Title: Three Blind Mice

Note: well... um... i haven't updated in such a long time... and then i came across this story already written from like a year ago or however long. So i tried to edit it a little to fix some thingsand i don't really know if that worked. In any case I don't really remember how i was writting this story previously so here is maybe the last i will write for it... I'm sorry for my methods... but at least i finally got this one up and done. Thank you so much to all who spent the time to read this story... it really has ment a lot to me... and all the reviews... wow they have helped me to become a much better writter... haha i mean i'm not that good but if you have read my earlier posts (which i have taked off now) you would really see how much i've come along. So thank-you, thank-you! sincerly n170017

ps: I just hate the ending more then anything... and i was having the hardest time writing Lorne... it makes no sense... oh dear... On top of those problems i've learnt more than ever that i can't write fighting scenes...

"How'd you ever guess," Angelus commented darkly.

"Just a hunch," I coughed, trying to get the beast's grip off of me. He let go suddenly and I hit the floor on top of the axe I had just dropped. I picked it up while I stood. The beast smiled sadistically at me but I paid no attention. I swung the axe at his upper torso but his body was too hard. I aimed for his head but he caught the sword and threw it to the ground.

The beast gripped me again and pushed me into a wall and repeated this action causing me further pain. I could hear laughter behind me. He let go of me for an instant in which I ran behind him. One thing I had on him was speed and I sure had to use that to my advantage. I looked around for something to assist me in his destruction but found nothing. By the time I looked back to the beast he was right on me. He grabbed me and flung me into a large window. The planes smashed and I felt the glass slide into the skin on my back. The beast walked over to me as I lay on the cement floor and stared at me. I closed my eyes. Pain ran through my body from the previous event. Maybe I really should have listened to Lorne and Wesley. After a beat, of no new pain, I opened my eyes. The beast lay on the ground his head fully severed. Angelus stood at the side looking at me with no expression.

"Looked like you were the one getting their ass kicked," His face contorted as he snickered. I tried to stand up but I found one glass shard causing too much pain to finish this action. Angelus only laughed harder. He walked over slowly and sat on top of me. He looked me eye to eye; "This is fun!" His teeth extended and his face changed. I closed my eyes again as he pushed my face to the side and moved towards my neck. "AHHH," Angelus yelled as his weight was hurriedly gone from atop my body. I opened my eyes. Angelus was cowering in the shadows. Huh? I suddenly realized… the light was back.

"That was a smart move," I muttered to him, "Why'd you kill him?"

"Had my reasons," he muttered, "We always have our reasons… But before I go, I must thank you." He laughed cockily watching me as I tried again to stand. This time I managed to sit up making my back flame, resisting lying back down.

"What?"

"For breaking Angel's wee little heart…" the words rolled off his tongue as he mimicked a hurt tone.

"What…" It seemed to be the only world I could say.

He rolled his eyes, "On grad." The words spun me into a dizzy whirl, as my head suddenly burned as hot as my back and I had to lean my elbows down on the floor as another memory flashed by.

Flashback

"We did it, we won," Giles declared looking at me with a light in his eyes, from beside me. "I saved this for you… thought you deserved it," he told me as he handed me my high-school certificate.

"Thank-you," I smiled, "I guess I got something out of all this then." I stared at the paper.

Giles looked in front of us as if taken by something of great interest… behind all the ambulances and workers was Angel. He stood there as ridged as stone, "You should go talk to him," Giles told me while turning to me. I nodded in acceptance.

I walked away from Giles and towards Angel, my eyes glued to him every step of the way. When I reached him, he looked down at me like he knew this was the end. The end of us, the end of something more… "Did you get hurt?" I asked my head blank of anything else to say.

"Not so much… did you?" I shook my head. He took a step closer and lifted my chin with one of his hands. We stared into each other's eyes. I wanted him so much. But I couldn't, I looked away but he didn't seem to care. Angel brought his face closer to mine, I pulled back.

"Angel… No… we can't," I couldn't let Jenny down now after I'd told her I wouldn't. Besides Angel hadn't been back that long and it would look like I couldn't help myself. Giles and Jenny would be so unimpressed. Even after I'd saved the world. It was almost funny how I could do something so big and they still couldn't see past what I wronged. Also I still didn't know if what Jenny said was true but I guess I didn't even care now. There were so many factors against us.

