This Is How It Goes

"Dammit," Buffy cursed, kneeling down and picking up her clothes. "Shouldn't juggling shopping bags be part of my Slayer repertoire?" she muttered. She heard footsteps close by and a hand was suddenly in her vision, holding out a pair of jeans. "Thanks," she said gratefully, looking up, and froze.

Angel gazed back at her, his face expressionless. "Hey," he said.

"Angel," she said, mildly shocked. Her heart was thumping unevenly. "What, uh, what are you doing here?"

He helped her finish putting the clothes back and they both stood awkwardly. "I — I was actually tracking down a car ad someone placed in the newspaper."

Buffy stared at him. "You need a car for what exactly now? The five-minute walk to the butcher's?"

Angel looked at the ground. "L.A.," he answered quietly.

Buffy felt like a block of ice had just slipped into her stomach. "L.A.," she repeated, just as softly.

"I ... I'm leaving. Now."

Buffy swallowed. "Now as in now?"

"As in tomorrow," he said, finally meeting her eyes.

She stared at him helplessly. "But — why now? The Ascension is just ..." she trailed off. Angel didn't say anything. "Is — is it because of what Spike said? Because, you know, he's evil. Not really a solid source of advice."

"Spike was right," Angel said quietly, and then frowned, looking troubled. "Now there's a sentence that should never, ever come out my mouth again."

"Right about what?" Buffy asked slowly, hesitantly, not really wanting to know the answer.

Angel closed his eyes while Buffy waited anxiously. He sighed and opened them, fixing Buffy's gaze. "Every time I see you, it tears me up. Every time I see you with her ... it feels like a part of me just collapses." His voice shook, deep pain flashing across his face before he suppressed it again. "I — I know it's selfish. I know you need me, but I ... I can't stay." He swallowed, turning his head away.

Buffy felt a thick lump in her throat form, felt the prickles of tears at the corners of her eyes. "Angel ... I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I didn't think — I didn't realize how hard it was for you."

"It's not your fault," he said quietly. "You have more important things to worry about than me. Which is part of why I'm leaving. I can't be a liability to you."

Buffy shook her head violently. "No, Angel, you could never be a liability," she said vehemently, sounding disgusted at the last word. "You ... I still -"

There was a sharp whizzing sound, a sickening thump, and an arrow was suddenly pushing its way through Angel's chest. Buffy stopped talking, her mouth opening in shock. Angel gasped, staring down at it uncomprehendingly before his knees buckled.

"Angel!" Buffy cried, catching him before he hit the ground, feeling a surge of terrified adrenaline. She lowered him down, her eyes moving frantically over his chest. He was panting shallowly, his eyes wild and fluttering. But ... he was still alive, which meant the arrow had missed his heart.

Buffy looked around the small crowd of people that had gathered and saw Willow running towards them, red hair and shopping bags billowing around her. She squeezed through the group of people and kneeled down next to Angel, who was groaning softly.

"We have to get him to the library," Willow said breathlessly. Buffy nodded. They each grasped Angel around the middle and hauled him up.

~ — ~ — ~

"In the middle of downtown?" Giles asked, frowning.

"In the middle of the street. People around and everything," Buffy answered grimly.

Giles examined the bloody arrow they had just wrenched out of Angel's chest. "It seems the Mayor is no longer terribly concerned with secrecy."

"You think?" Buffy asked irately. She put her hand on Angel's blessedly solid shoulder. He turned his head slightly from his sitting position, one palm still pressing on the slightly bloody wound just underneath his collarbone.

"Did you see the shooter?" Giles asked, ignoring Buffy's sarcasm.

Buffy shook her head. "He could have been hiding anywhere. I just got us out of there as fast as possible." She frowned. "But I'm going to take a wildly logical leap and say it was Skinner. I don't think the Mayor would put anyone else on the job."

Giles nodded, looking thoughtful, as Angel began to stand up shakily. Buffy put her hands under his armpits, steadying him. "I'm just glad he can't aim for — whoa," she said anxiously as Angel stumbled again, grabbing him.

Angel looked down and then up at Buffy again. "Crap," he said, and then collapsed completely.

"Angel!" Buffy said loudly, kneeling down next to his supine figure. His face was contorted in pain, his chest heaving with shallow breaths. Giles and Willow moved quickly over to them as well, looking down.

"What is it?" Willow asked fearfully. "Have you lost too much blood?" Her face scrunched up as she backed up slightly. "Do — do you need more?"

