Buffy couldn't take the stress of her own company while she waited for the next thing to happen, so she went back to the library. Giles and Wesley were still there, and from their concerned expressions, she knew she must look terrible. Giles immediately brought her a cup of tea and led her to a chair. Wesley bobbed fretfully a few feet away, taking a seat one second and the next, leaping up to pace the space between the counter and the book cage.

"Should we get the others in here to tell them what's happening?" Buffy asked once the tea was gone. It hadn't proven very soothing.

"No, I don't think so," said Wesley before Giles could open his mouth.

"Why not?" she asked. "If they think Angelus is really back, they'll freak." Hell, she was freaking and she knew it would only be an act.

"Wesley's right," said Giles. "The more people who know, the harder it will be to keep from Faith. I don't imagine Willow would handle the pressure of keeping the secret well, and I would be very surprised if Xander or Cordelia didn't let something slip on accident. Oz needn't be told either, and," he shot Wesley an irritated look, "I'm not even sure you should be in on it. You've been so tense since Aziz was here that you look as if you're about to have a seizure. Will you sit down?"

Wesley looked affronted, but did as he was told.

Buffy couldn't decide whether to burst into tears or laughter.

"What about the Council?" asked Wesley after a rather strained silence.

"They might indeed be helpful in this situation, but bringing them into it could put undue scrutiny on Buffy," said Giles, shaking his head. Wesley's only reply was a defeated expression, which had little to do with their inability to trust the Council with such important matters. He couldn't help thinking that he, as Faith's Watcher, was responsible for this. What was more, he had supported the idea of her being a double agent. Perhaps if he had been more cautious, none of this would have happened.

[o]

As soon as the sun was beneath the horizon, Angel went to the mansion. Whatever was about to happen with Faith, he refused to let it take place in the apartment that housed the memories of so many of the precious, private moments he and Buffy had shared. And what would a few more terrible, dark moments be to the place where he had almost sent the world to Hell?

Angel fingered the ring Buffy had given him the night before. It felt like a powerful protective talisman, and it drew a smile from him despite what lay ahead.

[o]

Faith went to the apartment first, but it was empty. She couldn't think where else Angel would go, until she remembered the mansion. Maybe he did decide to upgrade after all. The closer she got to Crawford Street, however, the more persistent became her doubts. What was she doing? All he'd ever done was help her. His way might be the hard way, and it might not be as fun, but he did care, and he'd shown more confidence in her than the rest of them combined. Was she really going to repay him for that by ripping away his soul? Did his friendship mean so little to her that she was capable of destroying it—and him—for selfish ends? That idea bothered her more than she would admit, but it alone wasn't enough to make her stop walking.

He was there in the mansion, and he saw her almost immediately. "Faith," he said. He looked sad and maybe a little strained, and she wondered if it was her fault.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry to bust in uninvited."

"What do you want?" he asked.

The wariness in his voice stung, but she covered it. "Look, I'm not so good at apologies. Mostly because I think the world's out to screw me, so I'm generally more owed than owing, but I've been thinking about last night and I wanted you to know I'm really sorry." And she meant it. Didn't she?

"It's alright, Faith," he said reluctantly.

"No, it's not alright," she contradicted, feeling agitated again. "Yeah, I was freaked and I needed somebody, but you're with Buffy." She looked down. "I should know better."

"Yeah, okay," said Angel. Without appearing to do so, he scrutinized her closely. Everything about her screamed conflicted. He felt like he could still pull her back, but he didn't know how to do it and she didn't know how to ask. She stepped closer, and he took an automatic step back, but upon seeing the hurt in her eyes, he instantly regretted it.

"You don't trust me," she said, and it was as if something inside her broke. He was just like the rest of them. All that talk, those months of "being there" for her, and he didn't trust her. All he really cared about was Buffy.

"It's not that," he said, while adding mentally, No, it's just that you're plotting to take away my soul. How was I supposed to know you just wanted another hug first?

His feeble words had done nothing to repair the damage. "Hey, no problem," she said bitterly as she turned her back on him. "Join the club."

He groaned inwardly and walked forward. "Look, Faith. I know what you're going through, alright, and how hard it can be. It's important you have somebody who's been there and who understands what you're going through." He grasped her lightly by the shoulders and turned her around. "Look, I want to trust you," he said sincerely. For a second, he thought he'd gotten her back, but then….

Her lip curled. "Chump," she said, whipping out a small vial of blood and splashing its contents on him. It's done, she thought. No turning back now. Right on cue, Aziz materialized from the shadows and began chanting in Arabic.

