The library, always quiet during school hours, took on a ghastly guise. The moonlight filtered through the shades, the supple rays illuminated the cheap tile floor

Cordelia sat there, not necessarily knowing what to do. Tears streaked down her face, her lips trembled and she formed fists to keep her hands from shaking. Or at least she tried to form her hands into fists. Her muscles felt numb as she sat down, sinking into the chair as if falling into an abyss. "How...when is it going to happen?"

Angel and Giles had just told her, quietly and somberly, that she was destined to die. To die at the hands of The Master. And this isn't even a bad prank.

"We don't know," Giles answered. "Not yet anyway. If given time, I'll be able to know more."

Angel squeezed Cordelia's shoulder, his voice quiet as he spoke, trying to be gentle and not force her to fully accept it. She was emotional and he wanted her to deal with it sure, but in little bits and pieces. "I didn't want to tell you. If I had a choice in the matter I would have handled it so you didn't have anything to worry about."

"What have you done?" Cordelia asked bluntly, her voice losing emotion as it hardened. "What have you tried to do to prevent it?"

Angel opened his mouth to explain, walking from behind her so that he had to kneel to have his eyes even with hers. Placing his hand on hers, he swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in his throat that formed when seeing the pain in her eyes. "Cordelia, I've tried to-"

"Nothing!" she growled, pushing away from him roughly. "You haven't done anything."

"Cordy-"

"Have you tried to kill The Master? No!" Cordelia pointed out. Her emotions getting the better of her, she seemed frantic and all of those things, not that she wasn't allowed to be. "It's not like I'm asking you to kill him but if you're going to strut around and act like you care then you better have actual attempts to back up your pile of shit."

Angel looked at her with a helpless expression. He needed her to calm down so that they could figure something out but it seemed like nothing was able to do that. "Cordy..."

She looked at him with an exact replica of such helplessness, only hers was far more painful to endure. She spoke to him with her voice so low that a mouse skittering across the floor would be easier heard then her. "I'm not even seventeen yet..."

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

Before either Giles or Angel could answer though, she was out of the room.

Xander gripped the doorknob for a moment, hesitating to open the door. But Willow's nudging elbow in his side forced him to finally open it. The door creaked open and Xander swallowed hard.

Cordelia hadn't been at school in the past two days and every time either Xander or Willow called there was either no answer, her step mom would tell them she hadn't spoken to Cordelia, or a quiet whimpering sound followed by a deep sob before the conversation would end.

Willow was the first to conclude that something happened and when Cordelia ever managed to pick up the phone she'd sob her way out of it. Something was wrong and they were going into Cordelia's dark, gloomy room to find out what it was.

Xander stepped inside first. Not that he was the braver one. When he had met Cordelia and become friends with her, he had guessed her room was bright and colorful. But as he entered it, he discovered it to be quite the opposite at the moment.

"Cordelia...?" Xander said her name softly.

"I have all your homework," Willow finally spoke up, standing close to Xander. The creepy silence sending chills up and down her spine. She placed the papers on the desk beside them. A moment passed before she took a few steps toward Cordelia's bed where a big lump under the covers signified her sleeping form.

She grabbed the covers carefully and started to pull them back, hoping that if Cordelia was there and asleep, she wouldn't disturb her. But a moment passed and the covers only far enough back that Cordelia's mess of brown hair was visible, Cordelia jumped up, sitting upright and frightening Xander and Willow.

Xander grabbed his chest, as if having a stroke, his face slightly pale from fright. "You shouldn't do that! Sure, I'm only sixteen but heart problems run in my family."

Cordelia ignored him as she looked at the two of them, her eyes shining slightly and a perfectly doleful expression on her face. "Why don't we go on a trip?"

"Road trips are fun," Willow admitted quietly, walking back towards the bed, albeit carefully this time. It was as if she was expecting Cordelia to be a rabid dog just ready to attack, what with the way she was speaking, her tone condescending and all. "But we have school..."

"Oh come on, we're in 10th grade," Cordelia whispered desperately, trying to smile only to form a grimace. "It's not like we're seniors, we can miss the last few weeks of school."

