Super sorry guys! I know that it's been like a month since I last updated but I promise to try to get more chapters out sooner. But with being sick and this whole high school crap, writing is harder than it should be.

Big thanks to Jen who kinda kicked my butt into writing again, she has really fantastic fics under Angel's Blue eyed girl, and Angelusdarkangels. Seriously check them out. Special thanks to my new official beta Beloved Slayer who has a multitude of wonderful B/A goodness.

Now thank you to all who reviewed last chapter including, Crazy about Survivor, ba2006, Belovedslayer, Angelplusbuffyequals4ever, Jen, Angelspixxee, and idofjeanne33.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Los Angeles
Taylor's POV

Have you ever wondered why people have been given a day to celebrate love? It seems ridiculous to me, but as Lorne pointed out, I was the girl who had never been loved; no family for the past twenty years or so.

As I was finally able to watch Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang up in Sunnyhell, it was as if Valentine's Day was created for people to torture those they care about. For the moment, I am one of them; although not being able to do anything, just watch.

And watch some more. It was a bit redundant.

To my surprise though, Angel hadn't intervened as much as I thought he would, being with the whole puppies on nails thing, but he only went at it with Buffy for about five hours, in her own home of all places. Her mom had an amazing ability to sleep through just about anything. I need to remember to try playing the tuba or some loud instrument like that when I return.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Sunnydale
Angelus's POV

I was watching her. She knows; otherwise she would've never really danced with him like that. She wouldn't dare try to dance with him in order to rile me up with jealousy, like she had with SoulBoy when she returned from L.A. that one summer.

Passion, it lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting and though unwanted, unbidden it will stir…

I start to pace around the room, not bringing attention to myself. We couldn't have that. At least not yet.

Open its jaws and howl.

I left soon after, realizing that I had yet to feed that night. I decided to settle for an older woman. Just as soon as I bite her, I feel Buffy and her motley crew exiting the Bronze, in a cute little friendly embrace. She's in complete denial, so much so that she doesn't even look at me as I dug my head deep into the girl's neck. I begin to follow her to her house as soon as she no longer had the ability to sense me. We soon arrive at her house; she uses the front door, I enter through the open window, except that I hadn't gone through the window yet. Knowing the Slayer, she was becoming paranoid enough to peer out through her window every night, especially after I had snuck into her house last Valentine's Day and came close to waking up the entire neighborhood in the process. So far it was quiet, and uneventful. She's finally satisfied with the fact that she thinks that no one is outside, no one meaning me. Any other demon would know that she's mine, and would know better than to come near the house.

It speaks to us.

Once she's finally asleep, I sneak into her room and watch her sleep again. Spike had been nagging me to do something to her, either turn her or just kill her. I didn't want to do either, not yet at the least.

Guides us.

Then he has the never to accuse me of falling in love with her. I'm not in love. It was Soul Boy who was infatuated with her.

Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The next morning,
Buffy's room

It has been taken a lot, but I have to stop it. The fish rots from the head, and I need to cut off the head. Well, if it comes to it, I might even need to kill Angel, err Angelus. I have to try to keep them separate. If I continue to think that he's Angel, I won't be able to stop him, much less discontinue having sex with him.

And to think, that was all before I woke up, before I discovered the picture that laid motionlessly on my bed. Of me. Sleeping. Normally if he wants me, he wakes me then forces me go wherever the hell he wants. He's becoming serious, not to mention, incredibly dangerous. It was time for me to step up to the game, and prepare myself for the kill.

Even if it means bringing it to Giles.

OXOXOXOXOXOX

"He was in my room," I blurted as I entered the library before school. Giles was behind the desk in his usual tweed suit.

"Who?" He questioned, glancing up from his recently returned books.

"Angel. Err, Angelus. He was in my room last night," and so many other nights, but I didn't mention it. He walked out from behind the counter and follows me over to the center table where Cordelia and Xander were sitting at.

"Are you sure?" He repeats the question. I then pull out a slip of paper from the envelope.

"Positive," I confirmed. "When I woke up I found a picture he'd left me on my pillow." I gave the drawing to him.

"A visit from the pointed-tooth fairy," Xander retorted, trying to be humorous, but all he got in return were the familiar ice glares of Cordy, Giles and myself.

