Chapter 78

The room was bare save for a few tapestries on the wall. A thin band of sunlight streamed in from a high window. Angel looked at Spike and Andrew, wanting to desperately get out of there and tell Buffy what he and the other two men had discovered. Spike sat slumped against the wall, bored out of his mind. Andrew lied on the floor on his belly, his chin resting in his hands, lazily swinging his legs back and forth.

"I spy with my little eye something that begins with a T." He said.

"Tapestry." Spike said.

"Hey, good one. How did you..."

"Tapestry's the only thing in the whole room." Angel said.

"Ah. So say you but I say, look deeper."

"I'll look deep into your jugular, is what I'll look at."

"Don't spaz out."

"I'm not.... don't say another word."

Andrew was silent for all of five seconds. "Rock/paper/scissors?"

"What's the matter with you? Don't you understand what's happening?" Spike asked.

"Yeah. We're waiting here till it's night again so you can ride in the van without exploding."

"And every minute we're stuck here, the Buffy's out there facing hell knows what." Angel said.

"Come on, what's the worst thing that could happen to her?"

Angel shot Andrew a murderous glare and he shut up. Finally, dusk came and Angel sped home. They all walked inside the house. Angel didn't sense Buffy in the house anywhere. Andrew walked into the kitchen with a, "We're back!"

"Spike, Angel." Giles said as way of greeting.

"Hey." Spike said.

"Hi, everybody." Andrew said. "I missed you guys a lot. Sorry we took so long getting back from our mission mission but we had to wait out the sun and, well, I think our mission went very well. We rode in Angel's van, which was very cool, and played some amusing games and, oh, we got some information. But do you know what? I really need to urinate." He dashed off toward the bathroom.

"He's a breath of fresh air, isn't he? Thank god we don't breathe." Spike said to Angel.

"I think we got a lead. Where's Buffy?" Angel asked.

"She's not here right now." Dawn said.

"When's she get back?" Spike asked.

"While you guys were gone, we all got together and talked out some disagreements that we were having and eventually, after much discussion, Buffy decided that it would be best for all of us if she took a little time off. A little breather." Willow said.

Angel understood immedietly what had happened. "Uh-huh. I see. You've been practicing that little speech long, haven't you? So Buffy took some time off right in the middle of the apocalypse and it was her decision?"

"Well, we all decided." Xander said.

"Oh, yeah, you all decided." Angel was disgusted. "You sad, sad, ungrateful traitors. Who do you think you are?"

"We're her friends. We just want...." Willow said.

"Oh, that's wonderful of you Willow. You're her friends and you betray her like this?"

"You don't understand." Giles said.

"You know, I think I do. Giles. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher, all full of wisdom. Now she's surpassed you and you can't handle it. She has saved your lives again and again. She's DIED for you. And this is how you thank her?"

"Angel...."

"No! You have no clue what she's been through in the last few weeks. It's more than any of you could handle. She's the strongest person you've got here and you throw her out of her own house?"

"Hey, why don't you take it down a notch or two? The time for speech- giving is over, Angel-face." Faith said.

"Oh, is that right Faith?"

"Yeah, that's right. Save your lack of breath."

"All right." Angel decked Faith. Caught off-guard, she fell back against the counter. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Faith said, getting ready to attack Angel.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I don't know who you people think you are, but guess what. Where Buffy goes, so goes me. You just lost another one of your best." Angel walked out of the house and slammed the door. He got outside and closed his eyes, pushing his senses out. After a second, he caught her scent and followed the tug on his soul.

Buffy had walked far before she had settled in some stranger's house. Hell, she had kicked him out of his own house and raided the man's kitchen. Why the hell not, it seemed to be what everyone else was doing nowadays. Now, she lay on the stranger's bed. Moonlight was her only illumination. The shotgun lied next to her on the bed. There was a knock at the front door. Buffy didn't react. Then the creak of the door and approaching footsteps made her look up.

