stay here. There are plenty of spare rooms. You…three…welcome to stay here," he said. "Oh, yeah. This is Allie Sullivan and Kristi Webb. My roommates," Amber said. Angel nodded in their direction. "Thanks for letting us stay. We appreciate it," Kristi said. Angel smiled. "No problem." Buffy looked at Amber. "Hi, Am," she said. Amber looked back at her and smiled. "Hey, Buff. Long time no see." The two friends smiled at one another. Angel watched as Buffy smiled. His emotions were definitely running high. If his heart was beating, it would be racing. She always did that to him. Always. He remembered the last time he heard those words.

It was during the entire Faith fiasco. She had asked him to pretend to be evil to get Faith to talk about the Mayor's Ascension. He had hated it. Hated kissing Faith, pretending to have no soul, watching Buffy suffer. But he had gone along with it. And Buffy had asked for a break from them. He had reluctantly agreed, and right before she had left the door, he asked her if she was still his girl. She had turned around and looked at him, and that was when he had heard that word. Her answer had been, "Always." He felt a tug on his heart when he thought of that. Thought of what they had been through. He snapped out of his reverie and looked at the three new arrivals. "Uh, okay. I'll show you girls to your rooms. Just, uh, follow me." Angel turned around and started for the stairs. He glanced at Buffy as he walked past. She was avoiding his gaze. He didn't blame her. But, right now, he was glad the three girls had arrived. It gave him a chance to get his mind of Buffy. He led them to their rooms, focusing his mind on the innocents he was meant to help, trying to avoid the beautiful blond who, some way, kept sneaking into his mind.

"So, you two can really do it? You guys can make Angel human? But still have him able to fight?" Dawn asked. Piper smiled at the young girl. She seemed more excited about their plan than Piper herself did. "You know, Dawn, maybe you shouldn't drink that Coke. You seem to be very hyper. You know, it's not healthy," Phoebe said. Dawn glared at her. Piper laughed. Seeing those two reminded her of what she and Prue must have been like growing up. Prue, being the older one, giving her annoying advice, and Piper glaring at her. Of course, they were still like that, just not as much. "Yes, Dawn, we can. That is if we can come up with a spell. Which, Phoebe, having written millions of them, we can probably do," Piper said. Phoebe nodded and sipped her coffee. "Yeah. It shouldn't be too hard. Well, actually it will be sort of hard considering the curse that's already on him. Gypsy's were pretty magical and old magic is really hard to counteract. But I think I might be able to. But, will you be able to keep your sister and Angel, like, you know, unaware of our little plan?" Dawn nodded and took a bite of her spaghetti and swallowed. "Sure, it shouldn't be too hard. Angel is usually really easy to distract. All I have to do is get him and Buffy in the same room together and the entire world fades away. It's easy." Phoebe nodded.

"Just don't let them get TOO close. We don't want evil Angel to appear. That would just make matters worse," Piper said. Dawn nodded and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry. I can handle it. Just as long as you guys can come up with the spell." The two witches nodded. Phoebe picked up a napkin and grabbed a pen out of her purse. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked, taking a drink of her pop. Phoebe started to scribble on the napkin. "I am starting to write the spell. I've got a lot of rhyming words echoing in my head and I have to get rid of them," Phoebe answered, not looking up from the napkin. Dawn nodded and looked at Piper strangely. Piper shook her head. "She does this all the time. Don't bother trying to find out. It'll just make your head hurt." Dawn smiled. She liked the Halliwell sisters. They were funny and not to mention witches. Dawn was fascinated with witchcraft. That's why she enjoyed Willow and Tara's company so much. She would love to have power like witches do. Speaking of powers….

"Hey, I was just wondering, I mean, with you guys being witches and all, what are your powers?" Dawn asked. Piper rolled her brown eyes. "Everybody always asks us that. Well, I can freeze time, and now, most recently, can also blow things up," she said. Dawn's eyes grew wide. "Prue is telekinetic and she can astroproject, Paige is also telekinetic, hers just works differently since she's part whitelighter, and Phoebe here gets premonitions and can levitate." Dawn's eyes grew even wider. "Wow! It must be so cool to be able to do all those things. I mean, I would love to have just one of your guys' powers. Being able to move stuff and freeze and blow up stuff and being able to fly. That has to be awesome." Piper smiled at the young girl's enthusiasm. "Only sometimes. A lot of the time we just want our powers to go away so we can have normal lives," Piper said. "Speak for yourself," Phoebe replied, still scribbling on the napkin. Piper glared at her younger sister. "Phoebe never wishes to be normal. She always wants to be a witch." Phoebe smiled and nodded. Dawn giggled. "Well I don't blame her. I would love being a witch. Piper, if you ever wanna switch places let me know." Piper giggled and nodded in reply. She turned her head to look at her younger sister's work in progress. "How's it comin' Phoebes? Think you got one?" Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, I think I might. It's not the best, but I think with a little bit of improvement it will be just the right spell. So, this plan will work. Dawn, all you have to do is keep up your end of the bargain and Piper and I will keep up ours. Then, both of those love sick kids will be together and there will be no reason why they can't be." Dawn smiled. Nothing can ruin this plan now.

