Chapter Fourteen or what I like to call the long ass chapter. :-)

Angel was hurting, she could tell in the rocking of the back of the van that only held his body, Cordelia and Sammis.

She just looked at him, clinging to Cordelia's hand until Sammis called to her. She let him go, crawling to the front, and speaking in low whispers to the older man.

Buffy swallowed, and took the moment to slide to his side, one finger sliding down his arm.

"Hey."

He gazed up at her, his eyes not quite focused in his pain, but the recognition was there, in the soft affection.

"Hey."

She felt a small trembling smile float on her face, "You can recognize me."

He looked surprise. "Of course I can."

"No, it's just." She stifled a sob in her throat and shrugged. "You couldn't before.... the only person you would let near you was Cordelia."

His face closed up for a second, and Buffy 's heart stopped beating. She knew that face. It was the brooding face, it was a face she had learned to dread.

"Buffy," He began, but she raised her hand, cutting him off.

"No, Angel. Don't say it." She swallowed, felt tears trinkling down her cheeks. "I know. Things changed. She's..... she's your bound. And I'm not stupid. Or I hope not that pathetic that I don't know it." She managed a weak smile. "I love you, Angel."

He was weak, but he still managed a sweat soaked hand to her face, tenderly caressing it. "I love you." He whispered. Then he cried out in agony, his eyes closing, and Cordelia was back at their side immediately.

"Oh, God." She whispered, when he began to thrash. Both Buffy and Cordelia held him down, as they looked at each other with panicked eyes.

"Oz! We need to hurry!"

"Got it." The car screeched, and veered down the highway.

Rupert Giles and Willow Osburne stepped out of the car slowly, their eyes wary.

Xander slid out of the drivers seat of his own small sports car. He walked to their side, and swallowed.

"Oh, man. This is an evil convergance?"

Willow shrugged. "Doesn't look like it."

Rupert nodded. Willow was right, this clearing, right smack in the middle of the Angeles National Forest seemed nothing like a place that had been ideal for opening a Hellmouth eight years earlier. It was dark, and forbidding, but he attributed that mostly to the moonlit forest. The only telling sign of the evil nature were the three stone pillars that were erected in the middle. There were no sign of druids, or vampires, that were said to haunt this place.

"We need to hurry." He whispered, and the others nodded, Xander pulling out the necessary items.

"Okay, so where are the evil guys?"

"Due any minute, so be quiet." Giles murmured, his heart beating wildly. Sammis was an absolute fool if he thought that they would be able to harness the druid's meeting ground before they came. But Rupert knew the old man since they were high school comrades, and if it was one thing he had, it was balls, if he could make it work, anyone could.

The silence was shattered when a van burst into the clearing. Quickly, Oz tumbled out, a crossbow in hand as Sammis emerged, his face red.

"Quickly! They have sensed us." Willow and Giles turned, and true enough, figures in dark robes began running into the clearing.

"Oh, shit. I think they're not happy with us not calling before we came." Xander muttered seconds before he was grappling with a burly one.

Buffy slid out of the van, a stake in either hand. "Doyle, help him out!" She screamed, running to the fray. Doyle jumped out, pulling a barely standing Angel out of the van. Cordelia came after him, helping him support the vampire.

"Get into the pillars!"

She obeyed Sammis's command, as she and Doyle quickly lay Angel into the center of the convergance. Kneeling next to him, she took a breath, turning to Doyle.

"Get out of here, Doyle."

He looked at her, and leaned forward, kissing her on the forehead, his eyes moist with fear. "Be careful, princess."

She nodded, pressing Angel closely against her.

Buffy ducked from a vampire, staking it in the chest before kicking another. "Hurry up!"

Sammis tossed a bottle of incense to Giles, and began the chant.

At first she felt nothing, the only feeling that ecompassed her was the fear that this was all fatal, that this was all inevitable.

Then the wind started, just around the pillars, close enough so she could feel it sliding around her arms, it enclosed the two of them, cut them off from the rest of the clearing. Through the whirlwind she could see figures fighting off drones of black robes, and she swallowed, looking down at Angel.