"Wait," Cordy started, pondering. "I thought that vampires couldn't come into your house unless invited."

"Yes, but, uh, once you've invited them in thereafter, they're always welcome." I looked down, then glanced over at Xander as he starts to speak.

"Y'know, I think there might be a valuable lesson for you gals here about inviting strange men into your bedrooms." Once again we all give Xander the 'shut up Xander' trio glare.

Suddenly Cordy gasps, "Oh, God!" she looks at Xander "I invited him in my car once." She then looks at Giles "That means he can come into my car whenever he wants." could this girl be anymore shallow.

" Yep, you're doomed to havin'," Cordy probes at Xander while he speaks, "To give him and his vamp pals a lift whenever they feel like it. And those guys never chip in for gas."

Cordelia looks away, disgusted.

"Giles, there has to be some sort of spell to reverse the invitation, right? Like a barrier, a no shoes, no pulse, no service kind of thing?" I asked, turning my attention to more important things.

"Yeah, that works for a car, too?" Always about little Cordelia. I really wanted to hit her.

"Yes, well, I-I-I could check on my..." Giles started thinking of some people he could call, but was interrupted by Xander hopping out of his chair and screeching "Hello!" We all looked behind us to see Jonathon and a female student enter the library.

"Excuse me, but have you ever heard of knocking?" Xander asked rudely.

Jonathon gestured to the library before him "We're supposed to get some books. On Stalin." He nodded, expression frozen in place.

Xander then pointed at the smaller student. "Does this look like a Barnes & Noble?" He must have forgotten that we're in a library. Again.

Giles reminded him, "This is a school library, Xander."

"Since when?" he asked, befuddled.

Giles responded to Jonathon, "Uh, y-yes, yes, uh, third row." Points his finger to the stacks labeled 'Historical Biographies.'

Jonathon replied, "Thanks."

He and the girl walked past us, up the stairs and into the stacks. We watched them go until they disappeared. Xander points out of the library. He and Cordelia gathered up their things and exited the doors. Giles looks at me, confused, but follows. "What..." I give him a Buffy look. "Oh!"

Jonathon returns from the stacks.

"Hey, did you say that was the..." He realized that the library was now empty. "Hello?"

"So Angel has decided to step up his harassment of you?" Giles asked as we walked in the halls.

" By sneaking in her room and leaving stuff at night? Why doesn't he just slit her throat or strangle her while she's sleeping or cut her heart out?" We all stare at her. I know that's not the reason, but the others… " What? I'm trying to help."

Giles started. "Yes. Uh, uh, look, it's-it's classic battle strategy to throw one's opponent off his game. He-he-he's just trying to provoke you. Uh, to taunt you, to, to goad you into, uh, some mishap of some sort." He attempted to use logic to help him rationalize.

"The," Xander starts to sing, "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah approach to battle?"

Giles glared. "Yes, Xander, once more you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form." Xander smiles, proud of himself.

"Giles, Angel once told me that when he was obsessed with Drusilla, the first thing h-he did was to kill her family." I was starting to become worried, as thoughts of my mom went through my mind.

Xander stops and looks at me. "Your mom." He confirmed what I was thinking.

"I know. I'm gonna have to tell her something." I sat down and looked at Giles. "The truth?"

Giles approached me, waving his finger. "No. You-you-you-you can't do that."

" Yeah. The more people who know the secret, the more it cheapens it for the rest of us." Xander once again tried to lighten the situation.

"But I've gotta tell her something. I've gotta do something. Giles, Angel has an all-access pass to my house, and I'm not always there when my mother is. I can't protect her," I sighed.

"I told you I will find a-a spell," Giles answered sternly.

"What about until you find a spell?" I pressed.

"Until then, you and your mother are welcome to ride around with me in my car." What goes on in that girl's head, I wonder?

"Buffy, I-I understand your concern, but it's imperative that you keep a level head through all this." Giles suggested, going all wisdomy on me.

" That's easy for you to say. You don't have Angel lurking in your bedroom at night," I rebuffed.

"I know how hard this is for you." Yeah right! "All right, I don't. But as the Slayer, you don't have the luxury of being a slave to your, your passions. You mustn't let Angel get to you. No matter how provocative his behavior may become."

