Angel lay on the couch, bare feet flat on the cushion, his knees bent. His head was resting against a throw pillow that was jammed against the couch arm, as he turned the page of his book. The fireplace made a popping noise as one of the logs fell. As he twisted his head from side to side to work out a kink, it occurred to him that a year ago he had been in the exact same position - stretched out on the couch, in front of the fire, reading a book. He frowned at the thought that a year had gone by and nothing had changed in his life, and then immediately banished the thought.

Everything had changed.

A year ago, he had been reading at 3 AM in the dark, because he didn't need light to see. Now it was 1 PM, all the curtains were pulled back, and he was no longer a vampire. He checked his watch (another change, he no longer possessed a freaky internal sun tracking system), and noted that it was time for him to get the laundry out of the washing machine. Of course, the biggest change was his relationship with Buffy.

He had been back in Sunnydale for a little over two weeks, and Buffy spent most of her free time (and most of her nights), in the mansion with him. He did all the household chores, because he owned the place not her, and in addition she was taking classes during the day, and finally, two of his sweaters were now officially Buffy's after she had accidentally tossed them into the dryer. (Although he wondered if it had been totally accidental. Once she had seen his sadly shrunken sweaters, her eyes had lit up with talk of replacing them with something in yellow or a light blue. He had looked so horrified that she had backtracked, exclaiming that she had just been kidding. He made sure that she didn't get those little hands on any of his other clothes.)

Once he had unloaded the washing machine and sorted the clothes into hand dry, flat dry and dryer dry, it was time for him to head over to the UC Sunnydale campus and meet up with Buffy at her dorm room.

Ten minutes later he entered the room, and as usual, Buffy greeted him with a kiss that made him wish she didn't have a roommate. But she did, and at the moment, Willow was very pointedly not looking in their direction, her expression pinched as she stared at her computer screen. Once he and Buffy broke apart, he sat on the bed and Buffy sat on his lap, snuggling against him.

Buffy turned to face Willow, obviously continuing a conversation that had been in progress before he arrived. "I just don't understand why Spike won't say anything. You would think he would want us to find the people who made him fangless."

Willow shrugged noncommittally, her expression morose.

"Will," Buffy said softly, "I know you're still hurting about Oz leaving, but things will get better."

Willow turned in her chair, so that she was now directly facing Buffy and Angel. "That's easy for you to say," she mumbled, her eyes lingering on them for only a moment, before skittering away again.

"Why don't we go out to dinner, just the two of us," Buffy said, hoping to cheer her friend up. "Girl's night out."

Willow simply snorted in disbelief. "I'm pretty sure if there was more than three feet of space between you, Angel would fall deathly ill."

"Mexican food, and pina coladas." Buffy could see Willow wavering. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Shaking her head in resignation, Willow finally said "OK," at the same time that Buffy's phone rang.

Picking the phone up, Buffy grinned. "If you need a vampire dusted, press one. Demon slaying, press two. General apocalypse aversion —

Giles, since the only people who call this number already know about my exciting nightlife, I don't think that's a worry. Now, what's the 411?" As she listened, her grin was replaced by a frown, coupled with an eye roll.

Putting the phone down, Buffy said, "Spike somehow escaped Giles' apartment, so I have to find him and return him. Sorry, Will."

"He's probably right downstairs," Willow complained. "All you've talked about for the last two days is Spike. You should just marry him and then you'll know where he is at all times."

"I really am sorry," Buffy repeated, as she stood up to go.

As Angel followed her out the door, he muttered, "Personally, I would just leave Spike to whatever fate is awaiting him."

The two of them left the dorm, surprised to see Spike hanging out just a few feet from the building entrance. He was grumbling to himself about how in the blazes he had gotten there. Then, as Angel watched, Buffy looked at Spike and got a weird look in her eyes, while Spike looked back at her and got an equally strange look.

"Spike," Buffy said in a low, throaty tone.

"Slay-bunny," Spike moaned.

And then suddenly the two of them were all over each other.

"I'm going to be ill," said Angel, horrified. As Spike and Buffy moved away from him, he groaned, "Really ill. I think I'm burning up. Buffy, something is wrong with me."

Buffy looked over at him. "Maybe take some Advil." She looked back at Spike. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Wedding bells?"

"He's evil, " Angel said, groaning. "You can't stand him."

