Disclaimer: Premise and characters are borrowed from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel".
Notes: Well I actually intended to end the story with the second part, but was convinced by feedback that there was more to be told. So for everyone who requested a sequal, enjoy.
Summary: The news of Angel's return makes it's way back to Sunnydale.

Angel carefully pushed Buffy's silky hair away from her face with a contented sigh; he had always loved to watch her sleep.

She was older now, twenty-five years old, older than all but the smallest fraction of all the Slayers ever called. Only a year younger than he had been when he'd been changed. A faint smile crossed Angel's face, he'd never thought about her getting older before, never pictured the day when he could be introduced as her boyfriend without getting odd looks, never thought about her growing or changing.

"Most of those changes hadn't been for the better," Angel thought darkly wiping a tear from her cheek. The High School girl Angel had fallen in love with would never have reacted like this woman had tonight.

Confronted with Riley and Spike's treachery the teenaged Buffy would have exploded. Angel had taken measures to ensure that Riley, at least, walked out of the Hyperion alive. As satisfying as he might have found it to watch Buffy pound the Commando into oblivion, Angel didn't want Buffy's soul burdened with having taken a human life. Instead Angel decided to be content with having removed Buffy from Riley's influence. As for Spike, well if Buffy wanted him dust, Angel wouldn't have stood in her way.

Only it hadn't worked out that way. For a second he'd seen the beginnings of the fury he'd expected, then it had evaporated. Instead of an enraged Slayer, Angel found himself dealing with a nearly hysterical girl.

__________________________________________________

"I need you, I need you," Buffy repeated frantically. Angel could feel her tears soaking through his shirt as she all but climbed into his arms.

Angel had been shown what had become of his Slayer during his second sojourn in Hell, but experiencing it first hand was something else. The girl Angel remembered had too much pride to beg for anything. Beg, Hell, Angel remembered wondering more than once if it had ever occurred to Buffy that there were times when it was more effective to ask rather than demand.

But the woman Buffy had become not only pled with him not to leave her, she actually accepted Spike's justification of his actions and had attempted to placate Riley's jealous tantrum. Then she'd simply fallen apart, sobbing brokenly in the shelter of Angel's arms while Riley and Spike stood in the background looking uncertain as to what they should do.

"Get out of here," Angel said glaring at the other two men. "Haven't you already done enough harm?"

"Buffy is my wife," Riley objected.

Buffy released Angel just long enough to remove her wedding ring and flung it at Riley.

"You've still got your soul problem, Angel" Spike said turning away from Buffy and Angel. "When things get too intense and he leaves you again, I'll be there for you Buffy."

"Buffy you can't do this," Riley raged. "You married me!"

At the sound of shouting Cordelia Wesley and Gunn entered the room, prepared to help Angel break-up any fights that might have started. They stared at the scene before them in confusion, Buffy was huddled against Angel's chest like a lost child while Riley glared confrontationally at the pair and Spike had just let the door slam shut behind him. A few seconds later they heard a motor start in front of the Hotel and a car drive away.

"Buffy gave you your answer," Angel said angrily. "Now get out, while I'm still willing to let you walk out."

"Buffy if you don't come here right now, I won't ever take you back," Riley threatened. "Who'll take you when he leaves you again? Do you really think you can depend on Spike?"

Angel felt Buffy's sobbing intensify at Riley's words and in a heartbeat his features shifted from human to demonic. Angel, or more precisely Liam, understood Riley all too well, for his entire human life he'd let his father feed him this same poison. "You're worthless. You need me. No one else would have you."

Angel wanted nothing more than to rip Riley's throat out at that moment. His father might have had reason to believe that of him but Buffy was a treasure without equal. That this boy would devalue her like that was intolerable.

The only thing keeping Riley alive was Angel's inability to induce Buffy to let him go even for a moment.

"I think you should go now," Cordy said icily. Working at Angel Investigations had brought her in contact with any number of abusive boyfriends and that was what Riley sounded like. Just because Buffy could break every bone in Riley's body without working up a sweat didn't mean that he couldn't tear out her heart emotionally.

