Part 10

"See you tomorrow at work!" She chirped and kissed him before he backed up the hall and blew her a kiss. She giggled happily and waited until he was gone. Then she turned around and closed the door.

"I want details. Now!" Faith stated.

"We went to dinner, he walked me--"

"Wait. You had dinner? I thought we were still at the `let's figure out if it's shyness' part!" Willow said.

"I said `I like your name, you wanna have a date?' at Gernot's!" Buffy chirped.

"What? You really said that?"

She only nodded intiosastically. "Well, so he walked me home and then the goodbye kiss began spiraling a bit out of control and now we're together!" She grinned.

"He good?" Faith smirked.

Buffy only shot her a glare.

"Was he a spaz?" Willow asked, changing the subject.

"No. A shy quarterback with popular friends."

"So, he really was shy?" Willow chirped.

"HELLO? What are you talking about??" Faith exclaimed. "Besides, Chinese or Pizza take-out?"

"Chinese" Buffy and Willow said.

"Cool" Faith hopped onto the counter and grabbed the cordless phone. "Wait. Where did you two do it? I need to know which places I have to avoid from now on!"

"Only my bed." Buffy said. "And, yes, he was really good!" She smirked.

"I knew it!" Faith yelped and then dialed the Chinese take-out's telephone number.

*~*~*

He couldn't believe it. This had to be a dream. But then, he really wouldn't be able to take it if he had to wake up. Fate was finally nice to him! Buffy Summers was his girlfriend!

Angel was on his way to work. Only a few minutes and he would see her again. When he entered the office and sat down at his desk he didn't even notice that Doyle and Spike were already there.

"MORNING!" Spike yelled for the third time.

Angel jumped up startled. "God, you scared me!" He said, but he was still grinning idiotically.

Only one moment later Buffy came in and Angel lightened up even more. "Hey sweetheart" He greeted her.

"Hey" She said and bounced to him, kissing him softly `hello'.

"Oookaay! What did I miss?" Spike remarked.

*~*~*

They worked until 2pm, until break. The moment their break began, Buffy rushed to him and placed herself into Angel's welcoming lap.

"One date and you already did it?" Spike teased.

Buffy blushed and hid her face in Angel's chest who was shooting his laughing friend with evil glares, absently stroking her skin underneath her shirt.

"Well, we're going to lunch. You two are coming?" Doyle said, before both he and Spike exited the office.

"Nah, we're joining you later" Angel grinned.

"You ever did it in an office?" Buffy smirked as soon as Doyle and Spike had shut the door.

"Yeah" He said.

"What?"

He chuckled. "But I'd like to do it in an office, again!" He grinned back at her.

*~*~*

Buffy and Angel were sitting on Angel's kitchen counter, since they'd broken the kitchen table. Both munching on a box of Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip.

Buffy was wearing one of his shirts that were much too large for her and his boxers while Angel only wore his track trousers.

"I like you in my clothes!" He grinned.

"And I like wearing your clothes!" She grinned back at him and they kissed sweetly when the doorbell rang.

He groaned and headed for the door, still grinning at the thought of their shared day, but his smile fell immediately when he saw who was at the door.

"Hello, honey!" The blonde said sweetly.

"Darla"

*~*~*

Part 11

"What? No hug?" Darla chirped and pushed past him.

Buffy came out of the kitchen. "Angel, what-- who are you?" She asked Darla when the strange blonde came towards her.

""Well, look at you!" Darla spat. "Angel, honey it seems you really learned something from me. You know- cheating on me is not very nice! I'm hurt." She said sarcastically, but smiling sweetly all the same.

"Darla, what are you doing here?" Angel said, glaring at her.

"Darla? As in your ex-girlfriend Darla?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," He came to stand next to Buffy and turned towards Darla. "The emphasis on the `ex'!"

Darla just ignored Angel's last comment and turned to face Buffy. "Sorry, dearie, but I have to tell you that you will be history for him in a few days. He always comes crawling back to me! I made him. I made what he is, now! I guess you experienced him? He's good, isn't he? My lessons. I taught him all that. I can give him everything he ever dreamt about. I can still recall his words in my mind when he came to me and begged me to stay. Do you really think you're any replacement for ME? Well, sorry, but I don't think so, sweetie!"