"Well," Buffy said, "Everybody has some character flaws."

"Exactly," said Spike. "You have that whole self righteous, bitchy thing going, but I love you anyway."

Buffy smiled and they began kissing again.

"I have a rash. It might be chicken pox. And watching you two isn't helping. Spike, stop kissing Buffy right now or I'll…ow, just collapse onto the grass," Angel said, as he slowly sank to the ground.

"Wedding party. I'm closer to Giles than my dad. Maybe they could both give me away? Willow would be my maid of honor, of course. Who are you thinking for best man?"

"Maybe Gramps?" He looked over at Angel who was currently huddled on the ground, shaking violently. "We do have that sordid sexual past though, so maybe not. If that damn chip was removed, I could just turn someone to be my best man."

"Normally, I'd be against that, but the wedding is a special occasion. We have to go tell Giles! He'll be so excited for us."

"Don't leave me," Angel whispered, as the two of them sauntered off, oblivious.

Thirty minutes later, Anya and Xander came dashing up. "Buffy told us we'd find you here. We're taking you to Giles."

Anya peered intently at Angel. "He's looking quite festive, green skin and red blotches."

"Not sure festive is the word I'd use."

"Just let me die here," Angel rasped.

"Normally I might be down with that," said Xander. "But I'm hoping you can talk some sense into Buffy, cause currently no luck on my end. Ahn, help me get him up."

Angel moaned as they pushed him to his knees.

"How much do you weigh? Are you eating iron pellets for breakfast?"

"I'm big boned," Angel groaned.

"Palter demon, three o'clock, coming in fast," Anya yelped.

"Get up, get, get up! We gotta get out of here."

Angel managed to stand, swaying on his feet, as the demon ran towards them. Angel turned even greener, his body covered in sweat. "I'm going to be sick." He suddenly violently hurled, covering the oncoming demon in head to toe vomit. The demon stopped short, looked at them, and then ran off in the other direction.

Xander stood stock still, deep in thought. "Demon magnet," he muttered. "Did Willow say anything about you getting sick?"

Angel shook violently. "She did," he said slowly. "She said I'd get sick if I was too far away from Buffy."

"Back to the dorm, we have to find Willow and have her reverse the spell."

Anya and Xander stood on either side of Angel as they made slow progress back toward the dorm. They managed to get into the building and slam the door closed just as a flying monster crashed against the building. "Third floor. Let's go."

At the bottom of the second floor staircase, Angel collapsed. "I'm dying," he said, his voice weak. "Just leave me here."

Xander bent down, grabbed the front of Angel's shirt and shook him. "Don't be an idiot. We are going to find Willow and get this fixed. Do you want to leave Buffy?"

Angel looked at Xander. "I'm going to be sick again," he said, as both Xander and Anya ran up a few steps. Angel clutched his stomach. "All right, I think it passed." He began to crawl up the steps behind the other two.

When they got to Willow's floor, three demons began to rush them from the other end of the hallway. "This is not good," Xander said.

Just as one of the demons began to choke Anya, and another one grabbed Xander, a bright light flashed from underneath Willow's door and the demons disappeared. Equally as miraculous, Angel was suddenly perfectly fine. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and headed into Willow's room.

Willow was standing in the middle of the room, fingering a talisman and looking sheepish. "Ah, hi? And sorry?"

Anya walked over, examining the magical amulet that Willow held.

"D'Hoffryn was here."

"Yeah," Willow said, obviously uncomfortable. "He said between my black hole-sized grief at losing Oz, and the spells I cast on all of you, that I would make a great vengeance demon. But I wasn't trying to hurt you guys. Please believe me."

"We know, Will," said Xander.

"So D'Hoffryn was your boss?" Willow asked Anya. "He seems pretty laid back for a vengeance demon."

"He's a great guy," agreed Anya. "Plus an excellent benefits package. Did he mention me at all?"

Willow spread her hands apart as she shrugged. "Not a word."

"You give the best centuries of your life, and as soon as you retire, it's like you never existed."

"We need to get back to Giles' place and make sure that they're ok also," said Angel. The thought that Buffy might still be kissing Spike was tying his stomach into knots.

"One problem," said Xander. He, Anya and Willow were all on the other side of the room from Angel. "You stink, vomit boy. You are not getting in my car."

