"…Giles it's early, if you wanna do the cryptic-british-guy thing call me back later, 'cause right now I'm not in the greatest of moods…yes everything's fine, I was in the middle of a good dream though! … Oh ya, because so many of my freaky-metaphor dreams are that good."

Angel stirred at the sound of Buffy's voice. Dreamily he reached beside him, only to find that the space she had occupied was empty. Concerned, the vampire opened his eyes and looked around the room, everything was in order and as he looked out the door he caught sight of Buffy pacing in the living room, with what looked like her cell phone in her hand. Silently cursing the miserable device that seemed more and more like some twisted hell spawn, Angel got out of bed and headed to the living room. Buffy was, in fact, talking on a phone and from her expression of annoyance; Angel guessed whomever she was talking to had woken her up. (Which, from experience, Angel had already learned was not a good idea)

Leaning against the doorframe, Angel watched as the blonde paced back and forth, oblivious to her audience.

"…So what you want me to check it out? …I don't get it why am I assigned to do this, especially after the-… Oh so we get be all stealthy with this one so the council won't catch on? …Yes 'we', that is if he wants to come… Giles he's good, I swear…I donno… okay… I'll be over around sunset- you said to be stealthy! … 'kay, you too… bye"

Buffy sighed tiredly, running her fingers through her hair. Turning, she spotted Angel, and almost jumped in surprise.

"Jeez, next time maybe make a little noise?"

Angel smirked,

"Sorry, you weren't sleeping, I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Buffy's expression softened somewhat at his worry.

"I'm fine. Giles just called, he wants me to check out a couple bars or something tonight, apparently there's a new gang of demons somewhere in the city, and of course our beloved council is too ignorant to do anything about it."

"He wants you to go out, alone, to a bunch of bars?"

"Two bars, actually. They're both underground, kinda low on the radar. Apparently it's where a lot of the not-so-human people go, Giles figures we can find Linds at one of them."

Angel gave her a bemused look,

"Linds?"

"Lindsay. A contact Giles knows, he used to work for the council but quit like forever and a half ago, he's managed to evade them ever since. He's where you go when you need some info, I've only met him a couple times but I'll be able to find him."

"And you're going alone?"

Buffy smirked,

"Well if someone felt the need to help me out, I sure wouldn't object."

Angel nodded and went into the kitchen, looking through his cupboards for coffee.

"I'll warn you though," Buffy said as she came into the room, "if you wanna come you're gonna have to meet Giles. And that could lead to oodles of questions and- ohh is that coffee?"

Angel smiled at her abrupt change of subject.

"I'll come with you and I'm sure I can survive any questions he comes up with, and yes, this is coffee. Not the kind you like but I have lots of sugar."

"You sure know the way to a girl's heart." Buffy graciously took the sugar-filled drink from Angel and sat up on his counter. "Why don't you drink coffee? I mean, does it still wake you up or do you just drink blood?" she asked curiously.

"No I drink other things, just caffeine makes me jittery. I usually have tea in the morning." Angel said, putting a teabag in his mug.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she took another sip.

"On second though, you and Giles are gonna get along just great."

The sun had just set, and the sky was a deep blue shade. Angel and Buffy were on their way to Giles' house to check in, although it was early in the evening, Angel had managed to convince Buffy that he would be more than safe from the sun. Realising that the earlier they left the earlier they could get done, Buffy reluctantly agreed, yet insisting that they stay by the shadows.

Angel was feeling unexpectedly nervous as they drew closer and closer to their destination. He knew Giles was like a father to Buffy and he didn't want to make a bad impression. If it weren't for his nerves, Angel would laugh; he was acting like a teenaged boy going to meet his girlfriend's parents for the first time. Not that the knowledge was comforting at all, but except for a few things (most of which he suspected Buffy would slap him for) nothing was going to ease his nerves completely.

Noticing his discomfort, Buffy gave him a soft smile.

"Don't worry so much. You're a tea drinking, karate chopping, bookworm. Giles will love you."

Angel gave her a sad imitation of a smile, nodding slightly.

"Come on, we're only like a block away."

Buffy was right, a few minutes later the two were standing in front of Giles' door. Ignoring Angel's weak protests, Buffy opened the door and half-dragged him inside, not bothering to knock before she entered. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ran straight into a familiar brunette.

"Oh god, Tara! I'm so sorry! I seriously did not see you there." She apologized, picking up her sister's dropped books.

"No, it's fine. I was just heading to work to drop these off." Noticing Angel, Tara smiled. "And who might this lovely man be?"

