Hearts and Souls
By Morganperidot
Chapter 1.
Buffy punched in the phone number from memory. She didn't use it often, but she knew it by heart anyway.
"Angel Investigations," the vampire himself answered.
"Keeping the world safe?"
"Whenever the Slayer isn't available."
Buffy smiled. "How are things?"
"Getting better finally. And yours?"
"Not as bad as they have been."
Buffy thought about the night they had spent together in the cemetery, the soft touch of his fingertips, and his lips against her skin. God, I miss you, she thought.
"I miss you, too."
"That's getting creepy."
She could feel his smile. "Sorry," he said.
"Is it true?"
"Do you really need to ask me?"
She didn't, not really. "Are you busy this weekend?" she asked.
Angel laughed. "I thought we were always busy."
"Seriously."
After a brief pause he said, "I could make some time."
"I wouldn't want to put you out."
"It's OK if you come out with me."
Buffy knew it probably wasn't a good idea for the two of them to socialize; really bad things could happen. The last time when they were together and nothing bad happened was probably a fluke. It wasn't a good idea to test the boundaries of what they could do together. The only smart thing to do was to drop the idea immediately. "Are you interested in seeing New York?" she asked.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From the airport Buffy took a bus to the Port Authority station; she was meeting Angel in nearby Times Square. When she stepped out of the doors of Port Authority it was already dark, early evening. As during the rest of the trip, her thoughts were of Angel. For a moment she stood on the sidewalk hesitating. Maybe we shouldn't do this, she thought Maybe I shouldn't meet him. No, she decided, I'm going to do it. And she headed toward Times Square.
It was mostly a selfish decision; she couldn't come this close - the same place on the same day - and not see him. If necessary they would have to keep from physical contact with one another; they would have to keep from looking at and touching one another the way they would want to.
But it was too late for that, because they were already exchanging those looks.
He stood outside a pizza place dressed in a black jacket, shirt, and pants. She saw how everyone looked at him as they walked past. Even in a place like New York City he was mesmerizing.
"I thought we were meeting in Times Square."
"Sometimes a guy needs to stop for pizza."
"You're not a guy."
He smiled. "In some ways I am."
Dangerous ways, Buffy thought. "Let's walk," she said.
He fell into step with her. After an extended silence Angel asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Sort of having the fourth thoughts."
"Fourth?"
"There was the decision to do this, then thinking maybe not, then thinking no it's right, then thinking..."
"Because of Angelus."
"Yes."
They walked in silence again. Finally Angel stopped and Buffy did as well. They stood for a moment looking at one another. "We can say good-bye right here," Angel said softly. "It's OK with me."
"It is?"
"No. I'm being self-sacrificing and noble."
"Stop it."
Angel smiled. "OK."
Buffy took the hand he offered and walked with him into Times Square and along Broadway, among the people going to restaurants and shows. Angel produced two tickets to a popular musical. Thinking of her jeans and casual top, Buffy said, "I'm not exactly dressed for an evening..."
"We can do something else."
The tone of his voice was quiet but strong. She thought about the difference between Angel and Spike: While Spike was the tough guy from the streets, Angel had true power from deep intelligence and emotion that ran through him like raging rivers, meeting in a soul that glowed through his lovely eyes. "I love you," she said, because it was the only way she could tell him what she was feeling. Angel drew her into his arms, and for a moment they just held onto each other. I don't want this to end, Buffy thought. I'm so damn tired of letting the world have its way.
"I'll fight it with you," Angel whispered in her ear.
"We can't win."
"We are winning."
Buffy stepped back from him. "This is just a fantasy," she said, "stolen moments. We'll both have to go back to..."Angel pulled her to him and brought his lips to hers, touching softly. Buffy pressed him away. "You know we can't really be like this," she said.
Angel pulled something out of his pocket. He held it out for her to see; it was a green and white heart carved out of some kind of stone. "It's from Ireland," he said. "Connemara marble. It holds magic that..."
Buffy closed his fingers over the stone. "Don't do this," she said.
For a moment he said nothing, just looked at his hand holding the heart. Then he looked up at her and asked, "You don't want to try this?"
"Is it worth bringing back Angelus?"
"That won't happen."
"We took a dangerous risk in Sunnydale," Buffy said. "We have responsibilities; we can't take those kinds of risks. You know that, Angel. Whatever you feel, you know that."
