Angelus! Angelus! Screaming echoed around in his ears and he stopped in his tracks. Someone was yelling his name. Screaming, in deep pain. Angelus! Sire!

Spike? Angelus tried to reach his childer in the same way but could barely touch his mind. There was nothing but pulses of blinding pain. It was possible that Spike wasn't even aware he was calling out for him. It was like being trapped in a nightmare on his end. There was only pain and fear. His mind was completely out of control.

Angelus left the room where he'd been pacing. He went upstairs and ran from the crypt. He ran toward the sound of Spike's voice. Angelus! Sire, please! Please.

Angelus growled. He was not only screaming, but begging now as well. Spike wasn't one to beg. Whoever had done this would pay dearly.

He finally reached a place where he could make out Spike's scent. The screaming was so much louder here. Angelus looked around but he couldn't seem to pinpoint the right building. The noise was echoing around in his head and throwing him off. The screaming stopped for a few seconds. It wasn't long but it was long enough for Angelus to focus solely on Spike's scent. When he did, he caught the smell of a second person. Rupert Giles.

Angelus found the right building and kicked the door right from it's hinges. It slammed down and slid across the floor as wood dust rose from the splintered wood. Angelus charged in. Spike was wrapped in chains and lying on the floor covered in blood and burns. Giles stood over him holding a knife and lighter.

"Finally," He said as Angelus entered. "Were the poor boy human he'd be long since dead."

Angelus was beyond speech. His vision was tinted red and his face shifted without his conscious decision. He was across the room in the blink of an eye. He knocked Giles down to the floor falling on top his him. He landed with on knee digging into the man's ribs and the other cracking against the concrete floor. Giles caught his hands as he swung down to punch him in the face.

"I've too long for this," Giles spat. "I've come to far for you beat me." They rolled across the fighting to end up on top.

Angelus won out. "You may have counted on me coming to Spike's rescue, but you really shouldn't have made him beg." His fist connected with Giles's face. "That's my job."

Giles shoved the vampire off and got to his feet. He reached behind him to the table and grabbed the first thing he reached. A long, inornate dagger. He waited for Angelus to make the next move.

Angelus risked a glance over at Spike. He was still concision, but just barely. He held his eyes weakly open watching the fight progress. The sight of his battered body gave his anger fresh venom. He growled and leapt at Giles, swift and light. He got in close dodging Giles's blow until he was too close for the man to reach him with the angle of his blade. Angelus grabbed his arm and broke the wrist forcing him to drop the blade. He grabbed Giles around the neck and threw him into the wall.

Both vampire's could feel the threat of the rising sun. They no longer had enough time to make it make home and there was nothing there for Angelus to heal Spike. He looked from Spike to Giles and decided Spike's health presided over his wrath. Vengeance could wait.

He found the lock to the chains and tore it right from the metal. He unbound Spike and lifted him into his arms. He noticed a set of car keys on the table. He snatched them up, carefully so he wouldn't drop Spike, and went outside. Angelus found Giles's car and set Spike carefully in the back. He climbed behind the wheel and sped them home as fast the machine would take them.

Buffy sat on the couch watching the television screen flicker from scene to scene. The actors moved about and talked. Events happened and the plot unfolded, but Buffy wasn't paying attention. Her mother was lying on the couch next to her. She'd fallen asleep after the second movie Buffy had put on. The young slayer had insisted Joyce spend some time with her. The panic of her near loss was driving her crazy. Too soon after Riley's death, she'd nearly lost her mother. She felt like everything was spinning out of her control.

She heard the phone ring in the next room. She immediately wondered what could be wrong for anyone to be calling so late at night. Buff jumped up from the couch and picked up the phone. A nurse at Sunnydale Memorial responded to her answer. She hung after after receiving the information and immediately called Xander.

He was groggy when he answered but he perked up when Buffy told what was going on. He and Anya picked her up ten minutes later and they were at the hospital in no time. They asked for the room number and raced down the hall to find it.

Buffy reached the room first where she found Giles unconscious on a hospital bed. He'd been badly beaten. There were few parts of him that weren't covered in bandages or bruises, but if his knuckles were anything to go by it looked like he'd put up one hell of a fight.

Buffy sunk down into the chair beside him and waited for him to wake up.

Angelus drove right through the cemetery gates. He kept going until the grave stones were too dense to drive through before pulling Spike from the back and carrying him quickly to the safety of the crypt. He took Spike downstairs and set him in his bed. He pulled the younger vampire's coat and shirt off to get a good look at his wounds. There were cuts, bruises, and burns, but nothing that looked permanent. There was a burn near his eye that looked concerning. It was close enough that he could have lost that eye. Angelus growled, rage boiling up inside him again.