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The business firm of Wolfram and Hart was busy with activity. People in suits were rushing from place to place without even stopping to chat. Liliah Morgan walked quickly towards her office. She knew she was being followed, and she didn't bother to look back. She knew who was behind her. She reached her office door and pulled it open, right at the same time a hand slammed it shut. "Liliah, why you running away like that?" Lindsey McDonold asked. Liliah turned around to look at him, disgust in her eyes. She and Lindsey had tied for position of Vice President of Special Projects not long ago. She dispised Lindsey and wanted nothing to do with him. "Maybe I just didn't want to talk to you," she answered, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. Lindsey smiled. "Why not? We're partners. Partners are supposed to work together and help each other out." Liliah huffed. "Partners. Yeah right. The Senior Partners may have assigned both of us as V.P. of Special Projects, but I still consider this every man for himself. What do you want Lindsey?" she asked. Lindsey's smile grew. "What else? Information. I know you've heard some stuff about Angel. So have I. But we both hear different things. Now, why don't we, just this once, act like we are partners and share with each other what we know?" Liliah glared at him.

She had always competed with Lindsey, ever since she started at the firm. She didn't want to work with him. "Why?" she asked. Lindsey smiled again. "Angel was our project, remember? Key word: our. He was one of the biggest cases this firm had going and we screwed it up. Now the Senior Partners want us to fix it. So we have to. Liliah, you and I both know what has happened to past employs of Wolfram and Hart who have failed. Do you really want any of that stuff happening to you?" Liliah stared at him. Then she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Fine. Just move your damn hand so we can at least talk inside." The man removed his hand and allowed Liliah to open the door. He entered in after her, closing the door. "So, Lindsey, what have you heard?" she asked. "All bad things. Sounds like Angel had improved, which doesn't bode well for us. He's back with his group and they have started that stupid agency up again. At the side I'm looking at, odds don't look so good for us." Liliah nodded. "Yeah, basically the same thing I've heard. But I did recently hear a little different. Something that is happening. Remember the Slayer we hired to take Angel out a while ago?" Liliah asked. Lindsey nodded his head. He remembered alright. Remembered how the Slayer, Faith, had been hired to slay Angel and had failed, turning on them and joining Angel's side.

"Remember the rumor of how he used to date one? Well, I found out the rumors are true. He dated a Slayer. The longest living one ever recorded." She went over to her desk and picked up a file folder, opening it and glancing at the papers inside. "Her name was Buffy Summers, originally from here in L.A., but moved to some small town called Sunnydale, translated into "the mouth of Hell". Turns out she and Angel were quite the couple. From what I hear, he's the reason she's alive in the first place. He fought along side her." Lindsey walked up to her and took the file away from her. "So what, Liliah. What's the point?" he asked. Liliah smiled. "I'm getting to it. You know how he went all bad 3 or 4 years ago? Well I found out how he did that," she said. Lindsey rolled his eyes. "Gee, Liliah, how could he have gone bad? Do you think maybe he could've lost that pesky soul of his?" he mocked. Liliah glared at him. "I meant how he lost it. Turns out it was all that little Slayer's fault. She gave him a 'moment of perfect happiness' and that was what did Angel in." Lindsey looked at her. " 'Perfect happiness'? Could you be a little clearer on that?" he asked. Liliah rolled her eyes. "For God's sakes, Lindsey. He slept with the Slayer and that was what did it. And from the rumors and the obvious Darla incident, it only happens with her."

Lindsey winced at the mention of Darla's name. Darla had been Angel's Sire over 200 years ago, but she had been staked, and by Angel no less. The Senior Partners had decided to bring her back as human to torment Angel, and Lindsey had found himself becoming more and more attracted to her. But the plan had started to succeed. She came to him at night and taunted him in his dreams. When Angel had discovered she was alive, he had basically gone insane, but then came when they had discovered her illness. Angel had tried to save her then, but Lindsey had done something different. They had brought in Drusilla, an insane vampire who Angel had Sired himself, to turn Darla. They had both gone on a killing spree then, ending with the death of several Wolfram and Hart lawyers. Only Lindsey and Liliah had made it out, then had been promoted to Co-Vice Presidents of Special Projects. After that, Darla had been recovered and had slept with Angel, obviously thinking he would lose his soul. He hadn't, and the last time Lindsey had seen her was before he had left his apartment to teach Angel a lesson. She had just disappeared. "Lindsey?" Liliah's voice pulled him back to reality. "What?" "I asked if you were even in this dimension anymore." Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. Any way, Liliah, why did you do research on this Slayer anyway?" he asked. "Because she's here. With him. At the hotel. Helping him on some case or something. And I think it's obvious Angel loves this Buffy. And I have a feeling she won't sleep with him. But I'm wondering, what would happen if something happened to her." Lindsey was confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked, still not getting where she was going with this. "I mean, what if our firm just happened to get a hold of this Slayer. And only let her go in exchange for one thing. Angel's soul." Lindsey smiled. Maybe they would come through after all.

