Author's Notes: First I would like to thank everybody for the great
reviews. And I promise that the story will get better within every chapter.
CHAPTER TWO
The first thing Buffy felt was pain. It seared her whole body and it brought tears to her eyes. The next thing she felt was that someone was stroking her hand gently. She drifted in and out of conciousness but she heard the voices around her. The male voices. Ones she knew. "She shoved you out of the way?" Giles, Buffy thought. "Yeah. She pushed me out of the way." Angel. He held her hand, that she knew for sure. His hands were the only ice cold ones she knew of. "Well, the arrow doesn't appear to have done any damage to any major organs. She was certainly incredibly lucky." Wesley. "She knew ahead of time, Giles. She knew I was going to get shot," Angel said, tightening his hold on her hand. "She sacrificed herself for me." "Angel, are you sure you didn't see who shot it?", Giles asked a moment later. Buffy groaned and she felt the three men avert their attention to her. "Buffy?," Angel asked. Her eyes fluttered open. "Angel?" Angel stared down at her, relief flooding through him. Giles rushed to her side. "Buffy, how are you feeling?," he asked. Buffy looked at him. "Like Faith an arrow through my stomach." The men froze. "Faith?," Wesley asked. Buffy nodded, then groaned as the pain shot through her head. "No. Lie still," Angel said softly. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Faith. I should have known. Apparently the Mayor wants Angel or you, possibly both of you, out of the way for the Ascension." He placed his glasses back on his face. "Buffy, we removed the arrow, but I would advise you to stay down for quite awhile." "Good Lord," Wesley mumbled. They all looked at him. "Mr. Giles, what does this smell like to you?," he asked, holding the arrow out to Giles. Giles took it and brought the tip to his nose. He reeled back. "My God." Buffy looked at him. "What?," she said in unison with Angel. Giles looked at them. "I'm afraid it was poisoned." Buffy stared at him. "Poisoned? What kind of poison?" Giles shrugged. "Hard to tell. I'm not even entirelly certain we'll be able to tell." Wesley stepped forward. "The Council has all known toxins on file. I can see if they can help." Giles nodded. "We'll need to get Buffy to her home as soon as possible. It's best if she just lies still until we figure this out." Angel nodded and looked down at her, brushing a piece of blonde hair off her sweaty forehead. "You'll be alright. I promise," he whispered. Buffy stared at him. How could she believe him? He was going to leave her, going away and never look back. How could she believe him now? Before she could speak her thoughts, Angel lifted her into his arms. "I'll take her to her place." Giles nodded. "Yes, it's the best thing. We'll contact you if there is any news." Angel nodded and, turning around slowly and careful of the wounded blonde in his arms, made his way out of the library. Giles made his way to the phone on the counter. "What are you doing?," Wesley asked. "We're going to need some help," Giles replied and dialed the first number that came to mind.
Buffy was quiet as she lay in her bed. Things had turned from bad to worse to confusing. Angel acted like he wasn't going to leave. Like she was still the thing he cared most about. Like he still loved her. No. He doesn't love me. He said so himself. He's just taking care of me because I have to stop the Ascension, she told herself. She groaned as a flash of pain seized her. Angel had bandaged her up and given her a fresh change of clothes, but the pain just seemed to get worse. Every time she breathed, moved, even blinked, it lead to pain. She closed her eyes as they welled with tears. A knock on her door snapped her eyes open. The door opened and Angel appeared. "Hey," he said softly. He walked in and shut the door behind him. Joyce was out of town on an art buying trip, which made it much easier for him to be there without problems. At least parental ones, anyway, she thought. Buffy stared at Angel as he stood there, unmoving. He looked up at her, but avoided her gaze. "How are you feeling?," he asked. "Better," she lied. Angel looked at her. "Really." Kept looking. "I mean it." Kept looking. Buffy sighed in aggravation. "Angel, stop it. I told you once that I can lie to you now. It's not like we're together anymore. No real reason to tell you everything," she said, looking down at her blankets and away from his soulful eyes. The eyes that held a place only for her. But not anymore. "Buffy...I know that things aren't very good between us right now. There's a lot of stress on everyone. Some ugly things have been said. But I just want to know how you are." Buffy looked up at him. His face was concerned and it was etched with pain, sorrow and...regret. Something deep inside Buffy told her that it was regret for what he had said to her; that he didn't love her. Another half of her disagreed; telling her not to be stupid. "It's painful," she said, unsure of what she meant: the poison or how she felt about him. Angel walked over to her bed and sat in the chair next to it. "I haven't heard anything from Giles yet. my guess is they're still trying to get a hold of the Council." Buffy nodded, but didn't look at him. The room was silent for a long moment, then Angel cleared her throat. "Do you want anything? Food or something to drink?," he asked. Buffy shook her head. "Alright. Well, uh, I guess I'll let you get some sleep." He stood up and walked to the door. Buffy looked up just then and something compelled her to say, "You may not love me anymore, Angel, but I love you. And if you leave me, just remember that you're taking my heart with you." Angel paused a moment and for a second, she thought he would say something. But he just opened the door and closed it behind him. Without looking back.
