Buffy grabbed her key Angel had given her and shoved into the lock that would
open his apartment door.
She opened the door and met a smell she couldn't describe. It was like more
than one type of...something was burning.
"Angel? Angel, there's something burning!" she called out, hoping that it
wasn't the scent of cooked vampire. "Angel!" she called out again, getting
worried. "Uh, in here Buffy," he called from the kitchen. She walked over to
their kitchen and saw Angel standing behind the counter.
She looked around and saw that there were pots and pans everywhere, and they
were filled with things Buffy couldn't describe. "Uh, welcome home?" Angel
offered.
"I see we had fun in our kitchen while Buffy was at school today," she said
to him. Then she thought she heard laughing, coming from somewhere in the
kitchen. Maybe she had just imagined it. Angel quickly sneezed and Buffy was
automatically curious. "Yeah, I was trying to cook for you and, well, it backfired on me, as you
can see," Angel told her. Buffy smiled and started to walk over to him, but
he quickly went to her before she could get any further. "It was sweet of you
to do this," she said, getting a little confused. "I try," he said before
they kissed. Now Buffy knew she didn't imagine the groan and then the "shhh"
she heard.
"Angel? Is there something going on?" she asked as she broke the kiss. "Nope.
Nothing here. Why don't you uhh, go order a pizza. Yep, there's a phone in
the living room, which is out there and-" "Angel, I can use the phone in
here," she cut him off. He went over to the phone. "Sorry, it's broken. See?"
he said as he pulled the phone off the counter, making hte jack come out.
"You took the phone jack out," she told him. "Oh, yep, I did. Well, it'll
take too long to put it back in, so go order the pizza and I will clean up
the mess we...I, that I made. Now go!" he said as he ushered her out of the
kitchen. "Fine, but I'll figure out what you're up to Angel," she said as she
walked out of hearing distance.
"You couldn't keep quiet?" Angel demanded as he walked over to the counter
and looked at the six faces under it. "Well it's kinda hard when you two are
out there smacking away," Xander muttered as he got out from under Angel's
counter. He was soon followed by Anya, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and then Doyle.
"Okay, well I think she knows you're up to something Angel," Cordelia said.
"You *think*?" Xander said to her. "Hey!" Cordelia exclaimed loudly. "Shhhh,
she'll hear you," Angel told them. "Look, just get all the stuff out of here.
I'll distract her." Angel said. "Don't you want us to help you clean up this
mess? We kinda helped make it," Doyle asked. "No, just get everything out."
Angel moved to the living room, where Buffy had just hung up the phone.
"Pizza's coming," she said. "Good," he replied as he moved in and kissed her
passionately. He turned her around and opened his eyes to see everyone
quietly leaving. Buffy pulled away and started to turn around. Angel panicked
and pulled her back to him giving her a kiss that would've left the best
kisser out there dazed. He heard the quiet click of the door and pulled away
from Buffy. "Wow," was all she could say. Angel smiled and walked back to the
kitchen to clean up the mess in there, while Buffy stood in the middle of
Angel's living room, still reeling from his kiss.
************************************
"I'm telling you Willow, he's up to something. I walked into his kitchen
today and he went into automatic guilty mode. And when I kissed him, I swear
I could hear someone groaning. Then he like practically shoved me out of his
kitchen to order a pizza. Then he gives me this...AMAZING kiss, and then goes
and cleans up the mess he made."
"Wow," Willow said, trying to pull a poker face, *trying* being the key word.
Buffy looked at her friend. "Will, what to you know?" she asked suspiciously.
"Me? Nothing. Just nothing. You know, why would I know something? I'm gonig
to meet Oz, hope you find out why Angel's all weird. Bye," Willow said
quickly as she left their dorm as fast as she could.
Buffy knew something was definitely up.
"Angel, she knows I'm in on it. It was like playing 20 questions, she was all
curious. I tried to pull a poker face, but she saw right through it," Willow
told him.
Angel looked around at the six faces of Willow, Oz, Anya, Xander, Cordelia,
and Doyle, who had all been helping him with his plan.
"It's okay, I'm just glad she hasn't talked to Cordelia," Angel said.
"Hey!" Cordelia piped up. Doyle put his arm around Cordelia to comfort her.
