Sorry for the delay again; I was busy writing the update for "Season 9" and then this chapter didn't like me very much at first. Happily, though, I finally managed to beat it into submission, and it is now here for your enjoyment!

If Buffy didn't like Wesley Wyndam-Pryce after her initial encounter with him, she liked him even less after her second. Not only was he still being abrupt with her to the point of blatant rudeness, but she kept catching him glaring at her out of the corner of her eye whenever he thought she wouldn't notice. What was his problem? What had she ever done to him?

What irritated Buffy more than Wesley's inexplicable dislike of her, however, was his apparent determination to control her life. He gave her orders like she was a trained monkey or something, and he tried to stop her from talking to Giles. And then, even when she followed the orders—she had brought him the amulet, after all, and was nearly killed in the process—he had the nerve to second-guess her, and didn't so much as thank her for her efforts.

All of this heaped on top of her anxiety about hiding Angel from him, despite her confidence in Angel's talent for stealthiness, was the perfect recipe for rebellious behavior, which was something Faith was quite happy to encourage. It was exhilarating. Never before had Buffy allowed herself to revel so thoroughly in being a Slayer. She felt completely untouchable. Cutting class in the middle of her chemistry test didn't even faze her. And what was really wrong about what she was doing anyway? She had only left to lay waste to a nest of vampires with Faith, after all. She was still making Sunnydale a safer place; why not have some fun while doing it? And what did it matter if a side effect was that she wasn't spending as much time with her other friends as she normally would? They would be safer if they stayed away from this part of her life anyway. Buffy refused to feel guilty about any of it.

[o]

Late in the evening, after an adrenaline-charged day of demon-hunting, Buffy and Faith could be found at the Bronze, dancing amidst a crowd of mesmerized and slightly hormone-crazed boys. Faith was right, Buffy thought: they had totally earned this.

Just when she was starting to really feel a little uncomfortable under the heat of the press of bodies around her, she spotted Angel at the edge of the dance floor. She smiled, thinking that if she could get him to dance with her, it would be the perfect way to cool down, but he turned, looking as if he was going to leave. He wasn't getting away that easily. Buffy left Faith there with the boys, which the dark-haired Slayer didn't seem to mind at all, and weaved her way through the crowd towards him.

"Hey!" she said, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"I saw you making friends," said Angel, glancing over at Faith and the many boys dancing around her.

"Them?" said Buffy dismissively. "Boys! I like you." She brought her face closer, so that they were nose-to-nose. Angel didn't react, and she reluctantly hopped down. "What's the matter?" she teased coyly. "You're not afraid of little me, are ya?"

"We'd better sit down," he said. "Come on." She took one of his hands in both of hers and let him lead her over to an alcove behind the stairs.

"I can sense this is a business trip," she said in disappointment. They sat down together, Angel's expression still serious. "What's the what?" she asked flippantly.

"Balthazar," he said.

She snuggled closer to him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Dead demon," she said unconcernedly.

"Not as dead as you think," he said stiffly, getting up to sit across from her, wondering where his Buffy had gone and how much longer he would have to endure the current reckless, irresponsible model. Buffy pouted but didn't follow him. "Word on the street puts him in the packing warehouse on Devereau. He's looking for—"

"His amulet," said Buffy. "It's supposed to restore his strength."

"From what I'm hearing, that's not something we'd like to see happen," said Angel, clearly more at ease now that she was focusing on the problem.

"No problem," she said. "We've got the amulet."

"I know," he said. "I spoke to Giles, but he said you gave it to someone." He glanced around idly and saw, to his astonishment, Wesley, who looked thoroughly bad-tempered and whose eyes were fixed on Buffy. Angel's face split in an incredulous smile.

Wesley hadn't noticed Angel. He had been all over town looking for his charges, since Mr. Giles hadn't seen fit to give him a hint as to where they might have gone, and the bouncer had just made him pay to come in. As if he would actually come to a place like this for fun! When he finally spotted Buffy, therefore, he was determined not to let her out of his sight. "Ah. There you are," he said accusingly.

Buffy groaned at the sound of her Watcher's voice and turned to look at him, and it took about two seconds for her expression to go from annoyed to horrified. There he was, and Angel was still in plain sight. Why was he still in plain sight? She had to distract Wesley so he wouldn't see him, but her mind was suddenly and unhelpfully blank.

It was then that Wesley finally glanced at the black-clad man sitting across from Buffy, then did a double-take. "Angel?" he said, completely bewildered. "You're alive?" Wesley looked back at Buffy, who frowned and glanced at Angel. Fear gripped him. "Quick, Angel, that's the Slayer! You've got to get out of here!" He rounded on Buffy with a determined expression. "I'll distract her."

