Summary: In a land divided and at war between man and demon, what happens when one does the unthinkable and falls for the enemy?

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the BtVS and AtS characters. There is no intention of copyright infringement or monetary gain in the borrowing of characters. They are used only for entertainment purpose.

Previously on Enemy Mine: The Council's teams enter the Shadowlands, Tara finds out she can't hold the cloaking spell for very long because of the land's interference and they stumble into an ambush.

Ch. 11 Clash

All of the sudden, all of the vampires hesitated. The cloaking spell was reinforced by Tara's desperate move. She knew it had been a great gamble trying to borrow strength from the earth. Although connected, not all earth was equal; the one in the Shadowlands was riddled with chaotic energy that could have easily damaged her own disintegrating magic. But the gamble had paid of, and for a short amount a time, they were safe inside the cloak, invisible and nonexistent.

In the split-second of hesitation, Buffy, Cordelia, Xander and Wesley dusted the vampires that they were fighting.

'What's going on?' asked the Slayer.

'Tara has strengthened the cloaking spell,' replied Giles. His body was still thrumming with the residual power that had cursed through his body and into Tara's.

'But… we don't… have… much time,' interjected the exhausted Wicca. 'I can… feel the drain… and the barrage. I… won't be able… to hold it… for very long.' She shut her eyes tight as she felt another onslaught. 'Now…we must move.. now!'

The Slayer signaled the Tracker to move but Oz was still trying to shake off the wolf. He could still feel the reverberations of the whistle all the way to his bones, jarring and grinding to motion.

'Oz?' worried Buffy when he did not move.

Cordelia stepped in front of him. His body was rigid and looking into his eyes she could see the internal struggle he was undergoing as his pupils contracted and retracted like a cats. 'Shit,' she muttered.

'Cordelia?' wondered Wesley, unsure of what was happening. Nothing in their experience in the field came close to what they were undergoing at the moment.

Cordelia turned to them to respond, but just as she was about to reply, several things happened at once. The few seconds of respite were a false lull before the storm.

Tara cried out again in pain as a more powerful onslaught rammed into her mind like scorching hammers. Those vampires that had not been dusted renewed their attack as the spell began to unravel once more and the group began to intermittently flicker into sight.

Cordelia was more than busy trying to protect both herself and the immobile Oz. Several of the enemy were taking advantage as seeing that he was the weakest link.

'Oz!' Cordelia screamed at him in panic as the number of assailants increased. 'Whatever is wrong with you SNAP OUT OF IT!'

Wesley kicked away one vamp as he fired at another and the second he exploded into dust, Wesley whirled and threw a vial of holy water at the cluster of vampires attacking the Seer. The bottle exploded like a grenade and doused three vampires causing them to roar and stumble at the sudden scorching of their flesh and giving Cordelia enough time to dispatch them and cut down the number of vamps attacking.

'Go,' Xander told Wesley as he fired at the approaching vampires, dusting some and slowing down others. 'Help Cordy. I can handle these.'

Wesley took a few precious seconds to look at Xander to make sure that what he said was true. He was warring with indecision, needing to protect the vulnerable Wicca and older Watcher and needing to protect the immobilized werewolf and grossly outnumbered Seer. Cordelia's cry of outrage spurred his decision. One vampire had gotten through her defenses and had a grip of her neck and sword arm.

Without much thought, Wesley shot an arrow toward the vampire's back, piercing the heart and dusting him, freeing Cordelia just in time to defend herself and Oz against the other incoming vampires' attacks. As he moved toward her, punching and kicking and shooting down as many of the enemy that encircled the Seer, the Slayer's sudden and frantic command resonated through the link.

The Slayer hacked away at the armed vampires; spinning, kicking, jumping, ducking, she disarmed them one by one and dusted them. Three she beheaded, two by swords and another by a powerful roundhouse kick. Others, she used her other hand to slam a stake in their hearts. She was a motion of fury as she fought off the countless number of vampires that never seemed to diminish in size. Her Slayer senses were manically running throughout every nerve in her body like electricity but nothing prepared her for the sudden and intense jolt that zapped through her body and almost left her breathless with its intensity.

Since Buffy had entered the Shadowlands, her Slayer senses had been on a constant alert; a humming in the background of her being, alerting her that she was in demon territory. The vampire ambush had taken her completely by surprise. When she should have felt the vampires' signatures way before they were encountered, she had only had that background tingle. She hadn't expected the cloaking spell to also cloak her senses to demons. Now that it was breaking down, the vampires' signatures were making her nerves riot with so many, but she never expected for what hit her next. Her senses, already taut, suddenly exploded as the feelings of the incoming signatures approached - fast. It was nothing like she had ever felt before, so powerful that she almost screamed out loud.

