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"Buffy?" Joyce called, knocking on the bedroom door. "Buffy? Your father’s on the pho—" She opened the door and stopped dead. The room was empty and the window was open, letting a slight breeze in. Buffy was obviously gone.
"That girl—!" Joyce exclaimed and put the telephone to her ear, informing Hank, "You’ll be interested in knowing that your daughter is not here."
"No, I haven’t seen her," Willow replied, the nervousness that had plagued her all day growing in leaps and bounds.
"Well, if you do see her, or if she’s there, tell her that the moment she gets home she’s grounded through the end of school, if I’m in a better mood by then," Joyce said sharply. Willow winced for her friend.
"I’ll tell her if I see her. I’m sure she had a good reason," offered Willow. A sound from Joyce made it perfectly clear how likely she thought that.
"Well you just tell her," Joyce said.
"I will."
"All right then. Thank you Willow. Good bye."
"Bye," Willow said softly and hung up the phone. She turned to Xander, Oz and Cordelia who were gathered around looking worried. They’d come over for a quiet evening, though none had stopped worrying about Buffy.
"Buffy’s gone," Willow reported. Xander’s face fell and even Cordelia looked upset. Oz looked like himself.
"Any idea where?" Xander asked.
"Out the window. Her mom’s really angry," Willow said worriedly.
"Well duh! I would be!" Cordelia exclaimed, then shut up at their look and muttered something unkind.
"If I may suggest: find Buffy," Oz put in.
"I’m going with Wolf Boy," Xander exclaimed, pointing to Oz.
"Don’t call me that," he said, though his manner was anything but threatening. In fact, his threatening voice sounded a lot like his regular voice.
"Oz has a point," Willow said, turning them back to the subject. She took a moment to look glow-y that Oz had a point, then focused again.
"So what are we sitting around here for?" Xander asked, leaping to his feet.
"Are we going out? ‘Cause I didn’t dress for going out!" Cordelia exclaimed. "What?" Xander shook his head and took her hand.
"Come on Cor," he said. "Just follow and try not to talk."
"I’ll call Giles," Willow said quickly. "Then we’ll go look."
"But where would Buffy be?" Oz asked. They all paused and looked around at each other.
"Well there’s the Bronze," Willow suggested.
"Oh, the band playing tonight is totally un-worthy of the cover," Cordelia said dismissingly. The rest of them exchanged amused glances.
"Okay, let’s rule out the Bronze. She could be going after Angel," Xander said, his eyes lighting.
"Going to the factory could be dangerous though, if she isn’t there," Willow pointed out.
"But if she is, she might need help," Oz pointed out.
"Another point for Oz," Xander said. "All right, I’m all for the factory. Who’s with me?" Slowly, they all began to nod.
Buffy lurked around the edges. She might be upset, but she wasn’t about to go charging into enemy territory without even knowing if Sebastien was there.
Which was when she heard the laugh. More like a chuckle actually. Low, cruel and utterly familiar. And then he spoke. "Don’t worry, I’m sure Buffy will be along in a moment to rescue you."
"What are you?" Sebastien demanded. At least he didn’t sound in pain. That was something. Angelus was probably saving that until Buffy was there to watch. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t going to give him time to do anything. She bit her lip, examining the scenario. Scooting down she got a glimpse of the positioning. Sebastien sat comfortably in a large chair, looking about uneasily, anger and despair mixed in his eyes. Angelus stood just to the side of him and Kathryn was draped over the back of the chair. Spike was off in a corner in his wheelchair and Drusilla was moping. She could see five other vampires around the perimeter of the large room. This wasn’t going to be easy. She straightened up and inched away, wondering if she should have stopped to stock up on weapons. A few crossbows would be very handy for picking off vampires. She could easily best a couple, but if she spent time fighting the little ones, no telling what Angelus would do to Sebastien. She had to get to him first, and she would need her strength to fight Angelus…Kathryn she could handle, Kathryn was young, and Spike wasn’t in a condition to fight. Drusilla might be a problem, she hadn’t faced Insano Girl in one on one combat before, but there was likely to be trouble after Buffy killed Angelus. What she really needed was backup, but that wasn’t coming anytime soon.
