Disclaimer:  Buffy and Co' are all owned by Joss Whedon and the WB, I own no one.  No one I tell you!

Teaser:  Buffy disappeared, their leader died, and the remnants of the Scooby Gang formed a pact that meant forever.  Now, eight years later, they are reminded of their promise as they come back together to find an old friend, a new enemy and realize that no matter what happens, true friends are always there.

Author's Notes: This story takes an alternate timeline arc that takes place right after  Becoming II, when Buffy leaves, and things go decidedly darker for the Gang. It starts out  depressing, but ends happy.  I promise! Contains C/X, W/O, B/A, and implied C/O and X/W.  (Don't worry, you'll get it.)

More Notes:  There are also four prequel vignettes out, explaining the events that lead up to their seperation in the Promise, each told from the fab four's prospective.  Keep a look out for them.
 

     She was leaving everything behind.  Her life was over.  She smiled sadly to herself. Did she ever have a life?  Her one true love was gone.   And she had killed him herself.  She caught a sob in her throat and quickly stifled it.  Her heart still hurt as she thought of the friends she had left behind.    But they would be okay.  In a way, they were stronger than she was.  They would be fine. They had each other.  And she had no one.  She sighed, and felt her eyes grow moist.  She just wanted to forget everything.  She wanted to forget it all.  Just forget everything and start over.  Her eyelids grew heavy with exhaustion, and bunching up  her jacket to use as a makeshift pillow, she leaned her head back, allowing the movement of the bus to rock her to sleep.  Just forget it all.  Just Forget.

 And slowly... she began to drift away.
 

 "Giles is dead.  Killed in a routine Slaying.  The Slayer is gone.  And we are alone.  In light of these new circumstances, we, the group known as the Slayerettes, do hereby make this promise that is considering binding and forever. We have no choice.
We vow to continue to protect Sunnydale from those who would tamper with the Hellmouth, until the original Slayer is found or a New one is chosen.

 I Willow Rosenberg, recognize my calling as a Watcher, and vow to stay in Sunnydale to train the new Slayer, or find the old one.
 I Cordelia Chase, recognize my aptitude for Slayer training, and vow to fulfill the Slayer's duties until a New Slayer is found, or the Old One is found.
 I Alexander Harris, vow to find Angel, and find a way to bring him back, to assist Willow Rosenberg. I also vow to assist with any duties as needed.
 I Osmond Smith, do vow to find the new Slayer, and assist with duties as needed.

We also recognize this vow with a bracelet given to Willow.  Should we ever be needed after out five years of service is over, she shall send this to us, and we will come directly, no matter where we are or what we are doing.We vow this with our own blood.

Willow Rosenberg
Cordelia Chase
Alexander Harris
Osmond  Smith
 
 

 The library was still dark and musty after all these years.  At first, Willow was too depressed to care, and then, as the years went by, it just didn't matter to her anymore. Besides, this library, still musty and old, was exactly how Giles had liked it.  It seemed almost like a last homage to him, to them, to what they all used to be.  Willow sighed, pushing her short red hair back and pushing  the glasses the years of book and internet searching had finally forced her to wear back into place on the bridge of her nose.  The years hadn't changed her much.  Some of her humor was still there, hidden in the lines in her face, that told of the misery and stress she had taken on at what some would consider a too early age. She wasn't married, didn't even have a boyfriend.  Jamie, her young Slayer, had once too often made cracks about Willow's lack of a social life.  But Willow didn't complain.

This was what she was supposed to do.  In an irate way, it was how she knew she would always be.  And she knew that in some ways, she was even a better Watcher then Giles. Jamie respected her. Didn’t question her authority. She didn’t run away.  And it had been an uneventful year, thank God, and then this had come to her.

   Willow looked at the television, the one new thing that she had brought in,  and checking her watch, switched it on.  The buzz of the pre show of the Oscars filled the quiet library, and it echoed in the room, forcing her to flinch she quickly turned the sound down, but reminded herself to keep an eye on the television as she went to work.  Jamie had emailed.  She had managed to find Jiscos, the legendary vampire, and was working on trying to find a way to catch him and stake him without dying herself.   Willow hesitated before writing back, assuring her that everything was fine, and the Slayer need not return.

But that wasn't true.  Everything was not fine.  But even if Jamie knew, there was nothing the Slayer who had only been working three years would have been able to do.  This problem could only be fixed by the Original Slayerettes.  If she could find them.  She reached into her desk, and reached under the treasured postcards from various parts of the world that she could never reply to, because their was no address, and pulled out a box.  She set it carefully on her desk, and carefully blew the dust off the top of  the dull wood.  She sniffled, and then stared at it for a few minutes, not daring to touch the sacred
box.  Finally, she sighed, and opening the lid, she let her eyes rest on the old, brown piece of paper with the blood red signatures.  She bit her lip, and gingerly pulled the paper out, felt her heart leaden as she read it over.  They had been so young. She laid it gently to the side, and then looked back into box, and concentrated on the three distinctly bracelets that lay
nestled there.  Hers was still on her wrist, even after all these years.  It was time to break them out again.
 A familiar name on the tube called her attention and Willow's eyes drifted to the screen, and an involuntary smile came to her lips.  There she was, the famous actress of the day, who graced the covers of magazines everywhere, the sex symbol, Cordelia Chase. Willow looked as her old friend walked down the red carpet, smiling her dazzling smile as she hung on the arm of her latest costar.  She looked happy.  Almost as happy as before Willow had hurt her the worst way possible.  Willow sighed, brushing aside the feeling of guilt that encompassed her.  There was nothing she could do about that now.  A promise was
a promise, and Cordelia would be needed.  So would Oz,  her ex love.  And Xander.
 

  "There she is, Alex!"  Brian laughed as he saw his roommate and Wall Street buddy Alexander Harris, jump up and head to the couch.  "It's your girlfriend."  He teased.  Xander sighed, and pulled at his tie, loosening it,  before seating next to his
roommate on the couch.  He had never told Brian the particulars about his and Cordelia's relationship, when there was one, it had seemed so long ago.  After she and Oz had left, he had tried to keep in touch, with everyone, but Oz was never around, so it seemed, Willow and Xander felt too uncomfortable, too guilty to continue their friendship, and Cordelia had just seemed cold.  Distant.  And Xander knew why.  Because she had loved him. And he had loved her too.  She just never knew that. Because he had hurt her.  In the end, she only stayed with him because she had too.  To make things work.

 "You sure you don't want to record this?"  Xander rolled his eyes but said nothing. He had met Brian on Wall Street, and the two men had hit it off perfectly.  Xander hadn't told him much of his personal life, only that he was from Sunnydale.  They had some good times.  Bars, girls, typical stock trader stuff.  And Brian just thought that Xander had an obsession with the now famous Cordelia.  That she was just a girl he had never stopped crushing on since diapers.  Why wouldn't he?  Every magazine she was featured in was in Xander's room.  Every episode of her popular drama was recorded.  And he had Days and
Nights, her first supporting role in a movie,  and It happened on Saturday, her first starring role, on his shelf.

   He watched the television as she walked down the red carpet in a stunning red dress that hugged her body just so perfectly, her hand wrapped coyly in the crook of her costar's arm.  Cordelia.  That was what she called herself now.  No Cordy, no nothing.  An article said she hated nicknames.  But he didn't blame her for that.  After all, he wasn't Xander anymore either.  He was Alex. "Hey!  How come she's with that guy?"  Brian asked, pointing the remote at the pretty boy who smiled at the cameras and smoothed a hand lazily around her waist.  "I thought she was with that artist dude.... What's his name???  The
Wizard Guy. You know?  Kind of short? Nail polish?"

 "Oz."  Xander said softly.  Apparently Oz and Cordelia had kept in touch.  In more ways than one.  It made sense.  They were in the same business.  Had the same friends.  And they had both been hurt by the same people.

 Brian nodded.  "Yeah the Oz guy. How come he's not with her?"  Xander gave him an antagonist look.

 "His band is  playing here, remember?"

 "Oh!  Dude, he's freakin' awesome! Let's go see him." Xander shook his head.

  "No."  Brian rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen, where Cordelia was being interviewed by Access Hollywood.  Apparently the reporter had the same question Brian had, because she went right out and asked if her and the lead singer from Oz were a couple. Cordelia gave a smooth laugh, and then quickly avoided the question, steering the reporter to
ask about her dress.

 Brian tuned the reporter out when the topic of designers came up.  He feasted on Cordelia and whistled. "Man, she's fine."

 Xander's eyes shined as he looked at his ex-girlfriend.  "She's more than fine, Brian. She's Cordelia Chase."
 

 Cordelia Chase fumbled with her keys and checked the bushes quickly for any reporters that might spring out at her.  She had her run ins with them before.   And she had gotten herself in a lot of trouble with that one scandal when from pure reflex she had knocked one of them out with a side kick.  Law suit and everything.  It had taught her to be a little more than careful.

  It had happened almost over night.  She had signed with a modeling agency before she left Sunnydale, and when she moved to LA,  got "discovered" when she went to a Hollywood  party with Oz, who was already kind of big then. On a whim, she  auditioned for a supporting role in a movie, and the movie hit big. Really big. Suddenly she had agents all over the place trying to sign her.  And three years later, here she was, a household name.

She sighed.  She had gone to LA to escape.  Sometimes it felt to her like she was hiding more than ever. She craved the fame.  It seemed the more fame she got, the less she seemed real. She became untouchable. Invulnerable. And that was what she wanted. Too much could happen when one got mellow.

 It was an early two o' clock in the morning, but she felt like she had been up all night.  Her eyes were still seeing spots from all the cameras.  And then she had to go and make nice with every pompous actor on the face of  the Earth.  She could have decked the fifth guy that had hit on her, thinking that just because he made 4 million a movie she was gonna fall all over him.  Yeah, right.  She told him to go jack off.  Inwardly she smiled as she opened the door to her duplex with a squeak.  It felt good to say that to him.  Showed a trace of the old bitch Cordelia.  The one that could say whatever the hell she wanted and not
have to worry about it being blasted on the front page of every newspaper the next morning.

 Kicking off her 300$ Italian leather shoes, she walked into her bedroom and slipped out of the binding dress and into some satin pajamas. So she had skipped out on that big party where her new producer was going to be.  Big Deal.  Her agent was going to give her hell in the morning, but she could deal with that later.  Right now she was just going to sit on the couch and read. Well, she conceded,  not read.  She still couldn't stand that.  But something selfish.  She needed to relax.  She had already done her thing at the Oscars. That was harrowing enough. She sat on the couch and looked at her table on the side, filled with frames of pictures.  Most of them were of her and some stars, or framed magazine covers.  In the forefront was a publicity photo of a young man with a guitar, singing at a concert. It was autographed with a touching note.  She smiled, as she gazed at the picture, and then her tired eyes drifted to the side of him, where, hidden in the back, lay two smaller frames, plain and unmarked.  One was of a couple of girls.  A blonde and a redhead, smiling happily at the camera.  Cordelia's smile drifted of her face as she studied the picture that presented a painting of her past.  Her two best friends, and her two worst enemies.  All in one. And she missed them.  Even Buffy, who had been gone for so long.  But Willow. She still missed Willow so much, even after all that happened.  Willow had been like her sister. At this thought, her eyes drifted to another picture, of a dark haired young man and her.  He was smiling and his arms were wrapped lovingly around her waist.  She looked happy then too,
her eyes wide and sparkling as she leaned her body back against his chest.  Cordelia grimaced.  She HAD been happy then.  Funny how she thought being an actress would let her forget.  All it did was help her remember. Except when the cameras were rolling. She was different person then.  She didn’t have the hurt inside of her. Not when she was getting paid to pummel.

 The phone rang, and Cordelia groaned.  She gave it the evil eye, and then against her better judgement reached over and picked it up.

 "This is Cordelia."

 "So, I hear you made a big splash at the Oscars tonight," a throaty voice answered.

Cordelia felt a smile form on her face, and feeling herself relax, she leaned back on her couch, stretching out.

"Hi, Oz."

 "Hi, yourself, beautiful. So how'd it go?"

  Cordelia feigned hurt.  "You mean you didn't watch?"  Even after all that had happened, after Cordelia felt she didn't want anything to do with Sunnydale, or slaying, or Slayerettes ever again, Oz had remained her best friend in the world.  They had been through so much together.  And he was the only guy in the world who had never betrayed her.

 "I tried, but I could only watch the pre-show. I had to go and meet some record guy after that.  Sorry."

 Cordelia yawned.  "Oh, it's okay. The presentation was just a bunch of bad jokes and boring people crying. You probably got the best part anyway."

 "Yeah, I especially liked the part where you avoided the question about dating me."

Cordelia smiled.  Aside from one nice kiss that came after they had discovered Willow and Xander, her and Oz were never more than friends, but the tabloids loved to put them together as Hollywood's newest hottest couple. They went to enough functions together to stir things up, but were never seen doing anything more than hand holding. It drove the public crazy.
Cordelia didn't mind. It was good publicity. And there were worst people she could have gotten paired up with. Warren Beatty, for instance.

 "Ah, it was easy enough to steer her away. I just mentioned the dress."

 "I saw. Prada?"

 "Of course." She chuckled. "When are you coming home?"  Oz, and his band, Oz (go figure) had had to go to New York for some VH1 special that they were doing on them. They had three great records out so far, and they were still going strong.

 "Soon, I hope.  I decided we should do this benefit concert, and then we'll head home after that."

 "For what?  People for the ethical treatment of werewolves?"

 "Ha-ha.” he answered dryly. “Aids.  It's not make-up Lover's Anonymous, but it's a worthy cause."

 "Wait, you'll be in town for the premiere, right?"

 "Totally!  You got yourself a date.  Won't Ben be upset? He looked pretty happy with you tonight."

 "Ben's a pompous idiot."  Cordelia stated. "He can stew for a while." Oz chuckled, and then grew silent.   "What?"

 "I uh... I didn't know if I should bring this up, but ......  I think I saw Xander today."

Cordelia froze.  Since they had left Sunnydale, both of them had an unspoken rule never to talk about their respective ex's to each other.  It brought up too much of the past.  Of the hurt.  "Cordelia?"  Cordelia jumped when she realized that she hadn't spoken.

 "Oh! Um...  where?"  she asked, attempting to sound casual.

 "I was in a limo, in traffic, he was crossing the street.  This is gonna sound weird, but ... he was in a suit."

  Cordelia immediately pictured Xander Harris in a suit and almost smiled.  "Did he look... okay?"

 Oz was quiet for a minute.  "He looked fine."  He said gently.

 "Good.  For him."

   "Cordelia." Oz's voice sounded concerned, but resigned.  "You still have a thing for him, don't you?"

 "Are you kidding!  It's been years!  And after all that that bonehead did to me!  To us?" She trailed off, and sighed, pulling her hair back.  "I guess."  She admitted.  "I mean don't you... still ... I mean...  with Willow?"

 There it was... the other taboo name.  "I send her a postcard from time to time." He admitted finally. "I don't leave an address."

 "Afraid she won't answer?"

 "Afraid she will. She was my Willow."

 "Is." Cordelia corrected. "She's still in Sunnydale, doing her Watcher thing."

 "You never know. She could be gone."

 "Are you kidding?  She has to be there. Remember? Three years ago?  Our Prom-" Cordelia trailed off. And unspoken message passed between the two of them. Three years ago, the promise.   Three years since their hearts had been broken.

 "We make this vow...." Oz began unsteadily.

 "With our own blood."  Cordelia finished.  She felt her heart beat a little faster.  "Do you think they still remember?"

 Oz was quiet.  "If we do, and we're the ones... I mean we left first.... Yeah.  They remember."

 It had taken her a couple of hours, but she had found them. Cordelia was the easiest, just write her at her studio.  Xander didn't need to be traced.  He was in New York.  His mom had told her.  Even given her his address.  Oz was a little harder.  She actually had to join his fan club.  It seemed kind of irate that she had to join her ex-boyfriend's fan club just to get an address. But she had done it, paid her dues and everything.  Now she even had an I love Oz bumper sticker.  Well, she smiled. That was true enough.  She reached over and picked up the gossip column that had a picture of him and Cordelia at a party. They had their arms wrapped around each other, cheek to cheek, both smiling.  They looked so much the couple.  Willow felt her heart stop.  She knew how it must have felt for them now.  To see... to have to see.. the two of them together.... She pushed those thoughts aside and began to stuff the treasured bracelets in the envelopes.  She would mail them, and then her work was done.  If they had remembered their promise, they would come as soon as they got the message.  But would they honor it?  Willow nodded to herself.  They would.  They had to. They remembered.
 
 

 "Hey Alex!  Mail!"

   "Okay!"  Xander called back, adjusting his suit and tie in front of the mirror.  His eyes drifted quickly to side of the mirror.  Willow and Oz smiled at him from an old photo. He let himself grin a little.  They were so good together.  He wondered if Oz still hated him, after all these years. No, he didn't think so.  Xander didn't hate him, and he had taken Cordelia from him.  No, he corrected himself.  He had lost Cordelia himself.  Oz and her had become so close because of what he had done.  With Willow. At first, for those three years when it was just the four of them searching for Buffy and trying desperately to grow up
when they were only teenagers, it had  seemed so easy to stick together, to form a bond.

When Giles had died, killed in a routing patrol gone horribly wrong, the four of them had no one else but themselves.  It was Xander and Cordy, and Willow and Oz.  And Cordelia and Willow became so close.  Because Willow had been chosen as  a  Watcher, and Cordelia was the only person who even had the trickling of talent in the Slayer capacity, at least until they found Buffy.  Until they found Buffy.  That was what they would always say.  Even  years later.  Willow would say, "When we find Buffy, I can be her Watcher."  And Cordelia "When we find Buffy, I can give up her funky gig." Xander had kept quiet. Truthfully, he  didn't think Buffy would ever come back. And it had been his fault. Because he had lied.

  He had felt bad about that, really bad. But he never told anyone, not even when he began to try and look for Angel. For three years, it had been the four of them. And they even had some good times. They were family. Cordelia completely changed. She trained hard, she was kind to Willow, and she had begun to show Xander how much she cared about him. Of course she was still Cordelia, she still said bitca-ish things, but overall, she was a much more beautiful person. She became the person he had always thought she had the potential to become.  Willow became the unofficial leader of the group, Cordelia, being the one who risked her life more than anyone else, was in second, and the boyfriends, in full whipped mode, helped out with what ever they could.  It was Xander's job to keep Oz tied up when that time of the month came.  And Oz and Willow clung to each other.  Just like Xander had clung to Cordy.

 And then it happened, Willow, in an attempt to find out where Angel and Buffy were, began to play with magic.  And she got in way over her head.  One night, Cordelia and Oz were out on patrol, and Xander had stayed behind in the library to make sure Willow was okay.  She began to conjure a pair of spirits, a tragic pair that fell in love in the library and lost a love too soon.  She was sure if Buffy and Angel were dead, they would be them.  But it wasn't them she conjured up.  It was Giles and Jenny, and their spirits possessed Xander and Willow.  They began kissing each other, desperately, passionately, and Giles and Jenny were finally at peace, and they left.  But Willow and Xander had kept going.  He didn't know what had gotten into them.  If he had actually stopped to think, he would have immediately thought of Cordelia, who really had captured his heart by then, and stopped. And he knew the same would have happened with Willow.  But they didn't' think.  The possession was so
intense, so electrifying that even when they were out of it, they were never really out of it. They just kept kissing.  And suddenly they were on the floor, and that's when the doors swung open and Cordelia and Oz had both walked in, tired and exhausted, laughing and joking with each other like old friends.  Until they saw Xander and Willow.  And all the happiness that was on their faces slid off.

