This chapter was really hard for me to write (as Love-el-ly Joy can attest). But I do think it was a necessary chapter to write. (and she agrees! So there!) And now I *really* have to get to writing the next chapter because I'm super behind. Wish me luck and a swift kick in the pants from a muse! And I hope you enjoy. And... erm... please don't kill me when you get to the end :-p

Giles looked up as the trio walked into the office.

"Buffy," he said in greeting. "How did the sparring match go?"

Buffy smiled at him. "Fantastic. I might have some new training moves for the girls by the time we go back," she said with a glance at Angel. She looked back to Giles and Wesley. "What about you guys? You got anything new for me?"

"Very little," said Giles, stepping around Andrew, whose head rested on the top of the desk, pillowed on his arms, snoring lightly. A touch of drool escaped his wide open mouth and onto his hand. Buffy chuckled at the sight while Giles continued. "We contacted Dawn for some translations help; she has a book that helped a little, but only a few words. It seems as though, while the physical being, the one you would be in the physical fight with, can shape shift, it can only do so for short periods of time during a fight. Five minutes or so. We believe it is largely for effect."

"Okay," she said, pacing, "does it get weaker when it shifts?"

Wesley shook his head. "No, it's not a weakness you can exploit during a fight."

"What about the mental part?" asked Gunn. "Isn't that the part we're most concerned about?"

Wesley shook his head in frustration. "We've translated one word, and that's only served to mix the pieces up even more, not make the picture clearer. It looks like, rather than having its demons invade your mind, the mind is... brought out to fight them. It makes very little sense."

Buffy nodded. "Okay. I guess I don't have to tell you to keep trying to focus on that section. I'm pretty sure it's key."

Giles blew out a frustrated breath. "No, you don't, but short of blankly staring at it for hours on end, I…" he trailed off as Buffy laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry; I know you're working on it. You'll get it," she said. Giles rested his hand over hers briefly.

Andrew let out a loud snort in his sleep, breaking the moment. Fred rapped him on the head, waking him up with a start.

"It's a trap!" he said aloud, before sheepishly looking around him and noting his surroundings.

"Right." Angel turned to Fred and Lorne.

"What about you guys?" he asked. "You said you have information for us."

"That we do, Angelcakes, and it's not good news," said Lorne.

"There's a surprise," said Spike dryly.

Lorne ignored him, "First off, it looks like our demon came here to team up with someone. We have absolutely no info on who or why. All we know is it's not a fighter, so you probably won't need to worry about him when you guys fight the Dankaar."

"Okay," said Angel, "that's good, but we're still going to want whatever information we can get on him."

"That's going to be pretty tough, sugarpie. We'll work on it, but I don't know what I can promise you."

"Did you find out this thing's purpose?" asked Buffy.

Lorne shifted uncomfortably but nodded.

"And?"

"Well… it's you, slayerkins."

"Huh?" said Buffy.

Fred took over from where Lorne left off. "It's apparently after you. It…" She swallowed. "It killed the others to attract your attention."

Buffy closed her eyes briefly in pain, but Fred kept talking.

"It wants to take you out, figuring once you're gone the rest of the slayers will be…"

"Easy pickings," Spike finished for her, grimly drawing the conclusion.

Buffy blinked for a moment. "Well that makes things easier."

"Makes things easier?" said Gunn.

"Sure, I don't have to find this thing; he's already planning on coming after me. I just have to try and make sure it's not on his terms," she said.

"Buffy," said Giles sharply. "You must take this seriously."

"I'm completely serious," she said. "I need to find out about this thing before it gets to me, and I need to make sure the fight is on my terms, not his. Other than that, I'm not going to have to work too hard to find him since he wants to be found, and I don't have to worry about stopping any nefarious plan while killing him. I just have to worry about not dying. All in all, I'd say we're in a better spot than I had feared."

Fred frowned. "I thought you'd be more upset than this."

"She should be," Angel bit out.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Listen, I am taking this seriously, but the news isn't terrible. I've always have demons looking to take me down-"

"Yes, but they always have a plan besides you to focus on," Giles cut her off, his voice rising. "This time the plan is you. You're the focus. That's new."

Buffy stared at him in openmouthed shock. "New?" she said incredulously. "Do you want a list of demons whose only goal was to kill me?" She started ticking them off on her fingers. "Spike, the Order of Taraka, Angelus before Acathala came into the picture."

Spike and Angel both looked down. Angel absent-mindedly played with the cup of pens on his desk. Spike got as close to brooding as he'd ever gotten, staring intently at his hands.

Buffy continued her tirade. "…and of course we can't forget Slayerfest 1999."

"Slayerfest?" asked Gunn.

"A sporting event," Angel said, gripping the pen holder in remembered anger, bending the metal in the process, "where demons were gathered from around the world to hunt Buffy and-"

But Buffy was still going. "I don't know if Maggie Walsh and Faith count during my freshman year, but they should. Then, of course, there was Dracula-"

"Wait, Dracula?" said Gunn.

