Waiting silently as Willow ran off to get her a soda, Cordelia pondered the conversation she'd had with Whistler a few weeks before. It had been about a month since she'd learned about Willow and her predicament and the demon was offering her a chance to get involved.

"I don't get it, though, why choose Willow?" the brunette asked, "AND, why make her go through all this crap and then decide to separate her from Angel? Wouldn't you think that it'd be smarter just to have them train together? It really doesn't make sense. Buffy and Faith trained together and granted Faith turned out to be a psychotic little ho, but I mean, they made a really good team for awhile."

"Cordelia, did you even bother to read the stuff I gave you?"

Her ears redenning slightly, the brunette took a sip from her iced tea, "Yeah, I..uh…glanced through it. It was a big list of obituaries of past Protectors. Depressing much?"

"Yeah, but did you notice a pattern by any chance?"

Shrugging, she stared at him blankly.

"Andrew Miles, 1874. He was protecting a young woman named Eliza Price. He sucessfully executed his duties for three years. They were married in the fourth year. Eight days later, they both died." The demon recited the facts by heart, "Sarah Brightman-Young, 1753. She was appointed to defend Mitchell McCarry, a Watcher. In 1755, he requested the opportunity to court her and she accepted. Two days later, he was killed during what should have been a routine patrol with his slayer."

Feeling slightly ill, Cordelia shook her head, "So what you're trying to say to me is that if a Protector and a Protectee hook up then they're dead?"

"Well, as poetic as that was, you're only half right." Whistler sighed, "It isn't set in stone, but what it looks like is that every time the relationship gets close, the Protector loses sight of his or her duty and begins to get careless."

"So you think that Willow has the hots for Angel?" Cordelia asked, incredulously, "Why the heck did you pick her then?"

"Willow was the obvious choice for a ton of reasons and no, I'm not saying that she digs him."

"Then what's your problem?" She stared at him impatiently, "You don't know if she likes him and I really don't think he likes her…at least not in that way. I mean, hel-lo, there's the whole Buffy eternal love thing." She rolled her eyes, "Why force her to go it alone when you don't even have a reason to believe that they're gonna hook up."

"Cordelia, you were there in the hospital room when Willow restored Angel's soul weren't you?

"When things got all freaky and she started shouting in Latin or whatever? Yeah."

"It shouldn't have worked."

"What?" She stared at him.

"The spell shouldn't have worked," He repeated slowly, "She's only a novice witch. Her power is there, but she should never have been able to tap into that much energy on her own."

"Well, she does have that whole 'Immortal Watcher' thing going on on the side." Cordelia countered.

"That has nothing to do with it." Whistler shook his head, "A soul restoration spell isn't something that you can experiment with until you get it or 'accidentally' stumble into the right vibe. It's some pretty serious shit."

"So, okay, let's say I buy your theory. The point is that it DID work. What does that mean?"

"Have you ever heard of the concept of 'intent' in spellcasting?"

"Vaguely. I remember it from that time last Valentine's day when Xander forced Amy t-," She shook her head, "Yeah, I've heard of intent. It has to be pure for the spell to work or else things wig out."

"Exactly."

"So what the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"If Willow couldn't perform the spell using brute power that she didn't have, her intent would need to be huge. Think about it Cordelia. It's a soul restoration spell."

Slowly, realization dawned on the brunette, "Love." she said softly.

"Bingo." He agreed.

"To give him back his soul, she had to love him." She sniffed, "I think I'm gonna cry."

"Calm down," Whistler grinned at her, "Love comes in a ton of different flavors. I'm not saying that she loved him in the way that could make things dangerous, in this case, it's just worth it to be careful."

"In this case?"

"She's the Immortal Watcher. Her council tends to be major tight-asses when it comes to this kinda stuff."

"What, you mean like kidnapping her and forcing her to do your bidding?" She glared at him.

"No, I mean risking the possibility of getting her killed before she's 18. If she dies before then, she doesn't get to fulfill her post."

"This just sucks more and more, doesn't it?"

"So, you in?"

"For Willow's sake, you better believe it."

"Cordelia?

The voice jerked her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find the redhead standing above her, smiling and hold out a can of coke, "I couldn't find any diet, but I'll get some tomorrow. I hope this is okay for tonight. I found some spring water if you want that instead."

"Not a problem. I don't like diet that much anyway."

"Okay then, great." Swiftly, the hacker sat down at her computer, "Ready to get started?"

