When Angelus arrived in the dining room for dinner that night, William was waiting for him but there was no sign of Buffy.

"Where is she?" he asked Will as he sat down.

"Well, I believe that she's still in her room where you told her to be." Will said trying to hold back his smile. These two flitted between anger and romance faster than even he could keep up but it was something amusing to pass the time.

"Have you spoken with her then?" Angelus asked, wondering what had been said between the pair. If Buffy wanted to sulk in her room then that was just fine with him. He wasn't going to loose any sleep over it, at least he knew where she was and that she was safe.

"Briefly; I went to see how she was holding up but she wouldn't open the door so I had to just go by what she said." Buffy had adamantly refused to open the door to anyone. She said she wasn't going to risk the chance of Angelus being in the hallway and taking away her key; she needed to make a point.

"Did she say she was alright?" Angelus asked in a moment of weakness, he shouldn't really give Will anything to fuel his theories about him and Buffy but there was no way that he was going to go to her room and ask her himself if she was okay so he'd have to find out from Will.

"Go ask her yourself. She did ask me to pass you a message though." Will said and smiled at Angelus. "She said to tell you that she wouldn't be coming out from her room until she received an apology from you."

"Well she'd better make herself comfy then because that isn't going to happen any time soon." was Angelus' reply.

They ate dinner in relative silence. Angelus was fuming over Buffy's message and William didn't have the energy to sit and try to make small talk with his friend. When they'd finished eating William secretly headed for the kitchen to find Buffy's maid. When he found her he asked if there were any leftovers from dinner that he could take to Buffy but Molly informed
him that she had already taken up food for her while Angelus and William were dining.

"Miss Buffy wouldn't even open the door for me, she made me leave her meal on the floor in the hallway and leave before she would open it. She says that she won't open the door to anyone and that she won't be coming out of the room until she gets an apology from master Angelus." repeated the maid and William smiled warmly to her.

"Oh I have no doubt about that. Good night Molly." he said before leaving the kitchen and seeking the solace of his own room.

Angelus was determined not to apologize to Buffy. He had done nothing but worry about her and after what had happened he had every right to be angry that she had just wondered off and not told anyone where she was going.

Buffy was determined to teach Angelus a lesson, if she gave into his demand the first time he would think he could control her and she wouldn't be controlled by any man; not even one that had saved her life.

And so began their silent war, for a full week Angelus refused to apologize and Buffy refused to come out from her room. He had walked past her room a number of times hoping that he might catch her out and that she would open the door but she never did and when he walked past he couldn't even hear anything going on inside.

Angelus knew that Molly was providing Buffy with her meals and he was considering stopping the maid from delivering her food; maybe that would draw Buffy from her room. With that thought in mind, he went to find the maid, he finally found her outside hanging out Buffy's gowns to dry.

"Molly, I need to speak with you," he said as he approached her and she stopped her work. "I know that you've been taking Buffy's meals to her and I want you to stop. If Buffy wants to eat then she will come to the dinning room and eat with me." he said expecting a 'yes master' or something along those lines.

"I'm sorry but Miss Buffy refuses to come out of her room. She told me that you might ask me to stop and she told me to tell you, from her, that I am her maid and that it is my responsibility to see that she is taken care of. She says that I have to take her meals."

"I realize your loyalty Molly, but I'm not discussing this matter. If I find that you've taken one more meal to Buffy in her room, then you will be looking for employment elsewhere; do I make myself clear?" Angelus felt slightly bad about blackmailing Buffy's maid, the girl was a good worker and her loyalty was admirable and he was hoping he wouldn't have to fire her.

The maid struggled between her loyalty to Buffy and the importance of her job. She realized that Angelus had every right as master of the house to instruct her in any way he saw fit, which also meant that he could terminate her employment at any time. Her duty was to Buffy but if she was no longer employed by Angelus then how could she do anything for Buffy? She wouldn't be there if she needed her. "Very well." she replied. Angelus walked away with a smile on his face, victory would soon be his.

Buffy waited in her room for her lunch, Molly was half an hour late today and she wondered why it was that she hadn't come. Pacing back and forth in her room she decided to go to her balcony to see if she could see anything as her room was on the right side of the front of the house overlooking the courtyard. She could see William coming down the road toward the house from a ride and waited until she was sure no one else was around before getting his attention. She waved and signaled for him to come to her bedroom door so that she could speak with him.

She waited for a few minutes while he took his horse back to the stable and then came inside and climbed the stairs to her room. "Buffy?" he said from the outside of her door once he checked that Angelus was no where around.

"William, Molly hasn't come up to my room with my lunch. I'm worried that something is wrong, could you please try and find her and see what's going on?" Buffy pleaded through the solid oak door.

"All right, I'll be back as soon as I find her." Will replied and headed for the kitchen first. When she wasn't there he searched every room of the house and the gardens but he couldn't find her and no one had seen her.

"Toby!" he shouted while he was checking outside; he was about ready to give up. "I'm looking for Buffy's maid Molly, have you seen her?" he asked.