His eyes were closed.

"Angel." She whispered.

It was harder than he thought, the druids had brought vampires, and Doyle had had to quit chanting when he was overtaken by two. Now he was fighting them off, leaving Willow to take over for the both of them.

Sammis swallowed, settling down in the grass, closing his eyes, and allowing the spell to absorb him. He had no idea why he was helping his natural enemy, why Rupert had even thought he would, but he continued the chant, using his Celtic roots to aid him.

For some reason, this had to work, they needed to make it work. It was... until Willow was punched in the face, and she fell down.

He closed his eyes, and muttered.

Oh, God. The wind hit them full blast, and Cordelia felt herself suddenly full of pain, of pure horrible agony.

She was going through hell, and it wasn't working.

Cordelia felt the spell blast through her, so hard she felt she was being torn apart, but something was wrong, it wasn't affecting Angel. Angel was still, his body wracked with sweat.He looked dead, worse than before.

All around her,she saw the fighting, and the wind whirld, and Sammis stood, his form blurry through the wind. He was watching them, his eyes wide.

The spell had been cast, and the look on his face said it all. It wasn't working.

Her energy was draining, and Cordelia knew that at any minute she would pass out from the pain. There would be no time, and if she fell before the spell worked, he would die, and so would she.

He wasn't getting any better, and there was nothing else anyone could do. They would die if she didn't do something.

So she did,the one thing that there was left to resort to, the last thing she would have ever done, and the scariest moment of her life.

Sammis told her it would be their last chance, if nothing else worked, it just might give him enough strength to save him, just enough humanity to fight for his soul.

He also told her he had no idea what it would do to her. It was her last chance, their last chance for living through this hell. She clung to him, and never even thought about it.

She pulled out the knife she had taken from Buffy and sliced open a cut on his arm. There was no hesitation, only pure resolve, when she raised the wounded wrist to her lips and drank.

Xander Harris threw a druid against the tree, and turned back, his jaw fell open.

"Oh, God." He whispered.

She gagged on the bitter taste, but kept swallowing, drinking as much of his blood as she could, closing her eyes and muttering the few words that Sammis had taught her. Suddenly she gasped as the magic of the spell overwhelmed her, her body writhed in pain as the vampire blood mixed with the human blood, fighting with her sense and her body.

She felt the blood churn within her, her body adapting to it quickly, too quickly. Groaning, she rose to her knees, trying to catch her breath and finding that she needed none, quickly turned the knife to her own wrist, slicing quickly.

"Mingled blood makes you stronger." She began, managing the words despite the chaos both in and around her.

"Drink, Angel." She whispered, holding her wrist to his lips, praying he still had the strength.

"What the hell is she doing!" Xander called, pulling up the semi recovered Sammis. Buffy ran up to him, fending off the last druid before gazing at him.

"The bound! I said only the blood of the Bound can return to him his humanity."

"She's drinking his blood!"

"No." Buffy turned her eyes wide. "He's drinking hers."

Angel sniffed, smelling the blood, and his eyes widened, his demon face resurfacing at the smell. "Comeon, deadboy." She urged. "Drink it up, you need it."

He growled, and suddenly his mouth latched to her wrist, sucking furiously. She fell back as he took from her, praying she had the strength to pull him away before she lost too much, before she died, lost her life, and with it her humanity, and his.

"The mixing of his blood and hers will create a bond, it will bind her to him, allow him to use her strength, her humanity to fight it."

"And what about her!" Xander cried, grabbing the older man and shaking him. "What the hell will it do to her?"

"I'm not sure." Sammis said, pushing the younger man away. "But she knew the risk."

"To hell with the risk. He's gonna vamp Cordy!"

"Xander!" Giles came forward, pulling him away. "She has to die to become a vampire."

Xander's eyes flashed. "But they're in the middle of a mystical convergance! Anything can happen in there!"

Giles gasped, turning to look at Sammis. "Bloody hell, he's right."

He felt himself slipping away, he felt in horror, the blood of Cordelia coursing down his throat,and he couldn't stop it, he kept drinking.