"Buffy- I get it… I get it now but I want… no need to know why?"

"Angel it's…" I stopped.

"It's?" he prompted.

"It's so much," I said, how could I tell him I thought that being with him would revert him to his alter ego? That would just sound crazy. I looked down at my feet. Angel kissed me knowing I wouldn't stop it. "Angel please stop it," I quietly pleaded.

"I love you."

Tears fell from my eyes, Angel always could make me cry, "Angel I think you'd better go," I looked up at him. He looked taken aback but kissed me, I pulled back again. "Angel stop it," I yelled at him, "You need to go!" His eyes were hard as he stepped away finally getting it that I wasn't kidding. I felt so alone watching him disappear down the road but I knew I would see him soon. It's not like he would really leave me… I needed him, I would always need him… the darkness stole him from my eyes and I turned away. The darkness always the same…

End of flashback

I opened my eyes… the warehouse was filled with light. I coughed and brought my head up to look around. Angelus was gone. I reached my hand up to feel my forehead and in the process found my nose had been bleeding. I wiped the almost dried blood away. "Buffy!" A voice stated from in front of me. I blinked a couple times, taking in the light, and found Lorne. How long had I been out?

"Lorne…"

"What happened? Are up all right? Did you kill the beast? What about Angelus? Here let me help you up," Lorne asked hurriedly as he helped me to my feet. My back flared and I grimaced. "Honey-pie you need to see a doc."

"I'm fine really. We just need to get back to the hotel," I paused, "Angelus killed the beast…" I paused again as Lorne opened the door to the outside, "What was your plan anyway?" I asked as he led me slowly around the building.

"To get a car… there was no way I could keep up," he laughed, "Don't worry I'll get you back to the hotel. Fred-I-cans will fix you right up."

"Fred-I-cans?" I mumbled.

"Don't worry about that right now," Lorne stated as he opened the passenger door for me and helped me in. I put down the seat belt and closed the door as Lorne went around to the other side. The car ride was silent for about two minuets until, "Why'd Angelus kill the beast? Weren't they on the same side?"

"I have no clue… he probably saved my life though," I answered quietly from my seat.

"What are we going to do…" Lorne questioned rhetorically. I looked at the outside world. "Well at least we don't have to worry about Angelus 24/7 with all this be-U-tiful light."

I turned back to Lorne, "Don't be fooled Angelus can strike at any second."

"Why do you seem to know more then you're letting on?" Lorne asked me, seemingly already knowing the answer but wanting me to tell him.

"Let's just say I have prior experience with him," I answered as visions of my own world seeped into my thoughts. Angelus's face changing back into Angel's… me having to send him to hell… me leaving Sunnydale… me coming back… seeing Angel after it all… Learning what had happened… already knowing in my heart.

"I sense that. You're not really the same Buffy I've heard about… but you're the only one that can save us… I know that," My shocked face presented itself to Lorne as he turned to look at me for a second. "Don't worry I won't spill this secrete. It's almost like there's this spell over you… you know that? It just screams that you're here to help."

"This spell," I whispered repeating him, "I think I have an idea. I need to get a hold of Willow and… and Jenny…" her name rolled off my tongue. It'd been too long…

Lorne stopped the car, took out the keys and moved his hand to open the car door. "Wait," I almost shouted at him.

He turned to me startled, "What?" I had to tell him everything… didn't I? Keeping this inside would kill me… or would it better to stay silent? He seemed trustworthy… I mean he had been helping me ever since I'd arrived in LA. Also he knew something was a miss. If I was going to stay in this dimension I shouldn't tell anyone how I was here though… they might think I was 'wrong' or that…. No, I couldn't do that to myself.

"If I tell you something… do you promise not to repeat it… or judge me on it?" I asked quietly.

"Honey-pie you can tell me anything… what's stuck in that pretty little head of yours?"

"You know that… that something is a little different with me… I mean I know you don't really know me… but you seem to," I paused.

"Well maybe not know… but feel something…"

"Yeah… do you know what it is? Have you figured it all out?" I asked simply. If Lorne knew already then I could stop worrying about this whole thing.

"Not really, actually your vibes are all over the place," He answered. I guess I'd have to explain it.

