Previously: Buffy looked at me 'See you later ok?'

'You bloody will not!'

Buffy was taken aback 'What?'

'You're not leaving me out of this one love'

'You know it's daylight right?'

'So? I'll hide under a blanket like I used to'

Buffy was about to open her mouth to argue but I cut her off.

'I don't care what you say, I'm coming. She's an alliance and a slayer and I'm coming'

Buffy was shocked but moved out of the doorway to allow me through.

I smirked. This time, I had won an argument.

Chapter 44

Angelina groaned. Her head was killing her. What did she do? Fall down stairs or something?

Then she remembered what had happened earlier this morning. The blood, the bandage, the fainting, all of it.

She didn't want to open her eyes just in case she woke up to a place she really didn't want to be. A hospital being such a place. She had a thing about hospitals. Never really liked them after she witnessed her grandpa pass away in one. She'd only been seven at the time, but it was enough to deter her from the place.

Her eyes however, had other ideas. Against her wishes they opened to reveal the room in which she lay.

She breathed a sigh of relief as her bedroom came into focus. Somehow she had ended up lying on her half of the bed, and was propped up with every pillow in sight. She guessed it was Lorne and Dawn's way of making her comfortable.

'Thank god! You're awake' a voice said.

It would have made Angelina jump, but her head hurt and it just wasn't worth it.

Dawn came into focus a few seconds later, worry etched into her face. 'You ok?'

Angelina really had to think about this one. Was she ok?

She mentally checked every joint and muscle in her body. Nothing hurt too much; a few bruises possibly, but nothing serious.

'I'm ok' Angelina breathed. She sounded like she hadn't spoken for days. What was the time?

'You want something to drink?' Dawn was playing 'mum'.

'Sure. Whatcha making?' Angelina smiled.

'Do you want hot or cold?' Dawn asked while rising from the bed.

'Whatever floats your boat Dawn-y' Angelina yawned then asked 'Hey Dawn. What's the time?'

'12:30. You've been out for a few hours. I found you in the bathroom this morning.' Dawn admitted.

'I'll bet it was different from your normal mornings'

'Yeah. It was scarier.' Dawn left the room looking much happier.

Angelina sighed and stretched. She could feel that there was going to be bruising later on, but for now she was just glad that she was awake and not scaring the crap out of Dawn, Lorne and the others.

'Hey kiddo. Gave us quite a scare there' Lorne appeared in the doorway holding a glass of something.

He sat on the bed next to Angelina, taking over from Dawn probably.

Angelina pulled herself into a sitting position, being mindful of the dizziness; she didn't want to feel any sicker, and inspected what was in the glass Lorne held out for her. It was Milo. So Dawn had outdone herself this morning. Angelina couldn't help but smile.

'How are you holding up?' Lorne asked.

'Well I'm fine. A few bruises, nothing major. The question is, how are you?' Angelina looked Lorne squarely in the eyes.

He sighed and flopped against the pillows that Angelina had abandoned.

'Well this morning was alright. til I woke up and found Dawn with what I thought to be a dead you, Then we carried you back here and made a pillow fort…' he gestured to all the pillows surrounding her. 'I then rang the gang and told them what had happened, while fighting the urge to hit Dawn with a fry pan, and then a few hours later you woke up'

'That still doesn't answer my question' Angelina stated.

'Let's put it this way. I'm extremely glad I didn't have to play Mr. Responsible all day' he said with a grin as he winked at her.

'Oh yeah…' Angelina laughed. 'Because Mr. Responsible would hit Dawn with a fry pan' she placed the empty Milo glass on the bedside table and flopped back down next to the green demon.

'Could've been worse' Angelina stated. 'I could have died'

Lorne turned a little pale. 'Well you didn't, so let's not say that ok'

Angelina didn't understand why he was so abrupt about her last statement, but shrugged 'Ok'.

Dawn strode through the doorway and up to the bed.

'Lorne?'

Lorne who had closed his eyes, and was enjoying the fact that Angelina was alive and well, didn't move but answered.

'Yes Pumpkin Pie?'

Dawn made a face that made Angelina giggle.

'Buffy and the others are here'

'What?' Angelina paled this time. 'Why?'

Dawn huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

'To see if you were ok'

'Oh' Angelina thought she might have missed out on something at the meeting this morning.

'Ok Sweet. Be right out' Lorne chirped as he opened his eyes and sat up.

'Ok' Dawn headed back out to entertain the Scoobies.