"There you are." Angel said softly. "Do you realize I could just walk in here, no invite needed? This town really is theirs now, isn't it?" Buffy looked away from him. "I heard. I was over there. They had no right. Now Faith's their leader again. So did she just decide?"

"It wasn't just Faith. It was all of them and it's not like they were wrong. Please leave." Buffy said.

"No, I'm not leaving you. I promised I wouldn't. Here.... Maybe this'll change your tune. I came here because I've got something to tell you. You were right. Caleb is trying to protect something from you and I think you were on the ball all the way. I think it's at the vineyard." Buffy just stared at him. "So? You were right. Buffy?"

"I don't feel very right."

Angel squatted in front of her and stroked her cheek. "You're not fooling me."

"What do you even mean?"

"You're not a quitter."

"Watch me."

"You were their leader and you still are. This isn't something you gave up. It's something they took."

"And the difference is?"

"We can take it back."

"No."

"No?"

"You mean 'no' as in 'eventually'?" Angel joked, trying to get any kind of reaction out of her.

"You really have problems with that word, don't you?"

"You can get them back. We both can together."

"Can, maybe. Should? I'm just so tired...."

"I understand that." Angel knew just what she needed to hear. "They need you. It's chaos over there without you."

"You never were a good liar."

"No! It is.... there's junk food cartons, sleeping bags not rolled up.... everyone's very scared and unkempt."

"Sounds dire."

"Ok, I'm not a great liar. Not when it comes to you, but they do need you Buffy. I didn't see a lot. I came, hit Faith and left."

The last part perked Buffy up. "Really? I mean, I'm not glad on that...."

"Say the word and she's a footnote in history. I'll make it look like a painful accident." Angel smiled, but Buffy didn't.

"That's my problem. I say the word, some girl dies. Every time."

"There's always casualties in a war."

"Casualties.... it just sounds so casual. These are girls. That I got killed. I cut myself off from them, all of them. I knew I was going to lose some of them and I didn't.... You know what? I'm still making excuses. I've always cut myself off, I've always.... being the Slayer made me different but it's my fault I stayed that way. People are always trying to connect to me but I just.... slip away."

"I wouldn't know."

"Can I please just go to sleep?"

"No! You listen to me. I've been alive longer than you and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine and done things I really prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker in the past few years. I followed my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain, so I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong calls. Two hundred plus years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You." Angel took Buffy's tear stained face in his hands. "Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. I know you're soul and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one Buffy. You're my one."

"I don't want to be the one."

"I don't want to be this good-looking and athletic. We all have crosses to bear." She smiled a little in spite of herself. "Well, I guess I'm staying here tonight cause I kicked myself out of the house." Angel sat down on the bed after he took off his duster and folded it over a chair. The way they were facing each other was very reminiscent of their first night together. Buffy wanted him now more than ever. They had been apart physically for a couple of months now. Angel was so scared that Angelus could come out that he was afraid to touch her wrong. Buffy scooted closer to him and brought his mouth tenderly to hers. "Buffy, maybe we shouldn't...."

"Shh. I'm not scared Angel. He's not coming back." She looked directly in his eyes. "Just kiss me." She closed the distance between their mouths and Angel laid gently back on the bed, allowing Buffy to take the lead this time. It was just as gentle and full of passion as the first time. When it was over, Buffy lay sleeping in Angel's arms. He was awake and watching her. He gently stroked her hair, then pressed his lips to her forehead. They were covered by the warm comforter and Buffy felt that underneath those sheets and conforter and in Angel's arms, nothing could ever harm her.

Buffy woke up in the pale dawn light. She blinked trying to orient herself in the strange house and found Angel sleeping in her arms. He was curled up like a manly baby. She smiled and slid gently away from him. She slipped on her clothes and went to find a pen and some paper. After the note was written and propped up against the pillow next to Angel's head, Buffy laid a kiss on his forehead before stepping out in the rising morning sun, heading for the vinyard.

