What Are Friends For?

Chapter 6

Part 1

Angelus explained to Elizabeth that when he arrived at the warehouse where Spike and Drusilla were staying, Dru already knew that he was free and was already planning a celebration for the citizens of Sunnydale. She realized as soon as she saw him that he was not coming back to their little family and she got very upset. He had to send his childer and half of his minions away from the city.

"They will not return until I call for them."

"Good. That is one less thing that I have to worry about when it comes to Buffy's safety."

"I already told you, 'You never have to worry about any of my people coming after the slayer.' Now the soul wants to speak to the slayer."

"Can't you ever just call them Angel and Buffy?"

Angelus gave her a flat-out unapologetic, "No. Now put her on."

Part 2

The fifty-fifty time share that Angel and Angelus had agreed upon actually worked better than anyone expected. The two males still did not like each other, but Angelus finally gave up his constant criticizing monologue in Angel's mind and allowed him some peace. When they did speak to each other, the conversation was, for the most part, civil. The two females were happy to have their significant other to themselves more often without interference.

The two couples decided to share the slaying. Actually Angelus wasn't interested in slaying per se, he just needed a good brawl once in a while and letting loose on the bad guys of Sunnydale at night gave him the release he was looking for. However it worked out, it allowed Buffy time to get more needed sleep which meant that she was more alert and participated more in her classes. Her teachers and her friends were pleasantly surprised. The only one who struggled with the situation at times was Angelus. On so many occasions he had to actually bite the inside of his cheek or keep his hands in his pockets so he could dig his nails into his palms to keep from saying the wrong thing.

"How the soul puts up with all of the crap from the slayer's friends and her watcher is beyond me," he told Elizabeth one night while they were on patrol. "I just want to snap a few necks and get it over with."

Part 3

As Buffy's eighteenth birthday approached, she noticed that her strength was fading, as was all or her slayer abilities. Naturally the first person she mentioned this to was Elizabeth, who had also noticed a loss in her powers. "I don't know what is going on, Elizabeth; Giles had never mentioned anything about a slayer losing her powers. I'm going to talk to Angel about it. Maybe he has heard of something like this."

Angel and Angelus were both concerned about the girls because they had already noticed a loss of slayer coordination and strength. At first Angel thought Buffy might be coming down with some disease, but that had been ruled out because, without Buffy's being aware of it, he had checked her out thoroughly with his vampire senses and he could sense nothing out of the ordinary.

Except, when he kissed her, her taste was different. He ignored it at first, but the next time he kissed her, the taste was stronger, definitely something unusual was in her system.

"Buffy, have you been consuming anything out of the ordinary lately? Your taste is different. Don't get me wrong, you still taste very sweet. I love the way you taste. It's just that something is different, and it is stronger today than it was yesterday. Have you talked to Giles about your loss of strength?"

"I have. He said that he would look into it, but so far, he hasn't found anything. I'm worried, Angel."

"I'm worried too. Come on, I'll walk you home. I don't want you out alone at night."

Buffy started to protest, but she saw the concern on Angel's face and kept quiet, grateful for the support.

After leaving Buffy at home, instead of returning to the mansion, Angel went by Giles' house. He wasn't sure what he expected to find out from the watcher, but he had to do something.

In the beginning Giles seemed genuinely concerned about his slayer and he assured Angel that he was confident that Buffy would get her strength back. Angel was not convinced.

"Something foreign is in her body, Giles; I tasted it when I kissed her last night, then again when she came to see me tonight. The taste is stronger than before, which means that she has somehow ingested more of whatever this is in the last twenty-four hours."

Angel briefly saw a look of shock and fear on Giles' face. He almost missed it; but he didn't. What the hell was going on? Giles knew something that he was not saying.

"What is it, Giles? And don't tell me that you don't know."

"Angel, I assure you that I am looking into this and I ..."

"DON'T," Angel growled. "I know that you're lying."

Giles had never heard Angel speak so forcefully before. He expected that Angel knew more than he thought at first so he might as well come clean. He told Angel everything, starting with Travers, the druggings, Kralik, everything.

"The test is tonight. We have to hurry, if you want to save your slayer."

"Where is it? I can get there faster than you can in your car."

Angel was out of the door and gone as soon as the words were out of Giles' mouth. At the Sunnydale Arms building Angel burst through the door and found Buffy trying to untie the rope used to bind Joyce to a chair.

"Where is he?" Angel demanded.

"Dust," Buffy said quietly.

Angel was untying Joyce when Giles arrived in time to stake Blair, the vampire turned by Kralik.