 Xander had looked up into Cordelia's eyes.  And in it he saw her heart was bleeding. She looked wounded. And Xander felt his heart break. She just looked at the two of their faces, saw the guilt in their eyes, and her jaw clenched up and she swung around and just walked right back out.  And a millisecond later, Oz had followed her.

 That was when their friendship truly started.  And when the four of theirs had truly begun to tear apart.  Cordelia and Oz stayed in Sunnydale, but each made if clear to their prospective lovers that they were only staying because of their promise. Cordelia set to work to find another Slayer, and Oz assisted Willow (not helped, mind you.  He and Willow were strictly platonic, though Xander and Willow had both tried to tell them the kissing didn't mean anything) in finding Angel.  And in two years, Angel was brought back from hell disturbed and shaken, and Jamie, the new Chosen Slayer had been found.  And the day she came into Sunnydale, Cordelia and Oz shipped out.  Together. Xander had only had one last dance with Cordelia, the night before she left, and in those few short minutes, he realized he had lost something very special.  And his heart had cracked.
 Xander had tried to stay best friends with Willow, even going so far as helping get Angel's sanity back.  But it was no use.  Their friendship had been destroyed.  Xander knew he could have loved Willow, and Willow could have brought back that love she used to feel for him, but the memories of Cordelia and Oz were too much for them.  Finally, he hugged his platonic pal goodbye, and gone to New York.  And he had started over.   But he had never forgotten his friends.  Or Cordelia.

 "Hey Alex!"  Brian rapped on his doorframe, and looked at him curiously.  "You okay?" Xander gave him a half smile.

   "Yeah, I'm cool.  You ready to trade some major stockage today?"

 "Oh yeah!   It's my day! I can feel it!"  Brian banged on his chest a-la-Tarzan, before holding out a wrinkled envelope.  "This just came to one "Xander Harris."  Dude, what's that all about?"

 Xander's smile froze, and he grabbed the letter from him and stared at it, with shaking hands.  The postscript was Sunnydale, and the address was typed.  Willow.  He tore open the envelope, and found no letter.  Opening the envelope further, he peered down, and slowly pulled out a plain leather bracelet.

 "Oh, shit."  He whispered.  He rushed to his closet and pulled out his suitcase.

 "Alex?"  Brian stared at him from the doorway, obviously confused.  "What are you doing?"

 "I gotta go."  Xander said quickly.

 "Yeah!  To work! We've got a major day today."

 "Tell Mel I'm taking a few days off."  Xander snapped, pulled shirts out of his dresser and throwing them in the open suitcase.

"What?  Why!"

 "Because."  Xander turned to look at his roommate.  "I made a promise."
 
 

 "Hey, Jessica."

 Jessica Stapleton, secretary extraordinaire and all around efficient person looked up and smiled.  "Miss Chase! How are you doing today!" Cordelia smiled halfheartedly.

 “Tell you the truth, I need some adoring fan mail to brighten my day.  I need some one to tell me that I'm the greatest person in the world, the most beautiful, and they dream of one day marrying me and making all my dreams come true."  She leaned on Jessica's desk. "Even if it's from a girl."

 Jessica smiled.  "I could tell you that!  Well, not the marrying part of course but-"

 "You don't count, I pay you.  Anything interesting for me?"  Cordelia cut in.  Jessica always saved the most interesting fan mail to show Cordelia before she had her responders send something back.  It ranged from lunatics to gifts, to really sweet letters.  They always made Cordelia feel good.  Made her believe she was still the center of the universe.  "Any gifts?"

 "Well, actually, yes.  Some lace underwear, a couple of naked pictures of a .... Well... very well endowed young man.... And this."  Jessica rummaged through her boxes on the side of her desk and pulled something out.  "It's not really all that expensive but it looked rather old.  Very interesting, actually. No letter came with it."  She held up a small dull bronze bracelet, with writings on the side.  Cordelia froze when she saw it.

 Suddenly she seemed to gain her senses and grabbed it from her.  "Where did this come from?"  she demanded. Jessica looked a little nervous that all of a sudden her superior would go postal like that, and she really feared for her job.  She searched the recessions of her mind to come up vainly for an answer.

 "Uh... Sunnywade... Sunnyside..."

 "Sunnydale?" Cordelia closed her fingers around the piece of jewelry, straightened up, and whirled out of the room.

 "Well that was rude, even for her."  Jessica mumbled.
 

 "Come on, Oz, pick up the damn phone."  Cordelia breathed as she swerved along the freeway, praying that Oz had kept his cell phone on. There was a flight to Sunnydale in a half  hour. The cell phone rang, and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief as she heard an audible click.

 "Oz."

 "Oz!  It's me!  Check your fan mail!"

 "What?"

 "Check you damn fan mail!  Now!"

 "Cordelia!"  Oz's voice was full of concern.  "What's wrong?"

 "I got the bracelet!  The funky one that Willow said she would send to me?  The one that looks like it came from Pic N Save?"

 Oz's voice got dead quiet.  "I think I'll check my mail." He said.

 "Good. I'll meet you in Sunnydale."  Cordelia said, clicking the phone off.   She swerved, narrowly missing a Volvo, and cursed under her breath.  Quickly reaching for her phone again, she dialed the speed dial. "Yeah. Cordelia Chase calling for Dave Stinger... Chase!  C-H-A-S-E!.......   I don't care if he's in a meeting or not, if you don't put in with him, I'll sign with another company!.....  Dave, it's Cordelia.  I'm going on vacation.... I know I have a shoot today! Cancel it!......  I know that!..... Of course I'm acting like a five year old! I'm an actress!"

 It had been four days since she had sent the letters out.  The only person who called was Xander.  It was a quick message on her answering machine, saying he'd be there on the next flight out.  That was two hours ago.  Willow hoped that Cordelia and Oz had gotten the message.  They couldn't do this without them. Even though she knew how awkward it was all going to be.  She still missed Oz.  She missed him so much it hurt.  And it hurt to know that him and Cordelia were an item.  Willow had thought twice about bringing them in, simply because it would have been too painful to see him again, and with Cordelia Chase, it would be doubly painful.  But she needed them both. If she remembered correctly, Cordelia was as good as Jamie when she wanted to be.   Willow even read that nowadays Cordy did her own stunts.  She was called Hollywood's hottest Femme Fatale.

And Oz.  She had discovered something.  She had stayed away from witchcraft for quite some time, but she discovered something that might really help them.  And that's why they needed Oz. Oz had always been the cool backbone of the group. He had a calming effect on them that they needed desperately.  If Willow was going to make this work, she needed him.

 The door to the library creaked open slowly, and Willow jumped.  It was a Saturday, and no one was actually in school. She looked up expectantly.  An exquisitely manicured hand held it open, and then, almost hesitantly, Willow saw Cordelia Chase enter the library.
 

Cordelia hesitated before stepping into the place that held so many memories for her. It was hard for her to come back to this place.  She had been dreading the first steps into the library all the way here. She even tried to delay it first by checking into the hotel, (where she had to endure tons of autograph signings and a celebrity photo).  And now that she was here, she felt.... Anxious.  Her heart was beating rapidly, and she knew why.  Her old demons would come back to haunt her.  And if Willow had sent the bracelets, it must have been really serious. She let the door swing open the rest of the way and stepped completely inside. It was dark as night in here. Cordelia slowly pulled off her Ray Bans to allow what little light there was to get back into her eyes. She closed them and opened them again, before taking a breath and looking around.  It hadn't changed at all.  The musty library, smelling of dust and mothballs and just plain oldness, was still the exact same.  Cordelia blew out a deep
breath and thought of the memories that this place held.  This place had changed her life.

Her eyes swept the room, and then her eyes found Willow.

 Willow saw Cordelia stiffen as she saw her, her eyes lying naked before her.  It hurt Cordelia to be back then.  Willow couldn't blame her. And yet, hanging from her wrist, though Willow knew Cordelia had despised it, was the bronze bracelet. She rose calmly, and walked up to her, stopping a few feet away from her.

 "Hi, Cordelia." She said gently.  Cordelia just nodded, eyeing Willow with mixed feelings in her eyes.  Willow felt her heart drop.  Who'd have thought that she would ever have the power to hurt Cordelia Chase so much the woman was almost afraid of her? And yet there was a trace of warmness in Cordelia's eyes, almost as if she was almost glad to see Willow.  Willow smiled warmly,  "You look...."

 "Like an actress?"  Cordelia nodded briskly.  "It happens.  I see you haven't changed."  Willow almost winced.  The bitch attitude was back then.  Okay, Willow could play.

 "Not much has around here."

 "Is Jamie around?"

 "She's out of town, on business."  At Cordelia's questioning look, Willow just shrugged, pushing up her glasses to the bridge of her nose.  "I'll explain it later."

 Cordelia seemed to notice the glasses for the first time, because she squinted her nose as she looked at them.  "Those are the wrong shape for you, Willow, " she began cuttingly. "They make your head look like a great big circle, and I see your still shopping out of those catalogues-"

 Willow shook her head, swinging her chin length hair morosely.  "Sorry Cordy.  I'm not buying it.  You're not the bitch you were before.  And you can't go back to it."  Cordelia shut her mouth, and looked down, her hands shaking ever so slightly.

 "Well, they ARE the wrong shape."  She insisted after a minute, the venom gone from her voice.  Willow smiled sadly.

 "I know this is hard for you Cordelia.  I'm not going to say I'm sorry.  What's happened is happened.  We can't change the past.  But I do need you here. Maybe the most out of everyone."  Cordelia looked at her, and after a minute sighed, walking past Willow and settling in one of the chairs.  Willow smiled.  Cordelia, in her designer pants, and tank top still looked completely out of place in the library, and, and yet, her body was still lean, muscled, and trim, her movements graceful and strong, and she looked so completely at home. That was Cordelia Chase, a walking contradiction.

 "I don't hate you, Will's."  Cordelia said after a minute.  "If that's what you think.  I know what happened was....  under circumstances.  And you were my best friend.  Are... in a weirdo sort of way. But it still hurts.  It hurts to be here, it hurts to see you. I came because I made a promise to Buffy, to all of us.  But I'm not going to lie and say I'll be the happiest camper about it."

 "You came, that's enough." Willow said.  They had time.  She wanted to repair this friendship, because she had missed Cordelia too, sorely.  It was funny, in a way.  Jamie was probably Cordelia's biggest fan, and all Willow cared about was the Cordelia she knew before.  The one who had risked her life for her everyday. The Cordelia who had become like a sister to her.

    "Uh....  Has  Xa-...  the others come?"

 "Well, I haven't heard from Oz-"

 "He's on his way."  Cordelia answered absently, looking at the old markings on the table.  "On a flight. I talked to him about an hour ago."

 Willow's smile froze.  "Of course you did."  She muttered.  After a moment, she seemed to get over it, and looked up.  "Xander's coming.  He'll be here at 7:30."  Cordelia's eyebrow rose.

 "What airline?" she asked almost casually.

 "United, why?"  Cordelia stiffened, and then suddenly shrugged, as if she had been expecting that answer.

 With a resigned sigh, as if things couldn't get any worse, she said, "Cause that's the flight Oz is on."  She chuckled grimly to herself.  "Let's get ready for Uneasy Confrontation Number Two."
 

 Xander winced as the five year old kid behind him managed to smack him in the head for the fifth time.  He kept his irritation in check however, as he sat up trepidly and began to search the compartment above his in an attempt to find his suitcase.  It opened and he ducked away as the overfull compartment overloaded in the aisle.  He apologized sheepishly as the people around him gave him a dirty look and everyone began to search for their luggage. He was nervous.  He knew that.  He couldn't wait to see Willow, he had missed her, but he was still dreading this meeting.  If he had gotten the bracelet, that meant Cordelia and Oz had too.  And Xander didn't know if he could face the both of them.  He found his battered suitcase easily enough, and then waited his turn as everyone began to file out of the airplane.

He joined the line, and his eyes drifted lazily to the first class curtain as it jiggled.  Three flight attendants stepped out, each with huge smiles on their faces.  Xander looked curiously at what was causing these unusually happy expressions and then saw black
fingernails reach through with a guitar case clutched. Attached to the wrist was a black bracelet. Xander froze.  Oz smiled a polite thank you to the girls and then stepped out completely. He hadn't changed.  He looked older, but he was still the poster boy that all the girls in Xander's office ogled over.  He had asked them all what they saw in him, and they told him that he was just so cute.  He didn't seem cute now.  He seemed Oz.

 "Sir?  The line is moving, sir."  Xander looked forward at the attendant who was impatiently motioning for him to move.  He noticed that the voice had caught Oz's attention, and they locked eyes.  Oz's eyes were, as usual, unreadable. But recognizing him, he nodded ever so slightly.  Xander half smiled at him, and then motioned for him to go in front of him. Oz regarded him for a minute, and then walked in front of him.  They walked down the compartment that would carry them inside the airport side by side in silence.

 "So."

 "So."  Oz returned.

 "Um... How are you?"

  "Acid free.  You?"

 "The same."  Silence.

 "Listen, Oz-"

 "I'm cool, Xander." Oz cut in, a resigned sigh in his voice.  But the undertoning still screamed, Don't talk about it.  Xander decided to take the hint.

 "Yeah, me too."  They both let out relieved breaths and continued to walk.  That awkward meeting was over pretty quick, Xander thought.  They reached the terminal entry and Xander followed Oz out, immediately looking for a bob of red hair and a flash of glasses, that would signify Willow.  What caught his eyes instead was a tall brunette in a corner, dressed in designer clothing, dark glasses on, even though they were inside, managing to take over the room, even though she was  attempting to look as discrete as possible.  Xander felt his heart stop.  It had to be Cordelia.

 "Xander!"  Willow, who apparently hadn't seen Oz yet, smiled and waved at him. Xander smiled back and made his way through the crowd to her, motioning for Oz to follow. Oz felt his chest tighten. Willow still looked beautiful. The innocence that had surrounded her before was missing now, but it was replaced with a wisdom that was just as haunting. She was so amazing.

 She saw him then, and Cordelia stiffened.  Xander hadn't changed at all.  He still had that disarming smile, and his hair was cropped short, just how she had always loved it, because then she would be able to nibble at his ear and....   She felt her cheeks flush.  And God, he looked so good in that tie.  And then he moved toward and embraced Willow. Cordelia felt her heart drop.  Her eyes moved elsewhere and landed on Oz, and her heart flooded with relief.  For now not caring who saw her, she took off her sunglasses and pushed her way to him, smiling when he finally saw her.

 "Oz." She breathed.

 Oz looked up and saw Cordelia coming to him at a furious pace.  In her eyes he saw what he felt.  Haunted, hurt, and agony was running rampant in her hazel eyes.  And all because of what he saw, Xander and Willow.  He was so glad to see his best friend in the midst of all this craziness he dropped his guitar and opened his arms.  She flew into them.

   Holding her this close, he was the only one that heard the trace of a sob in her voice as she fought to control her feelings.  He held her tightly, letting her vent her frustration in the privacy of his arms.

 "I'm glad you're here." She whispered.  Oz slid his arms around her waist and buried his head in the crook of her neck, in an attempt to bury the rim of the tears that had just started to form.

 "I'm glad you're here."  He whispered back.
 

 Willow and Xander looked up to see Cordelia push past them and run straight into Oz's arms, and they watched as they both held each other tightly, as if desperate for each other's embrace.  Only Xander saw Willow's face almost crumple, and in his heart he felt such a rage of jealousy at Oz's position he almost moved to separate them.  But instead he squeezed Willow's hand and smiled supportively at her.  They would learn to deal with this. They would have to.
 

 Oz gently held the taller girl, and then squeezed her once softly.  "You okay?" he whispered, his cheek touching hers.  Cordelia shivered once, and then let him go easily.

 Staring into his eyes, she nodded quietly.   "Yeah, I think I'll be okay."  She whispered. "What about you?"

 Oz sighed. "I don't know, she's still so beautiful." He muttered to himself. Cordelia smiled sympathetically.

 "We'll be okay.  It's our business. We're entertainers.  Let's give them what they want."  Oz looked at her, and then smiled before hugging once again briefly.

 "Let's do it."  They both took a deep breath, and separated, both turning in unison to look at the couple that clasped hands a few feet away from them.

  Willow felt her heart beating faster.  As she noticed Cordelia and Oz clinging to each other, and her own hand clinging desperately to Xander's, she realized that this was how it was going to be. Xander was staring almost wistfully at Cordelia, who admittedly still was stunning.  Oz hadn't changed at all, and he still looked so beautiful.    It was hard, for all of them.  But there was no time to dwell on that.   Time was a luxury they didn't have, they had taken too much time already.

 With a breath, Willow stepped forward, in an attempt to close the distance between the two couples.

 "Hi, Oz."  She felt her voice almost waver, but kept it steady.  He looked at her, and smiled ever so slightly.

 "Hi, Willow."  Xander smiled at Cordelia, who was watching him with no expression.

 "So... the Ice Queen decided to grace us with her presence did she? You think the movie world will be able to hold on?"  Willow shot him a warning look, and swiveled to see Cordelia's reaction.  Cordelia almost winced, but maintained her composure.

 "Well, if the stock boy could get past his meager job, I guess I could too."  She bit back.  Xander smiled.  She still had the edge. Cameras flashed, and began began to form, awed expressions on their faces as they began to circle around Cordelia and Oz. Willow inwardly groaned.

 "Come on, let's get out of here before more peopel  recognize the two of you and we get a mob," Willow said, pulling Xander along, leaving the others to follow.  "We don't have much time."

 "Willow, aren't we going to the library?  Why are we stopping at this mucky place?" Cordelia asked, following Willow up the stairs of a dingy apartment complex.  Willow gave her a look.

 "This is where I live."

 "Oh, I'm sorry." Cordelia said sympathetically, her eyes roving around the place that most certainly wouldn't make it into In Style magazine.

 "I like it, kind of reminds me of Joe's Apartment."  Oz said, bringing up the rear. Xander almost grinned.

 "Apparently me and you were the only ones who actually saw that."  Oz looked up at Xander and half smiled.

 "Yeah."

  Willow and Cordelia paid them no mind as they reached the top of the stairs.  While Willow fumbled for her keys, Xander accidentally tripped and reached forward, in an attempt to keep from falling backwards.  His hand contacted with Cordelia's arm and he closed his fingers around it.  Cordelia looked shocked, but seeing the situation, quickly pulled him up, letting him go just as quickly.

 "You okay?"  She asked.  He smiled sheepishly.

 "Thanks.  Still got the Slayer thing going, don't you?"

 "Still the walking dufus, aren't you?"  She shot back.  Xander just looked away. Cordelia had made no attempt to talk about their past.  It was almost as if to her, they hadn't existed.  Their entire conversation had existed of one biting remark after another.  And three years ago, Xander would have been satisfied with that.  But he still remembered her tender words to him the night before she had caught him with Willow.  She had loved him then. And he still loved her.  It had taken him only a few seconds after seeing her to make him realize it. And he had lost her to Oz.  If he had doubted their relationship before, their tender embrace in the airport had confirmed it. Willow, who was oblivious to Xander's remorse, rolled her eyes and opened the door quickly, walking into the darkness.