" So what you're basically saying is, 'just ignore him, and maybe he'll go away'?" I remarked, pretending to act like Xander and dumbing things down.

Giles exhales, "Yes. Precisely."

Xander becomes defensive. "Hey, how come Buffy doesn't get a snotty 'once again you boil it down to the simplest form' thing?"

We both stared at him. He looks me up and down. "Watcher's pet," He retorts.

Giles and I appear at Ms. Calendar's door to check on Willow. Excitement etched in her features.

"Hey, Will," I greeted casually. They both peered at me.

"Hi Buffy, Rupert," Ms. Calendar greets as Giles directed his eyes towards the ground.

Ignoring Jenny, I turned my attention towards Willow. "Willow, I thought I might take in a class. Figured I could use someone who knows where they are."

Willow glances over at Jenny with her eyes and then starts to exit out of the classroom.

Willow starts apologizing, "Sorry. I have to talk to her. She's a teacher, and teachers are to be respected," We exit the room, "Even if they're only filling in until the real teacher shows up, because otherwise chaos could ensue..."

We walked around the nearest corner as I tried to keep my attention on what she was saying. All I could make out was that Jenny had a book that could help with the uninvited spell. Said something about getting it from an old friend; Katharine to be exact. I hadn't really thought of her since she mysteriously left. After hearing that, Willow and I went our separate ways.

OXOXOXOXOXOXO

" Okay. What's wrong?" Mom asked me later that night at dinner.

I focused on her. "It's nothing." I titled my eyes down at my plate, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Come on. You can tell me anything," She poked as I smirked. "I've read all the parenting books. You cannot surprise me."

I put down my fork, and chanced another look at her mother. "Do you remember that guy Angel?" I began.

" Angel, the, um..." She stops to think for a minute, "The college boy who was tutoring you in history?"

"Right," I nodded. "Uh, he... I-I...," I looked down and whispered nervously. "Oh, God. Um...." I titled my head back up, "We're sort of dating, were dating, um, going through a serious off-again phase right now."

Mom smiles. "Don't tell me. He's changed. He's not the same guy you fell for?"

I smiled nervously. "In a nutshell."The smile faded away quickly. "A-anyway, um... since he changed, he's been kinda following me around. He's having trouble letting go."

Mom was now concerned. "Buffy, has he done anything...."

"No! No, it's not like that. He's just been hanging around... a lot. Just sending me notes, that kind of thing. I just don't wanna see him right now. I mean, if he shows up, I'll talk to him. Just... don't invite him in."

OXOXOXOXOXOXO

Sunnyrest Fields.

"Hello lover," Angelus coos. I turned my head, watching him approaching. It was time to let him know how I felt.

"It's over," I blurt. "I'm done being… being your whore. You're not him. I might not be able to kill you because you wear his face but, I…I won't let you use me."

"You're making a big mistake Buff," he chastised.

"No. I made a lot of stupid big mistakes, one of them going back to yo- his apartment after that night. This isn't one of them. If you follow me, I will kill you." Immediately I walked away, never hearing him utter, "Fine, it was getting old anyways. But Buff, I was going easy on you."

OXOXOXOXOXOX

A while later, Willow and I were talking on the phone. "I agree with Giles. You need to just try and not let him get to you. Angel's only doing this to try to get you to do something stupid. I swear, men can be such jerks sometimes. Dead or alive," She scolded, trying to add more unneeded logic in my life.

"I just hope Giles can find a keep-out spell soon," I commented. "I know I'll sleep easier when I can... sleep easier."

"I'm sure he will. He's like book-man. Until then, try and keep happy thoughts and..." Suddenly Willow is quiet, distracted.

And what?" I ask. "Willow?" "Willow?" I asked again.

A little less than half an hour after Willow explains what happened to her fish, we ended up sitting on my bed. Behind us is a string of garlic cloves hanging on the wall. Willow has a stake in her hand that she's fidgeting with nervously while she looks around.

" Thanks for having me over, Buffy. Especially on a school night and all." Willow starts again.

" No problem. Hey, sorry about your fish." I apologized.

"Oh, it's okay. We hadn't really had time to bond yet. Although for the first time I'm glad my parent didn't let me have a puppy," She said, making a nervous joke.