"Let's do it."

**

Swinging the door open, Angel surveyed the darkly quiet apartment, "Cordelia?"

Taking a few steps into the foyer, he stuck his head into the deserted living room before trying again, "Cordelia? Are you here?"

"She went out, studly." Whistler responded calmly as he walked behind the startled vampire, into the kitchen.

"Where did she go?"

Wordlessly, the demon opened up the refridgerator and started to rummage through it, "It's 10pm on a Saturday night in L.A. and YOU'RE asking ME where she is?"

"She was supposed to wait until I got here." Angel responded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, she's a chick, they change their minds. You still mad about this morning?"

"Yes," the vampire responded truthfully, "but I realized on my way over here that what you say and what you do rarely ever match."

"Nice that it took you this long to realize that I was a hypocrite. Do we have basil?"

"What?"

"Fresh…leafy…basil. Do you know if she has any in here?"

"Why do you need basil?"

Closing the door to the fridge, Whistler stared at him, "Because it's green and crunchy and I like the way it smells."

"You're funny." Angel retorted flatly.

Whistler nodded in agreement. "And devastatingly handsome, not to mention ridiculously charming. It was a package deal."

**

"This is so simple it might actually work." Willow stared at her computer terminal.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Cordelia pretended to preen over her shoulder as Willow set up the account.

"And you already hooked him up?"

"Yup, although he doesn't know it yet. I'll get him access next time I see him."

"Hey, Cordelia?" Willow glanced up, "Whistler said you were one of my tutors. What are you teaching me?"

"Oh that," the brunette thought for a moment, "I guess you can call me your society consultant. You know, fashion, manners, the works. That way, you can look poised and gorgeous while protecting Angel." She snorted, "AND I can finally get that godforsaken Black Power Ranger suit you've been made to wear burned."

"Oh, well, it isn't that bad. I mean, from what I can remember, it was lightweight and comfortable. It served its purpose. I really don't mind wearing it." Willow offered.

"Just wait until I get you into a pair of black Limited pants. They fit like a dream." Cordelia shook her head, "No, I'm not letting you spend another night in that getup. The only uglier thing I've seen in my entire life is that purple and green jacket Xander has."

"Oh gosh, I remember that!" Willow exclaimed.

"How can you forget it? I'm still emotionally scarred."

"It's that fitted double-breasted one that kinda made him look like-,"

"A pimp."

Both girls burst out laughing.

"Three years ago, on H-H-Halloween," Willow gasped between giggles, "He wore it as part of some rapper costume he had even though it was way too big back then an-and I wanted to go dressed up like a bunny rabbit. My mother wouldn't let me leave the house with him. I think I just got it just now."

Erupting into another fit of laughter, the two girls collapsed into heaps on the floor. Willow smiled up at the ceiling. Getting a chance to reminisce about her past made her feel lighter somehow, more cleansed. It was almost as if talking about it and remembering it was what would allow her to finally let it go.

"How is he, Willow? Still staying out of trouble?" Cordelia's voice rang out from beside her.

"Yeah." The redhead smiled and sat up, "Buffy and Giles keep him in line."

Wistfully, Cordelia sighed, "I'm glad to hear it. I keep hoping that some day he'll be able to look out for himself, but somehow, I doubt it."

Pausing awkwardly, the redhead realized that their conversation had treaded into possibly dangerous territory.

As if reading her mind, Cordelia stood up, "Okay, enough messing around, I'm your tutor and I say you should get on with it."

"I hope this is a good idea."

"Of course it's a good idea. It's a great idea. I came up with it."

"I mean, I hope we don't get into too much trouble."

"Just email him."

Grinning, Willow started to type her letter, "This is so weird. I mean, I wonder if he'll go along with this. I wonder what he'll say."

"We won't know until you hit send."

"Hey, you know, this is kinda like Romeo and Juliet!" Willow exclaimed before she realized the implications of her words, "I-in a totally platonic kinda way, I mean." She blushed, "Like, an updated version or something…using email."

"Okay, so who would I be?" Cordelia played along.

"Uhm…Oh! You'd be the nurse." Willow was pleased with her choice.

"Wasn't she old, fat and ugly?"

"Uhm…I don't remember." The hacker suddenly looked mildly uncomfortable, "But what I DO remember is that she was Juliet's loyal advisor and the only person who she could turn to who could help her out."

"Well, that I can do."

