Chapter 16

* Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, I'm just borrowing, they belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Thank you for all of your reviews, I hope you like this chapter, please read and review.*

Angel woke up as a searing pain shot through his body, a pain that felt as if someone or something was pulling his insides out. He was still intertwined with Buffy and as more pains racked his body, he slid out of bed as quietly and carefully as possible so he wouldn't wake Buffy. He could only remember being in this much pain one other time in his long life, and that was when the gypsy put his soul back in, but then it was more as if something was being shoved inside of his body as opposed to the ripping and tearing pain he was feeling now. Oh god, he thought thoroughly panicked now, my soul, its being taken away. He knew now he had to get as far away from Buffy as possible since if he was losing his soul it meant that he had only minutes before his alter-ego Angelus resurfaced. Angel cast one last look at Buffy, memorizing her face, her hair and everything about her before he threw open the mansion door and falling onto the sidewalk in front of the mansion as the pains began to come more frequently and grew incredibly worse. But as quickly as the pain began it ended just as abruptly and Angel realized how hungry he was, except he was no longer the whimpering little sissy Angel, he was Angelus and it felt good to be back. Angelus picked himself up off of the ground, forgetting all about the small blonde girl sleeping in his bed with no idea of what had just transpired, in his hunger. He decided to go get find someone to eat and then go see what Spike and Drusilla were up to, he would deal with the slayers and their friends later.

Buffy awoke slowly, not wanting to lose the warmth and blissful calm she felt while she was asleep. When she finally came completely out of her sleeping state she was a little disoriented at exactly where she was but then the mind-blowing events of the night before came back to her and not to mentioning the feeling she had as she feel asleep in Angel's arms. Buff opened her eyes a little and was confronted with the sight that the bed next to her where Angel had fallen asleep was empty.

" Angel?" She called out, sitting up, pulling the comforter tighter around her body, wondering if maybe Angel just went to the kitchen to make breakfast for them or to finish drying her clothes. She felt her heart began to trip-hammer in her chest when Angel didn't answer her. She got out of bed slowly, pulling the comforter with her making sure it was securely wrapped around her body before she began to search the mansion for any sign of Angel. When she couldn't find him, she began to become panicked at the thought that maybe Angel had run off to fight Spike, Drusilla and the Judge on his own. But she felt her heart began to grow heavy when she thought that maybe the reason Angel was no where to be found was because of her, maybe the beautiful experience she thought she shared with Angel wasn't as special to him as it was to her, and maybe she had done something wrong to make him leave. She quickly shook her head trying to get rid of the thoughts racing and battling in her mind. Buffy located Angel's clock and saw that it was a little after seven, and she quickly began racing around his bedroom trying to find her clothes. Buffy didn't want to go to school wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before, she didn't want to deal with her friends' questions, so she needed to get home, take a shower and change clothes, but she only had an hour before school started, and knew that with the walk and then the shower she would most likely miss her first class. But school wasn't exactly a priority compared to her missing boyfriend and the unkillable demon Spike and Drusilla had managed to raise. Buffy wrote Angel a quick letter and then left his house. It took her about fifteen minutes to walk from Angel's to her house, seriously hoping that her mom had already gone to work and took Dawn to school, because she didn't want to answer a million questions about her night. Buffy unlocked the door, and walked straight into her house , not stopping but going straight up the stairs.

" Buffy?" Joyce called from the kitchen. Oh great, Buffy thought to herself, turning as her mother entered the foyer.

"Hey." Buffy said softly.

" Hey honey, did you have fun last night?" Joyce asked her daughter. Buffy felt a flush creeping up her cheeks, wondering exactly how it seemed that her mother knew everything, seriously did she have like I'm no longer a virgin written on her forehead.

" Fun?" Buffy asked trying to hide her nervousness at her mother's line of questioning.

" You know at Willow's." Joyce asked kind of confused by why her daughter was acting all fidgety and nervous.

" Yeah, fun at Willow's, you know, she is a fun machine." Buffy said chuckling nervously.

" Are you hungry?" Joyce asked.

"No, uh no, I-I'm just going to go shower." Buffy said starting back up the stairs, "Mom, where's the brat?"

" I really wish you wouldn't call her that. Besides she got a ride with Meghan." Joyce told Buffy, " So if you hurry I can drive you to school."