Xander opened his mouth to agree but Willow cut him off. "What's wrong, Cordelia?"

Cordelia let her head fall for a moment before quietly speaking. "I just got some bad news and staying in Sunnydale just isn't something I want to do."

"What kind of bad news?'

Cordelia looked up, totally unprepared to explain but she still did, opening her mouth to say word for word what was exactly wrong.

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his black jacket, Angel shifted his eyes when he entered the Library. When he caught sight of Giles working behind the counter, he cleared his throat and approached.

"Has Cordelia been coming to school at all?" Angel asked quietly, looking at the Englishman intently as he shrugged out of his jacket, folding it and tossing it onto the table, all the while avoiding the rays of sunlight streaking onto the floor. "Since I last checked, I mean."

"Since yesterday?" Giles merely glanced at the vampire over the rim of his glasses. "No, I haven't seen her."

Angel cursed under an unneeded, frustrated sigh.

Giles, for the smallest moment, sympathized with the vampire, feeling sorry for him and what he was going through. He obviously cared for Cordelia and it was plaintively paining him to not be able to help her in some way. Though the look in Angel's dark eyes made Giles quite sure that, deep down, he was already trying to come up with some sort of plan.

"It's understandable," Giles offered, grabbing a few misplaced books and walking around the corner. He stopped right beside Angel for a moment, only glancing at him, not daring to lock his gaze. "A teenage girl, even one as smart as Cordelia, would rather choose what outfit she is to wear for the next of school, not the one she is to be buried with."

Angel didn't respond, his face still hardened and his brow furrowed as his thoughts remained focus on what he could possibly do.

Giles shrugged and walked into the cage that held all the returned and damaged books.

Finally, Angel spoke, shaking his head. His voice was quiet, albeit quite gruff; the vampire was obviously frustrated with himself more than anyone. "I should have done something..."

Before continuing, he ran a hand through his hair, growling to himself for a moment. "I didn't even want to tell her. And what she said was true. I could have done something before dropping this big of a bomb. I could have tried to kill the Master, even."

Giles opened his mouth to assure Angel that it wasn't his fault and he did all he could do, but Angel kept ranting on, mostly to himself now as he started to pace around the room.

"I didn't though. All I did was go to her room in the middle of the night, tell her some sob story of mine and then drag her here to tell her 'Hey, you're going to die a little sooner than expected. As in the next few days or weeks."

"Angel!" Giles had to bellow his name to get the vampire's attention. When Angel finally looked him in the eyes, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

But in walked Jenny Calendar. Angel stepped in front of her, his eyes narrowed as he gave her a once-over. "You look like..."

"Angel...?" Jenny was frozen like a rock at the sight of him. She knew he was in Sunnydale but what in god's name was he doing with Rupert Giles. "What're you doing in a school?"

Angel didn't answer her question as his eyes shifted; a minute passed and he finally figured it out. "You look a lot like your ancestors...gypsy blood is obvious in your looks."

Giles just laughed, shaking his head and removing his glasses as he walked past the two. "There's always something about everyone that they're keeping from me. I just...I never figured Gypsies."

Both Jenny and Angel ignored him as Angel continued speaking. "Did...were you sent to-"

"Just to observe," she assured him, as if it were a good thing. Though Angel seemed quite relieved himself. "Having a soul is punishment enough...for now."

Angel nodded, "It would've been a little too much for them to be up my ass, to be honest."

"What's going on?"

Giles hesitated to answer, wondering if it was worth the risk telling her what exactly was going on. But then again, she was quite a smart lady and looked like she could handle herself, if given every last bit of information. And Giles didn't necessarily want her to get injured. He didn't know why, all he knew was that he just couldn't stand a woman like her getting hurt.

Angel saw Giles' hesitancy and cleared his throat, speaking outright and honestly. "There's a dangerous vampire in town-"

"I know," Jenny cut him off, surprising him and Giles. "That's why I had to speak with Cordelia. But she was either not in class or with her friends."

"Willow and Xander both know of vampires and Cordelia being the Slayer," Giles pointed out absently, moving behind the counter and leaning against it.