"So anyway, Angel, about this plan-" Xander started before he was interrupted
by a knock at Angels' door.
"Angel?" Buffy called from the outside.
"Quick, everyone, under the counter again!" Angel said.
"Oh no! I'm not gonna be crammed under there again and be forced to listen to
the smacking of Buffy and Angel kissing!" Xander exclaimed.
Angel gave Xander a look that sent him and everyone else heading towards
Angel's kitchen.
They all got quiet just as Buffy opened the door with her key.
"You're here," she said. Angel nodded.
"I knocked. Why didn't you answer?"
"Uhh, I was...busy," Angel said lamely.
Buffy headed towards his kitchen.
"Where are you going? You cant go in there, I have bugs!" Angel exclaimed as
he went after her.
She walked in and went to the counter and looked under it, seeing 6 guilty
faces looking up at her.
"Hey Buffy," Xander said, trying to act like being under a counter with 5
other people was normal.
She looked up as Angel walked in.
"Okay, what's going on here? Tell me *now*."
The room was silent. No one moved. It was Cordelia who finally spoke up as
she wedged herself out from under Angel's counter.
"Well, as it is *so* obvious, we are playing hide-n-seek," she said.
"Hide-n-seek?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah. And I know it's a little kiddie and all, but we just felt the need to
recapture our younger selves," Willow said as she stood up, followed by
everyone else.
"Yeah, and you all decided to hide in the same place. You guys were hiding
there yesterday, weren't you?" Buffy asked.
"Yep. You've caught us Buffy. We've been planning this thing for you, and you
ruined it," Xander said. Angel gave him a death look.
"We're taking you to dinner and a movie for your upcoming something or
other," Xander finished.
"What?" Buffy asked, totally confused.
"Yeah. You see, we wanted to do something as a group and we decided it would
be fun to surprise you, since you like it when we all do group things," Anya
said.
Buffy smiled. "That's why you guys have been so secretive? I thought that
there was some big problem that you didn't want me to know about, or maybe
you were all just sick of Buffy," she said.
"That could never happen," Angel said as he put his arms around her.
"So that was really it?" Buffy asked, feeling skeptical.
"Yep," Willow said.
"Well, I guess I'll go change my clothes. I wasn't really expecting dinner
and a movie. I'll see you guys in a few minutes," Buffy said as she headed
for the door.
"I'll walk you out," Angel said as he followed her. As soon as she left Angel
ran back into the kitchen.
"It's official man, no more hiding under that counter," Doyle told him.
"That was close. Willow call the movie theater and see what's playing. I'll
call a restaurant and see if they have a table for eight," he said.
Willow nodded and picked up the phone. From now on, they would have to hide
their secret more carefully.
**********************************
He saw her. She was walking to her dorm. She looked beautiful, as always. He
knew that she was still a big mystery, but he would figure her out. He would.
He approached her and called out her name. She turned around and he saw those
beautiful blue eyes he could just fall into...
"Hi Riley," she said.
"Hey Buffy, what's up?" he asked, whipping his head to get his hair out of
his face.
"Nothing. Well, actually-"
"Good. Because I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner...or something
like that?" he asked.
"Riley, I already have plans," she said.
"But you just said-"
"I know. I wasn't thinking. Willow, Oz, and a bunch of my other friends are
taking me to dinner and a movie. I just found out about it. I have no clue
where we're going. I'm sorry," she said, not feeling *too* bad.
"It's okay," he said, trying to sound disappointed.
Buffy felt bad that he would be alone, and decided to ask him to come along.
"Really?" he asked, surprised that she wanted him to come.
"Yep," she said with a smile. Besides, she wanted to show off Angel, and
Riley being there to see it would be fun.
"I'll meet you at your dorm in 20 minutes?" he asked. She nodded and he
walked off, looking happier than a kid who just woke up on Christmas.
Buffy grinned to herself. This was *definitely going to be fun.
**********************************
"Toy Story 2? That's *all* you could get?" Angel asked, silently refusing to
go to a movie with talking toys.
"All the romantic movies were sold out. It's Friday night. Besides, you don't
have to even *watch* the movie," Willow told him.
A grin passed over Angel's face and he said, "Good thinking Willow."