" Thanks." Buffy said.

" Is something wrong?" Joyce asked looking at Buffy curiously.

" No, what would be wrong?" Buffy asked

" I don't know. You just look..." Joyce said letting her voice trail off. Joyce hated how distant Buffy had become in the last two years, but she knew it was probably just a stage or something, that Buffy was just growing up. But they had been so close when she was younger and it was hard for her to deal with the distance between her and her middle daughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

" The bus depot was a total washout. And may I say what a lovely place to spend the night." Xander said, rolling his eyes as he entered the library and was greeted by Faith, Dominick, and Giles all wearing equal grim expressions.

" What's the what guys?" Xander asked a little unnerved by the looks on their faces as he hopped up on the checkout desk.

" Yeah, what's with the grim?" Willow asked following Xander's motions. It was then that they realized someone was missing and it was Buffy.

" Where's the Buffmeister?" Xander asked Faith who just shrugged. Just then Cordelia walked into the library with Miss Calendar.

" Geez who died?" Cordelia asked noticing the Scooby's grim expressions.

" In theory, no one, but the Judge has been assembled and Buffy still hasn't checked in." Giles told everyone and Jenny walked over placing a comforting hand on Giles' shoulder. She knew Giles felt a sort of fatherly affection for Buffy, one that went beyond the watcher/slayer relationship, knowing that he was extremely worried about Buffy.

" Well arm the cavalry, lets go help Buffy." Xander commanded hopping off of the counter.

" Xander, I believe Faith should be the one to find Buffy and Angel by herself, she has a better chance against the Judge should she run into him." Dominick told the boy gently, he knew Xander had a fierce protection when it came to Buffy, Faith and Willow, and if he had to save one of the girls by giving his own life, there was absolutely no doubt in Dominick's mind he would do it without any regrets.

" And you want us to what? Sit around like a bunch of useless lumps while Buffy is out there possibly dying," Xander practically shouted but Faith put her hand on his forearm to calm him, " Well no way, I'm going with Faith, and all of you should too, I mean Buffy is our friend."

" Yeah, he's right, Buffy's our friend and she needs us." Willow said, standing next to Xander, crossing her arms over her chest, imploring the rest of their friends to join them.

" Well, are you coming or not?" Xander asked his friends tapping his foot impatiently.

" And do what Xander? Besides be afraid and die?" Cordelia asked snidely.

" Fine, if you all feel that way, stay here, but I'm going to help my friend." Xander said angrily and him, Faith and Willow started towards the door, but before they even reached the door, it swung open and Buffy walked in.

" Hey Buffy, we were just coming to save your lousy behind." Faith said sarcastically, turning back around now that she saw that her sister was okay.

" Well at least some of us were." Xander said turning a icy glare on the rest of the gang in the library, and all of them looked equally sheepish.

" Have you guys heard from Angel?" Buffy asked coming into the library.

Figures, Xander thought, All of us are ready to go out and die for her and all she cares about Deadboy. He snorted and slumped down at the study table.

" He isn't with you?" Willow asked.

" No, we got followed down into the sewers, we had to split up and hide out. You haven't heard from him?" Buffy asked looking around at her friends as they all shook their heads.

" Buffy, I understand you are worried about Angel, but we do have more pressing matters to deal with." Giles said and Buffy spun around looking at him a little shocked and kinda of bewildered, " I'm sorry, sorry but-"

" I know Giles, Judge, so what the sitch?" Buffy asked as Giles pulled off his glass and began to clean them.

" Well, we still haven't figured out how to kill him, but we will continue researching and I'm hopeful we will figure some way to kill him, but for now the best thing the two of you can do is go to class and we will train and research after school." Giles told her and the rest of the self-named Scooby Gang. All of the kids nodded in agreement and grabbed their things and headed off to class. Buffy was the first out the door, her head in the clouds as she walked, mind still focused on Angel's absence this morning and what exactly it was that made him leave. She was hoping that he was still safe and that he would somehow contact her, and calm her feelings that he had left because of something she was lacking.