"You're not taking him back to that dungeon!" said Buffy loudly, jumping up to stand between them. Then they both seemed to realize the implications of what they had said and paused, confused. At that point, Angel actually burst out laughing. This surprised both Slayer and Watcher so much that they forgot about their attempts to get the ensouled vampire away from each other.

"Okay, you two can stop hating each other on my behalf now," said Angel, getting to his feet, his expression still full of laughter. "It's good to see you again, Wes," he added, moving to stand next to Buffy rather than behind her and shaking Wesley's hand warmly.

"Again? You guys know each other?" asked Buffy, gaping at her Watcher, whose mouth was now hanging open rather comically.

"Wesley's the reason I didn't starve when I was in that cell," Angel explained.

"Yes," said Wesley. "We're very good friends, actually."

The only friend I've had since I was alive, Angel added mentally, and a better one than most of them were. It meant more to him than he could say.

Buffy's mouth fell open too, and she saw Wesley in an entirely new light. "Really?" she asked him, starting to smile.

Wesley, still very confused, tried and failed to look modest, then cleared his throat, wanting to clarify something once and for all. "Am I to understand that you don't intend to kill him?"

"Uh, yeah…," said Buffy slowly.

Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Wesley's brain. "Of course! You faked your death!" he said to Angel. "That's why Mr. Travers thought you were dust. I must say, I doubt I could ever have come up with such a tidy escape plan. The Council won't even look for you now."

"That was the idea," said Buffy.

Wesley looked at her and suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He lowered his eyes to the floor at her feet. "Forgive me for my behavior towards you earlier. Your ruse worked quite well. I thought you to be his killer and resented you rather a lot for it."

"It's okay," said Buffy, who now felt a little foolish herself for not trusting him. "Everything you did for Angel pretty much wins you back all of the brownie points you lost before and then some."

"Thank you." Wesley paused. "Why are you glad that I helped him? And why didn't you kill him during your Cruciamentum?" he asked curiously. "What reason did you have for letting him live? You are the Slayer, and he is a vampire, after all."

Buffy fidgeted, unsure of how to answer. Just because Wesley and Angel were friends, it didn't necessarily mean that he, a Watcher, would approve of their relationship. Angel, meanwhile, was having far too much fun watching each individual light bulb click on over Wesley's head to provide any of the answers himself. In the awkward silence broken only by the sound of the band playing, Wesley's gaze was drawn to Buffy's fidgeting hands. She was twisting a silver ring around and around her left ring finger, apparently unconsciously. Wesley's eyes widened. It was the Claddagh ring.

"You're the girl from Angel's story!" he said, his mouth open again in amazement. He looked at Angel indignantly. "You never told me she was a Slayer."

Angel shrugged. "You never asked."

"Wait," said Buffy. "You know? About everything? Me, Slayer, dating a vampire, and you're okay with it?"

"Certainly!" said Wesley huffily. "I won't pretend I'm not surprised, but if it's a choice between that and him being slain, then of course I prefer the former. We Watchers are not all as narrow-minded as Quentin Travers. Personally, I prefer to rely on fact and observation, rather than prejudice and stereotyping. Angel's being a vampire is not the issue. It's the soul that counts, and that makes him as good as human in my book. Who am I, therefore, to stand between him and the woman he loves, and is it really any of my business if she happens to be a Slayer?"

Buffy was speechless again, but this time with respect and gratitude. So was Angel. Wesley's vehement faith in him was a little difficult to grasp even now. The young Watcher breathed deeply for a few seconds, trying to organize everything he had just learned, but it all seemed so incredible to him. After befriending a vampire with a soul, he would have thought fewer things would surprise him, but apparently not. "It's good to see you out of the dungeon, incidentally," he said, "though I never got the chance to tell you where I went when I was on research leave. It was going to be a surprise, but then you were gone—and, as far as the Council knew, dead—by the time I returned, and I thought it was all for nothing."

"Research leave?" said Buffy, wondering what this could possibly have to do with the conversation they'd been having. Angel looked at Wesley questioningly.

"I went to Romania, Angel," he said, his expression full of meaning.

"Romania," Angel repeated. Something deep inside of him seemed to realize what Wesley was getting at, but the rest was too cautious to hope. He could not, however, crush the sense of anticipation he felt, and he found Buffy's hand and clasped it tightly.

"I found the Kalderash people," Wesley continued. "It took a while, but I managed to convince them that their vengeance would be better served if Angelus could never be free again."

"Then…," said Angel, his unnecessary breath catching in his chest. He could feel Buffy clutching his hand back now with almost enough pressure to break bones.

"They've anchored your soul."

So the key players are all *finally* up to speed. Buffy and Wesley being almost ready to fight each other to protect Angel was something I've been waiting to write for quite a few chapters. *snicker* Also, the first chunk was a really good opportunity to get inside Buffy's head when she was acting like a Faith clone, which was something I had always had trouble believing of her when I watched "Bad Girls". Her mentality during that episode makes much more sense now.