Cordelia, Doyle, Xander, and Anya walked in, having gone home to change into
nicer clothes for dinner. Willow and Oz only had to go to the dorms, and
Willow had already been wearing a dress anyway.
"Did you guys see Buffy coming?" Angel asked.
"Nada on the Buffy," Xander said. Angel nodded and looked out the window
waiting for Buffy to arrive.
***********************************
"So how many of these people to I know?" Riley asked as they headed to
Angel's apartment.
"Um, you know Willow and Oz. I don't think you've met Xander or Anya. And I
*know* you don't know Cordelia or Doyle," she said.
"Is that all?" he asked, glad that he and Buffy would be the only dateless
couple.
"Well, there's Angel too."
Riley felt sick. "A-Angel?" he asked.
Buffy nodded and smiled at him. "Yep, Angel. He's great, you'll love him,"
Buffy said, saying to herself 'Cuz I know I do.'
They came up the apartment building and Buffy pressed the elevator button.
"Well, isn't this nicely close to the dorms," Riley muttered, feeling jealous
of a guy he hadn't even met. He couldn't help looking at the look on Buffy's
face when she mentioned him.
The elevator stopped on Angel's floor and Buffy headed to his apartment. She
pulled out her key.
"You have a *key*?" Riley asked. Buffy nodded and unlocked the door.
"Hey everyone!" she called as she walked in.
They all turned around and looked at Buffy, then at Riley.
"Riley's going to be joining us." Buffy waited for everyone's reactions.
"The more the merrier," Willow piped up, trying to ease the tension.
Angel walked into the room at that moment.
"Is Buffy here yet?" he asked. He followed everyone's gazes to the door.
"Angel, this is Riley. He's gonna come, okay?" Buffy asked.
Angel looked at her, and then at Riley. Riley moved forward.
"I'm Riley Finn," he said extending his hand. Angel glanced at Buffy and the
look she gave him told him to be polite.
"Angel," he said, shaking Riley's hand briefly.
"Just Angel?" Riley asked, a tiny bit of humor in his voice.
"Yep," was all Angel said.
"Well, lets go. What movie are we going to see?" Buffy asked, hoping to
change the subject.
"Surprise," Angel said as he moved over to Buffy.
"Come on," she said as she gave him her best puppy dog face.
Riley noticed this and quickly interrupted. "Well, shouldn't we go?"
Buffy looked over at him, then back to Angel. "Yeah, let's go."
Angel sighed inwardly and moved to get his jacket.
"Oh Riley, this is Cordelia, Doyle, Xander, and Anya," Buffy said pointing to
each person as she said their name. They nodded their hellos and Buffy and
Riley went to the door.
"My van's parked in front," Oz said as he and Willow followed.
"This is going to be interesting," Xander muttered to Anya as they followed everyone else. Doyle hung back to wait for Angel.
"Ready man?" he asked.
Angel nodded as he and Doyle walked out of the apartment.
When they got to the van, Angel automatically noticed Riley had made it
physically impossible for Angel to be by Buffy. She was sitting by the
window, and Riley had crammed next to her. He took a spot by Xander and shut
the door.
"Having fun?" Xander asked, trying not to laugh at the expression on Angel's
face.
"Shut up Xander," Angel muttered and he tried to listen to Riley and Buffy.
"So Buffy, how are you doing in school?"
"Fine."
"I'm really glad you're in the class that I T.A. for. I think you're great,"
he said. Everyone but Buffy and Riley looked at Angel to see what he would
do. Even Oz and Willow from the rear view mirror. Angel just faked a pleasant
smile and watched the houses go by.
"Buffy, I want to thank you again for inviting me. I think that tonight will
be really great." "Me too," Buffy said, looking at her boyfriend who was looking out the
window. She grinned at how cute he looked, concentrating so hard on the
houses that they passed. She knew he was really just trying to ignore Riley.
Oz pulled into a parking lot, and Buffy couldn't help but gasp when she saw
where they were. Shay Louis, a very pricey French Restaurant.
"You guys, we're going *here*?" Buffy squealed.
"Yep. Angel's a classy guy," Xander said as he followed the said vampire out
of Oz's van.