"Everyone seems to know," Angel added under his breath.

Angel froze at what he said. Everyone... "Wait. The Master. He knows about the prophecy and the power he possesses of killing her. But that she can stop him."

Giles laughed, as if the entire situation was becoming ridiculous, which it was. "Maybe we should have told Cordelia that before...well, it might've lessened the blow."

Moving towards the exit, Angel grabbed his coat and stopped right before leaving, looking back at Jenny, who was still reeling from what she'd just been told, and Giles, who was looking at her with an ironic, amused expression. The situation was serious, sure, but Angel knew that the Watcher was overworking himself and he had only the strength to laugh, even if what he really wanted to do was punch a hole in the wall.

"The Master knows everything and I have the feeling we only know a little..." Angel said quietly, trying to soothe Giles' nerves, to bring Jenny out of her funk. "We need to find out exactly when Cordelia's supposed to...just do it. I'll try and get the upper hand. If not than I'll pay a visit to Darla."

"Darla," Jenny spat, her tone not without disgust. "Not to lessen your outlook on me and my position in this whole thing but...I really hoped that that bitch would just die."

Angel held back a small grin, "I agree...."

Buffy closed her front door and dropped her book bag, which ironically had not books in it but her makeup and magazines, beside the door as she removed her heels. Groaning, she leaned against the wall beside the closet and rubbed the sole's of her feet. "Why do I have to be in so much pain for wearing such pretty things?"

Her voice echoed in her mansion-like home and no answer came, even if Buffy would have stood there for hours. Mr. Summers was on a trip in Italy and Mrs. Summers was most likely drowning herself in a bubble bath listening to Sting or Journey.

Buffy's echoing voice was just another chafing reminder that even if her parents were home, they wouldn't be there to greet her. On their free time they acknowledged her presence by giving her the credit card. Sure, Buffy wasn't going to stand there and act like she adamantly refused their offers, but still...she would have nothing to accept if they weren't offering it all the time.

"I need some Motrin," Buffy mumbled to herself, nearly tripping over her heels and bag as she moved through her 'living' room, the dining room, the 'business' room and the family room. And a bunch of other rooms that were hardly, if ever, used in the Summer's household.

The one most used was perhaps the 'business' room, but Buffy could only guess for she would quickly escape out of the house or bury herself in her room whenever her father's associates came over to talk shop.

"Mom?" Buffy dared to call out the word. A moment passed and she realized just how stupid she was. Her mother was obviously home, based on the on the floral scent of jasmine lingering through the house as it only did when her mother was home and by the shiny BMW parked outside in the driveway.

But of course, predictably, she was far too busy doing 'something' to answer her daughter.

Opening the fridge door with her foot as she reached over to the answering machine, Buffy almost sprained her wrist in trying to press the button that would play the messages. Thankfully she managed to meet her goal without any permanent damage done to her body, unlike the incident of '93 when she tied herself to the dog in an attempt to get around the house faster.

"Hello all! This is your favorite person in the entire world!' the screeching voice echoed down the halls from the answering machine.

"Masie!" Buffy mouthed in sync with the 65-year old woman's voice. Through a couple of facelifts and lipsuctions, Masie Homer was still the same person on the inside. Which is an insane old lady! Buffy thought to herself, rolling her eyes. "Gotta love her though."

Looking up and down inside the double-door fridge, Buffy's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she thought hard on what she wanted to eat. "Ice? No, better save that for mom. Beer? Nope. Chicken? Straight to the hips. Non-fat non-dairy soy milk?"

Buffy responded with a gagging noise. She was all for eating healthy and dieting, but when it came to just plain disgusting shit that tried to pass as food, she was far from accepting.

Grabbing a water-bottle, Buffy closed the fridge door and headed up to her room. As she walked up the stairs she caught sight out of the dozens of pictures of her parents in their glory at business events or in some exotic locale of her and the two of them. She was six, young and sweet (or so she was told) and they hadn't quite hit the 'rich' part of her life yet.