Even though Angel knew nothing was going to happen to his soul, it wasn't hard to pretend; the chanting was incredibly unnerving. "Faith!" he yelled, his face screwed up in anger. As much as he had prepared himself for this, he felt the betrayal so acutely that it was almost like a literal knife in his back, and part of him hated her for it.

"I wanted to do this the old-fashioned way," she said, "but hey, your loss. Lucky I've got some tricks Buffy don't know yet."

"You don't have to do this!" he said desperately. He felt whatever magic Aziz was employing lock him in place, and hoped the mage didn't plan on making it much more realistic than this.

"I know, but it's fun," said Faith. "Now relax, it'll be over soon."

Aziz continued chanting. Bright white and electric blue lights shot from his hands and surrounded Angel. The lights were at once hot and cold, and for a moment seemed to go through him, and then they were gone. The force that had been holding him still vanished as well, and he fell to the floor. He could hear Faith holding her breath as he got unsteadily to his feet. His features transforming, he whipped around with a snarl, seized her by the arms, and pulled her to him for a hard kiss. She responded at once, simultaneously struggling to get free and trying to press herself closer, but he let her succeed at neither. Finally, he forced her away, his grip on her upper arms still vice-like.

"Thanks," he said. "So much." He backhanded her so hard and suddenly across the face that she went flying backward and crumpled to the ground. "It's good to have the taste of a Slayer back in my mouth. It's like cigarettes, you know? Just when I thought I'd quit." She tried to stand up, but he kicked her viciously in the stomach. "No, really. Don't get up." He turned indifferently and strode across the room.

If he really were soulless, he wouldn't be putting up with Faith having her way even this much. He'd be brutally showing her what her place was, and once he'd had his fun, he'd snap her neck for her amusing presumption, because with or without his soul, he would always choose Buffy over her. As it was, he obviously couldn't do most of that, but he wanted to scare her. Partly because he was furious with her, but also because if she wouldn't listen to him when he was trying to be her friend, maybe he could still frighten her enough by showing her what evil really meant that she wouldn't want it anymore.

"It's good to be back in Sunnydale," he went on. "Nice climate, plenty to eat, no tortured humanity to hold me down." Behind him, Faith flipped herself up, and he pretended not to notice as she came towards him. "But you know what bothers me?" Without warning, he spun and grabbed her by the throat. He could smell her fear now, not to mention see it all over her face. "You don't seem to be getting the big picture here, Faith. Now, I don't know why you turned me, but I'm just glad you did." He yanked her head to the side and went in for the bite, but she kneed him hard in the gut, and he staggered back, but recovered by the time she pulled out a stake.

"I got my reasons," she said.

"Let me guess," he sneered, "you summoned back the true Angelus because…you needed a new boy toy. Sorry! Doesn't work that way."

She lunged at him with the stake, but he caught her by the wrist, and quickly grabbed the other when she tried to punch him with her free hand.

"You wanna be smart, you listen to me," she said through gritted teeth. He could still smell her fear, but she wasn't backing down.

"Funny thing about vampires, Faith," he snarled, fangs bared. "We don't establish meaningful dialogue with Slayers."

"Not how Buffy tells it," she retorted, which tore an involuntary growl for him and gave her the opening to catch him off-guard with a kick to the knee, sending him crashing to the floor.

Before he could get up, she forced him down by straddling his waist, and he laughed. "I should have known you'd like it on top."

"You want to listen or you want to die?" she demanded, raising the stake. The banter continued in like fashion until the subject of the Mayor finally came up, followed by another make-out session.

All hope of this being a salvage mission as well as reconnaissance was gone, and all that remained was for Angel to play his part and learn everything he could. Fortunately for him, Faith seemed to be on a tight schedule, which spared him the necessity of coming up with a convincing excuse for not allowing things between them to go much farther than kissing. Undercover or not, he wasn't going there unless he had absolutely no choice.

More canon-lifting. Joy. Well, at least there was lots of fun emotion to explore in the midst of the canon-lifting. It made me laugh that I was writing this kind of stuff whilst listening to Christmas classics. By the way, Dollhouse is back tonight (finally) with two new episodes in a row, at least one of which will include such awesome guest stars as Alexis Denisof (Wesley) and the always hardcore Summer Glau (River from Firefly and Serenity and Cameron from Terminator:TSCC), so you should all watch it, because it's going to be amazing. Oh, and reviews would also be nice. (And on that note, holy CRAP, I can't believe this has over six hundred reviews. You guys rock.)

Also, here's a treat to compensate for the unfortunate lack of shirtless Angel in the past few chapters. http ://www. youtube. com/watch? v=4aQF-4lWPU0 (get rid of the spaces). ^_^