"Until the end, when she betrayed Juliet to the entire family. That, of course contributed to the whole entire double suicide tragic ending but oh, look, I think the metaphor is over."

"Me too." Cordelia looked slightly confused but decided to drop it, "Uhm, okay, Willow. Maybe you should just finish the email. Make it casual and cool. You know, just be normal. Say hi and introduce yourself and stuff. You don't want to come off sounding too eager. Just type a few paragraphs and hit send."

"O-okay. Good idea."

So six pages later, Willow did just that. **

"Now this," Cordelia held up the small grey object, "Is a mouse. It makes the cute little pointy white thing on the screen go 'zoom'."

Angel stared at her, "You do of course realize that I could be out patrolling right now."

"Just as I could be out clubbing with Antonio, the hot guy from my political science class. We all have to make sacrifices, now pay attention." Glancing at her watch, Cordelia grimaced. She didn't have much more time before Whistler came back.

"Why are we doing this again?" he asked, mildly irritated.

"Because I got you an email address, moron."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because I wanted to. Look, why don't we go over the basics some other time and I'll just hook you up to the internet."

Her fingers flashing lightly over the keys, Cordelia was logged in within moments.

"Is this it?" Angel asked, staring at the flashing banners and scrolling words that covered the page at various angles.

"Yeah. So, go to it. Check your mail."

"I will." Angel stood up, "Later. Thanks for the tutorial. I'll give it a try after patrols."

"Angel." Cordelia's normally exasperated voice took on a deadly tone, "Check your mail. Now."

"But I just got this address, who would email me so s-,"

"Sit down and check your mail now!" She cracked the command like a whip and he fell back into the seat obediently. "Your login is Fangboy, and your password is cryptic."

"Fangboy." Angel repeated slowly, "Why thank you, Cordelia."

"Not a problem." She smirked.

"Okay, and…oh look. I have a new message." He said in wonder.

Standing, Cordelia started out of the room. "Really? I'm shocked. I'm so shocked I can barely stand it. In fact, the shock is so huge that I must leave."

Ignoring her, he continued to stare at the screen, "So I just click on these letters right here?" Awkwardly, he maneuvered the mouse into position, "Okay. Oh, look it's from…." His voice trailed off, "Oh my God. I-It's from…but how did she….? Cordelia!" he called after her.

"Not now Angel, the shock is truly killing me. I have to leave the room to save myself," the brunette called back from the top of the stairs. "Turn off the computer when you're done. Make sure it's off before Whistler gets back."

Angel was too engrossed to hear her.

PART SIX

Exhausted, Willow collapsed on her bed.

"Five minutes, Red. Then I want to see your butt back in here." A voice called from the other room.

Shaking her head from her prone position, Willow was almost positive that Whistler had somehow found out about Cordelia's plan and was now secretly taking his aggression out on her. She had been up for the past two hours, since six in the morning.

It hadn't been pretty.

Even after two years of watching and training with Buffy, Whistler had proven the hacker to be out of shape in a matter of minutes. After several grueling repetitions of kicks, punches and spins, she had been on the verge of tears while her mentor was barely breaking a sweat. For such a small guy, Whistler certainly was unusually strong.

"You want some water?"

Weakly lifting her head up, she gratefully took the proffered bottle.

"Don't worry, Red, it gets easier. Trust me. You should be proud of yourself. Angel didn't handle this half as well as you are. He's much too whiny."

"You trained Angel?" Her voice came like a soft croak.

"Well, yeah," the demon stared down at her matter-of-factly, "What? Did you really believe his 'I learned it during my many experiences over the years' bullshit?" He made a face, "When I found him, he couldn't defend himself against the cold let alone another person. Now just look at him, all dressed in leather like a proper badass vampire. And then what does he do? Goes and forgets the little people." Reaching down, he unceremoniously hauled Willow to her feet.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Huh?" he mumbled, distractedly, "That can't possibly be…she's an hour early."

Willow, for her part, couldn't care less who the visitor was. Closing her eyes, she fell blissfully backwards onto her bed.

"Cordelia?" the redhead heard his frustrated howl from the living room. Quietly, she smiled at the ceiling. She would have laughed had her ribcage not been in utter agony.

"Good morning. I brought bagels. Aren't you up kinda early? Where's Willow? What's with the sweatpants?" The stream of questions shot out of the brunette's mouth as she was walking into the bedroom, "Willow, hi! You look like crap."