"Dawn, no," Buffy repeated herself. Dawn, Piper and Phoebe had returned half an hour ago, and since then, Dawn had followed her older sister upstairs and begged her to go somewhere. "Why not? Buffy, come on. We haven't been in L.A. forever. Can't we just like, go to the carnival or something?" With Angel, of course, she thought to herself. She and the two Halliwell sisters had agreed that Dawn had to get both Buffy and Angel out of the hotel so Phoebe couldn't be interrupted by them finding out about their little get-Angel-and-Buffy-back-together plan. And so far, Dawn was having no luck in convincing Buffy. "Dawn, we have a crisis here. You promised both me and Mom that you wouldn't bug me and stay out of the way. Your sorta breaking that promise." Dawn slumped her shoulders. "But Buffy, we haven't done a sister thing in months. And the carnival could be the perfect thing. Plus, you deserve a break. You have been working hard since we got here. And so has Angel, that's why I want him to go too."

Buffy looked at her younger sister. "Dawn, you know Angel isn't much for carnivals or anything like that. Why do you want him to go anyway?" she asked. Uh-oh. "Uh, well, he always has seemed like a big brother to me. And I haven't seen him for a long, long time. Don't you wanna spend time with him too?" she asked. Buffy still just looked at her sister. Dawn had put on the Summers puppy dog face, which didn't usually work on other Summers'. But now Dawn was just getting annoying and Buffy would do anything to make her stop. "Fine. What ever. I'll go. They all already told me I could take a break already so fine. But Angel you'll have to see about." Dawn smiled. No worries. Piper was taking care of that.

"Piper, why?" Angel asked the brunette witch for the fifth time. "Because, it will give you and Buffy a chance to talk out some of those unresolved issues you two have," Piper answered. "Buffy and I do not have any unresolved iss—" Piper held up a hand to quiet him. "Yes you do. You guys have tons of them. I already asked Wesley and he said you could go." Angel looked at her, a confused and yet scared expression on his face. "But, it's a carnival," he said weakly. Piper nodded. "Uh-huh" she said. "Piper, I don't go to carnivals. I've never even been to one in over 60 years." Piper shook her head and tugged on Angel's hand, pulling him out of his seat. "So, just follow what Buffy and Dawn do. You'll blend in. Angel, just please, please, try and talk to her for me. For my sake. Leo and I went through almost the exact thing you and she went through and all we had to do was talk. And then we got over them. Now, I know that there is almost no chance you two will get back together now, but you guys can at least make amends. Angel please do this. For me? For a poor defenseless witch? Please?" Angel looked at her. She had a puppy dog face on. Not the famous Summers puppy dog face, but an affective one all the same. "Alright fine. I'll do it. But, just remember that this is a favor I'm doing. And I expect one from you when I need it." Piper smiled and threw her arms around Angel's neck. "Yay. Thank you. I promise that you won't regret it. And Dawn will be there, just in case you two start beating the crap out of each other." She patted his shoulder. "Have fun." She smiled at him. Angel found himself smiling at the young witches enthusiasm. He had a feeling that she had something up her sleeve. Metaphorically speaking, of course, since she wasn't wearing any sleeves. But as Angel turned around and headed towards the rooms where Buffy and Dawn were staying, he found himself not caring.

"Dawn, is there really a reason to get all dressed up just to go to the carnival? I mean, for God's sakes, it's just you and Angel," Buffy said as she contemplated the outfit her younger sister had picked out for her. The Slayer wore a short midnight blue summer dress with a plunging neck line and a long slit on the side, exposing her slim leg. Her blond hair was up in a twist, with curly strings of her loose hair falling around her face. "So, don't you want to look nice when you go out? I mean, we haven't been to L.A. for a long time. What if you run into an old flame or an old friend from Hemery? Don't you want them to see you looking nice?" Dawn asked, brushing her long brown hair. Dawn herself was dressed nicely too, just not as fancy as her sister. Dawn wore a pink blouse with a matching pink skirt. Her hair was down, flowing down her back. "Dawn, I don't think any of that stuff is likely. Well, okay, it is, but I doubt that they will care at all. Everyone at Hemery sort of disowned me after the entire gym incident. Well, except for Allie, Kristi and Amber. But they don't count. Now Dawnie, I love you and everything, but why did you make me get so fancy? I mean, it's not like it's a date…or is it?"