The look in his eyes darkened. "Whatever I feel."
"You know what I mean."
"I think I do," he said coolly. He opened his hand and let the heart fall from it to the ground where it broke on the sidewalk pavement. Then he turned and walked away.
"Angel..." she said, but he had disappeared into the Broadway crowd, and she knew it wouldn't help things to run after him. Instead she bent down and picked up the two pieces of the heart. The marble had fractured in a jagged path down the middle, separating it into nearly equal halves.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Several weeks later at Buffy's house in Sunnydale, Willow set the marble pieces down on the dining room table. "It was clearly very powerfully charged," she said. Before Buffy could ask, she added, "With good magic. Most likely it was custom made and charged by a Celtic priestess."
Buffy stood near Willow, staring at the two pieces on the table. "Would it do what he wanted?" she asked.
"Probably not if he was the only one who wanted it."
Buffy raised her eyes to Willow's. "Would it?"
"Possibly."
"Willow."
"Yes, most likely, yes."
For a moment Buffy just paced the room, thinking about that look in Angel's eyes and the anger he had felt...and was still feeling. Since they had returned - separately - from New York, news had filtered to her about his overdrive campaign to rid Los Angeles of anything remotely demonic. Creatures of all kinds were fleeing the area, including harmless and even helpful demons. It was said he was waging a one-man war, refusing any assistance.
Buffy herself had fallen into a funk - but instead of being in overdrive, she was off her game entirely. She had finally dug the pieces of marble out of a drawer, sent everyone but Willow out, and brought the witch the two pieces of marble.
Buffy picked up them up. The stone was smooth and cool. She rubbed her thumbs along the surface and then tried to bring the pieces together along the fracture line - but the two sides repelled one another. She tried again with the same result. She looked over at Willow. "Can you fix it?" she asked.
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
Buffy handed Willow the pieces. "I have to make this right," she said.
"Maybe this is right," Willow said. "Maybe this is the way it has to be for you and Angel."
"I don't think so," Buffy said. "Fix it."
Willow took a piece in each hand and closed her eyes. After a long silence she spoke the words of a spell in a language Buffy didn't understand. It isn't going to work, Buffy thought. And she was right - when Willow opened her eyes and brought the two pieces toward one another there was still the force between them repelling them.
"I'm sorry," Willow said.
"It's all right," Buffy said, picking up the pieces and shoving them in her jacket pocket. "I'll do it myself."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was dusk when Buffy arrived at the hotel where Angel lived and worked. Without a word to any of his friends standing around in the lobby, Buffy headed to Angel's room. She tried the doorknob; it didn't budge. She turned and found Fred standing behind her.
"You should leave him be," Fred said.
"Sorry, can't," Buffy said. "Do you have a key?"
"Who do you think you are?" Fred said.
Buffy walked past her and up to the lobby, then over to the lobby desk where she started opening drawers and rifling through their contents.
"You should let us handle this," Wesley said.
Buffy didn't look at him. "You don't even know what this is," she said.
"And you do?" Fred said. The fury in the quiet woman's voice startled Buffy into looking up. "This time you've made him into something even worse than Angelus. You made him into a vampire who has a soul he doesn't want."
"I know I hurt him..."
"Hurt doesn't even touch on this," Fred said, coming closer. "This is like you sliced his heart open and left him with a wound that won't stop bleeding. This is..."
"Stop it, Fred." Everyone in the room turned to look at Angel. Buffy could see his dark, burning anger from across the room. "I take it the Slayer is here to see me."
"I need to talk to you," Buffy said.
"Right," Angel said, walking across the room to the desk. "And what the Slayer needs is all that's important, right?" He stopped across the desk from her. "How can I be of service?
The violence he put into the word Slayer sent a chill through her, but she refused to let him see it. "I'd like to talk with you in private," she said.
"No."
Buffy looked around the room and saw that Fred and Wesley - and Gunn who had recently entered the lobby - weren't going to leave. "You want to do this in front of an audience?" she said.
"I don't want to do anything with you," Angel said.
Buffy came around to his side of the desk. "You wouldn't be like this is that were true," she said.
"You have always been selfish," Angel spit out.