" Buffy." Willow called as she watched her friend practically flee from the library, she had noticed a haunted expression in Buffy's eyes and knew it was probably due to the fact that Buffy was worried since Angel apparently was missing. Willow finally caught up with Buffy as she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the school, and she placed a hand on Buffy's arm. Buffy turned around and Willow could see worry and fear evident not only in her green eyes but also on her face. " Buffy, I'm sure Angel is fine, I mean he's probably hiding from the sun well 'cause he's a well and the sun isn't exactly the best thing for his complexion....and I'm babbling huh?" Buffy couldn't help but smile despite her worry. She loved that about Willow, she was so empathetic, she always knew when one of her friends was upset about something and tried her best to make her feel better, that is the reason Willow was Buffy's best friend.

" I don't know, maybe I'm just wigging over nothing, or maybe something really happened, I just wish he would get in touch with me." Buffy said her voice strained and barely above a whisper. Willow smiled sympathetically at her friend and gave her friend's arm a reassuring squeeze.

" I'm sure he will Buff." Willow said trying to sound reassuring but she still had her doubts but then it wasn't the first time Angel had disappeared for a day sometimes it ended up being days or weeks. Her and Buffy continued walking up the stairs to the classroom oblivious to the fact that Miss Calendar had just listened to their whole conversation.

Jenny's heart was breaking for Buffy, since she knew that the reason Angel hadn't contacted Buffy was something that would break the young girl's heart and put her through the worst test of her young life. Her Uncle Enyos had informed Jenny that morning that Angel's curse had been lifted, which meant only one thing that Angelus, the Scourge of Europe had returned. She had been chewed out by her uncle for failing at the job she was sent to the states for, when she had allowed Angel to achieve the one moment of true happiness which would cause the lose of his soul. Jenny had wished she had known what the clause in Angel's curse had been before it was too late maybe she would have tried harder to prevent it. She wanted to tell Buffy and the others, knowing just how hard it would be on Buffy when she ran into the evil demon who was wearing her lovers face, but she didn't quite know how to tell them. How in the world could she possibly tell the man she was falling in love with and the children she had grown so fond of and adored that she had lied to them for months because her people were vengeful. That her name wasn't really Jenny Calendar, and that she had been sent to Sunnydale to keep an eye on Angel so his curse continued to stand. She decided in that moment that she had to keep it from them, let them find out on their own, it would break Rupert's heart not to mention turn the rest of the them against her. She sighed, and went to her own classroom.

Buffy went through the day like a robot set on autopilot. She didn't pay attention in any of her classes her mind still too preoccupied with what had happened to Angel or with Angel. Her and Faith had decided at lunch that day that really needed to talk to Giles and Dominick about their little psychic talking in each other's head last night, which still creeped Buffy out to no end. Buffy knew it was something they had to do but she would much rather go to Angel's and see if he had turned up, and if he had make sure he was alright and not injured in any way.

Buffy left her last class and met Faith, Willow and Xander in the hallway and they all went to the library, talking about that day and how boring their classes had been all aware of how extremely quiet Buffy was but they knew that she was still worried about no show Angel. When they got to the library they saw Giles and Dominick hunched over tons of musty old books, empty cups of tea next to both of them.

"Oh look at the study party." Xander said sarcastically.

" Yes Xander this is quite my idea of a party." Dominick snapped looking up from his book.

" Geez touchy much? Your old and British studying isn't your idea of a party?" Xander said still ribbing Dominick playfully and Faith swiftly elbowed him.

" Xander are you going to stand there making tiresome comments all day or would you like to help?" Giles said testily. Xander sighed and rolled his eyes sitting down at the table next to Willow, and just then Cordelia walked into the library, earning surprised looks from the rest of the gang.

" Hey Queen C, giving up your afternoon of shopping for me?" Xander quipped.

" Bite me Harris." Cordelia said taking a place at the table.

" Cordelia you hate us, why do you keep showing up?" Xander asked trying to act serious.

" You guys remind me of a bad car wreck, no matter how morbid it is you can't stop looking." Cordelia said scathingly and her and Xander continued to argue with one another, and the rest of the gang just ignored them, because their bickering was just a common occurrence.

" Hey Giles, Dom, me and Buffy need to talk to you...umm privately." Faith said, and Giles led the three of them into his office shutting the door behind them. They didn't notice that the bickering had stopped as Cordelia, Willow and Xander exchanged curious looks, staying silent as they began researching yet again.

