A/N: Thoughts are in italics and are indicated with "/".

In every being on earth there are instincts. Ones born centuries ago when their kind roamed freely, when all they had to survive were themselves. Even before the acts of speech, allies and enemies were born in the heat of battle. You cannot change these, you cannot ignore them. When they are awakened, you have no choice but to heed their call.

Angel stared at Buffy as they both took a defensive stance. Slowly they began circling each other, studying how the other moves. Carefully, Angel stepped towards his opponent and threw a loose punch towards her face, Buffy easily dodged it and threw one of her own. The two gradually began exchanging blows, as if testing how the other reacts. Steadily their force began to increase, their attacks coming quicker and quicker. Buffy ducked to the ground as Angel's foot came flying mere inches from her head. Quickly jumping up, she dodged yet another kick before twisting and hitting him square in the chest, the unexpected force of the hit sending the vampire off balance. Recovering quickly, Angel swung left, barely missing her. Before Buffy had time to recover, Angel's foot connected with her side, sending her to the ground. Angered, she got up and began throwing punches.

As the two fought, Buffy could quickly feel herself falling away. She had been in loads of training sessions, done dozens of patrols, but she had never fought like this before. The voice that urged her to patrol every night was no longer whispering, but slowly taking over. She could feel her body beginning to surge with strength she didn't know she possessed as she moved, her arms fighting like they have a mind of their own. As each second passed she felt her awareness of the world slipping away, leaving nothing but her and the battle.

Surprised by her blows and caught up in the thrill of the fight, Angel blocked her punches one by one before doing his best to sweep the blonde's feet from under her. Buffy quickly moved back and tried to get some space between them, feeling her energy starting to waver. Noticing this, Angel moved closer and swung left, trying to get her off balance. With her last bit of energy, Buffy launched herself at him, at the same time Angel tried to hit her in the side. The two collided as the force of their attacks sent them falling to the ground.

Reacting on impulse, Angel pinned Buffy's arms above her head and positioned himself so she couldn't move. Despite her struggles, Buffy eventually realised that her efforts were in vain. Forcing herself to admit defeat, Buffy looked up at her captor, half-expecting to see a smirk adorning his features. However when she looked at him she was surprised by what she saw. In his eyes was the gleam of a predator- but not one of battle. As she stared at him she could slowly feel her awareness returning, and as she recognized the look on his face she began to wonder if she was really awake. In his eyes was something she knew was mirrored in her own, something she hadn't really known until she met him. Desire.

Lost in a wave of passion, mixed with the heat of the fight, the two warriors stared at each other before slowly tilting their heads. Creeping closer and closer to the other until their lips were a hairsbreadth apart. Buffy closed her eyes in anticipation as she started to close the space between them.

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP…"

Both Buffy and Angel jumped at the sudden noise, Angel scrambled to quickly get off the blonde before looking around for the source of the beeping. Buffy, still dazed, looked around the room slowly, not being able to find anything out of the ordinary.

"Buffy?" looking up at Angel, she saw him looking towards her questioningly.

Realizing that the beeping was coming from her, she quickly looked down and eventually pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, the small screen flashing "warning, battery low!" Suppressing a growl (and the urge to throw the wicked device across the room) she quickly turned the beeping off. Timidly, she got up and held up her phone.

"Low battery." She said quietly, offering him an explanation.

Angel nodded, looking away. They both stood in silence, trying to piece together what had just (almost) happened.

Buffy's mind was in utter chaos. Despite her quiet appearance she was having an inner battle of thoughts. Noticing that he was averting her eyes, Buffy groaned. She obviously misread him before, he was probably just caught up in how much she sucked at fighting that he didn't realise what she was doing. He's gorgeous, smart, charming, there's no way he'd ever want a warrior wannabe like her!

/Great! First he kicks your butt and now you make a complete idiot of yourself! Nice job Summers! Way to win him over/

Angel, on the other hand remembered fully well what had happened (in vivid detail) but had skipped past the embarrassment and went straight to the self-blaming part. Could he have been more of a jerk? All she wanted to do was spar and he had pinned her down and tried to kiss her! She was probably too dazed from the blow to even tell him to get off! She won't even look up at him, he'd be surprised if she didn't stake him by sunrise.

Deciding that a possible staking was better than the excruciating silence that filled the room, Angel finally spoke up.

"T-that was good. You, uh, got some really good hits in."

Buffy didn't know whether to cry in joy or misery as Angel completely dodged the subject. Mentally kicking herself (again) she looked up at him, praying she looked a little calmer than she felt.

"Thanks. You totally beat me though."

Angel shook his head, smiling slightly.

"No, I got lucky." At Buffy's questioning glance he continued. "For one, you got tired, from what you told me you're not used to fighting that hard. But really, I won because I was lucky enough to land on top."

Buffy (thankful for the distraction) sighed as she replayed the fight in her mind.

"I should have been able to flip you though, you got me down and I couldn't even move."

Angel gave her a nod, thinking for a moment.

"What was the first thing they taught you? As far as fighting techniques go?"

"Uh… the basics I guess. Kicks, punches, blocking, that kind of stuff."

"What about pinning people down?"

"Ya, they taught us that with blocking."

"And what was the last thing you learned?"

Buffy smiled,

"Giles tried to show me how to use one of these new hand-weapon things the council made. They're like long distance tranquilizers or something."

Angel gave her a small smile before standing before her.

"One of the things that I've figured out is that sometimes the right answer is the one you'd least expect- the simplest one. I went back to the basics; one of the first things a vampire learns after he is turned, is how to pin a man down to feed. Even now, after centuries of staying away from that, if I'm in a battle and have the opportunity, I'll pin someone down, it's a reflex. An instinct I guess you could call it."

