Willow's reaction didn't surprise Buffy. The redheaded witch was shocked and then stunned. Buffy figured she wouldn't be quite as cool headed as Giles had been about the whole situation.

"Wow," Willow said for the fourth time in a row.

"I know," Buffy agreed. She felt the car pulling to a stop and she took in her surroundings for the first time since she had started telling the story.

"Willow!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"I tell you all that and you pick this cemetery to be the first one patrolled?"

Willow seemed confused. She looked around and then realized where she had driven them to—Spike's cemetery. "Oh," she said. "I guess I was so engrossed, and you were talking about Spike, and I just…"

"It's fine, Will. We've got to cover this one anyways." Buffy was already getting out of the car. "Might as well get it over with. I'm sure Angelus isn't around anyways. I mean, I know he likes Cora but I doubt he'd spend all his time with her. He is still evil." She shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Buff. Let's go slay." Willow looked excited and eager to participate in patrolling.

Twenty minutes later, she was running for cover behind an old tombstone as Buffy traded insults with a recently borne vampire. The vampire was new to the game, a twenty-something-year old man who had never even heard of the Slayer. The slaying was old news to Buffy, and she had him staked before he could even touch her. Then it was silent again.

"Willow, you can come out now," Buffy called.

Willow peeked up from over the edge of the tombstone. After making sure the vampire was dead, she stood up, brushing her pants off.

"I wasn't scared, really. I was just…just not getting in the way. It is your slaying you know," she said informatively.

Buffy laughed. "It's okay Will. Let's keep going, we've got to check out the area around Spike's crypt before we're done. Fingers crossed." She smiled at Willow. Hopefully there was no roaming Angelus anywhere.

Willow fell into step with Buffy and the two talked casually as they climbed the slight hill towards Spike's place. As they neared the edge of the hill, they heard laughing.

"Shh." Buffy grabbed Willow and darted towards the back of Spike's place, away from the noises. After they found an old stone cross to hide behind, the two waited. In the distance, Angelus was helping Cora across the grass that led from Spike's crypt.

"Is that her?" Willow whispered.

"Yep."

"She's pretty."

"So?" Buffy looked at her with one eyebrow up.

"So, I'm just observing," Willow shot back.

They watched as Angelus reached his arm farther around Cora's hip so as to support more of her weight.

"She doesn't look so good," Willow noticed.

"Yeah, well I told you that didn't I?"

"I can't believe Angel is being so nice to her. All helpy and stuff."

"I know. I told you, Will, it's just weird. And remember, it's Angelus, not Angel anymore."

Willow caught the slight tone in her friend's voice. "Does it hurt? Seeing them like that?" Willow looked at her best friend with sympathy in her eyes.

"No," Buffy said as she turned to face Willow, "I've known that my Angel has been gone for a long time. We just weren't meant to be, Will. And now with Riley…I'm just finally finding someone who I can really be with, you know? And the two of us work so well together." Willow nodded in understanding.

The girls turned their attention to the two figures who were slowly moving closer toward their hiding spot. Suddenly, the two figures in the distance had become very quiet.

Buffy watched them closely. Angelus seemed to be trying to persuade Cora into something that she wanted no part of. He started to move away from her, but she grabbed his jacket and moved with him.

"No," Buffy could hear Cora say from a distance.

"Angelus, don't," the girl begged again.

Willow looked at Buffy with a concerned look. "What're they doing?"

Angelus had bent down and was whispering something into Cora's ear. He was smiling, but she did not seem quite as amused. In fact, she looked very annoyed.

Cora attempted to change her and Angelus' direction back towards Spike's crypt, but Angelus was relentless. He was headed straight for Buffy and Willow.

"Oh, fine!" Cora finally exclaimed, actually pushing Angelus away from her a little bit, although not far enough to where she would fall. He stepped back towards her before she lost her balance. Then she turned to face the large stone cross.

"Buffy, you may as well come out. He knows you're here." Angelus' face broke into a huge grin, and he turned back to whisper in Cora's ear. She tried to push him away. "And Willy? He knows Willy's here too?"

"Willow!" Angelus exclaimed loudly. "It's Will-oh Cora! God did they box your ears when they had you too?"

Cora smiled at him fondly. She enjoyed annoying him.

Willow looked to Buffy for direction, and Buffy gave her a resigned nod. Then they both got up from their hiding spot behind the grave.

"Oh hey Buff. I see you brought the witch along too." Angel's arm moved from Cora's waist to resting on her bony shoulders.

"Angelus shut up," Cora told him, trying shrugging his arm from around her shoulders. He looked down at her, his expression upset.

"Fine." He removed his arm completely from her, throwing the injured girl off balance. She stumbled into a nearby gravestone and leaned against it for support. "Seriously Cora you're starting to piss me off."

"Angel," she started, before hesitating. She needed the Slayer to trust her and that meant not hanging off of Angelus' arm and letting him treat her the way he was used to. "If you're that pissed off then go," she said dismissively.