" What's going on girls?" Giles asked curiously as the twins took a seat on top of his desk, not knowing what they needed to talk about.

" Well, umm, last night at the factory, something really freaky happened..." Buffy began.

" Hey I thought it was cool." Faith jumped in.

" Yeah, whatever but it wasn't your mind being invaded." Buffy retorted.

" Exactly what are you talking about?" Dominick asked sounding perplexed, looking over at Giles who just shrugged and shook his head, since he honestly never understood what the girls or any of the other kids were talking about.

" We're talking about the fact that Faith talked in my mind last night." Buffy said as their watchers mouths dropped open.

" You mean you two communicated psychically?" Dominick asked, and Buffy and Faith had to try and not laugh at the excitement in their watchers' eyes, they were seriously such dorks.

" Uh-huh, that's what we did, but why? I mean it was cool in a creepy way but I can't deal with Faith in my head all the time." Buffy said.

" Actually we knew this was a possibility." Dominick said and Giles turned to him in surprise since he never knew anything about this.

" How did you know?" Giles asked.

" Faith when we moved here, did you feel a connection with Buffy?" Dominick asked and Faith nodded.

" Yeah, but I thought that was just because we were both slayers." Faith said and Buffy nodded in agreement.

" No, it seems you had a connection before that. Faith after I brought you to live with me in England, you had a dream and I believe it was a shared dream between you and Buffy. When I told the council about this they decided to severe the connection between the two of you." Dominick started.

" How?" Faith asked and this was the part of the story he was regretting, telling Faith just how far the council had gone to insure she would have no memory of the sister and family she had been taken from. He had told her everything else but he had left this one part out.

" They umm in technical terms brainwashed you, they were afraid that if you remembered anything about your life before you wouldn't be as compliant." Dominick said nervously, Faith diverted her eyes from Dominick's looking at a spot on the floor in front of her, not wanting him to see the hurt and betrayal in her eyes. Buffy couldn't help but stare at Dominick with such contempt and anger in her eyes, she couldn't believe how much the council had violated her sister, and she looked at Giles and saw how shocked he looked.

" Faith, look at me, I'm really sorry, I didn't want to let them but I didn't have any other choice," Dominick said kneeling down in front of her, placing his hand on her chin turning her head so she was looking at him, his heart broke when he saw a tear rolling down her face.

" How could they do this to me?" Faith asked softly, trying to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

" The council makes many rash and uncalled for decisions, but I am truly sorry." Dominick said wiping the tear off of his surrogate daughter's cheek, she nodded and composed herself.

" I believe we should work on honing your mental skills since this new ability will prove extremely useful on your patrols and such." Giles suggested, and the girls nodded in agreement. They began to test Buffy and Faith's connection with one another, and then took them into the library to do some regular sparring, while the rest of the gang was researching the Judge. Buffy's mind was a million miles away still worried about Angel and Faith was finding it very easy to take Buffy down.

" You okay Buffy?" Faith asked after she slammed Buffy on the mat for a fourth time, offering her hand to Buffy and helping her to her feet.

" Yeah, I'm fine Faith, just a little out of it, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Buffy told her sister and Faith raised her eyebrows at the innuendo in the last statement, " Eww, mind out of the gutter Faith, it was cause of the hiding."

" Bullshit," Faith said blatantly and Buffy blushed shocked at her sister's statement, " Your still worried about Angel." Buffy just nodded looking away from her sister, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

" Girls," Giles shouted from his vantage point at the checkout counter, " I believe that is quite enough for today, you can go home." He noticed that Buffy's mind was faraway and she wasn't even trying to spar with Faith today, and he knew both girls were still a little fragile after what Dominick had confessed to them, Faith was taking out her hurt and betrayal the best way she knew how with her fists and Buffy was concentrating on all the other things in her life and not on the sparring with Faith, and he decided it would be best to end it before either one of them got hurt. Buffy looked extremely grateful as she practically ran from the library, heading towards Angel's praying that he would be there. She walked up to his house and tried the door, it wasn't locked and her heart leaped a little at the thought that he was there now waiting for her but then she remembered that she was the last person to leave and didn't have a key to his mansion.