"What do you mean 'the Council won't take your call'?!", Giles shouted at Wesley. Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander all looked up at the two Watchers. The four teens had come right after recieving Giles' call. For the last two hours they had been doing research and waiting for the Council's reply. "What I mean, Mr. Giles, is that they won't take my call. Meaning they won't answer me," Wesley replied. Willow glanced at Giles then looked back down at the open book before her. "Bloody hell, we're not getting anywhere. Do they even realize that Buffy could very well die?" Wesley nodded. "I believe they do. But, as you know, when one Slayer dies another is called." Xander stood up in anger. "You've gotta be kidding me! They can't do that! Buffy's dying!", he shouted. "They understand that, Xander. But if there is no hope, they won't bother," Wesley explained. "Yeah, well, it's idiotic. If they had any sense at all-", Xander said, but Cordelia cut him off. "Of course they don't Xander. If so, we wouldn't have ever had to do any research 'cause they would've done it for us," the brunette said bitterly. Willow looked up. "Cordelia, that's not funny. This is serious. Buffy could die and if the damn Council won't help, when we have to! So if you have a soul at all, you'll sit down, help do research, and SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Cordelia slowly sank down into her seat and pulled an open book before in front of her. Xander quickly followed her actions and within seconds, the two were silent and researching. Willow looked everyone self- consiously. "Sorry. But...I'm just really scared for Buffy. I wish Faith had never been born." Xander nodded. "Yeah, I bet Miss Slutsville is just laughing it up."
"It's not like I didn't try, Boss," Faith said. "How was I to know B would know I was shooting at Angel and take the arrow?" Mayor Richard Wilkins III looked at the rogue Slayer he had come to love as a daughter. "That's no excuse, missy. Do you realize how hard that poison is to get? There's no way I can get more before the Ascension. What do you expent me to do?" Faith looked away from the Mayor's gaze. What Faith had expected was a congratulations. Instead she was getting a lecture. What a surprise, she thought. "Well?" Faith looked back up at him. "Look, I don't see what the problem is. I mean, you wanted B and Angel out of the way. Okay so I wanted to kill B with my bare hands, but, hey, Angel would be fun to off too. Things are going fine. I mean, the poison works on both the undead and the living." The Mayor took in everything she said. Yes, the poison did work on both vampires and humans. It just worked faster on vampires. But Faith was right. Things were still going well. The Mayor smiled. "You're right. I am terribly sorry for my behavior, Faith. It's just with the Ascension coming up very soon, I want everything to go as planned." Faith smiled. "No prob, Boss." The Mayor smiled agian. "I should have known my Faith wouldn't fondle this up. What do you say to a fruit smoothie?"
The world was dark and empty. The only light came from a long hall. Buffy slowly walked toward it, a stake clutched tightly in her hand. Her eyes darted every which way, searching for the evil she knew was there. The light got closer and closer, brighter and brighter. Then she heard the cries for help. Buffy began to run down the hall, her determination to help those who needed it the only thing that kept her running. She reached the end of the hall and when she walked into the light, the sight before her made her freeze. Her mother smiled at her. "Hi, honey. We were starting to think you weren't going to make it." Buffy looked around her. Everyone was there. Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordy, Giles, Wesley, Angel. And Faith. The sultry brunette looked up at her with an evil smile. "Hey, girlfriend. Glad to see that the poison is working. Wasn't meant for you though." Angel nodded. "Yes, she's right. It was meant for me." Buffy nodded. "It was." He smiled at her. Faith walked toward him. "Ya know, B, you actually made this easier. See, I wanted you to die slowly and painfully. And, hey, it worked out!," she said cheerfully. She came up beside Angel and draped an arm across his chest. "Of course, now I have to find another way to kill Angel. So I was thinkin'," she reached out and snatched the stake out of Buffy's hand. "Why not the old fashioned way?" The stake plunged into Angel's chest and he and Buffy both screamed. Then he exploded into dust. Faith turned to her. "Now, the Mayor will finish off you little friends and family." Suddenly, a large demonic snake appeared and one by one, the only people she loved were devoured by it. Faith laughed and looked over at Buffy. The brunette pointed to the blonde's stomach. "Damn, B. Are you ever gonna take that out?" Buffy looked down only to see the arrow Faith had shot sticking out of her stomach. Faith laughed sinisterly and grabbed ahold of it. In one strong pull, the arrow was roughly ripped out of her stomach. Buffy screamed.