"Hey! Buffy!" a voice hissed. Buffy looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Xander, then behind him Willow and Oz. She inched toward them.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded in a harsh whisper.
"We were worried about you," Willow replied. "What’s going on? We sent Cordelia to get Giles."
"Kathryn’s a vampire and they have Sebastien," Buffy informed them, forgetting to mention the whole other part of the story. That could come later. Or possibly never. "Did you guys happen to bring weapons?" Xander hoisted a crossbow and Willow brought out several bottles of holy water and crosses. Buffy nodded.
"That’ll have to do. Here," Buffy said, trading Xander a stake for the crossbow. She checked the arrow in it. "Okay, here’s the plan…"
"Buffy can’t hope to defeat him on his home ground!" Giles exclaimed, leaping to his feet.
"Well, duh!" Cordelia exclaimed. "We’re supposed to bring more weapons." Giles stared at her in disbelief.
"Well I suppose we must make an effort to save this Sebastien. Come with me," he said. Cordelia followed him over to his weapons chest which he unlocked quickly. She blinked at the crossbows, maces, swords, stakes and other deadly weapons piled within.
"We haven’t got much time," he murmured, handing her weapon after weapon. Cordelia nodded and held out her hands for more. When he’d piled them full, he went to the phone and hit redial.
"Hello?" Jenny answered a minute later.
"Jenny, this is Rupert. Buffy’s gone to face Angel," he informed her. There was a moment of shocked silence.
"Go stop her Rupert. I found the curse, go stop her before it’s too late!" she exclaimed. Giles’ eyes widened in horror and he hung up the phone at once, turning to Cordelia.
"Come on, we have to hurry."
"You know, I’m suddenly not liking this plan," Xander whispered to Willow, who gave him a hard look and hissed for him to be quiet. The two of them were supposed to distract the guards while Buffy went for the old, tough vampires. Oz was with her, hoping that she could distract Angelus and Kathryn enough for him to grab Sebastien. Willow glanced up at Buffy, who was readying the crossbow—her first shot would be the signal to attack. The Slayer was intent on her target, but there was something…Willow would ask her later. If they survived. She was beginning to agree with Xander that this plan could be improved upon. She liked Sebastien and all, but attacking them in their own lair? She stifled a sigh and waited, tensed, for Buffy to fire.
Buffy fired. The bolt flew true, striking he vampire in the heart before he could react. He burst into dust as his fellows looked up for the source of the bolt. Buffy had ducked and was now climbing down, Oz right behind, to try and get to Angelus and Kathryn before they decided to just go ahead and kill Sebastien. She glanced at where Willow and Oz were valiantly battling some guards and then with a yell, burst into the room. She staked the first vampire that came at her, then ran towards the center of the room where Sebastien sat. He looked up and his eyes lighted when he saw her, darkening slightly as Kathryn’s hand tightened on his shoulder, her long painted nails digging in.
"Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Slayer. Nice of you to join us Buff," Angelus mocked, stepping towards her. Her eyes didn’t leave Sebastien.
"Let him go and I might consider allowing you to live," she said, too worried to join him in verbal sparring. She cocked her head. "Unfortunately, you’re already dead, so there’s really no option there, but I might not torture you." Well, almost too worried. He shook his head, a mocking smile on his lips.
"You just don’t get it Buff. Your whole family’s a bit dense. You’re not going to kill me. And you’re not going to save your little boyfriend—I already promised him to Kathryn anyway. What you are going to do, is become part of our little family." Buffy froze in shock. She’d always assumed Angelus wanted to kill her—making her into a vampire hadn’t crossed her mind. Of course, he’d done that to Kathryn, why not Buffy too? She regained her composure and sneered.
"Ooh, you’re scaring me now. See, Angel, the difference between us is you like to talk big, but really, underneath it all, you’re just scared to fight me. You know I’m stronger than you are. And you’ve known all along the day would come when I’ll be able to kill you. Well guess what? It has." Without waiting to let the words sink in, Buffy attacked. He’d come close enough while making his little pronouncement, that leaping forward in a kick wasn’t too difficult. He was thrown backwards, but recovered quickly and came towards her grinning.