'MOVE! MOVE NOW!' she commanded in an almost hysterical mind-scream. There was no way they could take the several whatevers that were swiftly closing in.

Cordelia moved immediately at Buffy's command. Still swinging her sword, she backed into Oz and gripped his arm, preparing to pull him with her when she made a break for the direction that they had been heading.

There was no time.

Before, anything more could be done or said, the objects of the Slayer's concern appeared. Leaves parted and, as if materializing from the gloom, the vampire general arrived with two others flanking his sides.

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"Looks like the party has started," Angelous remarked to his companions as he took in the fighting with a feral grin.

"Oooh, yes. We'll have tea and cake," Drusilla said with a dark and sultry smile as she lightly swayed to some melody only she could hear.

The blond on the general's left side said nothing. He just looked on with an unreadable expression at the furious battle between the humans and the vampires.

"Miss me, lover?" the tall, dark haired vampire called out in the direction of the furiously fighting group of vampires. Angelous didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused at the sight. Seemed like his soldiers were fighting specters that could barely hold their image together. The flickering see-throughness of the struggling humans was not something one saw everyday.

"Dru, my love, can you do something about this?" he asked his beautiful dark-haired childe without taking his eyes off the battle.

Knowing without erring instinct of what her 'Daddy' asked of her, Drusilla began to hum from deep in her throat as if searching for a certain pitch. When she found it, her humming seemed to snake into the air and trespass even the din of battle.

A shout of great pain broke out from one of the previously silent humans. And then, everything came tumbling down.

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Buffy knew it was too late but her Slayer disposition prevented her from giving up on the mission. Hearing Angel's voice sent shivers down her spine. She studiously avoided looking toward him; she was afraid her resolve would crumble. She knew it wasn't her vampire anymore, but she couldn't dictate to her heart what her mind was telling her. Fear warred with hope that maybe there was enough of the man inside the demon, enough feeling for her. There was no time for such thoughts though. The mission came first -- and getting out with their lives.

She was fighting off half a dozen vamps at a time, with Xander, Wesley and Cordy not faring any better. Giles could do nothing while he held Tara. Oz seemed to be their only hope. Cordy and Wesley were in front of him, fighting off the vampires and the path behind him was clear.

'GO! OZ, GO!' she mind-screamed at the were-wolf, pushing her panic and urgency in her thoughts with a Slayer's strength, acting like a dousing of ice-cold water.

The were-wolf blinked and instantly came on alert. Whatever had gotten a hold of him, evaporated; the Slayer's order the only thing resonating throughout his body. He turned toward Buffy and their gazes clashed.

'Find Willow! G-!' The spell was breaking down and the link ruptured as Tara screamed in agony.

Buffy turned toward Tara in dread as she still furiously fought off the vampires. Her wide eyes panicked as she realized what was happening. "Now!" she ordered at Oz. They didn't have anymore time and they were never really prepared for the eventuality of the cloaking spell failing. They were not there to fight but to stealthily retrieve. The best they could do now was hold the enemy off until Oz could retrieve Willow and then retreat.

"Oz, go!" she shouted as she struggled to be heard over the sounds of the fighting.

As Oz turned and left, a resounding roar of anger echoed throughout the clearing before a dark, large blur headed toward Oz' retreated form.

Buffy barely had time to see through the corner of her eye what was happening. No! Angelous was going after Oz! A scream of frustration tore from her throat and with renewed strength fueled by anger, she tore through the vampires and made her way toward Angelous.

The Slayer wasn't the only one who had picked up on Angelous' move. Cordelia was the farthest away from her team, having tried to propel the rigid Oz away from the fighting, and the vampires had pushed her even more as she little by little lost ground to them as she moved away from their attacks. Now, she was the only one standing between her teammate and the vampire general. She did not think before she acted, she just pulled a stake from her back and threw it, aiming for the heart.

She missed.

Without missing a beat, Angelous just moved his body sideways as he purposefully strode toward her… and toward Oz.

"Now, that wasn't very nice," a voice drawled out a couple of steps from where the stake had landed on the ground.

Cordelia had no time to see who had said that. She intercepted Angelous and swung her sword trying to cut him down. He growled in warning as he moved away from her blade. She followed the swing with a kick that he intercepted with an iron grip. Cordy flipped her whole body in the air and twisted sideways, effectively escaping Angelous' hold. As she landed on her feet, her sword arm came up and pressed the tip of the her sword against Angelous' neck before he had time to move away.

His formidable bulk dwarfed her and he stared her down without a flicker of fear or apprehension. . .which just really pissed her off. It didn't help when he twisted his lips in a shoddy semblance of a smile.

"Don't you know it's not wise to turn your back on the enemy?" he asked her, his dark eyes probing her own.