  "Okay, first things first, we have to talk about-mmph!" The trio still standing in the doorway looked up in alarm, and Cordelia, without wasting a second, ran inside.

 "Hit the lights!" she called out behind her.

 "Willow?!" Oz pushed past Xander and fumbled frantically on the side, his fingers finally hitting the button.

 Light flooded the apartment, just in time for Xander and Oz to see Willow being held by a thug in a long black coat, and Cordelia being hit in the face by another.

 "Cordelia!" Xander cried, and raced forward, Oz in his wake. Cordelia paid them both no attention, instinctively, she whirled around and gave the woman beater a bone cracking kick to his chin. He reeled, and Cordelia took the time to use him as a launch pad, jumping on and then off his chest to Willow's attacker, barreling into him with pure force. She pushed Willow away, and then ducked as the man swung at her.  She kicked him in the stomach twice, and then glared at the trio behind her who stood watching with their jaws hanging open.

 "Can someone please help- oomph -  me?"  The last comment was cut off by the man hitting her in the stomach.  Xander, after he made sure Willow was okay, saw the action and filled with rage.  Running over, he pulled the man to him and punched him repeatedly in the face. Oz and Willow went to work on the other one.  Cordelia looked up and saw with horror as four more huge men ran in through the open door.

 "Shit."  She muttered.  Grabbing a rather heavy one, she used his momentum  to swing him around and send him flying through the window.   "Let's go! Get out of here!" She cried to the rest of her companions. Willow looked up and nodded, pulling the two guys with her.  Willow took a deep breath and jumped out of the now clear second story  window, bracing herself for the fall.

 Oz looked at Cordelia with concern. "You next."

 Cordelia glared at him. "No time for chivalries, Oz."  And with that  she pushed him through, before ducking from the three men who had attacked her.  "Xander!"  She cried to her ex boyfriend, who was still occupied with the brawny one.  He saw her and punched him again, before running to her.  "Go!"  she called to him.

 "Not without you." He said, standing next to her as the five men bore down on them.

 "Oh, great, NOW he's sensitive," she muttered.  "Fine, on three, ready?  One, two three!"  They both launched themselves backwards, falling with a thud on Willow's grassy lawn.

 Cordelia lay still on a second, groaning, and then got up, pulling her friends up with her.  "Come on!  Run!" Willow looked up when she saw the men were running down the stairs.

  "Good idea."  She pulled up the still dazed Oz and Xander and the four of them ran as fast as they could into the night.

 "Jeez, Willow!"  Cordelia said, walking into her suite's bathroom as the rest of the gang rested on her king sized bed.  "What the hell?  I'm in Sunnydale a total of  eight hours and already I've had to jump four thugs, and jump out of  a two story window?"

 "Yeah, and whose bright idea was that?"  Xander called after her, rubbing at his numerous bruises.

 Cordelia glared at him from the doorway.  "You have any other ideas, Conan?  It wasn't like you were exactly a big help. We would have been mince meat if we had stayed in there. "

 "Right!  So instead we come here, where we are met with a mob of Chase crazed fans, and a bunch of photographers?  Forgive me, but to me it seems the lesser of two evils."

 Cordelia rolled her eyes and walked back in the bedroom, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a box of bandages in her hand.  "We'll be safe in here."  She informed him, tossing him the peroxide.  "Policemen at least guard this place."

 "Well, it's good to know that you haven't lost your Slayer aptitude, Cordelia."  Oz said.

She shrugged, smiling at her friend.  "I kept working out, just in case.  Besides, it's good for my figure.  Might start my own work out video.  You think it'd sell?" she teased.

Xander snorted.  "Whose going to be your guest?  Latoya  Jackson?"  Cordelia gave him a disgusted look and was about to continue her bickering when Oz cut in.

 "Will?"  he said gently,  looking at his ex girlfriend, who all this time had lain on the bed motionless.  She looked up at him.  "What's going on?"

 "Yeah, Will, I think it's time to fill us in."  Cordelia said, inspecting the ever reddening bruise on her face. "Do you have any idea how much time I'm going to have to spend in makeup to cover up the bruise I'm going to get?" Xander rolled his eyes, but also looked curiously at Willow, who sat up groggily, reaching for a Band-Aid to cover the cut on her forehead.

 "I had no idea it would start so soon."  She almost whispered.  Suddenly she looked up, and almost froze when she saw that Oz was tenderly cleaning Cordelia's face , who had admittedly endured the harshest  of the cuts and blows. "It's gonna be a long night, guys," she almost whispered.

 "Wait." Cordelia suddenly got up and walked to the phone.  Xander gave her an incredulous look.

 "What the hell are you doing?"  he asked her.

 "Ordering room service.  Something tells me we're gonna need it."
 
 
 
 

 "Okay," Willow began, after taking a sip of the wine Cordelia had offered her. "Basically I have to fill you guys in on something that you don't really know about.  There's a society of Watchers, that have existed for a long time.  But they aren't really ordinary Watchers.  They're more like.... Renegade Watchers, I guess.  They are Watchers who have
rejected their status and embraced the Dark Side."

 "So, Luke Skywalker isn't jiggy with these guys, right?"  Oz smacked Xander on the arm. Willow ignored them.

  "They've existed almost as long as the Watcher's have, and they've never really been a threat to us.  We've tended to ignore them, cause they haven't really had a great track record in trying to take over the world, Pinky and the Brain are better at it than they are, and they are kind of scared of the Slayer's, so they leave them alone.  But lately... the Hellmouth has gotten a little crazier, as you guys know, and they've gotten stronger.  And bolder. They have this new leader, whose got big dreams, and the brains to back them up.  And I just found out last week, that they have something else...they have Buffy."

 "What!?" Xander jumped up and Oz and Cordelia exchanged a shocked look.

 "You found her?"  Willow nodded, and raised her hands quickly before they began to pepper her with question, even though Willow could see the flecks of  anger in their eyes.

 "Jeez, Will!  Why didn't you tell us?"  Xander said, Cordelia nodded.

 "Will, our whole promise was based on the fact that Buffy would come back!  Now she's been back and you don't even-"

 "Don't start, guys!  You've haven't heard the whole story."

 Oz laid a hand on Cordelia's arm, calming her, and then turned softly to Willow. "So fill us in, Will."

  Willow smiled softly at Oz's understanding.  It was one of the things she had always loved about him. "Look, I only found her two months ago.  Angel has been looking for her all these years, and when he found her, he told me.  But it's a different Buffy that he found guys."

 Cordelia looked confused.  "What do you mean?"

 Willow sighed.  "Buffy's not Buffy anymore."

 "Well, it's been a few years, I mean we've all changed, but-"

 "No, that's not what I mean, Xander.  I mean, Buffy's really not Buffy.  She's Anne. Buffy doesn't remember a thing about Sunnydale, about being a Slayer, she didn't even remember Angel.  She doesn't even know how to fight."

 "Great."  Cordelia sighed and fell back on the bed. "So the Slayer is a sniveling idiot wimp."

 "How could she forget?" Xander asked.

 Willow shrugged.  "I don't know.  But her mind is a complete blank.  She's a career woman, now, she sells woman lingerie through a catalogue-"

 "Oh, even better, she's a sniveling idiot wimp that sells sex items."  Cordelia added.

 "There's one more thing." Willow interrupted.  "She's happy.  Well, she was.   And I had Jamie.  So I decided, because of all that has happened... to let it go.  To let her live her life."

 "Yeah, sometimes I wish I could forget everything." Cordelia muttered.  Xander shot her a look, and she shrugged.  "You know what I mean, okay?"

 "So what's up?  What do you mean they have Buffy?"

   Willow sighed.  "Well, apparently one of the Watchers infiltrated the Guild, and they found out about the two Slayers.  And one of them had the bright idea to steal one.  But Kendra died, Buffy was deemed too powerful, so they decided to find the new Slayer before we could.  But Cordy found her first.  So they kept tabs on us... on Angel.  When you guys left," she nodded to Willow and Oz. "After Xander left, it was me, Angel and Jamie.  Angel took off to find Buffy, and they followed him.  And when Angel found her, they kidnapped both Angel and Buffy."

 Silence filled the room, and finally Xander spoke up. "Why would they want to steal Buffy? Or Angel for that matter?"

 "They're Watchers. Angel is a good asset, and he'll do anything for them as long as they don't hurt Buffy.  They want their own Slayer, and a Slayer with no memory, that's even better.  They can mold her. And if they do... "

 "Uncoolness."  Oz whispered.  Willow nodded.

 "So what's up with Jamie?"  Cordelia asked.  "And why are they after you?"

 "Jamie as a Slayer is vulnerable.  We have to keep her out of this. And I was Buffy's best friend.  If they had taken me, then they might have been able to use me to get to Buffy."

 Xander pursed his lips.  "This is insane. How did you find out about this?"

 "Angel managed to get a message to me before they took him." Willow sighed. "Here's the deal, guys.  We find Buffy and Angel, get them out.  Then, you, Oz and Xander, help me find a way to get Buffy's memories back, while Cordelia retrains her.   After that, we put these guys out of business for good."

 Xander whistled.  "Pretty big order to fill, Wills."

 She shrugged. "And then you are all relieved of your promise.  You're free to leave, go back to your lives, forget this ever happened."  Cordelia snorted, looking at Xander with a quickening of her heart.

 "Not likely, Willow."  She muttered.

 Willow apparently didn't hear, she was too busy looking at Oz.  Sighing, she got up.

 "Wait a minute, where are you going?"  Cordelia asked, sitting up.

 "The library. I have a mattress there, we need to get some sleep." Cordelia shook her head viciously.

 "No freakin' way, Wills.  You're staying here."  Willow gave her a dubious look. "Well, I'm not saying that it'll be Laverne and Shirley, but chances are, if those thugs are after you at your apartment, they'll  be at the library.  And from what I've seen, you haven't really improved in the Slaying capacity.  So, you're staying, that's final."

 "Hey, Cordy,"  Oz broke in.  Xander looked up.  Something about Oz using his nickname for her really rubbed him the wrong way.  That was HIS nickname for her. No one else's.  Not even the new boyfriend.  Even Willow seemed to notice it, and she flinched. "Did you find me a room?"

 Cordelia sighed.  "They were all booked, but this suite is pretty huge.  I figured you'd just stay here."  Willow and Xander exchanged a look.  Oz nodded happily.  The idea of him staying with Willow that night was pretty cool.  She was his Willow.  Even after what happened.  Oz still felt it.

 "Good."  Cordelia sounded like she would rather say anything than what she was saying, but forced it out.  "Xander?  What about you?  We have an extra couch."

  The pain was unbearable, and Anne felt herself sob uncontrollably.  Why had this happened to her?  These horrible men... they had taken her and her date ... and she didn't even know why.    And they kept saying things like Slayer and vampires, and Chosen Ones, and Watchers, and oh her head was swimming with words.  And they treated her like she was something else. But she wasn't... she was Anne.  That was all.  Just Anne.  And who the hell was this Buffy that everyone was talking about?  Anne sobbed,  looking around at the dark basement that these horrible men had put her in. She had to get out, any way she could. She had to get out.  But they had Angel.  A huge amount of guilt filled her.  They had only gone on their first date when these men had grabbed them.  And they came with stakes, who the hell would come with stakes?  And the morbid men came and threatened to kill her if Angel didn't come with them, so he had.  Because of her.  She had to get out. She had to find a way to get them both out.  But fear overwhelmed Anne, who had begun her life eight years ago when she was told she had succumbed to amnesia.   And she could do no more than huddle on her bed and sob.
 

It was almost unbearable. Willow hadn't been able to stand it. She had left as soon as they started.  Xander stayed. He tried to prove to himself he didn't care. And he was failing miserably.  Xander tried to look away, and yet his eyes kept drifting over to it.  Oz and Cordelia. On the floor of the living room.  Cordelia had Oz's guitar in her hands, and she was plucking it with no expertise whatsoever.  Oz, sitting right behind her with a bemused expression, his arms around her to reach the guitar neck, attempting to show her a new chord.  She twanged it and it sounded it awful. Oz made a face, and Cordelia laughed,  bumping her head back tot hit Oz's chest.  He grinned back, and then whispered something in her ear. She listened, and then, with surpised eyes, looked up at him. They stared at each other's eyes  Xander couldn't take it anymore. He got up and walked to the bedroom.

 "Hey, Will."  Xander walked unsteadily to Willow, who sat on the floor watching the television haphazardly.  She looked up at her best friend, and smiled.

"Hey, Xander."

 "How are you holding up?"  She shrugged, smiling grimly.

 "This is so crazy.  I mean, we're all twenty six, and we're acting like teenagers.  I see Oz and I just-"

 "I know." Xander chuckled sadly.  "It's the same with Cordy."  Willow laid a hand on him.

"It hurts so much, doesn't it, to see them like that?"

 "It more than hurts Will,"  Xander said, grabbing the remote from her.  "I want to kill him half the time."

 "Hey!"  Willow kidded, and then she lost her smile.  "Cordelia still hurts, you know. I saw it in her eyes when she came to see me in the library."

 Xander just sighed.  "I think we all left to escape... but we can't.  It's in us. Everything."

 "I shouldn't have messed with the magic, Xander."

  "It wasn't the magic that did it, Will."  Xander said grimly.  "It was us.  We wanted to."

 Willow looked at Xander seriously, and after a minute finally nodded.  "And because of our curiosity, we broke up the best thing either of us ever had." Xander looked so sad, that Willow reached over and caressed his face gently.  "We'll be okay.  We know that we've always loved them.  At least we know."

 "But it won't stop the hurt Willow."  Xander whispered back.  Her eyes glistened and Xander sighed, pulling his friend to her and holding her close.

 "Umm.  I don't want to interrupt the love scene here," Xander and Willow jumped, and looked up to see a noticeably harder Cordelia staring at them from the doorway.  "But Willow, I'm going to bed, so... Xander, get out." Xander released Willow slowly, and gave Cordelia a long look.

 "Sure."

 When he was gone, Willow stared numbly at Cordelia, who had a dazed look in her face.

 "Do you want me to leave?"

 Cordelia looked up in surprise. "Leave? Why? You're sleeping in here."

 Willow looked shocked. "Oh. I just thought that-"

 Cordelia gave Willow and long look, and avoided her eyes.  "Look, Will, if you want to stay in the room with Xander - Oz can stay-"

 "No!" Cordelia stopped short, when Willow closed her eyes. Somehow Willow couldn't take that. Oz and Cordelia in the same room, in the same bed, that was too much. "No." she began more softly. "I'd like to stay in here with you, if you don't mind."

 Cordelia rolled her eyes, and nodded. "Nice to know we can still go in one complete circle in our conversations, Willow." She bit, and then motioned to the bed. "You pick a side.”
 

 "Hey, wolfma-... uh... Oz?"  Oz looked up from his guitar.

 "What's up?"   Xander stared at Oz uncomfortably.  "Well, uh, Cordelia's going to sleep now."  Oz looked confused.

 "I know."  He said, and then resumed his strumming.  "So what do you want, the couch or the other couch?"  he asked distantly.

 Xander looked shocked.  "Um.  The couch."

 "It's yours.  I'll be on the couch in a sec, I just have to check this tune out."  And with that, Oz completely tuned him out again.  His heart was beating uproariously.  He loved Willow.  Even after all that happened, he still loved Willow.  What kind of idiot was he? He sighed.  He knew it was going to be a long night.
 

 "First things first, "  Willow announced as she looked back at the weary group that followed her into the library the next morning.  "We have to find out where- what?"  She suddenly asked when the trio froze.  She turned to see what they were staring at, and gasped. The library was trashed. Books were overturned,  her computer was sitting on the other side
of the room, desks were flipped over.

"Dammit."  Cordelia hissed.  "They were here last night."

   "I think the word we're all looking for is "duh", Cordy."  Xander said, his eyes roving over the mess.

 "Well,  I guess we better find whatever they were looking for, no?"  Oz said briskly, stepping over the piles of books in the floor.  Willow nodded.

 "Yeah.  Cordelia, Xander, you two are clean up committee."

 "Clean up committee?"  Cordelia scoffed.  "Will, I don't know where any of these books go!"

 "Ask Xander, he used to be Research Boy, remember?"  Willow answered flippantly, motioning for Oz to follow her.  "I need to check my computer, see if they stole any files." Cordelia and Xander watched them cross the room, and then looked at each other.

  "You heard her, Queenie." Xander said stiffly, bending down and picking up a book.

 Cordelia gave him a disgusted look.  "Yeah, like the cretin here is going to be any help." Xander glared back at her.

   "Whattsa matter, Cordy?" he sneered. "All those lights finally sear your brain cells?"

 "So."  Oz paused for a second to look back at Cordelia and Xander, who had taken the opportunity to being bickering again. "Did you get my postcards?"

  Willow froze, and then looked up from her computer, smiling softly after a minute.

"Yeah.  Thank you.  I..."  she paused for a moment.  "I kept them all.  I wanted to answer them but-"

 "Well, I was traveling around a lot, I wouldn't have been able to get the replies, anyhow."  Oz said quickly.  Willow looked slightly hurt at being cut off, but just nodded.

 "Well, thank you Oz.  They meant a lot to me."

 Oz gave her a  long look.  "You still have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen." He whispered, and then, suddenly realizing he had said those words out loud, he colored and got up.  "Better stop the dueling duo before they kill each other."  He stammered.

 Willow stared after him, stunned. And suddenly, her heart lightened, and she smiled.
 

 "So, really Cordy, how many producers did you sleep with to get your job?"  Cordelia's eyes widened, and Xander winced.  That was over the top, even he knew that.

 "Hey!"  Oz apparently had heard the comment because he strode to Xander furiously. "What did you say, Xander?"  Even though he was shorter, he looked positively menacing as he fought to control his anger towards the taller man.

 "Oz."  Cordelia sounded resigned, and rested a warm hand on Oz's shoulder.  "Calm that inner wolf down. I can take care of myself." Oz looked at her for a brief second, then finally nodded, casting a glare to Xander, and walked back to Willow.

 Xander was quiet when Cordelia looked at him, her eyes unreadable. "You broke the rules, Xander."  She informed him, after a moment.

 He nodded. "Yeah, I did.  I'm sorry.  I know that was cruel."  He looked at her sadly, and briefly remembered the look of pain  and horror that had been on Cordelia's face the day she found him with Willow.   That had hurt him more than anything.

 Cordelia saw the look of guilt pass through his face and sighed.  "I'm over you, Xander."  She said almost fiercely.  "Okay?  So you don't have to walk around with this guilty puppy dog expression for hurting me. I'm over it, okay?"  She felt her voice go unsteady, but she was still remarkably surprised at her acting job. She really made it sound as if she didn't care anymore.  Damn.  If she had done that in It happened on Saturday, she might have been nominated for an Oscar, instead of just the Best Smoochie on the MTV movie awards.  Xander was stunned, and his eyes were lit up with surprise.

 "Okay."  He said almost inaudibly, this time having no biting remark for Cordelia.