"Yeah, real classy. He dresses like the hostiles," Riley muttered.
"What was that?" Buffy asked.
"Oh nothing, just trying to remember something," Riley said. Buffy nodded and
smiled at Angel when she walked through the door that Angel was holding open.
Angel followed her in and the door shut in Riley's face.
"Oops," Angel said. "Sorry about that," he said a few seconds later to Riley
who had just walked in.
"It's perfectly okay," Riley told Angel.
"Hi, we're the Summer's party for eight. Well, it's actually nine now," Angel
said. The man sighed. "You can't extend a reservation. If you had eight, we
can only seat eight."
Go sit down, I'll handle this," Angel said to the group. They nodded and
followed the waitress to their table.
"Summers? That's your last name. And I'm finding myself back at the question
of his last name," Riley said to Buffy.
"Oh, Angel has a *really* bad last name, so he sometimes uses mine." It
wasn't a total lie. Angel had an old last name, and it was dorky.
(Note, I THINK Angel's last name was O'Reilly when he was human, but take
away the O and you have Riley, and I refuse to give Angel a last name that
has Fishboy's name in it. Okay, back to the fiction...)
"So what is it?" Riley asked as they sat down. "Never mind. Where is he?" she asked, looking to the front to see Angel
arguing with the man. Buffy's mind automatically started to think of ways to
make it up to Angel, for bringing Riley. She decided to start by smooches in
front of Riley. Let him know she was taken, and she always would be.
They all sat down, and as Angel's misfortune would have it, Buffy took the
end seat, and Riley sat next to her. "Guys where is Angel gonna sit?" Buffy
asked. Cordelia, who was across the table grabbed a chair from a table nearby
and set it by her seat. Buffy actually thought sitting across from Angel
would be better. She could gaze into his eyes...
"Buffy? How exactly do you know Angel?" Riley asked, cutting into her
thoughts.
"He's my-"
"Would you like to order now?" a waitress asked, interrupting Buffy. Buffy
looked back to the front and saw that Angel was still arguing with the man.
"Yep. I'll have the French potato soup with a side of breadsticks, and
he'll will have a steak, *very* rare," Buffy said, pointing to Angel as the
him. The waitress nodded and moved on.
"I thought this was a French place," Riley said.
"It is, but they still serve American food. That's why it's so neat here,"
Buffy explained. Riley just nodded.
Angel finally came and sat down after about 20 minutes.
"I finally won after about a half an hour and 5 angry groups later," he said.
Buffy smiled and reached across the table for his hand. Riley watched the
motion like a hawk.
Angel returned Buffy's smile, and they just looked lovingly at each other.
Willow took Oz's hand as well, and Xander and Doyle watched Riley's face with
amusement. Riley looked at his champagne glass and knocked it over,
purposefully, onto Buffy's lap.
She made a noise and stood up. Riley quickly stood up and grabbed some
napkins.
"Buffy, I'm *so* sorry. Here, let me help," he said as he handed he tried to
start wiping up her skirt. "I got it Riley," she said, annoyed, as she took
the napkins.
"I'll be right back," Buffy told them as she headed to the bathroom. Cordelia
and Willow followed.
"I guess this is a girl thing, I better go too," Anya said as she too
followed the Slayer to the ladies room.
Riley looked embarrassed, Angel looked annoyed, and Xander, Doyle, and Oz
looked amused.
This was *definitely* going to be a *long* night.
****************************************
Buffy wiped at her skirt as Willow kept handing her paper towels.
"Look at it this way Buffy, at least he didn't spill ketchup on you. That
stuff is really hard to get out," Cordelia said. Buffy glared at her and kept
wiping at her skirt.
"Stupid Riley. Tell me again why he came?" Buffy asked.
"You invited him," Anya said.
"Oh. Right. Well, this is the best we can do. Let's go back out before Angel
rips out Riley's throat," Buffy said.
*********************************
"So, Oz you're in a band. What do you guys do?" Riley asked Xander, Doyle,
and Angel.
"Um, I help...him," Xander said pointing to Angel. "Ditto," Doyle added.
"Yes, and I am a...uh...worker," Angel said.
The table was quiet.
"A worker. What a...vague job description," Riley said.