I stared into space. "It's so weird... Every time something like this happens, my first instinct is still to run to Angel. I can't believe it's the same person. He's completely different from the guy that I knew." I looked at Willow. It was true, the only reason I was with him was because of Angel. At first. Now I'm not sure why I even bother.

"Well, sort of, except..." Willow draws the sentence out.

" Except what?"

She looks at me, "You're still the only thing he thinks about." I look down at my hands, letting that sink in.

And she's right.

OXOXOXOXOXOX

Jenny walks around the railing in front of the Magic shop and takes the steps down to the entrance. She comes in the door and peers around. The shopkeeper looks up from his work.

The shopkeeper with a Rumanian accent greeted, "Welcome. How may I serve you today?"

Jenny faces him. "Uh..."

"Love potion? Perhaps a voodoo doll for that unfaithful..." he began suggestively.

Jenny interrupts, "I need an Orb of Thesulah."

The shopkeeper dropped the fake accent. "Oh, you're in the trade. Sorry about the spiel, but around Valentine's Day, I get a lot of tourists shopping for love potions and mystical revenge of past lovers." He goes behind the sales counter. "Sad fact is, Ouija boards and rabbits' feet, that's what pays the rent around here. So, how did you hear about us?" he calls from the back room.

"My Uncle Enyos told me about you," She answered, eying a few items.

The shopkeeper looks out at her, "So you're Janna, then. Sorry to hear about your uncle."

"Thank you."

The shopkeeper comes back with a round wooden box "He was a good customer. Well, now, there you go." He sets it down and opens the box in question. "One Thesulan Orb. Spirit vault for the rituals of the undead." Jenny reaches into her purse. "I don't get many calls for those lately." She pulls out her wallet. "Sold a couple as new age paperweights last year." She hands him a credit card. "Yeah, I just love those new-agers, boy. They helped to send my youngest to college. By the way, you do know that the transliteration annals for the ritual of the undead were lost. Without the annals, the surviving text is gibberish."

" And without a translated text, the Orbs of Thesulah are pretty much useless," She finishes and sighs. "Yeah, I know. "

"Well, I only mention it because I have a strict policy of no refunds." He places the lid on the box.

"It's okay. I'm working on a computer program to translate the Rumanian liturgy to English based on a random sampling of the text."

"Yecchh, I don't like computers. They give me the willies."

"Well," She takes the box. "Thank you.

"You're welcome." She takes the lid off of the box as she slowly walks toward the door.

"By the way..." Jenny looks back. "Not that it's any of my business, really, but, uh, what are you planning on conjuring up? If you can decipher the text?" he asked, curious.

"A present for a friend of mine." She lifts the Orb.

"Really? What are you gonna give him?"

She looks into the Orb and it begins to glow. "His soul."

OXOXOXOXOXO

Next day,

Sunnydale

High

Xander jumps up with a bounce as we enter the school. "Well, good morning, ladies. And what did you two do last night?"

"We had kind of a 'pajama party sleepover with weapons' thing," Willow retorts.

"Oh. And I don't suppose either of you had the presence of mind to locate a camera to capture the moment." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I have to go. I have a class to teach in about five minutes, and I have to arrive early to glare disapprovingly at the stragglers." She starts to head off until she catches Ms. Calendar walking across the lawn. "Oh, darn. She's here. Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain..." she mumbles to herself in disappointment.

Turning to Xander I said, "You know what? I'll see you in class."

I leave Xander, jogging up to Jenny, stopping her from walking any further by standing in front of her. "Hey." I greeted.

"Hi." I look at Jenny for a moment, and then avert my eyes.

"Uh, is there something that... Did you want something?" She asked.

" Look... I know you feel badly about what happened, and I just wanted to say..." I started. Jenny looked at me expectantly. "Good. Keep it up."

Not taken by surprise she answers, "Don't worry, I will."

I held up my hand "Oh, wait. Um... He misses you. He doesn't say anything, I mean, but I know he does. And I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to."

"Buffy, you know that if I have a chance to make this up..." she pleaded.

I interrupted. "We're... good here. Let's just leave it."

I walked away. Jenny watches me go.

In the lounge, Giles is talking with a couple of students while searching through his briefcase for some flyers.

