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Buffy and Angel were striding across to the doorway when they heard Cordelia yelp and Wesley start apologizing. They broke into a run as Fred and Gunn ducked back inside looking worried. "Think we scared some would-be clients." Grunted Gunn, still twirling his axe as Fred nodded and tried to hide the sword she carried.

Buffy sniggered, "Think we could convince them that we're demented actors practising for a play?"

Gunn snorted at this as one of the people they had scared pushed through the door, apparently not very scared after all.

"Buffy, what are you about?" grumbled Giles resettling his heap of books more comfortably under his arm.

Buffy looked innocent as she stepped forwards to hug Giles, "It's my fault huh? I told you my brother's friends were weird."

"Buffster!" yelled Xander as he plowed through the doors to crush her into a bear hug along with the axe and spiked pole he carried.

Buffy hugged him eagerly, narrowly avoiding losing an eye on the pole before turning excitedly to Willow, Oz and Anya who had just piled through the door.

"Will," she sighed happily as she threw her arms around her friend before withdrawing swiftly again. She peered at the brown sack cradled in Willow's arms, "Can I just say yuck and what on earth is that stench?"

Willow smiled shyly, "Hey Buffy, me and Anya made it on the way here."

"Oz's van will probably never smell the same." Commented Xander. "It put me right off the pizza we brought, probably contaminated it."

"No it didn't, you ate it." Anya told him firmly as she tucked her hand through his arm.

"But what is it?" Buffy demanded, eyeing the parcel suspiciously.

Angel moved to stand next to her giving the bundle an equally suspicious look.

Willow's mouth promptly flopped open and moved noiselessly. Buffy smiled slightly, she could sympathise with Willow; Angel still made her feel like that quite frequently and she was used to him.

Giles unwittingly saved Willow from floundering any longer when he dropped his bundle of books onto a table and cleared his throat noisily. "I'm very sorry to burst in like this."

"But it's urgent!" Xander chirped, waving his spiky pole with dangerous enthusiasm.

"Yes, thank you Xander." Muttered Giles. "Buffy, when I spoke to you earlier I didn't have the chance to explain to you the best way to kill a Quaazberoon demon and I hadn't yet found a good method of distraction enabling you to stop the ritualistic slaughter of half-bloods with less hard fighting."

"Willow's stinky parcel is the distraction," Xander supplied helpfully.

"Well it's working," grunted Gunn, "I feel distracted already."

"We all got out of bed and came straight here to help. Even though Buffy was going to call Giles and tell him if he was actually needed." Anya chipped in. "We could have been sleeping or having sex, not making bad smelling distractions."

Xander blushed and tried to make himself small as Gunn and Cordelia snickered good-naturedly.

Buffy smiled and spoke over the chuckles, "So you guys deprived yourselves of sleep and broke all the speed limits to bring me some extra stinky stink- bombs?"

Angel couldn't resist a smile at Buffy's interaction with her friends. Just from her very brief description of them earlier it was clear which one was which. He wrinkled his nose, but he wished they would explain why they were carrying something that smelt so bad.

"Hormones." Willow said suddenly and Oz nodded in agreement.

"Huh?" Buffy looked confused.

"The smell is much the same as the ones the Quaazberoon demons produce during, uh mating season." Giles polished his glasses vigorously, "So it should produce a momentary distraction, enabling us to kill some of their number and free the potential victims of their ritual. If they have inadequate numbers of either themselves or prepared victims they will not be able to perform the ritual."

"The victims take three days to prepare I believe?" Wesley added as he moved to take a look at Giles' books.

Buffy looked horrified, "I'm gonna be fighting horny demons?!"

Angel felt his own mouth droop open, "What?"

They exchanged horrified glances.

Buffy flushed and began, "But what if." She looked to Angel for help.

".The demons get."

".A bit."

".Confused?" he finished.

"Well, confusing the demons is the object of the exercise is it not?" Giles murmured as he eagerly showed an interested Wesley the book he had discovered most of his information in.

Buffy looked at Angel a little desperately and edged towards him as he edged towards her. They stood hip to hip eyeing the package in horror, trying vainly to explain what they meant.