Sometimes, quite often, Buffy wished that she was back in that one-story, two bedroom small house in that cute neighborhood in the eastern part of Sunnydale...at least she had a family back then.

As casually as possible, Xander cleared his throat and strolled down some random hallway of Sunnydale High school, with Willow at his side. Both were eerily quiet and avoiding not only eye contact between the two of them but with everyone else, even inanimate objects such as their lockers, which they walked straight past.

Xander, ever the talker, opened his mouth and finally broke the silence. "So this priest walks into a bar-"

"Shut up, Xander," Willow said quietly, so quietly that Xander could barely hear her. He didn't even take offense to it though, for Willow was far more disturbed about it than he was. And boy, am I freaked.

"Not even a joke can take my mind off of..." Willow shook her head, clutching the books in her hand as if they were her only lifelines.

Xander simply shook his head, going the route of 'denial' to keep himself from panicking. "She isn't going to die. She couldn't. What with Jesse and now...now her."

He gave in, sighing direly. "It's not a good year for 10th graders at Sunnydale High is it?"

"I guess that nickname, Sunny Hell, really applies in this situation, doesn't it?" Willow blinked slowly, trying to stop her eyes from watering. It was too late, her vision already half-blurred because of the unshed tears in her eyes. "Why're we even here?"

"Because Cordelia told us to act normal, to not let this whole thing affect us," Xander reminded her, saying it in a tone that proved he didn't agree with it even as he did exactly what she said.

Willow remained silent for the longest time. Xander did too until he finally spoke up as they reached the Student Union, hoping to get some relaxing quiet time, instead of the nerve-wracking kind they were in at the moment. "Maybe we should go away with her. Or give her money at least. As much as I hate her going away, leaving, I'd rather her be far away and alive then real close and...buried six feet under."

Willow didn't have time to answer, her curiosity catching her attention when she noticed something odd. "Why're the blinds closed?"

Xander, clueless, or perhaps more positive then his redheaded friend, shrugged. "Maybe some jock's in there getting to third base."

Not waiting for Xander to list the thousands of possibilities that she knew he'd come up with, Willow turned the doorknob and let the door open.

Other than the quiet creaking of the door, in big need of an oiling, it was dead silent as Willow and Xander stood, disgusted and gape mouthed at what they discovered.

As Willow's books fell from her hands, somehow in slow motion, she let her eyes move around the room. It was dark, the blinds on the window, keeping out the sunlight, were closed just as they were on the door. It smelled of...well, it smelled of what was exactly in the room.

Dead people and dried blood.

Rocking back and forth on her bed, Willow clutched at her pillow as if it were all she had left while crying silent tears. The top part of her pillow was damp from aforementioned tears and her heart ached with pain and utter disgust at what had happened a few hours ago.

School had been dismissed early on account of the ten or eleven students found dead in the Student Union, either with snapped necks or two distinct bite marks in their necks. Willow came home and took a shower, the mere memory and image of it all making her feel filthy.

The door to her room opened and Cordelia's solemn face appeared, and then the rest of her, she looked the part of an exhausted student who'd heard her grandmother had died and still had to study for an important exam.

Both had bags underneath their eyes from sleep deprivation and the countless amount of tears the two of them had shed when alone in their rooms.

Willow didn't bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks, to clean herself up or pat down her hair. She just glanced at Cordelia once as she silently approached, her eyes saying a thousand, perhaps even a million, words with just a blink.

"Xander called me...explained what happened," Cordelia explained as she sat on the end of the bed and just folded her hands over her lap, looking at Willow for a few long, silent minutes. "I couldn't keep hiding in my room, I had to know if you're alright."

"I knew some of the people in there," Willow said as she turned away, her voice thick with emotion and jumping a few octaves every other word or so. "Some were nice to me, others were complete Asses and...god! All that blood."

Cordelia just looked at her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her heart was breaking just seeing Willow as she was, so innocent before and now tainted with that memory of seeing all those dead people. I'm being a crybaby in my room about...whatever. And Willow's here, having found a dozen dead people in her school, the one place that was always safe...