"I put it here somewhere." He finds them. "Oh, yes, yes. That's it." He hands the flyers to the students "Could you, um, hang those up?" They nod. "Thank you. Buffy. So, uh, so how was your night?" he said as Buffy walked to him.

"Sleepless, but no human fatalities." She answered as Cordy trotted up to the Slayer and her Watcher.

"I-I found a ritual to revoke the invitation to vampires," Giles declared.

"Really?" I replied, taken by surprise.

"Well, not so much as found as I called Katherine for the specifics."

"I'm impressed, Giles used a phone," I joked.

Cordelia let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I actually had to talk my grandmother into switching cars with me last night."

"Um, the-the-the, uh, the ritual's fairly basic, actually. It's just the recitation of a few rhyming couplets, burning of, uh, moss herbs, sprinkling of holy water..." He turned down the hall.

I started to follow. "All stuff I have in my house."

"Hanging of crosses..." Giles continued, listing more items.

After we had vamp- proofed Cordy's car we drove over to Willow's to do the same. She had started to nail a cross next to her French doors, pulling the curtains in order to cover it from view.

"I'm gonna have a hard time explaining this to my dad," She complained.

"You really think it'll bother him?" I asked.

"Ira Rosenberg's only daughter nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall? I have to go over to Xander's house just to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' every year."

I nodded. "I see your point."

"Although it is worthwhile to see him do the Snoopy Dance," She muted as she released the hammer.

"Willow," Cordy started, facing us, arms crossed. "Are you aware that there are no fish in your aquarium?" Willow frowns and whimpers.

"You know, Cordelia, we've already done your car. Call it a night if you want," I sarcastically suggested.

"Right. Thanks. And you know I'd do the same for you if you had a social life." She went over to Willow's bed and picked up her coat to see an envelope.

"Oh." She picked it up. "This must be for you." She hands the envelope to Willow. Willow gives me a worried glance and opens it. When she sees what the envelope contains, she hands the item to me. I was definitely concerned.

" It's for you." Alarm bells were ringing off in my head.

I unfolded the paper and saw a charcoal sketch of my mother sleeping.. "Mom."

OXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Summers house

Angelus POV

Joyce was just returning from the grocery store. As she pulled into the driveway, she saw me on the lawn. I came over to the open window of the driver's door and pleaded earnestly. "Mrs. Summers, I need to talk to you."

She exits the door, carrying a bag of groceries. "You're Angel." Well duh.

I slammed the door closed. "Did Buffy tell you about us?"

"She told me she wants you to leave her alone." She was being the good little mother. I admired her spirit.

"I-I can't. I can't do that." My role tonight: Playing the scared little boy who desperately misses his girlfriend. Or her stalker, whichever one works.

"You're scaring her."

"You have to help me." She starts toward the house. "Joyce..." I follow her. "I need, I need to be with her. Y-you can convince her. You have to convince her."

"Look," she said, forcing her point as I get in front of her "I'm telling you to leave her alone."

"You have to talk to her for me, Joyce. Tell her I need her."

She somehow dodges around me. "Please, look, I-I just wanna get inside, okay?"

She lets go of her bag with one hand and rummages in her purse for her keys, but she can't keep her grip on the bag, and it falls. Several oranges rolled out. I right the bag and scrambled to pick a few of the oranges up."You don't understand, Joyce. I'll die without Buffy. She'll die without me."

" Are you threatening her?" She confronted me.

"Please... Why is she doing this to me?" I pleaded.

"I'm calling the police now."

She forgets the grocery bag and goes to the door. There she fumbles with her keys, trying to find the right one. I come up next to her. She finally gets the key into the door lock.

"I haven't been able to sleep since the night we made love." I muted, smugly knowing that it had hit home.

Joyce looks up at me in utter surprise.

"I need her. I know you understand."

Joyce opens the door. "Just leave us alone." She rushes in.

I tried to follow, but came up against a damn invisible barrier. Buffy and Willow were coming down the stairs. Willow was chanting from a book. "Hicce verbis consensus rescissus est."

Buffy comes up to me with that cute little scowl. "Sorry, Angel. Changed the locks."