"Showers are down the hall," Willow said helpfully.

"Except I don't have a change of clothes here."

Willow looked at Angel. "I think I've got something."

Ten minutes later Angel returned. He had put back on his boxers, and over them he was wearing a blue, silk, floral kimono-style robe that barely reached the tops of his thighs. He glared at all of them. "Do not say anything."

Xander pursed his lips together hard in an effort not to laugh. Finally he said, "I think you look very fetching, geisha boy."

Anya's eyes slowly traveled the length of the short robe. "I wonder what's under there?" She took a step toward Angel, a gleam in her eyes, as Angel took a step back nervously.

"Anya," Xander admonished, "No harassing the cross-dresser."

When they arrived at Giles's home, Spike took one look at Angel and burst out laughing. "So the pouff is even more pouffy than usual."

Angel was pulling back his fist when Buffy placed her hand on his bicep, stopping him. "What happened wasn't Spike's fault. I am so sorry I left you. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, wrapping his arms around Buffy's waist and kissing her.

"Thank goodness. And keep with the kissing. It helps get Spike taste out of my mouth," she said shuddering.

"What about me?" said Spike.

Angel turned to him. "You want me to kiss you also? Not happening."

"Balls," said Spike. "Kissing a slayer? I'm going to be the laughing stock of the underground."

"You already are a laughing stock," said Buffy.

"I know what would help," said Spike, leering. "Sit on my lap and wiggle a bit. That would take my mind off the horror I've experienced."

"Angel, I've changed my mind. Punch him."

Angel grinned and socked Spike right in the nose.

"Bastard."

"In the future, leave my girlfriend alone.."

Buffy got on her tiptoes and whispered very quietly into Angel's ear, "What was Spike talking about when he mentioned the two of you had a sordid sexual past?"

Angel managed to hold back a choking fit, and instead nonchalantly said, "You know Spike, always spouting BS." He looked over the top of Buffy's head directly at Spike and mouthed very clearly, "Say anything, and I will stake you."

—-

The next day, Wednesday, was Angel's weekly meeting with Willow to learn computer basics. When he walked into the room, Willow immediately flushed bright red. "You probably hate me."

"I told you yesterday that I didn't blame you for what happened. You weren't trying to hurt anybody."

"You could have died," she said, her voice tiny.

"But I didn't. I murdered your goldfish and I spent months terrorizing you. You are the last person I would ever blame for anything."

"That wasn't you," Willow pointed out. "That was a demon."

Angel knew that the demon simply magnified that blackness that was already present within. It seemed that the core of him was black as pitch. He was fairly certain that Willow would disagree though. "In your case, it was just a spell gone wrong. No more beating yourself up, all right?"

Willow nodded, but her face was still drawn with guilt.

"If it will make you feel better, I have a favor to ask." Angel stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried his best to look innocent.

"A spell type favor?" Willow screwed her face up in thought. "Probably not, because I don't think you're the type to mess with magic."

"You're right, no magic messing. I need your computer skills. It might be a little illegal." He could see that Willow was intrigued. "Nothing that would hurt anybody," he hastily added. "But you might have to hack some government sites."

Willow gave him a look that was partly excited and partly extremely confident. "Sounds like a challenge," she said, with an expression that was a bit unnerving. It had never occurred to him before, but Willow would make a great supervillain.

—-

Brushing vampire dust off of his clothes, Angel noted that between Buffy and himself, the graveyard was quiet once more. "I have something to tell you," he said, his tone more uncertain than he wanted. "I got a job."

Buffy's eyes widened. "A job job? Like a suit and tie, nine to five, briefcase carrying, cubicle job?"

"No suit and tie involved, but the rest is pretty accurate."

"A job," she repeated. "But if you have a job, how are we going to eat lunch together? And how are you going to come get me after class? And who's going to make dinner?"

"I'll still cook dinner," Angel said, deliberately ignoring the rest of her speech.

"But I like eating lunch with you." Buffy's face had twisted into a pout.

"Buffy, you know how much I love you. But I can't spend my life being Buffy's boyfriend. Willow was right. I'm on top of you all the time. It's not healthy."

"That's not true," Buffy argued. "You're not with me when I'm in class."