Snorting, the hacker couldn't find the energy to respond.

"If you break her before I get a chance to haul her to the mall with me, I'm going to be very unhappy," Cordelia warned the demon.

"Speaking of which, why are YOU up this early? And so bright eyed and bushy tailed too. You haven't been shooting up again, have you?"

"You know I only save that for extended visits at your place."

"Okay, enough fun, get outta here, May Queen. Go grab a manicure or something. You can even take my car, but I need another half an hour with Willow."

"Excuse me if I pass on the snot-mobile." She pursed her lips at him, "At this rate, she'll be dead in another half an hour."

"Cordelia…" Whistler began, a faint warning in his voice.

"Whatever. I actually need to use your computer. Check mail and stuff. Mine is on the fritz."

"Self-serving as always," the demon ribbed her good-naturedly.

"Hey!" She held up her brown paper bag, "Excuse you, but don't forget that I brought BAGELS with me."

"Which makes using people okay."

"Exactly!" She flung the bag on a nearby chair, smiled brightly and stalked back into the living room. "Oh, and for some reason, that reminds me," she yelled, "I have your cell phone. Patrick something or another called from the Watcher's Council to say that they were going to kick your ass for stealing Willow."

Closing his eyes, Whistler sighed, "Lovely."

"In those words too. Like, direct quote and everything. Only, I think he said 'arse' cause he's Briti-,"

"Okay, Cordelia," Annoyed, Whistler followed her into the living room leaving Willow to drift off into a light slumber, "I need to get in touch with some people. Can you make yourself useful and stay here until the next tutor shows up?"

"Well, duh." She responded, not looking up from the screen.

He rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

Waiting a few seconds to make sure that the demon had truly gone, Cordelia quickly leapt up from her seat and ran into the bedroom, hauling a sleepy and stumbling Willow back to the computer with her. "Okay, I plugged Angel in yesterday night and the doofus should have emailed you back provided he figured out how. He was way excited." She chattered happily.

Waking up at the mention of the vampire, Willow smiled shyly, "Oh, okay, well let's see." After a few moments, she accessed her account, "Oh wow, here it is…" licking her lips in anticipation, she opened up the email, "and it's so….short."

"'Dear Protector'," Cordelia read in a monotone voice over her shoulder, "'I want to meet you. Angel'." Snorting in disgust she shook her head, "And yet again, the man manages to suck more than I ever thought possible. Just wait until I get home…"

"Oh, but Cordelia, it's okay," the redhead shook her head, "I mean, at least he wrote back. An-and besides. It's just so Angel. All cryptic and quiet and stuff."

"You know, Willow, you're a really sweet and forgiving person." The brunette responded thoughtfully, "It's one of the things that I admire about you. But that doesn't change the fact that Angel's a big fat dork."

"Well, I just mean…isn't this really the first time he's ever written email bef-,"

"Okay, enough. This whole entire 'understanding' thing you've got going? I'm going to have to fix. Remind me. We'll work on it together."

"O-okay..." Willow looked somewhat confused.

"So, what do you plan on telling the moron?"

"Well, I don't have a clue what Whistler has planned for tonight so I guess I'll just have to tell him that I'll see what I can do." The redhead shrugged helplessly.

"Am I interrupting?"

Startled at the new voice behind her, Willow spun around…and squealed for joy.

"Amy!"

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia gave the witch a deadly glare, "Hel-lo, way to scare someone to death. The little round button by the door? It's called a bell. Ever consider using it?"

**

Trying to look casual, even Giles had to admit that 12 men dressed in tweed were somewhat conspicuous.

"Good work on the cell phone number. How are we doing on an address?" Patrick asked gruffly.

"Ah..ah..close, sir. Very close." A young man with blonde hair spoke up. Glancing nervously at his watch he nodded, "Micah should be back any minute. I expect that she'll have something to report."

Willow would have been able to single handedly hack an address hours ago. Giles thought wistfully of his young protégé. Amidst all of the ruckus and squabbling over the past few sleepless days, Willow was his only real anchor to sanity. He didn't hold the redhead's decision to leave against her by any means. In fact, it showed a kindness and strength of character that would serve her well in her duties as Immortal Watcher. As long as that bloody little thieving imbecile doesn't get her killed first.

"Mr. Giles, how is your team?"

Snapping to attention, he coughed, "Yes, all in place as planned."