Buffy looked at her sister in the mirror. When Dawn slowly stopped brushing her hair, Buffy got the picture. "Dawn! Is this a date?" Dawn looked at her older sister. "Well, not exactly. It's just one of those Why- don't-we-try-to-make-peace-and-be-friends sort of things. Of course, a reunion of you two wouldn't be so bad." Buffy sighed and plopped down in a chair. "Dawn, you know that that won't happen. Angel and I are over. We have been for quite awhile. I know you have this big hope in your little romantic heart that we will be back together, and as much as I hate to break it, I have to. Dawn you know Angel and I can't. And believe me, I want it too, more than anything, but I'm sorry. It just wasn't meant to be." Dawn looked at her older sister. "Come on, Buffy. You don't believe that do you?" she asked. Buffy shrugged. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Dawn. Just, let this just be a night of non-issues, okay? Let's just have fun. No get-Buffy-and-Angel-together-again. Just a friends-who- haven't-seen-each-other-for-years-have-fun night." Dawn smiled weakly and nodded. "Okay. No reunion stuff. Just friends having a fun night." Buffy nodded, agreeing.

When there was a knock at the door, Dawn walked over to answer it. "Angel. Hi. We're ready to go if you are," she said when she saw the vampire standing behind the door. Angel smiled and nodded. "Yeah. All ready. Just waiting," he replied. Dawn stepped back to let him in. Angel stepped in and froze in mid-step when he saw Buffy sitting on a chair. In a nice dress. That showed quite a lot of skin. To him. He, who had several fantasies of her skin under his hands. He who had visual dreams of her, her moans, her sighs, her breathy voice as she says his name in a fit of ecstasy. Stop it, Angel, he told himself, Don't think like that. You guys are over. Plain and simple. But, God, she was beautiful. Her eyes, her golden skin, her lips. If I could, I would walk right over to her and—

He snapped out of his thoughts. She was looking at him. He stared at her. "Uh, Buffy, you look, nice. Beautiful." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "Thank you. You can praise Dawn though. She picked it out." Angel glanced over at the Slayer's sister. She smiled and picked up her coat. "Okay, are we gonna go?" Angel nodded. He held out his arm to Buffy. "Shall we?" he asked. Buffy's smile grew. She took his arm and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "We shall." They walked out of the room, arm in arm. Dawn followed, a large smile on her face, as she closed the door. Step one: Get Buffy and Angel out of the hotel. Accomplished, she thought to herself. Step two: Cast the spell. In progress. Dawn followed her sister and her surrogate vampire brother down the stairs, glancing at Phoebe and Piper on the way out the door. Piper smiled and nodded. Phoebe waved a small piece of paper in the air, mouthing, I have the spell. Dawn smiled back and nodded. Piper gave her a thumbs up, and Dawn returned it. She turned and followed the two star-crossed lovers out into the night, heading toward the carnival, and hopefully, what all three of them wished for.

Back in Sunnydale, the Scooby Gang were busy trying to figure out a way to get rid of the ghost. "Well, if an exorcism won't work, then what will?" Willow asked. Giles had told them that he had received a call from Buffy, saying that, from a source there in L.A., a normal exorcism wouldn't get rid of the ghost. They had to find another way. Which is what Giles and the others had been doing for the past three hours. Giles looked over at the redhead witch who had asked the question. "I'm not sure. There are not very many other ways to get rid of a paranormal phenomenon such as ghosts except for an exorcism. At the moment, I haven't got a bloody clue." Willow looked shocked. Giles always knew how to do something. She never thought she would ever see the day that he didn't know what he was doing. "Well, is- isn't there some w-way to s-summon the g-ghost and see w-what it is it wants? Maybe t-that would help," Tara suggested. Anya looked over at her from her place on the couch next to Jenny. "Yes, what a great idea. Summon the ghost that wants to kill Buffy's friends and let it kill them. Then it will probably kill us," she said. Tara looked down at the her hands. Willow glared at the ex-demon. Anya looked at her.

"What? I'm just saying what I thought. The ghost obviously wants those girls dead, and if I know ghosts, it will kill everyone who stands in its way to do that." Giles nodded towards Anya. "Anya does have a point. The ghost does seem to want Buffy's young friends out of the way. However, Tara, the notion of summoning this ghost does seem like a brilliant idea. Summoning it may somehow tell us how to get rid of it. I believe Buffy mentioned something about there being four skillful witches there. Perhaps they may be able to cast a summoning spell." Willow looked up at the former Watcher. "Witches? Since when does Angel have witches working for him?" she asked. Giles picked up a book from the table and began to flip through it. "Uh, I believe Buffy said that they did not work for him, but were merely aiding him on this case. One of them apparently has some form of visions and they sent the four of them to Los Angeles to help." Willow nodded and looked back at her laptop. They all looked up when someone came through the door. Spike walked in and looked at everyone. "What?" he asked.