"What do *you* do Riley, when you're not a TA for Buffy's psychology class?"
"Well, I work for the professor I TA for if you can believe that," Riley
said, laughing slightly.
"I didn't ask who you worked for, I asked what you did," Angel said.
"Oh. Yeah. Well, I...um...work," Riley said.
"Really? What a vague job description," Angel said, mimicking Riley.
Doyle, Oz, and Angel had to choke back laughter.
"So Riley, how's Buffy doin' in that psych. class?" Doyle asked.
"Good. The professor really likes her a lot. I do too, she's great," Riley
said. Xander noticed Angel's hands turn into fists.
"Did you know that Buffy and I once went on a picnic once? We had apples,"
Riley said. Oz nodded, remembering how Willow had told him she saw them, and
went over to break it up.
"Really?" Xander asked, trying his best to sound interested.
"Yeah, it was a *great* day. It was sunny, and I don't think there was a
cloud in the sky. She looks amazing in the sun," Riley said, sighing. Angel looked like it was taking all of his self-restraint to not kill Riley
on the spot. Oz noticed the girls coming back and everyone sighed inwardly.
"Buffy, again, I'm really sorry," Riley said as Buffy sat back down.
"Sure you are," Angel muttered.
He looked to the window and saw a vampire walking past it.
"I'll be right back," Angel said quickly. He walked past Buffy and stopped,
and idea forming in his head. The vampire could wait a few seconds. He leaned
down and took Buffy's face in his hands and kissed her passionately, making
sure Riley could see.
Xander snickered and Anya kicked him. "Ow!" Xander exclaimed.
Riley watched bug eyed as Angel kissed Buffy, and felt his heart scream when
she returned it. Angel pulled away.
"I wont be long," he said to her.
Angel walked out the side door and found the vampire quickly.
"Looking for something?" Angel asked the vampire who was looking through the
window at Buffy.
The vampire turned around. "The slayer is going to die," he told Angel.
"Really? So are you." Angel pulled out a stake from his jacket and dusted the
vampire. He walked back into the restaurant.
When he got back to their table, he noticed that their food was there.
Angel sat down and Buffy smiled at him, remembering the kiss he had given her.
Riley was glaring at Angel, when he noticed a bunch of dust on Angel's right
shoulder.
"You have dust on your jacket," Riley said. Everyone looked at Angel, and
Buffy noticed it wasn't the kind of dust you get from a bookshelf.
She looked at Angel with a panicked expression. "Yeah, the bathroom was
really dusty. Wow, this food looks great," Angel said as he picked up his
fork. Buffy took one of her breadsticks and called out Angel's name. He looked at her and she handed him the breadstick. She put her mouth on one
end. Angel got it and put his mouth on the other end. They ate their way to
each other, whole leaning across the table. Finally there was no more
breadstick and just kissing.
Everyone else thought that this was a sensibly good idea and stole three of
Buffy's breadsticks. Riley tried to look away, embarrassed to be sitting at a
table full of kissing people.
Instead, he told himself that sabotaging Buffy and Angel's now obvious
relationship would be easy. There had to be *something* he could use against
Angel. There had to be...
Buffy looked for another breadstick, and found the basket empty, and all her
friends using them for her purpose for using them. She sat back annoyed.
"Buffy, I don't think I told you how nice you look tonight. I don't think
I've ever seen anything more beautiful," Riley said, leaning as close as he
could. He would just charm her.
"Riley...I...thank you," Buffy said. Riley did a silent cheer as he noted the
tone of her voice.
After the breadsticks were gone, everyone ate in a tension filled silence,
Riley and Angel making death glares at each other.
The waitress came by and handed Angel the bill. Angel freaked when he saw the
total was $240. He got out his wallet and pulled out the cash, leaving a five
dollar tip. The waitress came back and took the money, grinning at the large
tip she had received.
"Angel, how much money did all this cost, so we can pay you?" Doyle asked.
"Forget it, it was my good deed for the day," Angel muttered as he headed
towards the front door.
Angel opened the door and waited for everyone to pile in the van. He was
going to get in after Buffy, but Riley pushed in front of him.
"Thanks," Riley said as he took a seat next to Buffy. Angel tried to repress
a growl, and got in and shut the door, ending up by Cordelia this time.
