The demon listened intently, leaning against the door. It had silently but stealthily followed Buffy since she had run off. It could hear sounds of passion coming from the apartment, and was determined to interrupt. It began its feral scraping at the door…

Buffy was wearing only panties, and Angel was in naught but his boxers, and Buffy's hair was a mess, but it was nothing compared to what she had done to Angels. Her left hand was deeply entwined in the thick dark hair on the back of Angel's neck, and the front of his normally perfectly spiked hair had been muzzled at some stage. Angel had done some damage too. Buffy's normally well groomed golden locks were tangled loosely in his fingers, and his free hand was holding her roughly against the wall. They were both panting, and then they heard it. That noise…

They had both heard it, but both had prayed they hadn't, that it was some trick. Buffy looked down, losing eye contact with Angel. Noticing this, Angel tipped her chin up, and kissed her passionately. Moaning, Buffy returned the kiss. Angel knew they had to stop; it was just the stopping part that was hard. No, not hard, unbearable. He reluctantly loosened his grip on Buffy, letting her stand on solid ground for the first time in a while, and his hands settled loosely on her hips. Buffy whimpered and moaned in protest, drawing his hands tighter around her. Before he could register it, they were kissing again. It was Buffy's turn to try and stop. She turned her head away from him, but Angel only readjusted, kissing her neck, her collarbone and moved in to kiss her lips…

"Angel…" Buffy said breathily, between sharp intakes of breath (Angel was still kissing her neck and the skin above her breasts).

Angel groaned huskily, and let Buffy go entirely. He moved away, he needed that space, or he would be kissing her again…

Buffy took this time to get dressed. Angel turned and noticed this. Buffy looked deep into Angel's eyes, they were a wash of disappointment, like her own.

"We have to kill it, Angel."

Angel sighed. "I know." He began pulling on his dark pants and a dark top, which greatly resembled the one he wore when he and Buffy escaped the Judge.

Buffy watched him, and when he had finished, she spoke quietly, voicing a concern that had been plaguing her thoughts.

"Angel? What did you see? Y-You know, the demon…" she trailed off.

Angel hadn't wanted to tell her. He paused. "Now's not the time." He gestured to the door.

"Right, evil."

They both walked towards the door, and Buffy grabbed her scythe, Angel favouring his battle axe.

Twenty minutes later the couple could be found sitting on a stone wall in a graveyard "searching for the demon". Buffy was sitting in Angel's lap, and he had his arms around her waist. She was leaning down to kiss him, when the demon vaulted over them, ready to attack. Immediately, they shifted into battle stance, Angel, protective of Buffy, stood a little in front.

"Back for more huh? Just couldn't skip town without getting your ass kicked one more time?" Buffy punned.

The demon merely laughed, or what must have been a laugh, it sounded pretty odd to Buffy and Angel.

"Well I'm glad you found that funny, 'cos what's coming really really isn't." Buffy shot back.

Buffy instantly moved in to attack. She aimed a hard blow to the demons upper body with her scythe, but it was blocked, and she instead received a hard blow to the stomach. Angel snarled at this, and rushed in, delivering a successful uppercut to the demons jaw, causing it to fall down on its back. Looming over it, Angel swung his axe, ready to decapitate it, when a familiar sensation came over him.

"No!…"

Angel swung madly at the creature, then his vision finally went, and a scene came before him…

Buffy was charging for the demon, fiercely protective of her fallen lover. Angel was aware of himself lying there, but he couldn't move, he could only watch as Buffy aimed a deadly swipe at the demon with her scythe. It collided. The demon's left shoulder ran thickly with green blood, dripping onto the grass. Buffy moved in again, and made for the demon's head, she was blocked.

Angel wanted to help her. He was panicked and worried, fiercely protective, growling deep in his throat. He tried to sit up, but it was as if a weight had been pressed upon him. He growled, frustrated and then something caught his attention. This was not an alternate reality. This was no lie, this was really happening. He had to stop the demon. How could he get out of this fake version of the real world?

The answer came almost immediately; the demon had swung a hard backhand punch which collided with Buffy's cheek. She fell, and then Angel watched in horror as the demon leaned over her, watching her. It seemed that the demon wasn't going to kill her – yet. Suddenly, Angel could move again…

Angel watched as Buffy's eyes became glazed, and he knew she was just going through what he had. He had to get to her, but first, this demon…