"Ha," Angelus laughed and took a threatening step towards Cora. Willow shot a nervous glance to Buffy. Cora barely looked like she could stand up, let alone survive an argument with Angelus. Buffy shook her head to signal Willow that they were to stay out of it. The Slayer figured Cora could take care of herself.

"I'm not going to die without you Angel. I don't need you taking care of me," Cora said.

"You know what, you're a piece of work, girl. I oughta be taking you right now, tearing your neck open and sucking you dry."

"And you can't, so too bad," Cora shot back childishly.

"I can," he countered, taking another step towards her. He put a hand on either side of her head and, as he leaned against the tombstone, she was trapped between his hands. "Maybe I will."

"No, you wouldn't." Cora smiled up at him. "This isn't the way we play our games Angelus and you know it...now give it up." She tried to duck out from underneath his arms, but he moved his arm down from where it rested on the gravestone before moving his hand back and slapping her sharply in the abdomen, where he knew her injuries were trying to heal.

He smiled as she started to double over in pain, despite having to clutch his own stomach at the same time. Buffy and Willow continued to watch helplessly. Well, Buffy was never helpless—not ever—but she knew that this wasn't her place to interfere. She just prayed that Cora still held the power in her and Angelus' relationship.

Cora straightened herself up and leaned back against the gravestone for support. She shot Angelus a deadly glare. "I can't believe you just did that. Stupid vampire."

"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do about it, dear?" Angelus mocked her. She knew he was looking for a fight, but Cora knew that he also knew that she was in no condition to participate in one of their fighting games that night.

Cora looked over his shoulder to where Buffy and Willow were standing with stunned faces. Cora shook her head in disbelief. Why did Angelus have to be such a complete ass in front of the people who wanted to kill him the most? Sure, Cora loved it when he got his ass kicked, but she didn't want to give anyone more incentive to kill him than they already had.

Cora wrapped her hand around one of his arms that was still blocking her in. "Angelus, please," she begged. She didn't want to have it out with him right then.

"Cora, you owe me. I saved your life, remember? You ruined my car seats!"

"Will you shut the hell up about your damn car seats?"

"When you buy me new ones!"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well, Cora, you're a freaking pain in the ass. You know what? Have a nice night with your new best friends," he gestured towards Willow and Buffy. "I'm going to go kill someone and pretend that she's you. Then, if I come back, you better have remembered who took care of you all those times after your damn parents went and got themselves killed." Satisfied that he had the last word in the argument, Angelus shook his head angrily and then turned his back on Cora. He walked across the cemetery and disappeared from sight.

"Sorry, Buffy and…Willow was it? He's not usually like that," Cora apologized.

"Oh you mean evil and sadistic? I thought he was…" Willow said.

Cora laughed. "Well, yeah actually he is. He's just not usually like that when I can't fight back. When I get better, you'll get the chance to see one of our real fights. They get very interesting."

Buffy watched Cora as she talked. The gravestone was the only thing supporting her weight. Without it, she was pretty sure the girl wouldn't have been able to stand. "Do you want some help getting back?" Buffy offered.

"Um, yeah…if you wouldn't mind?" Buffy and Willow stepped on either side of Cora and put their arms around her waist, supporting her. They started to walk back towards Spike's crypt.

"Where is Spike?" Willow asked.

"He went out to get me something to eat a while ago." Cora shrugged. "He gets distracted easily. He could be anywhere right now. Hazard of living with a vampire I guess."

"Oh yeah, and the fact that they can rip your throat out with their teeth isn't a hazard at all," Willow began.

"Willow!" Buffy scolded.

Cora laughed again. "No, it's okay Buffy, she's right. Since someone declawed Spike though, I'm not particularly worried."

"And Angelus?" Willow wondered. "What keeps him from killing you?"

Cora looked to Buffy. "Oh yeah," Willow said. "The curse, I forgot."

"I see you filled her in," Cora said to Buffy.

"Yeah, well…" Buffy shrugged.

They were moving slowly. They had just reached the large tree that stood in front of Spike's crypt when a growling came from behind the crypt.

Buffy pushed Cora towards Willow and yelled at them to get down as a vampire in long yellow and red robes ran at Buffy. Half of his face was covered in a mask that matched the red in his robes. When he reached her, the Slayer was already in fighting position. She struck first, swinging a low roundhouse kick to knock her attacker's legs out from underneath him.

But before he could fall, he brought his legs up to his chest to avoid Buffy's attack, and then kicked out. His feet met the Slayer's chest and for a second, she was flying backwards in the air. She landed on her back with the wind knocked out of her, but she was up again in an instant.

She quickly gained her composure and hit the vampire square across the face with her fist. Then, with his concentration lost, she kicked his legs out from underneath. While he was still falling, Buffy leaped into the air and landed on top of him. She heard her name coming from behind her shoulder.

Buffy hesitated for just a second before she saw Cora out of her peripheral vision. The girl was tossing something to her. Without thinking and with her Slayer reflexes acting on their own, her hand shot out and caught the small wooden stake. She plunged it into the heart of the vampire.