"When you're in class, I'm just waiting for you to come home." He pulled her into his arms. "I hated being away from you in LA. I knew I didn't have a choice, but it was painful. It also forced me to start standing on my own two feet and start growing up. That's not a bad thing."

"I guess not, " Buffy said, resigned. "How did you even get a job? No offense, but 'experienced demon killer' is normally not what firms are looking for."

"Willow helped." Angel let Buffy go and rubbed the back of his neck, obviously uncomfortable. "I now have a birth certificate, social security number, driver's license, BFA and resume."

"Doesn't social security require a last name? Unless you're Madonna or Cher, I guess."

"I have a last name," he said indignantly. "Murphy. A very respectable, old Irish name."

"Angel Murphy." Buffy spoke the name out loud, trying it out.

"That is not my name."

"But you just said it was."

"It's Liam. Liam Murphy. You do realize Angel is a girl's name in Ireland?"

"Oh. Do you not like being called Angel? You did tell me that was your name. " Buffy looked confused and upset.

"At the time Liam had been dead for two hundred and forty years. Now, I'm not sure who I am."

"So, I shouldn't call you Angel anymore?"

Angel took hold of both of Buffy's hands on his own and looked into her eyes. "That's not what I meant. I love it when you call me that," he said seriously. "Angels protect people, and are forces for good. It reminds me of what I should strive for."

Buffy smiled back at him. "That's good, because you're always going to be my angel."

The words were certainly perfect, but Angel couldn't help noticing that Buffy's smile was the tiniest bit brittle, the words spoken a little too quickly. And although enough time had passed that they had taken down two more vampires, she still hadn't asked exactly what his job entailed, which bothered him.

By the time they returned to the mansion. Buffy still hadn't brought up his new job, and Angel was more and more upset at the situation, although he kept it to himself. He resolved to ask her about it as they got ready for bed, but he held up when he saw how tired she was. Within five minutes of getting under the covers, Buffy's breathing had deepened and slowed. Angel, however, felt more tense and irritable as each second ticked by, and finally, he carefully crept out of bed and went downstairs to read.

A half hour later, he had scarcely gotten through three pages of the novel he was reading when he decided that he would go back upstairs and try to sleep. Turning off the lights, he padded silently up the steps and slowly pushed the bedroom door open so as not to wake Buffy.

Standing in the doorway, it was hard for him not to smile as she mumbled in her sleep. As he began to climb back into bed, her mumbles turned into a panicked shout. Instantly, Angel had his arms around Buffy, trying to soothe her. Buffy thrashed against him for a moment, and then opened her eyes, finally calming down as she realized where she was.

"You're ok. Bad dream?"

"Slayer dream," she said, her face creased in worry.

Angel reached over, opened the nightstand drawer, and leaned back against the headboard, notepad and pen in hand. "Maybe we should write down the details before you forget anything."

Buffy slowly nodded. "You were trying to catch me. But you couldn't. And then Riley was there and he tagged me…"

"Riley? The psych TA I met a couple of weeks ago? Trying really hard not to be jealous here."

"Don't be. I don't have Riley interest. It just seemed like we were playing a weird game of tag. And even though he tagged me, I was still 'it', and I kept running. Then I heard a little girl singing. She was on the sidewalk, right in the middle of town."

"Where that new strip mall is?"

Buffy gave another nod, and her eyes closed as she conjured up her dream. "She was holding a box. It was carved. And she was singing, no, chanting, like when you're playing pattycake or saying a nursery rhyme."

"Can't even shout,

Can't even cry,

The gentlemen are coming by.

Looking in windows, knocking on doors,

They need to take seven and they might take yours.

Can't call to mom, can't say a word,

You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard."

"I also saw a flash of someone. Something in a long black coat. Something evil." An involuntary shudder ran through her. "The way that little girl sang that. It was as if she was telling me that there is nothing I could do. That this can't be stopped."

"That's because these things have never come up against you," Angel said firmly. "You'll stop it."

Angel put the pad and pen back down, and the two of them held each other for a minute. "You have a break after 11:30 tomorrow, right? I'll pick you up then and we'll head over to Giles. I bet he'll be able to figure out what's happening."

—-

Giles' smile was broad as Buffy stepped into the house, and decidedly less friendly as Angel followed. Since it wasn't an outright scowl, Angel counted it as a win.

"I brought donuts," Buffy announced, as she sat on the couch.

