Chapter Eight

Buffy held an ice pack to her puppet head and groaned loudly. Angel wasn't in much better shape. The others watched them in obvious sympathy. Buffy suddenly threw the ice pack across the room. It made a loud smacking noise as it split in half, creating a dent in the wall. The others' expressions quickly changed to surprise.

"It wasn't helping," Buffy stated simply. Lorne walked over to the destroyed ice pack and gingerly picked up the pieces.

"No problem sweet thing. I'll just try to find something more suitable for your...condition," he gave the others a pointed look before exiting the room. Angel sighed heavily as he stretched out in his position on the couch.

"You're both sober now, right?" Max asked. "No more with the crazy dirty dancing and creepy come ons?" Spike snapped to attention at that comment.

"Wait a min...Angel hit on you?" he asked incredulously. Angel shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Buffy. Max simply rolled her eyes.

"He was drunk," she stated.

"Exactly!" Angel quickly agreed. "No way am I attracted to Max! She's just..." He trailed off as he noticed Max's look. "A very, very beautiful woman who..."

"Excuse me!" Spike and Buffy cried out. Angel suddenly looked conflicted as he looked to the others for help. He looked very comical due to his current puppet state. Max grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Just kidding, Kermit," she said. Angel scowled up at her.

"I'm not even green," he protested.

"You were a few minutes ago," Alec replied dryly.

"So..." Wesley loudly cleared his throat. "It's obvious that you two are as normal as you can be at the moment...shall I explain our current problem?" Angel and Buffy quickly nodded. "It's all in the broadcast, some very nuanced magic, but we found it, finally."

"It's a hidden carrier wave that..." Fred continued.

"Fred...skip the technical stuff," Angel interrupted. Fred looked slightly dejected before quickly recovering.

"He's been draining energy from the kids, as we already know, and judging by yesterday's signal...Framkin's ready to take out his whole audience." Buffy's brow furrowed.

"He's the creator-person, right?" she asked. Fred nodded. "Just making sure...I suddenly had a weird connection between that name and ham." Max bit back a smile.

"Angel, that object that you described in that hidden room is probably the repository for the children's life force. We'll have to break the magic force around it," Wesley explained.

"And then we won't be puppets anymore?" Buffy and Angel chorused eagerly. Wesley and Fred barely had time to nod before the little puppets rushed towards them in overenthusiastic gratitude.

"I love you guys," Angel stated, his voice coming out slightly muffled. Buffy quickly nodded her agreement as she clung to Wesley.

"All right, you owe me twenty bucks," Faith broke the silence as she held out her hand to Alec. He grunted in annoyance and reluctantly gave her twenty dollars. She grinned in victory and shoved the bills in her pocket. Max and Spike looked at them expectantly. "What?"

"You made a bet without us...I think I feel hurt..." Spike feigned a look of surprise. Faith and Alec rolled their eyes.

"I said that Angel and Buffy have already proved that they aren't themselves so it was just a matter of time-30 minutes to be exact-before they showed that weak and very, very gratifyingly puppy-lovin' side," Faith explained. Max just frowned.

"And you didn't tell me about this bet when you know how..." she began but Wesley clearing his throat made her turn her attention back to him.

"While this is all very fascinating...can we please get back to the problem at hand?" Wesley stated as he awkwardly patted Buffy on the head. She and Angel suddenly pulled away, composing themselves as they shot Alec and Faith dirty looks.

"Yeah...We'd better get movin'," Angel said. "Framkin knows we're onto him. If he's ready to zap his whole audience, he'll pull the trigger today for sure."

Gunn suddenly walked into the office, showing off more confidence than usual. Max and Alec noted this with furrowed brows, but they didn't comment.

"Not him. Them," Gunn stated. "Framkin's not doing this. It's the puppets. They're demons. 'Smile Time' ratings hit an all-time low last year and Framkin signed a deal with some devils to bring it back to number one."

"How ambitious of him," Spike drawled.

