Jack was standing about 10 feet away from Buffy and he had a huge grin on
his face; Buffy was half-tempted to slap it off, but she knew that would
only make things worse.

She tried to hide her fear, "I shoulda known you being dead was too good to
be true."

Jack held the grin and strolled over to her, "I must say, you do know how to
protect yourself...usually." He pulled a switch blade out of his pocket.

Buffy scoffed, "Those haven't been used since the 50s. But these..." she
pulled the gun that Faith had given her from the back of her jeans and
pointed it at Jack.

Jack smiled, "Try it."

Buffy pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She shook it and tried
again; nothing happened. In two seconds, Jack was on her and he grabbed the
gun out of her hand and laughed, "You have to cock the gun first my dear."
He cocked the gun, pointed it towards the sky and acted like he was going to
fire it, but didn't, "O yes, we must not alert your friends."

Buffy tried to run, but Jack threw the gun across the street and pounced on
Buffy. They both fell to the ground and Jack pinned Buffy to the ground with
his weight and held her hands above her head. She tried to get away, but he
was too strong.

Buffy was beyond anger; now it was fear, "Please Jack, don't do this."

Jack smiled, "You know, I thought about that, but I decided on something a
little more effective."

He held on to her arms tightly and got up, pulling her up with him, then he
slammed her against a gate that went around a park. Buffy hit the gate with
a hard slam and he legs buckled and she almost fell, but Jack caught her,
"You know what really pisses Angel off? When his friends come home with
bruises and such. So I figured, he'd get the message better if I just beat
the hell out of you. I hate to hurt that pretty little face of yours, but,
it's strictly business."

He held her against the gate with one hand and backhanded her with the other
hand as hard as he could. The pain shot through Buffy's face and she cried
out.

Jack covered her mouth, "Shh...close your eyes, this will be over in a
while."