"Lorne… you're going to think I'm crazy… er," Lorne interrupted.

"I won't."

I laughed, I thought I was crazy, in a way, and I was me; "I'm from another dimension… Not that different from here but different enough. That's why some things I do may seem out of character. I think they're out of character, you know I don't really know. I could have been so many different things in this life," I looked at the world, the bright world, outside the car windshield, "I keep getting flashes of my life here, but I can't past them altogether. So you think I'm crazy yet?" I asked looking at Lorne.

He didn't seem shocked or even worried he simply replied, "I don't think you're crazy, you're the reason we're going to survive. Do you see how we've been living? Do you see that we aren't getting by? I knew the instant I met you that you'd help… and now I'm even surer of it," he paused, "Let's get you inside. Your backs probably killing you." He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Don't tell any of them though… I don't think it'll help any… just confuse them."

"If you think that's best kitten." He opened the door and walked around and opened mine for me.

"Thanks," I mumbled as Lorne helped me out of the vehicle and towards the hotel. My back was a bit better already. It would probably take about a day to fully heal. Which would be the perfect amount of time to get a hold of everyone and make sure that my plan was carefully set.

Lorne opened the hotel door for me and we stepped in together to three apparently worried/bored faces. Wesley was the only one that I knew but other then that there was a young man and woman. When we entered their attention quickly turned to us. "What happened?" Wesley asked us. I turned to Lorne for his assistance.

"Well the beast is dead and Angelus is on the loose," Lorne informed. I shot him a thank you glance; I didn't really feel up to trying to explain everything. "Buffy here's a little hurt, Fred you mind mending the girl?" The young woman got up and walked towards a room.

"Sure, I'll just get some supplies," She said while disappearing into the room. Lorne led me to the circle chair in the middle of the hotel. I sat down, which might I say hurt more then I was expecting, I winced.

"What did he do to you?" The man I didn't know asked.

Lorne again responded, "She landed on some glass."

"This has to stop, Angelus is too much of a hazard. I don't want to say I told you so, actually I do want to say it, I told you so… I told you that Angelus would be too much of a threat to bring forth. No one has encountered him in lets say 200 years and we thought we could handle him. What were we thinking?" The man ranted.

Wesley cut in, "We were thinking it was the only way to stop the beast. Angelus was the only one who seemed to know anything about him. We had to…"

Fred walked in then, Wesley and the other man turned to look at her. Obviously they both felt something for her, yet she seemed distracted by my injuries to even notice.

"Wow I've been rude, I haven't even introduced you all… Buffy that's Winifred," Lorne told me while pointing to the girl that was already looking at my back, "But we all call her Fred, and that's Gunn," He pointed to the man that I had not known," Gunn… the man who had called me… I could still hear his voice in my mind…

"Hello, is Buffy Summers there?" He asked. There was no emotion as he said it.

"This is her…."

"…And you know Wes," Lorne finished up, "and everyone knows who you are."

"Hi," I mumbled.

Fred cut in at this moment, "This might hurt a bit." I braced myself as Fred pulled something out from my back. My back yelled at me but yet I stayed silent. "That's all I can really do except bandage it. I think it'd be best if you stayed in bed for a few days… it looks pretty bad." Fred told me as she set what had been pulled out of my back on the floor. It was a medium size piece of glass.

"It'll be fine by tomorrow," I informed her as she applied a large white bandage to my back.

"You're done… but if you want it to heal properly I really wouldn't…"

"She'll be fine," Lorne snapped out of no where. All eyes shot to him at his outburst. "Oh ah sorry… Buffy'll be fine by tomorrow," He paused. "In just enough time… Hey where's Cordy and Connor?"

"Cordy's in her room like usual… and Connor's with her as usual," Gunn replied.

"Fred, I'll take Buffy off your hands," He turned to me, "You really do need some sleep, it's been a ruff day, when you guys see Cordy or Connor tell them what happened," Lorne pulled me up and helped me up the stairs. "You all should be ready for anything tonight… we don't know what Angelus might do…"

"Don't worry he won't come here tonight… at least not for a fight… he'll wait," I paused, "It's no fun unless I'm at least healed." Lorne looked at me with worry on his green face as he led me up the stairs.

"Night…" Lorne said down to the others.