"It was a pretty tricky legalese, too. Framkin must have missed some of the fine print," Gunn continued. Angel began pacing around the room. "These devils have a particular M.O."

"They've done this before?" Fred asked, obviously surprised.

"You see the last season of 'Ally McBeal'?" Gunn countered. At their confused expressions he rolled his eyes before continuing. "Never mind. The point is, you wanna take out 'Smile Time', you gotta take out the puppets."

"Sounds simple enough. Let's head out then," Faith replied quickly, getting up from her chair. Angel nodded his agreement as he walked over to his desk and took a sword off the wall.

"Time to destroy some demon fluff," he stated before tossing the sword to Buffy. She squeaked and dodged to the side. Everyone stared at her incredulously.

"I can't catch a flying sword with only three fingers!" she growled as she picked it up with both hands.

"But you can slice up some evil muppets, right?" Spike replied. Buffy's mouth curved into a sly grin.

"Just point the way..."


Angel and Buffy cautiously led the others into the 'Smile Time' offices. The same feeling of creepy dark magic put everyone on alert.

"Okay, the actual studio set should be farther down...The egg thingy is behind that file cabinet over there..." Angel pointed to said file cabinet and turned to Fred and Wesley. "Do your thing. We'll take care of the puppets." They nodded and Angel and the others headed towards the set, leaving them behind.

Angel motioned for the others to wait as he opened the door. He looked quickly from left to right and then let the others enter. Spike scowled at him, not liking being ordered around by a stuffed toy, let alone the fact that it was a stuffed toy version of Angel. He quickly turned his attention to the other puppet talking into a camera. He recognized him as Polo from the videotape Fred and Wesley had shown him and the others. He was obviously the boss puppet. And he was in the middle of working his energy-sucking mojo.

"That's it everyone...just keep your hands right there..." Polo was saying. "Oh! Ohh...let it go! Let it all go!" Spike exchanged a look of disgust with Max.

"I think I've had just about enough of horny puppets, how 'bout you Maxie?" Spike asked casually. Buffy snorted and caused everyone to look over at her.

"And you guys never even met Sid," she commented dryly.

"Hey, was that that wooden dummy you once told me about?" Faith asked smiling, pleased that she knew who Buffy was talking about. Buffy only nodded, her attention back on the puppets, who had finally realized they were there.

"You!" Polo cried out, stepping away from the camera and fixing Angel with a murderous glare. "What do you think you're doing here?" Angel responded by leaping towards him, letting out a primal yell. Spike cocked his head to the side, smirking at the sight of two puppets fighting. His smirk was promptly wiped off his face as a dog tackled him.

"Hey dudes! You're, like, ruining the show!" the dog puppet complained as he tried to bite Spike's face. Spike countered the puppet's growl with one of his own and threw it off of him. It landed near Gunn's feet and he quickly cut it's head off.

He stared at the dismembered ball of fluff before replying, "We're workin' on it." He looked over at Angel, who just got punched into a dog house by Polo. "Angel!" Polo quickly turned to a giant purple puppet with a horn for a mouth.

"Ratio-the nest egg!" he cried out. Angel reached out and pulled Polo into the dog house with him. The beginning of another scuffle could be heard. The purple puppet-Ratio-let out a squeak from his horn and hobbled away from the set. Angel suddenly threw Polo out of the dog house. Faith was standing by with a battle-axe.

"Got him!" she yelled, about to take a swing. But another puppet boy jumped her and grabbed her around the neck. Faith made a grunting noise and pried the puppet's hands off of her, flipping him onto the ground. She gave him a swift kick to the face but he simply grabbed onto her leg. She let out a cry of annoyance and tried to shake him off. A sweeping blade suddenly cut off the puppet boy's head.

"Go back to hell Chuckie," Alec quipped as the puppet simply fell off Faith's leg. Alec gave her a broad smile and hefted the blade onto his shoulder smugly. A girl puppet suddenly flew past them at Gunn.

"That must be Chuckie's bride," Faith muttered as the girl attempted to break Gunn's neck, but she only succeeded in spinning them off the stage.