"Buffy! Buffy! Buffy, wake up! Buffy!", Angel yelled as he shook a screaming unconsious Buffy. Buffy just jerked and screamed agian. "Buffy!" Angel raised a hand and slapped her across the face. She came awake with a start. "It's alright. It was only a dream," Angel told her softly. Buffy panted and slowly sat up. "Are you alright?," he asked. Buffy shook her head. "No. I'm not. We're gonna lose, Angel. I know we're gonna lose." Angel rubbed her back and shook his head. "No we won't. We won't lose." Just then, the phone beside her bed rang. Angel snatched it up on the third ring. "Angel? I believe we discovered the poison," Giles said. Angel looked at Buffy. "That's good," he said. "Yes. It's called the 'Killer of the Brave'. It's quite rare. There hasn't been many cases of it." Angel nodded. "The cure?" Giles sighed on the other end of the line. "That's the problem. There is no known cure." Angel swore. "That's not the only thing. Angel...unless we find the cure quickly, Buffy will be dead within 24 hours." Angel felt his heart sink. Only 24 hours. He looked down at Buffy. She was staring into space, her forehead covered in sweat. Her breath was shallow and she shivered. Right at that moment, Angel hated Faith more than anything. Even more than all the horrible things he had done in the past two centuries. She'll pay for doing this to her. I swear it. "Find the cure, Giles. And send someone down here to watch over Buffy," Angel said. "Why? Where are you going?", Giles asked. Angel looked down at Buffy. "I'm going to kill Faith."
Send more feedback and you will get the third chapter. Let me know if this was better than the first!!!!
CHAPTER TWO
The first thing Buffy felt was pain. It seared her whole body and it brought tears to her eyes. The next thing she felt was that someone was stroking her hand gently. She drifted in and out of conciousness but she heard the voices around her. The male voices. Ones she knew. "She shoved you out of the way?" Giles, Buffy thought. "Yeah. She pushed me out of the way." Angel. He held her hand, that she knew for sure. His hands were the only ice cold ones she knew of. "Well, the arrow doesn't appear to have done any damage to any major organs. She was certainly incredibly lucky." Wesley. "She knew ahead of time, Giles. She knew I was going to get shot," Angel said, tightening his hold on her hand. "She sacrificed herself for me." "Angel, are you sure you didn't see who shot it?", Giles asked a moment later. Buffy groaned and she felt the three men avert their attention to her. "Buffy?," Angel asked. Her eyes fluttered open. "Angel?" Angel stared down at her, relief flooding through him. Giles rushed to her side. "Buffy, how are you feeling?," he asked. Buffy looked at him. "Like Faith an arrow through my stomach." The men froze. "Faith?," Wesley asked. Buffy nodded, then groaned as the pain shot through her head. "No. Lie still," Angel said softly. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Faith. I should have known. Apparently the Mayor wants Angel or you, possibly both of you, out of the way for the Ascension." He placed his glasses back on his face. "Buffy, we removed the arrow, but I would advise you to stay down for quite awhile." "Good Lord," Wesley mumbled. They all looked at him. "Mr. Giles, what does this smell like to you?," he asked, holding the arrow out to Giles. Giles took it and brought the tip to his nose. He reeled back. "My God." Buffy looked at him. "What?," she said in unison with Angel. Giles looked at them. "I'm afraid it was poisoned." Buffy stared at him. "Poisoned? What kind of poison?" Giles shrugged. "Hard to tell. I'm not even entirelly certain we'll be able to tell." Wesley stepped forward. "The Council has all known toxins on file. I can see if they can help." Giles nodded. "We'll need to get Buffy to her home as soon as possible. It's best if she just lies still until we figure this out." Angel nodded and looked down at her, brushing a piece of blonde hair off her sweaty forehead. "You'll be alright. I promise," he whispered. Buffy stared at him. How could she believe him? He was going to leave her, going away and never look back. How could she believe him now? Before she could speak her thoughts, Angel lifted her into his arms. "I'll take her to her place." Giles nodded. "Yes, it's the best thing. We'll contact you if there is any news." Angel nodded and, turning around slowly and careful of the wounded blonde in his arms, made his way out of the library. Giles made his way to the phone on the counter. "What are you doing?," Wesley asked. "We're going to need some help," Giles replied and dialed the first number that came to mind.