And he began to feel. The blood, wasn't just hers, it was his, it had changed, and it filled him, he felt himself getting stronger, he felt ... warm.

The pain. The pain was gone.

His eyes opened, and widened in horror at what he saw. Cordelia was pale, so very pale, and it was then he realized his lips were still at her wrist.

He pulled himself away, his tongue collected the blood that bathed his chin as he leaned forward. He body was cold, so very cold, but she was still breathing, she wasn't dead, not yet.

Oh, God.

"Cordelia." He whispered, shaking her viciously. His ear went to her chest, felt the thumping of a heart, and he felt himself tremor. "Cordelia."

She moaned, her eyes fluttering ever so slightly, her mouth open as she caught her breath. A second passed when he thought he saw pointed teeth, but upon second look , they were normal.

All she could do was stare.

The wind died as quickly as it had come. There was a stillness in the night air, and the group now, free to enter, stayed on the outskirts, not daring to come in, not sure what to do.

A sob mingled with surprise, and she patted at her skin. The skin at her wrist was unmarred, not even a scar was visible. She had healed. How....

His wrist closed around hers, and she looked up, still weak from the loss of blood, feeling different, feeling odd. Something was different. She could feel her heart beating within, feel the blood pumping through her. Angel's blood had mingled with hers.

Her eyes lifted to his, searching to see if it had worked, if she had saved him. There were no words as he looked at her, the humanity and love in his eyes clear, so brilliant that for a moment she couldn't quite believe it.

They stared at each other, not touching. Then he smiled.

"Woman are so easy, aren't they?" He whispered, his voice husky. "I only had to almost die to get you to come back to me."

She stared at him blankly, and she laughed, so hard she was crying, and soon she was sobbing. His arms slid around her, holding her against him as she cried, and laughed. They didn't let each other go. The laughter ceased, and suddenly they were holding each other desperately, pressing so hard it was tight to see where one ended and the other began.

There was a stillness as they watched, Xander's eyes were suspiciously red, and with a nod, he turned, walking back to his car.

Willow was encased in her husbands arms, a cut on her lip, a look of retribution on her face.

Doyle bit his lip, sniffing.

"What is it?" Sammis asked. Doyle looked disturbed, but shook it off.

"Must be the blood. Like a side effect. She doesn't smell human."

It was a scene that cut her. She stood, watching it even as she felt the pain sear her heart. She was crying, though the cause of it, be it happiness at Angel's recovery, or sadness at her loss, or just a side effect from they physical and emotional exhaustion of the last two days, she did not know.

One emotion remained resilient against all others. Even though she felt a breaking within her, the one numbing feeling that ecompassed her above all was relief.

She had found herself again, and she hadn't needed Angel or Cordelia or even Willow to do it, all she had needed was herself.

It felt good to feel that, the strength and the peace that came from saving lives, from saving the people you cared about, you loved beyond measure, and the knowledge that no one else could do it.

With the revivement of Angel, she had come to the conclusion that she needed her destiny. It was a part of her, and she needed to rediscover it before she did anything else.

And with it, as she gazed at Angel and Cordelia, Buffy was forced to realize one thing.

It was over.

It was over.

But it didn't feel over. Strangely, Cordelia felt almost as if everything had just begun. It felt odd. She felt different, every sense was on edge, every scent in the air she could distinguish and everywhere she looked, the day was breaking softly. She felt alive.

She felt warm, incredibly warm, and she felt tingly. Angel's vampire blood was in her, and it was like she could hear it, feel it rushing through her.

He held her close, not wanting to let her go, and she wasn't complaining. They weren't speaking, it was something they didn't need to do, something she couldn't do, not yet.

So she just let him hold her, trying to understand what had happened to her, what had happened to him.

"Ya know, that's an awful charming site." Doyle said, coming up to the two of them, his voice cheerful despite the betrayel of emotion in his eyes.

"Yeah, well it feels good." Cordelia murmured. Angel just held her tighter. Xander stood apart, watching him, and Cordelia didn't go to him. It would have hurt too much, on both ends, so she merely stared at him, in her face such emotion and affection for the only other man she loved that he swallowed, that many feet away. Raising one hand in goodbye, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment, and then he turned, and walked away.