When they fell to the floor the girl puppet got off Gunn and he tried to sit up but she quickly jumped him, landing on his chest.

"Gimme those pretty eyes," she snarled. Gunn struggled to get her off of him.

"Hey!" a voice called. The girl puppet looked up and got a face full of steel. Gunn pushed her away and turned to his rescuer. The Buffy puppet extracted the blade and gave him a grim smile. "You good?" He nodded and opened his mouth to say something when a loud shriek made them both look towards the source.

Max had just ripped the arms off of a puppet.It let out another high pitched shriek and Max quickly silenced it by throwing it towards a treehouse. It was quickly followed by Polo and they both crashed into and broke the wooden railing. They fell on the splinters and fell limp. The others exchanged looks as they observed the transformation that the Angel puppet had made.

"What?" he asked indignantly, yellow eyes glowing.

"Those are probably as harmless as vampire fangs are ever gonna get..." Spike commented, gesturing towards Angel's felt fangs. "When I had that soddin' chip in my head at least if you got pricked you bled." Angel scowled at him as his face transformed.

"Shut up Spike," he grunted as he picked up his fallen sword. Spike rolled his eyes.

Buffy looked around at all the puppet carnage. White stuffing was spread around the room like fake snow during Christmas time. Then she stared down at her own hands. Still in puppet form.

"Um...why aren't we changing back? Wesley and Fred obviously reversed the evil magic that..." she trailed off as the previously zombie-like camera crew began to stir to life. Buffy made a sigh of annoyance and then turned to Angel. An understanding passed through both of them and they promptly fell limp.

"Hey...who are you people?" a startled employee suddenly demanded. "What are you doing here? You aren't authorized to be here, are you?" The others rolled their eyes and ignored the prattling crew, picking up the Angel and Buffy puppets. "Hey! Those are props! What do you think you're doing? You can't take those!"


"So we still have like 2 or 3 days til we actually become normal again?" Buffy asked, her voice sounding slightly strained. Wesley nodded in confirmation.

"What are they supposed to do until then?" Max asked. Alec suddenly grinned.

"Ooh! Ooh! Boob tube," he suggested eagerly. Max rolled her eyes and made a swipe at his head.

"That's it? Just watch tv for 3 days?" Angel asked as Alec rubbed his wounded head. "I'm CEO of this place. I can't just take 3 days off."

"Oh no, 'cause then something good might happen. Like destroy all evil," Buffy snapped sarcastically. Angel narrowed his eyes at her.

"I thought you got over that. Don't you get that what we're doing isn't entirely bad? We just saved millions of kids! Or were you too busy worrying about your stupid puppet hair to notice?" he growled. Buffy's eyes darkened.

"I wasn't the one trying to put gel in my hair to style it like Barry Manilow!" she hissed angrily. Angel clenched his fists.

"I was drunk," he stated.

"That seems to be your excuse for everything isn't it? 'I didn't intentionally hit on Max, I was drunk'. 'I didn't try to style my hair like Barry Manilow, I was drunk'. Next you'll be saying 'I don't actually like to brood, but the alcohol makes me'," Buffy retorted, doing a frightfully good impression of Angel.

"What makes you think I like to brood?" Angel asked indignantly. Spike snickered. "What? I don't."

"Right. And I really wish my hair was brown and feathery," Spike replied.

"Careful, I think some of that sarcasm dripped on your shoe," Alec drawled.

"Angel, brooding is just something you do. It's part of your daily routine. Wake up, shower, brood, drink breakfast, and brood a little more. It's not..." Buffy began.

"How would you even know what my daily routine is? You've only been here a few days," Angel interrupted angrily.

"Maybe so, but I know you," Buffy snapped. Angel narrowed his eyes at her.

"You don't know me any more than you know how to not be a slayer," he growled. Buffy opened her mouth to protest but Angel continued on, ignoring her. "You knew the me back in Sunnydale. But that was practically 6 years ago, Buffy. And you've hardly seen me since then."