"And you have always been pathetic," Buffy countered, coming up close to him. "Do you think this makes you the big bad, Angel? Got a little Angelus envy, huh? Poor little Angel needs to act all tough and mean, because he can't actually be that. Pretty weak showing, if you ask me. You're a pale imitation of him." Angel pushed her away from him, and Buffy pushed back - and then they were launching into hand-to-hand combat without holding back, connecting with real, hard blows as they tore through the lobby of the hotel. And they continued to go at one another with fists and kicks, spinning and leaping apart and together. Buffy felt her admiration for him surge - he was more talented as a fighter than she remembered, and he worked his skills with choreographed brilliance, managing to get through her defenses and land vicious blows. Of course she landed a few of her own, sending him reeling back and down to the floor. But every time they rose and rejoined, fighting with the most amazing, surging passion Buffy had every felt. And when she realized that, she stopped. Right there, in the midst of the wreckage of the lobby she stopped and stared at him.
"This isn't over yet," Angel said, positioning himself in a fighting stance.
"It won't ever be," Buffy said. She took the two pieces of the heart out of her pocket and tossed them at his feet where they landed against the hard lobby floor without shattering further. "You left that in New York."
Angel kicked the marble aside. "It's garbage."
"You said you would fight with me," Buffy said. "Is this how you do that?"
"That was a lie."
"This is a lie," Buffy said, walking toward him, closing the space between them. Her heart was pounding hard. "When did you become such a coward?"
Angel's eyes flashed with fury. "Get out of here," he said. Buffy stopped where she was - some six feet from him - and stood her ground. "Get out," he repeated, bending over and putting his fingers on one of the pieces of marble. "And take this thing with you." For a moment Buffy was certain he would pick up that piece and hurl it at her.
But then everything changed.
The piece of marble Angel was touching began to glow a soft rose color. Angel's knees came gently down to the floor, and he held the glowing piece of marble in the palm of his hand like a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. For several seconds no one moved. Then Angel closed his hand over the piece of marble and stood. He walked past Buffy without looking at her, back in the direction of his room.
"What is that thing?" Fred said. "What did you do to him?"
Buffy ignored her and walked over to where the remaining piece of marble lay on the lobby floor. After a brief hesitation she brought her fingers to it, and like the other piece, it began to give off that rosy glow. It was also warm to her touch as she slid her fingers around it. "Give us a few minutes," she said to no one in particular, before heading after Angel.
This time the door to his room was ajar. She pushed it opened and stepped inside, closing it behind her. The room was completely dark, but she could feel his presence to her right. After a few seconds of adjustment she was able to make out the faint glow of the half the heart he still held. "Leave it here, and I'll have it destroyed," he said.
"No," Buffy said. She just stood by the door and waited, listening to the silence that ensued. It wasn't a bad silence or even an unpleasant one. In some ways it was almost - comfortable. Nearly a minute of it passed, and Buffy closed her eyes.
"What then?" Angel asked softly, some of the anger drained from his tone.
Buffy looked over at him. "What do you want?"
"This isn't just about me."
"Well, seeing as I picked this thing up, brought it back with me from New York, and brought it here, it would seem that my intentions are pretty clear."
"I guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Fill me in."
"We've got two options: bring these pieces together or decide together that we aren't going to."
Angel was quiet for a moment before saying, "Do you want to?"
"I tried in Sunnydale, but it wouldn't work. I think it needs both of us."
"That isn't really an answer."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I don't have anything better to do."
He walked across the room to her. He was smiling. "I bet you could pick a fight with a vampire anywhere."
"That wasn't exactly just a fight."
"I suppose not." Angel held out his hand with the piece of marble glowing where it rested on his palm. "But the question is this: Am I really worth the hassle?"
Buffy laughed. "I don't think that's the question you should be asking." She picked up her half of the heart in the fingers of her right hand.
"What should I ask?"
"Do I feel lucky?"
Angel smiled. "Let's do this," he said. They brought their pieces of the marble heart together, and this time the pieces joined. The fractured center healed without a trace of a crack.
"How much time?" Buffy asked, setting the heart on Angel's nightstand.
"The priestess couldn't say. All she could tell me was that as long as the heart is one piece we can be together without the threat of Angelus. It could be an hour, a day..."
Buffy pushed him down against the bed. "Let's stop wasting time," she said.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
By Morganperidot
Chapter 1.