Finally Gunn seemed to get it too and began howling with laughter. Through chuckles he managed to snort out an explanation that only the nearby Xander and Anya heard. Xander began laughing too but the ever-straightforward Anya shrugged her shoulders, "I think the big heroic pair are just worried the demons are gonna hump their legs or something."

"Uh, no, provided the manufactured hormone smells aren't released directly onto a human there shouldn't be a problem at all." Giles murmured looking embarrassed.

"Ingenious," murmured Wesley, "I studied this of course but putting that information to this use is really very interesting..."

Ignoring Wesley and Giles' learned conversation Buffy and Angel both relaxed, Buffy heaved a sigh of relief and put out a hand to squeeze Angel's. Warm fingers met cool with an electric charge. Momentarily oblivious to anyone else in the room they savoured the contact.

They didn't relax for long though, "Big heroic pair?" questioned Giles suddenly, peering at Anya.

"Well yeah, ever since Angelus got his soul back with a gypsy curse he's been a big softy. Now he helps people. But I suppose the council wouldn't be interested in stuff like that, they live to kill us demons." She ranted.

"You're not a demon anymore though honey." Xander reminded her.

"I remember what it was like though." Retorted Anya. "I could've fixed the whole watcher's council with a few good hexes in the old days, but they were all too stuffy to date, let alone wrong some women. Hmm, but I probably still could hex them with a bit of effort."

"Giles is on the watchers council remember?" Xander warned.

"Hmpff."

Buffy hastily let go of Angel's hand and stepped in front of him, plastering her body to his. "Anya's right, Angel is a hero. He's on the home team Giles I promise. He doesn't even wig me out like all other vampires do so he's got to be okay."

"Vampire!" Squawked Xander dropping the axe on his foot in dismay.

"Shut up honey, he's a good guy." Anya told him calmly in a voice that dared him to argue.

Xander recalled Anya's loathing for demon discrimination and quietly swore as he hopped briefly in pain before scooping up his axe and curling an arm around her in obedient silence.

Giles gawped at his slayer; she seemed to be attempting to protect a vampire; one that was staring down at her.adoringly? Giles polished his glasses again. He trusted Buffy's judgement - mostly. But a slayer being friendly with a vampire, it was unheard of. He shook his head in bewilderment, "Alright Buffy. I believe you. It's just very.odd."

Buffy grinned from her position against Angel's chest. "Tell me about it. I used to think the day I liked a vampire would be the day hell froze over, but it doesn't seem to have happened and Angel is a really good friend now."

Fred and Cordelia exchanged glances, "She so more than likes him as a friend." Muttered Cordelia.

Fred nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "Definitely."

Gunn sidled up to stand beside her, "Definitely what?" he hissed at his girlfriend.

"Oh, those two." Cordelia waved an airy hand, "Don't you think they'd make a cute couple?"

Gunn snorted, "Hardly. It's weird enough that they're not busy killing each other, now you want them mushy?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes, "Men are so blind, even two-hundred plus ones. Look at them."

Gunn obediently did as he was told and even through his alleged man- blindness he could see how lovingly Buffy looked at Angel, how she stood as close as she could as she argued Angel's case with her watcher. How Angel gazed down at her with an expression that could only be described as soppy. He recalled Buffy's comment about liking one of her brother's friends, "Okay, maybe." He conceded.

Then Wesley interrupted the quiet exchange with a cough, "Now we have more people and an additional surprise element to use against the demons, perhaps we should consider revising our plan."

Buffy grinned, "We don't need to change that much, I join Angel's part of the plan. Everyone else goes with you Wes, with the addition of Will's stinky stuff. If you guys go in the front entrance and she releases that just a moment before Angel and I attack from another direction it should work pretty well, then you guys follow up and free the hostages while me and Angel destroy all things hostile. With all nine of you armed and sticking close together you should be able to make a pretty impressive impact and get Doyle to safety."

Wesley eyed her for a moment before nodding abruptly, "Lets do it."

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Yay! The Scooby gang made it to LA for the big finish! Am I good or am I good?!