Angel walked out of Sunnydale High School, exhausted. Three hours. The Watchers questioned me for three hours, and they still won't believe me! Angel angrily punched a tree that he was passing by. The only reason they stopped questioning me was that I had to patrol, and then they almost stake me when I reported back to Giles!
Angel stopped before the mansion on Crawford Street, and gazed at it, sighing. He thought, Willow's right. They don't have any right to make judgments on what we do here. This is not their battlefield. Hell, this isn't even their battle.
Angel muttered curses darkly under his "breath," before opening the door leading into the mansion. As Angel closed the door, he sensed something wrong. Wearily, he gazed around, as he pulled a stake out of his duster.
Angel began to slowly move from room to room. Everything is where it should be, he thought.
When Angel stood just before the entrance to The Room, he hesitated, as a sense of dread overtook him. As he began to pull open the door leading into The Room, it suddenly exploded outward.
With a cry surprise and shock, Angel fell onto his back. Above him, a crazed woman clung to him, growling. Angel remained absolutely still as the woman sniffed him, like a dog would to a stranger.
The woman, satisfied by whatever she smelled, scrambled off of Angel, moved into a corner of the room, and growled lowly at him. Angel slowly stood, not taking his eyes off of the woman, as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
"Buffy," Angel whispered questioningly.
Buffy tilted her head to the side, and gazed at Angel out of blank eyes. With a half-sob, Angel moved swiftly towards Buffy. Buffy, with an animalistic scream, rushed forward, slammed into Angel, then was out the door. With a curse at his own stupidity, Angel picked himself up off of the floor, and raced after her.
It seemed like hours to Angel before he finally caught up with Buffy at the edge of Weatherly Park. As they neared the center of the park, Angel leaped at Buffy, tackling her.
There was a moment of silence, as Buffy lay stunned below Angel, before struggling and pushing Angel roughly off of herself. Instinctively, Buffy faced Angel as he leapt to his feet. Wearily, Angel gazed at Buffy, waiting for her to make the first move.
Neither was able to make the first move, as they were suddenly surrounded by a group of vampires. By instinct alone, Buffy and Angel stood back-to-back, fighting the vampires. As Angel dusted the last vampire in his range, he turned to look at Buffy.
"Oh God," he whispered in shock.
Twenty feet away, Buffy silently crouched over a vampire, mindlessly destroying the vampire with her bare hands. With determination, Angel moved towards Buffy to stop her, and end the vampire's unlife. When he was only five feet away, the vampire burst into a cloud of dust.
Angel stopped moving as Buffy's head raised suddenly. It was a motion all vampires learned if they lived past their first year. The meaning was quite clear: Do not come closer.
Buffy slowly stood, before turning around to face Angel. Her eyes shone with recognition for a moment before rolling up into her head. She fainted, collapsing before Angel could catch her.
Angel entered the mansion, carrying the unconscious Slayer in his arms. He carried Buffy to the fireplace in the main room, and placed her in front of the hearth. He then went into the bedroom, and came out a moment later with a blanket and chains.
He placed the blanket over Buffy, then took one shackle of the chains, and locked it securely around Buffy's left wrist. When that was done, Angel took the other shackle, stood, and locked it to the iron bracket holding up the fireplace mantel. Angel pulled on the chain. When he was satisfied that Buffy wouldn't be able to break free, he left her side and went into The Room. Angel stopped short in the doorway, as he saw something that disturbed him deeply.
In the middle of The Room, burn marks outlined what could be the small figure of a woman. Within the outline, where the heart on the woman would be, was the image of two roses crossed. Where the roses crossed, a Claddagh ring lay.
Angel stood staring at the outline and ring, before turning and gazing at Buffy, eyes wide.