Angel woke a little while later, searching the bed for Buffy. He lifted his head and found the bed empty save for him. This wasn't something he had expected. Instead of him not being there in the morning, Buffy wasn't there. He sat up and rubbed his head. Which was when a note slid onto his hand. He lifted the paper and read it.

Dearest Angel,

I love you. And I am positive that you love me. You confessed it to me just last night. I've never heard more beautiful words in all of my life. You gave me the strength I need to carry out my mission. You know where I'm at. I don't even have to tell you. Don't come for me. I'll come back to you. Meet me back at the house. Again, I love you.

Yours forever,

Buffy

"Damn it Buffy!" Angel threw the covers off of himself and pulled on his clothes. He rushed over to the house and found Giles, Willow, Andrew, Dawn, Anya, and Xander sitting around the living room. "Is Buffy here?"

"Angel!" Willow said, startled.

"Is she here?"

"No. I thought you were with her." Xander said. "Where she goes so goes you? Isn't that what you said?"

"Shut up Xander. I need to find her. Where did Faith go?"

"She took a bunch of the potentials to take the fight to them. They're in the sewers." Willow said.

Angel didn't even say thank you. He was running out the door and headed for the nearest manhole to the vinyard. Angel knew that Buffy didn't want him to follow her, but he couldn't exactly help it when the potentials were in danger. There was an explosion and he felt the ground underneath him shake. This had to be the place. He ran about a block down and jumped in a manhole. There were no signs of the potentials, Faith, or the explosion. So, he walked around and tried to sniff them out. Suddenly, the girls, broken and bloodied found him.

"Angel! Help!" Amanda said.

"What happened?" Angel asked, helping the girls over.

"There was an explosion and we're all hurt pretty bad. Some of the girls are dead."

"Where's Faith?"

A couple of the girls climbed the debris pile and crawled down the other side, lifting Faith over and easing her down gently into Angel's awaiting arms. Soon all the girls were over, with Vi bringing up the rear. As she swung her legs over the top and started down, a Turok-han vampire suddenly leapt to the top of the rubble, its snarling fangs inches from her neck. Angel yanked her down and away from the feral creature.

"Group together! Form a circle. Nobody panic. It's all of us, one of him. We can take one of these things." Kennedy said.

"No. Get behind me. You're not strong enough to take one of these things." Angel looked behind him. "Or two."

The Turok-han in front Angel charge and he moved to meet it head-on. The other Turok-han leapt off the stairs and tackled Kennedy from behind, scattering the other girls. Kennedy flipped the creature over her back and backpedaled, terrified.

"There's another one!" Amanda yelled.

"Move, move, move! Up and over!" Angel yelled, kickin the Turok-han away from him.

"Not that one! That one!" She turned her flashlight on a third Turok-han dropping down a metal ladder from above. The beast snarled and seized one of the girls, throwing her to the ground. The three Turok-hans all leapt on the hapless girl, their claws slashing and tearing her to pieces. Angel attacked, going into vamp face as he did. He managed to get two off the downed girl as Kennedy grabbed a lance tipped with a curved blade and turned to attack the feral vampires with it. One of the creatures broke off from slaughtering the girl and charged Kennedy as she swung the blade over and down. It's clawed hand stopped the lance and snapped it in two, its other hand shooting out to seize her by the throat and lift her off the ground. Angel tried to get to her, but suddenly the rest of the Turok-Han group was on him. As Kennedy gasped, choking to death, a chunk of the ceiling suddenly broke free and crashed to the floor. The Turok-han dropped Kennedy and turned to face Buffy as she dropped down from above.