She swallowed, knowing there was nothing she could do. Looking over the field, she spotted the blonde Slayer crossing to her car, going as fast as she could.

Cordelia felt her throat constrict at the sight, and quickly she pulled from his embrace.

"Angel, I'll be back." She whispered, crossing her arms, and walking away.

Doyle peeled off his jacket, wrapping it around Angel's bare chest. "Don't look like batman now, man. You look like shit."

"Thanks, Doyle." Angel said dryly, pulling the small jacket tighter around him. "Good to see you."

"Yeah, likewise." He turned to study Cordelia, who was crossing the field to intercept Buffy, who had turned to walk away. "Good to see her, too."

Angel followed his gaze, felt his throat close up as he saw the two most important woman in his life talking softly to each other.

"You going to say goodbye to her?" Doyle asked.

Angel looked at him for a moment, then back at Buffy. "No." He said, after a minute. "I don't think .... I should. I do love her, Doyle."

"I know." Doyle responded. "But Cordy's your girl."

"That she is."

"You'll be wise to remember that, man. Cause if the two of you ever break up again, I'll kick your ass so hard-"

"I got it."

Doyle nodded. "Good then, let's hurry up and go then. I'd like to celebrate with a drink down at the pub."

Angel only shook his head. He felt odd, something was wierd, in his body, he felt something he had never before felt.

He felt warm.

"Buffy."

Buffy stopped at the voice. Her heart thudding, she closed her eyes, taking a breath, and turning around to face Cordelia.

"Don't say anything, Cordelia." She said quickly. "I just want to go."

Cordelia closed her mouth, but she didn't move away, simply crossed her arms, and shifted her feet. "Thank you." She finally said.

Buffy just nodded. There was silence as the woman stood, not really looking at each other, not knowing what to say. "I know you're wondering, why I did it." Buffy said finally. "Why I agreed so quickly about him and you." Cordelia's eyes lit up with surprised, but she nodded. Buffy swallowed hard, and shrugged. "I don't think I know myself. All I know is that I couldn't let you die. Not when you mean so much to him. When... when you both mean so much to me." She closed her eyes, opening them when she had composed herself. "Something tells me that, chances are, you would have done the same thing. Something tells me you already did."

Cordelia didn't say a word, but the softening of her eyes said more than words could. Buffy felt tears well up, and quickly coughed.

"I'm not going to say goodbye to him. It'll hurt too much.I don't think I'll be able to .. to leave if I did. Don't tell him anything, Cordelia. Just that I left."

"Where-"

"I'm not telling you. I don't want you to know. I might pop back in town, one day, when I heal. You better take care of him, Cordy."

Cordelia nodded, her face passive. Buffy took a breath and turned, walking away. Cordelia swallowed, and after a minute, called out.

"We're friends, Buffy."

Buffy's steps faltered, and she smiled grimly. "I don't think so."

"I do." Cordelia said meaningfully.

Buffy shook her head sadly. "Not now, Cor. But maybe later. Someday." And with that, she turned around, and kept walking.

She never looked back.

"Giles said he'd catch up." Oz said, coming up to Willow. She raised her head, nodding.

"Okay."

Oz nodded to Angel and Cordelia, who sat, spent in the van. On their faces were tired amusement, as Doyle, completely engrossed in relating some tale, was waving his hands wildly in some gesture , and was hopping up and down. "They okay?"

"Fine." Willow managed a smile. "Better than any of us, I'll bet." Oz nodded, then turned to watch Buffy's back as she walked to her car.

"Did you say goodbye?"

Willow's smile faltered, and she shook her head. "She's not ready to say goodbye to me, neither is Xander." She breathed in, and her smiled returned. "But it's okay, Oz. They will be, one day."

He only smiled at her peaceful face, and with one arm, helped her up. "You ready to go home?"

She nodded, smiling. "I'm ready. I've been ready for a long time."

He was waiting by his car, watching her as she walked up to him. "You okay?"

Buffy shrugged. "No, but I feel... semi okay. I'll be fine. In about... three hundred years or so."