"Real life is the scariest thing," Cordelia finally spoke, her voice cracking under the pressure of the unbearable silence. "High school, any school for that matter, always seemed like some sort of safe sanctuary. Sure, it was boring and we all hated it. But we always felt safe there. And I guess...with us, that's what makes it even scarier. If School's the place where we feel most safe and something like what you saw happened...what're we supposed to do, right?'

Willow nodded. "I may not know how it feels to find out that I'm dying in a few days but if it's any consolation, I feel pretty crappy."

Cordelia smiled a small smile, hoping to comfort not only her friend, but herself.

When Willow finally turned to her, she swore she saw about a million different emotions hidden behind her green blue orbs...all in one glance.

Finally speaking, Willow seemed as innocent as an infant when she looked at Cordelia with a sad, albeit expecting, stare. "We can go on that road trip now...if you still want to go."

Xander pushed opened the doors as violently and loudly as he could manage, announcing his presence. It was a way to make himself feel superior; to force his thoughts away from the fact that he was on the verge of tears and his hands were trembling.

Not only had he seen a dead person for the first time, not only that there was ten others too, but that Cordelia, his friend, was going to die and he couldn't get his mind off of it.

Giles and Angel sat across from each other at a table, researching from the dozens of books before them, as hard as they could possibly manage.

It didn't matter how hard they were working to Xander, though. They hadn't come up with a solution, from the looks of it, and that was reason enough for him to be a little impatient, a little frustrated. "You have a plan ready...or not?"

Angel looked at him with the most exhausted face known to man. For the first time, Angel was actually starting to look his age. "We're working on it and we're trying as hard as we can."

"Then you're not trying hard enough," Xander dared to accuse them, stopping just feet from the table, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He wasn't an A-student when it came to Gym and he ran all the way from his house to the school. "Not only is Cordelia in trouble but ten people, ten kids, are dead because of some vampire freak, or freaks for the matter!"

Having enough, his patience completely gone, Angel slammed his fist onto the table, sending some books flying off of it as he growled to Xander. "I know! I can still smell the blood..."

Xander remained silent as Angel stood up, just remembering that Angel was about a foot taller than him and his muscles were the size of his head.

"Nothing pisses me off more than the smallest chance that Cordelia could get a scratch on her," Angel explained through gritted teeth. "I won't risk her life with some half-baked plan. When we come up with one, it's going to be fool-proof and perfect."

"I do too, but obviously you guys aren't getting too close," Xander growled, finding some small inkling of assurance and confidence, holding his chin up high as he turned to leave. "I'll come up with something on my own..."

When he reached the door though, his hand rising to push it open, he paused, his head falling. Though Xander didn't glance back at Angel, still fuming, or Giles who remained silent, the concern and sincerity leaked into his tone enough so that both of them knew he cared for Cordelia more than in the kind of 'best friend, teenager-with-hormones' way. "Keep me informed..."

"Be careful," Giles finally spoke, looking up at Xander.

But the teenager remained quiet as he pushed open the doors and left without another word spoken.

Walking speedily down the hallways, Xander clenched his hands into fists, closed his eyes and tried to reassure himself that there was nothing following him and he was going to make it home fine. He was going t o make it home to come up with a plan to help Cordelia.

Pushing open the doors and walking out into the school parking lot, Xander looked over his shoulder, just to boost his confidence in the fact that he was alone and here wasn't anything after him. Yet the hairs on the back of his neck sure did make it seem like something was wrong, that something was out of place.

Then, a few moments and a couple of steps later, a warm air coursed the back of his beck, a disgusting kind of warm, a hot breathy kind. And a weird stench followed, forcing Xander to once again turn around, slowly this time.

Out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of what could only be defined as a dirty, green, ugly demon. But that was all he saw, a glimpse through the corner of his eyes, for a hard object collided with his head, knocking him into unconsciousness.

Licking the tip of her finger, Cordelia turned the page of some random book she was browsing. Reading it was a mere thing to do to distract herself, to try and create the illusion that she was just a normal teenager that was bored out of her mind and in result was reading a book.

