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Angel watches from the shadows as Buffy passes by in the distance. She is obviously stalking , her stride silent and her gaze watchful. Angel realizes that if he were any closer to her , she would no doubt sense him and track him to his hiding place. She is much stronger than she used to be when he knew her. The power practically radiates from her and washes over him like waves. Angel can’t contain his shudder at the feeling of the power washes over him. The only thing that can attract a Vampire as fast as stupid and gullible humans to feed on , is power. Angel has to force himself to stay still but not before he shifts his weight slightly and causes an almost imperceptible sound with the slightest of a movement. Angel freezes as Buffy turns towards the sound , and scans the surroundings. She has a stake in each hand and she holds them with an easy grace , betraying her years of experience with the weapons. Angel stares at Buffy , finding it difficult to equate the woman w! ith the girl he used to know. He counts how many years have passed since he last saw Buffy and is startled to reach 5 years!! Those years have not passed without contact , if he counted a handful of telephone conversations and the second-hand news filtered to Cordelia from Sunnydale.
It was the news that the Slayer was now hunting with a partner that brought Angel back to the town he swore never to come back to. And to the woman he vowed never to return to. The last time Giles was in L.A. to pick up a collection of arcane tomes , Angel had secured at his behest he siezed his chance. He asked about Buffy and received a curiously noncommital answer that had him calling Buffy herself. Buffy asked after Kate , to Angel’s shock and embarassment , having no idea that word of his girlfriend had reached Buffy. Ashamed that he hadn’t told her himself , he started to apologize only to be shushed by Buffy. Buffy said that there were no apologies necessary , that each of them was free to live as they chose. Buffy actually shocked him by congratulating him on finding someone he could care for. When Angel tried to find out if she was seeing anyone , she ignored his unspoken question. She visited pleasantly with him for another few minutes and ended the conversation ! with a hasty good-bye as she had to patrol.
And so the vagueness of their conversation has him back in Sunnydale skulking in the bushes. Watching the woman who will always be his favorite love , patrolling the night like a panther on the prowl for prey. Knowing her patrolling patterns by heart he knew that if he waitied patiently , she would pass by eventually. He was rewarded with her appearance a few minutes ago.
Two Vampires leap out of the bushes to grab at Buffy but are quickly and all too easily staked for their presumption. Angel is surprised by how quickly Buffy accomplished the slaying and how unruffled she appears to be. She is deadlier than ever and twice as confident in her abilities. Her moves are more practiced and polished and show the evidence of long hours of daily or nightly practice. Before , she was fighting with 40% natural and raw talent , 30% flair , 20% luck , 5% friendly aid , and 5% luck but all that has changed now. She is a highly trained and practiced Slayer , almost a professional killer. Angel thinks back to a comment Buffy made when she last talked to him. He had asked her how she was doing , to which she replied that she was doing what she always did. The best that she could.
Buffy has moved on , continuing her nightly patrol for Vampires in need of slaying. The soft voices of some students coming toward her has Buffy slipping silently into the shadows to the side of the path. She stills and amazingly even her liquid sunshine colored hair , seems to fade into the shadows. The students pass by her without ever knowing that she is there in the shadows. The Vampire trailing the 3 co-eds however does not pass by unaware. A stake plunged into its heart from the shadows has it collapsing to dust and Buffy steps out of the shadows. She doesn’t spare the co-eds another glance as she moves silently away.
Angel is left to wonder just how many nights Buffy has followed this same routine. Silently stalking the night and slipping into the shadows when so-called normal people walk by. Waiting in the darkness to protect people who will never know that they are being fought for every night , against terrors most could never imagine. Buffy , the woman perhaps most beloved by the sun , consigned to the moon’s rule , moving to its rythyms like the tides. Angel harnesses his own ability to move silently , honed from centuries of hunting his 2-legged prey , and follows Buffy at a distance.
Buffy slips silently out of the campus grounds and into the forest that surrounds the college. She never once falters as she plunges into the overgrown tangle of plants that ring the forest’s edges. She drives into the forest with a courage an armed group would be hard pressed to match. She moves through the forest with a purpose that leads Angel to believe that she is headed somewhere in particular. She is moving fast and even Angel with his Vampire speed is hard pressed to keep up and remain silent so as not to alert her to his presence. She is taking a seemingly meandering path through the forest , twisting and turning with no regard for distance , at times even doubling back. It suddenly occurs to Angel that she is acting like she is stalking someone or something , following them uneerringly through the veritable maze-like forest.
Angel is still several hundred yards behind Buffy when the terrain begins to look familiar. Angel realizes that Buffy is cutting through the woods to the mansion where he once lived. Angel remembers the handsome sale price he received from the sale of the mansion , a little over 4 years ago. He looked on the mansion as his last tie to Sunnydale and he was glad to sell it. The realtor promised that it had been sold to “ a very nice young woman “ and her husband. At least one of which he was able to say looked beautiful in sunlight. Angel was glad that the mansion would be harboring a human couple rather than playing haven to Vampires. Angel stops at the edge of the forest as Buffy strides clear of the trees and up towards the back of the mansion. Unlike when he called the Mansion home , Angel sees that lights are burning in nearly every window. The mansion’s disrepair has been corrected and it looks warm and inviting , rather than cold and forbiding.