He gave her a soft smile. "You know you don't need him. You only think you do."

"I guess." Wiping her hair out of her eyes, she leaned against the car, leaning into his side. "What about you?"

"Well, Cord and I had our closure, still love her, but.... I'll survive. I'll never really be her first choice, and I need that. I'm selfish." He chuckled to hide the tremor of his voice, and Buffy swallowed, not daring to look at him for fear she would burst into tears.

"They're alive. That's what matters."

"She's alive. That's all that matters to me. " He returned. "And you. You're okay."

"I wouldn't be me if I wasn't." She responded.

"No, you wouldn't." Xander gazed at her, and suddenly his eyes twinkled. "I missed you, Buff."

She smiled at the affection in his eyes. "Likewise, Xandman." She nudged him once, and he grinned. The pair silenced, each looking at the horizon.

"Well." Xander breathed, "That place looks as good as any." He said, pointing to the east. He looked at her. "You game?"

She gave him a surprised glance, and at the playful challenge in his voice, she felt a ray of hope. "You serious?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I've got money, Buffy, we'll be okay. I think we need to catch up. We're long overdue."

There was a minute of silence as she looked lost in thought, and then her face broke into a hopeful, tired grin.

"Sounds good, Xander." She took a breath, feeling her heart start beating ever so slightly, feeling the pain recede for just a minute. "Sounds very good."

He had come into the middle of a whirlwind, and he felt tired. Tired was an understatement, Rupert Giles felt overwhelmed.

He had thought his children had found peace, now it seemed everyone had been doing nothing but scrambling to find their own purpose.

He raised his tired eyes across the now empty field, to catch Cordelia as she slid into the car next to Angel. Raising a hand, she smiled at him as Willow and Oz took the van and drove back onto the road.

Maybe now they were on their way.

Turning his eyes to Sammis, who was regarding him with a half smile on his face, he sighed, walking back to him.

"Interesting group of yours." He remarked.

"Quite remarkable, aren't they?" Giles said, smiling. "Did you call your wife?"

"I did. Told her I'd be in sometime tommorrow. Your wife called by the way, she told Martha to tell you to make sure you get a goodnight's rest. She's ovulating."

Giles chuckled. and nodded. "Bloody long day." he said, pulling out a scotch bottle and handing it to Sammis.

Sammis took it, thumbing off the top and taking a huge swig. "No kidding. We're getting too old for this."

Rupert grimaced, feeling the knots in his shoulders. "I was too bloody old for this ten years ago."

Sammis nodded, his face lost in thought. Rupert gave him a look.

"You look troubled."

"I am." He responded. "I didn't expect this. By drinking his blood, she was supposed to make him more human, mixing it with hers and giving it back to him. I never imagined it would go both ways."

Rupert Giles looked at his colleague, his eyes furrowed in thought. "Sammis, what are you saying? Cordelia is no longer human?"

"I don't know. I don't know how much it changed her, but Doyle's point wasn't just a coincidence. He said she didn't smell the same."

"So what is she now?" Rupert asked, his voice tight with worry. "Some kind of hybrid?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know what being bound to Angel, having drunken his blood and being exposed to that much transformation magic means. She's still human. I think." He added as an afterthought.

Rupert swore. "Bloody hell. Will you tell her?'

"Yes. I think she knows. She must have felt something different. Though I doubt I'll have much to tell her. I honestly don't know what it did to her."

"Bloody hell."

Sammis gave him a side long look. "You sound upset."

"Of course I'm upset." He snapped. "These were my children. Cordelia, sometimes the most ignorant and normal of them all. I didn't want this for her, for any of them."

Sammis merely shook his head. "You can't stop someone from their destiny, Ripper. You know that more than anyone."

"You did." Rupert shot back. "The Celtic Druids will kill you for helping them, you realize that."

"Perhaps this was my destiny, Ripper. We must all take that chance."

Rupert's eyes rested on the now barren field, his mind roving over each and every one of their faces. "Mere chance is how we live in our world, Sam."

"No, Ripper." Sammis shook his head. "No. Chances are what make us truly live."