"Okay, I understand," said Giles. "It's not the first time you've been hunted."

"Are you sure?" said Buffy. "'Cause I still haven't gotten to Andrew and the evil geek trio."

Andrew was busy biting his nails and looking out the window. He shifted uncomfortably when he realized that everyone was looking at him. "What? Oh! Yeah, I was once a criminal mastermind but I saw the error of my ways. I'm like Luke Skywalker at the end of Return of the Jedi…"

Giles spoke over him. ":Yes, I'm sure," he said to Buffy.

"… I let my fear and anger lead me towards the dark side, but once I realized the path I was on, I was able to turn back towards the light.." Andrew trailed off, realizing no one was listening.

Ignoring Andrew, Buffy softened towards Giles. "Look, I'm being careful. I'll train harder; I'll learn as much about it as I can, I'll stay on alert."

"That's all I can ask," said Giles. "And we'll work on getting the rest of this translated… somehow."

Buffy smiled at him. "No, you'll get some rest so that big brain of yours is actually functioning. I've had my time to crash, now it's yours."

Taking this as their cue to go about their business, everyone started to filter out while Buffy remained in the room to talk to Giles and Wesley for a moment.

Andrew dogged Spike and Angel's steps as they left the room.

"So, are you guys going to like, plan and plot and stuff?" said Andrew.

Angel shot him an unfathomable look.

"That's cool," said Andrew. "Hey, we should start a club!"

"A club," Angel repeated as Spike just smiled faintly in amusement.

"Yeah, a 'we used to be evil geniuses bent on destroying Buffy but now we're heroes fighting for good' club."

Angel stared.

"Of course, we'd need a catchier name," he continued.

Spike couldn't help the slight chuckle he let out in a whoosh of breath. Andrew just looked between the two silent vampires. Angel's shoulders were tense, his face disbelieving. Spike's features just held a familiar amusement. Upon realizing that neither of the two was particularly enthusiastic, or even communicative, he just shrugged and walked off.

Angel continued to stare after the boy's retreating form before shaking his head in disbelief. "Does he always do that?"

"What? Go on tangents? Exaggerate his evil-ness? Voice your most horrifying thoughts, fears or moments like it's nothing and then just go off as if nothing happened?" said Spike

Angel smiled slightly. "That one."

Spike smirked. "Only to people who think brooding is the most fun a bloke can handle"

Angel rolled his eyes. "Oh, so people who don't bother to stop and think about anything are safe."

"Certainly safer than people who are so happy being miserable that they give up anything that really matters to them."

Angel tensed up even more at those words. "It was best for both of us," he said between gritted teeth, too incensed to note the identical pain in the other vampire's eyes at the previous reminder of his pre-soul days.

"It was certainly best for me, mate." Spike smirked as Angel took a furious step towards him.

"I had to think of the consequences," Angel said in a low voice.

"You mean you had to do the thinking for the little lady, right?" Spike said. "Because I would have listened to her if she said 'Hang the consequences, we'll figure something out.'"

"You would say that. I'm still suffering for what I did when Angelus was unleashed!" Angel said furiously.

"Don't act like you're the only demon with a soul around here!" said Spike.

"Ah yes, the soul you got to impress your little crush? Funny how this soul of yours doesn't seem to have changed anything about you!" Angel yelled back.

"Enough!" said Buffy sharply. Both vampires looked up in shock. Neither had noticed her enter the hallway. She walked over and jerked open the nearest door. "Angel," she said in clipped tones. "Inside. Spike, find Lorne, help him find our mystery guy."

Spike mock saluted her with a smirk and left as Angel walked into the empty office she had indicated.

Buffy all but slammed the door behind them, then turned to Angel, her fists on her hips and feet planted. "What the hell was that?" she said.

Angel sighed. "Buffy, we always fight. We always will-"

"No, you guys always bicker. That's fine. Hell, I think it's good for you. But there is a line."

Angel wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so he remained silent. Buffy rolled her eyes in response to his silence and folded her arms across her chest.

She stared him down for a moment before she spoke. "I love you. I always have and I always will. You've always been the one, and you better wipe that smirk off your face because I'm not done yet." She waited while he struggled to contain his smile.

"I love you," she continued. "You know it, I know it, Spike knows it. Hell, everyone knows it, okay? But I swear to God and any Powers that Be, I will not just stand by while you treat Spike like he's somehow less than you, and I will not let you cheapen what Spike and I shared. You won. Let it go."

"And what did you guys share?" he asked before he could stop himself.

She sent him a dark look. "Do we really want to have that conversation? Me, Riley and Spike versus you, Darla and Cordelia?"

Angel blew out a breath, half sitting on a desk. "No. We really don't."

"So let me ask again what you're trying to pull with this … this condescending bullsh-"

"What do you expect? We've always been like this; it's not going to change."

"That's fine," she said, starting to pace, "but there's a line between simple bickering and what you're doing."