"Jellies?" Giles asked hopefully.

"Don't mind if I do." Spike sauntered over to the box, took one of the donuts and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth, and then chewed with his mouth open as he sprawled on one of the chairs.

Buffy shot him a look of disgust. "Who invited you?"

Spike made a show of loudly chewing, and once the mess was swallowed, leered at Buffy. "Seeing as I'm a guest, it's only polite."

Giles glared at him. "You are far from a guest."

"Why isn't he chained up?" Buffy said with a frown.

"Because occasionally, I like to use my bathroom."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Buffy leaned against the couch and looked at Angel and then Spike. "How come he's always stuffing his face and you never ate food when you were a vampire?"

Spike snorted. "It offended his delicate sensibilities."

Angel gave Spike a look of reproach, and then turned to Buffy. "If you want to know why, I'll be happy to tell you. But I warn you, Spike is disgusting. You are not going to like what I have to say. Spike is really, really disgusting." Here, Spike jammed another jelly donut in his mouth so that the jelly oozed between his teeth and dripped down his chin. His tongue darted out and swiped the mess into his mouth as Buffy shuddered.

"I've decided I'd rather not know."

"Now that the matter of Spike's eating habits have been put on hold for another day, I assume you stopped by for a reason?" Giles' tone was drier than a desert.

"I had a funny dream last night." Buffy squared her shoulders. "Funny in the sense that 'Nightmare on Elm Street' is a laugh riot."

Giles' curiosity was instantly piqued. "A portent?"

"Maybe. A little girl was chanting."

Angel handed a piece of paper to Giles. "This is what Buffy heard."

Giles scanned it, and then looked up. "This isn't familiar. Perhaps it was just something you ate? There haven't been any warning signs."

"We had beef stew last night. Angel is a very good cook, so no."

"Beef stew? To think, he used to be a self-respecting vampire."

"You're the one who eats food, Spike." Angel turned to Spike, shaking his head in wonder.

"A pastry. The only beef I'd eat would be raw," Spike said with a suggestive leer.

Buffy made a gagging noise. "You're a pig."

"Oink," said Spike, dragging out the sound.

Completely ignoring the current conversation, Giles looked at Buffy and Angel. "I'm actually glad you're here, as I have a favor to ask."

"Anything at all, Giles," Buffy chirped.

"I need you to take Spike for a few days." Buffy's expression said loud and clear anything except that. "We don't have room," she pouted.

"Angel lives in a mansion." Giles raised an eyebrow.

"Angel hates Spike," Buffy argued.

"There isn't anybody who doesn't hate Spike," Giles pointed out.

"Fine," said Buffy, obviously unhappy. "Why exactly do we need to take him in?"

"I have a friend coming to visit for a few days."

Buffy's mouth formed an 'O', as her eyes widened. "I have to take Spike in so you can have a booty call! But you're old!"

Giles pursed his lips and slanted his eyes toward Angel while Spike grinned. "Ah, but we know his bits work," Spike explained.

"The chains are still in the bathroom?" Angel asked, while deliberately ignoring Spike and his girlfriend. Giles nodded, while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What do you need chains for," exclaimed Spike. "The slayer can defend herself."

"True, but my whiskey can't."

Twenty minutes later. Angel and Spike returned to the mansion after having dropped off Buffy so that she could attend her next class.

"I think I'll put you in the first floor bathroom," Angel said, eying the chains in his hands.

"I can't believe you'd chain up a family member."

"You'll be lucky if you're not returned to Giles' apartment in a vacuum cleaner bag."

"Buffy wouldn't approve," Spike said smugly.

"I guarantee she'd get over it."

Spike looked around until he spotted the TV. "Giles always lets me watch the telly. I think Timmy is finally getting out of the well."

"You're a fan of Lassie?" Angel said, with no small amount of surprise.

"Not that Timmy. Timmy from Passions."

"Never heard of it."

"It's got drama, mystery, adventure, romance, long lost relatives…"

"You're watching a soap opera?" Angel was now even more surprised.

"And what do you watch, Mr. 'I think Kafka is a laugh riot'?"

Viewed in a certain light, "The Metamorphosis" was pretty funny, but Angel decided not to argue. "Hockey, when it's on."

"Isn't that the one where a bunch of guys skate around trying to hit a ball with a stick, and if they can't hit the ball, they bash each other?"

