Rupert Giles was sitting in his dining room; having some tea and lunch while reading the latest council reports. Other than the arrival of the vampire, not much was going on. The details on the demon's presence, however, were sketchy, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. Sighing he put down the papers and took a sip of his tea.

"Giles?"

The trainer looked up and almost choked on his drink. There, standing in the doorway, was Buffy, and given the look on her face he was unsure of whether to run and hide or gather her in a fatherly embrace. Her eyes were red and she looked as though she hadn't slept at all, her expression was of both helplessness and frustration. Deciding to play it safe, Giles rose from his seat and looked at her with concern.

"Buffy. Are you all right? Here… sit down, would you like some tea?"

Buffy smiled at Giles' offer,

"No thanks, although I'd love to have a nice soothing glass of british-y goodness, I'm really here to see Tara."

"Oh, of course. She's upstairs, in the parlour I believe."

"Thanks."

Buffy turned and started up the stairs in search of her friend. Tara was the same age as Buffy, her parents had died when she was young in an attack, and Giles had taken her in and raised her. She and Buffy had become inseparable for most of their lives, but when Buffy had to start her rigorous training she and Tara had grown somewhat apart. Although in the past few years she didn't see her as much as she'd like, Buffy knew that she could go to her for anything. Now Tara worked for a childcare center in town and had chosen to remain living with Giles.

Reaching the parlour, Buffy found a light-brown haired woman sitting at a table; a book in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Hey." Buffy said timidly.

The brunette looked up and quickly put aside her book.

"Buffy, hi! What are you doing here, Giles said you were going to be training with Faith and Gunn today."

"I will be, I just wanted to talk to you first. But if you're busy I can come back later, I don't want to intrude or anything."

"No, it's fine! I was just catching up on some reading. What's up... are you okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Buffy shook her head.

"Oh, come on sit down." Tara said, leading her into a chair. "What happened?"

Buffy looked down at her hands.

"It's stupid. I mean I only saw him for a couple seconds and I don't even know who he is. And it's not like I knew what he was I just thought he was a regular guy but he's not, and then he walked away and now I can't get him out of my head and-"

"Wow, Buffy just slow down okay? What are you talking about, who's this guy?"

Buffy sighed,

"Yesterday, on my way back here from patrol? I ran into Gunn and his guys, Gunn knew I was patrolling but he let me off the hook. Then they started walking again and I saw this guy. I've never seen him around, he was the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen. He was looking at me and then I caught his eye and god, Tara it was like nothing I've ever felt before. I was a few feet away from him but I've never felt that close to anyone in my life! It was like he saw inside me, like he knew me better than I know myself. I didn't even say anything and then he left."

Tara was quiet for a moment, trying to process what her friend had just told her.

"Wow, okay well that's good though right? I mean you know better than I do that people aren't' allowed to leave the colony, it'd be too much of a risk. So that means he'll be around, maybe you'll see him again."

"That's the problem Tara. Did you hear about that vampire that was sent here?" Tara nodded, "Well…"

A look of recognition crossed Tara's features, soon to be replaced with shock.

"Oh."

"And I can't get him out of my head! I could barely sleep last night because I kept having dreams of him. I mean, I don't even know him and he's a vampire! God, you probably think I'm crazy."

"No, not at all Buffy. Like you said you didn't know he was a vampire, and if he wasn't I know you… okay so you'd still be this paranoid but for different reasons."

Buffy gave her a soft laugh,

"Gee thanks."

"Oh come on, you know it's true. But look at it this way, if the Council is letting him in he must be good right? And if he is then maybe it isn't as big a deal as you're making it."

"Well sure if you're going to go all logic on me."

"I'm just trying to make you see another side to this. It'll work out Buffy, just try not to worry about it so much."

Buffy smiled.

"Alright I'll try. Thanks for listening to my babble-fest. I'd better get home, get bit of sleep before dusk, promised Faith and Gunn I'd meet them downtown for a bit of training."

"No problem Buffy, I'll see you later." Buffy nodded and turned to leave. "Oh and Buffy?"

"Ya?"

"You are going to have to tell me how this one turns out, I haven't seen this much drama since a kid swallowed a hot-wheels car last year."

Buffy laughed and headed out, Tara was right things would work out. Not that they could get much more complicated.

Meanwhile, Angel was facing some similar dilemmas of his own. The warriors, as ordered, had shown him to his new apartment and left immediately. He had let out a sigh of relief when he'd laid eyes on the place; the council had brought all his old furniture from New York. He looked through the apartment and although a lot of his more unimportant items were missing, most of it was here. Almost all of his furniture was made from wood, he had never been a huge fan of steel furnishings and although he knew it was all a plan to get on his good side, he was thankful to have what he would call a normal apartment. And as an added bonus, they had also brought a large chest that to the naked eye looked like it was filled with sheets, it was technically, but underneath that was his collection of weaponry. Crossbows, axes, stakes, knives, even a few of his favourite broadswords were buried inside.

