Two days later Buffy was almost fully recovered and feeling better by the second. She was itching to be off, to get out of Sunnydale before Gugsrak came around again. Giles, however, didn't seem to be in so much of a hurry.

"You don't even know where we're going yet Buffy," he reproached her gently. "You can't just run off at the spur of the moment. Things don't work that way all the time. We have to be prepared for the fact it might take months before Gugsrak give up." Buffy groaned. "Giles! We can't sit here waiting for him! If he tracks me again they'll be no slipping off! We have to move while he's down!" Giles ignored the impatient girl and flipped the 'open' sign on the Magic Box door.

"A little longer Buffy, I'm just getting a place secured for us." Buffy sat down in a chair and pouted. "It's not going to matter if Gugsrak reaches me first."

****

"I knew it! Every demon you think of gets killed! You're hopeless!" Jonathan complained to Warren. "Her stupid witch friends killed Gugsrak, we'll never get the better of her. I say we forget her and get to the important stuff, like taking over the world." Warren looked at Jonathan and shook his head.

"Gugsrak isn't dead you idiot. He's...temporarily detained." Jonathan snorted through his nose. "Yeah sure." Warren glared at Jonathan. "When he's 'killed' as you put it, he doesn't actually die. He replenishes himself after a week or so. I told you, he'll come back, stronger and better equipped to face her."

"Oh, kind of like the Ring Wraiths in Lord of the Rings where they're washed down the river with their horses and then come back with those really cool flying birds of carrion?" Andrew interrupted, looking happy with his analogy. "Yeah that was pretty cool," Jonathan admitted. Warren made an annoyed sound.

"Can we forget about Lord of the Rings for one second? We've got bigger fish to fry." Andrew and Jonathan looked at Warren expectantly. Warren shifted uncomfortably. "I did forget to mention one thing though..." Jonathan sat up straighter, ready to spit out 'I told you so'.

"Gugsrak isn't the most...attentive demon we could have hoped for," Warren said tentatively. "What?" Andrew asked. "Well, he gets bored after a while and decides to move on, or go back to sleep."

"I told you so!" Jonathan crowed. "We're screwed. There's no way he'll get Buffy." Warren cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't there? We've just got to make sure she stays put long enough for Gugsrak to come back. What we need, is a distraction."

****

"Buffy, come here please," Giles called up the stairs to Buffy. Buffy padded down the stairs lightly and went into the family room. She sat down across from him. She looked at the manila envelope in his hands. "What's that?" She asked.

"Well that's what I called you for. I've secured our location and we're free to leave." Buffy's eyes widened. "What? Where? How?" She stuttered bewilderedly. Giles handed the envelope to her. She gave him a questioning look then opened the package.

She looked at the glossy pages of the brochure before her. "Giles it's...wonderful..." She looked at the perfect white house that stared back at her from the page, complete with rose bushes and the white picket fence. He grinned sheepishly. "I've heard it's one of the most secure locations civilians can live in this country." Buffy looked down at the pages again, flipping through.

"Roseland, Washington. It's perfect." And she meant the perfect part completely. On the last page she gasped. "Giles!" Giles looked at the page she was staring at and saw the neat little sum one of the houses cost in the private neighborhood. He reddened. "Giles! Where did you get money like that? You're like...rich." Giles managed a nervous chuckle.

"Giles?" Buffy questioned, looking up at him suspiciously. "Where did this money come from?" Giles shuffled some papers on the coffee table and adjusted his glasses. "Giles!" Giles swallowed and looked up at her. "I, uh, I contacted Angel..." Buffy's mouth opened in a silent O.

"Angel?" She managed to whisper as she looked down at her lap. "He didn't mind at all Buffy, he was pleased to help---" Buffy looked up at him, mistrust in her eyes. "Giles it's not that I'm not thankful...it's just that Angel...he just sent money to you? He didn't even leave a message for me? Anything?"

Giles looked away uneasily. Buffy dropped her eyes again. "Oh, I see," she said quietly. "I'm sure he meant well Buffy. But to know you're in danger again...it must scare him..." Buffy shrugged, trying to brush it off. "It's alright Giles, I understand perfectly."

Giles looked at her sympathetically. "When do we leave Giles? And what should I take?" Buffy stood. "Take only what you need for a few days, we'll buy more clothes there. They have a private shopping center in the complex. We leave in six hours so we have the cover of darkness, we'll go by train, it seems easiest." Buffy nodded and retired upstairs slowly.

She pulled out her suitcase and set it on the bed. She couldn't do anything else. She sat down on her bed, tears stinging her eyes. Yes, Angel was her first love, and always would be, but he was obviously over her. That night they had talked when she came back...well not much had been conclusively said. Perhaps she had misunderstood his words for feelings that weren't there.

It was time to get over Angel once and for all. Some people just weren't meant to be.