"More or less," Angel admitted.

Spike ruminated on that for a moment. "I can see where that might have its charms. Timmy is a life-sized doll that's alive."

"I'm kind of surprised we haven't run into that." Angel looked at Spike and sighed. "What time is Passions?"

"In thirty minutes."

"Do you like nachos?"

"The slayer doesn't go for them?"

"She says I make them too spicy."

"The jalapenos are the best part," stated Spike, with an emphatic hand gesture.

"Beer?" asked Angel.

"Sure, mate."

—-

They were both distracted during that night's patrol. Angel knew that Buffy was alert for anything resembling her dream. He left her to it. As a regular human, there was no way he was going to pick up a threat before she did. His concerns were of a more practical bent. He had chained Spike up in the first floor bathroom before they had left, but he was under no illusions that Spike would just hang out quietly, and Angel had a gnawing dread that he'd come home to a drunk Spike and a trashed home. The other thing he was fixated on was that Buffy still hadn't asked about the job he'd be starting, but he had no idea how to bring it up. He was actually grateful when two vampires showed up so he could work off his frustrations.

Two cemeteries later, they encountered a demon with a snake-like head and a furred body. As the two rushed it, Angel barely got out of the way of its claws, and at the last second managed to sidestep, getting smacked in the ribs by its tail. He then whipped around and chopped off the tail with his sword, enabling Buffy to quickly finish it off.

Angel could tell from Buffy's expression that the demon had nothing to do with her dream. The walk back home was silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

As soon as they walked into the mansion, Spike yelled out. "Hey, what does a bloke need to do to get fed around here?" Angel rolled his eyes and said, "I'll take care of him. You head upstairs." He went over to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of pig's blood, and headed over to the blond menace chained up in his bathroom.

Spike glared at him. "This is ice cold."

Angel slitted his eyes. "So it is. I guess that means your choice is cold pig's blood or no pig's blood. What will it be?"

Spike grabbed the bottle, mumbling under his breath, while Angel turned and headed upstairs. Buffy had changed into a tank top and a tiny pair of shorts. "I had a very long day," she said, sauntering over to him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her body pleasurably pushing against his.

Angel reluctantly took a step back. "Buffy?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You do know that vampires have exceptional hearing?"

It took a second for Angel's meaning to register, and then Buffy's eyes flew open. "Giles better appreciate this," she groused.

Angel could only agree, as he decided to wear a pair of sweatpants to bed.

—-

As usual, Angel opened his eyes before Buffy, who was currently so buried under the covers that not much more than the very top of her head was poking out. Reaching over, he shook her gently, saying her name, and then stopped. His hands still on her body, he said her name out loud, and finally shouted it. Each time there was no sound, and the ominous words of the chant hit him full force. He shook Buffy awake a lot more vigorously than usual, and her eyes opened wide in confusion. Angel pointed to her mouth and then grabbed out the paper he had originally written her dream on. It only took a moment before Buffy caught on. The two of them got dressed quickly and packed a weapons bag. Angel put two bottles of blood into a cooler and left it in the bathroom with a note on top. He didn't see any point in waking Spike up.

The campus was eerily silent. Students were milling about, some crying silently, some hugging each other. One boy had his hands around his knees, rocking back and forth. Everyone wore matching expressions of fear. Buffy and Angel hurried toward her dorm building, quickly running up the stairs and into her room. Willow's expression was one of relief upon seeing them.

Grabbing some paper, Willow wrote a note that a student had been found murdered with his heart ripped out. The three looked at each other with matching expressions of horror. Buffy quickly wrote that she and Angel would be finding the others, and they would meet back in the science building in the small auditorium. Buffy and Willow fiercely hugged, and then Buffy and Angel took off again.

An hour later, Giles was in the front of the classroom, next to a projector, while Buffy, Angel, Willow, Xander and Anya all sat toward the front. Giles put up the first slide, labeled "The Gentlemen", and under it was written the words that Buffy had heard in her dream. Everyone shifted uneasily in their seats.

He put up another slide. "What do they want?", it said. Willow bounced excitedly in her chair, pounding her fist into her chest.

Xander looked at her with eyebrows raised. "Boobs?" he mouthed, while cupping his chest with two hands. Willow rolled her eyes in disgust, shaking her head. Giles put up another slide, showing seven hearts, two already crossed out.