"Poison," Angel gasped out. "I can feel it spreading."

Buffy grasped his shoulders and pulled him up to sitting position. He grit his teeth, groaning. She put a hand on his cheek.

"He's burning up," she said anxiously, turning to look at Giles.

Giles held up the arrow he had been examining earlier, looking at it with renewed interest and wariness. "We'll have to start researching -"

"Researching what?" Xander asked, strolling into the library jauntily. He stopped as he saw the frightened, downcast expressions on everyone's faces. "Oh, God. Who's dying now?"

Buffy actually growled at him. Giles just frowned severely. Willow walked up to him, grasping his arm and shaking her head. "You just say the best things sometimes," she muttered, pulling him over to the library table.

Chapter 31: Taking Off the Kid Gloves

Author's Notes:

"Oh!" Willow said excitedly, pointing at the book she was reading. "Here it is! 'Bane of the ...' Oh," she said again, her face falling. "Never mind. It's 'Bane of the Grateful Dead.'" She frowned, turning back to the book. "Why would they make a poison just for Jerry Garcia?" she muttered unhappily.

"Those wacky demons," Xander said, smiling sarcastically. "Making sure there's something for everyone. They just take generosity to a whole new level."

They had been researching for several fruitless hours, looking for mention of a poison specifically designed for vampires. Angel was in Giles' office, languishing in a make-shift cot with the blinds shut firmly around him. Agonized moans and rustles occasionally escaped through the closed door, reminding the group of the painful urgency of the situation.

They had been in the library all night and the sun was just beginning to rise, soft, yellow light seeping through the windows. Buffy was feeling the beginnings of a full-blown panicking. She hated to feel this helpless. Ironic how it happened to her so often. She knew insanity would descend if she didn't move or do something soon. Her fingers were instinctually clenching into fists, nails rhythmically digging into her palms every time Angel groaned.

"Ah," Giles breathed, his brow furrowed as his eyes slid furiously over the page in front of him. "Yes. Here," he said, pointing at the passage and looking up. "It discusses the 'zudikas negyvas.' Roughly translates into -"

"'Killer of the Dead,'" a voice said from the front of the library. All heads snapped around to see Wesley standing in front of the swinging doors. "Poison invented by Lithuanian warlocks for vampires, I believe."

There was a moment of tense, disbelieving silence. "Wesley," Buffy said slowly, eventually. She stood up, looking at him suspiciously. "Did you get lost on your way to England?"

"No," Wesley said firmly, raising his chin proudly. "I chose to stay."

Buffy raised an eyebrow skeptically, crossing her arms. Wesley slumped a fraction of an inch. "The Council fired me," he said quietly. Buffy rolled her eyes while Giles snorted. "But," Wesley said loudly, pointing a finger up in his defense, "I still chose to stay. I want to help."

Buffy eyed him circumspectly for several seconds. He flinched a little under her gaze. "Okay," she said finally, shrugging.

"Okay?" Wesley repeated uncertainly.

Buffy nodded, sitting down. "Who am I to deny a source of information in dire times like these? Even if said source is an insufferable lame-ass."

"Excellent point," Wesley said happily, striding forward.

"So, you know about this poison?" Buffy asked, looking at him hopefully.

"Yes," he responded, frowning. "Lithuanian toxin designed to kill vampires. Horribly painful, if I recall correctly." Buffy flinched involuntarily. "Is this part of our plan to defeat the Mayor?" Wesley asked tentatively. "If you don't mind me saying, it seems a tad inefficient," he continued, allowing a measure of his repressed smugness to reassert itself.

"Angel," Buffy said shortly, her mouth tightening. "He was hit with a poisoned arrow."

Wesley's eyes widened. "Oh," he said quietly, guiltily.

"Do you know anything else about it?" Buffy continued, louder as she looked intently at Wesley. "Anything about curing it?"

"No," he said, shaking his head helplessly. "I — I do know that it's a rapidly-acting toxin. It takes a little over a day to ... but, that's all I can tell you. I'm sorry," he said, truly sounding like it.

Buffy turned to Giles. He met her slightly desperate gaze and shook his head once, sadly. "There's nothing useful in here," he said softly. Buffy felt that panicked urgency rise in her stomach.

"Why shoot Angel?" Willow asked suddenly, face twisted in confusion. "He was leaving. He was out of the fight."

Buffy frowned, thinking fast. "The Mayor didn't know that. But he knew how important Angel is to — to me. He was trying to create a distraction, throw us off."