Cordy hadn't believed it when Angel had told them what sort of mess Buffy had gotten herself embroiled in, but it looked like he was right.

Riley looked at the hostile group arrayed against him then relaxed from his combative stance. "You're going to regret this Buffy," he said as he retreated.

"They all came in one car right?" Cordy asked after Riley had left. "And Spike already took that one."

Wesley and Gunn looked at the brunette girl for a moment then broke into smiles. "I'm certain a trained soldier like Finn can handle being stranded without a vehicle," Wesley said. "Still it is rather wet out tonight."

"It's what. ten blocks to the nearest pay phone," Gunn estimated grinning wickedly.

"Could someone make up a room for Buffy?" Angel asked as the last of the golden color faded from his eyes.

_____________________________________________________

"They needn't have bothered with the room," Angel thought tiredly. Even after Buffy had fallen asleep she hadn't released her hold on him.

"How could she have let this happen to her," Angel wondered. How could his brilliant, lovely girl have become so frightened? How could Buffy have become one of the souls he needed to save, the last one he'd save. It was fitting in a way; hers was the soul most precious to him.

Angel gave himself a mental shake, now wasn't time for this. He had a job to do, brooding could come later.

"Everything all right in here?" Cordelia asked, poking her head in the door.

Angel glanced pointedly at Buffy's sleeping form.

"Oops my bad," Cordy whispered.

"We're fine," Angel replied quietly.

_______________________________________________________

"I don't know how, but Angel's back and he's got Buffy all screwed up again," Riley said, looking from Joyce to Xander to Giles to Willow. The Initiative soldiers had Scoobies together before he'd even called for a cab.

"The next time he saw the muzzled vampire, Spike was dust," Riley swore to himself.

"Um. how could Angel being alive be a bad thing?" Willow asked. "You know Buffy never got over how he died."

"He turned her against me!" Riley shouted.

"How did she 'turn against' you?" Giles asked adjusting his glasses.

Riley held up Buffy's wedding ring as explanation.

Willow stared at the empty ring, putting the pieces together: Angel was back. Buffy breaks up with Riley. There had to be something else going on, something was missing between those two points. Willow know how much Buffy hated being alone. She never would have left Riley unless. But they couldn't, because of the curse. Maybe?

"Oh my god, Angel's human!" Willow exclaimed.

"He's not human," Riley snapped.

"Is his soul permanent?" Willow asked.

"No! I don't know," Riley answered irritably. "He told Buffy some story about Spike and I leaving him a prisoner in the Wolfram and Hart building. You guys know me, you know I wouldn't do anything like that, but Buffy believes him."

"How could Buffy break up with you?" Joyce asked. "You're the only normal boy she's ever dated since this whole Slayer thing started."

Willow, Giles and Xander just looked confused.

"You've got to convince her to come back to me," Riley insisted.

"I'm sorry," Giles said. "I'm just having difficulty comprehending why Angel would tell Buffy something like that. When I knew him, Angel very rarely told flat out lies, although he did tend to. leave out any number of salient details when talking about his past."

"Like the whole 'I'm a vampire' issue?" Xander asked sarcastically.

"No, Giles is right," Willow said. "How he didn't tell Buffy about that actually illustrates his not liking to lie by commission really well. That was back when Buffy and I used to dissect every single thing Angel said to figure out if he liked her. Angel never said he wasn't a vampire. He said he didn't bite, for the most part, true statement. He said he wanted to kill vampires, which he did. He said his family was killed by a vampire, neglected to mention being that vampire, but still not lying. He told Buffy he was older, way, way true. Besides Angel always tried really hard not to act jealous even when everybody knew it drove him absolutely nuts to see another guy anywhere near Buffy. I can't understand him purposely messing with her marriage like that."

"Come on, you guys can't possible be saying you believe a vampire over me," Riley pled.

"Of course we believe you," Joyce said.

"I hate to say it, But Wills and the G-man are right about Angel," Xander said. "Could he believe what he said? I mean Angel's been gone for better than five years. We have no idea what happened to him. He could be pretty screwed up himself. Look, Spike was with you the whole time you were in Wolfram and Hart, we'll find him, he'll back up your story. Then we can figure out what's wrong with Angel this time."

