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Part 3
The walk home was fairly pleasant as Buffy and Stefanie got to know each other a little more. By the time they reached the house, Stefanie had been filled in on the fact that Buffy's mom had been killed.
"I still miss her," Buffy said, fishing her key from her purse. "If it wasn't for all the wonderful friends I have, I don't know how I'd be able to go on."
Stefanie nodded, a pained look in her eyes. "I miss my family too," she said absently, watching as Buffy unlocked the kitchen door and stepped in.
Stefanie stood where she was for a moment in expectation. Finally, Buffy realized what she had forgotten and said, "I'm sorry. Come on in."
With that, Stefanie entered freely. "Forgot the old rule that vampires can't come in unless invited, huh?" she said.
"I tend to sometimes," Buffy explained. "I think that rule only applies to actual dwellings. As far as I know, apartment buildings, schools, and dance clubs do not apply."
Buffy threw her keys onto the kitchen counter, quickly hid the bags in the back of the refrigerator, and led her new friend to the living room. "Cordy, I'm home," Buffy called up the stairs. "Tell your boyfriend to leave!"
"Who's Cordy?" Stefanie asked, looking worried. "I was under the impression you lived alone."
Buffy smiled. "Relax, she's harmless... Cordelia's just another friend whose parents moved out of state a while back, leaving her without a place to crash. So I invited her to move in with me."
Stefanie relaxed at this. "What's she like?"
Buffy thought this over a moment. "I guess the best way to describe Cordy is to call her a stuck-up, boy-crazy snob. Reality rarely intrudes in her world, but she likes it that way. I suppose it's her only way of dealing with what she's seen in mine."
"How much does she know?" Stefanie asked.
Buffy gave a brief laugh. "Well, let's see... She knows that vampires in general are real, and... well, she first turned to me for help when an invisible girl was after her. It's a long story, so don't ask."
Buffy could have gone on and on had Cordelia Chase not descended the stairs at that moment, a scowl on her model-like face. "You're allowed to have a social life, so why can't I?" Cordelia asked disdainfully.
"Cordelia, you're allowed to have dates. Just don't let them into my house," Buffy replied. "Speaking of which, where is he?"
Cordelia went to look in a nearby mirror, preening her long dark brown hair. "He left the way they usually go," she said. "Out the bedroom window... Honestly, I do not know why they're so afraid of you."
"My reputation precedes me," Buffy answered. "Need I say more?" She paused, then added, "By the way, Cordy, I'd like you to meet Stefanie. She's going to be staying with us for a few days."
Cordelia threw a quick glance at Stefanie and said hello, then went back to her primping. But after half a minute, she stopped and spun around, her face turning white as a sheet. "Buffy," Cordelia gasped. "She..."
"Has no reflection," Buffy finished. "I know... It's okay, Cordelia. Stefanie's one of our non-lethal residents. I promise there's going to be no neck-biting whatsoever."
Cordelia relaxed at this, then seemed to remember where Buffy had been. "By the way, how was the wedding?"
"Went off without a hitch," Buffy told her. "Except that Giles was disappointed when I told him you weren't coming. How's that migraine you claimed you had?"
Unfazed, Cordelia said, "Much better. Thanks... Well, I'm gonna go up to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Buffy." With that, she fled upstairs, probably anxious to be rid of her friend's judging of her.
Buffy then led Stefanie to the basement, where she had previously boarded up the windows and set up a cot for those rare occasions that Angel would spend the day. "Hope you're comfortable," she said, leaving the other girl to rest.
Buffy then grabbed a few hours of sleep herself, exhausted by the night's events. Her slumber was fraught with dreams, making her toss and turn the whole night in discomfort. When Cordelia finally came to give her a wake up call, Buffy was extremely grateful.
The two girls spent the first three minutes of breakfast in silence, then Cordelia asked Buffy what she had been dreaming. "Same old stuff," Buffy said, taking a bite of her pancakes. "While children get visions of sugarplums at Christmas, I get vampires and demons. This prophecy stuff sucks."
Cordelia nodded, sipping her juice. "I know what you mean. I'd hate having to be on call twenty-four hours a day."
At that point, Buffy's phone rang, making the Slayer roll her eyes. But she got up to answer it anyway, finding that it was Willow. "Have you seen the news this morning?" were the first words Willow used. "If not, turn on channel 9 right now."
Buffy did so, watching with a numb feeling as the reporter described a fire that had taken place last night, supposedly arson. Behind him, in the background, she recognized the front of the charred building where Angel had been staying.
In shock, Buffy dropped the phone, putting one hand to the counter to steady herself. "God, no," she breathed, shaking her head. Cordelia was at her side in a second, helping her to her chair.
Then, Cordelia picked up the phone, telling Willow to come over, that Buffy was freaking out. With that done, she went to her friend's side, saying, "Maybe he wasn't there when it happened. I'm sure he's fine."
But Buffy simply sat there, tears bursting forth. "I always suspected I was going to lose him, but not like this," she said, too numb to be thinking rationally. "Cordelia, what am I going to do?"
"You're going to think positive, is what you're going to do," her friend said. "Angel lives on the basement level, remember? His odds of getting out through the underground tunnels were pretty good. So what you have to do is just sit and wait until he contacts you."
Buffy took a moment to pull herself together, then said, "I can't wait to find out. I have to go find him." She stood, getting the leather jacket Angel had given her from the front hall closet. "When Willow comes, tell her to meet me outside the library at Sunnydale High. And make sure she parks right by the main doors with the trunk open. Otherwise, Angel's not going to last long out there."
Cordelia followed her to the front door quickly. "Buffy, this is crazy. You don't even know where to look for him. You know how huge those tunnel systems are!"
Buffy ignored her, simply getting her crossbow and a dozen arrows and stuffing the latter in a backpack. "I'll be fine, Cordy," she said. "Odds are, Angel will find me... That's if he's still alive."
Cordelia eyed the backpack with a sinking feeling. "You think that some vamps caused that fire?" she asked.
"I don't think. I know," Buffy replied, turning to her concerned friend. "I should only be two hours, tops. And if Stefanie gets hungry, there's some food for her in the fridge." Buffy remained silent a moment, then hugged Cordelia for comfort.
"Wish me luck," Buffy said over her shoulder, loading three arrows into a crossbow as she hurried down the driveway. And as she eventually made her way into the darkened, silent school, Buffy found herself praying that all three of them, her unborn child included, would make it out of here safely...