Giles drove Buffy and Joyce home and Angel went on foot since Giles' car couldn't hold four people. Angel was at the Summers' house when the others arrived. He volunteered to stay with Joyce while Giles and Buffy went to meet Travers at the school library. It was at that meeting that Travers fired Giles as Buffy's watcher and announced that a new watcher would be arriving in Sunnydale shortly.

As expected the relationship between the new watcher and the slayer did not get off to a smooth start; the primary reason for that was the fact that the slayer practically ignored the new watcher.

Part 4

As the end of the school year approached Angel agreed to take Buffy to the prom which made Buffy and Elizabeth very happy. The only problem was that the guys disagreed markedly on what to wear. Angel felt that since it was a formal affair, he should wear a tux. Of course Angelus disagreed because, according to him, "All eyes in the place will be on us. We look damn hot in leather pants."

"Angelus, I am not wearing leather pants to a formal dance. That is all."

"What's the matter? Afraid we'll get more attention than the girls?"

At this point Elizabeth stepped in. "You haven't seen the dress that we're considering, have you?"

"It better not be that green thing that you tried on when we were with you. There is no way in hell that you're wearing that. It is too revealing. It just looks like a few scraps of silk placed in the absolutely necessary places."

"That's the whole point," Elizabeth laughed. "So the decision is yours, Angelus; either you wear the tux or I wear the few scraps of silk."

"FINE." Angelus was not pleased, but he knew when he was whipped.

"What was that about being whipped?" Angel asked in his head.

"Just shut up," Angelus snapped back.

Part 5

Graduation day came and went, the good guys were successful in destroying the mayor after he transformed into a demon and before almost no time at all, Buffy and Willow were roommates at UC Sunnydale. That was where they met Riley Finn. Even though Buffy made it clear that she had a steady boyfriend and was not interested in dating anyone else, Riley was not willing to give up so easily.

Then one evening when Buffy was taking a nap, Riley showed up at her dorm room determined to convince her that they belonged together. Unfortunately, for Riley that is, Elizabeth answered the door.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"We need to talk," he stated and without waiting to be invited in, he tried to push his way into the room and found himself on his back on the opposite side of the hall.

"How many times do I have to tell you? My answer is still 'No'. Now get away from me and stay away from me or I will bring you before the Disciplinary Committee on charges of harassment."

A furious Riley got up and started toward the door again when he heard Claire, one of Buffy's dorm mates whom he recognized from her psych class. "I saw the whole thing, Buffy. If you need me, I will be a witness for you when you go to the Committee. I have noticed how he bugs you every chance he gets."

Riley knew it was in his best interest to leave. "You don't know what you're missing," he threw back at Elizabeth as he headed for the exit.

"Oh I think I do," Elizabeth threw back at him as she and Claire laughed.

The next morning Elizabeth told Buffy what had happened with Riley. "I don't think we should say anything to our guys about this, Buffy, not until we have more information. There is something off about that guy and I want to find out what it is."

Part 6

What Elizabeth found out was quite alarming. She and Angelus were patrolling one night when they heard someone running. They witnessed a vamp being zapped by a taser gun and taken away by Riley and his friends. From a distance they followed and saw the vampire being taken into Riley's dorm.

About a week later Angelus ran into that same vamp at Willy's and started up a conversation with him. That was how he learned about the Initiative and their experiments on vamps and other demons, about soldiers, including Riley, who posed as students during the day and went out demon hunting at night. Almost equally as startling was the fact that their leader was Maggie Walsh, the psych professor.

He described their elaborate underground facility and the outside access. He also described what he had heard from other demons in the containment cells regarding some Frankenstein type monster that the Initiative was working on. That was why they needed demons with specific skills and body parts.

Elizabeth and Buffy both shivered as Angelus detailed what he had been told.

"We have got to shut that place down," Buffy told the group assembled in Giles' living room. "I don't care if it does have the federal government's backing, what they're doing is wrong."

For once Giles and the new watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, agreed; both felt that they did not yet have enough information about the Initiative's operation and purpose.

"Too bad I didn't take Riley up on his offer," Buffy (actually Elizabeth) said with a look of distaste on her face, letting the group know that she was joking.

Angelus did not think it was at all funny.

At that moment a frantic Willow burst into the house screaming, "They took Oz. Buffy, the Initiative took Oz."

"Calm down, Willow," Buffy told her; "we'll get to him before they have time to do their experiments on him."

"Buffy you can't go in there alone and besides those are human beings that you will be fighting," Giles protested.

"I'm going," Elizabeth insisted.

Giles knew that if Buffy was going, Angel was also going.

"I'll notify some of my minions to meet us there for backup; you're not going without me," Angelus told Elizabeth.

"Angel it's too dangerous for you; remember what they do to vampires?"

"We'll go in, get Oz and be out before they know what I am. Don't worry."

Of course, best laid plans ...