"That's just it," Riley said. "Spike was with us tonight, and he said he really did see Angel at the law firm before we blew it up. But I swear I didn't know Angel was there. You're probably right though Xander. Angel must have heard Spike and I talking and figured we had both seen him, but I didn't know. I still can't understand how he survived the blast, if that was the case though."

"We were playing with dimensional doorways," Giles said dismissively. "Stranger things have happened under those circumstances. This does make more sense now. In light of what Angel believes your marriage to Buffy would appear quite malevolent, since it was Angel's presumed death that brought the two of you back together."

Riley flinched at Giles' comment earning an odd look from Willow. "I was just picturing it from Angel's view point," Riley explained quickly. "I mean I feel horrible, if Spike and I really came that close to rescuing him and Buffy had to go through all that guilt and grief just because I wasn't as observant as an HST."

"Spike is of Angel's bloodline," Giles said. "He may have sensed Angel through that connection. We should find Spike and somehow force him to tell Buffy and Angel the truth."

Internally Riley renewed his pledge to find Spike and stake him, aloud he said. "I don't want to leave Buffy alone with Angel, he's only going to get her more mixed up."

___________________________________________________

"Well here I am," Xander thought, driving toward LA. It had been one of the uglier decision making processes he'd witnessed but it had been decided: Xander got the privilege of going to LA to keep an eye on Buffy and Angel until Spike could be located and dealt with.

Riley, for obvious reasons, couldn't go and Joyce, despite being Buffy's mother, was too oblivious, not to mention the fact that she was absolutely furious at Angel for damaging the nice, normal part of Buffy's life. Giles was best suited for taking care of Spike. Somewhere along the way the blond had developed a certain amount of respect for the ex-watcher.

If Xander remembered right, the shift in attitude occurred shortly after that awful night when Buffy went missing. Checking all the normal avenues of research had given them the name of a cult and the information that they needed to sacrifice the Slayer under the light of the new moon to free the demon that they worshipped, but nothing else. With time running short and no leads, Xander, Giles and Spike had gone to Willie.

_________________________________________________________

"I don't know where the Slayer is," The weasly little man insisted the moment he saw them. Like magic a gun appeared in Giles' hand, aimed unwaveringly at the bartender's head. Giles' face was set in a harsh mask. Willie looked from the gun to the man wielding it and swallowed nervously. "But two members of the cult left here a short while ago in the company of a couple of working girls. I'd put money on them being at the Sunnydale Motor Inn right now."

The gun disappeared and Giles dropped a twenty on the bar as he turned and left, Spike and Xander trailed after him.

"Put these on," Giles said shortly, handing Xander a pair of gloves as they drove toward the Inn. Xander did as he was asked without question.

The men were at the Hotel as Willie had predicted and in no state to put up much of a defense. In a few minutes the cultists were restrained and the girls were gone.

"Where is the Slayer?" Giles asked in a precise, empty voice. He gave the men ten seconds to replied, when they failed to take that opportunity the former watcher backhanded one of the two viciously.

"Watch the mouth," Spike advised. "They have to be able to talk."

"I know what I'm doing," Giles replied, his voice eerily calm.

"You want the police to think it was me," Spike commented. "That's why I'm not wearing gloves, cause if the police find my fingerprints they've seen enough of my handiwork to know better than to investigate."

"Yes," Giles answered.

"Then do it my way, if you've got the stones," Spike challenged. "It'll look more authentic."

Giles nodded his consent.

"First we've got to change how they're tied, you need better access," Spike instructed.

Ten minutes later Xander left to find a good spot for his lunch. Twenty-five minutes after that Giles and Spike emerged from the Hotel room. Giles' expression was still fixed in a mask of determination. Spike was cheerfully sucking blood from his fingers.

"Right impressive mate," the blond vampire commented.

The ex-watcher turned and fixed the vampire with a look. After a few seconds Spike's eyes dropped to the ground. "We've still got a Slayer to rescue," the blond mumbled.

_________________________________________________________

Therefore, Giles had to be part of the looking for Spike team, even if he was also a good person to deal with Buffy and Angel as well.