"Darla GO!" Angel shouted which made his ex turn to him.

"I'll see you two!" She said, kissed him on the cheek and exited the apartment.

Buffy let out a nervous laugher. "*WHAT* was that?"

"Buffy, I'm sorry" He said, but she had already turned towards his bedroom and begun searching for her clothes.

"Buffy, please. Wait. Stop." He followed every move she made and came to stop in front of her when she'd finished reclothing.

"Buffy, please--"

She finally spun around and faced him with tears in her eyes that were about to fall any minute. The sight broke his heart in thousands of little pieces. "It's true, isn't it? I-I'm just some time-fillling thing, am I not? Until she's free again and, and" The tears fell and she pushed past him.

"No, Buffy, I. I, I" He stammered helplessly, following her out of the room, but she didn't stop running out. "I LOVE YOU!" He finally yelled after her. "I love you."

That made her stop and she removed her hand from the doorknob and she collapsed to the ground and into Angel's arms who came rushing towards her and broke down in tears and sobs.

She remained in his arms when she finally calmed. "Was she good?"

He sighed. "I won't lie to you. Yes she was good." She let out a sad sigh. "But with you it's better."

"Huh" She looked up at him, startled.

"You know- Darla was perfect, she knows everything about sex one can know and she taught me a lot. I'm nearly as good as her now. But something was always missing with her. Something I have with you! The passion, the love. Darla was practice, I learned a lot from her. Which is good, so now I can show you all the things she showed me and get also the things that were missing. With you it's passion and fire, desire and making LOVE. With it's like erobic. With you it's better, `cause I love you!"

That made her tears only flow harder and she throw her arms around his neck and clung to him. "I do, too." She sobbed. "God, Angel I love you, too!"

*~*~*

Two months passed and Buffy and Angel grew a happy couple. Everything was great. The work and everything else. Angel was accepted very easy from all of her friends, most of Willow, Anya and Faith. Only Dru and Xander were a bit skeptic, since all they wanted to see was Buffy being not hurt. So since Parker they tested all her boyfriends with a hard trust-test! And even Cordelia, Doyle's girlfriend, Miss I-only-wear-the-best, borrowed Buffy's clothes in a regular basis. And even Darla didn't show up in front of Angel's door, again.

"Honey, you're early!" Buffy yelled out of the bathroom. Angel had just entered her apartment, he had a key for four weeks, now.

"Hey Faith" He greeted the TV-watching, telephoning brunette on the couch who mumbled a `hello' between her conversation and her popcorn-munching before he headed straight to his girlfriend who was colouring her lips deep red.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go to the office, Snyder called me. He couldn't reach you or the guys, so I have to come. Wait. You're here! Why couldn't he reach you?" Angel babbled.

"Faith is talking to Sunday for two hours." She explained simply. "Besides, what right does the troll have to damage our free day?? I thought we'd go lunch!" She whined.

"We'll go lunch! Just a little later, okay?" He followed her into her bedroom.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Buffy asked.

He chuckled. "Nah, you hate Snyder, remember?"

"Right" She grinned.

"You can lend me the the pxzp-file?"

"Sure" She said and began searching between her things while Angel leaned against her desk and only enjoyed watching her body move, that was until he noticed a note that lay next to her keyboard.

If I can't have him,
Nobody will.
Neither you little bitch, that's for sure
~Darla

"My god, Buffy. Why didn't you tell me?" Angel said shocked.

Buffy turned around and faced him with sad eyes. She just knew what he was referring to. "I. She puts those into my mailbox time to time," She admitted sadly. "it seems she knows where I live." She whispered.

"Why didn't you tell me. Buffy? Since when? God, honey I'm so sorry, you must be so scarred." He rushed to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, so so sorry"

"You don't have to, it's not your fault." She said near tears. "Since she showed up at yours. A few days later. I just- I-I didn't want to scare you, I mean- you were so down when she showed up. And yeah, I admit it, I'm scared. I'm very very scared," She sobbed "But, then. I don't' have to, right? I mean- what can she possibly do?"