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Sunnydale High,

Ms. Calendar's Room

Jenny's POV

I've been working at my computer since school let out; I think it's about ten now. I typed in a few keys, then looked up at the monitor. A percent complete window appears over the Rumanian text, and the bar zips across it.

"Come on, come on..." I half mumbled and whispered to myself.

The bar disappears, and a translation scrolls up next to the original text.

"That's it!" I exhaled and smiled. "It's gonna work! This... will work." I saved the results and popped out a yellow floppy disk, set it to the side, and print out a paper copy. As I got the copy from the printer I looked up to see Angelus sitting in the back of the class and gasped.

" Angel..." I slowly moved towards the door. "How did you get in here?" I was startled.

"I was invited. The sign in front of the school... 'Formatia trans sicere educatorum.'" We both knew that was a lie. The school was a public building, he just enjoyed humoring himself. I think.

"'Enter all ye who seek knowledge,'" I humored him, stalling the inevitable.

He giggles and gets up. "What can I say? I'm a knowledge seeker." And walks towards me.

"Angel, I-I-I've got good news." He wouldn't care, he's not Angel.

"I heard. You went shopping at the local boogedy-boogedy store." He peeked over at my desk and saw the Orb and picks it up. "The Orb of Thesulah. If memory serves, this is supposed to summon a person's soul... from the ether... store it until it can be transferred."

The Orb begins to glow as he looks into it. He glances up at me for an instant. I edged away from him.

"You know what I hate most about these things?" He asked rhetorically.

I screamed as he heaves it into the chalkboard behind me. It shatters into hundreds of pieces, alongside trickles of dust.

Angelus smiles. "They're so damn fragile." He loses the smile. "Must be that shoddy gypsy craftsmanship, huh?"

I backed into the wall and trembled with fear. Angelus reaches over to the PC and turns the monitor so he can see it.

"I never cease to be amazed how much the world has changed in just two and a half centuries. I reached the door and desperately tried to open it. It's locked. He turns the monitor back to its' original position.

"It's a miracle to me. You, you put the secrets to restoring my soul in here..."He violently shoves the computer off my desk and onto the floor. It breaks, and the monitor shatters and sparks and starts to burn. Angelus tears the printout from the printer.

"It comes out here. 'The Ritual of Restoration.' Wow. This, this brings back memories."He starts to tear the printout in half.

"Wait. That's your..." I speak up for the first time in what feels like hours.

"Oh, my cure?"he continues to tear "No, thanks. Been there, done that, and déjà vu just isn't what it used to be." The computer starts to burn furiously "My... Isn't this my lucky day. The computer..." He holds the paper over the flames, licking the ends of the pages. "Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone."He crouches over the fire to warm himself. I start towards the back door once again. Angelus looks up towards me, sporting his game face. "And teacher makes three." He smiled evilly.

I start to run for it, but Angelus roars and quickly jumps and grabs hold of me. Surely this is the end. "No!" I hollered.

He throws me back into the locked door, and it abruptly breaks open. I glanced back at him, scrambling to my feet, attempting to get the hell out of dodge.

"Oh, good. I need to work up an appetite first." I heard him mutter to himself.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

No POV

Jenny comes running, opening the door to the lounge area and runs onto another set of doors that lead outside, but they are locked. She runs back into the lounge, sees Angelus coming and runs further down the hall. Angelus pulls open the doors and follows her at a fast walk.

Jenny bursts through the door and runs along the colonnade. Angelus is not far behind, and continues after her at a quick pace. Soon he quickly his pace, Jenny continues to speed her steps, checking behind her every so often. She reaches the next building and struggles with the door. She peers back, watching Angelus gaining towards her with an evil grin on his face. She yanks hard at the door several more times before it opens, and she enters.

Cut inside the hall, Jenny pulls the door shut behind her while Angelus unexpectedly slams into it. She begins to pace down the hall. Angelus attempted to yank at the door a few times, but it was futile. Until it suddenly opened as he continued to chase after Jenny. A cleaning cart is in the hall by the stairs. Jenny grabs onto it and pushes it into Angelus. He slams against it, tumbling over it and onto the floor while she rushes up the steps. Jenny runs up and skitters out of his view. Angelus is no longer on the smooth floor. He's nowhere to be seen.