Buffy wanted so badly to scream, or try to get away, but she knew that it
would make everything worse, besides he was too strong. Buffy closed her
eyes and tired to concentrate on something other than the incredible pain
that she felt everywhere.


~~~~

Buffy lay on the ground not moving for ten minutes after Jack took off.
Every part of her body hurt and she knew that getting up would kill her.
Buffy felt rain drops on her face and it felt so good, anything to relieve
the pain. But then it started raining hard and she knew that if she stayed
there, she would freeze to death. She grabbed a hold of one of the bars on
the gate and slowly sat up. Immediately, she felt the pain in her arms and
mostly her head. She held on to the bar tightly and slowly pulled herself
up. Her legs practically gave out from under her and she fell against the
gate. She stood there for a minute and let her head rush pass, then she
slowly let go of the gate to make sure that she wasn't going to fall over.
By now, she was soaked from head to toe and was already cold. She staggered
away from the gate and headed towards Angel's house; it was closer and
safer. About a block away from Angel's house, Buffy spotted Giles' car on
the side of the road and almost started laughing, "You stupid fucking
moron." She thought to herself. She had totally forgotten that she had
driven to Angel's house. No wonder she didn't remember walking there. She
contemplated driving home, but she knew that she must have looked like a
train wreck and if Giles saw her, he would freak out. Besides, Angel knew
how to deal with these situations. She staggered to Angel's front door and
tried to make herself look a little better, but obviously, she couldn't do
it. She rang the doorbell and leaned against the wall to keep from falling
over. She waited a minute, but no one answered, so she rang the bell again.
Still no one answered, so she pounded on the door with her fist as hard as
she could, but she didn't have any strength. Finally she heard footsteps and
soon she saw a silhouette through the window that looked like Faith. When
she opened the door, Faith's mouth fell to the floor when she saw Buffy.
Buffy was drenched from the rain, she had a split lip, her left eye was
puffy and as black as a tire, and she had small, grayish colored bruises on
her cheeks.

"Oh my god, Buffy! What happened!?" Faith waited for a response, but got
none.

She took Buffy's hand and pulled her inside and shut the door. Buffy lost
her balance and fell right into Faith. Faith caught her and almost fell
over. Everyone was in a different room, so Faith had to holler to get
someone's attention, "A little god-damn help here, please!"

Kyle was the first to answer Faith's "cry" for help. He saw Buffy and ran
over to help. He picked her up and sat her on the couch. Soon, everyone else
came into the room and saw Buffy. Angel just about went through the roof,
"What the hell happened?" He looked at Faith.

She threw her arms in the air, "Hell if I know.'

Angel sat by Buffy, "Buffy, what happened."

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but barely got out a rasp, "I'm so sorry. I
should have listened."

Angel asked, like he didn't already know, "Who did this?"

Buffy squeaked, "Jack."

Faith ran upstairs to her room, and Cordelia and Dru grabbed some blankets
and wrapped them around Buffy. Faith came back downstairs and
had a pair of flannel pajamas. She pushed everyone away from Buffy, "First,
we have to get her out of these clothes; she's gonna get hypothermia."

Cordelia and Dru helped Faith stand Buffy up and they led her to the
bathroom to change. Angel got up and dumped over the coffee table and
everything on it, crashed to the floor, "That son-of-a-bitch!"

Xander was standing by the door, "Dammit, I told you we should have killed
that fucker when we had the chance!"

Kyle was standing by the couch, "He's challenging us, you know. He wants us
to fight back."

Spike was sitting on a chair, "I really don't think he needs to worry about
that."

The girls came out of the bathroom; Buffy was dry and had a towel wrapped
around her wet hair. They helped her back to the couch and she sat down.
Spike went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water; he handed it
to Buffy, "Here pet, drink this."

Buffy took the water and slowly drank it. She gave the empty glass back to
Spike and smiled at him, "Thank you." She whispered.

Angel held her hand, "Buffy, what happened?"

Buffy took a deep breath, "I was walking home, and-"

"Wait, you were walking home? I thought Willow was picking you up."

Buffy looked down at the ground. Angel's face got red like he was about
ready to blow up, but he didn't. Instead, he took a breath, "Never mind
that, what happened with Jack?"

Buffy looked at Angel again, "He came up from behind me. I thought he was
going to kill me, but instead, he did this. Just before he left, he told me
that this was a gift for you, and that it was your move. What was he talking
about?"

"Basically, he said, 'come kill me.'"

"Oh, ok..."

"Are you ok?"

Buffy looked at him like he was insane, "Do I look OK? I can't see out of my
left eye, my mouth hurts when I try to talk...my whole face hurts, as do my
legs, arms, and especially my back."

"Your back?"

"Yea, he slammed me against that gate by the park a few times. I lost count
after about the third time. Oh yea, I'm cold as all hell too. You wanna know
what really pissed me off though? I forgot that I drove here in Giles' car.
I was way preoccupied with this Jack thing, so I forgot about the fuckin'
car. This never would have happened if I had any brains!"

Buffy looked around and could see everyone starting to laugh, so she gave
them all a death look, "Don't even think about it."

They saw her face and their smiles vanished...for a minute.

Buffy looked at Angel again, "I'm sorry I lied; it's just that you guys have