The next slide showed a stick figure person with a rectangular body. A representation of the Gentlemen was next to him, with a hand inside the person's body. Red was everywhere, and the person's eyes were wide in horror, but the mouth had been replaced by an X. Everyone looked grim, except for Anya, who seemed pretty nonplussed.

Giles put up the next slide entitled "How do we kill them?"

Buffy curled one hand into a fist and made a pounding motion. Willow blushed scarlet, Giles tried to keep a neutral expression, Anya looked pleased, and Xander shot a dirty look at Angel, who sunk in his chair. Buffy threw her hands up in the air, reached into her bag and pulled out a stake, repeating the motions while gripping it. Willow immediately looked relieved, and Giles relaxed. Anya looked disappointed while Xander still glared at Angel, who remained slouched in his seat.

Giles motioned for Angel to come up to the front. He had Angel read something and then handed Angel a marker. Angel spent a few minutes drawing and then placed a new slide on the screen. A stake with an X through it, a sword with an X through it, and finally a princess clearly shouting and a gentleman lying dead at her feet. The princess looked quite a bit like Buffy.

Willow wrote on her white board, "Can the voice come out of a radio?"

Giles shook his head no.

Then Buffy wrote, "How do we get our voices back?"

Giles shrugged with a worried look.

Buffy quickly wrote something on her own white board and held it up. 'Angel and I will go patrolling'. They had brought their weapons bag to the briefing. Buffy pulled her stake back out (and Xander leered at Angel again), while Angel took a sword and a few stakes.

The streets of Sunnydale were in chaos. People were terrified, and not being able to speak caused small issues to quickly escalate into big problems. As they walked toward the center of brown, Angel and Buffy found themselves intervening in some kind of altercation every block. At one point as Angel was forcibly separating two men about to come to blows, a third man swung a metal pipe at the back of Angel's head. Fortunately, before it connected, Buffy deftly stepped in and twisted the attacker's wrist until the weapon dropped to the ground. Shortly afterwards, Buffy was trying to comfort a young woman when some guy tried to jump her. Angel tapped the lowlife on his shoulder, and confused, the guy turned a little as Angel kicked the offender in the balls, taking him out. Angel wasn't too surprised that he and Buffy worked so perfectly in concert, not even needing to speak to each other. They had always been able to anticipate each other's moves.

Buffy pulled at his sleeve and pointed. A vaguely humanoid demon wearing a straitjacket was shuffling into an abandoned clock tower. The clock tower was behind the strip mall that had been in Buffy's dream. The two of them hurried after it, climbing up the winding steps, Above then they could see the demon they had followed catch up with a few others as Buffy put on a burst of speed. While Angel could hear the smack of flesh on flesh, most of the usual auditory clues like groans, yelps and Buffy's quips were missing. Just as Angel reached the top of the tower, he found himself briefly pressed against the wall as one of the henchmen sailed past him down the steps, courtesy of Buffy.

In the clock tower itself, all four Gentlemen were present, as well as their minions, and most surprising to both Buffy and Angel, so was her psych TA. Buffy's face scrunched up as she mouthed, "Riley, what are-" but the sentence never got completed as a demon started to attack. Riley slid a baton out from his boot, hit one of the minions with it, and then tossed it over his shoulder. Buffy, meanwhile, was grappling with another of the minions when Angel realized to his horror that another demon was about to stab her in the back. He slashed his sword at its midsection, and the demon crumpled to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Riley take down another one, using some kind of stun gun. Buffy managed to catch Angel's eye, and she pointed to a bench on the side of the room. Seven jars were lined up, five with hearts in them already. There was also an ornate box next to them. He immediately caught on, and the two of them began taking out the demons that were congregated there. Buffy had just begun to fight one, when two others grabbed her from behind, pinning her down. Riley was in the opposite corner, currently wrestling with yet another minion. Angel's first instinct was to rush to Buffy's aid, but he knew that would be the wrong move. Instead, he viciously staked the demon in front of him and then smashed the ornate box with his sword. A mist began to spread around the room. He watched as it entered Buffy's open mouth, then she screamed and screamed and screamed. The Gentlemen's heads exploded, leaving green goop behind.

Buffy, Angel and Riley all stared at each other. "You're part of that secret government demon hunting bunch," stated Buffy.

