.Thanks for all the reviews, guys, sorry about the delay. Ok, the next chapter might take a bit longer to get up, because this is the end of what I've had written when I started posting this. Meaning I've had these six chapters written all along. I'm trying to get over my writers block on this story, and I'll try to get more up as soon as possible, but just letting you knwo the reason for the delay after this chapter.

Willow looked up as Angel walked down the stairs. She was sitting on the couch with Gunn, talking while Cordelia and Wesley continued with the research. It had taken a long time to convince the black man and the witch that they had it covered, and that they should go talk, and the two were actually enjoying each other's company.

'Angel!' She exclaimed, getting up and walking over.

'Willow.' He nodded. 'It's good to see you again.'

'You too!' She said. 'How is she?'

'Sleeping.' He said simply. 'She's doing better than she was earlier.' Willow nodded. 'Did you tell the others?' He asked.

'Yeah. Joyce didn't take it well. Neither did Dawn, but for different reasons. The others had some protests, but I handled them.' She seemed very proud of herself as she said this. 'Oh right, do you mind if Tara comes in a week or so? She's a witch too, and we're working on a spell to give Buffy her powers back.'

'Anyone who can help Buffy is welcome here.' He glanced around briefly. 'Except for vampires.' Willow heard some swearing, and hurried footsteps. Angel grabbed his duster, and was about to go after them when he felt Buffy's distress at awaking to find him gone. His destination changing at a moment's notice, he ran up the stairs, Buffy meeting him halfway, running blindly to find him. He enveloped her in his arms, calming her down.

Willow looked on in amazement. How did he know she was awake? Even with his vampire hearing, he shouldn't be able to pick that subtle a noise up. There was more at work here. She subsided for now, deciding this also required enquiry.

Holding her close to him, Angel helped Buffy down the stairs, the latter limping slightly because of her injuries.

'Buffy!' Willow exclaimed, running over to hug her friend. Buffy returned the hug tentatively, but refused to be completely separated from Angel.

'Willow.' She said after a thinking pause. Willow grinned at her.

'Do you want to go sit down with Willow while I help Cordelia and Wesley?'

'No!' The sound of helplessness in her answer shocked all present. 'Don't leave me!' she sobbed quietly, clinging desperately to Angel, sinking down onto her knees. He picked her up with little effort and brought her over to the couches again, holding her to him. Willow sat down beside Gunn in horror. How could this have happened to her friend?

'This is Buffy?' Gunn broke in. Angel nodded, still looking down at her. Buffy had calmed down by now, and just sat there, a haunted look in her eyes.

'You don't know?' Cordelia asked in amazement from the other side of the room. Gunn shook his head. He had heard reference a few times to a Buffy, but had shrugged it off as an old girlfriend of Angel's. But damn she was hot! He probably shouldn't be thinking those kinds of thoughts, though. Angel was really overprotective of her, and she wouldn't leave his side.

Willow also looked at him in mild surprise. Clearly this was a tale worth hearing.

'Well, no one really explained it to me, so no.' He watched Buffy snuggle closer to the vampire he worked for, trembling. Angel stroked her hair, murmuring comfort.

'It's definitely worth hearing.' Willow said, he couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad. 'Takes quite a while to tell though.' She closed her eyes, and began murmuring words to fast to catch when a sharp pain flashed through her.

NO MORE MAGICK! The voice howled throughout the hotel. Everyone else was spooked, but Willow just sighed, rubbing her head.

'Forgot about that.' She muttered.

'Alright, what was that?' Gunn exclaimed.

'A block, I put it up because I was using magick too often… I sort of altered Tara's memories a bit and she got pretty pissed…' Willow trailed off; ashamed of herself for both altering her girlfriend's memories and that she had forgotten about the no major magick thing. Ignoring the looks she was getting, she continued. 'Guess we'll just have to tell you the story then…' She looked around, unsure of where to begin.

Cordelia walked over, plopping herself down on the couch next to Willow.

'Ok, Buffy comes to Sunnydale. She starts hanging out with Willow and Xander, another of her friends, and Jessie, who dies later…' Shrugging it off, as all who lived in or had lived in Sunnydale had the uncanny ability to do, she continued. 'Anyways, then she met Angel.'

'She told me she found him annoying at first.' Willow grinned at the look on Angel's face. 'Then she found out he was a vampire after they kissed.' Angel would've blushed if possible, but as it was, he just looked away for a second, and then continued the tale.

'Darla, my sire, tried to make me drain Buffy's mother, knowing I would find it hard to resist after I'd gone so long without blood. She left, and Buffy found me standing over her mother. Darla had already bit her, so… Buffy tried to kill me, but then ended up being told that it was Darla, so refrained from doing so.'

'They were sort of dating a bit before Buffy left for the summer, but when she got back they got seriously involved.' Willow couldn't help grinning. She remembered those days… They were all so innocent… She and Buffy had been obsessing over her relationship with Angel… She was drawn back to the present by Cordelia talking.

'Then they got groiny with each other, and Angel lost his soul and went evil.' She said solemnly. 'Angel killed all these people; Giles's girlfriend, Willow's fish…' Gunn raised his eyebrows at the last part.

