Both of them froze. All around them, lanterns were turned on and people rushed out from their tents waving weapons. The scream had sounded from the edge of the camp. Buffy felt the presence of a vampire faintly on her Slayer radar.

"Come on, Angel!" She got up and pulled on some shoes. She was almost gone before she realized that Angel was hanging back. "Are you coming or not?" She asked irritatedly. She had to find out who'd screamed and why. If they were still alive, she could probably figure out what the demon who'd attacked looked like.

"You go on," he said hollowly. "I'm not much good like this. I don't even have a weapon." Buffy wanted to sit back down and touch him. Tell him that it didn't matter to her if he could fight or not. That he was still Angel, but in a human body.

But someone was in trouble. And they would die if she wasted any more time trying to comfort Angel about his weaknesses. So she threw him a sorrowful look and took off running.

Shouts echoed around her. The whole camp was in an uproar. She caught a glimpse of Matt running in another direction, and decided to follow him. It seemed like he was monitoring the situation well enough.

He was fast, but she was the Slayer. It wasn't long before she caught up with him. He turned to look at her in surprise, but then faced forward and kept on running. His breathing echoed loudly in her ears.

They ducked through a small grove of trees with low-hanging branches. On the other side, they saw the cause of the disturbance.

A body lay in the clearing. It was a woman's, and her hands lay across her stomach. A thin trail of blood ran from a wound in her neck. Her attacker was nowhere in sight. But there was a trail of broken branches and trampled turf leading away through the underbrush. Buffy thought for a moment about following it to its end, but then the woman groaned.

She looked quickly at Matt, and then knelt down beside the woman. She pulled back the raven hair to reveal twin puncture wounds at the neck. Blood was still flowing from the open wounds. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Can you talk?"

The woman nodded slowly.

"What attacked you? Did you recognize it? Was it human?"

She shook her head 'no'. "I...I didn't get a very good look. It looked human...but there was something wrong with its face."

Vampires then. Buffy shook her head. She should have followed the trail straight off. But vampires were fast. It was probably way ahead of her right now. If it was even still running. The scary part was, when it reverted to its human face, she wouldn't be able to recognize it. Sure, her Slayer sense would go off, but she wouldn't know who it was. Especially with the densely packed way the people had settled in. The vampire could be set up right next to them...and she'd only ever know if she was alone with it.

She shivered. And then she froze. Angel. He was alone. This thing had taken off in the direction of the center of the settlement. Right towards him. He was probably still sitting there, waiting for her to come back. It would sneak up behind him...Or maybe just walk past. He wouldn't know what hit him. And he would be dead before he could fight back.

She threw another apologetic look to Matt, who was staring at her with suspicion. Well, he'd just have to deal with it. She had to get back to Angel.

She stood up and took off running. Again. She was beginning to get winded when she saw their camp. Angel's body was sprawled out over the sleeping bags. Her heart sped up in fear. Adrenalin pumped through her veins, fueled by fear and desperation.

She'd never run faster in her life.

She skidded to a stop next to their sleeping bags and without pause dropped to her knees and put her fingers to his neck to check for a pulse.

His eyes opened. "Buffy? What are you doing?" He sat up. There were no puncture wounds. He looked groggy. But then, he'd been sleeping, hadn't he?

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry. Thought you were dead for a moment there."

He chose to ignore her strange comment. "So? What happened?"

"Vampire attack. An Asian woman, in a small grove of trees about a mile from here. She's still alive. But I wonder what she was doing out there. It's a ways from the main area, and she seemed to be all alone. I probably should have asked."

"Then why are you back here so quickly?"

At this, she blushed. "Um, I thought the vampire might have been headed this way. When I saw you all sprawled out like that, I thought it might have gotten you. Sorry."

Angel gave her a reassuring hug. "I'm fine. I promise." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"I was just so worried. I don't think...I don't think I could take it if something happened to you. Not again. Not after...Not after everything."

"I know," he said, kissing her forehead. "I know. I promise nothing will happen to me, as long as you promise me something. You have to promise that you won't go off and pull that dying stunt you did a year and a half ago. I've lost you once. I'll never lose you again." He promised, burying his face in her hair.

"I think we've got the market cornered on the whole dying thing. Between us, we've died four times. Let's not either of us do it again, okay?" The tears in the corners of her eyes threatened to spill as she remembered the sick sound the sword had made as it slid into Angel's gut. The soft, confused look he gave her. The questioning way he'd said her name.

"I don't blame you for it, Buffy. It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I got what I deserved," he said, reading her mind. He was breathing hard now, as if fighting back sobs. So much blood...So much pain on his head. He deserved to know what it felt like. She pressed her hands against his chest and nuzzled into his neck.

"Things are different now, Angel. It's a new world. You're human. Not Angelus. Not ever again."

"I love you, Buffy. Forever."

"That is the whole point, isn't it?" Angel pulled back and gave her a questioning look. She waved her hand in dismissal. "It's nothing. Just a dream I had. While you were...where you were."

"Hell."

"Yeah. Hey, it's getting late. We should sleep. There's important...um, stuff we have to do tomorrow."

"You mean the part where we tell all these people that we're supposed to be in charge and that we need them all to move to the ruins of L.A. to meet up with some mystical Oracles who are going to tell us what we need to do?"

She swatted at him lightly. "When you say it like that it sounds impossible."