"I'm sorry"

"No, ssh." She hushed. Then she handed him the file. "You have to go and see the troll!" She reminded him, trying to sound cheery.

"Yeah, right. We see each other later at Gernot's? For lunch?" He asked when she brought him to the door.

"Yeah" She smiled and kissed him `goodbye'.

*~*~*

Part 12

Where was she? Weren`t they supposed to meet at Gernot`s for lunch? Was she mad at him? Did something happen to her?

He was desperately confused and scared. She was more than an hour late by now. This wasn´t normal at all. Normally, she always was a few minutes late, but when it was more than fifteen minutes she always sent him an SMS to let him know or just phoned. His mobile was on, so this wasn't it. Where was she?

For the seventh time he took out his mobile and tried her's. Nothing. Switched off. Just the mail-box was answering, on which he'd already left five messages. The whole thing was strange She never switched off her mobile unless she was in a cinema. She even had it on when she was at work.

Xander came to his table and brought Angel's coffee.

"Xander, do you--"

"No, I STILL don't know where she is. Man, you asked me that four times, already!"

"Right" He mumbled and let his head fall back into his hands only to shoot it up again and once again took out his mobile phone and dial the number of Buffy's apartment.

"Hello Angie. No, B's still not here!" Faith said annoyed.

"How did you--"

"Oh please, who else? You haven't called for five minutes and `sides, your number was on the display."

"Faith, please at least TRY to remember. When she went out, did anybody call her? Did she leave a message anywhere? Did somebody stop by?"

"No. Wait. Yes! There was somebody, here. A girl."

"Who" Angel said alarmed.

"I don't remember the name. Buffy called her Darlene or something."

"What?!" Angel nearly shouted.

"Or Denise or so. Sorry, but I really don't remember. B didn't introduce her to me. She seemed very pissed at the girl and they were gone soon after. I didn't really get anything, I was watching `Friends'!"

"Oh my god" Angel whispered.

"Hey! Friends isn't that bad!" Faith said. "What is it? Something wrong?" She said confused.

"Yes" He yelped and hung up without saying goodbye and nearly ran out of the café after paying Xander. He gave him nearly 30
tip.

He ran to Buffy's block. He didn't recall ever running this fast in his life, before. That was, until he bumped straight into Spike and knocked him off his feet.

"Whoa, what is it?" Spike yelled.

"She has her" He panted.

"Who has who?"

"Darla. She has Buffy!" He shouted.

"What?! Evil psycho bitch? Crazy stepmother? Old evil witch? The whore number one? Your jealous ex?" Spike shouted.

"Yes" Angel was about to run again when Spike grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Let me. I need to find Buffy!" Angel yelled.

"And how? You don't even know where she is, right?"

"Right" He admitted.

"OK. Calm down. We'll first go over to Darla's" Spike suggested.

"Right. OK, good idea" Angel babbled desperate.

*~*~*

When Angel was about to kick Darla's door in, Spike stopped him and was about to open the door with a knife when he found it unlocked.

"God, buddy you really need to learn how to calm in those situations" Spike murmured.

"Well, sorry, but normally I'm not in such situations at all!" A freaked Angel exclaimed.

"Wait. Did you call the police?" Spike asked.

"Yes, but they won't do anything but wait. She's not 24 hours missing and the explanation that my ex has my girlfriend didn't scare them as much as me!" Angel yelped sarcastically. "God, Spike what is if Darla did anything to her? You know the bitch. She would do that." He whispered desperate. "What if she kills her? God, I need Buffy. She's my everything. I'm nothing without her. I NEED her back."

"Calm down, we'll find her. You'll see!"

They went further into Darla's apartment only to find it empty. Real empty. Not one thing was in there. Empty. It seemed she'd moved out of here. Angel and Spike were about to leave again when Angel noticed a single note on the once bedroom floor.

And when the angel's fall.

"What is THAT supposed to mean??" Spike exclaimed.

"It's a reference. That's some rhyme out of a poem I once read to her. That was in a bar in Palm Beach. Sunny Island." Angel mumbled.

"The thing closed four months ago!" Spike remarked.

The two looked at each other. Understanding. "Bingo"

*~*~*

Part 13

"Does he still make those shrieks when he comes?" Darla said sarcastically while sitting on Buffy's lap who was tied to a chair and looked quite damaged.