Buffy punched in the phone number from memory. She didn't use it often, but she knew it by heart anyway.
"Angel Investigations," the vampire himself answered.
"Keeping the world safe?"
"Whenever the Slayer isn't available."
Buffy smiled. "How are things?"
"Getting better finally. And yours?"
"Not as bad as they have been."
Buffy thought about the night they had spent together in the cemetery, the soft touch of his fingertips, and his lips against her skin. God, I miss you, she thought.
"I miss you, too."
"That's getting creepy."
She could feel his smile. "Sorry," he said.
"Is it true?"
"Do you really need to ask me?"
She didn't, not really. "Are you busy this weekend?" she asked.
Angel laughed. "I thought we were always busy."
"Seriously."
After a brief pause he said, "I could make some time."
"I wouldn't want to put you out."
"It's OK if you come out with me."
Buffy knew it probably wasn't a good idea for the two of them to socialize; really bad things could happen. The last time when they were together and nothing bad happened was probably a fluke. It wasn't a good idea to test the boundaries of what they could do together. The only smart thing to do was to drop the idea immediately. "Are you interested in seeing New York?" she asked.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From the airport Buffy took a bus to the Port Authority station; she was meeting Angel in nearby Times Square. When she stepped out of the doors of Port Authority it was already dark, early evening. As during the rest of the trip, her thoughts were of Angel. For a moment she stood on the sidewalk hesitating. Maybe we shouldn't do this, she thought Maybe I shouldn't meet him. No, she decided, I'm going to do it. And she headed toward Times Square.
It was mostly a selfish decision; she couldn't come this close - the same place on the same day - and not see him. If necessary they would have to keep from physical contact with one another; they would have to keep from looking at and touching one another the way they would want to.
But it was too late for that, because they were already exchanging those looks.
He stood outside a pizza place dressed in a black jacket, shirt, and pants. She saw how everyone looked at him as they walked past. Even in a place like New York City he was mesmerizing.
"I thought we were meeting in Times Square."
"Sometimes a guy needs to stop for pizza."
"You're not a guy."
He smiled. "In some ways I am."
Dangerous ways, Buffy thought. "Let's walk," she said.
He fell into step with her. After an extended silence Angel asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Sort of having the fourth thoughts."
"Fourth?"
"There was the decision to do this, then thinking maybe not, then thinking no it's right, then thinking..."
"Because of Angelus."
"Yes."
They walked in silence again. Finally Angel stopped and Buffy did as well. They stood for a moment looking at one another. "We can say good-bye right here," Angel said softly. "It's OK with me."
"It is?"
"No. I'm being self-sacrificing and noble."
"Stop it."
Angel smiled. "OK."
Buffy took the hand he offered and walked with him into Times Square and along Broadway, among the people going to restaurants and shows. Angel produced two tickets to a popular musical. Thinking of her jeans and casual top, Buffy said, "I'm not exactly dressed for an evening..."
"We can do something else."
The tone of his voice was quiet but strong. She thought about the difference between Angel and Spike: While Spike was the tough guy from the streets, Angel had true power from deep intelligence and emotion that ran through him like raging rivers, meeting in a soul that glowed through his lovely eyes. "I love you," she said, because it was the only way she could tell him what she was feeling. Angel drew her into his arms, and for a moment they just held onto each other. I don't want this to end, Buffy thought. I'm so damn tired of letting the world have its way.
"I'll fight it with you," Angel whispered in her ear.
"We can't win."
"We are winning."
Buffy stepped back from him. "This is just a fantasy," she said, "stolen moments. We'll both have to go back to..."Angel pulled her to him and brought his lips to hers, touching softly. Buffy pressed him away. "You know we can't really be like this," she said.
Angel pulled something out of his pocket. He held it out for her to see; it was a green and white heart carved out of some kind of stone. "It's from Ireland," he said. "Connemara marble. It holds magic that..."
Buffy closed his fingers over the stone. "Don't do this," she said.
For a moment he said nothing, just looked at his hand holding the heart. Then he looked up at her and asked, "You don't want to try this?"
"Is it worth bringing back Angelus?"
"That won't happen."
"We took a dangerous risk in Sunnydale," Buffy said. "We have responsibilities; we can't take those kinds of risks. You know that, Angel. Whatever you feel, you know that."