Buffy sat down on a nearby bench, trying to absorb the information. She hadn't ever actually thought about what to do before, it was more like remembering what she was taught and carrying out plans. She knew that different people reacted different ways to an attack, she had just never thought of why. The council ensured that the colonists had always led an isolated life, never releasing information about other cultures or the past. Buffy had always wished to see the world, and although she'd never admit it to Giles, she had always had a curiosity about history. When did the war between humans and the demons start? Why were they all forced to live in colonies? She guessed a large part of it was the mystery of her own life, why there was an attack on her small Ireland village all those years. It seemed with each day that she knew Angel, he gave her more and more outlooks that she had never considered. Most of which went against what she had been taught all her life. Unfortunately, it also caused her to draw some unsettling conclusions about her culture and herself.

Sighing, Buffy looked down at the ground. Angel carefully put a finger under her chin and lifted her head to face him. Tears were building up in her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, "what's wrong?"

Buffy sniffed, and shook her head slightly.

"For almost all my life I've been training, I've been doing my best to be the best warrior I can. I've had to give up so much, and I'm still not good enough. For as long as I can remember I've been taught to become fighter, it's the only goal that I had to reach and now…I can't help thinking why me, why am I the failure, the one that everyone knows won't accomplish anything? I thought once I moved out things would get easier, but they didn't. They just got worse… Garrison's right. I'm never going to be good enough, why do I even bother trying?"

Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing, how Buffy could be so unaware of the power that she possessed, how someone so amazing could be so insecure. He sat in front of her, her eyes locked with his as a look of seriousness crossed his features.

"Buffy listen to me. This world isn't perfect. It's complicated and it's cruel, and no matter what anyone does there will always be someone there challenging you, trying to bring you down. I won't lie to you; your life will be hard. It will be painful and you're going to have to do things that no one should ever have to do. But no matter what Buffy, promise me that you won't give up. That if there's something out there that you truly believe in fight for it, don't let anything stand in your way. If you do that no one can ever stop you. I know youhave the power within yourself. Promise me when the time comes, you'll use it."

Tears spilled down Buffy's face as he spoke. He looked so sincere, the realization slowly dawned that he believed in her. He honestly believed that she could to do something, that she had power. A spark of hope ignited in her heart; she hadn't believed in herself for a long time, nor had she trusted anyone when they told her otherwise- always keeping the world an arms length away. But as she looked into his eyes she trusted him, more than anyone or anything in this world. He believed that she was strong; maybe she did have a chance after all.

Slowly she nodded,

"I promise." She whispered, before burying her face in his chest and sobbing.

Angel was surprised by her reaction, but quickly wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her gently; whispering soothing nonsense into her ear as she cried. Closing his eyes, he pulled her close; he wished that he could show her how amazing she was, erase any doubts from her mind. Things were only going to get harder for her; somehow he knew that. Silently, he vowed to protect her in any way he could, keep her delicate heart safe from those who dared harm it. If he accomplishes nothing else for the rest of his existence, he'll ensure that the brilliant light she possesses will never fade, that he will protect it with all that he has, from now until eternity.

The two sat there for a long time, wrapped in each other's embrace. Eventually Buffy's tears died down and they held each other in a comfortable silence. Love radiated from them both, their hearts longing to pour out their secrets to each other; to declare the love that had so quickly taken over them. After what seemed like forever (yet not near long enough for them), the two slowly released each other and stood up, exhaustion from the day overwhelming them. Buffy looked up at the clock and groaned, cursing under her breath.

"What is it?" Angel asked quietly, suddenly afraid he had done something wrong.

Buffy sighed,

"I didn't realise how late it was, my curfew started a half hour ago. It's gonna be almost impossible to get home without at least one guard noticing me."

"Oh." Angel considered her words for a moment before looking up at her again. "You could stay here."

"What?" Buffy asked, surprised by his suggestion.

"You don't have to," Angel said quickly, mistaking her reaction for a no, "it's just that it's late and we're both tired. You're more than welcome to stay here if you want, I don't want you to get into trouble again."

Buffy gave him a small smile, a blush threatening to cross her face.

"Thanks, that sounds really good at this point."

Angel gave her a small smile, and led her through the apartment and into his bedroom.

"Uh… you can sleep here. I haven't had a lot of time to unpack but it's alright for now. The kitchen and bathroom are just down the hall, I'll be in the living room if you need me."

Nodding, Buffy pulled off her shoes and sweater and sat on the edge of the bed. The frame was enormous, made from strong, dark brown wood with carvings etched into its surface. The sheets were deep red and made from silk, somehow it seemed only fitting to Buffy, considering what she knew of the man that owned them.

"Angel?" she said quietly, just as he reached the door.

"What is it?"

Biting her lip, Buffy reached out her arm, her face taking on a childlike appearance.

"Stay with me?" she asked quietly, willing to be in his arms again.

Giving her a small smile Angel took off his shoes and joined her on the large bed; lying down next to her, he put his arms around her again. Snuggling into his embrace, Buffy quickly began to drift to sleep murmuring something so quiet Angel could barely make it out.

"…love…" she whispered before drifting off, as a look of peace crossed her features.

Angel smiled wearily, and planted a kiss on her crown.

"I love you Buffy." He whispered, before letting sleep take him.

The two murmured words of devotion in their sleep, dreaming of what their hearts desired so much. Their souls silently prayed that one day, they would tell each other of their love in the waking world, each astonishingly oblivious to the feelings of the other.

End of Chapter Eleven.