Giles looked from the door to the bleached vampire. "Now this time I know I had that locked," he said, looking at Jenny, who just smiled at him. "Well, it didn't seem to be locked. What do you all have so far?" Spike asked. "Nothing," Anya said. Spike nodded at her. "Oh, same with you all, right?" Jenny looked up from her book. "You didn't find anything on how to get rid of it?" she asked. Spike shook his head. "Naw, lady. Nothing but a bunch of crap from demons I owe some kittens to." Xander looked at him. "Now here's what I don't get. Spike why do you gamble kittens? I mean, why not real money?" he asked. Spike ignored him. "So, how's Peaches and his gang doing on all this? Did the big poof find out anything?" Giles shook his head. "No, they are all still searching. I'm sure they will find something and contact us when they do." Spike huffed.

"Right. Angelus actually looking through a book. That's a laugh. He never was the book type. Not even in his bad vamp days," he said. Spike had never like his Sire. Sure, Angelus had taught him everything he knows, but things still were never right when he was around. After all, he knew exactly what he and Drusilla used to do. He still cringes every time he thinks of the noises he used to hear coming from rooms where Angelus and Drusilla were. "We aren't getting a bloody thing done here. I say I go to Peaches and help out there. Seems to me that that's where all the action is." Xander smirked at him. "Yeah, sure Spike. You just wanna go to make sure Buffy doesn't get close to Angel. Spike when are you gonna get that you don't stand a chance with Buffy. She dispises you. There is no way." Spike just glared at him. They all had found out long ago that he had feelings for the Slayer. They don't approve of it, but Spike loves Buffy. Or at least as much as it's possible for a vampire to love. But he knew that Buffy didn't love him. But he didn't give up.

"That's what you think, Nancy Boy. I'm going because I need some fighting action. And there's obviously none going on here in Sunnyhell. I'm going. At least I'll be able to do some good there." Spike got up and walked out the door. He was going to go to L.A. and cause some trouble for old Angelus. Just like old times.

"Okay, so Phoebe, you have the spell, right?" Piper asked. Her younger sister nodded. "Yes. I've told you many times now that I have the spell," Phoebe said. Piper glared at her sister's harsh tone. "Well, excuse me if I want this to actually work. You know, Phoebes, I know what Buffy and Angel are going through. Leo and I went through almost the exact same thing. But the thing is, is that Leo and I are able to be together while they can't. And when two people are in love as much as they are, that isn't fair. They should be allowed to be together. And I don't care what They think. It doesn't matter at all. I am going to get those two together and if I have to, I'll have Leo orb me up there and I will vanquish those lousy, no-good, evil, cruel, heartless, sons of a…Prue! Hi there," Piper said with a smile as her older sister walked into the room where Phoebe and Piper were planning on performing their spell. Prue looked over at her sisters and walked closer. "Hey. What in God's name are you two doing in this room? I mean, it looks like it might cave in if you two aren't careful."

Phoebe quickly stuffed the paper that had the spell written on it inside her sweatshirt before her sister had walked up over to them. "Uh, you know, we wanted some place to have some…alone sister bonding time and this was the first room we came to," Phoebe said, with her innocent smile now plastered to her face. Prue looked skeptical. "Right. The first room you guys came to. So, what did the other two floors of rooms just disappear while you two were climbing the stairs?" she said. Phoebe gulped while Piper just stopped moving. "You two are gonna try and cast that spell Piper was talking about aren't you?" Prue asked. Phoebe looked at her. "Wh-what spell? We weren't casting any kind of spell," Phoebe said. Prue shook her head. "Oh, no. You two will not get out of this one by playing the entire we-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about thing. I know the both of you. Guys, you know that we can't use our powers for personal gain! Have you both forgotten about the entire 'consequences' thing? They are always bad, real bad. And now we have more people to think about then us. What if you really do accomplish this spell? What would we do if one of the others were hurt?" Prue demanded.

Piper looked up at her older sister. Prue's face wasn't angry, no matter what her voice said. Her face was full of worry. Ever since the Elders had sent Prue back to them, she had been more worried than ever when it came to spells and magic. She didn't want any of them ending up like she had. "Prue, I know you are worried about what might happen. But this isn't a spell for us. It's for Buffy and Angel. There is no personal gain," Piper said. The worry in Prue's eyes faded at her sisters calm voice. Piper had that effect on people. She spoke calmly and everyone around her relaxed. "Okay, so it isn't personal gain. But still, don't you think there is a reason those two couldn't find a way to be together?" Piper shook her head. "Prue, come on. Those two are SOULMATES. They deserve to be together. They should be together but as usual, They obviously want to make sure that they see both of them very, very alone and miserable. Now the Charmed Ones are supposed to help people. And that's what Phoebe and I are doing. You already said that you weren't going to help and that's fine. You can have your little fantasies of what it would be like to boink to undead." Piper grinned at her sister's glare. "But, we want to at least see if this can work. Prue, I promise that there will be no consequences. Just, please let us try and make things better for them."