They didn't have to drive far to get to the Sunnydale Odeon. They all got out
and went to pay. Somehow, Angel ended up at the front. "Um, 9 tickets for Toy
Story 2," Angel said, pulling out his wallet and angrily paying the 30 dollar
fee. He handed everyone their tickets and they all went inside.
They found a row that had enough seats for them. Angel was determined to get
a seat by Buffy, but Riley ended up shoving past him once more to get a spot
by Buffy. Angel was stuck with the isle seat.
"Don't we need popcorn?" Riley asked. Before anyone could say anything Angel
stood up.
"Don't go to the trouble of getting up," Angel muttered as he walked out of
the theater.
Buffy watched him leave and felt bad that he had planned all this for them
and he couldn't even sit next to her. She decided to fix that. "Riley, trade
me places," she said.
"Why?" Riley asked, playing dumb.
"Because the guy in front of me is to tall," she said. Riley sighed, knowing
he couldn't tell her to move over the other way, he wouldn't be sitting by
her then, and moved.
Angel came back just as the lights dimmed. He handed the jumbo tub of popcorn
to Buffy and told her to pass the 3 drinks down to Oz, Willow, Cordelia,
Doyle, Xander, and Anya. He kept the fourth one for him and Buffy. Riley
could just be thirsty.
Buffy turned to Angel. "Angel, thanks so much for this. I've had a good time.
And the times we kissed at dinner were the best," she said.
Angel smiled at her, his anger quickly melting away. "Anything for you," he
told her.
They leaned in and started to kiss. Riley noticed this and tapped her on the
shoulder.
"Buffy! Buffy, look!" he exclaimed.
She turned around to face Riley. "What?" she asked.
"Woody," he said, turning to the screen. Buffy sighed and sat in her seat,
knowing Riley would only bug her if she kissed Angel all through the movie.
Angel felt his anger returning. He wished Angelus would show up for a second
or two....
Towards the middle of the movie, Riley placed his hand on Buffy's, which was
on the arm rest. She looked at his hand, and then at him. He gave her a
sheepish grin.
Angel looked over and saw Riley's hand on Buffy's, and that she wasn't doing
anything about it. He decided not to make a scene and turned his attention
back to the talking toys on the screen.
Buffy pretended to stretch and moved her hand, placing it in her lap
afterwards.
Riley moved his arm slowly around Buffy's shoulder. She just watched the
screen.
Angel was getting really mad at this point and pulled at the armrest, ripping
it off.
Buffy and the rest of them looked at him. "It was loose," Angel muttered,
throwing it on the floor.
Finally, the movie ended. Angel thanked whoever was listening.
On the way home, Riley had once again managed to get by Buffy. This time,
though, Angel had to sit on the other side of Riley. He smelled like really
bad cologne.
They dropped Xander and Anya off at Xander's house, than they took Cordelia
and Doyle home to Cordelia's apartment.
"Angel, you wanna ride home?" Oz asked.
"No, just drop me off with you guys," Angel said. Oz parked his van and
everyone got out.
Willow and Oz said goodnight and then walked to Oz's room to be alone.
It was just Riley, Buffy, and Angel after that.
"Thanks for the evening Buffy. I had fun," Riley said. Buffy nodded. "You
should thank Angel," she told him.
"Well, I better be going," Angel said, not wanting to be thanked by Riley,
just wanting to get away from him. "Nice meeting you," Riley said.
Angel just nodded to him.
"Do you want me to walk you half way?" Buffy asked.
"Sure," Angel said, smiling.
They left Riley standing there alone, and finally he decided to call it a
night.
"Angel, I am really sorry about this. I know that Riley ruined your night. I
mean, you *think* he would've clued in that we were together. So anyway, I'm
sorry. Forgive me?" she asked.
Angel pretended to think about it for a moment before pulling her into a kiss.
"See you tomorrow," she said.
"I love you Buffy," he said.
She turned around and smiled at him. "Ditto."
He smiled and they walked their separate ways.
*****************************
Two men watched their tiny screen. "98.6, 98.6, 98.6, ohh! We have a 67.5!" a
one of the men said. "Where?" the other asked. "Apartment building across the
street," he said. "Let's bag him."