Buffy was quiet as she lay in her bed. Things had turned from bad to worse to confusing. Angel acted like he wasn't going to leave. Like she was still the thing he cared most about. Like he still loved her. No. He doesn't love me. He said so himself. He's just taking care of me because I have to stop the Ascension, she told herself. She groaned as a flash of pain seized her. Angel had bandaged her up and given her a fresh change of clothes, but the pain just seemed to get worse. Every time she breathed, moved, even blinked, it lead to pain. She closed her eyes as they welled with tears. A knock on her door snapped her eyes open. The door opened and Angel appeared. "Hey," he said softly. He walked in and shut the door behind him. Joyce was out of town on an art buying trip, which made it much easier for him to be there without problems. At least parental ones, anyway, she thought. Buffy stared at Angel as he stood there, unmoving. He looked up at her, but avoided her gaze. "How are you feeling?," he asked. "Better," she lied. Angel looked at her. "Really." Kept looking. "I mean it." Kept looking. Buffy sighed in aggravation. "Angel, stop it. I told you once that I can lie to you now. It's not like we're together anymore. No real reason to tell you everything," she said, looking down at her blankets and away from his soulful eyes. The eyes that held a place only for her. But not anymore. "Buffy...I know that things aren't very good between us right now. There's a lot of stress on everyone. Some ugly things have been said. But I just want to know how you are." Buffy looked up at him. His face was concerned and it was etched with pain, sorrow and...regret. Something deep inside Buffy told her that it was regret for what he had said to her; that he didn't love her. Another half of her disagreed; telling her not to be stupid. "It's painful," she said, unsure of what she meant: the poison or how she felt about him. Angel walked over to her bed and sat in the chair next to it. "I haven't heard anything from Giles yet. my guess is they're still trying to get a hold of the Council." Buffy nodded, but didn't look at him. The room was silent for a long moment, then Angel cleared her throat. "Do you want anything? Food or something to drink?," he asked. Buffy shook her head. "Alright. Well, uh, I guess I'll let you get some sleep." He stood up and walked to the door. Buffy looked up just then and something compelled her to say, "You may not love me anymore, Angel, but I love you. And if you leave me, just remember that you're taking my heart with you." Angel paused a moment and for a second, she thought he would say something. But he just opened the door and closed it behind him. Without looking back.
"What do you mean 'the Council won't take your call'?!", Giles shouted at Wesley. Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander all looked up at the two Watchers. The four teens had come right after recieving Giles' call. For the last two hours they had been doing research and waiting for the Council's reply. "What I mean, Mr. Giles, is that they won't take my call. Meaning they won't answer me," Wesley replied. Willow glanced at Giles then looked back down at the open book before her. "Bloody hell, we're not getting anywhere. Do they even realize that Buffy could very well die?" Wesley nodded. "I believe they do. But, as you know, when one Slayer dies another is called." Xander stood up in anger. "You've gotta be kidding me! They can't do that! Buffy's dying!", he shouted. "They understand that, Xander. But if there is no hope, they won't bother," Wesley explained. "Yeah, well, it's idiotic. If they had any sense at all-", Xander said, but Cordelia cut him off. "Of course they don't Xander. If so, we wouldn't have ever had to do any research 'cause they would've done it for us," the brunette said bitterly. Willow looked up. "Cordelia, that's not funny. This is serious. Buffy could die and if the damn Council won't help, when we have to! So if you have a soul at all, you'll sit down, help do research, and SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Cordelia slowly sank down into her seat and pulled an open book before in front of her. Xander quickly followed her actions and within seconds, the two were silent and researching. Willow looked everyone self- consiously. "Sorry. But...I'm just really scared for Buffy. I wish Faith had never been born." Xander nodded. "Yeah, I bet Miss Slutsville is just laughing it up."