Jenny continued to quickly climb the steps, and unexpectedly turns right onto a waiting Angelus. She screams when he grabs hold of her. He chuckles and looks into her face. He puts one hand around behind her head and touches her lips with the fingers of his other.

"Sorry, Jenny, this is where you get off."

He takes his fingers from her lips and tucks his hand under her chin. In one swift movement he twists her head and snaps her neck. Her limp body collapses to the floor. He looks up and around, breathing heavily from the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"Ah... I never get tired of doing that."

OXOXOXOXOXOXO

Buffy's POV

We heard a knocking at the door, so as Willow and I exchange glances, she picks herself up to answer it. Meanwhile, I spun around to face my mother, who is pacing.

"That stuff with the Latins and the herbs, uh, he's just real superstitious," I answered, thinking of an excuse.

Mom just sits down and rubs her forehead with her eyes closed. "Oh."

"We just thought if..." I start to lie again, but she interrupts me before I could finish.

"Was he the first?" Mom opens her eyes. "No, wait." She stands up. "I don't wanna know." And begins to pace again. "I don't think I want to."

"Yeah. He was the first. I mean, the only," I corrected.

"He's older than you," She stopped pacing, eying me.

"I know." She has no idea.

"Too old, Buffy. And he's obviously not very stable. I really wish..." She sits again. "I just thought you would show more judgment," She confessed.

I looked up towards her. "He wasn't like this before."

"Are you in love with him?" Yes, she asked the big question.

"I was." It was the only thing that made sense. Was I in love with just the body?

"Were you careful?" As careful as I could be with a dead vampire.

I looked away. "Mom, this is no time..."

Mom stands up and begins her pacing once again. "Don't 'Mom' me, Buffy. You don't get to get out of this. You had sex with a boy you didn't even see fit to tell me you were dating."

"I made a mistake," I nodded.

"Yeah, well, don't just say that to shut me up, because I think you really did."

"I know that!" I burst out loudly. "I-I can't tell you everything."

"How about anything? Buffy, you can shut me out of your life, I am pretty much used to that. But don't expect me to ever stop caring about you, because it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world." She sits next to me on the bed. "That would be your cue to, uh, roll your eyes and tell me I'm grossing you out."

"You're not," I smiled. It was comforting to hear her say she loved me.

She inhales. "Oh, well...," then exhales. "I guess that was the talk."

"So how'd it go?" I asked. We looked at each other.

"I don't know. It was my first."

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Angelus's POV

Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief.

The telephone rings, and Buffy runs back into the dining room to get it. She picks it up from the phone stand and turns so I can see her sweet face.

"Hello. Giles, hey! We did the, the thing. It worked. What?" As she listen to Giles talking, she started to crumble but not in the normal way. The Slayer way. Her face was drained of any sign of emotion. She lowered the phone, and at her grim expression, Willow takes it out of her hands.

"Giles?" Willow asked.

Buff leans against the wall and slides down against it into a crouch.

"What? No!" she drops the phone down and shakes her head. "No!" She's crying uncontrollably. "Noooo!"

I started to gloat as I looked into the window. I just smiled and leave, knowing that my work is done.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Buffy's POV.

Cordelia and Xander drove towards us at my driveway. Xander opens the passenger door and gets out.

"Where's Giles?" I asked.

"No luck. By the time we got to the station, the cops said he'd already left. I guess they just wanted to ask him some questions." He responded.

"Cordelia, will you drive us to Giles' house?" I weakly asked.

"Of course," She morbidly replied.

"But don't you think he wants to be left alone?" Willow asked cautiously.

"I'm not worrying about what he wants. I'm worried about what he's gonna do," I replied. We all got into the car.

OXOXOXOXOOXOX

Xander pushes the door to Giles' apartment open. A piece of yellow crime scene tape is stretched across the doorway.

"Hello? Giles?" He called. He ducks under the tape and enters. We follow shortly after. Xander goes over to the desk and searches around.

"I guess Giles had a big night planned tonight," He observed.

I picked up the sketch of Jenny. "Giles didn't set this up." I recognized the hand-style. "Angel did." I handed Xander the sketch. "This is the wrapping for the gift."

"Oh, man." He exhales. "Poor Giles." He continues searching until he finds the nearly empty weapons chest.