He watches , perplexed as Buffy walks calmly into the mansion and disappears. Angel shrugs assuming that Buffy must be a close friend of the owner. He watches as she passes in front of the window and he can see her heading up the main staircase. His brow furrows as Buffy vanishes from sight , upstairs. His eyes widen as he scans the windows for some clue as to who lives at the mansion. Giles and Buffy’s Mother Joyce , are sitting snuggled under a blanket in the sitting room. A warm fire is bazing and they are reading , occasionally showing each other a passage in their respective books. Buffy reappears , changed out of her slaying gear and wearing a smalll black silk slip dress and matching high heeled shoes. Her long blond hair is swept up and coiled elegantly at her nape. Over all she is wearing a black leather duster that looks vaguely familiar to Angel. That vague recognition is pushed aside as Angel notices how beautiful Buffy is looking all dressed up. She leans over! the couch and kisses her Mother’s cheek and hugs Giles before slinging a matching black silk purse over her head to rest on her hip and leaving. Buffy crosses the front of the duster and buttons it closed over her flat abdomen. She makes no move to get in one of the cars outside the mansion but instead sets out a leisurely walk.
Angel follows wondering if Buffy is headed for the Bronze to meet Willow and her friends but she walks right past it. She continues to Main Street and turns down a small , quieter side street. Small tasteful shops and upscale restaurants line the street , their warm glow of warmth and comraderie petitioning for the patronage of passerbys. Buffy slips into a place called Liam’s and Angel waits several minutes before he follows. He uses the entrance of a large , noisy group of businessmen , to mask his own arrival. Angel immediately finds the shadows and conceals himself. He searches for Buffy , not finding her at first. Then he spots her in a quiet corner , talking to Willow , Oz , Xander , and Anya. Angel scans the Club and is surprised to find that it is an elegant supper club that combines a restaurant , bar , and dance club all in one. Angel is also surprised to find that several Vampires are milling with the humans in seemingly peaceful co-existance. It’s enough to rai! se Angel’s eyebrows , since Buffy and the Vampires seem unconcerned with each other’s presences. Realizing that the presences of the other Vampires are no doubt overwhelming Buffy Vamp-Sense and jamming it , will allow him to get closer to Buffy , Angel does so carefully. He is able to move close enough that his super-keen Vampire hearing can pick up their conversation easily. Buffy asks how her friends did tonight. Willow and Oz report 3 “renegades” dusted. Xander and Anya say they got 4 and Buffy congratulates all of them. Anya asks how many Buffy dusted and she reports that she got 6 in all. Xander asks how “Junior” did and Buffy says she hasn’t seen them since they split up 3 hours earlier. Buffy says that “HE” asked her to meet him here , that he had a surprise for her. Willow asks Buffy what she thinks the surprise could be and Buffy says she has no clues but she can’t wait to find out. Angel wishes he could walk over to Buffy and put his arms around her and is about to ! make his presence known when he hears a familiar voice. Angel sucks in an unneeded breath. Spike!!!! The deadliest and most cunning of all his childer is here in Sunnydale and calmly confronting the Buffy , the Slayer!! Angel will remember this moment for centuries as Buffy calmly turns and warmly greets Spike with what can only be called affection!!
Angel realizes that even that assumption is wrong. Buffy doesn’t greet Spike as a friend. She wraps her arms around him and greets him as a lover and he returns her ardor. Angel listens as Buffy playfully feigns that’s she’s upset at Spike for leading her a merry chase in the woods. Spike replies that he had found the last renegade Vampire and maybe now they can take their vacation!! Buffy throws her arms around Spike and practically eats him alive with her kisses. Angel realizes that his hand is raised toward Buffy and he lets it fall. Her words come back to him. She’s doing the best that she can. Angel silently watches the pair for several minutes. It’s obvious that they are in love , they are pracitically luminescent. Angel realizes now why Buffy took the knowledge that he was dating Kate , so well. She was in love with someone else. Spike. Of all the men in the world , Buffy chooses not only another Vampire , a soul-less one at that , but Spike , his own childe!! Ange! l looks at them again and not even he can deny that they look good together. Right , in each other’s arms. Angel says a silent farewell and leaves. She’s right he thinks. She’s doing fine and doing it the best that she can. With a last lingering glance Angel slips into the night making a silent vow that if Spike ever hurts her , he’ll rip him to shreds with his bare hands.
Spike opens his mail the next night to find a curious letter that
says simply. “Take care of her or I’ll kill you.” It’s unsigned but
Spike doesn’t need a signiture to know who sent the letter. Spike
actually smiles and carefully refolds the letter and tucks it into the
envelope. “Who could have known that we’d ever agree on anything.”
Spike says to himself , inserting the letter into the pages of a book
on his bookshelves. He replaces the book and takes to the night in
search of his lover.