The oldest of the Halliwell sisters looked at the faces of her two sisters. They were both pleading with her to let them do this. Prue sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. Try the spell. But, if Angel and the blond Slayer don't get together, you two have to promise me that you will play Cupid to make him fall for me," she said, a joking grin on her face. From the moment Prue had seen the way Angel had held the Slayer the moment she walked into the Hotel, Prue knew that no matter what she did, Angel would never date her. He was still madly in love with Buffy. And always would be. Just the way some things work out. Piper and Phoebe smiled and nodded. Prue returned their nod. "Okay then. Oh, wait. Do they know what you two are planning?" she asked. Piper and Phoebe exchanged glances. "No, that's why Dawn took them to the carnival. To make sure they don't find out. Well, you know, until the spell is cast and it's obvious. And nobody down there knows either because we weren't sure how they would take it, but they will know soon. So, Prue just don't tell them, okay?" Phoebe asked. Prue nodded and held up two fingers in a mock girlscout salute. "I swear. Well, uh, you two have fun with what you are doing here. Good luck and I will see you later." With those words, Prue turned on her heels and walked out the door.

Piper turned to her other sister. "Okay, so should we start this?" Phoebe nodded at her. "Yes. Let's get casting." Piper nodded and pulled out a bag from behind her. She reached her hands inside and pulled out three candles, one white, one purple and one black. "Phoebe, one question. Why did we need three different colors of candles?" Piper asked. Phoebe looked up at her sister. "Well, mainly because, I want this spell to work and the different candles represent all the things that I can sense in Buffy and Angel's relationship. The black candle represents the pain in it, you know, not being able to be together, evil Angel. The white represents the good things in the relationship. Trust, loyalty, love. And then the purple one represents everything that I hope this spell will bring them. Happiness, and bliss and, frankly, a future," Phoebe said as she pulled out a book of matches and the spell out of her sweatshirt. Piper nodded and placed the candles into a circle. "Okay. So you the white candle when I say the spell. Then you have to say it, and I'll light the black candle. Then, we say it together and both of us light the purple one. Got it?" Phoebe asked. Piper nodded. "Got it."

Phoebe unfolded the paper and placed it in front of both her and Piper. "Alright, Pipe. We just have to memorize this spell. Then we can say it and it should work." Piper's head jerked upward to glare at her sister. "SHOULD? What do you mean should, Phoebe? It will work right? I mean, Dawn's hopes are riding on this!" Phoebe looked at her older sister. She had a feeling that it might not be only Dawn's hopes riding on this spell. Phoebe knew how Piper hated to see true loves suffer. She knew Piper was having high hopes of getting those two together. And some how, Piper always seemed to get what she wanted. Which is sometimes a bad thing, Phoebe thought. But hopefully it won't be this time. Phoebe nodded. "I know, Piper. I know. And so are mine. And I know yours are too. I don't like seeing soulmates in pain either. But you know that sometimes these spells don't work out right, or they just don't work. But, I spent an extra long time working on this spell, so it most likely will. The only thing I meant was by 'should work' is that it will all be up to Buffy and Angel what to do. I can reverse the spell if they want. Whatever it is this will work." Piper relaxed, apparently alright with her sisters answer. As the two witches got the entire thing organized, they both prayed that this would work, and that it would put Buffy and Angel's pain to an end.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Come on, you slow pokes! My God, and I thought mom was slow at carnivals," Dawn yelled to Buffy and Angel with a smile on her face. Both of the people tagging along behind her graced her with a glare. They had arrived at the night carnival over an hour ago, and all they did was try and keep up with Dawn, who had suddenly found a lot of energy. They had played who knows how many games and, much to Angel's dismay, ridden almost every roller coaster there. And now Dawn was going on about how she wanted to ride one last ride before they turned in. "Dawn, you've ridden practically EVERY ride in this God forsaken carnival! Can't you give it a rest?" Buffy asked. Angel glanced at her and smiled slightly. The Slayer had been asking the same question for quite a long time now, but Dawn just seemed to ignore it. The young brunette put on her puppy dog face and looked at them. "Just one more ride! One more and then we can go." Buffy sighed at the same moment as Angel and they exchanged a quick glance. "Fine," they said in unison. They glanced at each other again. They still thought alike and acted in the same way. No matter how much time had passed, that hadn't changed.