Buffy had a large cut on her forehead and her left cheek was hit bloody. She had small cuts on her lips and her right eye was black and her knuckles and wrists were sore on the place where the ropes were placed. Also her clothing was very damaged. All in all she looked horrible.

Buffy just glared at Darla, since she couldn't talk with the piece of cloth in her mouth.

"Well, anyway. You won't hear it anymore, you'll see."

Buffy winced and panicked when Darla drove a sharp knife over Buffy's leg and produced a line of blood that flowed to the ground by doing so.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't kill you. I'll just ruin your beauty and when you're ugly Angel will be mine, again. Your innocent beauty will be vanished, soon." Darla grinned evilly and tears flowed down Buffy's cheeks and she winced once more, `cause the salty fluid burned on the many cuts on her face.

Then Darla boxed her hard in the rips and Buffy felt several broke with a loud noise and she coughed blood. He body hurt so much that she was sure it would kill her very soon. The piece of cloth in her mouth was soon blood-soaked.

Darla only giggled madly. "Ooooh, are you hurt?" She scratched her long finger-nails along Buffy's right cheek.

Then Darla took out her deo-spray out of her bag along with a lighter and sprayed the deo into the flame which made a fontaine of fire and burned the skin of Buffy's arm.

Buffy screamed, but nobody heard her, because the scream was muffled with the cloth in her mouth and she bit into it as hard as she could to push back the pain she felt.

Then suddenly Darla stopped, looked at her watch and exited the room. "Sorry, dear, but I have to see somebody."

When Darla was gone Buffy began crying.

*~*~*

Angel and Spike stood in front of the old Sunny Island. The building was dark and silent.

"That doesn't look like somebody's in there" Spike commented before following Angel inside.

The moment they entered the once crowded bar the light switched on and they spotted Darla sitting on a single chair in the empty room.

"Hello honey," Darla flirted. "I see you remembered."

"WHERE IS SHE" Angel yelled panicked.

"Where is who?" She chirped, got up and walked towards the two men. "You mean that slutty little bitch? Oh, don't worry. I won't kill her, but I can tell you that she won't look that good, anymore when I'm finished with her. I'll ruin her beauty" She came to stand directly in front of him. "Then you will be mine, again. The child won't have any control over you, anymore. I promise" She said.

"Darla, are you this dumb? She doesn't have any control over me. I LOVE HER!"

"That's your imagination! When she hasn't got the beauty anymore, then you'll see HER. And then you'll realize who I am and what I mean to you, again and you will love me just the way you used to." Darla whispered.

"I never loved you, Darla. I swear to you, if you did anything to my Buffy I'll kill you!" He spit.

Darla's eyes darkened and she spit at him. Then she ran out of the building followed by Angel and Spike, but they soon lost her.

"Damnit" Spike yelled.

Angel fell onto his knees into the sand and cried.

*~*~*

"Kate, don't you understand? Darla's killing her! You guys HAVE to do something!" Spike yelped. Angel was standing next to him with puffy eyes.

"Please, Kate you know Darla. Buffy is in serious danger. We looked up the whole building and went back to Darla's, already. They're nowhere to be found." Angel pleaded. "Kate, Darla said something about `ruin her beauty', do you understand what pain Buffy must be in? THE BITCH IS TORTURING HER!" He shouted.

Willow and Dru were near tears and Tara laid an protective arm around her girlfriend while Spike tried to soothe the hysterical brunette.

The three had joined them after Angel and Spike had phoned them and explained the situation.

"OK, Angel calm down. We're sending out an searching team."

"Thanks" Angel mumbled and plopped down into one of those plastic chairs that were everywhere in the police station. They'd already spent the last thirty minutes there.

Faith came over to him and handed him a mug of coffee. Angel silently thanked her and stared off into space. Where was she?

*~*~*

Part 14

Darla stomped into the dark room and looked very pissed. How dare he? She grabbed one of the full boxes that were standing all over this place and threw it at the whimpering woman tied to a chair.

"OK, if he want it, so shall it be!" She whispered in her ear and bent down to open the box she'd just thrown and pulled a dress out of it. "Ooooh, that's nice! Unbelievable you have such a great taste!" She said and tossed the material aside.