For once, Angel was glad that he was unable to blush.

"Right! Sorry, Angel this is Tara, Tara this is Angel."

Tara resisted a laugh, noticing the somewhat dreamy expression on her sister's face at the mention of his name.

"Hi! You must be that really gorgeous guy Buffy has been talking about! You saw her with Gunn right? That time she was on patrol, and you came to the colony that night and she caught you watching her and she thought you were like the most ama-" Tara stopped for a second, finally noticing her sister's pleading/embarrassed glare. "aaaand I don't even know why I'm saying this, Buffy hasn't mentioned anything about you."

Smiling slightly, Angel nodded (and made a mental note to ask Buffy what exactly she thought, later on.)

"Hi."

Observing her sister's teasing look, Buffy quickly broke the silence.

"Hey, Tara, I'm sorry we're holding you up aren't we? You probably want to get to work and stuff, and we have to see Giles still so I'll see you later."

Tara shrugged, heading for the door.

"No problem, I should get going. Bye, it was nice meeting you Angel."

Angel nodded, just as the door had closed, Buffy was halfway across the room.

"Sorry about her she has a wild imagination, Giles should be in the library so lets go." She said quickly.

Angel let out a small laugh (partially in amusement, but mostly in nervousness) and followed Buffy into a nearby room. The library was enormous, two floors of books (that he could see) and small tables here and there. The walls were (as usual) silver, but were covered with so many bookshelves it was hardly noticeable. In the middle of the room was a huge metal table with chairs gathered around it, and to his right was a counter with several rooms behind it (where he assumed Giles' office was). On the table, several books were stacked high, many had been left open on the table. Buffy hopped up on the table and looked around.

"GILES! WE'RE HERE!" she yelled.

Angel winced at the volume of her voice; he didn't think someone that small could be that loud.

"Buffy, as I have told you many times before, it would serve us all well if you would look for me once and a while." Giles said, as he came out from his office.

Angel watched as the man stepped into the room. He was a few inches shorter than Angel, yet still a lot taller than Buffy; his hair was grey from age, and glasses hung over his eyes. He was dressed in grey pants and a dark blue sweater, and held a thick looking book in his hand.

"I looked! See, I sat, and made with the looking, and didn't see." Buffy said innocently.

"Yes, because I'm never in other parts of the house." Giles turned to Angel, "You must be Angel, I'm Rupert Giles, Buffy's trainer."

"It's nice to meet you sir." Angel said politely as he shook his hand.

The trainer nodded, placing his book on the counter.

"Giles, what's a fie-ral demon?"

"A Fyarl Demon is a tall creature with curved horns on their head, they can shoot paralysing mucus from their nostrils. They are very strong, formerly to be used for henchmen or soldiers." Giles said absently, as he began looking through a nearby stack of papers. "Why exactly do you ask?"

Buffy held up an open book in reply, her nose scrunched up.

"It was in this book, and for the record 'ew'!"

Angel smiled as she put the book down, he found her unbelievably cute when she was grossed out.

"So Giles, what's the what?" Buffy asked, suddenly she felt extremely bored.

Giles looked up from the pile of papers.

"Hm? Oh yes, as you know there is word that a group of demons recently made their way inside the colony. I want you to visit these bars and see if anything looks suspicious. Also do your best to find Lindsay, I'm sure he would prove to be most helpful in this case." Giles said as he handed her a piece of paper, on it were several addresses scribbled down.

"Okaay, so what exactly are we looking for?" Buffy asked, confused.

"We need to determine whether or not these demons are peaceful, and if not, what their plans are. As you know this is command central for the council, it's a prime target for attacks."

Buffy shoved the paper in her pocket.

"Gotcha, info-trip only."

Getting up, the warrior made her way across the room, signalling Angel to follow.

"Angel? A moment please." Giles said before he could leave.

Buffy turned and gave Giles a "go easy on him" look, before going out the door. Angel turned to the trainer, his nervousness slowly returning.

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"It is quite obvious, Angel, that Buffy wants to help you. She trusts you infinitely, and it would seem that in the past few days she has opened up to you considerably, which I can honestly say is a rare thing for her. I admit, some of my reservations are because of what you are. Buffy has reluctantly informed me of your soul, however the idea of a vampire willingly helping a warrior is quite foreign from my perspective."

"I understand." Angel said in agreement.

"Nevertheless, I trust Buffy's judgement. She tells me that you are indeed peaceful and thus far, I have not seen any evidence to the contrary. But I must know, what are your intentions with her?"