'He left them for me to find…' Willow shuddered, the event being replayed in her mind with perfect clarity. She knew it was childish, that many other people had suffered more from Angelus, but she had been really fond of her fish, and it had been terrifying to pull them out of the envelope, knowing that he'd been right there in her room…

'He… I was going to summon Acathla, a demon who could suck the world into hell just by opening its mouth.' It was clear that Angel still blamed himself. 'Buffy and I were fighting, Just when she was about to kill me, Willow did a spell of restoration to give me my soul back. Buffy had to kill me, or the world would've been destroyed. I spent about a hundred years in a hell dimension.'

'Buffy ran away after that…' Willow reminisced sadly. 'Her mother had kicked her out of her house, and she'd been expelled from school. She came back after the summer was over, and then Angel got out of Hell. How did you get out anyways?' She asked him curiously.

'I don't know, it just happened. When I got out I went around killing things, ripping them to pieces. Buffy eventually found me. She chained me up in the mansion until I came to my senses, and didn't tell the others about it.' He looked at Willow and Cordelia guiltily. 'Xander eventually found us kissing, and told Giles, Willow and Cordelia. We were trying to stay away from each other, but…'

'Didn't really go so well.' Cordelia muttered. 'Angel hung around for that year, but he and Buffy couldn't really afford to be close. Cause if they were, then we'd all pay, so…'

'Angel broke up with Buffy in a sewer after patrolling one night.' Willow said coldly. 'Buffy was heartbroken, she had been really hoping to go to the prom with him.' She looked at Angel as she said this, who had the grace to look guilty. 'Angel showed up for the prom anyways, but assured her it was only for that night, and that he was leaving after her graduation.' Gunn looked at her strangely. 'The Mayor was going to attack everyone at the graduation.' She explained.

'Then I left, and came here.' Angel finished. 'I went to Sunnydale once, and she came here once, but…'

'So, you two really love each other, but if you're together, the whole world suffers?' Gunn summarized accurately. Angel nodded. He could've sworn he'd just heard Buffy whisper I'll never forget…

'In a nutshell.' Cordelia confirmed, going back to the computer. Gunn was at a loss for words. At least now he knew why Angel was brooding all the time. He had reason to brood. After a silence, Willow pulled her laptop out of her bag and plugged it into the socket in the wall.

'I'm gonna see if I can find anything out about how Buffy lost her strength.' She explained, glancing over at Cordelia and Wesley. 'They look like they're busy enough with the demons and the drugs and all.' Gunn leaned over, watching the screen, devoid of anything more interesting to do. Cordelia hadn't had a vision for quite a while, and anything had to be more interesting than reading about how the sale of doximall was prohibited on countless websites.

Angel stared into space, holding Buffy close as she drifted off into sleep once more. He was content to just be by her side, and it wasn't like there were any people to be helped right now anyways. He squeezed his eyes shut after realizing what he'd just thought, knowing that it'd be jinxing it.

As if on cue, the phone rang.

'Hello, Angel Investigations, we help the helpless.' Cordelia said in a false cheerful voice.

'Is Angel there?' asked Kate's voice, sounding harassed.

'Hang on a sec, I'll get him.' Cordelia replied, holding her hand over the phone. 'Angel, It's Kate.' She said, looking pointedly at him. He sighed, getting up, being extra careful not to move Buffy. Angel made his way over to the desk, picking up the phone.

'Hello?'

'I need you to bring Buffy into the office.' Kate said quickly, barely trusting herself to speak.

'I can't.'

'They're going to fire me if you don't!' she said, extremely annoyed with both the stubborn vampire, and the chief. 'According to the chief, I was supposed to keep her here.' A pause. 'Look, you both just need to be here for a half an hour or so.'

'Buffy's not leaving the hotel. If you need to see her, you can come here, but only you.'

'Understood.' Kate replied, feeling slightly guilty for this. Angel was a vampire, this she must never allow herself to forget, even if she cared for the girl. 'You're in a hotel now?'

'Our last office was burnt down. Do you know where the Hyperion is?' Yes, it was on the other side of town. There were many unsolved cases surrounding it.

'I'll be there in fifteen minutes.' She said, writing down the address from the computer screen and shoving the slip of paper in her pocket. She hung up the phone and pulled her coat on, getting ready to leave.

'Kate's coming.' Angel told the room after hanging up. He walked back over to where Buffy was sleeping, putting his arm around her.

'Who's Kate?' Willow asked suspiciously, looking up from her laptop.

'She's a cop, she used to be a friend of mine.'

'Why's she coming?' Cordelia asked. Though she didn't dislike Kate, she wasn't so sure how she felt about the cop coming to the hotel.

'She needs to talk to Buffy.'

'Talk to Buffy? Like, interrogating her?' Willow asked angrily. Angel growled slightly at the thought.

'You know I wouldn't let her do anything to Buffy.' Angel admonished her. Willow dipped her head, feeling slightly ashamed. She couldn't help it though. Her friend looked so vulnerable. Helpless. Oh how she hated that word.

'When will she be here?' The witch asked finally.

'Soon.' was his only reply.