Willow was eager to go, but Riley wanted anyone else and Xander could see why after the way the slight redhead had lit-up upon seeing Buffy's discarded wedding ring. That bother Xander in a way he couldn't ignore. Willow had helped Riley and Buffy get together in the first place, she should have been one of the relationship's biggest supporters, instead she seemed glad that Buffy had broken things off. It gave Xander something to think about during the drive.

It had also left Xander as the best candidate to check on Buffy. Once Xander's prejudice against Angel would have made him almost as bad a choice as Joyce, but Xander's hatred had been buried at Angel's funeral.

A year after Angel had disappeared; Cordy and Wes had held a memorial service for the souled vampire. Xander had come strictly in the capacity of a supportive friend for Buffy. He'd been surprised at the number of people who'd come simply to morn the loss of a friend, of some who'd been there for them when they had needed help most. It made Xander look at Angel in a new light. The cop-lady had been the one to put the final nail in the coffin holding Xander's hatred of Angel.

"Angel always tried to help people, it took me too long to see that and my blindness cost me the chance to be his friend, but it didn't stop him from saving my life. I wish I'd done things differently," she'd said. In her, Xander saw someone who had been stripped of all illusions. She didn't romanticize Angel, yet she'd still come.

Xander talked with her afterwards, Kate Lockley surprised him. She'd gone from infatuation with Angel to a deep hatred of him, to a simple acceptance of what Angel was. Kate made Xander evaluate his own long held prejudices against Angel and then he'd understood what Kate had meant. Xander had held so many preconceptions about Angel that he'd never known the souled vampire and then it had looked like it was too late to change that.

"Now. well maybe after this mess was straightened out," Xander thought, he might try to clean slate things between himself and Angel. He could leave the jealousy over Buffy between Angel and Riley. Xander was very happily married to Anya and they were expecting their first child in another four months. Xander's old crush on Buffy had long ago resolved itself into a strong and platonic friendship.

Xander took a few moments to compose himself before leaving his car. Tonight he had a problem to deal with, maybe more than one if Willow's behavior was any indicator. The future would wait.

Xander paused in the entrance to the lobby. Cordy and Wesley sat together on the cozy looking couch arrangement toward the back of the large room, deep in conversation and unaware of his presence. "Hey guys," Xander said. "How are Angel and Buffy?"

The pair jumped at the unexpected voice, they exchanged a quick glance then Cordelia stepped forward. "Angel's not dead, Buffy's pretty much in shock. Who'd you talk to?"

"Riley, he was pretty upset himself. I take it you know why," Xander said.

"That jackass is lucky he still has a head attached to his neck," Cordelia stated. "I don't give a damn if he was upset, I just wish we had some way of putting him in jail."

"Look Cordy, I know what Angel thinks Riley did, but he's confused. Riley didn't know they were leaving him there," Xander said.

"What I know," Cordelia said. "Is that Riley was here tonight talking a lot like the scum we have to deal with officially on a semi-regular basis and he's got Buffy twisted into a knot. My God, he sent Angel to Hell and all she could do was cry, what happened to her?"

"Riley didn't know."

"Riley watched Darla drive a red-hot poker into my side, looked into my eyes and then he walked away," Angel said emotionlessly. "And I don't give a damn. Cordelia, go sit with Buffy, if she wakes up I don't want her to be alone."

"Sure thing," Cordy said hurrying up the stairs and past Angel.

The Xander could only watch in bemused shock as Angel crossed the room with a vampire's inhuman speed, that way of moving that looked so casual, if you ignored the blurring caused by the fact that the movement was almost too fast for the human eye to follow.

Xander found himself staring down into Angel's eyes from an uncomfortable close range, his feet dangling an inch or two off the ground.

"How could you let that happen to Buffy?" Angel asked. "If there was one thing I thought I could trust you to do, it was to see that no guy got close to her if he didn't deserve to be there. Riley has her convinced that no other man would want her. You let him take advantage of her vulnerabilities for five years."