However home furnishings weren't his problem. He needed to get things for the apartment; first aid supplies, toiletries, and then there was the issue of figuring out how to get some pig's blood. He, luckily, had acquired a large amount of money over the years, and still owned priceless art pieces from hundreds of years ago; therefore he didn't need to work. But the challenge of figuring out where to shop and how to get there was proving to be more difficult than he thought. There was some form of a phonebook in the kitchen, a list of a few stores in town with their addresses and hours, but Angel had trouble finding ones that were open into the night. He was also finding it almost impossible to concentrate. His mind kept wandering to the petite blonde who he had seen the night before.

Because of what he was, he had made a habit of sleeping through most of the day. Now, it being close to noon, he'd had less than an hour's sleep and was trying concentrate on the lists in front of him. Sighing he threw them across the table and started pacing; no matter how often he told himself to cool down he found the task almost impossible. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was her. By now everyone in the colony probably knew he was there, and he doubted she would react well if she found out what he was. Unfortunately it wasn't an enormous colony, and given that no one would be leaving it anytime soon, chances were they would be forced to meet again. Angel could argue for hours over whether that was a good thing or not.

Growling in frustration, Angel picked up a nearby knife and threw it to the other side of the room. Running his hand through his hair, he resumed his pacing.

"Alright, remind me not to make you all too angry." Said an unfamiliar, Irish voice.

Angel whipped around to see a short man with dark hair; he was dressed in a bright red shirt and brown jacket, immediately Angel knew something was different about him.

"Who are you?" Angel asks warily.

"Name's Doyle." The man says simply, walking around the apartment.

"You're not human."

"Half human to be exact. Nice place, a bit out of the ordinary… but I suppose that would apply to you as well."

"Because I haven't thrown you out or because you're still standing?" Angel asked, hoping some subtle threats would convince the man to leave.

"Well, ordinarily after stepping into a strong and fairly grouchy demon's apartment I'd have to say both, but I was thinkin' more because of you having a soul. Not an ordinary thing among vampires."

"What do you want?" Angel asked in a deadly tone.

"Just to talk. You see Angel; I've been here for years now. Me and a few pals snuck in a while back, and when you've been here for as long as I have you learn things."

"What things?"

"Well for one, you know who to talk to if you wanna get info. But you also learn a lot about what it's like to be different- a demon. Now for me, it's not too bad, I can fit in as a human, but I've seen what happens to demons who are discovered and it's not pretty. They'll gang up on ya, if you're lucky they'll let you live. You thought the mobs you used to get were bad, these people can be worse. I came to warn you. Everyone knows what you are Angel, they're going to come after you. Just remember, don't fight back, if you kill any of 'em you're a dead man." He paused slightly, before adding as an afterthought; "Oh, and watch out for the pipe it'll give ya a nasty bruise you won't soon forget."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Doyle shrugged,

"I've seen enough peaceful demons get killed, I don't wanna see another one get it. You could do some real good here though man, something's tellin' me we're gonna see some great things from you."

Angel was silent, staring at the stranger for a moment.

"Sorry, I'm not exactly the champion type. Thanks for the info, but if you don't leave I'm going to have to start with the throwing out thing."

"Gotcha man, I'll see you around, and good luck to ya." He laughed, heading out the door, "Powers that be, with that little spitfire around you're to need it."

Angel stared at the spot the half-demon had just occupied, to say the least he was confused. It wasn't even as though his messages were all that cryptic, they were just… unfinished. Who were the powers that be? Who was the "spitfire"- a new enemy? And why the hell did he have to watch out for a pipe! Spotting something on the ground, Angel moved across the room to pick it up. It was a simple playing card, the queen of hearts; only instead of the typical portrait expected there was a picture of a demon turned to it's right, and behind it, facing left, was a female. In her hand was a dagger of some kind; jewelled with red and white gemstones. Although the two figures were obviously separate, they seemed somehow intertwined. Sighing at what could either be a cryptic clue or just a card from a somewhat strange deck, he walked to his room and tossed it into one of his drawers, deciding on the latter for now.

After going over and over the strange messages in his mind, trying to decipher their meanings; and only to become more baffled, Angel turned to see that over an hour had passed. He went into his room and decided to read for a while until sunset arrived.

Hours later, when the sun had fallen and the light was safe enough to travel in, Angel headed downtown hoping to find some of the supplies he had been looking for. As he walked down the stairs and out the front door, Doyle stared after him.

"And so it has begun."

End of Chapter Four.