 "But... you don't have to insult me every half minute either, okay?  You know the rules, stick to them." And with that she looked, at him, and sighed, turning away before he could see the glistening in her eyes of unformed tears.

  Xander felt his heart leaden.  Yeah, he knew the rules alright.  Don't get too personal, always come up the better insult, and don't care.  He was way past that.  He cared way too much.

 Gerard Giles considered himself a very respectable man, considering his background. A life of living in his crazy brother's shadow had taught him how to be discreet, how to be responsible, and how to never get caught.  Rupert had been called to be a Watcher at the age of ten, and he had rebelled considerably.  He became a leather clad freak, and  only calmed
down after some friends died.  Not so with Gerard, he had studied diligently, worked hard, never getting into trouble.  And where did it get him?  Nowhere.  Rupert was chosen to mentor the Slayer, the best Slayer there ever was Buffy, and even though everything he ever did was against the book, letting her have friends, letting her go to school, risking himself for
her, the Watcher's Guild had embraced him, respected him.  And Gerard, the studious, loyal one, was always forgotten.  And then Rupert died, and his Slayer disappeared.   And he became a martyr to these freaks. And instead of one of them being called, the Council decided that some Willow girl would take his place, because she lived there.  Bull shit.

That was when he realized that the Guild was going to get him nowhere.  And that was why he had left.  But he never knew about the Renegades, the Watchers who thought like him, who hated their lot in life, who wanted to make it better.  And they found him, embraced him, made him a leader.  It had been his idea to nab the Slayer, a girl that they could used to grow powerful, to help themselves.  They didn't consider themselves evil, but true seers of the light.  They knew the darkside wasn't all that bad, if used to attain good ends, like power, and money.  But the Jamie girl had been nowhere to be found, when some
Slayer-would have been, now the  actress Cordelia Chase had found her first.  Ah, but Buffy,she had been a wonderful Plan B.  Sure, now she was flimsy, ditzy, not recognizable at all as a Slayer, but she had it inside her, and Gerard was sure he could help her find it, with brute force if necessary.  And she had a plus.  She had a reasonably powerful watcher, Willow Rosenberg, who would do anything to help her friend.  She had friends from all over the business who, from what Gerard had heard from Rupert, were willing to die for her. And she had a soul laden vampire in love with her.  The thought made him positively giddy.
 Angel, for all his demon qualities, had not p ut up much of a fight when Gerard threatened to cut up his Slayer Love.  He would do anything for her.  And that was positively wonderful.

 Gerard walked softly to the room where the vampire was kept, no windows, of course and knocked softly. A growl answered in response, and Gerard smiled softly to himself.

 Opening it quickly, he poked his head in.  "Hullo!"  he said cheerfully.  Angel growled and jumped, pulling against the chains that held him tightly to the wall.  Gerard looked on in amusement.

 "Wow." He said, leaning against the walls with his arms crossed. "For a second there it was almost as if you had lost your soul again."  Angel gave him a murderous look.

 "Where's Buffy."  He hissed.

 "Buffy?"  Gerard looked puzzled, and then snapped his fingers.  "Oh!  You mean ANNE.  Poor little creature.  Crying her heart out.  Doesn't understand why she's here."

 "Don't you TOUCH her!"  Angel shouted, lunging again.

 "You're going to give yourself a hemorrhage, old boy.  Goodness knows, you can't afford to lose any blood."  Gerard chuckled.  "After all, this is hardly an all you can eat."  He seemed to find that quite amusing and preened at his own wit.  "Well, nevermind that.  Are you well?"

 "What do you want." Angel bit.

 "I want Buffy back."  Gerard said, walking as closely as he dared. "But instead I have Anne.  Anne, a sobbing idiot.  Now Rupert, he had Buffy!  And yet all I have is Anne." Gerard put his hands in the pocket of his slacks and sighed.  "Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

 Angel just glared at him, from his new position on the floor.

 "Obviously dying doesn't do much for your IQ,"  Gerard muttered, and then straightened.  "Very well, I'll spell it out for you.  Anne doesn't want to be Buffy, she doesn't remember Buffy.  I want Buffy.  I want Buffy very badly, but obviously I'm not going to get her anytime soon.  Some of the boys are  wondering if she's even worth it.  Another mouth to feed- woah!"  He jumped back when Angel lunged again.  "Down, sir!"  He demanded to the vampire, whose game face had suddenly appeared.  "I didn't  say it was me!  Killing me will do you no good, I assure you.  Do you think I WANT to kill her?  No!  Rupert loved her! But I'm a leader, I have to do what is best for the group!  Now.  I want to save Buffy just as
much as you do!  In fact, I had sent some boys over to one Willow Rosenberg, our resident watcher, see if they could talk her into come and seeing what she could do for Buffy, or Anne, or whoever she is.  I figured, if anybody had the power, the knowledge to get Buffy back, it would be her.  Brilliant!"  He sighed, and leaned down on his haunches, so that he
was eye level with Angel.  "But they got their asses kicked.  Not by Willow, mind you.  This was someone else entirely.   Apparently, Willow has a bodyguard.  A very beautiful bodyguard, with shining chestnut hair, a dazzling smile, and two Entertainment Weekly covers, who apparently does her own stunts."  He paused for a bit, seeing Angel looking up
with confusion. "Cordelia Chase, along with some old buddies,  have suddenly decided to come home for a vacation."  Angel looked up suddenly.

 "Cordelia?"

 "Yes.  Cordelia Chase, and Oz.  Oz!  The Rock star, Oz!  Willow has some very famous friends, and apparently, so did Rupert, and  you, Angel.  These very bad friends kicked my boy's butts.  Very bad for Buffy, Angel.  Very bad."    He sighed, sounding almost ominous.  "You see , that really leaves me with no choice-"

 "Don't you TOUCH HER!" Angel growled.

 "Oh, do shut up, and let me finish."  Gerard said irately.  "So you see, that presents me with a problem. I don't' want to hurt Willow. I don't want to  hurt Buffy. But if Willow keeps refusing to come to visit, I'll have to send some ...rougher men to get her, and who knows? Some one might get hurt.  Willow maybe... Cordelia Chase..... even their little boyfriends they have tagging along."  Angel seethed. "I want to make you a deal!  Now. I have a proposition.  Willow trusts you.  If you bring Willow to me, I'll promise not to hurt Buffy. That way, she can cure Buffy, and we can all be happy.  I'll let you go, you bring
Willow, and Willow and Buffy live.  You have, twenty four hours to bring Willow hear, without her knowledge, or Buffy has an accident. Sound like a plan?"

 Angel gave his captor a murderous look. More than anything, he wanted to feel t his man's neck under his jaws.  Buffy had been so happy, so happily oblivious to all the torment she had suffered in her other lifetime.   Willow had decided to let her go, but Angel couldn't. He decided to go on one date with "Anne".  One day to say goodbye forever.  And then this happened.  Angel didn't even remember how he had managed to get the cell phone from Buffy's purse and call Willow before they threatened to kill Buffy.  And now he was going to have to hurt Willow, his best friend.  Because they would kill Buffy otherwise.  And he loved her too much to let that happen.  And Willow could get hurt.  It was better to do what this man said, before... before... anything happened. So with eyes of hate, he looked up at Gerard, who didn't even look much like Giles.

 "You have a deal."  He said huskily.

  "So, Will?  Anything?"  Cordelia ran a tired hand over her forehead and placed her hands on her hips as she walked over to her friends desk where the two boys were seated. The whole day had gone by and it still felt like they  had accomplished nothing. Willow sighed as she typed frantically, searching.

"Zippo."  She replied, scrolling through her files.  "They tried to copy my Watcher diaries, and that's it.  But it's encrypted, I don't know if they broke the code."

 "So it means, if they did,  they know all about us, right?"

 "Well, I'm pretty sure they know all about us now, considering Cordy and Oz are pretty recognizable."  Cordelia sighed.

 "Well excuse US for getting famous okay?  It kind of just happened."

 Xander opened his mouth, thought better of it when everyone glared at him, and shut it.

 "Well, I suggest we then concentrate our thoughts on finding these Watchers before they do anything else to the Buffster." Broke in, Oz.

 Cordelia crossed her legs as she leaned back on her chair.  "Well, we know they're around here somewhere, that should get us somewhere."

 The trio swiveled their heads to her.  "How do we know that?" Willow asked.

 "Simple deduction, morons.  The task force sent to take you out was pretty big, and if they managed to raid your house and the library, follow Angel and know about US, then they must have been hanging out around here. Plus the evil vibe from the Hellmouth gives them a sort of power. I figure, if even a contingent is here, we can find them, and then track down the mega honcho."  Everyone was silent as they passed glances.  "What?!" Cordelia asked, slightly annoyed.

 "It's those scripts she memorizes," Oz explained.  "Makes her think."  Willow stifled a chuckle and cast Cordy an amused glance.

 Xander just sighed.  Cordelia suddenly showing she still had the brains to back up the beauty just made things more frustrating for him.  How was he supposed to work when every minute he was reminded of how great she was?  He was tense as a spring, and any moment he felt as if he would burst. And that's when he had a thought.

 "Hey, Will." He said after a moment.  "Is Willy the snitch still around?"  Willow raised her head and looked at him for a minute.

 "Yeah." She said evenly, a smile floating on her face.

 "Good."  Xander rose and motioned to Oz. "You coming?"  Oz, not quite understanding, rose unsteadily.

 "Yeah, sure." He responded evenly.

   "Um, we'll stay here."  Willow said, unable to keep a huge grin from sliding on her face.

 Xander nodded and walked out, Oz rushing after him. "What the hell is this all about?"

 "I have the urge to pummel someone." Xander responded.  "Better off being able to get something out of it too."
 
 

 "Hey, Will.  Mind if I turn on the television?"  Willow looked up from her computer at what appeared to be a very bored Cordelia, who had been flipping haphazardly through numerous old editions.  "I need some background music." She explained,  "That doesn't involve rapidly pressing keys."

 "Am I that loud?"  Willow said, looking down at her fingers.

 "Let me put it this way, I think another minute of that abuse and the keyboard is going to be calling for worker's comp."  Cordelia said, moving over and flipping  on the television.  "Besides, I can't find anything in these books, about the Watcher's whereabouts." Cordelia sighed as she motioned to her books as the images exploded on the television
screen.

 "Yeah." Willow agreed.  "These guys aren't too big in the prophecies.  Which is probably a good thing."

 Cordelia nodded absently, and then looked at the television.  "Oh, God. I hate this show."  She said, as the logo of NBC's prime tabloid gossip show appeared on the screen. "It's like the Enquirer."

 Willow stopped a smirk as she took off her glasses.  Cordelia was about to change the channel when something stopped her and made her turn up the volume.

 "What the?" Willow looked up as the volume increased and her jaw dropped.  There was a picture of Cordelia and Oz hugging at the Sunnydale airport, in the close embrace that had almost made Willow sick. The anchor, Dan something or other then did a voice over about how sources had learned that the female beauty and the rebel musician had eloped.
Cordelia gasped, while Willow's eyes grew wider by the second.  The segment ended with the anchor wishing them the "best of luck" before they turned to some story about Stallone and some under age girl.  Cordelia snapped off the TV and rummaged through her purse, pulling out her cell phone and punching the speed dial.

 "Dave it's me." She began hurriedly.   "What do you mean where have I been?  Don't you know?  It's all over Hollywood Now. Yes, I heard it.  NO! It's not true!" There was a pause, and Cordelia sighed in anger. "Look, Dave, I told you a hundred times, I'm not trying to stick any sort of wool over your eyes, Oz and I are NOT romantically involved, we never were." Willow froze and she suddenly looked up at Cordelia.  Did she just hear what she thought she heard?

 "I don't CARE if it's good publicity, it's a lie!" Cordelia continued, apparently unaware of Willow's reaction.  "And I want you to release a statement saying it's not true.... No, I can't hold a press conference, right now! ... I told you I was tied up!  Family problems, Dave-" Willow turned Cordelia's battle with her agent out as she leaned her back against her chair and felt herself trembling.  Cordelia and Oz were just friends.  They weren't in love. Her heart began to beat tremendously. "No, there's a reason I don't give you my cell phone number, I don't want you to call me.  I'll be in touch.  Bye."  Cordelia snapped the phone
shut and let her breath out in one big whoosh.  "Can you believe that?" She turned to Willow, and then froze in concern when she saw tears in Willow's eyes.

 "Willow?  What's wrong?" she asked.

 Willow stayed silent for a moment and then looked at Cordelia with glistening eyes. "Nothing.  Everything.  Buts somehow, right now, it all seems bearable."  Cordelia looked utterly confused, until she looked into her friends eyes.  And suddenly she understood.

 "Oh. You thought-.. Oh."  Cordelia felt silent.  "Oz is too short for me, Wills."  She said after a moment.  Willow nodded, and didn't speak for a moment.

 "Cordelia." She suddenly said, leaning forward and placing a hand on hers.  "I have to tell you, in case  you think...  Xander's always loved you. I... think...  I  know he still does. We NEVER, EVER were more than friends.  All that happened that night was a kiss.  And it didn't mean anything! He always loved you!"

 Cordelia looked stunned by her friend's rush of words, and suddenly everything came into place for her.

  "Oh." She said unsteadily.  "So that's why we've all been acting like idiots."
 

 "Hello, what can I help- HELP!" Willy squealed as Xander pushed him against the bar, Oz right behind him.

 "Hi, Willy.  Remember me?" Xander said menacingly. He was itching to beat him with his bare hands.  All this tension could only go so far.

 Willy struggled against the taller and buffer man in vain.  He searched his face, and his face lit up in recognition. "Xander, my man!  How are you!"

 "Not good.  You gonna tell me what I want to know?"

 "Um... I don't know anything, Xander.  I'm clean now."

 "Sure you are."

 "Oz!  Oz is that you?  Hey, do you mind signing this for the little missus?  She really likes- OW!"  He finished in a yelp when Xander dragged him into the wall.

 "Where are the evil guys,  Willy?' Xander asked through clenched teeth.

 "I told you man!  I don't know!  I don't do that anymore!"  Xander closed a hand around his neck.  Oz, seeing that Willy was truly looking frightened for his life, reached for Xander's arm.

 "Hey, man. Lay off."  Xander threw him off with a shrug and a glare.

 "Stay out of this, Wolf Boy."

 "No, Wolf Boy, I beg you. Stay in." Willy begged, his head growing red.

 "Wolf Boy? I figured for a stock broker you could come up with something better." Oz returned easily.  Xander turned to him, his face a mask of rage.

 "You got a problem with me?"

 "I think you know the answer to that." Oz returned. Xander released Willy, and with one hand, kept him pinned against the wall as he looked at Oz angrily.

 "You know, Oz, I think I've done a pretty good job of being civil to you, so don't push your luck."   He pushed Oz back.  Oz rarely lost his cool, but he looked downright animal as he stared his former best friend down.

 "Oh yeah?  I think it's me that's been the bigger man here, you cheatin' son of a bitch." Willy took the opportunity to try and sneak back, but was pinned again with one hand in his chest by Xander, who didn't even bother to look at the snitch.

 "Where the hell do you get off taking the one woman I ever really loved just because I made a mistake, you asshole?"  Xander raised a hand at Willy. "You stay put." He ordered, before turning his attention back to Oz.

 Oz snapped and pushed Xander back.  "Hey!  I loved her too!  And she loved me!" He turned and grabbed a fleeing Willy by the collar. "Stay." He said sharply. "And you broke Cordy's heart!"

 "Cordelia!  Cordy is MY nickname for her!  Listen lyco boy, she never loved you!" This time they both grabbed Willy and held him still when he tried unsuccessfully a third time to get away from the fighting men.

 "Oh, yes she did!  You just couldn't stand it! You had Cordy and you still had to move in on her!"

 "Move in on who?"

 "Willow!" Oz replied.

  Xander looked utterly confused.  "What the hell are you talking about?"

 "What the hell are you talking about?" Oz returned.

 "Cordy!  You and Cordy.  Together!  Who are you talking about!"

 "You and Willow!" Oz yelled, and then suddenly stopped.  "Wait a minute. I'm not with Cordelia, you idiot!"

 "Oh, yeah! Well, I'm not with Willow, stupid!"  They stopped for a moment and their eyes widened.

 "You're not?"  They both asked at the same time.

 "No." They both answered, and then breathing heavily, stared into each other's eyes.

 "You mean-"

 "Yeah."  Oz finished, suddenly realizing the truth.

 "Hey!"  Both men turned to look at Willy, whom they still had unconsciously held up next to the bar.  "It's Angel."

 They both swiveled their heads.  Xander gasped.

 "Angel?"

 Angel stepped into the light of the bar and smiled grimly.  "It's been a long time."

 "So?"  Cordelia looked up from her wine glass and gave Willow a long look.  "Do you still love him?"

 Willow smiled grimly.  "Yeah." She said after a minute.  She chuckled sadly.  "Some how I doubt it makes much of a difference.  I don't think Oz will ever forgive me."

 "I think he already has, Will." Cordelia said, giving Willow a sympathetic smile.

 Willow cocked an eyebrow.  "Have you forgiven Xander? Or me?"

 Cordelia stayed quiet for a minute, and then looked away.  "You have to understand Willow.  I'm not angry.  I never was. I was... hurt.  A lot.  But it was deeper than you can understand."  She smiled grimly.  "I loved Xander with all my heart, but I always had this ... fear inside of me that he would suddenly realize how good you and him were together and then I would lose him forever.  I was afraid that no matter how much he loved me, it would never be as much as he loved you, or Buffy.  That year before all the crap hit the fan, I suddenly wasn't afraid anymore.  You had Oz.  Xander and I...  we were good together. And when Oz and I walked in and saw you..."  her lower lip trembled and Cordelia paused.  "It was like... all of that was gone.  And all my fears had come true.  It was when I realized that I would never be number one with Xander.  There was always going to be a Willow, or a Buffy... I wasn't mad. Just scared.  And sad.  And hurt. And so many other emotions. I
couldn't stand being here anymore, knowing that. It hurt too much."   Cordelia realized her hand was trembling and quickly put down her glass, for fear it would fall from her fingers.

 Willow stared at Cordelia with tearless eyes. "You're wrong, Cordelia.  You're the only one for Xander.  He knows that. And so do you."

 Cordelia only shook her head. "You're sweet, Will. Dorky, but sweet.  I'm not wrong."  She suddenly smiled through her tears and closed a hand over Willow's.  "But for what it's worth,  I really missed you."

 Willow smiled back.  "I missed you too, Cordelia."

 The doors to the library swung open and the women looked up to see who had entered.

 Oz entered, his face was odd as he looked at the two girls.

 "Umm... Hi." He said.

 "So?  Anything?" Cordelia rose, wiping at her eyes.

 "Zippo from Willy, but we found something better." Xander said,  walking in.  He stopped  and looked carefully into Cordelia's eyes.  "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

 "I'm fine, it's the dust." She lied, not daring to look at him.

 "Wha'd you find?" Willow asked, carefully getting Xander's attention.

 "Uh.  Him."  He pointed, and Willow's jaw dropped as Angel walked into the library. She gasped in surprise and ran to him, hugging him fiercely.

