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Yay for update-y goodness! Enjoy.

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Liam walked along the path to Giles' cottage, the dry dust shifting with every movement of his feet. The ground had already dried from the previous week's storms. You could barely tell that it had even stormed at all.

But Liam could. He always could. The flowers by the path looked healthier, and people looked refreshed. A storm meant rain for the crops, and rain for the crops meant farmers didn't have to worry about putting food on their families' tables.

He sighed and continued walking, entering the cottage without a second thought. The older man's cottage was more his home than his personal quarters, and more his home than the palace ever had been.

"Giles, I-" He paused, seeing a figure that certainly wasn't Giles sitting in a chair near the fire, her back turned to him. She wore a plain blue dress and a kerchief on her head to cover her hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss, I'll just leave you be," he said politely, moving to leave. Giles obviously wasn't there; he supposed he would have to get his advice later.

"Wait," she said, stopping him in his tracks. He'd know that voice anywhere. "Don't go."

He turned around just as she did, and Buffy faced her Angel.

"Hello, Princess," Angel said uncertainly, not sure how to refer to her now.

"Don't," she said simply, and Angel let out a sigh of relief. She had calmed down significantly since their last meeting, and she was looking better. The dark circles under her eyes had lightened, but they were still present.

"Buffy," he said, eliciting a tiny smile from her.

"How are things?" he asked, trying again at conversation. He looked around for any sign of Giles. Where was the old man, and why wasn't he saving him?

"Don't," she said again.

Angel was getting a little worried, and a tad bit frustrated. And confused. What was he supposed to say?

"I'm sorry?" he asked with a question in his voice. Anyone who didn't know him wouldn't have noticed, but Buffy heard the uncertainty and another small smile graced her lips.

"Don't be," she told him, turning around. "All of this is my fault. I wasn't dealing with.. all of this. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have expected you to stay and wait for me."

"I should have."

An uneasy silence engulfed the room, and both Buffy and Angel fidgeted with their clothing, picking imaginary lint balls to distract themselves. It wasn't really working, as every few seconds one would steal a glance at the other, only to divert there attentions elsewhere as quickly as it had started.

"What are we doing?" Angel asked softly, and Buffy gave a long sigh.

"I don't know."

"What happens now?" he asked her, hoping their uneasy truce would be conducive to questioning.

She sighed again, and turned towards the fire that was crackling in Giles' hearth. She looked around at the small cottage before answering him, getting a feel for the place. She had a feeling that she would be spending a lot of time here in the coming… Days. Months. Years? That was another thing she didn't want to think a out.

" I don't... I can't answer that."

"I love you," she said, and Angel's heart leapt at the words.

"But I don't know if I trust you."

The front door opened before Angel could respond to her.

"Mr. Giles! Mr. Giles!" a voice called, an urgent tone apparent. Buffy and Angel moved to look at the person who had rushed into the small house, interrupting their important conversation.

Angel groaned.

"Riley," he said, trying to keep the hostility out of his voice.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, maybe a bit more menacingly than he intended. Oh well, he thought with a grin.

Surprisingly, Riley did not react to his tone. Normally, Riley would have been on his guard and would have retaliated instantly. "Where is Mr. Giles?" he asked, the urgency reemerging.

His gaze wandered around the room, and he looked appraisingly at Buffy. Angel couldn't help the possessive growl that escaped his lips.

Riley knew he wasting time by looking at Buffy, but Darla never said he couldn't do anything of the sort. Darla was a strange woman, just a look from her had him ready to eat out her hands. He didn't know why, but when Darla gazed at him with her beautiful green eyes, he wanted to do everything she asked of him.

He had woken up in her bed, not really a strange occurrence as it had happened before after long night at the local tavern. But he honestly couldn't remember drinking anything. But it didn't matter, all he had to do was get Mr. Giles and a blond girl to go to Darla.

A blond girl!

That was what Darla had said, wasn't it? Riley tried to remember. For some strange reason, he had an awful, pounding headache.

It must be Buffy. Riley wondered what Darla wanted Buffy for, but he shook off his curiosity and grabbed her hand.

"You too, come quickly!" he yelled, dragging Buffy with him as he ran out the door. He could find Mr. Giles later. Darla had said to come as quickly as possible.