"It's not like I didn't try, Boss," Faith said. "How was I to know B would know I was shooting at Angel and take the arrow?" Mayor Richard Wilkins III looked at the rogue Slayer he had come to love as a daughter. "That's no excuse, missy. Do you realize how hard that poison is to get? There's no way I can get more before the Ascension. What do you expent me to do?" Faith looked away from the Mayor's gaze. What Faith had expected was a congratulations. Instead she was getting a lecture. What a surprise, she thought. "Well?" Faith looked back up at him. "Look, I don't see what the problem is. I mean, you wanted B and Angel out of the way. Okay so I wanted to kill B with my bare hands, but, hey, Angel would be fun to off too. Things are going fine. I mean, the poison works on both the undead and the living." The Mayor took in everything she said. Yes, the poison did work on both vampires and humans. It just worked faster on vampires. But Faith was right. Things were still going well. The Mayor smiled. "You're right. I am terribly sorry for my behavior, Faith. It's just with the Ascension coming up very soon, I want everything to go as planned." Faith smiled. "No prob, Boss." The Mayor smiled agian. "I should have known my Faith wouldn't fondle this up. What do you say to a fruit smoothie?"
The world was dark and empty. The only light came from a long hall. Buffy slowly walked toward it, a stake clutched tightly in her hand. Her eyes darted every which way, searching for the evil she knew was there. The light got closer and closer, brighter and brighter. Then she heard the cries for help. Buffy began to run down the hall, her determination to help those who needed it the only thing that kept her running. She reached the end of the hall and when she walked into the light, the sight before her made her freeze. Her mother smiled at her. "Hi, honey. We were starting to think you weren't going to make it." Buffy looked around her. Everyone was there. Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordy, Giles, Wesley, Angel. And Faith. The sultry brunette looked up at her with an evil smile. "Hey, girlfriend. Glad to see that the poison is working. Wasn't meant for you though." Angel nodded. "Yes, she's right. It was meant for me." Buffy nodded. "It was." He smiled at her. Faith walked toward him. "Ya know, B, you actually made this easier. See, I wanted you to die slowly and painfully. And, hey, it worked out!," she said cheerfully. She came up beside Angel and draped an arm across his chest. "Of course, now I have to find another way to kill Angel. So I was thinkin'," she reached out and snatched the stake out of Buffy's hand. "Why not the old fashioned way?" The stake plunged into Angel's chest and he and Buffy both screamed. Then he exploded into dust. Faith turned to her. "Now, the Mayor will finish off you little friends and family." Suddenly, a large demonic snake appeared and one by one, the only people she loved were devoured by it. Faith laughed and looked over at Buffy. The brunette pointed to the blonde's stomach. "Damn, B. Are you ever gonna take that out?" Buffy looked down only to see the arrow Faith had shot sticking out of her stomach. Faith laughed sinisterly and grabbed ahold of it. In one strong pull, the arrow was roughly ripped out of her stomach. Buffy screamed.
"Buffy! Buffy! Buffy, wake up! Buffy!", Angel yelled as he shook a screaming unconsious Buffy. Buffy just jerked and screamed agian. "Buffy!" Angel raised a hand and slapped her across the face. She came awake with a start. "It's alright. It was only a dream," Angel told her softly. Buffy panted and slowly sat up. "Are you alright?," he asked. Buffy shook her head. "No. I'm not. We're gonna lose, Angel. I know we're gonna lose." Angel rubbed her back and shook his head. "No we won't. We won't lose." Just then, the phone beside her bed rang. Angel snatched it up on the third ring. "Angel? I believe we discovered the poison," Giles said. Angel looked at Buffy. "That's good," he said. "Yes. It's called the 'Killer of the Brave'. It's quite rare. There hasn't been many cases of it." Angel nodded. "The cure?" Giles sighed on the other end of the line. "That's the problem. There is no known cure." Angel swore. "That's not the only thing. Angel...unless we find the cure quickly, Buffy will be dead within 24 hours." Angel felt his heart sink. Only 24 hours. He looked down at Buffy. She was staring into space, her forehead covered in sweat. Her breath was shallow and she shivered. Right at that moment, Angel hated Faith more than anything. Even more than all the horrible things he had done in the past two centuries. She'll pay for doing this to her. I swear it. "Find the cure, Giles. And send someone down here to watch over Buffy," Angel said. "Why? Where are you going?", Giles asked. Angel looked down at Buffy. "I'm going to kill Faith."
Send more feedback and you will get the third chapter. Let me know if this was better than the first!!!!