"Well, it's not like we could actually have a cup of tea whenever we felt like! You in LA, me in Sunnydale. You leaving me so I could have a 'normal' life, me hating you for it but moving on. Which you've obviously done as well!"

"You don't know what I've been through. How's it changed me and the people I keep close to me."

"I know plenty. All I have to do is look at Wesley!" The others realized they probably shouldn't be witnessing this blown out argument and so quickly and quietly, they exited the room.

"That's one small adjustment in the mosh-pit of changes. There's a hell of a lot more that you couldn't even begin to understand!" Angel argued.

"How would you know? You're not the only one who's had to deal with some trauma! Did you come home to find your mother's dead body on the couch? Did you die to save the world and go to heaven and then get wrenched out by your friends? Did you find yourself using someone you're supposed to loathe as a sex tool just so you can actually feel something? Did you have to witness your best friend give into the darkness because she was overcome with grief for losing the person she loved most? Did you have to lead a bunch of initially terrified girls into a battle that would most likely cost them their lives as well as the world as we know it? And then did you lose one of your closest friends because he couldn't be around anything that reminded him of his dead lover?" Angel glanced away. "I thought so. Now tell me I wouldn't understand."

"I will," he stated sharply. Buffy stared at him in surprise. "Just the fact that you actually said any of that just shows how much you don't understand." That seemed to be that last point of his argument and he turned and walked over to his elevator, pressing the button. Buffy could only watch him in bewilderment. "You want to know the irony of this situation?" Angel suddenly asked without turning around. "Most of what you just said relates in some bizarre way to something that has happened in Los Angeles." He stepped onto the elevator and glanced back at Buffy. "But then...it's always different for everybody, isn't it?" The doors shut.

"If they relate in some way to what's happened here...why wouldn't I understand?" Buffy mumbled to herself. Her confused expression suddenly turned to one of anger. "Maybe because the bastard didn't actually tell me anything. And he says he's changed..." She huffed as she walked out of the office. "Liar."

Two days later...

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Dawn asked, exasperated. Faith shrugged.

"Beats me," she replied. "I'm not very good with the whole touchy-feely part of relationships. I usually go straight for the..." She uncharacteristically caught herself from spilling too much information. Dawn raised an eyebrow at her.

"If you were about to say 'sex', I really couldn't care less. I'm seventeen, remember? Not like I've never heard the word."

"Guess my vocabulary is a little more advanced than yours then," Faith stated, giving her a half smile as she flopped backwards onto a bed and picked up the tv remote. Dawn rolled her eyes and mirrored her position on the other bed.

"When is Max coming back with Buffy?" she asked.

"Between now and never. Why?" Faith replied absentmindedly as she flipped through the channels. Dawn scoffed.

"How can you ask me 'why'?"

"Exactly how I just did. Why?" Dawn scowled.

"You know what I mean."

"Yes I do, but it's more fun this way."

"How was Buffy when you last saw her?"

"You mean three hours ago when you and I both asked her and Max where they were going?" Faith questioned dubiously.

"Faith..." Dawn retorted in a warning voice. Faith chuckled and raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, fine. She seemed depressed. But now that she's back to human form that's pretty much to be expected of her, right? I mean, being around Angel always does this to her. Especially after they've had one of their heated spats."

"But this one sounds like it was more heated than usual," Dawn replied.

"That's because it was, kid," Faith said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not a kid," Dawn corrected automatically. "And it's not like I was there. Like you and Max, Alec, Spike, and all the rest were. I had to hear it from you guys. And I get the feeling you didn't actually tell me everything."

"That's just the genetic paranoia talking. We told you as much as we heard. The only people who know what else was said are the former puppets who said it."

"But..." Dawn began but the sound of the hotel door opening stopped her. Max and Buffy walked in, both laden with shopping bags. Dawn and Faith's mouths dropped open at the sight.

"You guys went shopping?" they chorused.

"It's a helpful therapy thing," Buffy replied defensively. Max nodded in agreement.

"Are all of those bags Buffy's then?" Faith asked. Max snorted.