The two men walked into the building and hurried up the stairs, after turning
off the electricity. The found the room they wanted and kicked the door open.
They saw a couch and hid behind it.
Angel came into his living room and saw that his door was open. He shut it
just as the apartment building people got the lights working again.
He looked around. Someone was there. Just then something jumped him from
behind. They fell onto Angel's table with his lamp and the lamp shattered.
Angel got up and kicked the man, sending him into a coffee table. Angel
didn't know there were two men, and was hit again.
Angel struggled with the two men, knocking over things and breaking them. One
of the men delivered a kick to Angel's stomach that knocked him down. He
looked up to see his window, and he quickly ran for it, jumping.
He shattered the glass as he flew out the window. He landed on the ground
with a thud. The men followed him out the window, landing on their feet.
Angel stood up only to feel himself being shot with something. He fell to his
knees as he saw the two men approaching him.
Then he saw nothing.
************************************
Doyle knocked on Angel's door for the fifth time. "Doyle, he's probably not
even home," Cordelia said.
"Where else would he be Cordelia, it's three in the afternoon!" Doyle
exclaimed.
"Angel wanted us to come here to finish up on the plan. Now, it's our job to
get all the info. and tell it to the rest of the gang. He said come by at
three and it's three and he's not opening!" Doyle said.
"He's probably sleeping. Angel!!!" Cordelia said, pounding on the door. She
pounded so hard the door just came open.
"How did you do that?" Doyle asked. Cordelia shrugged and replied, "I'm a
woman." Doyle looked at the lock. "Wait a sec, this thing's broken," he said.
"That's not all Doyle, look!" Cordelia said, pointing around the apartment.
Everything was either shattered or broken.
"What happened here?" Cordelia asked.
Doyle looked over and saw the window, shattered. "Cordelia, look," he said,
pointing to the window. "We need to get Buffy."
***************
Buffy, Willow, and Oz were walking around outside. It was a nice day, and
they were just talking about school related things when Cordelia and Doyle
ran up to them.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, having seen the panicked looks on their faces.
"It's Angel's apartment. It's been trashed, and he's not there," Cordelia
said.
Buffy's books fell out of her hands and she started running for Angel's
apartment building. She didn't hear her friends calling to her.
She got there in about 2 minutes, considering she was running faster than she
ever had. She took the stairs 3 at a time and got to Angel's floor. She ran
to his apartment and saw that the door was open. She went in a froze where
she stood.
Everything was trashed. Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Doyle walked in a moment
later. Buffy looked down and saw a picture of her and Angel that he had
framed. The frame was cracked down the middle.
Buffy knelt down and picked up the picture. Tears threatened to over come
her. Thoughts of Angel being dead whirled in her head. Of him being attacked
at her not being there to save him, of him dying with her name on his last
breath. Willow put her arm on Buffy's shoulder and Buffy wiped at her eyes.
"We don't know if he's dead or not. Look, there's a hole in the window. He
probably escaped. We just have to find him. Let's split up and look," Buffy
said, refusing to believe that the man she loved was dead because she
couldn't save him.
"Buffy, you didn't know this was going to happen..." Willow started.
"I *said* let's split up," Buffy said fiercely. Willow nodded and they all
walked out, splitting up to look for Angel.
****************
His head hurt. He could tell that much. He opened his eyes and looked around.
He was in a white room and there were other vampires across the room in
similar rooms.
The rooms looked like they had no doors. "Idiots," Angel muttered as he got
up and walked over to the big open space between the two walls holding him
in. Suddenly he was hit by a force and flung backward.
"Okay, fine. Smart idiots," Angel said as he looked around. He tried
smashing the walls that surrounded him, but it was no use. He was stuck.
"So you two bagged one all by yourselves?" Riley asked his two partners as he
walked with them to the hostile block.
"That's one more than you can get Finn," one joked.
Riley rolled his eyes. "Funny."
"There was something about this one though. It put up a fight. And it was
skilled at fighting. I mean, *skilled*. It *almost* got away."
"Good thing you bagged it," Riley said as they turned the corner.
Riley approached the cage to see the new hostile and froze when he saw the
face.
"Riley! Get me out of here!" Angel said, just then noticing that Riley was
dressed like one of the army men.