Buffy looked around and held her new bladed weapon at the ready. She noticed Angel fighting off two of them. "Hey!" The three vampires turned and charged her. She spun, her moves almost ballet-like as the blade bit into their flesh. She decapitated one and stabbed another through the heart with the pointed wooden end of the shaft. Both instantly disintegrated into ash. The third grabbed her from behind but she flipped up and over, then brought her blade around in an arc, slicing through its throat. As the dust dissipated, Buffy turned to Angel as he smiled. "Get the wounded. We're leaving."

"Are there more?" Kennedy asked.

"There's always more." Angel replied. "Don't question. Just move."

They got everyone back to the house. Buffy ran upstairs and made sure there was room for Faith in Buffy's bed. Downstairs, injured girls were everywhere on the floor. Buffy, Angel, Anya, Dawn, Willow and the others helped treat them with what limited supplies they had.

"Will, come here. She's losing a lot of blood." Buffy said.

"Got it." Willow said, coming over to the girl.

Buffy saw Giles and Xander carry Faith in through the front door and she and Angel ran over to them. "The room upstairs is ready for her."

"Good." Giles said.

"I hope we're in time." Xander added.

"Is she okay? Is she gonna be okay?" Amanda asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Right?" Kennedy asked Buffy.

"Careful!" Xander said.

"Just mind her head." Giles said.

"I'll be up in a second." Buffy said.

Kennedy followed Buffy into the living room. "You guys heal fast, right? You Slayers?"

"Yeah."

"So she'll be okay?"

"I don't know."

"What's with the axe thing?" Caridad asked.

Buffy hefted the weapon, holding it up for them to see. "I took it from Caleb. It might be important."

"Let's hope!" Vi said.

"I think we got punished." Amanda said.

"What?" Buffy asked, truely confused.

"We.... we followed her. And it was...." Kennedy said.

"It didn't work out." Vi finished.

"You guys, it was a trap. It's not her fault. That could have just as easily happened to me." Buffy said.

"So are you.... are you like back?" Caridad asked.

Buffy shakes her head, weary, as she headed upstairs. "I don't know. I guess I'm not leaving."

"So we got a plan now or anything?" Kennedy asked.

"Yeah, there's a plan. Get ready. Times up." Buffy entered to find Faith on the bed, Xander and Angel sitting on either side of her, with several potentials and Giles looking on.

"Is she breathing okay?" Xander asked.

Angel nodded. "Still unconscious, though."

"We've still got work to do." Buffy said. She led them into Willow's room and handed the axe thing to Giles. He held the weapon up, examining it closely, fascinated by it. "I think it's maybe some kind of scythe. The only thing I know for sure is that it made Caleb back off in a hurry."

"So it's true. Scythe matters." Willow said.

"And ignoring that, I'd just like to point out that this is really quite ingenious." Giles said.

"Kills strong bodies three ways." Angel said.

"And you say you sense something when you hold it?" Willow asked Buffy.

"Not much but it's strong. And I knew it belonged to me. I just knew it." Buffy said.

"In addition to being ancient, it's clearly mystical." Giles said.

"Yeah, I figured that one out when I King Arthured it out of the stone."

"So maybe it's like some kind of traditional Slayer weapon." Angel said.

"I can't imagine how something like this could exist without my having heard of it." Giles said.

"Well, the good guys aren't traditionally known for their communication skills." Buffy said. Giles caught Buffy's look and gave her a nod of understanding. "Right. Any chance that it might be something other than a tool for killing things?"

"Well, The First's guys clearly wanted it out of that stone. It's not just a tool. It's important. We need to find out whatever we can. Who made it? When? Why? Does it have a name? I don't know.... a credit report? Just find out fast."

"We'll start work immediately." Giles said.

"Yeah, don't worry, Buffy, we'll find out everything there is to know." Willow said.

"Good, because right now, that thing's all we've got going for us." Buffy started to walk out, but she remembered something. "Hey, um.... Take pictures of it and send it to this e-mail." She handed Willow a card that she had found in the limo. It was the number, address, and e-mail of Wolfram and Hart. "I'll call them and let them know you're sending it." She walked out.