"Angel," she whispered, her eyes welling with fresh tears at the sight of her first love. Though her pain and confusion, she missed the signs that should have told her that this was not her lover. She almost ran to him, throwing herself into his arms, sobbing against his chest.

Two ways of playing this game, he thought, then smiled out of her sight as he slowly put his arms around her. This could be fun.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she sobbed. "I don't know what to do!"

"Oh, Buffy," he sighed, putting as much sorrow and pain into his voice as possible, though he wanted to laugh. This was just too great! "I came as soon as I heard."

"H-how did you know?" she whispered tearfully, looking up into his suddenly very-concerned eyes with panic in her own.

"Everyone knows, Buffy," he said softly. "Your friends…the Council…and they're all after you." A false concern filled his deep brown eyes as he gazed at her pretty face, all the more beautiful to him for the pain that filled it.

"They are?" Buffy asked in hurt surprise, before breaking down again. He had never seen her so emotionally on edge, so utterly bewildered and lost.

He loved it.

He looked at her with false sympathy in his eyes as he said softly, "Of course, Buffy. You're a vampire now. And a very dangerous vampire. Do you have any idea of your own power, Buffy?"

"I don't care about power!" she replied, shaking her head. "I just want to go home!"

"Buffy," he began tentatively. "Do you – remember what just happened? At your house?"

She shook her head. "No. I've been having blackouts. Losing time. Ever since – it happened." She paused. "I just – woke up – in my room, and Dawn – and Spike – the way they were looking at me – I just couldn't stand it, I ran."

"I went by your house, Buffy," he reluctantly informed her. "You attacked your sister."

"No," Buffy moaned, her voice almost a sob. This was all just too much for her to take. "No."

"They – they're out for blood, Buffy," he warned her. "They nearly staked me just for showing up when I got there, and that was before I told them I was trying to help you!"

"My friends?" Buffy was stunned. The only ones she had thought to turn to to somehow get through this – and they wanted to kill her?

"Not your friends," he corrected gently, shaking his head. "Not anymore. Everything has changed, Buffy."

"I know I'm a vampire now," Buffy began, haltingly, confused. "But – I don't want to be evil. Aren't I supposed to want to be evil? Doesn't that mean something? I mean – I'm supposed to be all about the killing, right? I'm not supposed to have a conscience if I'm a vampire – right?"

"You don't," he softly, gently told her. "It's like this for every new vamp, Buffy. It's hard to accept the truth of what's happened to you. But in the end – the demon always wins out."

"Is that why – why I've been having the blackouts?" she asked, dread in her green eyes, bright with tears. "The demon taking over?"

He nodded slowly. "One to those times when you black out – you won't come back."

She broke down again at that, and he pulled her closer, comforting her.

"But I'll be here for you, Buffy. Right until then, and – and after. I want to help you through this."

"How can you help me?" she demanded, angry frustrated tears streaking her face. "If this is what I am now – if there's no way of winning this – the only way you can help me is to stake me, Angel!"

"No!" he said, a little too forcefully. Then, softer, "No, Buffy. I – I can't stand the thought of losing you."

"But you're going to," she cried in despair, shaking her head. "There's nothing you or anyone can do about it. You said it yourself. Sooner or later, I'm gonna black out and not come back!" She suddenly looked up at him, her wide eyes almost fierce. "When that happens, Angel – you have to promise me – you have to do it. Stake me. I – I can understand your not wanting to as long as I'm still – here, but the moment you know that I'm gone and that – that thing has taken over completely – promise me you'll stake me."

"As long as there's any part of you here, Buffy, I can't do that," Angel said, making his voice as tender and loving as he could. "I don't want to lose you. But you're right, it's going to happen eventually. We can't stop it. I promise, Buffy. I won't let you end up like that."

Buffy's eyes widened further, surprised by his agreement to her request, despite knowing that it was necessary.

"It's no use," she realized in a whisper, looking down again. "I'm going to lose this one. There's no way around it. That thing is going to take over, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

"You're right, Buffy," he whispered. "It's really – it's really useless to fight it."

She looked up at him with startled eyes, shocked to hear such awful, hopeless advice from her first love, the only one she had ever trusted so fully. If Angel was telling her to give up – then – there must really be no hope at all. A desolate feeling of cold despair came over her as she clung to him, sobbing again.

"It's all right, Buffy," he said soothingly. "I'm right here. I'll be here for you until the end." And he held her in his arms, as she poured out her pain and terror. They sat down on the floor, and stayed there for hours, as she told him all about the past few months and the things she had done, while not in control of her own body.

Angelus feigned understanding of her guilt and shame over what she'd done, while inwardly laughing at the devastation she had caused her friends – especially his wayward childe. Oh that is just too rich! I'm gonna have to make good use of this little piece of information! he decided with a smirk above her head.

"Maybe – maybe that's why they're so – I don't know – reluctant to help you," he said, as if he was hesitant to say the words, reluctant to hurt her. But he relished the little gasp of pain as she looked up at him in shocked realization.

"Oh my God! They hate me, Angel! They hate me for what I've done!"

"I'm so sorry, Buffy, my love," he whispered, kissing her gently on the cheek from behind her as he held her in his arms. She cried and cried until he became tired and impatient, which was saying a lot as her tears usually brought him great pleasure. Finally, she fell asleep in his arms.

As he stood carefully, lifting her in his arms, he smiled down at the troubled, yet beautiful tear-streaked face. This was going well. She had bought his lies about her moral conflict being a natural part of her turning, despite the fact that her slaying experience with new fledglings should have told her otherwise. She was simply too distraught to think it through, and so alone and desperate that she took his every word as truth, clinging desperately to any kindness she could grasp. He had shown up just in time to play the hero's role to her damsel in distress, and he had her eating out of his hand.