 "Angel!  Are you okay! How did you-"

 "Questions, Questions!" Xander interrupted.  "Jeez!  He got out! Isn't that enough?"  Angel hugged Willow back briefly, before letting her go.  "I was able to escape, but Buffy is still in there."

 Cordelia looked confused, and suddenly wary.  "Angel,  this may sound weird, but the Angel I remember wouldn't have left Buffy behind."

 The rest of the group grew silent at this, and they all turned and looked at Angel.  "I couldn't have gotten her out alone. I figured that I could come and get Willow and Jamie's help.  Where is Jamie?" He asked, looking around.  "And what are you all doing here?"

 "Calvary started recruiting civilians."  Oz replied lazily, settling down in a chair.

 "I decided that Jamie would be best left out of this until the last possible minute." Willow informed Angel.  "Cordelia is almost as good, and she's not affected by the Watchers."

 "No, but the tabloids sure got their claws in me." Cordelia complained, turning to

Oz.  "Did you see the news today?"

 "No, why?"

   "Apparently you two eloped, and are headed on your honeymoon."  Willow answered for her, smiling a little.

 "What?!"

 "As pleasant as this conversation is, can we turn back to the matter at hand?  Getting Buffy takes precedence over tabloid headlines."

 "Xander's right."  Cordelia agreed.  "Besides, I already straightened things out with my agent." She muttered aside to Oz.  "And Willow."  He gave her a surprised look, and suddenly smiled.

 "Angel?  So where's this party taking place?" Xander asked, settling down on the chair next to Cordelia. Angel sighed.

   "Here.  In Sunnydale.  Remember that old mansion where I, when I was still under the influence?"

 "Yup." Xander almost winced.

   "That's where they are holding her.  There's about twenty of them."

 "I'm surprised Jamie hasn't run into them earlier." Willow mused.

 Angel sighed.  "They kept a very low profile. They  only moved in a couple of weeks ago."

 Willow nodded, passing a tired hand threw her red hair, and then taking off her glasses.  "Okay, Angel. Fill us in. What's up?"
 
 
 

 "It's so crazy that Jamie got my old locker!" Cordelia said, allowing herself to smile a little as she ran a hand over the familiar metal structure.  Oz leaned up against it.

 "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" He asked her, peering down the darkened halls.

 "Yeah.  Except life  was less complicated back then." Xander answered, coming up behind them.  Oz and Cordelia both gave him a look.  Xander noticed their glares, and shrugged sheepishly.  "Okay, well I'd like to think so."  He said defensively.  Cordelia rolled her eyes and began to turn the knob on the lock.

 "Yeah, well, let's get what Willow asked us to get and get back there."  Oz gave her a concerned look.

 "You worried about Angel?"

 Cordelia sighed.  "It just strikes me as weird, is all.  He doesn't have a scratch on him, and he never would have left Buffy behind when I knew him."

 "Well, time has a way of changing people, Cordy." Xander quipped, readjusting his tie.

 Cordelia gave him a long look, and shook her head. "Or not at all. And how weird is Giles having a brother he never told us about?" She opened the locker.  Oz peered into it, viewing the various weapons, and stakes and whistled.

 "Wow.  I wonder what she does when they do locker checks."  Xander just shrugged and took out the various items Willow had requested.

 "Hey, check this out!"  Cordelia said, pulling out a Play Girl magazine.  Xander saw it and snatched it away from her.

  "Have you no decency?"

 "No, I have a full year subscription." She snapped, grabbing it back.  "I don't have this one though."

 Oz chuckled, and was about to say something when they all heard a muffled shriek. They froze and then followed Cordelia as she wordlessly dropped the magazine on the floor and sprinted back to the library.

 She pulled open the door and her eyes widened.

 "What the HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!"  Xander shouted, his voice full of rage. Angel held a struggling Willow tightly, his game face on, and he was attempting to drag her out of the back doorway. Cordelia didn't even bother to guess Angel's motive.  She ran toward him and aimed a well placed kick to his chin.  He went down with a growl, and Cordelia took the opportunity to pull Willow up and away from the vampire. Angel got up with a growl, his game face now clear and visible.

 "Stay out of this, Cordelia." He growled.

 "Oh, please, Fang Boy."  Cordelia bit back. "I can take you."  He swung at her and she ducked, but wasn't so lucky with his next punch, and she reeled as his fist connected to her cheek with a crack.

  "Cordelia!" Xander dove toward Angel, but the furious vampire batted the man away as if he were a sack of flour.  Cordelia ignored her bleeding check as she swung around and buried her heel in Angel's stomach.  Angel fell back and crashed into the table, but was up in a second,  sending her flying into a book shelf, causing her to cry out in pain.

 "Ready to give up?"  He growled. Cordelia placed a finger to her broken lip and winced.

  "Dammit, Angel!  What the hell is your problem! Do you realize that I have a premier in two weeks? Can you imagine the headlines?"  She got up painfully.  "Now I'm really pissed."  He uttered a low menacing growl and the two fought in the middle of the library.  Oz, looked up from nursing Willow and saw quickly that Cordelia was losing the fight.  Blood began to seep from her lip and  she groaned as Angel punched her stomach fiercely. Xander rose unsteadily in time to see Cordelia kick Angel in the face.  Angel howled and then, suddenly maddenly furious, rushed to Cordelia, throwing her to the ground
and grabbing a broken chair leg.

 Willow saw with terror the demon in Angel fighting with his soul, and she realized that Angel would really kill Cordelia, or Cordelia would kill Angel, if she didn't stop them. And so she did the only thing that made sense to her.  She saw Angel raise his hand to strike, and shouted.

 "Angel!  No!"  Angel heard Willow's cry and froze.  He looked down at Cordelia, who was watching him with fear and anger in her eyes.  Her lips was bleeding and her body was still.  He looked at his hands, and then suddenly realized what he had been about to do. With a cry of remorse he dropped the club, and fell to the ground , sobbing uncontrollably.

Xander, sensing the danger was over, got up groggily and moved tentatively past Angel to Cordelia.  His heart beat rapidly as he looked down at her.  Reaching down her pulled her to him in a powerful gesture and  held her to him tightly.  Cordelia hugged him back fiercely, feeling his heart beating fiercely against her chest, and they both were silent as they held
each other in a loving embrace.

 "Are you okay?" He whispered, holding a gentle finger to her lip.

 Cordelia looked at his concerned brown eyes and felt her heart well up.  Oh God, she still loved him.  After all she knew, all that happened, she still loved him.  So much.  She almost choked with emotion and broke his grasp, jerking from his touch as if she were electrocuted.

 "I'm fine."  She said hastily, moving away from him, ignoring his hurt look.

 Willow and Oz were oblivious to the two as they looked down at Angel, and Willow, squeezing Oz's hand, let him go and walked to Angel, who looked devastated.

 "Angel?" Willow placed a caring hand on his trembling shoulder. Angel looked up at her forgiving face.

 "I'm sorry."  He whispered through his tears. "I'm so sorry."  Willow smiled.

 "It's okay."

 Willow's sweet words seemed to undo Angel, and he reached for her blindly, hugging her fiercely.  Willow allowed him to cling to her, oblivious to the Wondering glances of the trio that surrounded her and the vampire.

 "What is it? Why did you try to take me?" She asked him gently.

 He sniffed.  "He said he'd kill Buffy if I don't bring you back with me.  He'll kill her."

 "So you were just going to take Willow to him?"  Oz sounded enraged as he looked at Angel.

 Angel looked back at him.  "What choice did I have?  They would kill Buffy, otherwise. And they said they'd keep sending people to Willow to try and kill her. He promised me if I brought Willow to him he wouldn't kill her."  He looked at Cordelia, who had searched for and was now holding a towel to her bleeding cheek and broken lip.  "Are you okay?"

 Cordelia rolled her eyes, and nodded.  "You sure know how to hit a woman, Ang." She said, wincing.

  "Well, you're pretty good yourself." Angel allowed himself a soft smile at the Would Be Slayer.

 "Thanks.  Now YOU explain to my agent why I came back to Hollywood from my vacation looking like a reject from a movie of the week."

 "So what are we going to do?"  Xander said.  "I didn't think they would try and kill Buffy."

 "They won't." Willow answered, looking at the trembling vampire, and helping him up gently.  "You're taking me to them, Angel."

 "Excuse me?"  Cordelia gasped, standing up.  "Will, have you gone insane?!"

 Willow shook her head.  "No.  This is the only way we know for sure who we're dealing with."

 "Will, you're talking about getting held hostage by a bunch of power hungry freaks. You're a very powerful Watcher.  There's no telling what they can do with you in their possession." Angel said, suddenly changing opinions.

 "Skitzo boy is right, Willow."  Xander said.

   "Look,  we'll just pretend, okay?  While I distract what's his name-"

 "Gerard." Xander supplied.

 "Gerard, and you three sneak in, take Buffy and help me and Angel get out."

 "Oh, yeah, sounds real simple, Willow." Oz said angrily.

 "It'll work, trust me!"  Willow said to all of them.  "All we need is some careful planning, and trust in everybody.  Including you, Angel." She turned to him.  "Can we trust you?" Angel sighed, and looked at his friends, who a minute ago he had tried to kill.
Cordelia was looking at him with a resigned sigh.  Xander with anger, but no hate.  Oz was unreadable, but his protective stance next to Willow said it all.  Only Willow's look was frank and open.  She still trusted him.  Even after all this.

 "Yeah, Will.  Yeah you can."

 Willow let her breath out in a rush, and nodded, ignoring Oz's disapproving look. "Okay.  Let's start planning then."
 
 
 

 "Willow... I've prepped tons of stunts before, and I'm telling you right now, there is no way this thing is gonna work."  Cordelia blurted out, rising out of her seat and punching a finger  at the plan that Willow had written out for emphasis.Willow just shrugged her shoulders.

  "Can you think of something better, Ice Queen?" she asked sweetly. When Cordelia couldn't come up with a viable answer, she continued. "Okay then. Then this is how we'll do it. Angel will pretend to take me in through here." She motioned at the paper. "And in the meantime, you guys sneak in through here. Angel doesn't know exactly where they are keeping Buffy, so you guys will have to rush and find her. Once you do-"

 "You having tremendous faith in us, aren't you, Will?" Xander cut in morosely.

 "Once you do." Willow continued, ignoring him. "Oz and Xander get out and Cordy comes back and helps me and Angel get-"

 "Okay stop. Stop right there."  Cordelia got up. "Willow. I appreciate the fact that you think I'm like, Super Chick or whatever, but can I please put things in perspective? Jamie's a Slayer, Buffy's a Slayer! I'm a movie star! You can't put this kind of pressure on me!  I almost got trounced by HIM!"  she finished, pointing at Angel. Angel grimaced.

 Willow stayed silent, and then nodded. "You're right, Cordy. You're not a Slayer. You're something else." With that she got  up and walked to her friend.  "I never told you, but...  you were almost a Slayer."

 "Huh?" all three friends asked at once. Willow looked at all of them.

 "Cordelia was a Slayer in Waiting. Like Kendra was, before she got chosen, like Faith was-"

 "Whose Faith?"  Xander asked.

 "Faith was ... the Slayer chosen after Kendra died.  She was killed by Kikistos, this demon. Jamie was chosen after her."

 "Wait.... So you're saying that... I was this close to becoming a freak?"  Cordelia asked, her voice suddenly wavering.

 "Well, yeah."

 "Augh." And with a tremor in her voice, Cordelia felt her knees give out, and she fell into the chair that a quick thinking Oz had put behind her.

 "Well that does explain why she was so good at all the Slaying thing." Xander mused.

 Oz chuckled. "Once she put her mind to it."  He still remembered the first couple of times he had gone slaying with Cordelia.  The thought of those adventures always made him crack up.

 "So, Cordy, you CAN do this.  Watchers have a relatively strong hold over Slayers. It's physiological.   But you don't. In reality, you're the only one that can do this."

 "Oh." Cordelia was distracted as she said in a small voice.  "Yay me."

 "Okay guys.  You get off here." Willow whispered to the tense trio.  "Cut through those woods and find the entrance.  We should be there in about five minutes. Cordy? You almost done?"  Cordelia nodded as she tied the last  knot that would keep Willow tied up, so Angel could carry her in.  She then took a deep breath, and nodded to the rest of the guys.

 "Good luck Will." Xander whispered.  "Don't get dead." And with that, he slipped out the doorway.

 "Are you sure we don't have any sort of back up plan? I don't know if I can do this, Will."

  "Cordelia, shut up and get out there." Cordelia glared at her, but obeyed as she stepped out the car door.  Oz leaned to get out, suddenly hesitated and turned back.

 "Hey, Willow.  Just one thing."

 Willow glanced at him curiously.  "What is it, Oz?"

 "Here."  He suddenly leaned forward and pulling her quickly to him, kissed her long and hard.  When he finally released her, she was slightly dazed.  "Good luck." He whispered. She gulped and nodded. Turning to Angel, Oz said civilly, "Take care of her."

 "You bet." Angel answered.  Oz nodded, and then stepped out and closed the door. Cordelia stretched quickly before reaching down and grabbing the bag that held the stakes, and weapons.  Quickly she handed them to Xander.

 "Here." Xander took them without comment.

 "Just like old times, hey?"  Oz said, a smile on his face.  Cordelia rolled her eyes.

 "What I wouldn't give to be in my set trailer right now." She muttered.

 "Whatever, let's go." And the pair followed Xander into the darkness of the woods.
 
 

 "Are you sure the bandages aren't too tight?" Angel asked Willow in concern as he drove under the protection of the night.  Willow nodded.

 "I'm okay."  Angel wasn't too sure. Willow certainly looked the part of a hostage. Her eyes were large and wide with terror, and she looked small and delicate, the bruises that Cordelia had carefully applied with stage makeup appeared visible and  painful.  For a moment, Willow looked like the young, scared girl that she was  when he had first met her. Meek, mellow, not at all the powerful Watcher that she would become.  Angel felt his chest grow tight. So much had changed since then. But none of that mattered. They had to save Buffy.  "Okay... Here we go."  He pulled up to the front of the house, making sure no one
saw them as he pulled on his gameface and roughly pulled her out.

 "Let me know if I hurt you." He whispered.  Willow just grunted.  He carried her struggling body to the steps and knocked heavily on the door.  A man with a  gun answered it, and seeing him, let him through.
 

 "Xander." Cordelia's voice was strained.  "do you mind?  You're sitting on my hand!"

 "Huh! Oh." Xander quickly rearranged himself so that he wasn't nestled quite so close to Cordelia's heated body.  "Sorry." He grunted, his face flushing.

 "Hey, Cor." Oz sounded faintly dazed. "I kissed her."

 "You what?"  Xander shushed Cordelia with a glare, and resumed his watch of the area they would have to enter.

 Cordelia kept looking at Oz, and suddenly a smile slid on her face. "Good?" she asked.

 "Awesome." Oz grinned at her, and Cordelia shook her head.  She was about to say something when Xander waved an irritated hand in her face.  After glaring at him, she nodded, and checking her watch, got up slowly, motioning for the others to stay low as they walked down the hill. It was time to make their entrance.
 
 

 "Angel, my pretty boy!"  Gerard clapped his hands together like a little boy as he saw the strong vampire dragging in Willow, who had been kicking at his shins.  A little too realistically for Angel's good.  He grunted and let her go, massaging at his
shin, growling at her.  He was definitely going to let her have it later, when they got out of here. Or if...

 "You did good, Angel, boy!"  Gerard continued, looking down at the Watcher, who glared up at him through a gag.  "Buffy may yet live another day."  He squatted, facing Willow head on , and searched her face.  "She's a pretty one, hey?"  He mused, even as Willow glared at him.  "And spunky too."  He peered down at Willow.  "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Gerard Giles."  He stared at Willow, and sighed. "Now, we are a reputed establishment, there's no reason for this monstrosity."  He added, pointing at the soiled gag Angel had tied on.  "You promise not to yell and scream and make my head hurt if I take that uncomfortable gag off?"  He shouted, as if Willow's inability to speak had also affected her hearing.  Willow continued to glare, and Gerard took that as a yes.

 "There you are." He said, taking it off happily, and then removing her ropes as an incentive. "You see?  All better.  Now we can talk like the nice people we are!"

 Willow stretched her jaw, and forced herself to swallow her fear.  "What do you want Gerard?  If you wanted me to come for dinner, you could of just rang."

 "Oh, that's not my style.  Couldn't stand the possibility of a rejection. I'm mellow like that. Besides, why go through all the trouble when I have Fang guy over there to do my work?"  Angel's jaw tightened.  "Well, I have a friend, of yours, and you probably know it. But I have a couple questions to ask ,before we go into all of that."

 "Such as?"

 "Such as why in the world do you have Cordelia Chase working for you and can you get me a nude autographed picture?"  Willow inwardly groaned.
 
 
 

 "Xander!"  Cordelia hissed, glaring back at her ex.  "That's the third time you've stepped on the back of my shoes!  Are you purposely trying to ruin them?"

 Xander looked hurt.  "Not."

 "Shh."  Oz waved them to silence, as they stopped in the dark deserted hallway that they could only hope to assume led to the basement.  Cordelia had decided to rely on Oz's keen sense of smell,  and she prayed it would get them there. The fact was she was shaking with nervousness.  Xander's ability to get under her skin wasn't helping, and she shook with fear when she realized that Willow's plan relied more on her than anyone.  Her words came back to her.  A would be Slayer.  Oh, eww.  Thank God that didn't happen.  But in reality, Cordelia couldn't help but feel a little gratified.  She had always envied Buffy's strength.  It helped just a little to know she had a little bit of that inside her.  Smiling grimly, she watched as Oz sniffed, the air, his werewolf sense of smell, much keener than any of the others.  "Did Buffy ever wear CK?"  He whispered to Cordy.

 Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know, why?"

 "Yeah, a while ago."  Xander said, coming up from behind, before casting a quick look in back of him.

  "Cause I can smell a very faint trace of it."  Oz said.

 "Well, then let's go, Wolfman."
 

 "You've got Buffy, that much I know." Willow said, rubbing at her wrists.  "Now what I want to know is what you want from me."

 Gerard gave her a blank look.  "Well, DUH!"  he said, rubbing at his neck.  "I want you to join us, Willow!  Think about what a great thing it would be to have you on our side. You're one of the most powerful watchers in the World!  We need you!  The dark side would do you good, Willow."

 "Is Buffy okay?"  Angel growled, leaning forward.  He was immediately held into place by three of Gerard's men.

 "Keep that thing down."  He said, waving absently at Angel.  Willow raised an eyebrow.

 "You know that'll never happen, Gerard.  I can't even believe you are Giles' brother."

Gerard's face hardened, and he stared at Willow with clear eyes.  "You'll help me one way or another, Willow.  And I am so much more the man than Rupert was.  He let his  Slayer lead him.  But me... I'll rule my Slayer with an Iron Fist."

 "Your Slayer?"

 "Of course!  Buffy, or Anne, now I suppose."  He sighed.  "You don't realize what an idiot she's become, Willow. She needs guidance, she really does."

 "She doesn't remember a thing, Gerard, she's blocked it out."

 "Oh, I don't need her to remember all of it.  Just a bit.  Enough for her training to become easy.  The less the better.  I figure, just a look at one of her old friends, you... maybe, would help that along."