"Riley isn't the one who left her," Xander replied, glad Angel's grip was crushing his upper arms rather than his windpipe. "That would have been you and her father and Parker and Scott Hope, Riley's the one that stayed with her."

Angel's dark eyes closed briefly as a shutter passed through his body and he set Xander back on his feet. "I told Buffy I left because she deserved more than I could offer."

"Well she didn't see it that way," Xander replied.

"Then she was the only one. Joyce told me flat out that I was hurting Buffy by staying and both your and Giles' opinions of me were plain for anyone to see." Angel answered defensively. "And you were right, I know that. I've always known I wasn't worthy of Buffy. So I left, it was the only honorable thing to do. I got out of the way so she could find someone better, not so she could end up in an emotionally abusive marriage."

"What are you talking about?" Xander asked. "Riley doesn't."

"Then why hasn't she healed yet?" Angel demanded. "Don't say it's because Buffy blamed herself for my death. She's done that before, with more cause. After she sent me to Hell personally it only took her several months to start putting her life back together, and she was younger then. This time it's been five years and she's still hurting. Didn't it ever occur to you that something else might be wrong?"

Xander's mouth had dropped open as Angel spoke and it stayed that way. Slowly he made his way to one of the couches and dropped onto it. "Oh man." he finally said.

______________________________________________________

Spike wasn't a hard vampire to locate, especially considering he was sitting in Giles' living room waiting for the ex-Watcher when Giles returned from the meeting at Buffy and Riley's home.

Giles froze at the sight of the peroxide blond sitting calmly in front of his TV, leaving both Willow and Riley to plow into his suddenly stationary body.

"Spike!" Giles exclaimed.

"So what story did Captain Cardboard tell you?" Spike asked.

"I'm not the one who's telling stories," Riley declared.

Spike ignored the commando, tossing a heavy envelope to Giles. "That's the whole story, my insurance that soldier-boy wouldn't try to kill me. It's not much good to me now, so this just falls under the category of me being a sore loser."

"This letter was postmarked five years ago," Giles commented scanning the document. "It confirms Riley's guilt."

"So he planned this ahead of time," Riley said. "It doesn't prove anything."

"Spike? Stick to a plan that required waiting years?" Willow asked disbelievingly.

"If you need more proof ask the commando about the safe-box he's kept at the First National Bank ever since he married Buffy," Spike said. "By the way, don't bother looking for me again. I'm not in a mood to be staked, certainly not by Finn, so I'll be disappearing. Maybe look into a little chip removal. somewhere far from here."

"I believe you should also look into relocating," Giles said to Riley as he finished the letter and handed it to Willow. "Because if you ever go near Buffy again you'll live only long enough to regret it."

"You really think you can threaten me?" Riley sneered.

Giles looked over the younger, larger man, then took his bo staff from it's hiding place behind the coat rack and smashed it into the side of Riley's head before the soldier comprehended his intent. Four sharp, well-placed blows left Riley curled up on the floor, gasping with pain. "Don't test me," Giles warned. "You have no idea what I can do."

"I'll be leaving now," Spike said.

"Take him with you," Giles replied. "Don't come back, either of you."

Giles slammed the door behind the two men, then watched Willow finish reading Spike's confession.

"We need to get to LA before Xander chokes on his own feet," Willow commented.

_____________________________________________________________

When Giles and Willow showed up at the Hyperion, Xander glanced up from the dart game he was losing to Wesley and said resignedly. "Riley knew didn't he?"

"Yes, how did you know that?" Giles asked.

"Angel pointed a few things out to me," Xander said. "I can't believe I ever told Buffy to go after Riley."

"We all make mistakes," Buffy said as she and Angel descended into the lobby.

"At least you didn't have any kids with that creep," Cordelia commented looking up from her magazine.

"I never wanted to," Buffy replied. "Riley did, but I'd always find excuses not to discuss it. I guess, subconsciously, I always knew something was wrong."

"Well he's gone now," Willow said cheerfully. "And you're back with Angel so everything's alright now."

Buffy smiled at Willow as she leaned back against Angel. Giles and Xander joined the two girls in donning relieved smiles. All four of them missing the serious look being shared by the other three people in the room.

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