"And what am I doing?"

"Being an ass!" she said.

"Oh, well thanks; that clears it up. Why am I the bad guy in all this? He started it!"

"Then let him! My God, Angel, how old are you? You won! Just let it-"

"He's just as harsh as I am! What, just because I fight back, instead of-?"

She stepped closer to him. "Bickering is one thing, but when you make Spike feel inferior, when you write off everything he's done for our cause," she looked him straight in the eye, "when you try to tell him that there wasn't a point in time where he was one of the most important people in my life, then you cross a line."

"One of the most important?" Angel asked, again before he could stop himself.

"Don't start. I know for a fact you were in the same situation over here."

She had a point. Angel shook his head. "Buffy, Spike can handle himself."

"Just… watch which buttons you press."

"Why is this so important to you?" he asked.

"He's a good man. He's done a lot of good. He shouldn't be made to feel otherwise."

He tipped her face up to make her look at him. "I'm trying to understand. Really. Why is he so important to you?" When she didn't answer, he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Damnit, Buffy, what am I missing here? Why is this such a big-"

"BECAUSE HE WAS THERE!" The words burst out of her of their own accord.

Silence rang through the room as the two stared at each other.

"He was there," she said more quietly. "When you were… when… when everyone else…" she took a deep breath. "He kept me sane. I can't give him what he really wants; that belongs to you, but I'll be damned if he doesn't get the respect he deserves."

Angel opened and closed his mouth a few times, leaving him looking rather like a fish (though still a too-attractive-for-her-piece-of-mind fish) while she rambled on, trying to compose herself.

"I'm not trying to say you should tip-toe around all his feelings, because god knows you'd both explode if you tried to hold in this whole sibling rivalry thing you've got going. Just… don't cross that line. I won't take your side."

She watched him as he tried to digest everything she said. He still didn't entirely understand, she knew. On some level he got it, but for now, he couldn't quite grasp it. But he tried. He trusted her.

That meant the world to her.

She touched his cheek. "I love you."

He closed his eyes, savoring her touch, her words. His throat seemed suddenly dry as he tried to speak. "It's been years since I've heard you say that," he whispered.

A bittersweet smile curved her lips. "I know."

Giving his cheek a lingering caress, she dropped her hand and turned to leave. She stopped in the doorway, her voice serious again.

"I meant what I said. I love you, but Spike means a lot to me. Don't try to belittle that, because I won't take your side."

Angel nodded imperceptively, going into brood mode. Buffy took one last look at him when something in the window behind him caught her eye. She went pale, running up to the window and almost pressing her nose against the glass.

Angel followed her to the window, looking between Buffy and the brunette on the street below.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Kennedy?" she whispered.

"Kennedy?" he repeated, his gaze shooting back to the girl on the street. "But isn't she…?" He trailed off, looking up to find that Buffy had already taken off at a dead run. "No. No! Buffy!"

He sprinted after her, calling for her all the while. He bolted down the stairway after her and ran straight out of the building, right into the bright sunshine. Skidding to a halt, he muttered a few choice words as he leapt back into the safety of the building.

He turned around, a thunderous scowl darkening his features. "Get Gunn," he snapped at the nearest employee.

The girl in question looked at him in shock for a second. "What?"

"Charles Gunn. Law Division. Find him," he bit off as the girl rushed off. He turned to the next available employee.

"Wesley Wyndham-Price."

The man just nodded and ran off.

"You stupid, bleedin' ponce!" Angel turned around to see Spike running towards him. "What the bloody hell did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" he said defensively. "She thought she saw Kennedy and ran off before I could stop her!"

"Kennedy? But she's-"

"I know," said Angel in clipped tones.

"Oh Christ," said Spike, looking out into the sunshine.

Buffy ran as fast as she could, trying in vain to catch up to the slayer look-alike. Somewhere between the office and the street, she realized it was impossible, that Kennedy was dead. It only made her run faster, desperate to catch whatever was masquerading as the fallen slayer.

She caught a flash of the look-alike across the street and hurried to cross. She had almost gotten to the middle of the street when she ran straight into a barrier. Confused, she reached out a hand and rapped on the invisible barrier. She backed up in the other direction, anxious to get out of the street, until she ran up against another invisible wall in the other direction. Panicked, she reached around and found walls in every direction. She was boxed in on all sides, looking like a frantic mime in the middle of the street.

A honk blared and she looked up to realize a car was coming right at her. She jumped up just in time to avoid getting hit, landing on the car's roof. She kept her balance on top of the car as it continued forward, but was knocked off again when it took her straight into the invisible barrier.

As she tumbled back onto the street, she dimly heard voices calling her name. She landed hard onto the ground and looked up in time to see another car grill. She barely had time to brace herself for impact before everything went black.

Two figures stood in the shadows, watching the proceedings.

"You weren't exaggerating," one said to the other.

"No."

The first one paused for a moment, its eyes taking on a sadistic gleam before speaking.

"It seems I can use your talents."