"Please. I'm not completely fashion-impaired. I know how to buy great clothes," she stated.

"If you say so," Faith mumbled as she began rummaging through some of the bags. Max glared at her but didn't reply.

"So. Did the therapy help?" Dawn asked suddenly, not wanting to wait any longer. Buffy glanced expressionlessly at her. "What?"

"It helped a little," she replied grudgingly. "I'm just glad I didn't forget my size."

"Why would you?"

"Hello? Former puppet here?" Buffy gestured emphatically to herself. "Being only 20 inches from the ground can really mess with your head. In more ways than one." She visibly grimaced.

"Have you talked to Angel yet?" The grimace deepened.

"Faith. Tact was never one of your strong points, was it?" Buffy retorted. Faith shrugged and gave her a half-smile.

"Being tactful only takes up time," she stated simply. Buffy sighed heavily and sank down into a sofa chair.

"No, I haven't talked to Angel. I haven't even seen him. I don't even know what I'd do if I did go anywhere near him. But beating on his head with a 2X4 sounds strangely appealing."

"Always a valid option," Max replied, pointing at her with a silky blue camisole.

"But I think I have to figure out a more mature way of expressing my feelings," Buffy continued, giving Max a pointed look.

"That actually sounds grown up. Is Buffy growing up?" Dawn questioned jokingly. Buffy whopped her on the head with a pair of designer jeans. "Ow."

"Faster than you are, squirt," Faith pointed out. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"So what's your idea of a 'mature way of expressing your feelings'?" Max asked as she changed into a newly bought shirt. She silently looked to the others for approval and they each gave her a nod of confirmation.

"There are so many answers to that question, I couldn't possibly pick one out," Buffy replied. "At least not any ways that I could see myself actually doing..."

"Then start with the ones you can't see yourself doing," Faith suggested. "Just to get the ball rolling." Buffy exhaled slowly.

"Well, there's the whole calling him and asking to meet him in private and then proceeding to talk about my innermost feelings." Dawn made a weird noise with her tongue and turned her thumb down.

"Next," she ordered. Buffy gave her a weird look but complied.

"There's the one that includes me showing up unannounced at his office and just talking to him. Whether that involves more yelling or..." she trailed off.

"Rapturously vicarious smoochies?" Max supplied with an added wink. Buffy laughed and threw a pillow at her.

"No," she stated, trying to sound firm but the poorly hidden smirk gave it away.

"So that's something you can see yourself doing? Yelling at him and then kissing his lips off?" Faith asked. Buffy rolled her eyes and suddenly the smirk was gone.

"I know I can't. And I don't like to believe that I even want to after what he said to me...And being the guy that he is, he probably feels the same way. But apparently that's my problem. I'm assuming I know him but according to him...I don't."

"Then maybe you should," Max said bluntly. Buffy glanced at her in confusion.

"I should what?" Max rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You should get to know him, smart one," she replied. "If he doesn't think you know him any more or 'well enough' to understand anything about what's been going on in his life...find out."

"Yeah," Faith quickly agreed. "Push your way back into his life and annoy the hell out of him, so to speak."

"You think so?" Buffy asked, scrunching her nose in hesitation.

"Absolutely," Dawn added, grinning encouragingly. "Get him to tell you everything. How can he not? Especially if he was just yelling at you for not knowing anything. How could he deny you the chance to learn?"

"The effort alone should be enough to get his attention."

"Plus, hey, bonus-you can at least get his friendship back if not his kissable lips." Another pillow went flying.

"What if he won't let me know?" Buffy asked after the pillow hit its target, Faith.

"Guess you'll just have to find out for yourself."


A knock on his office door caused Wesley to look up. Angel was standing in his doorway, looking very conflicted.

"Hey Wes, got a minute?" he asked. Wesley didn't hesitate to nod and gestured to a seat in front of his desk.

"What is it?" he questioned, even though he knew very well what was troubling the vampire. It didn't take a genius to figure out that all Angel had on his mind was his fight with Buffy that had occurred two days ago.