Now that he had dashed the hope she had found in the fact that she was not yet fully given over to evil, he could set about seeing that the evil did take her completely. His smooth lies cloaked in a deception of love were already halfway to convincing her to give up completely. And when she did, when her vampiric nature took over, together they would reign.

He could hardly imagine the level of power that Buffy would have now, as a vampire. She had been a legend as the Slayer, having lived beyond the time allotted her as a Slayer, even dying, yet always coming back, always winning. Now with her Slayer powers, in combination with vampire strength and senses, she would be an unstoppable weapon for him to wield. It would be like Europe all over again, he thought gleefully. Different powerful blonde vampire, and no annoying offspring tagging along, but the terror of the mortals would be just as sweet.

By the time she awakened a few hours later, he had long since transported her from the wreckage of Spike's crypt to the old mansion. When her eyes opened, he knew immediately that this was the other Buffy – the new Buffy.

She smiled a sleepy, seductive smile when her eyes fell on him. She knew him as well, then.

"Angelus," the word came out in a throaty purr. She started toward him, then stopped suddenly, frowning – at the chains that held her to the wall.

He had had no idea what her reactions might be when her true nature surfaced, how she would feel about him and such. He had thought it wise to take no chances.

She gave the chains an experimental tug before turning narrowed eyes on him. "Explain?" she said too brightly, eyebrows raised.

He let out a low laugh as he slowly approached her. "Just a precaution, lover. Couldn't chance falling asleep and waking up dust."

"And chaining me up – that's an excellent way to make me not want to dust you," she smirked, but the expression in her eyes was playful.

"Glad to see you haven't changed – much," Angelus smirked back.

"Yeah, you know," she shrugged casually, smiling at him. "Besides the whole evil thing." She pulled against the chains again, but they still held. "So what's this all about?" she asked him. "Why are we here?" She looked around to take in her surroundings before turning her gaze back to Angelus.

"I just thought, here you are, a new fledgling, no decent sire in sight," he explained, a suggestive smile on his lips as he looked her slowly up and down, obviously enjoying the sight of her in chains. "I thought you were in need of some – guidance. And since I would have been the one to have turned you if I could have, I'm more than willing to fill that role."

"How sweet," she responded with mild sarcasm, but she was still smiling. "And the chains are just – what – a bonus?"

"Exactly," he laughed softly, walking slowly to stand in front of her and gently run his fingers down her cheek. "I was just wondering my dear, if you are even aware of the tremendous power that is at your command."

"Do tell," she murmured, leaning slightly into his hand, her eyes holding his.

"Buffy – there's never been anyone like you," he continued. "A Slayer has never been turned. You possess the power of a Slayer and a vampire combined. Do you realize what we could do with that kind of power?"

"Wow!" Buffy replied, pulling slowly away from his touch, her tone full of a mockery of awe, her eyes widened too innocently. "We could rule the world! I had no idea! And you want to – what – help me – figure out how to use my power?"

"Something like that," he smirked.

"So let me see if I've got this straight," she said in a light tone, giving the chains another casual pull as she spoke, testing them again, though they still held fast. "I'm the only Slayer ever turned. I have unprecedented strength and stamina. I have enough power to rule the world if I wanted to. Right?"

Angelus was pleased. "Right," he nodded. "Any questions?"

"Just one," she smiled disarmingly. The next instant, she effortlessly snapped the chains that bound her and in one smooth motion gripped his throat in one hand, turning to slam him back against the wall. She held him there as he struggled uselessly in her grip, as she continued in a hard voice, all trace of the playfulness gone now.

"Why would I want to share that with you?"

Hard, menacing green eyes locked on his as she went on without pausing or loosening her grip to allow him to answer. "I want to make something very clear to you, Angelus." She spoke his name with contempt, giving him a slow sneer as she looked him up and down, much as he had done to her moments before. Her words were slow and deliberate as she went on, "I am not the simpering schoolgirl who worshipped you, and I am not a helpless fledgling without a clue. I am sireless because I killed my sire, and the only reason that you are still alive is the respect I still hold for any Aurelian master. I am fully aware of the power I possess, and if you should dare to treat me with such disrespect again, I will not be so understanding. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

Because he was obviously helpless against her, and her grip had tightened with each word until he was certain that in another moment she would either snap his neck or take his head clean off, he hurriedly nodded, and she dropped him unceremoniously to the floor, choking and coughing. She turned her back on him dismissively and headed toward the door.

Just before she walked out he managed to speak. "I am an Aurelian master," he rasped, his windpipe battered by her grip. "And I will not be a – a minion to you!"

A smirk crossed her perfect lips, but she did not turn to face him as she said mockingly, "No one's forcing you to stay, Angelus. You can leave me be at any time." She started walking again, then stopped a step later. "And I hate that name -- Buffy," she rolled the word across her tongue with a grimace, like some terribly distasteful thing. "Ridiculous. Not suited to a master vampire. I think I'll go by my given name from now on – Elizabeth."

Angelus did not think it wise to point out that her incredible physical strength did not make her a master vampire. If he did he was sure that that incredible physical strength would crush him like an annoying insect.

Still, he was loathe to allow her to simply walk away from him like that. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

She turned to give him a suddenly flirtatious smile. "I'm going to go have some fun. Wanna come with?"

The playfulness was back, and a cruel gleam in her sparkling green eyes. Now this was the dark goddess he had envisioned in his plans! His pain all but forgotten, he rose to his feet with a smile to take her outstretched hand, and they walked out the door together.