"So, he don't want me. Got it. But neither will you have him, I swear." Then she smiled evilly and sat down on her knees behind the tortured woman. "You'll see. I'll torture you slowly to death!" Darla breathed against the skin of her neck.

Buffy struggled panicked and tried to loosen the ropes. Tears were flowing down her bloody cheeks like waterfalls.

"Nah, we wouldn't want to make me angry, would we?" Darla fixed the ropes, again. "Sorry, dearie, but that'll be the last day you've left!" She chirped. "'cause he's too good for you!"

Buffy just couldn't believe how one can be so crazy and heartless to do something like that to another and she was sure Darla would be able to kill her. This woman was insane. That woman gave her the most painful and scariest moments of her life. She didn't want to die that way. She wanted to die gray and old and wise crowded by tons of grandchildren. At Angel's side. This couldn't be it. It couldn't. Who deserved a death like that? Why did she deserve a death like that?

Darla took out her knife and pierced the burned skin of her arms, drove it slowly and hard over her skin and made Buffy scream painfilled into the cloth in her mouth and sob panicked. "I'll make you pay for taking him away from me. It's your fault. Only yours. Well, Anyway, If he don't want me, he neither will get you!"

Then she drove the knife into Buffy's arm like the flesh was made out of butter and through the cloth in her mouth could be heard the loudest scream the walls of Buffy's apartment building's basement had ever heard.

*~*~*

Angel was desperate. The searching team had been searching for her for almost 6 hours, now. It was 1am and although everybody had forbidden him to search for Buffy on his own, he did, anyway. But he didn't find her, just like all the other times he already tried.

That was why he went back to Buffy's home. Who knows? Maybe a miracle happened and she would be sitting with Faith on the couch and watching TV the moment he opened the door? But, of course, this wasn't gonna happen. Buffy was held by his ex-bitch and Faith was still at the police station with the others.

He wasn't even able to think about what he would do if he lost her. He NEEDED her. Buffy was like the air he needed to breathe, like the blood that kept him going, like the sunshine that kept him healthy, like the water he needed to drink to not die. To not die. He would die if he lost her. Just stop living, stop breathing, going, drinking. His life would be meaningless.

What was this life for when he wasn't allowed to spend it at her side? Would he be able to stand the loneliness her absence would create? Would he stand missing her this much? Would he crave and beg to join her?

He entered her apartment building and was pushed out of his thoughts roughly when he heard a muffled scream. Her scream. *She's alive* was his first thought *She's in pain*

He ran towards the metal door of the basement and kicked and hit and pushed and pulled, but it wouldn't get open. Locked. That was when he began to gather his thoughts. Was it reality? Did he really hear her or was it an imagination his brain needed to hear?

"Buffy? BUFFY? BUFFYYYY" He began yelling and didn't seem to ever stop, again.

Darla stopped dead in her tracks and tried to get Buffy as quiet as she could, but she howled through the cloth in her mouth as loud as she could.

Now, Angel was sure she was in there. He continued to search for something to open that door. He even wasn't able to key it open, since there was a key stuck in the lock on the inside. He pulled out his cell-phone and called Kate. Once he got open that fuckin' door, someone needed to arrest the bitch!

He ran up to the second floor, `cause he recalled that he once noticed one of those emergency axes hanging, there.

*~*~*

The moment Angel broke through the door he could clearly hear the police cars' sirens howling through the night.

But he was scared to death by the sight he found. His Buffy, bleeding everywhere, burned, tortured, black eyed, hit bloody and with a knife on her throat held by Darla.

"One step and she's dead" The crazy blonde said to Angel.

His heart broke at the sight of his love, and it wasn't her damaged body. It were her eyes. She was crying. Those eyes were wide open and tear-filled with an expression of utter horror and hopelessness, pleading with him to do as Darla ordered.

*~*~*

Part 15

Angel froze in place immediately. "Darla, please. Don't do this." Angel pleaded.

"Sod OFF" Darla shouted in reply.

"Please" He nearly sobbed.