"Yes!" Dawn exclaimed. She turned and hurried over to a large roller coaster. Buffy and Angel both stopped in their tracks when they saw the size of it. "NO WAY!" Buffy yelled at her younger sister. Dawn turned to look at her with a look of confusion on her lovely face. "What's wrong?" she asked. Buffy looked at her. "Dawn Summers there is no way in Hell I am riding that huge roller coaster. I hate ones that are that big." Dawn looked at Angel to see him nodding in agreement. "So, what? Am I on my own for this ride?" she asked. They both nodded. Dawn sighed in mock-annoyance. "Fine. I'll just find someone brave to ride with. And you two call yourselves champions." Buffy looked offended while Angel just smiled. He had missed Dawn's antics. But now that she was here and he was experiencing them first hand again, he wasn't sure why he ever did. "Hey! Dawn I have never said I am a champion. I'm just a hero," Buffy said, and to that Angel's smile grew. Dawn smiled and giggled softly. "Whatever. I still wanna ride this, so you guys just wait here till it stops." She turned and ran over to the ride and disappeared into the crowd. Buffy looked after her sister's fading form. "Now we are taking orders from a 15 year-old. Man does being a hero suck," she muttered.

Angel looked at her and smiled. She still complained about the littlest things and he still loved it. As if sensing his eyes on her, she turned her head and returned his smile. She broke it off a minute later when she turned away and walked over to a bench. She sat down, smoothing an invisible crease in her dress. Angel sat down beside her and stared at the ground. This was the first time in the entire night that it was just the two of them. Why do I have the feeling that Dawn did this on purpose?, he thought. Buffy sighed softly beside him and he saw that she was looking up into the night sky. He stared at her then. She looked relaxed, but still a bit on edge, which he thought was because she was near him. Alone. Sitting side by side. Angel watched as she closed her eyes. He felt a tug on his heart seeing her like that. Almost content. He remembered the last time he had seen her like that. On a day she didn't even remember. The Day That Wasn't. He had been mortal and they had been together for 24 hours. 24 passionate hours. They had made love several times in several different places. The shower, the bed, the floor, the couch, even the kitchen table. He grinned at the thought of how they had broken it and of how Buffy had bursted into a fit of giggles when they had hit the floor. Then he frowned when he remembered that it never happened. Well, actually it did, but not. Only he remembered it. And now, looking at his one true love, he wondered if he had made the wrong choice in asking the Oracles to change him back into a creature of the night.

Buffy opened her eyes and looked at him. She held her breath when the memories of her dream came flooding back to her. Why did they seem so real? She had had dreams of them making love as normal people before, so why was this dream any different? Why did she feel that they really happened? She smiled a little at him and sat up straight. "You know, I think this is the first time we have ever been to a carnival before," she said, breaking the awkward silence between them. Angel looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I think it is. Of course, there was a lot that we never did." Buffy nodded. "Well, now we can say we did this. And it was all because of Dawn," she replied. Angel smiled. "And Piper," he added. Buffy looked at him and smiled. "Well, seems to me that those two did a little more than bond on that coffee trip," she said. Angel, surprising even himself, laughed. It was true. He had thought that Piper and Dawn had both come up with the idea of taking them to the carnival for more than to have fun. Even though he had just met the young witch, he had a feeling that she was one of those hopeless romantics who wanted nothing more than to see two lovers be reunited. And knowing how much Dawn had missed having him around, he wouldn't be surprised if she had jumped at the chance to reunite them.

Their laughter died down, and the dreaded silence once again emerged. He turned toward Buffy, words left unspoken for years dying to come out. He was going to tell her. After all this time, she deserved to know. "I missed you," he said softly. She looked up at him with her hazel eyes and smiled. "I missed you too," she replied, her voice cracking. Angel brightened. Just to know that she had missed him too was enough to make him happy. She looked at him again and the smile melted from her lips. "Everyday I miss you. I try so hard to stop, but I can't. And I don't want to. I don't want to forget everything that we had. Because it's hard enough trying to survive even a minute knowing that when I wake up, if I go to the mansion, you won't be there. And it hurts. So much. And it amazes me that I can even live through a second, knowing that you weren't around. And seeing you again, being around you, it makes me dizzy, sad, happy, so many things rolled into one. And I really just said everything I never wanted to say to your face, didn't I?" she asked. Angel looked at her, into her eyes, and he cursed himself when he saw tears there. He cursed himself for ever coming into her life, for hurting her so much. But what she said was true. He felt it all. Angel cupped her chin and looked into her eyes. "I know the feeling. Seeing you, being near you but not touching you, it drives me insane. But I know, that no matter how hard it is, it has to be that way. And if I could, Buffy, I would take it all back. All the times I hurt you, I want nothing more than to relieve all that pain, make it all vanish instantly. And if I could, I would do it in an instant."

