Sunnydale

The gang was out at Restfield Cemetery trying to keep Sunnydale safe from the beasties. Giles, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Oz took on the patrol with a gleam in their eyes and courage the Slayer would be proud to see. They were all itching to stumble across a vamp and see what they could do without the Slayer even though they all missed her a little. Oz was a new addition to the Scooby's now and after what he witnessed at Buffy's birthday party, he now knew what went bump in the night. He was a little shocked but not that surprised to learn that vampires were indeed real and not only vampires but other evil things like demons and such roamed his town. He was glad to meet Buffy and join in the gang, but really he just wanted to be closer to Willow.

Things were fairly quiet though and the gang had been patrolling for almost and hour and no vamps in sight. "Is it just me or are the undead evil not out for blood tonight? It's kinda creepy." Xander finally broke the silence and for once Giles was happy he did.

"Yes, I have to agree. It seems the vampire community has planned a sabbatical as well as the Slayer. Not to worry, at least we are not surrounded and running for our lives." Giles quietly spoke to the entire group.

"Oh great, you just had to hex the whole thing didn't you." Cordelia protested as she pointed in the direction of a gang of four nasty looking vamps approaching. "So it seems bloody hell." Giles muttered and the gang assembled into a fighting stance. "Well, here we go." Willow said as she readied her stake and glanced over to Oz with a small grin on her face. "We are all gonna die" Cordelia shouted and the gang turned to face her. They at once shouted, "shut up Cordy" and turned to wait on the advancing evil that approached.

Los Angeles

Angel entered the bathroom and let out a huge sigh. He leaned back against the door and stood there for a moment before advancing to the sink to turn it on. He splashed some water on his face and grabbed a towel to wipe it off. He stared at the mirror wishing he could see his reflection. He keep feeling like his heart was braking and he didn't know why. He had a feeling of terrible misery and helplessness and nothing he could think of to cause it besides his miserable existence.

He had done horrible acts of cruelty as Angelus and he remembered every detail of it. Somehow the feeling he was getting now was different than the usual self loathing. It was like his heart was breaking in half and his soul was being ripped apart. He decided to take a shower and try to relieve this feeling.

He turned on the water and peeled his clothes off. He stepped into the steamy water and let is cascade down his body. The sensation was wonderful and he closed his eyes and stepped further into the water to let it fall on his head and the rest of his body. He stood there trying to wash away the feelings that were ripping at his soul. Several minutes passed and he wasn't feeling any better. He began to think of the dream he was having when Doyle woke him up. There was a girl and she was slumped on the ground crying. He felt so bad for her, she was hurting and all he wanted to do was reach out and comfort her. He wanted to pick her up in his arms and hold her for eternity. She was so sad and he could feel her soul reaching out to him. He felt like he knew this girl well but he couldn't remember how. Her image appeared in his mind again and he began to feel her near. He wanted to reach her, help her, make her stop hurting, but he knew it was just a dream. He opened his eyes and began to wash off and get out of the shower. Maybe a walk would do him some good.

Buffy was still in the alley. She had been there for over an hour and was just then beginning to calm herself. The couple she had attacked earlier was now long gone and Buffy was happy that no one else had walked thru. She had begun to sob so hard at one point that she fell over and laid on the ground with her feet pulled tightly to her chest. Though she was silent during her sobbing, her mind was screaming for Angel. She wished he would come and rescue her from this misery. Once she calmed down she started to remember why she was here in the first place. She was supposed to be meeting Whistler and it had been quit a while since she had left him. She was mentally exhausted and it took her a few minutes to will her body to stand again. She stood up and brushed herself off, drew in a deep breath and headed off towards the Bar she was meeting Whistler.

As she reached the end of the alley she realized she had no idea where she was. She spun back around looking down the alley at where she had just come and then turned quickly towards the street in front of her. She pulled the paper with the address on it from her pocket and looked around for someone to ask directions. No one was around, the streets were nearly deserted and that gave her an uneasy feeling. She couldn't stand there all night waiting for someone to happen by, so she picked a direction and began to walk.

She only got a few feet down the street when her 'spidey' senses kicked in. From the familiar sensation that went down her spine she knew a vampire was near. She quickened her pace to see if it followed her and she started to feel even weirder. There must have been more than one vampire following her and now she was getting angry. She looked around at her surroundings to find out where she was going to lead them to her advantage. From the corner of her eye she saw a shadow and knew they were closing in on her. There was an intersection up ahead and she began to run towards it. She felt them closing in on her and when she reached the corner something tried to grab her from behind. She dove for the street sign spinning around it and drop kicking the vamp in the face. It hit the ground hard but was back up quickly lunging at her again. There was an empty whiskey bottle lying on the street next to the curb and she quickly picked it up in her hand. When the vamp came at her again she hit it with the bottle across the face and caused serious lacerations, it wailed loudly and stumbled back away from her.

Just when Buffy thought she had the upper hand she felt someone coming up behind her. She turned to meet them but not fast enough and she was kicked in the stomach hard. She stumbled back and doubled over having the wind knocked out of her. She recovered quickly and ran at the new threat in front of her. That was when she noticed her attackers where the innocent couple that she had attacked earlier. "I knew it!...I knew there was something evil about you two, well; at least I knew he was evil." Buffy pointed to the vamp now rising to his feet with a new gleam in his yellow eyes. "Yea, and now we are gonna pay you back for messing in our business earlier girl. You should have minded your own business, now your dinner." The ugly man spat at her. His face was badly cut from the bottle but you could see it was beginning to heal already.

"You know earlier I was in the mood for a good smack down but now you pissed me off. Besides, your girls perfume is making me sick. What are you wearing Ode De Skunk?" Buffy was really upset, after the stunt they pulled earlier, making her think they were human, she was almost seeing red. "Bring it on skunky."

The male vamp became enraged by Buffy's assessment of his mate and he growled at her before running full force towards her. She waited until he was almost on top of him then side stepped him grabbing him by the jacket and spinning him around to hit the brick wall behind her. The female screamed and ran at Buffy hitting her hard in the face and knocking her back a few paces. Buffy threw herself forward elbowing the female vamp in the ribs and followed it by another punch to the face. She reached for her stake and quickly plunged it into her chest before she could move away. Then she heard the male vamp scream and come at her again. She spun around just as he reached her and she hit him in the chest. He fell to the ground in a poof of dust and Buffy put her stake back into her pocket and began to walk down the street again. "I feel better." She said aloud to no one but herself. She heard a clapping sound from across the street and saw a young guy standing there with a few friends. "Great, just what I need a welcoming party." He slowly walked across the street towards her and began to speak, "Yo girl that was a serious smack down for a preppie like you, I am impressed." This was a tall black guy and from the looks of his outfit she thought he must belong to a gang of some kind. She pulled out the paper with the address on it and looked for a street sign.

He noticed the look on her face and decided to help her out. "Hey, my name is Gunn, Charles Gunn, two N's. We patrol the streets down here. Usually it's our job to dust the vamps but you took care of tonight's work for us so I guess we owe you one." He extended his hand to Buffy and she relaxed a bit as she returned the gesture. "Thanks, I was hoping you could tell me how to get to this place." She handed him the paper with the address to Caritas. "Sure thing, it's just up the street. I'll take you there." Then he turned to his friends, "sweep back up 5th to McCarthy and I'll meet you back at the crib." He turned to Buffy, "after you."