Buffy once again loosened her ropes a bit and was relieved that Darla was occupied with holding Angel back, so she didn't noticed what Buffy was doing this time. By the time she needed to wiggle to get her hands free and Darla noticed and turned around fuming, lifting the knife over her head and was about to push it into Buffy's flesh when Angel rushed forward and pushed her away from Buffy, grabbing the knife and holding it to Darla's stomach.

"You could NEVER kill another" Darla grinned madly.

"I'm not planning to." He said the moment Kate and her guys came in and arrested Darla.

Then he rushed to Buffy who, by the time, had gotten off the ropes and she flew into his arms, hugging him as tight as she could and sobbed into his chest. Her tears were flowing unison with his.

He had her back.

*~*~*

"Darla's real name's Emma Bennett, they say she's a psychopathic killer. They're searching for her in England, since she's seventeen. She killed her ex and her best friend along with her best friends' family when said boyfriend betrayed her with said best friend. She killed them coldblooded after torturing them for hours" Kate explained to Angel.

They were all waiting in front of Buffy's hospital room. The doctors didn't allow them to see her.

"Well, I bloody told him something along that line from the beginning on, didn't I? I always hated the bitch!" Spike huffed.

Only a moment after that the doctor came out of Buffy's hospital room and Angel rose to his feet, immediately. "How is she?"

"She's doing ok." The doctor said. "Her injuries are pretty bad, though and she needs her rest."

"Can we see her, now?" Willow asked quietly.

"Yes, but not all together. Only one person at a time" He begged Buffy's friends.

They all shared looks with each other until Faith pushed Angel towards Buffy's door. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Angel smiled at her weakly and entered the room.

And there she lay with her eyes closed, jammed between dozens of machines that told the doctors and nurses how his love was doing.

He walked over to her side and sat down on a chair next to the bed and took her bruised hand carefully in his own and stroked the swollen skin of the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry" He whispered near tears.

Then she opened her eyes, turned her head to smile at him, but winced instead; her lips hurt with every movement she did with them, `cause of the cuts ,that were now reopened on them.

"You're awake" He smiled and brushed a golden lock out of her bruised face.

She simply nodded and closed one of her hands weakly over his.

He sighed. "Buffy, I'm so sorry. I would understand if you blamed me. It's my fault. Without me you wouldn't have met the insane bitch in the first place. I'm sorry, so, so sorry. And if you wanted to leave me, I'd understand. Buffy I love you. All I want is you to be happy and healthy. If you don't want this I'll let you go, `cause I love you far too much to deny any of your wishes. I've caused you too much pain." He said sadly, quietly.

"Angel, NO. For nothing in this world I would let you go. It's NOT your fault and I NEVER, never, never blamed you for it." Buffy said. "I thought about a lot in there. Mostly about why I deserved something like that or why there couldn't just come in some guy and shoot her and when this wasn't gonna happen why there couldn't just come in some guy and shoot me, so I wouldn't have to feel this pain." She admitted quietly. "But the most painful was that your face wouldn't have been the last I see when I died and that my last words wouldn't have been the words `I love you' to your handsome face. And it freaked me. More than ever I realized how much I love you, how much I need you. You're my everything. I would die for you. I couldn't stand loosing you when I just got out of this. I NEED YOU! Angel, I won't let you go and don't want to hear you apologizes, `cause I know they're gonna be heartbreakin' sweet and noble. As long as you want , I'll be at your side. Your arms are the ones I wanna die in." She smiled up at him. "When I'm far far older, of course"

Angel's eyes were tear-filled and he clung to her hand and got down on one knee. "Will you marry me?" He pulled out a small black velvet box and revealed a silver ring with a big diamond in it that was in the form of a heart.

"YES" She yelled without hesitation and kissed him, before wincing again. He looked down at her confused and she pointed at her lips. "They burn" She said while hugging him a close as she could. It was like she wanted to melt them into one person.

"I wanted to ask you that day at lunch. I had planned everything and you didn't show up." He whispered into her ear, hiding his face in her hair. "God, I would have killed myself if I lost you." She only hugged him tighter.

"Then we would have been a bit like Romeo & Juliet, don't ya think?" She whispered back.

"No," He breathed into her hair. "We're far better then them. We're Buffy and Angel!"

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