 Matthew didn't get much sleep last night.  The Anne girl had been sobbing all night, and her incessant wailing had forced him to lie awake.  Grouchy man, he was.  He didn't know why Gerard even bothered with her.  She was an idiot.  Surely he could see that. Buffy was dead, and the sooner this Anne girl died, the better. He began to nod off, jerking himself awake every few minutes or so.  And he began to dream.

This one was  quite a beautiful dream. And so vivid!!  The sexy movie star, Cordelia Chase, smiled at him from the corridor, and walked toward, sidling in a sexy gait, her grin dazzling and  he felt his throat grow dry as she walked up to him, and put her arms around his neck. "Hey, there."  She breathed, her voice deep and sultry.  Wow, was this a great dream or what?  He had never had a dream this vivid before.  Real sensations came at him.  He skin actually seemed to shiver when she blew on his neck, and he could really almost feel her skin as it pressed against his.  He gazed at her with star struck eyes.

 And suddenly, the pain did become real, as Cordy rammed her knee up between his legs as hard as she could, all the while covering his mouth with her hand so his scream became muffled.   She punched him twice before he had a chance to recover, and then watched almost placidly as he felt to the floor, his hands clutching at his swollen and painful member as he passed out.  Oz and Xander came out of the shadows, sympathetic pains ran rampant on their face.

 "Ow.  Remind me never to get you mad at me, Cor."  Oz said, grimacing.

 "Ditto."  Xander winced.  Cordelia rolled her eyes, and searched the unconscious gatekeeper for a key. She found it, and quickly opened the door, that led to Buffy's cell.  Xander looked over her shoulder and was completely unprepared for what he saw. Buffy lay on the floor in chains.  Her hair, now died a dark brown, was ratted and wild. Bruises covered her face, and dried tears streaked her cheeks. Her eyes were closed, but her stance said it all.  Buffy looked completely defeated.  She didn't' look like Buffy anymore.

"Oh God." He breathed.  Cordelia looked up from Matthew and gasped.  Only Oz managed to not show any expression when he saw Buffy except natural concern

"Come on, let's get her out of here before the others come."  Cordelia and Xander nodded.

  Oz went over to Buffy and gently patted her face.  She awoke with a jerk, her eyes wide and terrified.

 "Oh, please don't kill me please don't"

 "Woah.  Chill, okay?  We're the good guys." Oz said, stroking her face gently. Buffy's mouth closed and she looked up at the trio.

 "What do you want?"

 "Buffy, we're getting you out." Cordelia said, going around her and unlocking her chains with the guard's keys.

 "Who?"

 "She's Anne now, remember?" Xander reminded Cordelia, who only nodded, removing the chains, while Oz stood to keep watch.

 "Come on, Buf-Anne. Let's go."

 "No."

   "What?"

  "No.  They'll come back, they'll find us they'll" Anne's voice became hysterical, and Cordelia rolled her yes and then reached back and soundly slapped her.  Anne's cries ceased. Cordelia almost smiled.  Anne looked up at Cordelia and realized who she was seeing. "Your Cordelia Chase."

 "Oh, yeah." Xander shook his head, feeling deflated.  This was Buffy? What happened to her? Wordlessly he lifted her up, and cradled her against his chest. "Let's go."

Cordelia nodded, and let the group out of the dungeon, and up the stairs to the exit.
 
 

 "Even if you did manage to get some of her memories back, Gerard, what in the world makes you think she would work for you?" Willow asked, crossing her arms.

"Because she will, that's all.  I mean, she sold sex items."

 "She sold lingerie." Angel interrupted.

 "Whatever, she was a wimp, a broken wimp, and a broken wimp, we can mold."

 Willow snorted. "Buffy's always had courage and a good heart, Gerard, there's no way she'd-"

 "You obviously haven't seen her." Gerard said, sounding amused.  "Jack!" He turned, grinning.  "Go get Anne." Willow willed herself not to say a word.   Hopefully, Cordelia and the others had done their job.  Hopefully.
 

 They saw the light ahead, and Cordelia sighed, taking the bag of weapons from Oz. This was it.

 "Okay you guys.  Get out of here."

  Xander turned and looked at her. "Cordy.... I..." She looked at him, and he felt himself choke up.  "Good luck." He finished.  She nodded to him, and smiled at Oz, before turning back.

 "Gerard!"  Jack roared as he ran back into the room..  "Buffy- Anne, whatever her name is, is gone!!!"

 "What?"

 "She's gone!  Mathew is freaking unconscious and Anne is gone." Gerard swung back to Willow and Angel.

 "You.... Bitch." He growled, swinging a hand at Willow's cheek. The contact forced her to fall back.  Angel suddenly roared, and with a strength the others couldn't hold, threw them off, and began fighting his way to Gerard.

 "Hold him!" Gerard called, and five more men came into the room to assist with the violent Angel.  "Have mercy on you now, boy." Gerard grimaced.
 
 

 "Here, take her." Oz peered into the night air.

 "What?"

 "Take Buffy, go to where we said we'd meet. I'm going back." Oz stared at Xander,and nodded.

 "Be careful."  Xander nodded, before taking a deep breath and walking back toward the mansion.
 
 

 "What the bloody hell do I pay you people for?" Gerard growled, looking at his men. "You, you and you." He pointed. "Go and search the perimeter, they couldn't be far."   The men dispersed, and Gerard looked at Willow, shaking his head and he clucked softly."This can't be good for you." Willow just smiled coyly.
 

 Cordelia felt a tap on her shoulder, and she jumped, swinging around to pummel the intruder.  Xander caught her arm.

 "Xander!"  she looked at his face.  "What are you doing here?"

 He shrugged. "Getting myself killed, probably." She just looked at him, and smiled softly.

"Come on."
 

 "Face it, Gerard, Giles would have done better." Willow saying, licking the blood from her lip.  Gerard roared,  pulling his hand back to hit her again when suddenly a flurry of movement caught his attention.   A man flew through the open doorway, and then right after him, a figure back flipped into the room, and landed a foot straight into Gerard's stomach.  Xander ran in after Cordelia and barreled into the men who held Angel.  Angel threw the rest of the men off, and began to assist Xander in pummeling them.

  Gerard looked  stunned as he saw the woman looking at him. "You... you're Cordelia Chase."

 "Autographs signings are later." She said, and pulled out a .45, pointing it at his chest.  "Don't move."

 Gerard looked at it in flabbergasted belief. "That's a gun!  You cheated!"

 "Cordelia!" Willow moved over her to look over her friend's shoulder.  "Where did you get that?"

 "These guys aren't vamps, Will, I can shoot them, can't I?" Cordelia bit. The room stood still, all the men were watching Cordelia and her gun.  "Now, you're Gerard, aren't you?" She continued, motioning with her gun.  "Listen thugs, I'll take him out, I promise.  So you three over there with the rifles?  Down." They just stood there.  She cocked the gun.  Gerard whimpered.

 "Do what she says!"  They obeyed.  Cordelia gave them a dazzling smile.

  "Thank you. Angel, Willow, Xander, get out of here." They all obeyed except Xander, who stood with Cordelia.

 "Come on, Cordy, let's get out of here." Cordelia looked around at the thugs.  As soon as she left, they would be after them all.  She needed to find some way to keeping them here.  Suddenly she grinned.

 "All of you.  Off with your clothes.  Now."
 

 Oz hid in the corner until he saw the men who went searching for him go into the woods.  When he saw that, he dragged Buffy by the hand and pulled her into Angel's car. Immediately Angel and Willow burst into the night air and jumped into the car. Angel immediately grabbed the hysterical Buffy and held her close.

 "Are you okay?" She just whimpered.  Oz inspected Willow, and noticed her lip.

"That's not makeup." He pointed out.

She shook her head."No, it's not."  His jaw tightened, and he didn't say a word.

"Cordy better get out here soon, " she muttered.  They waited in apprehension for a full eight  minutes, and then Cordy and Xander ran out of the house, huge grins on their faces.

  They jumped into the car, and Oz screeched off.

 "What are you two so happy about?" he asked suspiciously.  They gave each other a smile.

 "Nothing." And then they both cracked up.
 

 Gerard had never been so angry in his life. His men were idiots.  An ACTRESS beat them. An ACTRESS.  And she had utterly humiliated all of them.  Oh... she was going to pay.  As soon as he got his clothes back.  And as soon as they all got out this dire predicament of being stuck in the dungeon with all of him men, completely naked.  So they lost their  Slayer. They would get another.  And heaven help the group of children that dared to take him on. Heaven help them.  He was through with niceties...with deals.  Now... they were going to pay.

 "No!  Look, I don't what you are talking about, but you are nuts!  There is no way-"

Xander sighed, and rubbed at his head as he listened to Buffy/Anne once again explain to them that they were all nuts.  Seeing Buffy this way, bruised, idiotic, almost, it made him feel so incredibly sad. One thing hadn't changed, though, Buffy was still stubborn as a mule. They had been sitting in Cordelia's suite for three hours trying to convince her that she was the Slayer. And she would have none of it.  Willow lay sprawled on the bed, her eyes half closed in frustration. Oz had his guitar out, absently strumming chords. Cordelia was painting her nails calmly. Only Angel and Xander  seemed to refuse to give up.

 "You are all psychos!"  Buffy said anxiously.

 Cordelia suddenly groaned, and she rose, quiet until now. "Listen, Buffy-"

 "Anne."

 "Buffy. Anne. Whatever.  You can call yourself Barney for all I care. I don't care if you think we're the new Heaven's Gate cult." She walked up, looking extremely intimidating to  the hapless Buffy.  "I don't care if you do believe that Angel is a vampire. I don't care if you believe vampires even exist!  You can think whatever you want in that weird mental state of yours. But you better believe that those guys that held you are REAL, and they are coming after all of us. And unless you wanta become the next meal of the day, I suggest you just stop being a baby and at least try being the Slayer we knew you were!"

 Everyone sat up, all focusing on Cordelia's rant.  She paid them no mind, just continued to stare at Buffy. "You think I LIKE being here?  You think I risked my life to come from Hollywood and get you out of that place for kicks?  We saved your life, Buffy, but you gotta chip in too."  With that, Cordelia sighed, and sank back into her chair. The room got quiet.

 Buffy gave them all a long look, and then after a second, picked up the faded piece of paper that held all of their signatures.

 "Slayerettes?"  She said incredulously.  Xander blushed.

 "Well, it may sound dorky now, Buff-, I mean Anne. but back then we thought it was pretty serious."

 "Besides, it was better than the Scooby Gang." Cordelia added, resting her head on her palm.

 There was a silence, as the group surrounded Buffy, their faces resigned, and their expressions questioning.  As Anne looked at each of them, she searched her memory for anything that could help her remember at least a trickling about any of them.  But nothing came to mind.  Her eyes drifted past each face.  The girl, she dimly recalled her name was Willow, had short chin length red hair, she looked tired, but her eyes were filled with warmth and compassion.  Anne felt the urge to smile back. Angel, her sort of date, had eyes filled with concern and passion.  She felt her heart flutter.  Oz, always recognizable rock star Oz,
sat next to Willow placidly, as if fully trusting her to make a decision. She felt calm.  The tall handsome boyish man in the tie had a half smile, and his eyes were pensive and thoughtful, leaning backwards on the chair. Anne felt the urge to laugh.  Finally, her eyes drifted to the famous Cordelia Chase.  She looked tired, mentally and physically.  But she still look beautiful.  Buffy felt slightly intimidated.  She sighed.  Why did this happen? Her life was simple.  Her catalogue was taking off.  And then one day, she met a dark handsome man and her entire life changed. And this group, this strange ensemble that she never expected to be together, were telling her that she was this Super Person, that vampires existed, that she used to fight them, and that they all used to be her best friends. How much was too much?  But as she saw the truth in their eyes, she felt her heartbeat quicken.  It had to be true... and yet... it was so impossible.  And yet those guys were after her.  And this group HAD saved her lives...

 "I have to trust you, don't I?" she muttered.  The group raised their heads, and small smiles came onto their faces.

 "Yeah."  Willow said, smiling.

 "I ... uh... I have to call my company. Tell them I'll be taking an extended vacation.." she began slowly.  "and there's something else," she said, before swallowing.

 "What?" Oz asked, leaning forward.

 She looked at Cordelia.  "Cordelia Chase has to agree to model for one catalogue."  Cordelia's eyes widened. " You want me to model lingerie?!" she asked in disbelief.

"I am a A movie actress! Do you know what that will  do to my stock?"

 "Well, I for one, am all for it." Xander said, a grin emerging.  Cordelia glared at him.

 "Cordelia..." Oz began, a warning tone in his voice.  Cordelia looked at him, and then her shoulders slumped.

 "Fine." she said finally, sighing.  "One cover only. And you'll have to work it out with my agent when this is all over."

 "Good."  Willow looked relieved.  "So I say we get started, okay?"

 "Just one thing." Xander piped up, turning to Cordelia once again.  "Where did you learn to use a gun?"

 Cordelia rolled her eyes.  "I got a license.  When I got attacked by that guy that one time, I was given permission to walk around armed.  I don't actually do it, though.  Today was the first time I brought the gun out."

 "See, I get groupies screaming and tearing at my clothes."  Oz explained.  "Cordelia gets actual stalkers sometimes.  If they think she can defend herself, fewer try and do ... stuff."

 "Oh, the price of fame." Xander quipped, but his concern was evident in his eyes. Cordelia shrugged.

 "No more dangerous than having to slay." she said, getting up.  "You ready, Buffy-, I mean Anne?" Anne took a  breath, and nodded.

 "Teach me how to kick ass." she agreed. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

 "Well, first we gotta put you into something other than heels."

 "Anne... no, that's not it."  Willow looked up from Cordelia's desk in her suite to see her haggard face as Buffy attempted a move.  "You need to use your whole body behind the blow. For Goodness sakes, you hit like a girl."

 "I AM a girl."

 "It doesn't mean you have to hit like one."

 Willow  smiled softly, before turning back to her laptop.  Jamie hadn't emailed. Either that or her emails had gotten lost in the shuffle when the thugs had come and raided her library.

  "Anything?"  Willow looked up to see Oz looking down at her.  She felt her heart start beating faster.

  "Well, Jamie hasn't emailed, but other than that..." she trailed off, feeling herself blush.  They hadn't really had any time to actually talk since bringing Buffy home, but Willow could still  feel his kiss burning on her lips. What did it mean?

 As if he could see the question in her eyes, Oz half smiled, sitting down next to her and covering his hand with hers.

 "Look." he began.  "I know things are really confusing right now." He squeezed her hand.  "But I want you to know that when this is all over... I want to try and work something out.  I miss you Willow."

 Willow let his words sink in, and she smiled, feeling her chest lighten.  Could he actually be saying this to her? His eyes searched hers and she let the brightness in her eyes speak for her.  He grinned, and leaned forward, kissing her once lightly.
 

 "Ow! Can you hit a little less harder?"  Buffy, or Anne, blew at the bruise that formed on her arm, and Cordelia sighed.  Anne was such a wimp.  Buffy, if you ever come back, I'm kicking your ass, she decided mentally.

 "Look, let's take a break, okay?" she finally said, stretching. Anne nodded.

 "Let's talk contract." she began.

 "Let's not." Cordelia retorted, getting annoyed. "I meant a break from each other." she clarified, and ignoring Buffy's hurt face, walked to Willow and Oz.
 

 "She's driving me crazy." she muttered, settling down.  Willow and Oz gave each other an amused look.

 "Is anything coming back to her?"

 "Nada. All she does is complain when I hit her, and then talk contracts. Augh.  I never thought Id say it, but I miss Buffy."

 Oz grinned. "I'm sure she's in there somewhere."

 "Well, there are some memory release spells-" Cordelia and Oz froze when Willow spoke.

 "No, no spells, Willow." Cordelia said bluntly, getting up, and walking to her room.

 Willow looked after Cordelia.  "What does she mean, no spells?" she asked, looking at Oz, completely bewildered at Cordelia's change of face. Oz looked uncomfortable, and said nothing.  Willow looked blankly into his eyes, and then her eyes widened as she realized what they said. "Oh... I get it. " she said, turning from him.  "I mean, it was me and my spells that ruined all of our lives in the first place, right?  Why go there?"

 "Willow." Oz began heavily.

 "No, Oz. I get it." she said, obviously hurt. She moved her hand from his, and getting up. "You don't trust me."

 "Willow-"

 Willow didn't listen, her eyes filling with tears, as she got up and walked from Oz.
 

 Cordelia ran her hand tiredly across her face as she walked in the hallway to her room.  Once was for sure, this suite was way too small for six people. But the library was too risky right now, and these guys were too big on prophecy. At least here she had guards. Still... the proximity wasn't doing her and Xander any good.  She felt his presence acutely now, and the knowledge that she still loved as much as she had three years ago didn't help any.  She remembered the night she left Sunnydale, he had asked her for one last dance. She remembered how she fought not to cry in his arms that night, how his eyes were full of
emotion and feeling.  It took all her will not to turn away and tell him that she could forgiveanything.  And if he had said a word, just one word, asking her to stay, she would have. But he didn't.  And she had left.   She turned into her room, and let out a shriek when she almost ran smack into him.

 "Oh... Sorry." he said, trying to move aside.

 "Sorry." she mumbled, also trying to move aside, the problem was, they both moved the same way.  They were inches apart, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body. In desperation, she moved the other side, obviously, they were on the same wavelength, because he moved at the same time. They moved again and again, each desperate to get away from the other's haunting presence, until finally, Cordelia sighed, and motioned for him to move. He stared at her intensely, then swallowed, and moved through the small space. She turned from him, to walk into her room, when she suddenly felt his hand grab her wrist,
turning her and pulling her back to him.  She smacked against his chest, and felt his hands slide around her waist as he held her to him.  Then, so quickly she couldn't stop it, his head descended and his lips captured hers.  She felt herself groan helplessly as his lips began to possess hers, and unconsciously began to respond just as hungrily.  They pushed against each other, each lost in the others embrace.  His lips released hers and began to move softly against her neck, she closed her eyes and shivered as the contact filled her with warmth.  She pressed her lips against the skin below his ear, and felt him catch his breath. Their lips found each other, and their mouths opened to each other, Xander kissing her intimately.

 "Oh! Sorry!" Xander and Cordelia jumped three feet apart at the sound of Angel's voice.  Angel was grinning like a fool, but looked genuinely sorry that he had interrupted.  "I just needed to go talk to Willow." he said.  Cordelia, flushed, and completely out of it, just nodded, letting Angel through.  God what did she just do?  She didn't look at Xander as she
turned to him.

 “Cordelia!” she didn’t stop, so he grabbed her wrist again. She jerked from his grasp. A hurt look came into his eyes, but he shook it off quickly

. "Look... uh.. we need to talk."  She sighed, and nodded.

 He followed her into her room, and Cordelia, realizing that the bed wasn't perhaps the best place to begin this little chat, chose to sit on the chair.

 "Okay." she began unsteadily, "Let's chat."

 "Hey Willow." Angel's voice trailed off when he realized that everyone in the living room was at least ten feet apart. Willow was sitting on the couch, her desk top apparently the most fascinating thing in the world. Oz was sitting at the desk, twanging at his guitar lamely. Buffy, or Anne, was sitting  on the floor, apparently spent. Willow looked, up, her eyes blood shot.

 "What is it, Angel?" she asked him.  He just shook his head.

 "Nothing. I forgot." Willow turned back to her desktop. At his voice, Buffy had looked up. Smiling softly, he walked to her.  His smile faltered when he saw the wary look in her eyes.

 "Are you okay?" he asked.

 She swallowed, and then looked down at her hands.  "Look... Angel.  There's something that's been bothering me lately."

 He sat down and nodded.  "What is it?"

 "Umm.. If all this crazy talk it true.. I mean, with me being a Slay person and Willow being my watching person and all... then.." she looked up to meet him.  "That probably means the rest of it is true, right?"

 He nodded, not quite understanding what she meant.

  "And that means that everything that I've been reading about in the old Watcher's journals, about me and you is true, too, right?"

 Angel felt his throat go dry, and swallowed. "Yeah, Buff-Anne." he rasped.

 "And that means that you're a .... a vampire?"  Angel stood stock still, and then feeling himself faint, he nodded.  Anne swallowed heavily, and then moved a few feet away from him.

 "Okay... I just wanted to clarify." And with that, she got up, and walked to Willow. And Angel felt more dead than he had ever been.
 

 "So... um.... Cordy. I - uh... what happened, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to lose control like that."

 Cordelia sighed at Xander's repentant face.  "Xander we both kissed. It wasn't exactly one-sided."

   "True, but we- you know what I mean. But I'm glad it happened." Cordelia closed her eyes as she saw where the conversation was going.  Did she had the strength to say no again?  She had meant what she had said to Willow. She didn't believe Xander ever really loved her like she loved him.  But could she say no?  Xander's face blushed so wonderfully
just now...Where was Oz when she needed him? Oh, right stuck in his own bizarro love triangle.  "Look... Cordelia.. I guess what I'm saying is that-"

 "Xander!"  Anne burst into the room. Oh thank god. Cordelia felt her whole body deflate with relief.

 "What?" Xander asked, a trifle of annoyance in his voice.

 "It's the phone, it's for you."

 Xander stared at Cordelia intensely. " Can you take a message?"

 "Well, I would, but she said it was important. It's your mother." Xander winced, and then sighed, and got up.

 “How’d she get this number?” Cordelia asked suddenly.  “Nobody is supposed to know we’re up here.”

 Anne just shrugged.  “I guess it leaked out.”

 Xander  just nodded. “I’ll be right there.“ He smiled at Cordy. “Probably wants an autograph.” He grinned.

 Cordelia didn’t have the gumption to smile back.  Too many things were flashing through her mind.  He saw the tired look in her eyes, and his smile faltered.

 "We'll talk later." he promised her huskily.  Cordelia only nodded mechanically. Almost regrettingly, he got up and walked out of the room. Anne stayed behind.

 “Not if I can help it.” Cordelia muttered.  Seeing Cordelia's haggard face Anne frowned.

 "Is it just me or is everyone here having serious relationship problems?" She said, plopping on Cordelia’s bed with a groan.  Cordelia smiled grimly at her comment.

 "Buffy, you don't remember the half of it.  Why do you think I left Sunnydale?"

 "Pretty much the same reason I guess I left." Cordelia's eyes widened and she sat up straighter.

 "Do you remember?"

 Anne shook her head slowly.   "No, but if this is just a taste... I can pretty much figure it out."  Cordelia smiled grimly.

 "You and I were never best friends, you know."

  Anne smiled softly. "I kind of figured that out too.  But you stayed, didn't you?  You made the promise.  Took my place."

 Cordelia shook her head. "Don't  start thinking I'm noble or anything.  Willow’s the noble one. She gave up her whole life for this. I stayed for only five years.  And even then, I did it cause no one else could."

 "And why do you think that is?" Anne cocked an eyebrow.  "I think we've had our break, don't you?" she said pointedly.  Cordelia said nothing, but nodded.

 "Yeah, I think I could do with some major butt kicking."

 "So  what is he waiting for?" Oz asked as they sat around that night, eating takeout. Willow said nothing as she reached for the carton. He handed it to her silently.

 Cordelia shrugged, taking the noodles from Angel.  "I don't know.  They should have gotten out of the dungeon by now."

 Xander grinned.  "That was one of your better plans." Cordelia gave him a small smile.

   "I'm worried about Jamie." Willow announced. Angel nodded.

 "Me too."

 "Now wait Jamie is... who?" Anne popped up, grabbing a won ton.

 "The other Slayer."  Xander answered.

 "Wait, I thought there was only one."  Willow's mouth was full, so Cordelia decided to fill in.

  "Yeah, there was... but see, you died once."

 Anne choked, and began to sputter for her breath.  "I died?"

 Angel and Willow straightened up, and gave each other worried looks.

 "Yeah.. but.. um.. you only drowned" Willow began sheepishly.  "And um... it wasn't THAT bad.. and-"

 "Hey, I saved Willow's life!" Cordelia said chirpily, reaching for an eggroll.

 "And me and Angel, we razzed you up." Xander added

. "It's a long story." Oz finished.  "Of which I'm sure you will remember."  Other heads nodded, Anne didn't look exactly comforted, but she remained quiet.

 "So what's up with Jamie? Why the worry?" Xander asked.

 "She hasn't emailed. We had an agreement.  We'd email safety messages.  I haven't gotten one."

 "That or it could have been lost in the shuffle."

 "So then, she wouldn't have gotten your emails and come back."

 "Meaning trouble." Angel said, filling in for Cordelia.

 Willow nodded, sighing. " All of the above."

 "See?" Oz, back to his placid self, despite his tiff with Willow, smiled. "We still make an awesome think tank." The door rapped loudly, and they all looked up.

 "There's a message for Miss Chase!" A doormen called. Curious glances fell on Cordelia, who just shrugged.  She motioned to Oz, who followed her to the doorway, the others stayed where they were, making sure they were hidden from the door.

 Taking a breath, she opened the door. The doorman smiled goofily at her, and bowed, handing her an envelope.  "It' s been run through the scanners, only paper in it." She nodded, and handed him a five.  He pocketed, and smiled again.  She gave him a look.  He shifted, and suddenly began to burst. "Oh, Cordelia I just have to tell you I just love you! I mean the way you kick ass on your show! And It Happened on Saturday, I've seen it eight times! You're just so beautiful-"

 "Okay!" Oz stepped in front of the overwhelmed Cordelia.  "That's enough."  The bellboy's eyes rested on Oz and a huge smile emerged.

 "Oz!  Man you rock!  I just KNEW you two were together! This is so great! I told all my friends that that statement about the two of you not eloping was a crock, I knew-"Oz sighed, and slowly pushed him out the door, nodding.

 "And you two are so  great together! I mean, hey can I have an autogra-" Oz pushed him out and slammed the door shut. He leaned against it, and sighed, and then gave Cordelia a resigned look.

 She just shrugged.  When they looked back at the group, they were all silent. "Yes, that's how it always is." Cordelia answered for them, before plopping back in her chair.

 "I can see why you decided to give it up to face demons and monsters again." Anne mused, staring at the door.  "That was just scary.'

 "This is only temporary" Cordelia said sharply, ignoring Xander's look. " And besides, it's not always that bad." she defended. "Sometimes it's nice."

 Willow half smiled.  "So  what's the note say?" Cordelia looked down at it, and opened it quickly.  She scanned over it once, and her expression became unreadable. Concerned looks floated on the others faces, and they looked at her curiously. Cordelia remained frozen, reading it two more times, and then looking up at her old friends.

 "Here." she said, handing it to Willow. Willow took it questioningly, and read it herself.  Closing her eyes, she sighed, leaning back against the chair.

 "Will, what is it?" Xander finally asked.    When Willow opened her eyes, they were bright, and they met Cordelia's in mutual worry and sadness

 "You remember our little hunch about Jamie not getting my responses and coming back to find out what's wrong?"
 Heads nodded.  "Well..  we were right."

 "But Gerard found her first." Cordelia broke in.  "That's why we haven't heard from him."

 "How did he-"

 "He must have tricked her.  Jamie doesn't know about all of this, right?"

 Willow nodded her head morosely.  “ I wanted to keep her out of this. As a Slayer, she’s vulnerable. That’s why I sent her away.” Willow ran a hand through her hair. “I should have told her.”

 “Willow, you can’t blame yourself.”  Oz said, reaching a hand over and squeezing hers gently. Willow was unsure to react to this show of support.  “None of us do.” Oz said meaningfully.  Willow gave him a small smile, and leaned her head back, fogoing the rekindlement until better times.

 "They have her, and in exchange, they want Buffy back."  Heads swiveled to Anne. Anne gave them all a shocked look.

 "Are  they insane?"

 "No.  They say if they get Buffy back, they won't hurt her, but if they don't get her in twenty four hours, they'll kill Jamie."  Willow said, her voice barely registering.

 "Oh, god." Cordelia covered her face with her hands.  "They've really got us here."

 "We can't let them get away with this-"

 "I'll go."  Anne said in a small voice.

 "What?"  Shocked looks passed on everyone as they looked at Buffy

. "Buffy you can't -"

 "Look, you guys know this is the only way to do it.  Jamie at least knows who she is!" Anne felt her voice shake, but continued. "And I'm at least... I don't know anything. Cordelia's only trained me a couple days.  With Jamie you guys stand a better chance, and I... you guys can try to get me  out."

 Angel still looked furious. "Buffy.. no-"

 "Angel." Willow laid an arm on her old friend.  "As much as I hate to admit it, Buffy makes sense."

 "She's finally acting like Buffy." Cordelia breathed, her eyes shining from the tears that were half formed in them.

 "We'll try and break up the trade.  We'll ambush...  we'll get you back, Buffy." Xander promise, squeezing Anne's hand.

 Anne didn't even bother to correct them all about her name.  Her sacrifice made sense, she knew, but the way they looked at her now, they saw recognition in her.  It almost seemed as if for the first time , they saw Buffy in her.  And Buffy was pretty great, or so they told her. Anne felt her heart beating louder and louder from fear, but forced herself to calm down.  Now that they saw Buffy.. Anne guessed she could see it herself

 Only Willow and Cordelia were allowed to go with Buffy to the trade off spot. Gerard had chosen a clearing in the woods.  It was easy to ambush, which was exactly what Willow and Cordelia had been afraid of. Gerard, for all his blood relation to Giles, was nothing like him.  He wasn't honorable, or honest.  That meant immediate ambush.  Angel, Oz and Xander all hid in the trees behind them, but the girls knew that if anything happened, they would have a hard time getting to them in time.  Cordelia, sensing Buffy's nervousness, reached over and squeezed an arm supportably.  Buffy took a deep breath and clung to
Cordelia. For once, Cordelia didn't comment. This was absolutely nuts. When they spotted the men, Cordelia immediately shook off her friend, and raised her gun straight at them. The moonlight hindered their site a little, but it shown on the men perfectly. Gerard and  five of his men were in the middle of the clearing.  Two of them had guns, two were holding Jamie,
and the young girl looked awful.  Cordelia held her gun steady as they advanced.   When they finally stopped, ten feet from them, the standoff was quite clear.

 "Well," Gerard began, apparently amused. "If it isn't Charlie's Angels."   When they didn't' respond, he smiled.  "Buffy, so glad you decided to join us."

 Anne suppressed a  whimper as she saw her fellow Slayer's beat up  face.  What the hell was she DOING?  It took all her strength not to turn and run right now.

 "So, how do you want to do this?"  Willow called out, keeping her voice steady.

 "Same ole’ Western movie way.  They walk, we grab them, we leave. She walks to us, Jamie walks to you. Nice, simple."  Willow nodded. Cordelia took a deep breath, not taking her eyes off the men when she whispered urgently to Buffy.

 “I swear, Buffy.  We’ll get you out of this. I promise.” The oath came out unsteady, but the conviction was clear in the two tears that stained her cheeks. “Even if it kills us.” Anne smiled tightly.

 "The way you guys promise stuff, I believe you."  Willow hugged her friend tightly. Anne felt her heart failing, but she turned, and slowly left the comfort of her two friends, and walked slowly to Gerard.  Jamie stumbled to Willow, all while Cordelia kept her gun steady.

When Buffy reached Gerard, he grabbed her and smiled, kissing the top of her head.  "It's the prodigal daughter!" he exclaimed.

 Willow hugged her Slayer. “Are you okay?” Jamie groaned, but nodded.

 “Can I kill them now?” she whispered back unsteadily, tears forming in her blue eyes.  “They told me they had you, they said that they would kill you, and I didn’t know where you were-”

 “Shh.” Willow pulled Jamie close to her, and gave her Slayer a comforting hug. “It’s okay.”
 

 The two men kept their guns on Cordelia, and Gerard bowed to them all.  "Okay then, I guess we leave now!" he exclaimed exuberantly.  They began to walk slowly back. Silence followed.
 

 "No!!!!!!Buffy!!!!"  A primeval scream ranged from the trees, and before Willow could stop him, Angel burst into the clearing, his  game face on, and streaked past the group of girls, towards the men.  The two men with guns unloaded their bullets into Angel's body, and he jerked and fell down, his body still.

"Don't you idiots!" Gerard shouted, still holding Buffy.  "He's a vampire! He can’t die!!!" Suddenly bullets began to fly, Cordelia shot twice, bringing down one man , and barreling into Willow and  Jamie, until they were hidden in the grass.Gerard peered into  the darkness."Show yourselves!" he called out, holding Anne, whose eyes began to fill with tears of terror.  "I've got three more men back there!"

 "No you don't !"  Xander and Oz came up from behind, each dragging an unconscious thug.

 "We ambushed your ambush." Oz explained. Cordelia suddenly jumped up and kicked one of the thugs in the face. He reeled, but didn't go down. Jamie closed the distance, and kicked the gun out of the other man's hand.  Soon Oz and Xander were locked in combat with the other two. One of them threw dirt in Oz's face, and he yelped.  The man hit Oz in the face with a stone, and he fell back, blood streaming from his still form.  Cordelia was flipped, and hit her head on a stone, and she groaned as the man kicked her roughly in the ribs. Xander went down a second later.  Jamie fought two men at once, Cordelia barely
managing to stay conscious when Willow tried to get the other man off her. He batted her away.

 Anne struggled in Gerard’s arms, watching the scene through blurred eyes.  Her mind was reeling.  Xander, Oz, Willow and Angel, all were lying around the clearing, their forms still.  Cordelia was barely holding off her men, and Jamie was fighting off three of her own.  She wouldn’t last much longer. She had to protect them... they were her friends.  They risked everything for her.  They would for her, for each other. They had each other.. that’s why she had left. She thought she had no one. But she did.. She had them.  She had them! And suddenly, in a burst of energy, Buffy flipped Gerard over her shoulder.  The move
shocked her more than anything. When did she learn that? And then it happened. Anne began to remember.   The sword in Angel’s gut, the stone demon, the bus.. the urge to forget.. the crashing bus... oh god, she remembered!   Buffy jumped up and landed a flying side kick at the head of one of Jamie’s men.  He fell back.  Catching the  arm of another, she punched him in the stomach, and then cracked a bone splitting  kick to his jaw, knocking him unconsious.  Jamie barely registered her shock, fighting off her last foe.  Buffy flipped over to Cordelia and pushed the thug out of her way.

 “Listen you jerk, Cordy and me may have not gotten along, but she’s still my bud.” she snapped, and proceeded to pummell him.  Cordelia rose unsteadily, looking at Buffy in shock.

 “Buffy?” she whispered.

 Buffy smiled.  “In the flesh.” And to prove her point, gave her opponent a swinging round kick.  Cordelia grinned.

 “Remind me to kick your ass later.” She said, and noticed movement to her far left. Groggily, she reached down and retrieved her gun, moving unsteadily but swiftly to Gerard as he tried to crawl away.  Without a word, she laid the cold metal of the barrel of the gun on his neck.  He froze.  Buffy fought off the thug, and then walked swiftly to Gerard.  She glanced at Cordelia.  Blood was streaming from the actress’ face, and she was visibly struggling for consousness, but she kept her ground and the gun steady.  Buffy laid a supporting hand on her shoulder, and smiling supportively,  slowly took the gun from her,
and then moving slowly, faced Gerard. Cordelia grinned back gratefully, and closing her eyes thankfully, sank to the ground, resting a minute, before crawling unsteadily to where Xander lay.

 “What the hell is your problem, hmm?” Buffy demanded, shaking the gun at the renegade Watcher. “You kidnap me, torture me, my friends, and try to kill us all, you’re a bastard lowlife!” She cocked the gun and brought it to his face.  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”

 Gerard swallowed, but smiled charmingly.  “Family?” he tried.

 Buffy shook her head.  “Don’t even try to compare yourself with him. Giles was so much more than you.” she said, realizing her Watcher was dead with a shaking voice.

 “Buffy.” She glanced up to see Cordelia holding up a dazed Xander, who was looking at her as if he had finally found an old friend.

 “Hey, Xandman.” she grinned.  “Nice to be back.”

 “Buffy you can’t kill him.”  Willow was sitting up, rubbing at her head.  “He’s not a demon.”

 Buffy scrunched her nose, and looked back at Gerard.  “Damn.”

 “I would suggest jail.” Oz said.

 “Nope.  What could we charge him with without implicating a gun toting Cordelia?”

 “Watcher Jail!” Jamie suggested happily, rubbing at her numerous bruises.   Willow smiled at her Slayer. Cordelia looked curious.

 “There’s  a Watcher jail?”

 “Oh, yeah,” Jamie nodded for emphasis, “For guys like these-”

 “Well,” Willow clarified. “It’s more of giving them to the  Council to deal with and judge as they see fit.  The Watchers deal with the renegades in their own way.”

 Gerard groaned.  “Out of anyone, I’m getting judged by those bloody psychos?” he muttered to himself.

 Buffy frowned.  “Well if I can’t kill him, can I hit him?” Willow nodded.  Buffy suddenly smiled. “Okay.” And with that, she trounced him unconsious with the butt of the gun.   He fell to the ground.  Buffy stared at the satisfying sight, and then dropping the gun, turned back to her friends.

 “Where’s Angel?” she breathed.  The group shrugged.  A groan arose from the clearing, and Buffy ran to the source, the injured group running slowly behind her.  She kneeled down beside the vampire, and sucked in her breath. Blood was all over him. Carefully, she reached down and gathered his upper body up over her knees.  Patting his face gently, she spoke.

 “Angel?”

 Angel uttered a groan, and opened his eyes slowly.  Seeing Buffy staring down at him, her eyes shining, he felt dizzy.

 “Buffy?” he  whispered.  She nodded, and smiled.

 “I’m back.”  He grinned weakly.

 “Hi.”

 Buffy grinned back.  “Hi.”

 “So you ran away.” Angel’s eyes looked haunted, as he looked up at Buffy, who in turn, gave him a shaky smile before reaching for another bandage.

 “Yeah.” she swallowed.  “It all seemed like too much... I had .... I had killed you.... and Willow...and Xander...well... they had Oz and Cordelia.   They didn’t need me anymore.” Buffy chuckled nervously.  “I mean look at them, they did fine on their own,
forming that Promise, and stuff.”

 “Buffy.” Angel shook his head, grimacing at the pain his body had endured being riddled with bullets.  “No one was okay.  They’ve all been miserable for  the past eight years. And in  the end... Cordelia, Oz and Xander all ran away.  And Willow... she stayed because she had to.”

 “She stayed when I couldn’t.” Buffy carefully wiped at the blood, and rebandaged the wound.  “Yeah.  Willow was always the strong one. Even when she was alone.”

 Angel shook his head. “She wasn’t alone. She had me.” Buffy looked at him, his beautiful face, and felt herself overwhelmed  with emotion.

 “Oh, God, Angel.” she suddenly breathed, feeling her eyes flood with tears.  “I... I can’t believe it’s really-”

 “Buffy.” Angel carefully reached up and slowly drew Buffy down to him, holding her to him tightly.  “It’s okay.”

 “No, Angel, it’s NOT okay!” Buffy choked, looking up at his face.  “Don’t you see? Nothing’s changed! After all this time.... I still love you... I still.... I still want you.  I still want to be with you. And I can’t.” she wiped at a tear that began to form.  “Even when I didn’t remember... even when I was scared because you were a vampire... even then I still wanted you. .  . It’s almost like I didn’t care.... And Angel, I’ve had a normal life!  I know what it’s like to live a life and not have to worry about saving the world every other minute!”  She sat up, sighing, her voice heavy with emotion.  “Don’t get me wrong... I’m happy to be back... really I am.  I’ve always wondered if the doctors were right about me getting my memories back eventually. But... but it just seems so hard to come back to this... after all this time...”

 Angel swallowed carefully, watching Buffy battle with her inner emotions.  She was right.  She had been happy.   He had learned of her past when he had found her.  The bus that had taken her out of Sunnydale had crashed, Buffy had hurt her head severely while trying to help the others out of the bus, and she had blacked out, and when she woke up, she had no clue who she was.  And that was probably aided not just a little, Angel guessed, from the mystical energy from the Hellmouth.   The rest went like a fairy tale.  The doctor in Arizona who treated her was a kindly older man, whose own daughter had died recently.  He and his wife took“Anne”, as Buffy decided her name was, in  offering her their home until she would be able to find out who she was. After graduating from college, she found  she had developed a yen for designing women’s lingerie, and the rest, as they say... was history. Her life had been simple.  Until he had come along, selfishly hoping for one last date with her.

 “Buffy.” his voice came out raspy with emotion.  “No one is tying you here.  We have Jamie.”

 “Oh, Angel.” Buffy smiled sadly at him, tenderly caressing his cheek with a trembling finger.  “You still don’t get it. *I’m*  tying me here.  I have no choice. It’s who I am. Who I’ve always been. I can’t run away from it anymore.  From you. I have to face my destiny. I can’t let Cordelia, and Oz, and Xander, or even Willow face it for me. I have to face it alone. Not only that, Mom is going to be pissed.” she added, chuckling sadly.

 Angel stared up at her, his eyes shining with love.  “No, Buffy.  You’re not alone. You never were.” His hands reached over and covered hers, squeezing softly.

 Buffy stared into his eyes, and smiled softly.  “How are we going to do this, Angel?” she asked him softly.

 He shrugged, slowly shaking his head.  “I don’t know.” he said honestly.  “But let’s do it together.”

 Buffy stared at their hands, and then his hopeful face, and slowly smiled softly.  “We can try.” she whispered.  Angel slowly drew her to him, and they both held each other as tightly as they could, their embrace as sweet as only lovers seperated for years could be.
 

 “Hi - ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to Watcher jail you go!” Xander whistled as he waved goodbye to Gerard as the two representatives of the Watcher Council shook Willow’s hand, and dragged the struggling man out of the library.  Turning back to the group and rubbing his hands together, he grinned.  “Looks like we’re all back toget-” he stopped taking a second look at the group that had gathered. “Where’d Cordy go?”

 Oz shrugged.  “Something about checking out of the hotel. Seems we ran up quite a bill.”

 Buffy chuckled.  “Cordelia’s got the funds to cover it.  What, she’s making a couple million a movie now?”

 “Well, that’s her asking price.” Willow said.  Angel just rolled his eyes.  “And speaking of price,” Willow continued, “I have a suprise for both of you.” she said, motioning to Angel and Buffy.  Buffy gave her a curious glance.

 “Whatcha talking about Will?” she asked.

 Willow’s face spread into a huge smile.  “Well see... I used to dabble in magic... and I found a spell that I implemented... a modified gypsy curse that makes a curse eternal, not breakable under any circumstances.”

 “Eternal?” Angel looked lost. Willow nodded.

 “You know, things such as souls, and stuff.”

 Oz’s face broke into a smile.  “Angel can’t lose his soul?”

 Buffy looked at Willow for a moment, and then back at Angel, and her face broke into a huge smile.  Angel looked... happy.  As if he had never been so happy in his cursed existence.  He pulled Buffy to him, and crushed her in a huge hug.

 “See?” he rasped. “We CAN do this together.” Buffy smiled, a tear forming in her eyes from happiness as she kissed him once softly.

 “Normal life sounds good.” she remarked.  “Thanks Willow.” she whispered meaningfully.

 Jamie still looked mystified as she looked dreamily at the embracing couple.  “So if Angel can’t lose his soul then-”

 “Him and Buffy can have sex now,” Xander clarified, knocking the romance out of Jamie’s little day dream.  Annoyed, Jamie, who had always thought of Xnader as an older brother, felt obligated to smack him on the shoulder.

 “Ow! Hey! What have you been teaching her, Will?  Xander Bashing 101?”

 Willow shrugged.  “Something like that.” she said, grinning. “See?” she turned to Oz.  “You thought all my magic was bad.” she teased. Oz just smiled, leaning over and pecking her on the cheek.

 “I trust you.” he said meaningfully.  Willow smiled, and sat down on his lap, kissing him once sweetly.

 “I love you Oz.” she told him softly.  His expression softened, and he reached up and tenderly brushed a strand of red hair from her face.

 “I know that. I shouldn’t have ever doubted.”

 “Why didn’t anyone tell me that I looked so horrible in black hair?” Buffy said, pointing to her strands, distracting the couple. “I so have to dye it back.”

 “Didn’t you ever have roots?” Cordelia asked, walking into the library. Xander sat up, becoming noticably tenser.

 “Yeah, but I would always cover them.” Buffy responded. “I never realized that I had actually kept it blonde.”  Cordelia cocked an eyebrow, her band-aid moving up over her forehead.  She looked at her old friends.

 “I got a call from Dave.” she said matter of factly to all of them.  “Apparently my leave of absense has caused quite a few problems with my producers relations. I have to go back... now.” Xander felt his heart stop. Now? She coulnd’t go now. They hadn’t worked anything out.  They hadn’t-

 “What? now?  Can’t  it wait?” Willow asked, straightening up.  Cordelia shook her head firmly.  Ignoring Xander’s face, she instead turned to Buffy, pulling out a contract.  “Here.  It’s a contract for the lingerie ads. Go over it with your lawyers and then give it to Dave.  He’ll take care of the rest” she said, and then tossed a box to Willow.  “Glasses. new frame. Compliment your face.” she said bluntly.

 Oz looked concerned as he viewed his best friends face. It was clear he saw right through her.  Unhitching his hand from around Willow, he got up slowly.  “Cordelia-”

Cordelia immediatly shook her head.  “I have to go.” she told him meaningfuly.

“Now.”  She took a breath, and smiled at them.  “I’ll  see you guys. Oz, don’t forget the premiere.”  Oz opened his mouth, and closed it, his eyes clouded as he nodded.

 “Wait, will you come and visit?” Jamie asked.

 “Well, I have a lot of photo shoots, and then I go directly into filming for my new movie. That and with haitius almost over, I have to go back to my series-”

 Willow felt her throat go dry.  She finally understood. Cordelia was saying goodbye. Oh, goodness. Didn’t she understand?

 “Wait, Cordy-”

 “I gotta go you guys.” she said, shaking her head.  “We make a good team.” she told them all with a shaky smile, and then with a tense body,  walked out of the library without looking back. The room was quiet.  Heads turned to Xander, who looked stricken as he saw the doors swing close.  There was a silence, and suddenly he jumped up  and bolted from the
room.
 

 Cordelia felt the tears begin to run down her face, and she stifled them quickly.  She had done this before. Run from the library, trying not to cry. They all had made it seem so easy.  Willow and Oz, Buffy and Angel.  It wasn’t.  Not for her.  Not with Xander.  She was doing the best... she knew that.  Being with Xander... knowing he would never love her like she wanted him to... it was too much. She had to leave. They had each other, all she had was herself. She didn’t even have Oz anymore, now that he had Willow again. She was back to being by herself. That was all she ever had.  That was all she could count on.

 “You’re running away again.” Cordelia froze, and closed her eyes.  No, not now. She didn’t know if she had the strength to walk away from him now.

 Xander ran up to her, catching her by the arm, “I said you’re running away again.” he said more urgently.

 She continued to walk. “Xander, get away from me.” she told him tartly.

 “Cordelia why are you running away?  We haven’t had a chance to talk-”

 “TALK?!” She turned, eyes flashing.  “Xander, you don’t want to talk, you never wanted to talk, all you wanted from day one was smoochies.”

 Xander looked taken aback, but as she turned back, he shook his head furiously and reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her back to him.  “Well I want to talk now!” he continued hoarsely. “You can’t just leave! You have to deal with this! With us!”

 “And what if I don’t want to?” she snapped.  “Huh? I’m leaving cause I want to, Xander.  I don’t need you.”

 She turned away a second time, and Xander felt his heart well up.  No... not again.  “Cordelia I won’t lose you again!” he suddenly rasped, grabbing her. “I can’t lose you aga-”

  She shook him off, a sob half forming in her throat.

 “Dammit Xander, don’t you get it? I DON’T WANT YOU!” she cried, so angry tears fell from her eyes.  “I don’t want you!  Unless you want to go humilate-O boy on me, leave me alone!” And with that, and a strength she didn’t know she had, Cordelia Chase tore herself from him.

 Xander felt like he had been slapped, and he stood stock still as she left.  And he lost her.  Again.

 Xander Harris loosened his tie as he gathered his things in the office, smiling and shaking hands with all his coworkers.  A couple women hugged him, one almost cried.  A package came for him, and he opened it furiously, and after examining it, felt his heart freeze, and thrust it in the pocket of his slacks.  Gathering up his cardboard box that held all his office personal frames, he walked down Wall Street and caught the subway, lost in the hum of the train.  Every so often his would reach into his jean pocket to finger the small black box that he had in his pants, anxiously making sure it was still there.  He walked through the crowds, and strolled by Central Park, finally reaching his apartment building. He smiled at it affectionately, and  then walked up the stairs, talking care the cumbersome box wouldn’t cause him to lose his footing and fly down the steps.  When he got to his apartment, he noticed that the door was open.  He didn’t think much of it, Brian always did that, despite Xander’s warnings of robbery.  He just shook his head. He wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore, so he just let it go.

 He turned into his room, and his heart stopped.

 Cordelia looked up to see him enter the room, and felt her chest tighten.  He was still so beautiful.    In the silence that followed, she realized she would have to utter the first words... she didn’t know if she could go with this. But seeing the surprise and the unburied hurt in his eyes, she took a deep breath, and slowly began.

 “I... I... uh... Willow called me.” she said awkwardly.   Xander said nothing, he simply stared at Cordelia as she shook from nervousness. He felt his heart had just stopped. He had to concentrate on breathing, he couldn’t utter a word, and she continued.  “She  said you were leaving...  Where?”  Xander still couldn’t speak.  Cordelia licked her lips, and stared at him as he leaned against the doorway.

 “I found out that you were leaving.. and um.... I couldn’t breath.  The idea that .. I would never see you again...  I couldn’t breath.” she felt her eyes fill with tears.  “I can’t let you go again, Xander.”

 Xander felt his whole body go still.  “I thought you didn’t want me.” he croaked.

Cordelia winced, but on her face was a grim smile.

 “I didn’t. You haven’t exactly been good for me, Xander. But... uh... I don’t really have much of a choice. And right now..I don’t care. Xander.... you have to understand, because I loved you, every thing in my life changed.”  She looked down, her lip slightly trembling. “I became the type of girl that I had always made fun of. I gave up everything for you.  And in return...I got my heart broken.” she bit her lip. “And the worst thing is...” her throat clogged up. “I felt like it deserved it.” she finished, a lone tear running down her cheek. She took a deep breath, recovering, and then straightened up, looking him in the eye. “Look, Xander.  I’ll  never be as great as Buffy... or as nice and smart and noble  as Willow. I’ll never be some great person. I’ve been a bitch most of my life.  And I’ll accept being less than number one in your heart... as long as there’s room for me.  I love you,” she chuckled grimly.  “I must be incredibly stupid, but I do, and I can’t imagine.. not having you again.”

There was a silence, and then Xander sighed, leaning down to put down the boxes, and then reached slowly into his pocket to remove a small black box.

“Here.” he said, tossing it to her.  She looked at it curiously.

 “It’s the reason I was leaving.”  he told her heavily.

 She looked down at it, and with shaking hands, she opened it. The little box opened with a creak.  Nestled inside the cardboard and velvet, was a little band of gold, with a crystal clear diamond set on top of it. Still uncertain, she looked up to his eyes.

“I was going to LA to find you.” he said softly.  “To try and give this to you. I meant it when I said that I wouldn’t let you go again.  When I let you go the first time, to LA, with Oz, I died.” He half smiled.  “I’ve spent the last three years cursing myself for not showing you how I felt. I’m a big dorkhead, I know.  I couldn’t really live, you know?  Because the most important thing in my life, had left me. . . I love you.” he said after a minute, his voice unsteady.  “I love you .... more than anything in this world.” He shrugged, chuckling self consiously. “I sound geeky, I know... but I need to say this.  You will always be number one in heart.   I need you.”   Cordelia’s face was streaked with tears, and she was openly sobbing. Upon seeing emotion in her face, Xander felt himself catch his breath, as his chest tightened.

“Cordy will you marry me?” he whispered urgently.

 There was a silence, Cordelia’s head was bowed to her chest, and her body was shaking. Suddenly she looked up, her eyes flashing, her face flushed. “Oh, dammit, Xander.” she cried hoarsely. “You made me cry. I hate that. I only cry when I’ve being  paid for it.” He grinned, feeling his heart burst.

 “Is that a yes?”

 “You dork, of course it is!”   She flew into his arms, and Xander closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her, and holding her as tightly as he could, promising himself he would never let her go.  He felt the tears running down her face, and felt a couple eek out of his tightly clenched eyes.  God, she felt good in his arms.  He had forgotten how good she
felt.

 "I missed you." he said softly. She looked up at him through tearsstreaked eyes.

 "Me too." He grinned, and their heads drifted together and their lips moved against each other passionately, and desperately. She clung to him, but when he lifted his head, she was smiling through shining eyes.  He grinned back, and taking the black box  from her, took the small gold circlet and slid it on her finger.

 "Hey, Alex!"  Brian's face popped into the room, and he trailed of when he witnessed the scene.  "Oh, I'm sorry I-" He was about to turn away, and he suddenly turned back, his  eyes wide.  "Cordelia Chase?"  Xander smiled, still holding Cordelia to him firmly.

 "The one and only."

 Cordelia raised an eyebrow.  "Alex?" He  shrugged.

 "It's  a name."

 "Cordelia Chase?"

   "How'd you get in here anyway?" Xander asked her.  She smiled.

 "The landlord let me in.  Apparently he's a fan. I had to sign this huge poster of me. I didn’t even know they had big posters of me.  It’s me, and I have this gun in my hand, it’s a promo pic from my show-"

 "Cordelia Chase?!" Brian still looked bewildered, and Xander finally decided to take pity on his star struck roommate.

   "Brian, this is Cordelia." He felt he would burst with pride.  "My fiance."

 Cordelia smiled at Brian, and shook his anxious hand.  "Hi Brian, nice to meet you."

 "Fiance?"  Brian's eyes looked like they would pop out any minute.  "I just thought you were  like  a stalker, or something."

 "I can see how you would get that impression," Cordelia mused, looking over the room.  "Jeez, dorkhead, it's guys like you that make me carry around a gun, in the first place."

 "Airhead." he tossed lovingly. She turned and grinned.

 "Nerd."

 "Actress."

 "Stalker Boy."

 "Come here."

 "With pleasure."  Cordelia slid her hands around his waist.

 "You promise to love me the rest of you life?" she asked playfully.

 “Only if you promise to stop acting like such an idiot about such things as love. I swear Cordy. Sometimes, you just don’t get it!” Xander quipped.  Cordelia gave him a long look, and smiled.

 “I promise.” she said seriously.

 “I promise.” he returned after a moment, his eyes moist with emotion. Upon seeing their embrace, Brian colored, and excused himself, muttering excuses. They didn't even notice.
 

 The library was still dark and musty after all these months.  At first, Willow tried to clean it, but Buffy didn't allow it.  Grieving for her old Watcher, Buffy insisted it remain the same.  Willow didn't mind. She liked it this way.  Pausing to admire her small square frames, she cleaned her glasses and pushed them back up her nose.  Buffy had moved her business to Sunnydale, not hard to do, considering it was a catalogue.  Willow flipped through the one that had a familiar actress smiling from the cover and smiled, reading over the signature and short, heartfelt message on it.  Checking her watch, she got up and leaning over, switched on the television. The sound filled the room, and quickly, Willow turned the sound low, reminding herself to keep an eye on it as she went on with her work.  She put the catalogue back, under the postcards, always written in the same scrawl, filled with words of love and promises of visiting soon.  She smiled at them.   She gazed at the television as she sorted the
books, and then looked up when a blonde and a brunette burst into the room.

Buffy and Jamie acknowledged her with a nod, and then both went to the weapons closet and took out crossbows.

 "Don't ask." Buffy warned, at Willow's curious glance.

Willow just shrugged, and  nodded. The two Slayers ran out of the room.  The activity on the television caught her
attention, and she turned up the volume.  The anchor with the good hair gazed at her with a charismatic smile.

"Cordelia Chase has announced her engagement to New York Stock Broker turned writer Alexander  Lavelle Harris. They apparently have plans to wed in a private ceremony with old friends in their hometown of Sunnydale.  This news abruptly puts to end all rumors to her and rock star Oz's elopement, especially considering he recently announced HIS engagement to long time friend and local librarian Willow Rosenberg.  Hollywood Now apologizes for any misleading stories, involving this earlier.  On a lingering sidenote, it seems Cordelia Chase is also responsible for the latest trend in Hollywood.  Promise Bracelets, which are now being worn by stars all over Hollywood, we learned, is actually stemmed from one worn by Miss Chase herself, given to her by a fan.  These bracelets are supposed to symbolize a promise made that is considered “binding and forever”, much like those engagements."  The anchor smiled at his small joke.  "All the best of luck to Cordelia Chase and Oz.  This is Thomas Rinker, and this is Hollywood Now."

 Willow switched the television off, and stared at the blank screen. And after a minute, she smiled.
 

 "Dear Slayerettes,
 As of now you are all relieved of the promise you so selflessly gave eight years ago.However, should there ever be any need, I advise you keep the promise bracelets I've given each of you.  Angel, Buffy, Jamie and I may need you again.  We make a great team guys. Thanks. For everything.  See you all at the weddings.  It'll be a blast.  Everything will.

I  promise.
 Willow Rosenberg"

 
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