done so much for me and I don't want to put you guys out anymore. And Angel,
you still haven't healed all the way, you need to be resting, not running
around, and worrying about me."

Faith stepped in, "B, you totally don't get it. There is no you anymore,
it's all us. You are NEVER to go ANYWHERE alone anymore. You are a part of
us now, and that is the only way that you are going to be safe."

"Yea, I get it now. Don't worry, I don't want this to happen again. I must
really be pissing you guys off."

Buffy waited for someone to object to her remark, but no one did, they just
smiled at her; that didn't make her feel any better. Buffy remembered Giles,
"Oh, Giles, what do I do? Should I go home and tell him that I ran into a
door and it decided to fight back?" Everyone chuckled at that.

Faith studied Buffy's face, "No, you better stay here tonight. I know from
experience, it should be a lot better tomorrow morning." She looked at
Buffy's arms and legs. "You can sleep in my bed, I'll take the floor; you
need as much comfort as possible to heal the bruises. You should bring some
ice for your eye and lip."

Buffy smiled and tried to shift her body, but winced.

Cordelia grabbed a bottle of aspirin out of her bag, "Oh yes, you can't
forget the aspirin." She threw the bottle at Faith.

Spike came back into the living room, "We hit him on his home turf...so to
speak."

Buffy looked at Spike, "Home turf?"

"Satan Street."

"Satan Street?"

"Ironic isn't it?"

Angel nodded, "Not a bad idea."

Buffy was confused, "Satan Street? Is that where Jack lives or something?"

Kyle explained to Buffy, "No, Satan St. is way on the other side of town,
close to where Jack lives. He and all his friends and a bunch of other
people from his school. They are always there on Friday night, so that's
when we hit.  All of his friends will be there, but we call him out alone,
and he'll go. See, he has a lot of pride, and while most people would bring
a thousand other people with them, Jack will go alone, as long as we call
him out in front of everyone. He thinks he has this big, bad-ass reputation
that he wants to protect, so he'll go alone just to look cool and so people
won't think he's a wimp, even though no one else would ever go alone. And
then, we beat him down.

Buffy kinda understood,  "Ok, makes sense...sorta. But, you said we're on
their turf, so how does that make us safe? There will be a whole lot of
them, can't they like ambush us?"

Everyone there, except for Jack's friends know better than to mess with us,
or Jack and his gang. They know that if they even try anything, they might
never see the light of day again; so we don't need to worry about them, just
Jack and his friends."

Buffy smiled, "Ok, now I get it."

Angel thought for a minute, "Tomorrow night."

"Ok, it's a plan." Faith walked over to Buffy, "Come on B, you need sleep."

Buffy slowly stood up, "What about Giles?"

Xander smiled, "I'll call Willow and fill her in...sorta, then you can call
Giles."

Buffy smiled, "Thanks Xander."

"No problem."

Buffy followed Faith up to her room and sat on the bed.

"Ok B, I'll go get you some ice."

"Thanks Faith, I so appreciate this."

"No problem, now relax."

Faith went downstairs, got the ice, and brought it back to Buffy, "I'll be
up in a while."

"Ok, Good night."

"Night."

Faith went back downstairs and joined the conversation.

Angel was holding his shoulder a little bit, "Ok, tomorrow night, we get
him."

Xander was totally serious, "Can we kill him this time?"

Kyle, "No, we DON'T kill him. Just forget killing him. I want him to die,
believe me, but we can't kill him. If we do, it will eventually be traced
back to us, and if that happens, we are all fucked. As long as he stays
alive, he doesn't have to stay...healthy."

Faith: "What about Buffy? Are we going to bring her along?"

Angel: "No, she needs to stay out of the line of fire."

Cordelia: "Do you think she will be safe with none of us around?"

Dru: "They have ways of finding out where she lives, maybe they already
know. She should stay with us, especially tomorrow night."

Kyle: "She's right, she's safer with us than she is at her home."

Angel: Safer? How is being with us on a night like tomorrow safer?"

Xander: "We can protect her."

Spike: "Angel, if you want to keep her alive, at least one of us has to be
with her at all times."

Angel: "Ok, fine; she goes, but don't let her out of your sight. She is such
an amateur at this shit. She could be in so much danger."

Faith: "Don't worry, if things get to heavy, she can bail and I'll take her
home and stay with her. Besides, this might get her to realize what she's a
part of now, and it might wake her up; I mean, she obviously doesn't really
realize how dangerous it is, otherwise she never would have walked home at
all, much less alone. This is a sure way to bring her down to OUR Earth."

Angel: "Ok, you're right."

Kyle: "Tomorrow, we all go "armed and dangerous" so to speak. Who knows if
any of Jack's friends will try to come to the rescue."

Faith: "Um, may I suggest something? I think someone needs to teach Buffy
how to shoot. I gave her a gun and it obviously did no good."

Angel: "Good idea; I'd do it, but I'll probably end up shooting myself with
this damn arm."

Faith: "No sweat, I can do it. Hey, are you going to school tomorrow?"

Angel: "Yea, my arm is good enough now."

Faith: "Should Buffy and I skip tomorrow so I can teach her too shoot? I
really don't think that a few hours after school is enough."

Kyle: "Yea, skip tomorrow; practice all day. She needs to be a pro if she is
going to stay alive."

Faith: "Got it. Well, I' off to bed. Night all."

Everyone exchanged 'goodnights,' and they all went to bed.

Buffy woke up the next morning to the sound of Willow's voice, "Buffy,
wake
up."

At first, Buffy thought that she was home, but then, all at once, the
pain