"Just keep telling yourself that," he murmured, throwing a punch, which she blocked. He followed immediately with an underhand into her abdomen. She doubled over and he hit her over the head. She fell and rolled, coming up to her feet and watching warily. He attacked again, and she caught his kick, flipping him to the ground in turn, then darting out of his reach, towards Sebastien. Kathryn growled as she saw her approaching, her face rippling into it’s vampiric form.
"Now we’re not so similar, are we?" she asked. Buffy grinned.
"Nope," she replied and punched Kathryn full in the face. The newly made vampire stumbled backwards and then snarled, releasing Sebastien and lunging at Buffy. The Slayer stepped away, letting Kathryn run straight into Angelus who was at that moment approaching Buffy from behind. He snarled and tossed Kathryn aside. Buffy glanced at Sebastien and then danced away, hoping Angelus would follow her and give Oz a chance to get Sebastien out. He obliged and the circled each other for a while, watching for weaknesses.
Angelus lunged suddenly, grabbing her arm instead of attacking. Buffy tried to shake off his grip and failed, then put her free hand to his forehead and tried to hold him off. He laughed and inched his way upwards, towards her neck. She brought her knee up to his face, then kicked him where it counted. He groaned and doubled over. She laughed and spun to face Kathryn, who was approaching with murder on her face—Buffy’s face again. Kathryn caught her with a kick, sending her backwards, but Buffy recovered quickly and punched Kathryn three times, knocking her at least slightly senseless. Strong hands caught her from behind and Angelus turned her around like one would turn a doll. She fought his grip, finally using her head to bash his as he bent towards her neck. He snarled but didn’t let her go, using one hand to grab her leg when she tried to kick him again.
Suddenly, Angelus let her go. Buffy didn’t wait, but punched him hard across the mouth, then again with her other arm, before looking up to see Giles. Her Watcher had fired an arrow at the vampire, and while it didn’t pierce his heart, it had distracted him. Buffy grinned and gripped the arrow, pulling it out with as much force as she could muster. Angelus snarled at the pain, his eyes turning yellow. She darted away, glancing over at where Sebastien had been a moment ago. He was gone, but he wasn’t with Oz, he—Drusilla had him!
"They forgot you, didn’t they, but I didn’t forget," the insane vampire murmured. Buffy yelled his name and tried to run that way, but Angelus caught her.
"We’re not done," he said. She snarled and turned, punching him again as she did.
"No," she replied, "We’re not. Not until you’re dust on my boots." She kicked him with all her strength and he flew backwards.
"You can’t kill me," he laughed, standing up. "You think you can maybe, but when the moment comes…I’m Angel. You’re eternal love. Think you can beat that?"
Buffy froze, her mind speeding through everything, through all the midnight walks and the stolen kisses and his little half smiles and his dark eyes, through that incredible night…through the moment he had told her he loved her. She thought of everything and then she tried to turn it away, tried to think of Sebastien. She had to kill Angelus, to save Sebastien. She had to.
And she couldn’t.
Buffy moved forward, trying to make herself do it, attack, plunge the stake in and—and then Angelus stumbled forward, his eyes glowing, and grabbed her arms. Surprised, she took a step backward, holding him up, waiting for him to attack.
He didn’t attack.
"B-Buffy?" he stuttered, looking up at her with a human face, with Angel’s face, and Angel’s voice and Angel’s eyes.
"Angel?" she whispered, afraid to hope. The light in his eyes confirmed her words.
"What happened?" he asked, putting a hand to his shoulder, where Giles’ arrow had hit. "Why are we in the factory?" He didn’t remember. Dear God, he didn’t remember.
"Don’t worry about it," she whispered, helping him to stand up, somewhere deep inside afraid that this was just another game to him, a ploy. But his arms went about her waist and he pressed himself against her so sweetly, claiming her mouth with his own, his sweet, beautiful, amazing mouth. All thoughts of Sebastien vanished, all thoughts of Drusilla or Kathryn. There was only Angel, her Angel, in her arms again.
"I love you," he whispered when he pulled away for her to breathe. She blinked away tears suddenly, a hand going to his cheek.
"I love you," she murmured, the tears overflowing. He frowned, not understanding why she cried. His eyes went beyond her for the first time and he made a small sound just as a familiar voice shouted,
"Buffy!" She spun and remembered Sebastien.