The tears in Buffy's eyes fell down her cheeks. Angel wiped them away before they could fall too far. "Angel, you don't regret…us? Do you? Aside from all the pain and hurt, you don't regret any of the things we did?" she asked. Angel looked at her in confusion, wondering how she could ask that question. He never regretted meeting her and loving her. She was the one good thing in his life, the one thing he could point to in pride. "No, I don't. I don't regret us. I only regret causing you pain. That's all. I have never regretted one thing we did when I had my soul. But if I could change it, make it so you were never hurt by me, I would…" He trailed off when he was suddenly caught in her eye again. She was looking in much the same condition. Slowly, he pulled her face closer to his, moving his mouth down to hers. There lips were so close, he could feel her warm breath on his face. He pulled her closer still. His lips hovered above hers. Her eyes closed and she drew in a breath when his lips slightly touched hers, and then—

Someone screamed.

Angel released Buffy's face reluctantly and turned his head to wear the scream had come from. He located its source and as soon as he leapt from the bench, Buffy followed. Together they ran into the crowd. They spotted the young woman who had screamed and they froze when they saw why. The young woman stood over the unconscious body of a man, shielding him with her body against their attacker. "Hey!" Buffy shouted, drawing the attention of the man. She gasped when he turned around. She had never seen a demon like it before. It was tall. Well over six foot. In it's hands, it held a long sword, with a curved handle. It was dressed in the manner of a Chinese fighter, with the body gear over it's chest and shoulders. It wore a strange metal belt with something that, to Buffy, looked like a loin cloth hanging from the center of it. It's face and stomach was covered in scales, while the rest of it's body looked as if it was mechanical. It had no mouth and yet it spoke. "Ah, the soldiers of the light have finally come. And here I was thinking that you never would," the demon said. Angel growled low in his throat. The creature looked at him. "Ah, you must be Angelus, the One With the Angelic Face," it said. Angel glared at it. "Want to see just how Angelic I am?" he said threateningly.

The demon laughed and the laugh it had made Buffy's skin crawl. "Foolish creature. Don't you know that no one can defeat me, the Great Drazka!" Buffy smirked. "Drazka? What the hell kind of name is Drazka?" she asked. The demon stared at her and snarled. Buffy looked over at Angel. "What? No comeback? Is it me, or do these demons seem to just want to fight and get it over with? Don't they wanna chat?" she asked. Dispite the situation, Angel smiled and chuckled softly. The demon laughed again. "Ah, yes. The Slayer. I have heard many tales about you. You must excuse me if I do not return your comments. Mainly I just kill and run. However, I have a feeling that the two of you will be a bigger challenge. I look forward to our fight," Drazka said. He lifted his sword and pointed it at them both. "Until we meet again." Drazka then turned and, with inhuman speed, ran off. Without even glancing at one another, Buffy and Angel both took off after him, each matching the other's speed.



Back at the hotel, in the empty room Piper and Phoebe had chosen to do the spell, candles were in a circle and Piper lit a stick of inscence. Phoebe looked at her sister and when Piper nodded, Phoebe looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. She took a deep breath and began to read the words written on the paper. "I speak to the spirits, above and below. Answer our plea, and let it be so. Two lovers with past, bright and dark, their future will now make its mark. Give him half his reward, let their love be shown. With the flame from these candles, let their desires be known." While Phoebe said the words, Piper lit the white candle. She handed the inscence over to her younger sister and looked at the paper. "I speak to the spirits, above and below. Answer or plea, and let it be so. Two lovers with a past, bright and dark, their future will now make its mark. Give him half his reward, let their love be shown. With the flame from these candles, let their desires be known," Piper read as Phoebe lit the black candle. Now Piper picked up another stick of inscence and lit it using Phoebe's. Together they held both sticks to the wick of the purple candle and repeated the words a third time, together.

When they finished saying the words, the room was quiet. Suddenly, the lights in the room went out, leaving only the flame of the candles illuminating the sister's faces. Piper looked up at Phoebe. "Did it work?" she asked.

Back at the carnival, Angel collapsed to his knees, reeling in pain. Buffy stopped when she saw him fall and ran back to help him, the demon they had been chasing forgotten for the time being. "Angel!" Buffy yelled. She went over to him, but he held up a hand to keep her back. Buffy watched as a strange light went through him, and when it disappeared, Angel was down on all fours, panting. Buffy took a step toward him, reaching out her hand slightly. "Angel…" she whispered. Angel looked up at her with a strange smile on his face. "Buffy," he said. Buffy walked over to him and helped him to his feet. "What happened? Why did you fall down?" she asked, concern etched in her voice. But Angel was just staring at her. "What?" she asked. Angel smiled. He reached out a hand and gently lifted Buffy's up to his chest. Buffy gasped when she realized what she felt there.

His heartbeat.

Buffy looked up at him. Angel looked into her eyes. "I'm alive."