The news of the missing young woman had sent the entire organization into an uproar. The headquarters in London were currently operating on a skeleton staff. Just about every Watcher who was physically able made his or her way to California. Several brought young girls with them. They were proxy Slayers who may or may not be activated but were consummately thrilled to get a short 'vacation' in the sunny weather. The Council had to spare five Watchers alone just to escort the troupe on a diversionary excursion to Disney World.

"Good. We get the address, and then we move." Patrick observed the men assembled in front of him, "Any questions?"

"Martin, did you eat the last Jellie?" A short, portly man complained.

"For the love of God, you idiot, the Immortal Watcher is missing and all you can think of is food?" retorted his companion, who looked appropriately outraged. Unfortunately, he said this with a smear of purple jam on his upper lip, giving him away as the perpetrator.

Quickly, the table dissolved into a collection of small arguments, as they did almost every single time they convened.

Giles sighed. At this rate, it'll be a miracle if we can find her at all…

**

"I kinda have a plan of how I want to do this, but since we haven't practiced extensively together, except for that one time with the protection spell for Buffy, I'm not really sure where you are on terms of experience." Amy explained.

"W-well, I've done some stuff. You know, nothing really specific. Just a little bit here and there…the soul restoration was the biggest. Since then I've done a few informal things. I've dabbled." Willow responded helpfully. "Yes, I guess you could call me a dabbler." Although she wasn't sure how Amy and Whistler knew each other, the hacker was thrilled to see yet another familiar face. The fact that the blonde girl also happened to be a fairly powerful witch was just an added bonus.

"Okay, have you done much levitation or projection on objects?"

"Well, I've practiced a little. Like on pencils."

"Oh, okay good," Amy smiled, "So you understand the concept at least, right? That's usually the hardest."

"You're pretty much projecting your own strength to move things."

"Exactly," the witch nodded in agreement, "That's on a basic level. As you move on to bigger things, I'll teach you how to draw strength from your surroundings, including from your opponents, in order to move things."

"Cool…"

"Let's start with that candlestick holder on the table. Concentrate like you normally do with the pencil, Willow. Try to move it. Don't overexert yourself, just slide it a few inches towards me."

Staring determinedly, the hacker narrowed her eyes and focused her gaze on the object. Gritting her teeth, she felt the tell-tale tingle of power working its way to her fingertips when suddenly she sneezed. In a flash, the door slammed shut and the redhead found herself flat on her rear.

"Wh-what..?" She shook her head, slightly disoriented.

Concealing her nervous glance at the door, the witch helped Willow to her feet, "It's no big deal, Willow. Your concentration just broke for a second and you closed the door instead of moving the candle. There was a bit of…backlash too…" Furrowing her brow, she looked thoughtful, "It might be better to try this a little later under more..controlled circumstances. Hey, why don't we try something a little different? I know a pretty good 'smokescreen' type spell that can help you to cover your tracks and escape from a fight if you ever need to. Can you run downstairs and grab my bag while I set up?"

"Sure thing." Looking slightly dejected, the hacker left to comply.

Standing with her back to the wall, Amy silently contemplated what had just happened.

"Problems?" Whistler asked, seemingly melting out of the surroundings to stand behind her.

Unfazed by his surprise entrance, the witch shrugged without turning around, "She's strong, Whistler. Pencils and candles are one thing. Doors are another. I didn't think she would be able to move the candle at all this time around. "

Sighing, Amy retrieved the object in question and examined it thoughtfully before continuing. "She's like this constant source of energy. It's really incredible, but the thing that's scaring me is that it's so uncontrolled. I don't know if you should patrol with her this soon. I don't want her to have to resort to magic without at least a few more weeks of lessons. She's so powerful that she might hurt herself."

"We don't have a few weeks," the demon reminded her gently, "Don't worry, though. I'll look after her, Amy. As long as she sticks with me, she'll be fine."

"You ready?" The redhead returned, black bag in hand.

"Absolutely," Amy sent her a warm smile before turning around to grab the package of basil that had been left on the bed. She didn't need to look to know that the demon who had brought it had already disappeared.

**

"Okay, Red, stay with me and stay down." Whistler spoke softly over his shoulder to the young woman crouched next to him.

"I'll try." Willow responded, her voice muffled slightly by the black hood she wore. Try as she might, Cordelia hadn't been able to convince the demon to alter the headgear. He'd agreed to the new skin-tight black pants and even to the black body suit underneath, but nothing was changing his mind on the hood. ("For pete's sakes, Cordelia, the girl's got red hair!")