"My Angel!" Drusilla cried, seeing the transformation.
"What?" Angel asked, frowning and grabbing her hand.
"Sebastien," Buffy breathed. Drusilla’s eyes turned yellow and she bent her head to Sebastien’s neck. "No!"
"No," Kathryn said sweetly, pulling Drusilla’s head away from her step-brother. "This one’s mine sweetie." Drusilla growled at her, but suddenly crumpled to the floor. Buffy blinked to see Spike standing behind her.
"Sorry ducks," he murmured, "But this place is getting too hot for us." He hoisted the unconscious vampire over his shoulder and sprinted out of the room. Buffy watched, bemused for a moment, then remembered Kathryn.
"Buffy, who is that?" Angel asked as they walked forward, Buffy and Kathryn eyeing each other warily.
"That’s my cousin who is now a vampire. Kathryn, meet Angel. Angel meet Kathryn." The dark haired twin of Buffy frowned, wondering what was going on.
"We’ve already met," Kathryn said sweetly.
"No, we haven—" Angel began, then faltered. Buffy gripped his hand, holding him upright without taking her eyes from Kathryn and Sebastien. In the corner of one eye she could see Giles creeping forward. "Oh God Buffy," Angel breathed and she knew he remembered, he remembered it all.
"It’s all right Angel. I love you," she said steadily.
"But I—"
"I love you," she repeated. Sebastien had gone very pale, and looked as if he would protest, or as if his heart had broken or something like that. But Buffy, watching Kathryn, knew that wasn’t it at all. The vampire moved sinuously against her step-brother.
"Isn’t that nice Sebastien? She’s so loyal," Kathryn purred.
"Buffy," he faltered. Buffy met his eyes.
"I’m sorry Sebastien," she said softly. "But you don’t love me anyway." Above them, Giles inched closer.
"You’re wrong, I do!" he exclaimed, but Buffy shook her head steadily, then summoned a smile.
"This may not be the time to discuss it," she said lightly, indicating the vampire holding his arm. He glanced at Kathryn and his resolve faltered.
"It won’t be nearly as much fun killing him now," Kathryn pouted. "I think I should get Angel instead. You want to trade?" Buffy’s eyes gave off sparks and Kathryn laughed. "I guess not."
"Come on Kathryn, this is between you and me," Buffy said, stepping forward, releasing Angel’s hand. He was all right, for now. They just needed to have a long talk when this was over. Or several long talks. Kathryn eyed her, then shrugged and released Sebastien, throwing him towards the wall, where he lay slumped. Buffy called for Giles to help him, and went to circle Kathryn.
"You think you’re so wonderful," Kathryn snarled as the Slayer approached. "So strong, so perfect. They all want you. For what? Because you cry when things don’t work the way you want them to and believe anything anyone ever tells you? Because you’re heartbroken, they call you perfect and they call me a slut. They call me a monster. But you kill too, you know. You’re just what I am Buffy, only you hide it better." Buffy flinched at the words.
"I’m not," she said firmly, trying to push away the doubts that threatened her. "Besides, they don’t all want me. Sebastien never loved me, he just thought he did." Kathryn’s smile faltered for a moment.
"I was right all along then? How dreadfully amusing." Buffy shook her head, giving Kathryn her own grim smile.
"It’s not though, because while he didn’t love me and never could, there’s a very good reason he believed he did. He wanted to love me, because somewhere in his deepest soul, he has always loved you and he could never say it or even think it. He didn’t want to because you’re such a f***ing bitch. I was the good one, the one it was all right to love. The one that needed love as much as he needed to give it. But it was all a lie. He thought to show me that he loved me, truthfully, and really only revealed that he’d loved you all along."
Kathryn looked startled, which was definitely a first. Then she snarled. "You’re just tyring to distract me! Trying to make this about me, when it’s really about you Buffy dearest." Buffy shook her head, looking almost sad.
"No, Kathryn, it was never about me. You can try and manipulate us all you want, but it’s not going to work anymore. Like you said, we’re just the same. I know you Kathryn. I know what you are, who you are." Kathryn shook her head, denying it and opened her mouth to say something, anything that could take control of the conversation, put her back in the lead, which was the only place she knew how to be in.