Angel considered his answer carefully, that was what he had been asking himself all along. Deciding that honestly was the best answer, Angel looked up at the man before him.

"I don't know." At his answer, Giles raised a brow. "Buffy is… she's important to me. There's a lot of things about how I feel about her that's I'm unsure of, I've barely spoken to humans in the last century never mind-"

Angel paused, trying his best to put his feelings into words.

"But I do know that I want to help her, in any way I can. I care about her more than anything; so much it scares me sometimes. I want to protect her. I want to help her train, and come into the potential that she has, teach her everything I know so that she can survive when she's put on duty. I know it's not the clearest of answers but…"

Giles nodded, a knowing look crossed his face. Angel's feelings for Buffy were obvious to the trainer.

"I understand. Thank you."

Angel nodded and headed out the door, relief washing through him. Across the room was Buffy, tossing a sculpture up in the air.

"You ready?" she asked, setting it on a nearby table.

Angel nodded, following her out the door.

"So wha'cha guys talk about?" she asked curiously as they headed into town.

"Nothing." Angel replied, as a smirk crept across his face.

It was about a half hour later before the pair found the first bar, it was behind dozens of back alleys and almost impossible to find. Loud music blared from inside, as the two of them entered, coloured lights and crowds assaulted them. It was more of a club, throngs of people were dancing in the center of the room, tables were scattered throughout the building and at the far side of the room was a large bar. Nodding to her companion, Buffy followed him through the thick crowds of people to a quiet(er) spot in the corner of the room.

"See anything?" Buffy asked, as she scanned the hordes of people in the club.

Angel shook his head, doing his best to tune out the uncomfortable crowd.

"I don't see Lindsay either, there's an upper level, maybe we should check up there."

Reluctantly, Angel nodded and followed her up a staircase to the next "floor". You could see through the flooring to the people below, although the second level was a lot less busy.

"Lets split up, we can get through this faster." Buffy said, and before Angel could object she was gone.

Angel let out a weary sigh before heading off in the other direction. He gazed at the people as he passed by them, wishing that he was anywhere but there. Over the years, Angel had become pretty good at suppressing his demon, but when he was here, with massive amounts of living humans all around him it was even hard for him to resist the temptation. He could smell each and every one of them, feel their energy pulsing through their bodies, each heartbeat was like a loud drum in his ear that he couldn't block out.

"Angel?"

The vampire jumped at the feel of a small hand on his arm, turning, he was relieved to see Buffy staring at him.

"Whoa, you okay?" she asked, noticing his reaction.

"Fine." He said, surprised that he didn't feel her coming.

"It doesn't look like he's here, and if there is anything suspicious going on it's way too crowded to tell."

Angel nodded,

"Lets go."

Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs and through the crowds of people. They were a few feet from the back exit when a familiar voice called out.

"Hey! Angel man!"

Angel groaned and turned to see a short Irishman coming towards them, a half-empty cup in his hand.

"Angel, surprise to see you here. Coming to 'ave a drink?"

Buffy stepped out from behind Angel, eyeing the Irishman curiously.

"Ah, aren't you a sweet one." He said, nodding to Buffy.

"Doyle-" Angel half-growled in warning.

"Don't worry man, I'm sure the girl don't mind me talkin' to yer for a while."

"I think he's drunk." Buffy said to Angel, noting the slight lack-of-balance in Doyle's steps.

"Nah, you see lass if I were drunk I'd be suggesting a lot more inappropriate things, which I'm sure Angel here already would be making me regret."

Buffy smirked, sure she was slightly embarrassed, but at least he was honest.

Angel, however, didn't show as much appreciation for his friend's comment.

"We're looking for a guy, name's Lindsay. You seen him?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Ah that guy, ya I've seen him here and there- not very often mind you he's not exactly Mr. Social; he usually hangs out in some of the less lively bars. Quiet, not as crowded and such."

Angel nodded and turned to the door.

"Thanks for your help Doyle." Buffy said as she remembered the strange man's name.

"Not a problem lass, it was a pleasure meeting yer. Be sure to keep Angel in line." He replied, giving her a slight wink.

Buffy smiled and followed Angel out the door.

"What's with the grouchy face? He didn't seem that bad." Buffy said, as she led him to their next destination.

Angel just scowled in return, more than a little annoyed (and jealous) by Doyle's comments towards Buffy.

"Well I like him." Buffy said before moving ahead.

Angel let out a growl, hoping that their next stop was a bit less eventful.

End of Chapter Twelve.