BTVS, Angel and Charmed characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Spoilers: Up until the Season 5 episode The Body (just to be safe).

Author's Note: Sorry to break this into two parts but I ran out of time. This will get wrapped up tomorrow though :)

Buffy raced into the Magic Box with Wesley on her heels. She scanned the front room quickly and noted the absence of her Watcher. She did, however, spot the slowly rising Quentin Travers. She threw the senior Council member against the bookshelves and demanded, "Where's Giles? What have you done to him?"

"Ms. Summers," a voice stuttered from behind her and to her left.

Faster than the speaker could fathom, she had released Travers and turned her choke hold on him.

"Buffy, we do not have Giles. Please release Mr. Danvers so we can discuss things calmly."

"I don't want to discuss things! I want to find Giles. NOW!"

"Uh, Buffy, perhaps if you let up on the chap he might be able to tell you what you need to know." Wesley gestured at the struggling Danvers, who was despite his near unconscious state, trying to speak."

Buffy let up her grip enough for him gulp a few lungfuls of air. "We restrained Mr. Giles after he knocked out Mr. Travers." He indicated the chair that had been turned over in the middle of the shop. "We had just gotten him settled when a group of vampires burst in from the backroom. My colleagues were surprised and were killed before they could even draw their weapons."

"How do you know they were vamps? And how did you escape?" Buffy demanded.

"Well, I had gone to fetch Mr. Giles a cold cloth from the restroom. He'd been injured in the struggle ..." he trailed off realizing that perhaps now wasn't the best time to describe any injuries her Watcher had obtained at the hands of his colleagues. "Well, when I heard the commotion, I peaked out from behind the door and saw the group of vampires in their demonic form. One was particularly aggrieved at Mr. Giles, who appeared to recognize him. "He called him Angel. This Angel chap apparently did not like the answer Mr. Giles gave him so he knocked him unconscious and slung him over his shoulder. The group left with Mr. Giles as their prisoner without ever discovering me."

"You didn't follow them? You were what, just going to sit here and wait?"

"No. After I checked my colleagues and realized that all but Mr. Travers had perished, I followed the group at a distance. As they didn't realize that anyone was following them, they were not terribly stealthy. They took Mr. Giles to an old mansion on Crawford Street. But there were too many vampires. I returned here to try and wake Mr. Travers in hopes that we could mount a more effective rescue."

Buffy blew out the breath she'd been holding. At least she knew where Giles was, and despite not liking it, she had to agree that Danvers had been correct to try and gather reinforcements. He wasn't a Slayer after all, and from what she could tell, probably more of a researcher than a field watcher. "How many vampires were you able to count?"

"Well there were five, plus Angel. And after they went inside the mansion, two others exited. It was rather strange, as it looked like the male was carrying the female vampire off."

"Did you get a good look at them?" At his nod, she asked "What did they look like?"

"Well the male had the most atrocious hair, like it had been dipped in bleach. And he wore a long black coat. I didn't get a good look at the female as she may have been unconscious, but I believe she had dark hair."

"Spike?" Wesley questioned.

"And probably Drusilla. And what are they doing with Angel?" Crap. This was not going to be easy. She looked at her resources, Wesley, and old Watcher and a researcher that had probably never seen a real vampire before today. She went to the weapons chest and started choosing weapons. "Wesley?"

"A crossbow if you have one. And I'll take a sword and a few stakes."

"Ms. Summers," Travers began but was cut off.

"Look. Unless you are going to tell me you have more watchers nearby, just shut up and stay out of my way. I am not leaving Giles with him any longer than I have to."

"I was only going to say, I'm quite handy with a crossbow." He waited expectantly.

Buffy looked over at Wesley, silently asking his opinion. "Angel and five vampires would be quite formidable on their own. With Spike and Drusilla as unknown quantities I think it best if we take all the help we can get."

Reluctantly she handed Travers and Danvers each a crossbow. "You two are to stay back as far as you can. And only take a shot if it is a sure one. I don't need to be worrying about friendly fire too."

"Understood. I assure you, Buffy, we will obey your instructions to the letter."

As they hurried to Crawford Street, Buffy asked Danvers, "How long ago did they take him?"

"About two hours ago. I'm sorry."

Buffy closed her eyes and was surprised when she felt a supportive hand on her shoulder. Wesley had observed Giles using the gesture to calm his Slayer back when he first arrived in Sunnydale and they needed Buffy to be one hundred percent focused on the rescue rather than worrying about things that couldn't be changed. She patted the hand gratefully and then turned to her troops.

"Okay, Travers and Danvers, you're on perimeter duty. If you get a clean shot at a vamp, take it. But be careful of not hitting us, or Giles. Especially Giles. Wesley, your main goal is to get to Giles. When he started to protest she waved him off. Look, if you can take out a vamp on your way to him fine, but I don't want to give anyone the chance to grab Giles and take him someplace else. They outnumber us, and they have something that we want. Lets not give them any more advantage than necessary."

The group hugged the shadows as they approached the mansion. Buffy was able to sneak up on the first guard and dust him before he knew what hit him. She was spotted by the second guard who turned and was about to sound the alarm. However a well aimed bolt from Travers' crossbow dusted the vamp before he had taken more than two steps.

Buffy heard Angel tell one of his henchmen to go look for Drusilla. She grimaced. And wondered what, if any, part Spike was playing. Could she trust him? She silently took out the henchman. They were going to have to move quickly now, as Angel would get suspicious when his lackey didn't return. She motioned for the others to stay hidden and she crept forward for a bit of reconnaissance. They were holding Giles in the same room where they had fooled Faith into thinking Angel had turned back into Angelus. Giles had been badly beaten. His face was bloodied and bruised. She watched Angel grab him by the hair and pull his head back, forcing the Watcher to look at him. His arm moved, bringing one of the instruments of torture off the tray and into the Giles' view. Buffy turned away and covered her mouth as she saw Angel's arm swing forward and stab the Watcher's torso. The muffled sound as he resisted the urge to cry out the only evidence that he was even conscious.

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment and found her center, like Giles had taught her. She reached out with her Slayer senses. She had only spotted two other vampires in the room besides Angel but she needed to be sure. She reached out, and gave a slight prayer of thanks. She detected no other vamps or demons. She signaled the others. When they were in position, she motioned for Travers and Danvers to take their shot. Travers' bolt scored a perfect strike to the heart, but Danvers' shot went wide.

The commotion alerted Angel and he spun around, the tool he'd just used on Giles still dripping blood. "Buffy!"

"Step away from him Angelus," she ordered.

"Look, I'm not Angelus. I thought Giles had done something to hurt you. Like he did on your eighteenth birthday." He made the mistake of stepping away from Giles and towards Buffy.

Two crossbow bolts struck Angel, one in each shoulder, Travers and Wesley smiled at each other in victory. Angel roared as he pulled out the bolts.

"Wesley!"

Buffy didn't need to clarify. He gave the enraged Angel a wide berth and began to free Giles who had fallen unconscious. Buffy wasted no time going on the offensive. She landed a series of kicks and punches that drove Angel further away from the Watcher. She approached the fallen vampire, Mr. Pointy poised to deliver the final blow.

"Halt!" A female voice commanded. Buffy struggled against the invisible force that held her. She only needed a few more inches for Mr. Pointy to reach his target.

"He has a soul. He is a Champion for the Powers. You must not kill him."