But that was far from the reality of the situation. And the eerie feeling the filled Cordelia from head to toe as she laid on her bed, on her stomach, her chin rested on a pillow, was proof of that, a shaky reminder of it all.

Taking in a deep, soothing breath, Cordelia shook her hand, trying to get it to relax, to not be so tense. Yet the uneasiness didn't subside so she slammed her book to a close and threw it across the room where it collided with some random, most likely breakable things, on a shelf.

As if on cue, the door opened, her father's head poking inside. Bags were under his eyes and he looked exhausted, but at the same time there was a twinkle in his eyes. It seemed as if he knew something she didn't. And when he entered, taking Cordelia's subtly angry expression as her own version of permission to enter, it was revealed that he had a gift for her.

A dress of soft fabrics, dark navy blue and one that Cordelia was sure by the sight of it would be fitting and emphasize her curves in a way she'd like but also one that her father would approve of.

"What's this for?" Cordelia asked, the breath being taken from her at the sight of the elegant dress nearing her as her father walked towards her. Rolling off the bed, she stood up and held her hands out hesitantly, as if she were trying to make sure it was real. When the tips of her fingers brushed along the soft fabric, she smiled.

"I may not be the best father in the world but I love you and I want you to have some fun in life before you get too old to have any." He smirked and handed her the dress carefully and gently. "Buying gifts doesn't make me the father that you deserve, but I hope this is a good start.

Cordelia was still in awe, numb from it and disbelief too. "There's a dance coming up...how'd you know?"

"School newsletter," her father replied, shrugging in a bashful manner.

"Wow..." Cordelia blinked slowly, taking in the sight of not only her dress but also her father, trying so hard to be the kind of man who could support his daughter and be cool at the same time. "Sunnydale High has a newsletter?"

Will Chase didn't respond. Instead, he just leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Cordelia's forehead before moving to leave the room.

Cordelia didn't respond, blinking away the thin layer of tears forming in her eyes from not only the sweetness of the gift, but there was hardly a possibility of her even making it to the Prom.

When the door finally closed with a soft thud, she cleared her throat and sat down on her bed slowly, looking around helplessly.

I need blood; Angel thought to himself, swallowing hard and wishing his mouth wasn't so dry. The fire slowly died as it usually did every night he watched it. He would either be with Cordelia or at the library, if not he was in his mansion, alone like the outcast he was at heart, watching the fire slowly die. It wasn't exciting but it was something to do, something to distract him from other things.

Yet it didn't work at the moment. Angel pushed himself up from his seat and started to pace, entangling his fingers together and wrapping them around his neck as he let out a long, unneeded breath in hopes of calming himself down.

It didn't work.

Cordelia needed his help and he was sitting on his ass doing shit for work while Giles took over the reigns of research for the night. They needed all the facts and information they needed about the prophecy and The Master to even think of coming up with a plan to prevent Cordelia from dying.

Yet Angel had the eerie feeling that they needn't even try, Cordelia could take care of herself by leaving town if she thought of it. Though the prospect of her skipping town was a frightening prospect, one Angel hoped he wouldn't have to face, it made the most sense for a sixteen year old to choose it.

Doesn't help that the Harris boy thinks he can handle this shitty mess. Hopefully he won't do something stupid.

"I have to see her," Angel said to himself as he finally gave in. Before he could go any farther than his kitchen, where he'd tossed his jacket, a knock at the door sounded.

Rubbing his face in frustration, Angel blinked a few times to make sure his eyes would stay awake. He didn't have time to speak with anyone at the moment and the mere prospect of doing so exhausted him. When he grabbed the doorknob however, his heart skipped a beat then melted at the discovery of a familiar scent.

It was Cordelia and Angel was both glad and disappointed at her sudden appearance. Excited to see her yet saddened by the fact that through the thick doors he could feel her pain, could hear her trying to slow her heartbeat, to swallow whatever difficult emotion she was experiencing.

"Can I come in?" she asked him immediately once he opened the door to reveal her ever pretty face with a faltering smile plastered on it.

Taking a step back, he motioned for her to come in. Once she was inside and Angel closed the door, she turned to face him and tossed a cup of blood into his hands. "It's pigs blood, so don't get too excited."