from the night before came flooding back and she remembered that she
was
sleeping in Faith's room, at her house, and now...Willow was there.
Buffy
immediately sat up and saw Willow next to the bed, and Xander standing
in
the doorway.

"Willow, what are you doing here?!" She winced when she touched her lip
to
inspect the damage.

Willow's eyes were as wide as Oreos, "Buffy, what the happened to you?"

Buffy ignored her and looked at Xander, "What is she doing here
Xander?"

Xander walked a little closer to the bed, "Well, after you went to
sleep
last night, I called Willow and asked her to cover for you again and I
also
told her that you wouldn't be in school today. She immediately thought
you
were dead or almost dead or something and she freaked out. She told me
that
if I didn't tell her where she was, she was going to call the police
and
tell them what was going on. I thought she was bluffing, so I didn't
tell
her. Well, five minutes later, the police called and asked if
everything was
ok. So, here we are."

Willow waved her hands in the air, "Hello? I'm right here! Don't talk
about
me like I'm not here."

Buffy got out of bed, "Willow, are you insane? Do you have any idea how
dangerous it is to be in this house?"

Willow laughed, but when she noticed that Xander and Buffy weren't, she
stopped.

"Willow, I'm serious. If anyone saw you come in here, you're in
trouble.
Dammit, why couldn't you just trust me!? You have to leave now!"

"Buffy, why aren't you going to school?"

"Look at me, I can barely stand."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'll live. You have to leave here, now. The less you are
here,
the better." She shot a glance at Xander, "Xander will take you to
school,
and I promise I will call you tonight."

Willow wouldn't budge, "No way, you aren't getting rid of me that
easily. I
want to know what's going on."

Buffy hated it when Willow showed her stubborn side, "No, you are
leaving
now! You don't understand, the longer you are here, the better chance
you
have of not waking up tomorrow morning! I mean, I have been shot and
beat
the hell out of in less than two weeks. You have to leave NOW!"

"Buffy, please tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry Will, I can't now."

"I'm not leaving."

Buffy looked at Xander, "Take her to school, will ya?"

Xander smiled, "Gladly."

Willow waved again, "Hello? I'm still here."

At that, Xander grabbed Willow's arm, pulled her closer to him, grabbed
her
around the waist, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulders,
"I'll see
she gets there safely."

Buffy smiled, "Thanks."

Willow started hitting Xander's back and trying to kick his stomach,
"Hey!
Let me go! Put me down!"

Xander ignored her and carried her downstairs, passed the gawking
people,
out the door, to his car, which was already running, plopped her down
on the
drivers side, Willow quickly scooted over to try to get out, but the
door
was locked, and by the time she got it unlocked, Xander was already in,
and
he sped off. Willow glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

Xander just smiled, I knew you would be stubborn, so I had to think
ahead.
Look, Buffy is as safe as she can possibly be with us. None of us would
let
anything happen to her, so dont worry.

Willow kept glaring at Xander, Like she already told me, she has been
shot
and totally beaten in the last two weeks. And its all because of you,
so
dont take it personally if I hate all of you for turning my best
friend
into one of you. She could die, just like the rest of you, and while it
would suck for you, it would suck even more for Buffy because she has
friends and family who truly care about her.

Willow realized what she had said, Im sorry. I didnt mean that you
guys
dont have people who care about you, its just

Xander kept his eyes on the road, Dont worry about it.

Willow saw how collected Xander was, How do you do this day after
day?

Its quite simple, I dont have a choice.

Willow studied Xander for a moment; he was wearing jeans, shoes that
looked
like combat boots, a white t-shirt, and a leather jacket. He also had a
long
silver chain latched onto his jeans.

Typical clothing for people like him. Willow thought to herself.
However,
she didnt understand the chain.

Whats with the chain?

What chain?

Willow pointed to it.

Oh, well, I guess you could say, its part of the typical clothing
that
people like me wear.
Willow looked at him and he winked at her, You should think to
yourself a
little quieter next time.

Willow blushed, Oops.

She paused for a moment, This might sound like a stupid question, but
have
you ever killed anyone?

Xander didnt answer at first, Not because I wanted to. If I could, I
would
never hold another gun or knife, ever again. Just because we live this
way,
doesnt mean we like it.

Please take care of Buffy. She wont let me be there to watch out for
her,
so you have to. I havent slept in four days because Ive been worrying
about Buffy.

She is as safe as she can possibly be with us, I promise.

They got to school, and Xander pulled into the bus lane, Ill keep you
posted. Would that make you feel any better?

Its a start, thanks.

No sweat.

Willow smiled at Xander and got out of the car. She shut the door; he
waved,
and then drove away.

Was that Xander Harris?

Willow turned around and saw Oz, Gun, and Fred behind her, Oh, um,
yea.

Oz looked confused, Why did he give you a ride to school?

Willow started to panic, Well, ummy car died, so I had to walk to
school.

Willow saw the questioning look on Ozs face, I tried to call you, but
you
had already left. Anyway, when I was walking here, this guy came out of
nowhere and started harassing me. Well, Xander came along and saved
me,
and then he dropped me off here. Hes not as bad as you would think.

Oz hugged her, Are you alright?

Couldnt be better. Lets go.

She took Ozs hand, and they all went to class.