"Or maybe he's just not holding back anymore," Xander said, looking more serious than Buffy had seen him in a long time. "No more tiptoeing around who he wants to kill. He's taking off the kid gloves."

"Maybe it's time we do the same," Buffy said abruptly. She stood up, feeling a rush of adrenaline-fueled resolution. She was tired of sitting around. She was tired of being jerked around by things she had no control over. She was going to do what she was good at. Giles looked at her sharply. "We need to take the initiative right now. Researching isn't getting us off the ground, and we're running out of runway."

"What are you proposing?" Giles asked, watching her carefully.

"We need information. And we need to get it from an inside man."

"We're gonna kidnap someone?" Xander asked, sounding eager and much more like his juvenile self. "Can I help with the making him talk? My persuading skills are legendary."

Buffy gave him a look. Xander's excited grin faltered slightly. "Yes, we're gonna kidnap someone. I'm going to find one of the Mayor's employees, drag him back here, and ask him what he knows." She narrowed her eyes threateningly. "Politely."

~ — ~ — ~

Buffy, Giles and Willow padded down the carpeted hallway of City Hall. Buffy stretched her senses to their fullest extent, letting the sounds, sights, and prickling vampire sensations wash over her. Vamps were all around the building, keeping watch, playing cards, or just chatting next to the water cooler.

They had snuck in through the back door in the light of early dawn, using the same lock Faith had picked. She remembered the last time she was in here with the other Slayer, and felt a wrench of nostalgia. It felt so long ago, almost surreally. Pushing Faith to the back of her mind, as she'd had to do for the last week, Buffy concentrated on her surroundings. She could feel two of the vamps in a room to their left and she stopped, signaling to Giles and Willow. They stopped as well, Willow's eyes impossibly wide. Buffy held up three fingers, bending them as she mouthed counting down, and kicked open the door. Skinner and a female vampire, who had been laughing flirtatiously with him and running a hand along his arm, snapped their heads around as the door went flying off its hinges.

"Slayer," Skinner growled, crouching in attack position.

"Oh, I was so hoping it would be you," Buffy answered, grinning dangerously.

"This is the Slayer, boss?" the female vampire asked, smirking. "She don't look so tough -" she stopped talking, eyes widening in shock as a stake buried itself in her chest.

"Well, it's not me you have to worry about," Buffy said cheerfully, grinning as the vampire dissolved with a gasp and Willow stepped forward, eyes dark and flashing. There was another stake floating ominously by her head, pointed straight at Skinner. The vampire snarled, backing up as Giles stepped forward to the right of Buffy, gripping a broadsword and flanking her. Skinner's eyes slid frantically around the room, looking for an escape route.

"Sorry, honey. Forgot to mention we were having some friends over," Buffy said, and whipped out the tranquilizer gun she had behind her back. There was a pop, a whizzing noise, and Skinner stared down at the dart sticking out of his side for two seconds before keeling over unconscious, game face sliding off.

They stepped forward, looking down at Skinner's unmoving form.

"That went swimmingly," Willow said happily.

"Kinda did, didn't it? Let's get his undead ass back to the library before we start doing the celebratory backstroke, though," Buffy said, kneeling down to grasp his legs.

~ — ~ — ~

They plopped Skinner's unconscious figure down on one of the library chairs, tying him down. Ropes went around his wrists and the chair arms, his shins and the chair legs, effectively immobilizing him. His head was lolling as Buffy worked quickly, the others standing around him warily. She finished pulling the last knot tight and stood up, peering at him.

"How are you gonna wake -" Xander started.

Buffy slapped Skinner as hard as she possibly could.

"Oh," Xander finished, eyebrows raised.

Skinner's head rolled limply with the motion of Buffy's hand. She slapped him again and Skinner grunted, his eyes fluttering. He jerked awake suddenly, neck twisting around, the chair creaking with his violent movements.

"What ..." he said, and coughed. He coughed again, swallowed, and looked around him, eyes narrowing as he absorbed his surroundings. "Well, look at that."

"We really should stop running into each other like this," Buffy said sweetly, standing in front of him, hands on her hips.

Skinner leered at her, not looking at all uncomfortable with the present seating arrangements. "Seems like you're the driving force behind this one, girly." He cocked his head. "How's your boyfriend?"

"First of all, 'ex,' Buffy responded tightly. "Second, he's going to be fine."

"Is he," Skinner said skeptically. "You found the cure, did you?"