"Yeah, she went out shortly after breakfast this morning in the carriage to go to the city, not sure why but she didn't look too happy." Toby replied "I just thought she was running an errand for Miss Summers." he said then continued leading the horse
into the exercise field.

William thought it strange that Molly would leave the grounds and Buffy wouldn't know. He went to Angelus' office where he found his friend working behind his desk. "Angelus, do you know why Molly has gone into the city?" he asked.

"Yes, I sent her to collect some things for me. She won't be back until after dark, was there something you needed her for?" he asked, knowing exactly why Will was looking for the maid.

"Why would you send Molly and not one of the others?" Will asked with his suspicions.

"You know why, you've known me long enough to know how I work; when I'm not winning, I push up the stakes. I sent Molly out so that she wouldn't be here to feed Buffy." Angelus replied with no regret at all. "I told her not to do it anymore but I worried that she might be too good hearted and give in anyway."

"And you figure that if Buffy isn't getting her food supplies she's going to come out for something to eat? What if she doesn't? She's as stubborn as you are, it's already been a week and she's still locked inside that room." Will said worrying that things were going too far.

"Oh, she'll come out when she's hungry enough. I guarantee that by tomorrow's lunch she'll be so hungry that she'll be up and in the dinning room before we are." Angelus said with a confident smile.

Will shook his head at his friend and left him to his work. If Angelus thought that a little thing like this was going to stop Buffy then he was in for a big surprise. She would find a way around it and William couldn't wait to see what she came up with; he just hoped that no one got hurt in the process. With a sigh he headed for Buffy's room to tell her the news.

"He did what!" Buffy shouted through the door. "How dare he do that; she's my maid!"

"Well he did and she's not going to be back till late. Why don't you just come out now and get something to eat then come straight back to your room?" Will tried to persuade her.

"Because then he's won and he'll never let me forget it," she said, she had to figure something out. "William, I won't ask you to bring me anything; I know that Angelus is your friend and it's not fair to bring you into our arguments, but I will ask you to do me one more favor. When Molly returns could you please ask her to come straight to my room?"

"Alright, but Angelus says she won't be back until after dark, will you be alright until then?"

"Yes, thank you William." she said.

"Buffy are you sure you're alright after what happened? You haven't really had the chance to speak with anyone about it." William asked.

"Honestly I don't want to talk about it William. I'm trying not to think too much on what happened. I'm here, I'm safe and they didn't get to touch me." She replied, he could tell that she had been thinking about it but she seemed to be dealing but just to be sure...

"If you need to talk I'm always here." he said before she heard him walk away from her room. If Angelus wanted to play dirty then she would oblige, all she had to do was to think up a plan; a way to beat him at his own game.

When Molly finally came to her room it was past ten at night, "I'm so sorry Miss, Sir William told me that you wanted to speak with me but Angelus made me serve them their dinner and then had me help out in the kitchen since one of the other maids had gone home ill. I couldn't get away until now." Molly apologized, feeling bad for leaving it so long before going to speak with Buffy.

"It's all right Molly; I still had some biscuits left over from this mornings breakfast. They've kept me going through the day."

"Master Angelus has told me that if I bring you any more food I will have to find another job Miss; I'm so sorry but I can't loose my job. I have to support my younger sister and brother and-"

"Don't worry Molly. I wouldn't ask you to jeopardize your only income; I know about your family. I'm not going to ask you to bring me anymore food but I do need you to do something else for me." Buffy said.

"Yes of course, anything I can Miss.," Molly replied, hoping that she could keep her word.

"I need you to get me the following things: I need a pair of small breeches, a shirt, some boots, a mans black cloak and a long rope, long enough to lower me from my balcony to reach the floor beneath. Do you think you could get these things for me?"

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem Miss, with the maid being ill, I have a lot more chores, one of which is the laundry. I can misplace the shirt and breeches of one of the men and as for the rope, well I'm sure I could find something in the stables, if not I can go into town tomorrow-"

"No Molly. I don't want Angelus knowing anything about this; you have to be very careful, and since he's taken to bribing the staff, don't let anyone else see you either. If you can't get the rope ask Toby, he's the only other one I trust enough not to tell Angelus anything. Anything you can get bring tomorrow at midnight once Angelus and William have gone to bed. There's one more thing I need...can you get me a gun?"

"I'm not sure..." Molly replied, wondering why Buffy needed one.

"In my father's office, he always used to keep one loaded in his bottom desk drawer, don't go there until late, I don't want you to be caught carrying it around. Make it the last thing on your list."

"Why do you need a gun?" Molly asked.

"It's only for protection. I can't very well sneak out of my room in the day time so I'll have to do it at night and I don't enjoy the idea of being out in the dark without some protection." Buffy said trying to assure her maid.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea..." Molly said worrying about her.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Buffy said, hoping that it would be. Tomorrow night she would no longer be stuck in her room, she'd be able to go out and do as she pleased and Angelus would be none the wiser...

TBC...