AN – this is a short part, all narrative that fills in a couple week gap between the major events and what's going to happen next.  I know I should have fleshed Buffy's part out on this a lot more, but doing it this way worked better for me.  So that's just the way it is.

AN2 – Someone, Tariq, asked me to explain why I made Buffy into a tramp, so I thought I'd answer that…I debated on what to do with Buffy, didn't actually intend to have her fallen that far, but it just came out that way.  She's not purposely being a slut, she's just broken.  Having to send Angel to hell with his soul after seeing him lose his soul and torture her was too much and she lost herself.  She was trying to be anyone but Buffy because being Buffy always led to pain.  So she just acted without thinking, played out the life of club hopping teen, and did what they can be found to do.  Don't worry, she'll snap out of it, though…but it won't immediately hit her completely as to all that she'd really done, plus later on she'll explain have to explain to everyone, especially Angel about her actions, and it'll clear up a few things.  I hope that answers your question!

Part 6

The next few weeks passed quickly for the Scooby Gang.  They continued to research and tend to the ensouled vampire.  Angel hadn't made much progress.  His wounds finally healed, and he appeared to be getting stronger.  They finally stopped sedating him after a week when they realized he wasn't a danger to them and he was obviously too weak to do anything.  He had still yet to speak a word to anyone in the group he came into contact with.  And as much as they wanted to force the situation, they realized it wasn't the right thing to do considering his condition.  It was still frustrating, and not just Angel's condition and the lack of information he provided, but also the prophecy they'd yet to decipher.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Buffy found herself fighting an intense emotional and mental battle.  Ever since the dream she'd had of seeing her battle through Angel's eyes things had changed.  The following morning after the dream she'd woken up on the floor of the bathroom, head aching, mouth cottony, and body feeling limp.  When she looked in the mirror that morning, she really saw herself for the first time in months, and the sight was not something she was proud of. 

She tried to remember the past few months, but it all seemed like a blur, like it hadn't really been her that had lived it.  Nothing seemed real and everything felt cold and dead.  There had been lots of clubbing, booze, drugs…and boys, more than a few boys.  God, what had she become, she wondered as she stared at herself in the mirror.  And as she continued to study her appearance, one thought kept permeating her mind.  *Angel would be so disappointed in what I've let myself become.  He wouldn't have wanted this for me*

Buffy spent that day lying in bed, thinking about everything.  The more she thought, the more sickened she became by what she could remember of her actions.  She'd showered 4 times trying wash the dirty feeling off her body, but it wasn't physical dirt that could be washed away with soft and water.  It was emotional dirt that would only fade with time.  Buffy came to a conclusion that day that she had to live, that Angel would have wanted her to.  She had to make amends for what she did to him, honor his memory, and she certainly wasn't doing that by being a drugged up nightclub whore. 

The following week she spent getting herself clean, free of the drugs and alcohol.  She thanked herself daily that she'd never become all that addicted to the substances.  Just used them when they were there, but they were still in her body and needed to be purged.  Once she was feeling a little better physically she quit her job at the sleazy diner and found work at an occult bookstore.  It wasn't exactly her first choice of places to work, but her knowledge on the subject impressed the owner and he paid her well to work there. 

So for Buffy, the weeks passed by as she tried to pull herself back together.  It was a continual struggle not to let herself fall back into the numbness that drugs, booze, and emotionless encounters provided, but she was succeeding so far.  She was determined to make it, if not for herself, then for Angel.  She couldn't let her need to forget the pain to blemish his memory, their memories.

All the while she was doing this, the strange feeling she'd woken up with that one afternoon never left.  It was always there, edging on her consciousness, trying to tell her that there was something important going on.

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TBC – at some point, feedback helps motivate…