One would have thought that school being over would bring a bigger crowd into the bronze; one would be wrong. With school over, many kids were on holiday, or out with friends in the evening with no desire to be with them for the evening too. It was practically empty compared to usual, and that made it the perfect setting for Angel to announce his 'return'. It had been two days since he got back, all of that time had been spent with Buffy, sorting out any problems they had between them. The only one left was that pesky 'true happiness' clause that they really needed to get sorted out. There had to be some way to deal with it, even if it meant going all the way to Romania to find the gypsy clan.

But now, Angel had much worse things to worry about – Willow. And Oz too, but him and Oz would probably be able to sort everything out in two minutes tops – they always seemed to click nicely. Both guys were men of very few words, and both were creatures of the night. They could have conversations with just a few looks at their girlfriends, and if either of them were the type t show emotions, it would only take one look at their significant other to set them off.

Willow however, was like a wild card. She was the best friend, bound to give her honest opinion, and yet hate him for leaving her friend.

Angel wasn't completely sure how it all worked, but he did live with one woman for 107 years, and two for another 38. He couldn't have got by without some sense of how it was meant to work – even if it was a different time, even if it was Angelus and not Angel. In public, Darla and Drusilla were subservient to him, the male of the group. In privet, they were both still his, but Darla was still his sire. Dru, they treated like a petulant child, ready to 'go off' at any moment. But then, really, she could, would and did. When Spike came along, he was no longer out numbered, but then he left and Angelus was once again left alone with two women – oh the horror.

One of the first things he learnt was that Darla would always win, and as much as poor Dru loved her 'daddy', she would normally side with 'grandmother' for everything. He gave up trying to win after one year with Darla – it just wasn't worth the effort! Much better to use that energy to a more productive aim, like torturing cute little puppies, or artfully destroying entire families. Holz was one of his best pieces of work, another was clearly Drusilla herself.

But that was 100 years past, and now he was left with the problem of an angry teenager who was studying magic, and knew exactly how to use a stake. He just hoped that Buffy would scatter his ashes somewhere nice, and not just sweep them up or leave them to the mercy of the wind.

He was at the door now, and Buffy was inside waiting for him (he could smell her on the door, and sense her inside). He didn't know if Willow was in there too, and didn't really want to find out.

"This is ridicules. Angelus, scourge of Europe, scared of a teenager."

He was going in.

I know it's short, but I wanted to set the scene, and I have to go out now, and wanted to post something.