Her voice sounded sad even when she tried hard to feign friendliness.

"Thanks," Angel managed to say, backing into the kitchen and moving to place it in the fridge. "You okay?"

Cordelia didn't respond to him, or at least to his question as she took in a deep breath before letting out a shaky sigh. "I was walking and I saw your place. I also just happened to be right by a butcher shop at the time too..."

Angel offered a smile as he walked back into the same room as Cordelia, immediately moving close to her so that he could remove her jacket. It was almost summer and it was California, yet Cordelia seemed to have a shiver about her. "You planning to stay long?"

"I'll stay for as long as I'm welcome."

"That's going to be a long time, then." Angel placed her jacket gently on the couch as Cordelia yet again exhaled shakily. It was as if it was all she had left to do in an attempt to calm her uncontrollable emotions.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked her again, calmly and soothingly as he let his hand fall to the small of her back, guiding her around the couch to sit down. She allowed him to guide her but still, she seemed far from aware of his enormous concern. "Giles is at the library working his ass of trying to come up with something. We just won't want to come up with a faulty plan. It concerns you and we want whatever we'll come up with to be absolutely foolproof."

Cordelia remained silent as he continued to speak, avoiding eye contact. Angel had enough and placed his hand on hers, speaking in a voice that made it clear she had to wake up and explain what she was there for, what she needed.

"Is there anything you need to say?" he asked, his voice growing husky as his emotions grew higher at the sight of her so...unlike her usual self. "I'm here to listen."

Cordelia closed her eyes slowly, allowing a few tears to shed and streak down her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she finally looked to Angel. "My dad...he bought me this dress. Possibly the most beautiful dress in the entire world."

Angel smiled, "That was sweet of him."

"There's a dance coming up...that's what it's for," Cordelia explained. "It's Saturday. Day after tomorrow. But I don't think I'll be able to go."

"Why not?"

Cordelia turned to him fully, spinning in her position and folding her legs so that she faced Angel completely. "I might not be sticking around."

"I understand...or at least I want to understand. This is hard for you to go through-" Angel began to say, trying to ease into convincing her to stay, to 'stick around'. Maybe it was for his own selfish reasons, but if she ran away, she'd have to run forever. And he couldn't bear for her to have to do that.

"Would I be such a complete coward if I ran away?" she cut him off, desperately searching for his opinion on the matter. She was stronger then him but he was far more wise. Being over two hundred years old makes you like that.

Angel couldn't even manage to say anything, his heart not able to even respond to her question.

"I was fine being a Slayer for a while. All that power. Saving lives, killing bad guys. It has a rush to it, y'know?" Cordelia began to say, her voice so passionate as her eyes started to light up, albeit weakly, when the memories of her first few weeks as a vampire Slayer. "Maybe I was just cocky, but for a whole I figured because of me being a Slayer, I was so invincible. Nothing could hurt me and I just..."

All Angel could think of was to hug her. And he did, wrapping his strong arms around her as the tears from her eyes escaped and ran down her face; the light leaving her eyes and that passion that Angel loved about her disappeared.

Willow pressed a few keys on her laptop, trying to find something, anything to distract her from other things. Everything had gone haywire. First Jesse then Cordelia getting the news of her having to face The Master and die. Then her and Xander walking in on dead students.

Slamming the laptop shut didn't help with her frustration either. Burying her face in her arms, Willow desperately tried to find any sort of willpower left in her to get the strength to move on, to get up and do something. But the images of the dead people, the blood...it all kept returning to her mind, painfully reminding her of the reality of life and death.

God I'm stupid. If Cordelia were here she wouldn't be sobbing her ass off. Willow shook her head in embarrassment of her inability to move on and remain emotionally strong. Cordelia has a reason to be scared, emotional...she's only sixteen and she just go the news that she's going to die.

It isn't fair for her.

The phone ringing was a relief for Willow, who was glad for a distraction. Picking the phone up, she was surprised to hear Xander's mother on the other end with a concerned voice.

"..."