Watching silently from above, the pair kept a careful eye on Angel as he slowly walked along his patrol route, stake in hand.

As the vampire passed underneath, he hazarded a glance upwards, almost as if by instinct, but was too slow for Whistler who quickly pushed the hacker farther back into the foliage, effectively obscuring her from Angel's view.

"Remember what I told you. No magic this time around. Stay out of things unless absolutely necessary and never ever get so far away from me that we can't see each other. The subliminal pre-conditioning that allowed you to fight over the past few weeks might begin to kick in now. If it does, just relax and follow your instincts, they'll guide you better than anything else in this case."

"Incoming." Willow responded shortly, while nodding at the ground.

Sure enough, Whistler spotted the three vampires rapidly closing in. Casting his charge a worried glance, he sighed. Even underneath the thin black veil, he could see the intensity of her green eyes as they focused completely on Angel and his impending battle. He felt her tense beside him and slowly began to doubt his own decision to bring her along so soon, "Careful, Willow, there are only three of them. Angel's handled more than that before."

Snarling, the vampire in question quickly took the offensive and kicked his nearest opponent aside while bringing his stake into the heart of the other. Preoccupied, he couldn't prevent the remaining one from getting in a good punch to his stomach. Crying out hoarsely, Angel briefly doubled over.

Sensing Willow's self control stretching thin, Whistler quickly placed a restraining hand on her arm, "Easy, Red. He can handle it."

As if on cue, Angel quickly spun around, swept the legs out from under his attacker and staked him neatly.

"See? What did I tell you?" the demon turned to give her a self-satisfied grin only to notice that she hadn't even heard him.

Slowly, he followed her gaze back down to the ground where Angel, slightly rumpled from his encounter, was staring up at them. More specifically, he was staring at Willow.

The demon's smile slowly faded as he saw Angel first touch his hand to his head and then outstretch it to the young girl above in silent greeting. Carefully, she inclined her head at him, returning his gesture appreciatively.

What the…? Whistler felt his frustration well up inside. It was irritating times like this that the demon couldn't help but remember certain things that Cordelia had warned him about. Things such as trying to "prevent the inevitable." Shaking his head, he threw off her cautionary words I'll be eternally damned if I'm going to let everything we've worked for go to shit on Day 1. "Let's go." He whispered softly, "Our cover's blown, we need to retreat and regroup."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth when a group of approximately 10 enormous vampires ambushed the very distracted Angel.

"Oh Fu…" the rest of the curse was lost as Willow suddenly disappeared from beside him, leaping into the fray headfirst.

For a horrible second, Whistler could do little more than sit in the tree, frozen in complete surrealistic horror over his sudden loss of control. Swiftly though, he regained his senses and jumped down to aid in the fight. It rapidly became clear, however, that his help wasn't really needed.

Within seconds, Willow and Angel managed to dispatch more than half of their opponents. Like two parts of a mighty whole, the pair fought as if they had been trained together since childhood. Staring dumbfounded, Whistler wasn't sure if he should be thrilled over their incredible effectiveness or devastated over the rapid unraveling of his carefully made plans. Thus, his reaction fell somewhere in the middle. Somewhere along the lines of anxious nausea.

"Left!" Angel shouted from behind and, without thinking, Willow complied in perfect synch as she ducked and rolled to switch sides with him, bringing her arm up with lightning efficiency and impaling her stake into her new opponent.

Jumping up, she returned to her neutral fighting position, back to back with Angel.

"Three remaining. Two right. One above. Start on go." He whispered to her through clenched teeth. Waiting until he felt the movement of air directly overhead, Angel yelled.

"Go!"

In a flash, they both shot away from each other, Angel continuing forward to fight the vampire in front, while Willow spun around to challenge the one that had fallen in the space between them.

Whistler was in such deep thought taking mental notes on the couple's every move that he barely managed to deflect a blow from behind him. Aggravated over the events of the night as a whole, he made quick work of dusting the vampire who had dared to attack him.

Turning around, he moaned in agony.

When it sucks, it really really sucks a lot, doesn't it? He cast an exasperated look heavenward before cursing under his breath.

Within the two minutes since the fight had begun, 10 vampires had disappeared.

Within the two seconds it had taken Whistler to dispatch his opponent…

So had Willow and Angel.