"Wait! What-" Angel yelled after the retreating figures of Buffy and Riley. "What the hell?" he questioned no one in particular, as he exited the cottage as quickly as he could. What was Riley playing at? If he hurt Buffy in anyway, there would be hell to pay.

He rushed out of the cottage to catch up to the pair, leaving the door ajar in his haste.

He ran as fast as he could, but Riley and Buffy had already turned a corner. He had no idea where they were, and something was wrong. He may not have liked Riley, and wouldn't have put a lot of things past him, but something was going on. Riley hadn't responded to his jibes; his attention seemed to be miles away. And he had literally dragged Buffy out of the room.

Something was wrong. And Angel was determined to find out what that was, no matter what.

He chose a direction at random and ran left from the corner where he had last seen the pair. Hoping this was the right way, he continued running.

"Ow! Stop! Let go of me!" Buffy yelled as Riley continued to pull her through the streets. A bruise was beginning to form on her upper arm where he had grabbed her. "Stop!"

Riley was silent as he continued to pull her. All of a sudden, he stopped. Looking around, he nodded slowly to himself, and Buffy could hear him muttering, "Here, here. This is the place."

Buffy looked around at her surroundings with an appraising and wary eye. It looked like a small, bland cottage; nondescript and unremarkable. It looked as all of the other cottages did; thatched roof and a small doorway. The only difference was that the windows were blacked out with some kind of covering. At least her Slayer senses were starting to come in handy; would have never noticed anything wrong about this place otherwise-- she was feeling something, and she knew it wasn't good.

Riley was no where to be seen, he seemed to have disappeared while she was looking around.

This wasn't good.

This really wasn't good.

How did she get here again?

She rubbed the bruise on her arm distractedly, her mind focused on getting out of here. Darkness was falling, and Buffy, however recently this knowledge had come, knew it wasn't safe to be out after dark. She had to get back to Giles', to his cottage. And then she could worry about bypassing the guards and sneaking back into the castle.

The latter wouldn't be so hard; she had been doing it for years. She knew when and where to enter the castle; she even knew the underground tunnels that led into the dungeons. No, that wouldn't be the problem. The problem was getting out of here.

She had grown up mostly inside the castle walls, only venturing into town briefly for her mother's pre-planned outings. Whenever she had met her Angel, it had been in a field on the edges of town. She didn't recognize any of the places in this neighborhood. Nothing looked familiar.

"Great," she said, sarcasm lacing her every words, "Lost, alone, and something evil is probably lurking around somewhere. This is fantastic," she sighed.

A noise sounded from inside the darkened cottage. Buffy looked around nervously-- darkness was falling even more rapidly and the sun was barely visible on the horizon. It was getting colder, and she shivered.

The noise sounded again, and with aching slowness, the door creaked open.

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END CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Okay, I'm really trying to get these chapters out as soon as possible... the only reason this chapter is out is because I had a snow day off from school today. Why I haven't updated, a timeline: Dec 1-5, it was so cold I couldn't type anything without freezing my fingers off, Dec 7-8, huge blizzard where I live and there was a good 2 feet of snow, Dec 10- My birthday, so I didn't have time, Dec 13-14, I went away to Philadelphia for a few days. This was the first time I could really sit down and write something.

Please read and review. Please. I'm not one to threaten to stop writing because of lack of reviews, nor will I ever be, but knowing that people are actually reading what I wrote definitely makes my job a lot easier. So if you read, REVIEW! It the new thing! All the cool kids are doing it! : )

Thanks to anyone who reviewed last chapter:

Lori, TK, Kendra, (thanks to all three of your for your faithful reading/reviews)

PuNKyCoWGiRL (I've never been a big fan of 7th Heaven, but whatever floats your boat.. j/k),

AngelRose4 ( Eventually. Smoochies will be coming eventually.)

Arabow (I'm sorry! : ) Soon. Soon enough, my dear friend.)

Lady Moiraine (Thanks, I am feeling better. Keep reading!)

And Balloonphobia, dear Balloonphobia. I thank you and hope you're feeling better. I remember having to do a country project when I was in 6th or 7th grade. Big report. I picked Panama. Don't worry about speaking in front of people-- you have a captive audience! No one's going anywhere. It's only hard when they have the freedom to leave. Thank you for reviewing.

Lots of tiny little D

Sundevil009@yahoo.com