The look in his eyes darkened. "Whatever I feel."
"You know what I mean."
"I think I do," he said coolly. He opened his hand and let the heart fall from it to the ground where it broke on the sidewalk pavement. Then he turned and walked away.
"Angel..." she said, but he had disappeared into the Broadway crowd, and she knew it wouldn't help things to run after him. Instead she bent down and picked up the two pieces of the heart. The marble had fractured in a jagged path down the middle, separating it into nearly equal halves.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Several weeks later at Buffy's house in Sunnydale, Willow set the marble pieces down on the dining room table. "It was clearly very powerfully charged," she said. Before Buffy could ask, she added, "With good magic. Most likely it was custom made and charged by a Celtic priestess."
Buffy stood near Willow, staring at the two pieces on the table. "Would it do what he wanted?" she asked.
"Probably not if he was the only one who wanted it."
Buffy raised her eyes to Willow's. "Would it?"
"Possibly."
"Willow."
"Yes, most likely, yes."
For a moment Buffy just paced the room, thinking about that look in Angel's eyes and the anger he had felt...and was still feeling. Since they had returned - separately - from New York, news had filtered to her about his overdrive campaign to rid Los Angeles of anything remotely demonic. Creatures of all kinds were fleeing the area, including harmless and even helpful demons. It was said he was waging a one-man war, refusing any assistance.
Buffy herself had fallen into a funk - but instead of being in overdrive, she was off her game entirely. She had finally dug the pieces of marble out of a drawer, sent everyone but Willow out, and brought the witch the two pieces of marble.
Buffy picked up them up. The stone was smooth and cool. She rubbed her thumbs along the surface and then tried to bring the pieces together along the fracture line - but the two sides repelled one another. She tried again with the same result. She looked over at Willow. "Can you fix it?" she asked.
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
Buffy handed Willow the pieces. "I have to make this right," she said.
"Maybe this is right," Willow said. "Maybe this is the way it has to be for you and Angel."
"I don't think so," Buffy said. "Fix it."
Willow took a piece in each hand and closed her eyes. After a long silence she spoke the words of a spell in a language Buffy didn't understand. It isn't going to work, Buffy thought. And she was right - when Willow opened her eyes and brought the two pieces toward one another there was still the force between them repelling them.
"I'm sorry," Willow said.
"It's all right," Buffy said, picking up the pieces and shoving them in her jacket pocket. "I'll do it myself."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was dusk when Buffy arrived at the hotel where Angel lived and worked. Without a word to any of his friends standing around in the lobby, Buffy headed to Angel's room. She tried the doorknob; it didn't budge. She turned and found Fred standing behind her.
"You should leave him be," Fred said.
"Sorry, can't," Buffy said. "Do you have a key?"
"Who do you think you are?" Fred said.
Buffy walked past her and up to the lobby, then over to the lobby desk where she started opening drawers and rifling through their contents.
"You should let us handle this," Wesley said.
Buffy didn't look at him. "You don't even know what this is," she said.
"And you do?" Fred said. The fury in the quiet woman's voice startled Buffy into looking up. "This time you've made him into something even worse than Angelus. You made him into a vampire who has a soul he doesn't want."
"I know I hurt him..."
"Hurt doesn't even touch on this," Fred said, coming closer. "This is like you sliced his heart open and left him with a wound that won't stop bleeding. This is..."
"Stop it, Fred." Everyone in the room turned to look at Angel. Buffy could see his dark, burning anger from across the room. "I take it the Slayer is here to see me."
"I need to talk to you," Buffy said.
"Right," Angel said, walking across the room to the desk. "And what the Slayer needs is all that's important, right?" He stopped across the desk from her. "How can I be of service?
The violence he put into the word Slayer sent a chill through her, but she refused to let him see it. "I'd like to talk with you in private," she said.
"No."
Buffy looked around the room and saw that Fred and Wesley - and Gunn who had recently entered the lobby - weren't going to leave. "You want to do this in front of an audience?" she said.
"I don't want to do anything with you," Angel said.
Buffy came around to his side of the desk. "You wouldn't be like this is that were true," she said.
"You have always been selfish," Angel spit out.