" Angel," She called when she walked into the house and was only met with resounding silence. The house was quiet and dark, and Buffy walked over to the area where he kept his bed and dresser, pulling back the curtain surrounding the bed. It was empty and one of his shirts was lying on his bed. Buffy picked it up, clutching it closely to her chest and burying her face in it, taking in Angel's scent as a tear of emotional exhaustion slipped down her cheek, when she felt a familiar tingle up her spine, like she felt when a vampire was near and spun around to see Angel standing behind her, shirtless, hair damp like he had just came from the shower. He was standing with his back to her, picking a shirt out of his dresser. Buffy felt her heart leap with joy at him standing in front of her, uninjured. She rushed at him, throwing her arms around his neck and showering him with kisses. The petite blonde who had flung herself at him surprised Angelus and then he remembered that she was the slayer whom Angel loved and he decided to go with it, follow her lead and just have a little fun.

" Oh god Angel, I was so scared, I woke up and you weren't there. Where did you go?" Buffy babbled nervously, as her lips caught Angel's and she kissed him, but he pulled away.

" Been around." Angelus told her.

" Oh, I was like freaking out you just disappeared." Buffy said hugging him harder.

" What? I took off." Angel said pulling on his shirt.

" But- but you just left, you didn't say anything." Buffy said confused.

" Yeah. Like I really wanted to stick around after that." Angelus said a smirk forming on his features as he saw the astonishment on her face as she backed away from him like she was burned. Her mind was racing, disbelief at what he had just said.

" What?" Buffy asked in a small hurt voice, and Angelus couldn't help but be a little pleased at the hurt he heard in the slayer's voice.

" You got a lot to learn about men kiddo. Although you proved that last night." Angelus said.

" What are you saying?" Buffy asked not believing Angel was saying this stuff to her.

" Let's not make an issue out of it okay? In fact lets not talk about it at all. It happened." Angelus said grabbing his coat.

" I- I don't understand. W- was it me? Was I not good enough?" Buffy asked softly.

" You were great. Really. I thought you were a pro." Angelus said coldly and was rewarded for his cruelty with tears filling Buffy's big green eyes, and he realized that she had no idea her boyfriend was gone, and Angelus realized he was tormenting this girl with just his words and that was a more fulfilling form of torture than any he knew.

"Angel, how," Buffy began but the last word came out as nothing more than a squeak and she needed to compose herself before she could continue on, " How can you say these things to me?"

" Lighten up. It was a good time. It doesn't mean we have to make a big deal about it." Angel told her.

" It is a big deal." Buffy told him.

" It's what? Bells ringing, fireworks, a dulcet choir of pretty little birds, come on its not like I've never been there before." Angelus told her turning to leave.

" Angel." Buffy called softly, about to ask him if she meant anything, but she decided against it. Angelus turned just in time to see a tear fall from Buffy's eyes and slip down her cheek. He went to her reaching a hand out to capture the tear, but Buffy backed away quickly, " Don't touch me!" She growled through gritted teeth fighting against the emotions raging inside of her, trying to keep them under control as Angelus coldly chuckled at her pain.

"I should have known you wouldn't be able to handle it." He said dropping his hand, pulling open the door.

" Angel, I love you." Buffy called after him.

" Love ya too babe. I'll call you." He called over his shoulder, chuckling to himself as he strode out of the mansion. Buffy felt numb, her body not knowing what to do. Part of her wanted to chase after him, rage at him, scream out all of her pain and beat him senseless for daring to say what he had to her, for acting like she meant nothing to him, the other part of her wanted to fall on the floor, curl into a little ball and give into all the pain she felt. She knew Angel, her Angel, the man who loved her so fiercely was so tender would never say those things to her. A spell, she thought, someone did a spell on him to turn him against me. She needed to get to the library, get the gang researching spells that could change someone's temperament that much. She was trying to ignore the fact that Angel's words had cut deep, even if he was under a spell, but they had, especially after last night, when she had given Angel everything, her heart, her body and soul and to have that thrown back in her face that way was just to much. She knew she had to stop thinking about it, that if she gave into the pain and let herself cry she wouldn't be able to sleep. So with one last glance at the bedroom where the night before she had felt so loved, she left, slamming the door to the mansion behind her, as she walked to the school, her body on autopilot once again as she tried to forget the things Angel had said but only made them resound in her mind louder.

*TBC*