"I-It's Buffy. I don't know...I mean..." Angel fidgeted in his seat, trying to find the right words. Wesley pitied the guy and decided to help him.

"We did happen to overhear most of that argument, you know, Angel. And while I don't think that was the best way to express how you were feeling, I believe you had the right to say what you did."

"But that's just it...I didn't exactly have the 'right'. Sure, Buffy and I haven't seen a lot of each other. But, I should have realized that she's gone through basically the same changes that I have. Only...different." Angel's face contorted in confusion. "That didn't really make sense did it?" Wesley smiled slightly.

"I understood what you meant," he replied. Angel visibly relaxed.

"I've been racking my brain for the past two days and I can't think of a solution. Any ideas?"

"Besides the obvious 'call her and get her to meet you somewhere so you can talk'?" Wesley asked, raising both eyebrows at him. "Not really. That seems like the most sensible way to mend this gap in your relationship. Just hear the girl out and say what you need to say. I'm sure you'll both feel better when it's over."

"But..."

"Oh for God sake, man!" Wesley blurted. Angel stared at him in alarm. "It's not that complicated! If you truly wanted a solution to this, which you obviously do, you'd have left and phoned her by now!"

"Why are you yelling?" Angel asked, speculation evident in his voice.

"Because!" Wesley stated without an explanation. Angel cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Because...what?" Wesley sighed heavily.

"Angel...if there's a woman out there...who you find truly attractive, smart, strong, and all the possible good qualities that fit your own needs. And if you have the added bonus that your own qualities fit her needs as well. If she represents even part of what you think makes this world worth fighting for...you have to do something about it." Angel studied him carefully.

"Who we talking about here?" he asked softly. Wesley suddenly found the papers on his desk very interesting before glancing over Angel's shoulder to the door.

"Fred." Angel nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I figured as..." he trailed off as he realized Fred was actually in the room. "Guess I'll get workin' on that whole...mending my...relationship...thing..." He hurried out of the office.

Fred watched him go with a confused look on her face and then turned back to Wesley.

"What was that about?" Wesley shook his head and smiled at her.

"Nothing new. Can I help you with anything?"

"Well, it's late. And don't have a car...at least at the moment because it's in the shop again. So I was wondering if maybe you and I could..." Fred began, smiling nervously.

"Oh certainly," Wesley interrupted as he picked up his phone. "Yes, Ms. Burkle needs a driver to take her home tonight." Fred stared at him, deflated. "That's right. 511 Windward Circle." He hung up the phone and looked back to her, smiling. "Well, we'd better get some rest. No telling when a new crisis will strike." He grabbed his coat and headed toward the door. Fred suddenly stepped in front of him.

"You're just gonna go aren't you?" Wesley looked at her, confusion apparent.

"Fred..."

"Haven't you been...sensing anything lately...about me?" Fred asked, frantically searching his expression. "Uh...didn't it occur to you that...something might have changed? That-I'm looking at you in a different-Oh screw it." She stepped forward and put her hands on both sides of his face, kissing him on the lips. Then she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "That was a signal, okay? Is that...clear enough for you?" Wesley dropped his coat and smiled, fully meeting her eyes.

"Not even close," he stated before kissing her more passionately. Fred put her arms around his neck, a small contented smile briefly forming on her mouth before completely losing herself in his embrace.

A/N-Once again...I am soooooooo sorry it took me forever to update. I tried to make the chapter slightly longer to make up for it...I hope it worked ;o)

screaminheathen69-Thanks ;o) I'm very glad you're enjoying this story and I'm truly sorry I made you wait so long for the update...

meri24-Thanks ;o) Sorry again for the slow update...

Sky Angel-You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it ;o)

Doza-Thanks ;o) I'll try to add more humor but there's got to be some drama or it wouldn't be a true Dark Angel/Buffy/Angel fic. I love Fred too, it'll be interesting to write her as Illyria...

LadyV77-Thanks ;o) I resubmitted it (I didn't know you can't have song lyrics...oh well)