"No," Willow shook her head as her stomach turned over, a sickening feeling taking over her body. "Xander isn't here. I thought he was at home."

Cordelia repeatedly tapped her toe out of impatience, waiting and waiting for Giles to arrive. She'd snuck through the halls into the library, avoiding being caught by the principal or by any teachers over an hour ago. Giles was the last person on her list to speak with before she left. Well, after Willow and Xander, but those two were going to be spoken with together. Why not kill two birds with one stone, right?

Bad choice of words.

"What the hell is your childhood trauma?" came the annoying voice of Buffy Summers. Cordelia groaned as she saw Buffy push the doors open and enter the room like she owned it. Knowing the money her parents had, she probably did.

"Get out of here," Cordelia ordered her, not so surprisingly not in the mood to deal with the blonde superficial Queen B.

"How do you get away with skipping school, huh?" Buffy asked. She came in there to ask Cordelia if she was all right and this was her way at approaching it.

"I'm not skipping school. I have reasons for not being here."

"And those reasons are?"

"None of your business."

"Whose business is it then?"

"God, just shut up!"

For once, Buffy Summers listened to someone and did as she was told. After Cordelia's outburst a wave of silence engulfed the two of them. Cordelia remained unfazed and still on annoyed by Buffy's presence while the former slowly closed her mouth and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Please..." Cordelia said, her voice far quieter than before. "I don't need you in here to annoy me."

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, her voice not without concern as she saw Cordelia desperately try to remain impassive and fight back tears as a wave of...something, hit her. It was more than a little disconcerting to see her so affected. Not only that, but Buffy had no idea what exactly was affecting her so profoundly. It certainly isn't me.

What was more astonishing was that after a few minutes of complete, unbearable silent, Cordelia's face melted for a moment and she started to open her mouth, possibly to answer Buffy's question truthfully and without her usual stubbornness.

But the doors to the library opened and Giles' entrance prevented her from doing so; she seemed far too relieved by his arrival to even begin to deal with Buffy and explain the big mess she was in.

Buffy took the awkward silence and glances thrown her way as not-so-subtle signs that it was her time to leave, and she did, respectfully and quietly.

A moment passed and before Giles could say anything to Cordelia, the Slayer had a moment of weakness and impulsively jumped from her chair and started moving speedily out of the library. Why she was seeking out Buffy was lost to her, but her feet kept moving. The blonde wasn't acting like the full-on bitch that Cordelia had come to know her as and it was enlightening, if only for a split-second.

Maybe she deserves to know. Everyone else does. She went through exactly what Xander and Willow did with Jesse, apparently. What makes her any less deserving of the truth? Cordelia's thoughts kept drowning her mind until she realized Buffy had made for a hasty exit herself and all that was left was an empty hallway.

Empty except for Willow Rosenberg, who looked as if she had been crying for hours.

"Willow? What the...?" Cordelia approached her and grabbed her gently by the arm, hoping for some reaction.

"You weren't at home," she said to her, her voice atypically loud and uncontrolled. "I came looking for you."

"Why? What's wrong, Willow?" Cordelia asked, placing her hands on the redhead's shoulders to try and keep her calm.

Willow swallowed hard, the mere prospect of even saying what was going on frightening enough to prevent her from speaking. But eventually she managed to form the words as several tears escaped her eyes. "It's Xander. He's in trouble."

Taking not a sip from his cup of tea but a large gulp, Giles perused the page in his book, trying to patiently wait for Cordelia's return. She came for a reason, and it pained him to think that the reason was a goodbye. Angel had called, explaining that Cordelia had visited him and suggested running away.

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Giles welcomed the sound of the doors opening. But the sight was far from welcome. Cordelia was eerily quiet and Willow...she looked haggard. Emotional was a simple word to describe what she looked like.

"What's wrong?"

With a firm jaw, Cordelia willingly replied. "This has gotten more personal. What kind of plan have you got so far?"

"What? I...are you willing to go through with it?" Giles stuttered, still lost as to what spun around Cordelia, what changed her decision to leave.

"I'm in," Cordelia replied through gritted teeth.

TBC...