***

When Buffy first woke up, she thought she was still dreaming. Soft, buttery sunlight bathed her warmly and kissed her eyelids. She was curled tightly against a firm, warm body. Angel. His breath came in and out steadily, and his arm was draped around her shoulders. She felt safe, secure, and happy. All seemed right with the world.

When she opened her eyes, though, reality intruded on her not-dream. The mountains rose majestically in the background, but beneath them, tired and desperate people built fires to cook their meager breakfasts. As secluded and peaceful as the valley was, they would have to leave. And soon. People were running out of food, and if last night was any example, being picked off by opportunistic vampires.

Buffy stretched out her arms, careful not to disturb Angel. He looked so peaceful when he slept. The age that he carried around with him like a heavy coat, weighing him down, seemed to have disappeared. The lines around his eyes had all but disappeared, and as he slept, he smiled slightly and called out her name.

It made her feel warm inside, and loved. Something she'd been missing for a long time, before he came back. She'd almost gotten used to the cold emptiness inside her, almost forgotten that there was something better out there. And now that she had it again, she couldn't believe she'd ever lived without it. Or him.

As she sat up and started to brush her hair with a stolen comb, she wondered if she should be guilty for being so happy now. Or as close to happy as she suspected she would ever get. All her friends but him were dead. As was most of the world's population. So many people...just gone. Their lives snuffed out like candles in a strong breeze. But she had Angel...Should she be guilty that she almost thought it worth it?

She shook her head to clear the heavy and depressing thoughts away, instead letting the lighter and more mundane ones rise to the surface. What were they going to have for breakfast? They had a few supplies left, but the bread was stale, and they hadn't had meat since they'd left. There were a few vegetables in there, but none of them looked very fresh or appetizing.

She stood up and straightened out her clothes. She'd slept in them, this night and many others. They'd had to pack light, and as a consequence, she only had a few changes of clothes. But she did feel uncomfortable talking to strangers in what now felt like her PJs.

She spotted Matt and his dad in a camper about fifty feet away. She smiled and walked over there. They were by no definition friends, but Matt was the only person she actually knew here. So what if he'd tried to shoot her a mere twenty-four hours ago?

"Hey," she called in warning. Both men looked up at her in suspicion. She thought for a moment that maybe this hadn't been a good idea, but then again, if she was supposed to lead these people, she might as well get to know them.

But it was too early in the morning for heavy conversation. The sun was just peeking between a pass in the mountains, and her mind was still halfway dreaming.

"Hello," Matt's father said, extending his hand. When he smiled at her, the edges of his eyes crinkled up with genuine happiness. He seemed to be a kind person, the perfect father, to all appearances. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, hi. I'm Buffy Summers. Over there is my boyfriend, Angel. And before you ask, yes that is his real name. I was just wondering if we could borrow some food from you. We're all out. It took longer to hike up here than we expected." She smiled and cocked her head apologetically.

Matt opened his mouth to say something, but his father cut him off. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Miller. You've already met my son, Matt." Matt nodded his head sullenly. "And of course you can borrow some food. Matt, why don't you run inside and grab some of those sausages and eggs." Not a question. An order. And his eyes seemed to harden when he spoke to his son. Buffy wondered what was going on there.

Matt left to do as he was bidden. But not without an angry glare at his father's back. Buffy nodded at the camper. "Good idea, bringing that with you. Wish I'd've thought of it."

"Actually, it's ours. I was surprised to see that it had been saved from the fires and the...the other things. It's great to have around, though. If you need anything else, feel free to ask. We've got plenty."

Buffy nodded and smiled and took the food gratefully when Matt brought it back. When she touched his hand on accident, though, something strange happened. Matt froze. And when she looked up into his eyes, there was a strange-yet-familiar spark burning there.

Creeped out, she grabbed the food, said thank you again, and headed back towards their little campsite, where Angel was just beginning to wake.

***

Angel smiled to feel the sunshine on his face. It was warm and forgiving, and it made him realize how right he'd been when he'd compared Buffy to it.

But then he frowned. She wasn't there. He reached an arm out, searching for her familiar form. But it was gone.

He opened his eyes then, and saw that she wasn't there at all. He was about to panic, when he saw her coming towards him, a grocery bag in hand.

He sighed in relief, and lay back on the ground. He couldn't believe he'd gotten so panicky over her not being there. It wasn't as if there had been a giant bloodstain there or something. She'd just left for a bit, that's all. As his heart rate returned to normal, he thought, 'Now I know how she felt.' And vowed to always be there when she woke up.

"Hey," he said, the sleepiness cleared from his voice by the momentary freak out. "What do you have there?"

"Breakfast," she said, bright and happy. In Angel's mind, it was far too early to be so...awake. She produced a lighter from her pocket, and walked over to a strange pile of sticks that Angel now realized was supposed to be kindling for a fire.

"Wait," he said, and sat up fully. "You should put stones around it, first. Just to make sure that you don't catch anything on fire."

"Good idea. But in my defense, this is my first camping trip. Like, ever."

"So you keep saying," Angel said wryly. Across the way, Matt was staring at them. Or, to be more specific, her. As soon as he noticed Angel looking at him, he stopped, and went back to whatever it was he was doing. Angel frowned. He didn't like the vibe he got from that kid. It made him feel...protective. Like he needed to be defending himself and Buffy. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the kid, and then went back to showing Buffy how to cook over an open fire.