What? A cool breath blew across the back of her neck and ruffled her hair. The suddenness made her jerk away and in that split second lose her advantage. Angelous ducked the thrust and as she tried to spin around, two strong arms grabbed her and swung with her, the momentum causing her back to fall flush against a solid chest.

She was trapped within two arms and a chest that felt like steel. One arm was around her waist, trapping her body against him and the other held the wrist holding her weapon, pinning her across her chest.

A panic unlike anything she had ever felt before crashed over her. She tried to pull the weight of her attacker forward so she could flip him over her but that only succeeded in him picking her up so her feet couldn't find purchase on the ground. In desperation she bucked and writhed, trying to get free and only finding failure.

"Now, now, pet, none of that," said a masculine voice close to her ear that caused her to tense and goose pimples erupt from her flesh.

She gritted her teeth and tried to bring her head back to hit him but he seemed to know her intent because she was only met with the vampire's upper chest. He chuckled and brought his chin down, resting it on the top of her head. His mocking action only made her angrier. She had a distinct vision of a grin.

"Shall we dance, luv?" he asked her in a silken voice close to her ear again.

Cordy was tempted to try head-butting him again. "What are you talking about you wacko?"

All of a sudden he let her go. She moved away and quickly turned…and almost wish she hadn't. It was him, the one from her vision.

Without the veil of vagueness, of detachment from the body but not the sense, especially the one of pain, he was much more and much less than what she had envision. He was not much taller than her and slim. All linear planes and shadows. A combination of light and darkness to each extreme. Not unlike Willow's impression: a fallen angel. He just stood there, studying her with fathomless blue eyes, a powerful beast in wait. Power, not by its size or form, by what he radiated in that intangible feel that surpassed the material. Here was the thing to fear if fear the Council would. Not Angel or Angelous with its past of amassing armies to work its havoc, but a single one - him- to shake it to its foundations. How she knew this, Cordelia didn't know, but like her visions, she knew it to be truth.

The vampire cocked his head, a shadow of inquisition and introspection and raised his hand to his face, long, elegant fingers passed over his infamous scar as he looked at her. "I suppose its fitting that it should end as it began." He got a faraway look in his eyes for no more than a few precious seconds and then came back to her in all his piercing clarity and dropped his hand. His eyes strayed to her sword. "Strange I didn't come across it more. Now, at this time… Those sodding bastards, probably think its funny that."

Cordelia was lost. It wasn't important, his death was, but she couldn't help herself. "What?" What the hell was he talking about? Why wasn't he attacking? Why wasn't she, for that matter? And on that thought, she came at him, intent to cut him down.

For one endless moment, she thought that she would pierce his hear without him even putting up a fight as he just stood there, still and waiting. But then, at the very last possible moment he moved, somersaulting over her as he twisted and gripped her wrist -- and in one inhumanly move sent her careening away from him.

She crashed against someone else and fell down on the ground with the impact. Looking up, she saw Buffy, as still as the vampire before them as they gazed on each other stunned.

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Oz was near. He could feel it, a twist in his being that screamed directions and lighted paths.

He ran, knowing full well that the others wouldn't be able to hold the vampires for long. He knew that the Slayer would try to keep the attention on them and away from him, but the land was ripe with enemies and dangers that were not only those of the Aurelian vampires.

A shifting in the air made his hackles rise, like static electricity or a magnetic field. The hairs on his body stood on end a split second before he slammed into an invisible barrier that repelled him with a force so great that it threw him ten feet away. He growled, feeling his demon half rise in anger at being denied as well as attacked.

So this was the powerful spell that Cordy had seen in her vision. The problem was that not only did it cloak the presence of the Aurelian castle but it also acted as a shield. The sight of more forest, more untouched land, mocked him. His eyes might be lied to but his other senses would not. Beyond that barrier was Willow. Her unique essence almost a palpable thing in the trail he followed. He had to rescue Willow. He was so near, dammit.

He rose from the ground and prepared to attack the barrier again when he was knocked away and to the side. He rolled as he impacted on the ground and jumped to his feet without missing momentum. His eyes bled golden in anger as he faced his attacker.

Angelus.

His scent was unmistakable as it was his also that he followed the trail to Willow.

His eyes widened. Wait. Anger so great rose up in him, a whiplash of fury, at what he senses were revealing.

Fear.

Blood.

Willow.

Her scent all over him as if he had bathed in her, drank her essence in.

The demon could not, would not be contained as it snarled and growled and ripped its way out in rage. Angelous had dared touch his girl, his mate. And now he would be nothing but dust.

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To be continued: Ch. 12 Wounds upon a Knife's Edge

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A/N: Review please. They make me all kinds of happy.