sigh It's not mine, it's Joss'. meany.

Hey, I actually updated like I said I would. wow, maybe this'll be a new thing for me, huh? Well, anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter, it's a little short, but then again, most of them have been.

Chapter Four:

"Bloody Hell."

Angel stopped, his hand on the doorknob. He turned and looked at a white-faced Spike who was staring at the door like he was trying to see right through it.

"Spike?" Angel asked a little worried. Spike turned to face his grandsire.

"Don't tell her. I'm not ready to face her wrath when the bint finds out I'm back." He turned and started to walk away.

"Hey Angel? If the li'l wanna-be Rupert is in there, tell 'im that that my promise still stands. Unless he wants t'be runnin around with to stumps as arms he'll keep his mouth shut, al'right?" With that Spike got on the elevator and headed toward the lab, knowing that Fred would be the only thing to help him forget, at least for a little while, that the woman he had loved, the woman who had moved on as soon as he was dead, was sitting downstairs.

Angel sighed, envious of the younger vampire for being able to walk away. During the dealings with the crazed Slayer who had cut off Spike's hands, Buffy had made it perfectly clear what she now thought of him. He was the enemy. And with her here now, that could only mean something bad, as far as he was concerned.

Pulling himself together and taking an unneeded breath, Angel opened the doors to meet four pairs of eyes staring at him. Fining the green ones that he used to know so well, he spoke; "Hello Buffy."

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One of the first things that Buffy saw when she stepped off the elevator was a big, satany-looking demon in an Armani suit. Her Slayer instincts screaming at her to do her job, she walked past the demon, hands clutched at her sides to keep from snapping its neck.

The second thing that Buffy was Harmony Kendall, playing secretary behind a desk.

'This is a mission from hell; tons of demons I can't kill and Harmony.' She thought, leading her friends to the desk.

"Alright Mr. Handerton, I'll make sure he gets the message. Oh! And don't forget, racquetball at 4. All right, I'll tell him. Bye!" Harmony hung up the phone and greeted the people at her desk, not looking up as she wrote down the message.

"Hi! How can I hel- Buffy!" She exclaimed, seeing who was in front of her. Her eyes grew wide and she continued nervously.

" Look, I'm still evil, but I don't eat people anymore! I'm totally bagging it! Besides, I don't think Angel would be happy if you killed his assistant and S-" She broke off at the warning glance from Andrew, "SOMEONE,' she recovered, "might send security up, and then there's lots of paperwork and-"

"Harmony," Buffy interrupted, annoyed with her former schoolmate already, "I'm not here to kill you. I just need to see Angel."

"Oh!" Replied Harm, relieved. "Well, he's not here yet. He went to kill stuff with Sp- Splurge, his demon friend,"

Buffy just stared at her, wondering if she could possibly lose brain cells from just being within five feet of Angel's 'assistant'

"Um, Harmony, is it possible for us to just wait in his office or something?" Asked Willow stepping forward. Harm's eyes lit up at the sight of her.

"Willow! Wow, you so don't look like the dork you did in high school! You look great!" She exclaimed, oblivious to the double-sidedness of the compliment.

"Um, thanks Harm. But, the office-"

"Oh, right! Yeah, you guys can just go I right ahead, make yourselves comfortable. I'll tell him you're here as soon as I see him."

"Thanks Harmony." Buffy told her, walking towards Angel's office.

Once inside, Buffy couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Okay, this officially sucks! Tons of demons I can't kill, Harmony working as a secretary, and…Angel's got a nicer office than me!" Buffy whined. She plopped down on one of the couches at the end of the office.

"It's not fair." She muttered, her face looking all pouty.

"Well, look on the bright side, Buff. You didn't sell you're metaphoric soul for a pretty office, and you can still threaten people if you have to." Willow told her, trying her best to be helpful.

"Yeah," Chimed in Andrew. "Even if the evil lawyers have vamp- safe windows, really expensive furniture, priceless works of art…" He trailed off as he saw the glares the three women were giving him.

"Well, I remember being evil, and it definably had its perks. He defended himself.

Dawn sighed, rubbing her eyes. He was so annoying, and somehow, that just made him all the more cute.

' Y'know, I've really gotta do something about this. Thinking Andrew is cute? Wrong on so many levels.' She thought.

Buffy stood up and began pacing. This place creeped her out. And Angel was working here… No running the place! What did that mean? She looked at her friends, sitting around nervously awaiting Angel's return. 'They're just as worried as I am.' She realized.

"Guys, I know we're all worried about this trip, about Angel. But we can't let that show. This place is evil, and if they know how nervous we are, we're vulnerable to their attacks. I don't know what side Angel is on anymore, and I hate to think what it will be like if we have to go against him, but we just have to remember' We've been up against a lot worse that Angelus, and we've won. We can do it again." Buffy finished, looking over her team. Willow smiled up at her; this speech was a lot shorter that the rest, thank goddess.

"You're right Buff. I mean, last time we took on Angel, we were, what? 17? Look how far we've come since then. I say that if we can handle Dracula, Glory, and the First, we can handle An-' Willow stopped mid- motivational speech as the door opened and in walked Angel, covered in some kind of orange slime. He looked over all of them, his eyes landing at last on Buffy.

"Hello Buffy."