Riley scowled. "That's a top secret military operation. Need to know basis only."

Buffy shrugged. "I guess you guys should be bigger with the stealth."

Riley stared at Buffy. Her wound was already scabbing up. "What are you?"

She pointed to herself. "Vampire slayer, the."

Angel crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "And I'm Robin to her Batman." He considered that for a moment. "Batman doesn't have superpowers so maybe Robin to her Spiderman." When he saw Buffy's face of disgust, he amended it again "Scratch that. She's anti- spider. Robin to her Superman."

"That would be Supergirl," amended Buffy.

"There's a Supergirl?" asked Angel.

"Superman's cousin. Same powers, but her costume has a little skirt instead of leggings."

Angel processed this revelation and then leaned over to Buffy, and in a loud whisper asked, "How does she keep that short skirt from flying up?"

Buffy shook her head, exasperated, and then got a devilish look. "Maybe you could start wearing short shorts and tights."

Riley cleared his throat loudly. "There's no such thing as a vampire slayer. That's a myth. A boogie man story told to scare demons."

Buffy gave Riley a look. "First off, technically boogie woman. And secondly, you are myth-taken."

Riley's scowl deepened.

"Maybe we could share intel," Buffy suggested, "pool our resources."

"I'll have to talk to my commander." Riley gave them a look that was part annoyance and part suspicion before he turned and marched out of the room.

Buffy and Angel walked for a few minutes when both of them came to a sudden stop, as if an unspoken agreement was present.

"I'm thinking maybe you should see if Riley can patrol with you," Angel blurted out.

"I don't want you to go to work," Buffy exclaimed.

They both stood without speaking, obviously startled by each other's declarations. Finally, Angel spoke. "You go first."

Buffy toed the ground. "I'm scared of you going to work."

"There's not going to be any demons there. I'll be fine," Angel soothed.

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Buffy softly.

"Now I'm confused."

"You're human now but you really haven't joined the world. And now you will. You are going to be a regular person doing regular person things. You told me once that it all goes by so fast, and that I'm going to want the house with the picket fence, and the SUV, and the two kids and the dog. I'm never going to have that, but I know you want it, and this is the first step." The words had come rushing out, as if they had been dammed up inside of Buffy for days.

Angel considered her words before speaking. "I don't know the future. I do know this job is important to me. I'm going to be an illustrator. The thought of someone paying me to draw is amazing, but I also know that you're the best thing that ever happened to me. If I have to make a choice, there is no choice. I'll tell them I can't take the job."

"Then why do you want me to patrol with Riley?" She didn't bother hiding the hurt in her voice,

"Because I don't want you to get wounded, and Riley is trained to do this. He took out four minions in the time it took me to take out two."

Buffy scowled at him. "You took out a demon that was about to skewer me, and you also took out one of the ones in the way of ending this mess. Numbers aren't the only consideration. There's strategy and watching each other's backs. And last night, when you chopped off the tail of that snake-headed demon? A week ago you would have gotten hurt. You're a better fighter every day."

Angel hadn't even realized it, but she was right. The moves were coming easier, and he was getting used to compensating for his 'regular person' status in a fight. "I'm officially your patrol partner then."

Buffy smiled, and then it faltered. "Tell me about this job."

"It's for a small ad agency. There's only one other artist on staff. They do work for nonprofits."

"So you'd be helping people?"

"Hopefully."

"You should do it. And I guess in the future, we should both uncork more."

Angel nodded. "The speaking thing? Probably a good idea."

They headed back to the dorm and found Willow safe in the room. She told them a harrowing story about how she had almost been cornered by one of the Gentlemen, but magic had saved the day. Buffy was both relieved that Willow was fine, and unhappy that she had had such a close call.

"I just spoke to Xander, and we're going to head over to the Bronze to celebrate coming through yet another scary nightmare in one piece," Willow said brightly. "You guys joining in the fun?"

"We'll be along in a little while. I'm up for some celebratory dancing."

After Willow left, Angel looked at Buffy, clearly surprised. "Why aren't we heading out?"

"Because Spike is still chained up at the mansion, and this room is empty."

Angel''s grin had a wicked cast to it. "I like the way you think." he said, as he pulled her close.

"No more talking," Buffy said, as she captured his lips with hers.

—-