She never said it, because before she had the chance to, a stake drove into her back, straight through the heart, from where Sebastien stood behind her.
It really was the strangest feeling to watch yourself crumble into dust.
"What happened?" Angel asked, looking up from his seat on the floor. "Did Janna—I mean Jenny—change me back?"
"Yes," Giles said, startling Buffy. She turned to demand what was going on and he forestalled her by saying, "I talked to her just before I came. She told me she had found the spell and I had to stall you long enough so she could complete it."
"Thank you then," Buffy said softly, turning back to regard Angel, who looked gorgeous and guilt-ridden.
"How can you thank him? You should have killed me," he said bitterly, turning his head away form her gaze. Buffy bit her lip.
"How can you say that Angel? Do you know what it would have done to me if I had killed you just before I could have gotten you back?" she whispered. He turned dark eyes to her.
"You would have had Sebastien," he pointed out. Her eyes flashed.
"Did you listen to anything I said?" she demanded. "Besides the whole going on about how he loves Kathryn—which is true by the way, witness him sitting over there stunned by the fact he just killed the only woman he ever loved even if it was a way twisted, weird kind of love." Her gesturing led his eyes to the young man, sitting slumped against a wall, staring off into space. She turned back to Angel. "Besides all that, I never loved him. I thought I might, but really, all it was, was wanting you. In a lot of ways, he’s like you…dark eyes, tends to brood…and I missed you so much. I just needed to feel like you were there, like somone loved me. But I never really loved him. I would have realized it sooner or later…probably sooner."
"But what I did—"
"—was not you!" she interupted, completing the sentence. "Even I know that a vampire isn’t at all like the person they were. A demon takes over and the soul has no control. You didn’t do anything Angel." He leaned forward and his hand brushed back a strand of her gold hair, brushed her cheek lightly.
"What I said to you…you know it was all lies Buffy. I’m so sorry I hurt you," he whispered. Tears welled in Buffy’s eyes and she turned her face to kiss his hand.
"I know Angel. It did hurt me, but it wasn’t you and I know you didn’t mean it, not really."
"Not at all," he insisted. He leaned forward until their faces were inches apart and whispered, "That was the most incredible night of my life." She blushed and smiled slowly at him, before it dawned on her.
"It can’t happan again, ever," she whispered. He face clouded over.
"I know," he said softly, leaning back. She caught his hand.
"I still love you Angel. Even if we can’t…I’ll always love you."
"And I you," he assured her. "I—"
"Angel!" Jenny Calendar exclaimed, entering the room. "I guess everything worked out then."
"Yes, everything worked out," Buffy said, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Thank you." Jenny frowned, then nodded suddenly, understanding.
"It’s not…the curse is permanent this time," she said. Buffy stopped, stunned.
"What?"
"I made the curse permanent. Once I found it, it wasn’t hard to change. I hope you can forgive me for my lapse before…" Buffy was nodding frantically.
"Yes, yes!" she exclaimed, then leaned forward and caught Angel, pulling him to her for a passionate kiss. He returned it, his lips soft yet demanding on hers, needing reassurance, comfort and love. She gave it a thousand times over.
"Someone’s not wasting time," Xander remarked. Laughing, they pulled apart and Buffy threw a nearby stake at him. He dodged aside barely in time. Buffy looked back at Angel, her eyes soft and green.
"Never again," she vowed.
"I love you," he told her again, not caring that her friends were all watching. Buffy got up onto her knees and then to her feet and pulled him up beside her. She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him again soundly.
"What was Kathryn like?" she asked suddenly, pulling away. He frowned and avoided her eyes. She sighed.
"I know you two…remember, it wasn’t you. But was she…like me? At all?" Buffy asked, a note of worry in her voice. Angel caught her eyes.
"Never," he replied. "She looked like you, that was all. She was as different from you as any person could be Buffy. She was darkness to your light. And I’ve found I much prefer light." Buffy smiled.
"Well I should hope so," she purred. He gave her a sweet half-smile.
"Besides, she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as you," he whispered. Buffy grinned, a teasing light entering her eyes.
"Yeah you know, I think I look really good as a blond," she whispered, knowing that he was hers again, that now, and forever, he would belong to the light, belong to Buffy.