'As for you' Lorne turned to Angelina and planted a kiss on her forehead. 'You stay here ok? Save up your energy'

Angelina rolled her eyes. 'We'll see'

Lorne left the room shaking his head. He knew she wouldn't stay where she was, but he hoped that she might.

~**~

We were all sitting in Angelina's living room. Bloody hell! No wonder Lorne liked boarding here. There were so many bright colours, he must feel right at home.

Everyone else around me had the same look on his or her faces. Except for Willow. She must have been here before. If not, then she must've seen the inside of Angelina's locker or something because she didn't look surprised at all.

Rupert must have had flashbacks to the eighties there were that many different colours here. I know I did. But I was ripping people to shreds back then, not really paying attention to colours. Though I did pretend to just before I ate the interior designer.

'Would you guys like something to drink?' Dawn asked.

Buffy, Giles and Xander nodded and said water would be fine. Then Xander made some crack about unless it comes out blue or something. Dumb idiot. Hasn't he seen the ocean? That's bloody blue.

I was about to point that out, but Lorne cut me off.

'Hello fans. What can I do for you?'

'Hi Lorne. How's Angelina?' Willow asked. Worry was etched into her face as well but it soon passed.

'She's good. A few bruises and a little disorientated, but she'll live' Lorne explained.

'Gave us a fright though' Dawn added as she came back with glasses of water, that wasn't blue.

'I'd imagine so' Giles spoke. 'Where is she now?'

'Oh she's sleeping' Lorne said hurriedly. Lorne was actually hoping she was, but knew she was probably taking her time getting changed.

'Well in that case, maybe you can help us?' Buffy asked.

'What's the problem?' Lorne asked.

'Well you see there's this story, a legend if you will' Xander began.

~**~

Angelina hadn't promised Lorne she would stay where she was. Hell. She wasn't going to either. She wanted a shower, a clean change of clothes and she wanted to see her friends to prove to them she was ok. She hated causing a fuss, or being fussed over.

Dawn hadn't come back so Angelina guessed she was involved in whatever conversation was being held. Time to get up.

Angelina slowly shifted her body off of the bed and just stood there for a minute or two. Just to see if she could actually carry out with what she had planned. She was still a little dizzy, but that was just because she hadn't eaten anything for ages and she had hit her head in tiled floor. She was allowed to be dizzy.

Satisfied that her legs would hold her up, Angelina once again headed to the bathroom, which seemed trickier to get to then earlier. The ground was littered with clothing and weaponry. Had that been there before?

Angelina wasn't sure but she soon reached the door and stepped onto the cold tiled floor.

The bathroom looked the same as it had. Nothing had been touched, which was a good thing because Angelina had left bloody wipes and gauze in the bin, inside the counter cupboard, next to the hairdryer. Something told her Lorne hadn't showered today, otherwise the bin would be empty.

The bloody materials in the bin also reminded her of her wounds. Were they still going to need to be bandaged? She hoped not.

Angelina checked the back of the bathroom door for any clean clothes.

There was a blue suit on a hanger, but nothing of hers.

Angelina left the bathroom and ducked into the wardrobe in pursuit of clothing. She found a grey t-shirt and decided on wearing trackie pants with it.

She then went back into the bathroom, hung the clothes on the back of the door and got ready for a shower.

When she unwrapped the bandage, she expected the worse, but all she saw was dried blood. Guess she'd have to wait until she was in the shower to find out if it was better or not.

The water was hot; it was a great wake up call. Angelina decided on washing her hair. She had woken up in a sweat the first time and she didn't like the feeling of dirty hair.

She lathered her hair with shampoo and washed it out. It was something Lorne had bought once he'd used all of hers. It smelt like strawberries and something else, but she couldn't quite pick what.

She put the same type of conditioner through her hair and washed it out as well. Then it was time for soap.

Angelina looked around for her cake of white soap but couldn't find it anywhere. Where the hell was it? She kept looking but she couldn't find it. Maybe Dawn or Lorne had used the last of it? It had been getting pretty small.

Angelina looked over to the rack where the shampoo and conditioner had come from. Next to them stood another bottle; Shower Gel.

Ok, so Lorne had replaced everything in her shower with strawberry scented stuff.

'The man has a thing for strawberries obviously' Angelina said to herself while using the gel.

She noticed that while washing her stomach, there were no signs of the gash she had mysteriously received. There was nothing. No scars, no scab, no gash, nothing.

Angelina sighed with relief. She wouldn't have to explain that to anyone anytime soon.

Angelina finished in the shower and turned the taps off. She felt better now. All she had to do was get dressed and go against Lorne's orders. And possibly grab something to eat. She was starving. She smiled at that.

It was good to know she was alive.