Riley looked at Angel, in the cage. And then he smiled. Buffy was *all* his.
"Well, well, well. Did we forget to mention that we weren't all human the
other night?" Riley asked.
"No, we didn't forget, we just decided not to tell," Angel said back. "So
you're a military guy, huh? Bet hunting vampires makes you feel pretty
special. Well, considering I could almost beat the crap out of your friends,
I'd say you and your little underground lab pals pretty much suck."
"Well, if we suck, why are you here?" Riley asked, grinning cockily.
"Your friends got the element of surprise. Besides, I won't be here long,"
Angel told Riley.
"Yeah, like Buffy will really want to help you when she figures out what you
are. And besides, how is a meek girl like Buffy going to save you? No one is
going to save you Angel. You'll die here, and I'll be watching," Riley said.
Angel decided to stay quiet on the fact that Buffy already knew he was a
vampire, and the fact that she could beat him up twenty times without
breaking a sweat. He decided to leave Riley in the dark.
Riley and Angel were face to face, only the invisible barrier in-between
them. "Enjoy your stay. I'll break the news to Buffy. I really hope she
doesn't cry because of you, or I'll have to come and hurt you," Riley
threatened.
"I'd like to see you try," Angel said.
Riley glared at Angel and backed away. "This one can starve for a while,"
Riley muttered as he walked off.
**************************************
Buffy ran through the door of Giles' house, hoping someone had found Angel.
All she saw were her friends, looking at her with expressions that told her
that they were sorry for her.
"We'll keep trying then, " Buffy said, determined. "Buffy..." Giles started.
"No! We're going to keep looking. Angel wouldn't have just left his things,
his house, his town, his friends, he wouldn't have left me...."
"Oh Buffy," Willow said as she moved over to her friend and hugged her. Buffy
started to cry, and that did it. Everyone decided to keep looking.
There was a knock at Giles' door. Buffy ran to go get it. She opened it and
saw Riley standing there.
"Riley," she said, disappointed.
"Buffy, can I come in. I have some bad news. I saw you come in here, and I
figured I better just get it over with," he said.
She moved out of the way and he walked in. She looked at him, waiting for an
explanation.
"Buffy, Angel isn't exactly...well, human. He's a vampire. We're keeping him
locked away though. I know that this is hard to accept, that vampires are
real and all-"
Buffy cut him off, shoving him against the wall. "You know where Angel is?"
she demanded. Riley looked over to see Buffy's friends, looking at him
expectantly.
"Buffy, didn't you hear me? Angel is a *vampire*!"
"I know that you idiot! Where is he?" she demanded.
Riley looked at her. She knew about Angel. And she didn't care. She didn't
want him. She never did. And she never would. And with that crushing
realization, Riley decided more than ever, that he wanted Angel dead.
"That is top secret information Buffy," he said. If looks could kill, Riley
would've been dead in a nano second.
"I'll ask you one more time Riley. *WHERE* is Angel?" she said, tightening
her hold on him.
"Somewhere that keeps him free from harming innocents. Now let me go," Riley
demanded.
"Not until you tell me where Angel is," she said.
Riley felt terrible at what he was about to do, but he launched his leg out
and kicked Buffy in the stomach. She fell backwards, clutching her stomach,
and Riley ran out.
"Get...him...." she gasped.
"We don't have to," Xander said. He walked over to where Riley had been and
picked something up. He showed it to Buffy.
On the card was a picture of Riley, in an army outfit. And on the card it
said:
RILEY FINN, CAPTAIN OF THE INITIATIVE
Go to the Next Part
Rating: PG, pure fluff
Spoilers: Season 4 of Buffy, season 1 of Angel
Notes: It's B/A (yay!) It's fluff and happiness (yay!) It's not written by
Joss (yay!) Riley is in it (dead silence) but we're mean to him (YAY!) Also
W/O, X/A, C/D (yep, Heroes happened, but Doyle and Angel got the light to
detinate without being hurt. I think they used Kate, let your imagination go
wild...) K, this is my story, and I'm not sure where I'm going with it. Just
know that everyone is living in Sunnydale. Angel has an apartment, and it's
close to the dorm so Buffy can see him