Angelus bit into his own wrist drawing blood. He pressed the cut to Spike's mouth, tilting his head up and forcing his mouth open. Spike swallowed weakly. Angelus let him drink until he couldn't afford to let him take anymore. He definitely needed more. He didn't look any stronger even with as much as Angelus gave him.

He needed to find someone to get Spike more blood while he watched over him. If Buffy found him like this he'd be dust when Angelus returned. Angelus walked over to the wall opposite the entrance. He pressed his ear to the brick and was pleased to hear the quite trickle of water. He pounded his fists into the brick smashing it rumble and making a hole big enough to walk through. It lead into a side branch of the Sunnydale sewer system. He followed the tunnel quickly and arrived underneath Willy's. He climbed up into the back and walked around to the bar. A few heads turned and others blatantly looked away. He looked around until he spotted a young vampire sitting by himself.

He strode over to him and sat down in the booth across from him. The younger vampire looked intimidated but he didn't run away like they often did.

"I've got a job for you," Angelus told him.

"I'm not looking for work. I'm just fine thanks," He said bravely.

"I wasn't asking. What's your name?"

"Derek."

"Well, Derek. I have a bit of a problem and you're the solution."

"I am?"

"You will be, or you'll be dust."

Buffy sat in the chair by Giles's hospital bed. She'd stayed over night watching over him. She called her mother to let her know what was going on and went right back to Giles. Xander brought her snacks and coffee and Anya complained quietly about the hospital taking all their money when they could buy the same snacks cheaper somewhere else.

It wasn't until that afternoon that Giles's finally woke up. Buffy gave him a smile and said she was glad to see him awake before she went to get the doctor. Buffy stood to the side waiting for the doctor to stop asking questions so she could talk to Giles. Giles made up a story about taking a walk on the wrong side of town and getting jump by four guys in ski masks. The doctor was finally satisfied enough to leave after giving Giles a stern warning not to move from the bed.

"How are you?" Buffy asked him.

"Well... I've been worse."

"What happened?"

Giles sighed. "I wanted to finish it. After Riley's death I knew that Angelus would not be satisfied tormenting you with innocent lives. He'd start killing people close to you and while it would drive you harder it would only make it more difficult for you to succeed."

"So you went after him on your own!" Buffy accused furiously. She paced across the room before returning to his bedside.

"You were in no condition to fight. I was trying to do what was best for you. My only regret is that I failed."

"You could have died! You should have at least taken Spike."

"It was irresponsible of me I know."

"Irresponsible? Giles I know you have a vendetta but you can't just throw yourself into the line of fire. We have to be in this together. All of us. Me, you, Xander, Willow. It's the only way we're going to come out of this on top. All of us are in danger. We are all being threatened here. If we break apart to go after personal feuds nothing good is going to happen."

"Clearly made the wrong choice-"

"Yes, you did and it's going to happen again. I want you to remain as from Angelus as possible. As soon as your discharged you're going straight home and you're staying there."

"Buffy, I'm an adult."

"An adult making childish decisions. You're the one who's supposed to be watching over me. Not the other way around. Angelus is clearly too tempting for you. I need you to back off. Stay home and stay out of it. If I need you I'll let you know, but until then you can stay put. It's too much for me to be running all over Sunnydale at all hours of the night. I mean Riley, then my mom, then you-"

"Your mother?"

"Yeah. You weren't home so you wouldn't have heard, but Angelus went after my mom. Unlike you she made the right call and she ran indoors. He didn't even touch her." Buffy sighed feeling well and truly drained. "Just stay out of it Giles."

She left him alone and had Xander drive her home. He'd already taken Anya home when she'd gotten too tired to wait around any longer so the drive was pretty quite. Xander knew Buffy well enough not to ask any questions when she was barely keeping herself together.

Angelus was relieved to find Spike exactly how he'd left him when he returned. Derek dragged in a woman they'd knocked out on the way back. Angelus rolled his eyes and told him to move faster as the weight of the second body slowed the fledgling down.

"Sorry, but she'd not exactly the smallest of women."

"You're a vampire."

"That doesn't seem to mean much for physical strength."

"Maybe you're doing it wrong," Angelus taunted. "Hurry up."

Derek finally got the woman over to the bed. Angelus fed her blood into Spike's mouth as he'd done with his own. The color finally started to return to Spike's chalky skin and Angelus sighed with relief. He sent Derek off to the fetch another one. By the end of the night the piled at the end of the bed were stacked high enough that Spike could see them. That is if he would ever open his eyes. Angelus was starting to worry if he would ever recover.

Angelus had Derek sleep on the first floor of the crypt. He laid next to Spike to be nearby in case he needed anything. The sun rose and the vampires fell asleep. Angelus was still worrying what would happen should Buffy find them now when he fell unconscious.