"Look, all his weapons are gone," He commented.

"But I thought he kept his weapons at the library." Cordelia controversially stated.

"No, those are his, uh, everyday weapons. These were his good weapons. The ones he, uh, breaks out when company comes to visit." He regards them like plates and silverware. I guess they're so common to us, they might as well be.

"So he's not here," Willow answered what was on everyone's mind.

"Well, then where is he?" Cordy wondered.

"He'll go to wherever Angel is." That's what I would do. Xander turns to face us.

"That means the factory, right?" We nodded.

"So Giles is gonna try to kill Angel then?" I nodded.

"Well, it's about time somebody did," Xander spoke up.

Willow chastised "Xander!"

"I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'"

"You're right." I realized as Cordy and Willow looked on me in shock.

"Thank you," Xander replied.

"There's only one thing wrong with Giles' little revenge scenario," I started.

"And what's that?" Xander asked.

"It's gonna get him killed," I finished.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Spike's warehouse

I arrived just in time to see Giles about to be strangled by Angelus.

"All right. You've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?" He sarcastically asked.

I kicked him in the back and he lets Giles tumble to the floor. I pull him back and slam him into the spiral staircase.

"My fun," I retort.

I kick him in the face and then shove him onto the floor. I rapidly kicked Angelus in the face again as he tries to pick himself up, and then lunge at him. He grabs me, flips over, and tries to escape up the stairs. I'm back to my feet fast with Giles' fallen baseball bat in hand and pushed it between the stair railings to trip Angelus. He falls and I quickly grab one of his legs. He kicks out at me and knocks me off of him and onto the floor. He scrambles up the stairs. I jump up to see a stack of crates, run up it to the catwalk above, and meet Angelus there.

"So tell me Buff, was it worth breaking it off with me?" he asked as he swings at me, but I duck in time and kick him in the back of the knee, making him collapse onto the railing. "I already killed your teacher, and just crushed the watcher's spirit." I grabbed a loop of rope, threw it around his neck and yanked him back and forth between the railings several times, then kick him in the chest, making him stagger back, but immediately he stands up.

After not hearing my response he continues, "You would keep you pride in trade for the lives of innocents? That's mighty low Buff." I reached for a pipe above my head and swung with both feet onto his chest again, causing him to fly back into a barrel. I wait, ready to continue the fight.

Too soon he charges, and I take him and divert him past me onto the grating where he lands with his head next to the railing bars "It will all be worth it once I kill you," I finally respond. I kicked his face and finish with several punches. He starts to laugh as I grab him by his duster and hit his head against the rails.

"Are you gonna let your old man just burn?" He asked, changing the subject. I looked down and saw the flames surround Giles. But Angel takes advantage of this and grabs my leg and throws me over the railing. I somehow manage to control my fall and land near Giles. Angelus walks out of the building, not looking back. I wake Giles, and we too make it out of the building.

We both came out, coughing and sputtering from the smoke. "Why did you come here?! This wasn't your fight!" He yells at me. I punch him in the jaw, so he spins and falls to the ground.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" I yelled back. I begin to cry and crouch down to hug him. He cries and hugs back. "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone."

It hurts sometimes more than we can bear.

OXOXOXOXOXOXO

Giles kneels down and lays a small bouquet of flowers on her grave. He looks at her name on the headstone for a moment before standing back up. Without looking at me he begins to talk.

"In my years as... Watcher... I've buried... too many people... But Jenny was the first I've loved." He sobbed.

I look up at him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you..." Now down at the grave. "for her... when I had the chance."

If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace.

It only reads 'Jennifer Calendar'.

"I wasn't ready."

But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank...

"But I think I finally am. I can't hold on to the past anymore. Angel is gone. Nothing's ever gonna bring him back."

Willow puts down her own books, and in the process nudges a few more that laid beside a bit... As a result the yellow disk that Jenny had set next to the books gets pushed off of the edge. It falls between the desk and the small filing cabinet next to it. It hits the floor and spins around a few times before coming to rest leaning against the side of the cabinet.

Without passion, we'd be truly dead.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

So, that was my version of passion, it was way longer than most of the other chapters so I was kinda impressed.

Please review! It will take me twice as long next time to update if you don't!