~~~~

Buffy got dressed and limped downstairs, Hello? Anyone home?

In here.

Buffy heard Angel in his room and went to see him, Morning.

Morning, how do you feel?

How do I look?

Angel chuckled, Yea, Ive been there.

Hows you arm?

Almost good as new.

Buffy took Angels hand and made him sit on the bed, then she sat on a
chair
across from him, Ok, we need to talk, or at least I do, you can just
listen. These past few weeks, as you know, havent been a walk in the
park
for meor you, but youre more used to it than I am. Anyway, in these
passed
few weeks, Ive realized that you cant take live for granted. Every
moment
we have on Earth is a blessing, because tomorrow, we might be dead; you
guys
probably know that more than anyone. Ive also learned that you have to
live
life to its fullest, and Buffy moved to the bed, and sat next to
Angel,
You also have to seize the moment.

She put her hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes and felt the touch
of
her hand, You love doing this, dont you?

What?

Driving me crazy.

Im sorry, I

Angel cut her off, by kissing her.

At first, Buffy wasnt sure what to do. This was totally different than
the
first kiss she had with Angel. This time, he had made the first move.
Buffy
thought about pulling away, but decided against it when she felt his
hand on
her cheek. She returned the kiss, but was hesitant; even though she
wanted
this, she didnt know if it would be a good idea to get so involved. As
soon
as the whole Jack situation was taken care of, she planned on leaving
Angel and Faith and everyone else. She was eternally grateful for what
they
had done for her, but this was NOT the life for her. She couldnt spend
the
rest of her life looking over her shoulder for someone who wanted to
kill
her.

Buffy pulled away, Wait, I cant do this.

Angel smiled, Why not?

I am so grateful for what all of you have done for me, but I cant
live the
rest of my life like this. I have to get out now, before I mess
everything
up for all of us. Trust me, you dont want me. I would bring you guys
down
in two seconds flat. I mean, look whats happened to you guys already
with
me involved. You were almost killed twice because of me and I WONT let
that
happen again.

Angel didnt smile this time, Well, I hate to tell you this, but there
is
no getting out now. And if you even try, Jack WILL kill you. You are
most
vulnerable when you arent with any of us and thats to his advantage.
Look,
I know youre scared, but you cant get out if you want to stay
alive. The
only way or your friend Willow will be safe, is.

Willow? What about her? What are you talking about?

Im assuming that Xander carried her out of here like that because she
refused to leave. And Im guessing you told her to leave because its
safer
for her, right?

Yea, so?

Well, I hate to say this; we are being watched like a fuckin' hawk.
Well,
the house is. They see anybody and everybody who enters and leaves this
house. Unless Willow is a pizza guy, or a salesman, she's been seen and
now,
she's in trouble. You guys are safest here, with us. I've told you so
many
times, we fight everyday to stay alive. You did the right thing, trying
to
keep Willow away, but she's just like you, stubborn and persistent. Why
do
you think Xander took her to school?"

"So you mean that she has to be with one of you guys at all times now?"

"Well, no. But you need to keep a close eye on her all the times."

"God! How could I let this happen?"

"It wasn't your fault."

"I'm not feeling so well, I'm gonna go back to bed." She smiled at
Angel,
and then went back upstairs.