"And you have always been pathetic," Buffy countered, coming up close to him. "Do you think this makes you the big bad, Angel? Got a little Angelus envy, huh? Poor little Angel needs to act all tough and mean, because he can't actually be that. Pretty weak showing, if you ask me. You're a pale imitation of him." Angel pushed her away from him, and Buffy pushed back - and then they were launching into hand-to-hand combat without holding back, connecting with real, hard blows as they tore through the lobby of the hotel. And they continued to go at one another with fists and kicks, spinning and leaping apart and together. Buffy felt her admiration for him surge - he was more talented as a fighter than she remembered, and he worked his skills with choreographed brilliance, managing to get through her defenses and land vicious blows. Of course she landed a few of her own, sending him reeling back and down to the floor. But every time they rose and rejoined, fighting with the most amazing, surging passion Buffy had every felt. And when she realized that, she stopped. Right there, in the midst of the wreckage of the lobby she stopped and stared at him.
"This isn't over yet," Angel said, positioning himself in a fighting stance.
"It won't ever be," Buffy said. She took the two pieces of the heart out of her pocket and tossed them at his feet where they landed against the hard lobby floor without shattering further. "You left that in New York."
Angel kicked the marble aside. "It's garbage."
"You said you would fight with me," Buffy said. "Is this how you do that?"
"That was a lie."
"This is a lie," Buffy said, walking toward him, closing the space between them. Her heart was pounding hard. "When did you become such a coward?"
Angel's eyes flashed with fury. "Get out of here," he said. Buffy stopped where she was - some six feet from him - and stood her ground. "Get out," he repeated, bending over and putting his fingers on one of the pieces of marble. "And take this thing with you." For a moment Buffy was certain he would pick up that piece and hurl it at her.
But then everything changed.
The piece of marble Angel was touching began to glow a soft rose color. Angel's knees came gently down to the floor, and he held the glowing piece of marble in the palm of his hand like a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. For several seconds no one moved. Then Angel closed his hand over the piece of marble and stood. He walked past Buffy without looking at her, back in the direction of his room.
"What is that thing?" Fred said. "What did you do to him?"
Buffy ignored her and walked over to where the remaining piece of marble lay on the lobby floor. After a brief hesitation she brought her fingers to it, and like the other piece, it began to give off that rosy glow. It was also warm to her touch as she slid her fingers around it. "Give us a few minutes," she said to no one in particular, before heading after Angel.
This time the door to his room was ajar. She pushed it opened and stepped inside, closing it behind her. The room was completely dark, but she could feel his presence to her right. After a few seconds of adjustment she was able to make out the faint glow of the half the heart he still held. "Leave it here, and I'll have it destroyed," he said.
"No," Buffy said. She just stood by the door and waited, listening to the silence that ensued. It wasn't a bad silence or even an unpleasant one. In some ways it was almost - comfortable. Nearly a minute of it passed, and Buffy closed her eyes.
"What then?" Angel asked softly, some of the anger drained from his tone.
Buffy looked over at him. "What do you want?"
"This isn't just about me."
"Well, seeing as I picked this thing up, brought it back with me from New York, and brought it here, it would seem that my intentions are pretty clear."
"I guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Fill me in."
"We've got two options: bring these pieces together or decide together that we aren't going to."
Angel was quiet for a moment before saying, "Do you want to?"
"I tried in Sunnydale, but it wouldn't work. I think it needs both of us."
"That isn't really an answer."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I don't have anything better to do."
He walked across the room to her. He was smiling. "I bet you could pick a fight with a vampire anywhere."
"That wasn't exactly just a fight."
"I suppose not." Angel held out his hand with the piece of marble glowing where it rested on his palm. "But the question is this: Am I really worth the hassle?"
Buffy laughed. "I don't think that's the question you should be asking." She picked up her half of the heart in the fingers of her right hand.
"What should I ask?"
"Do I feel lucky?"
Angel smiled. "Let's do this," he said. They brought their pieces of the marble heart together, and this time the pieces joined. The fractured center healed without a trace of a crack.
"How much time?" Buffy asked, setting the heart on Angel's nightstand.
"The priestess couldn't say. All she could tell me was that as long as the heart is one piece we can be together without the threat of Angelus. It could be an hour, a day..."
Buffy pushed him down against the bed. "Let's stop wasting time," she said.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *