RATING:  Uh, I guess around 15 (R?)
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; don’t sue.
DISTRIBUTION:  Ask and ye shall receive.
FEEDBACK:  I crave it!  It’s like cigarettes, ya know?  Just when I think I’ve quit…

Angel paced the confines of his office restlessly.  The air around him felt electric and his soul sang within him.  She was here.  He hadn’t seen her but he could feel her presence – his mate was nearby.

The feeling intensified and a moment later he heard the door open.  He turned sharply, expecting to see her standing before him, but instead of the beautiful blonde he saw each time he closed his eyes he found himself looking at the dark hair of another Slayer – one he had never thought he would see again: Faith.

“Hello, Angel,” she said quietly.

“Faith,” he responded flatly, “How long have you been back?”

He forced himself to adopt a defensive posture, ready for her inevitable attack, but his every instinct screamed out against it and against his will he fell his body relax as it accepted the assurance of his heart that there was no danger here.

She still hadn’t moved from her position near the door – in fact, she looked ready to bolt at any moment.  Her usual mask of bravado was nowhere to be seen and her hair and clothes were matted and dirty.  Confused, both by her apparent docility and his uncharacteristic reaction to her presence, he took a step towards her, his eyes searching her face as he looked for answers in her expression.

The moment his eyes met hers reality seemed to shift on it’s axis, leaving him disoriented as his soul cried out in yearning to merge with the spirit that looked sorrowfully back at him through unfamiliar brown eyes.

Reason told him that it was impossible, that it was absurd even to think it, but he couldn’t deny what he felt and his voice emerged in a hoarse whisper as he spoke her name, not in question, but in confused certainty: “Buffy.”

Her eyes filled with tears that swiftly overflowed to run down her cheeks in a steady, silent, stream as she took at tentative step towards him and said brokenly, “You know me?  Oh, thank God!”  Her knees buckled as relief made her weak but before she could hit the floor, Angel’s strong arms were around her, supporting her, lifting her gently as he carried her over to his desk where he sat down, cradling her against him.

The feeling of security Buffy felt as she rested against his chest was indescribable and as the fear and confusion of the last few days was finally released, she buried her face against the soft material of his sweater and wept.

She cried for hours and after a while she realised that she was no longer crying because of what Faith had done to her, she was crying for the things she had held inside her since she had first been called as the Slayer; the loss of her childhood & her innocence, all the people she hadn’t been able to save, all the people who didn’t understand, the loneliness and emptiness that was her life.  And she was crying for Angel.  Crying because he had left her adrift, without his presence to anchor her, crying because she loved him so much and they couldn’t be together, crying because he couldn’t – wouldn’t – cry for himself when he had endured so much pain that he didn’t deserve.

Angel made no effort to stop her, sensing how much she needed to release all the grief and pain she had been carrying.  Instead he murmured soothing nonsense to her, gently smoothing his hand over her unfamiliar dark hair as he held her tightly against him.

At long last her tears stopped and with a final sniff she lay quietly against him, exhausted by the emotional storm she had just weathered.  Angel looked down at her, she looked so fragile, all her defences gone and the need to protect her was so strong that his body shook with the force of it.

Feeling the movement Buffy straightened her spine and sat back just far enough to see into his eyes.  Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she had cried but to Angel she looked beautiful in a way that Faith never had, though the body was the same.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ve made you all wet,” she murmured self-consciously, running her fingers over the large damp patch she had left against his shoulder.

“I’ll dry,” he told her with a gentle smile.

The smile she offered him in return was watery and uncertain but it warmed his heart in as nothing else ever could and his spirit soared as she gave a tired sigh, looped her arms around his neck and leaned trustingly against him.  As his arms tightened around her she murmured quietly, “I’ve missed this.”

“Missed what?” he murmured softly, hoping she meant what he thought she did.

“Being with you.  Being safe.  Being understood,” she explained simply, “for the first time since you left I feel like it’s alright for me to just…be myself…instead of what the others want me to be.”  Her eyes burned but she had no tears left as she added, “They didn’t notice.  They’ve spent days with Faith now and not one of them has noticed that there’s something wrong.  I-I came here because I believed that if anyone would know me, it would be you, but I was scared.  I was so scared.” Her voice broke and she trembled as she remembered the terror of the last few days, “I don’t know what I would have done if you’d turned me away.”

“Shhhh.  It’s all right, I’m here now; I’ll always be here when you need me and I'll always know you no matter what.  If I was blind I would see you... What is it?” he asked as Buffy gasped and sat back, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“You once said that to me in a dream.”  Unable to resist the impulse she reached out and gently touched his face, running her fingers down from his forehead before cupping his cheek in her small palm.  “I love you, that will never change.  No matter how far apart we are, I have to believe that one day we can be together.  It’s what gives me the strength to keep fighting.”

Angel’s dark eyes were damp and eloquent as he turned his head slightly so that he could kiss her hand but before he could speak there was a sound from the outer office and then the door was thrown open and Cordelia dashed into the room, calling urgently, “Angel! Faith has…Oh!”  She broke off as she caught sight of Buffy and Angel, stopping so abruptly that Wesley, who had been right behind her, almost ran into her back.  “Um, never mind, I guess you already know.  Hey, Buffy, are you okay?  ‘Cos you look awful and I don’t just mean the whole being Faith thing.”

Angel glared at her but Buffy gave a quiet laugh, murmuring, “Same old Cordy,” before saying loud enough for the others to hear, “It’s been a tough week, Cordelia.”

“B-Buffy?” asked Wesley in confusion, “Would anyone care to fill me in on exactly what is going on here?”

“Faith stole Buffy’s body and left her with the reject,” Cordelia explained bluntly before turning to glare at Angel and ask in an irritated tone of voice, “What is the point of me getting these head-splitting visions if you already know what’s going on before I tell you?  I want a refund!”

“That’s all you saw?” Angel asked, ignoring the familiar complaining, “Just Buffy and Faith switching bodies, nothing else?”

“Them fighting, with us and the gang from Sunnydale squaring off while they do.  Oh, and it has to be here.”

“Here?  In LA?” asked Wesley.

“Uh-huh.  That seemed…important, like it’ll go better for Buffy if they face each other here.”

“Okay, so how do we get them to come?”

Buffy gave a ghostly laugh, “Oh, that’s easy.  Just call Giles and tell him that you’ve seen ‘Faith’.  I guarantee that they’ll be here a couple of hours later.”

“Do you think you could tell us how this happened?”  Angel asked gently, “We need to find a way to reverse this.”

“I don’t know!  One minute I was fighting Faith in mom’s living room, the next she grabbed my hand and I was looking at myself.  Then Faith hit me and when I woke up I was in the back of a police car.”

“A…police car?”  Wesley questioned.

“Uh-huh, I’ve had such a fun week(!)” she said sarcastically.  “At least the police were only trying to lock me up, everyone else is competing to see who can kill me first!”

“You mean someone other than Faith has been after you?” Angel asked in concern.

“Oh yeah, Giles and the others pointed crossbows at me when I tried to tell them who I was and the Watcher’s Council have decided that I’m really not worth the effort of taking back to England with them.”
Angel growled low in his throat at the thought of anyone trying to harm her and Buffy smiled as she felt his chest vibrate against her shoulder.  “Nothing happened,” she told him, leaning forwards to gently kiss against his cheek, “and I know everything will be all right now that you’re with me.”  She moved to get up and Angel reluctantly loosened his hold on her so that she could stand.  His arms felt empty without her in them but before he could mourn the loss of her warmth she took his hand in one of hers, seemingly unaware of the gesture as she tried to restore some order to her dishevelled appearance with the other.

“Ecch!” she groaned as her efforts proved futile, “Would you mind if I used your shower before we call Giles?  I’ve been hiding for a week and I’m kinda beyond grungy.”

“Of course, come on, I’ll show you where everything is.”

Rising to his feet he led the way to the elevator and Cordelia and Wesley watched as the two of them descended from view, their hands still firmly clasped together.

“I’m glad I’m not in their shoes,” Cordelia said fervently, “I mean, they so belong together and there’s no way it’s gonna happen and no way that either of them will ever find anyone else!”

“Indeed,” Wesley murmured in agreement, “theirs is a truly tragic romance.”

Almost an hour had passed before Buffy and Angel finally came back upstairs.  Cordelia and Wesley were sitting in the office trying to look like they hadn’t been the least bit worried about what exactly had taken them so long but their first sight of them did nothing to calm their fears.

Buffy’s expression was peaceful, the brittle edge of tension gone, and she had changed out of the dirty, tight-fitting clothes she had been wearing.  In their place was a red velvet shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of Angel’s boxer shorts – the only thing he had been able to find that wouldn’t swamp her – that were so well hidden by the shirt’s length, she looked like she wore nothing else, a fact that made Wesley blush and stutter when he saw her and Cordelia ask Angel bluntly, “Are we going to need to chain you up now?”

Angel glared at her but didn’t reply, nor did he move from his position at Buffy’s side.  He had persuaded her to tell him the whole story while they had been downstairs and his outrage showed in every line of his body, as did his guilt at not having been there and his determination that, when trouble came next, he would be right by her side.

As if in mockery of that silent promise, a sudden bright light filled the room and when it faded, Buffy was gone.  Fear flooded Angel but before his panic could fully take hold, the voices of the Oracles filled the air, seeming to come from all directions at once.

“Fear not Warrior, the Chosen is unharmed…”

“…There are things she must know before the coming combat…”

“…We shall return her to this place soon.”

“Wait!  What combat?  Why couldn’t you just send Cordelia a vision to tell Buffy what she needs to know?”  Angel asked urgently, ignoring Cordelia’s indignant, “Hey!” at his suggestion.  His only answer was silence – the Oracles were gone.

Buffy looked at the two golden beings in front of her in mild surprise.  She supposed she should have been more alarmed at finding herself suddenly transported to a strange place but her instincts told her that she had nothing to fear and after everything else that had happened that week it almost seemed normal.  “I guess I’m not in Kansas anymore,” she said flippantly.  “You wanna tell me who you are and why I’m here?”

“We are the Oracles…” said the male.

“…We speak for the higher powers,” added the female when Buffy just looked confused.

“The coming battle must be yours alone…”

“…No others may interfere…”

“…You are the balance…”

“…She tips the scales…”

“She?  You mean Faith?”

The female inclined her head in agreement, “Only one may survive…”

“…You must not fail.”

“Hang on a second!” Buffy exclaimed indignantly, “That’s my body you want me to kill!  Not to mention the fact that Faith’s human and I…”

“Should she triumph, then for ten millennia the Chosen shall be not of light but of darkness.”

Buffy abruptly fell silent.

“You alone must stop her…”

“…Or another, stronger still, will rise to take her place…”

“…The way of things must be restored…”

“…The Balance must be maintained.”

Buffy nodded slowly, “This is about there being two Slayers instead of one, isn’t it?  Faith’s the reason there can be only one at a time, but if that’s true…why wasn’t Kendra evil?”

“She was called in the instant of your death…”

“…In that instant she was the only one – summoned by the light.”

“Isn’t there any other way…?”

The male looked impatient, “Only one may survive.” He repeated.

The female had been watching Buffy with an intent expression and she abruptly turned to him and said with a note of urgency in her calm voice, “The Chosen is incomplete.”

He frowned at her and then turned to study Buffy as though she were a bug under a microscope.  After a moment he nodded reluctantly and agreed, “She is divided from her centre but this is a matter of love.  We do not concern ourselves with such.”

“The Balance must be restored or she shall fail, therefore this does concern us.”

“The Chosen should stand alone.”

“How can two who are one stand alone?”

“What would you have us do?  The Warrior’s task is not yet complete, and his sacrifice has proved they cannot be united.”

“This is a matter of the Soul.  He could serve our cause better if he could live without fear.”

The male looked very unhappy but nodded and the female turned to Buffy.  “The Warrior’s soul shall be bound.  Have no more fear for the consequences of your love.  Now return…and fight well.”

Buffy stared at her in astonished joy for a moment and then impulsively launched herself forwards and hugged both the Oracles who looked extremely startled but not entirely displeased.  Then she released them and had just long enough to whisper, “thank you,” before the light enveloped her and she found herself standing back in the office of Angel Investigations.

“Buffy!”  The moment she reappeared she found herself wrapped tightly in Angel’s embrace and she hugged him back, savouring the knowledge that they could finally be together.  A sudden shudder of something that was not quite pain wracked his body and he released her abruptly before falling to his knees as the world spun dizzily around him.

Cordelia and Wesley hurried forwards but Buffy caught their arms to hold them back and the three of them watched as an orange glow filled his eyes.  The instant it faded Buffy launched herself forwards into his arms, holding him as though she would never let go again.

A moment later, the voice of the female Oracle once again filled the room, “Your soul is bound, Warrior…be at peace.”

A stunned silence filled the room and Angel looked at Buffy, his expression torn between disbelief and hope, “I…I don’t understand, the Oracles never do anything out of kindness!  Is this…real?”

She nodded happily, and reached up to hook her hand around the back of his neck, drawing his face down to hers so that she could kiss him.  For a moment he was unresponsive, unable to believe how much things had changed in just a few seconds, then the feel of Buffy’s warm lips against his reached him and he suddenly realised precisely what this gift meant.  His arms came round her and he lifted her up off the ground, deepening the kiss and swinging her round in a circle as joy filled his heart.  They were both laughing as they broke the kiss, delighting in the knowledge that they could, at last, be together without fear.

Their lips met again and passion flared between them.  Wesley cleared his throat uncomfortably before things could get out of control when it became apparent that they had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room and they turned to face him and Cordelia, too happy to be embarrassed about their behaviour.

Cordelia stepped forwards and gave Angel and then Buffy a hug, saying as she did so, “Congratulations, both of you…I still have a job, right?”  They both looked at each other, then back at her, and nodded.  “Great!  In that case, I couldn’t be happier for you both.”

“Indeed, my congratulations as well,” Wesley agreed, shaking Angel’s hand and, after a moment’s hesitation, giving Buffy a brief kiss on the cheek.  He looked at her curiously, “If one might ask…what precipitated this extraordinary action on the part of the Oracles?  Angel is quite correct in saying that they are not noted for their generosity.”

The memory of what else the Oracles had said returned and just that quickly, Buffy’s euphoria faded.  Sensing her change of mood, Angel’s arm around her waist tightened protectively.  His presence was comforting and she leaned her head against his shoulder as she answered Wesley’s question.

“They said that I was ‘divided from my centre’, incomplete, and that I needed to be whole if I was to have a chance.”

“A chance against what?” asked Cordelia before anyone else could.

“Against Faith…I have to kill her in single combat,”

“Uh…I hate to bring this up but won’t that be kinda a problem considering that she’s currently in your body?  I mean…if you kill it you’ll never get it back!”

“I know that, Cordelia, but I don’t have a choice here,” she looked sadly up at Angel, “You can’t help me this time except to keep Giles and the others out of it.”

“Why?  Why is this so important that the Oracles are intervening directly?  Why must you do this alone?”  Angel asked, hating the thought of having to just stand and watch if she was in trouble.

It took a surprisingly long time for Buffy to explain what had happened during her short meeting with the Oracles because Wesley insisted on making her remember and repeat every single word and gesture that he had been made.

When she was finally finished, silence fell upon the little group.  The thought of the damage that a succession of dark Slayers could do to the world hung in the air, casting a shadow over Buffy and Angel’s reunion.  After a long moment, Angel reached out, picked up the phone and dialled Giles’ number.  Buffy, who was perched on his knee, listened as he told Giles that Faith had been seen in LA and agreed to meet him, ‘Buffy’ and the others at the office in a few hours time.

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