Distribution: If you had permission to take any of my other stories, you can use this one as well. Just let me know where it's going. Others, just ask and I will most likely give permission.
Feedback: Do you even have to ask by this point? YES!!!! Por favor!!!
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss, the WB, Mutant Enemy, (the evil)FOX, and whoever else came up with them. If they belonged to me the show would be drastically different. Please don't sue, I'm only a high-schooler without a job anyways. The idea that Hell has different layers is from Dante's "The Divine Comedy." Actually, alot of stuff about Hell is from Dante as you'll soon see.
Rating: Same as the TV show for most of it, the end is R for sexual situations but it's not worthy of NC17.
Spoilers: Set during the third season episode "Anne." Small spoilers for that episode, nothing else after that has happened.
Concept: Guess who Buffy finds when she's in hell? [You'll just have to pretend the last part of the episode never happened, cause this story starts part-way through the episode and then changes the last parts.]
Author's Notes: This is my tenth fic in the I'm-changing-a-third-season-episode-so-that-BuffyandAngel-end-up-together series. Janice dared me to do every single episode of the third season, including the two before Angel comes back. So I have to find a way to get him back from hell. Well, in "Anne" that's gonna be easy. Buffy's in hell, right? And Angel was sent to hell, right? So everything's peachy. This one's not nearly as fluffy as the others have been, but it's actually got a pretty decent plot. Let me know what you all think... (And if anyone has ANY ideas on how in the world I could do "Dead Man's Party" please let me know, because I have absolutely no clue on that one and my muse just laughed at me when I asked her how to do that episode.)
*****Oh, and one more thing. This story uses Dante's idea of Hell and what crimes it punishes, meaning that it is written with his Christian viewpoint of things. If you are not Christian please don't be offended by this or think that I'm using this story to shove religion down your throat. I myself don't believe that Dante's account is true, it just worked well for the story. I hope everyone understands.*****

The demon moved on to the next person in line. "Who are you?"

"I'm nobody." The girl whispered fearfully, looking at the person on the ground who had dared to say their name.

The demon nodded and moved on. "Who are you?"

"I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and you are?" The Slayer replied with a daring look in her eyes.

The demon growled low in it's throat and moved towards her as if to strike. Buffy lashed out first, hitting it with a backhand that sent it flying across the room. She quickly knocked out the next two that came at her, then moved back towards Lily.

She grabbed the girl by the hand and began moving towards the way they had come in.

"Anyone who's not having fun here, follow me!" Buffy screamed as they went. Soon a long line of people trailed behind her as she made her way towards the exit.

Running on pure adrenaline and instinct, Buffy fought like a wild-thing against all the demons that tried to stop them. Several other people had enough fighting skills to help her out, and soon the group had reached the exit. Buffy and another man began lifting people up and out of the hole.

When everyone was out, Buffy assisted the man and was just about to jump up herself when a voice stopped her.

"And you say that you love him."

Buffy whirled around to face an old man. "What?"

"You say you love him and yet you would leave him here?"

"He's not here." Buffy knew at once who the man was talking about. "Angel's in the demon dimension, in hell. This isn't hell, it's just some demons working people to death."

"This is merely the outer ring of hell. As close to hell as a mortal who hasn't died can get. You aren't in any of it's nine circles yet, that can only happen when one dies."

"Well if that can only happen when I die, and I don't plan on doing that, how am I gonna find Angel?" Buffy quipped at the man. She somehow knew instinctively that she could trust him.

"I can help you find him. I can escort you safely into the circles of hell just as I once did for another of your race."

"Who are you?" Buffy asked him.

"Will you come with me?"

Buffy looked into his eyes for a moment. If there was any chance of finding Angel...."Yes."

"I was known by the name of Vergil." The old man answered her first question then, reaching out his hand.

"Buffy Summers." Buffy replied reaching out to shake his hand. Giles would have been thrilled and probably awestruck, Buffy barely recognized the name. "You can really help me?"

"Yes, my child, I can." Vergil replied as he lead her back the way she had just escaped from.

"Wait a sec...we're going back there?"

"Hell is a large funnel, for lack of a better word. Where we are now is the outer circle, we're not even truly in Hell. In order to really be in Hell you must be dead. And even then, the outer circles aren't really Hell because they're not for punishing people. They're for those who lived before God was known so they can't be in heaven, but their ignorance shouldn't force them to be in eternal punishment because it's not their fault. They're also for the virtuous Pagans and those like them. Then the next few circles are for those who's sins are great but unintentional. The lowest levels are deliberate sinners. Each layer has a greater punishment than the one before it. In the center of it all is the Devil, who himself is imprisoned here, for his first sin is the greatest of all sins." Vergil said even as he walked on.

Buffy had been looking at him in shock this entire time. She tried to understand what he was saying. Then, something clicked in her head. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, why would you ask that?"

"Because what you just described sounds exactly like a book I had to read in AP English last year. By some guy named...."

"Dante?"

"Yeah, how did you....."

"He is the only other mortal the Heavens have ever allowed to be taken into Hell. He has written about it? Good. Then you know what to expect."

"I don't want to go. What I read....it was worse than a horror movie." Buffy whispered.

"You don't want to go? Not even for your soulmate?"

"Where is he?" Buffy asked the poet. It was her fault he was here, she had to help him.

"Since he has committed almost all sins in his time as Angelus, it was very difficult for Minos to place him. But a person is supposed to go to the place that punishes the worst sin he has committed, so that's where he is."

Buffy thought in her head, trying to recount the various sins that were punished in the circles. "He killed his family, his father...." She finally said as it dawned on her.

"Yes, he did. And betrayal of your lord or father is the worst crime imaginable. He is therefor in the center of the ninth circle, the very center of hell. You must go there, go to him. And you must bargain for his life."

"Bargain for it? How?"

"You must go before the judgement council. They do not understand the difference between Angel and Angelus. You must explain it to them. They must know that Angel is in control now and by punishing him they are punishing the wrong person. They are punishing someone who has committed no crimes worthy of the lowest circles." Vergil replied even as they walked on.

Buffy made no comment for a moment, deep in thought, and was about to speak when the man put a hand on her arm and pointed to a sign.

'ABANDON ALL HOPE YOU WHO ENTER HERE.' Buffy read.

"Oh, that makes me feel really good." Buffy said as she was ushered through a doorway and onto a boat.

"We are now crossing the river Acheron. It flows all the way around Hell. Remember that you need not be afraid. Your passage will be even swifter than Dante's. Nothing can harm you, you are under Divine protection. The Powers need your help to set Angel free."

"Why can't these Powers free Angel themselves? How can they leave him here? After all he's done for them..." Buffy wondered outloud.

"Because they are not in charge here. And they cannot journey here, it would destroy them. They can give mortals free passage every once and a while. They cannot set someone free who is here justly, and the demons believe they hold Angel justly because they can't separate him from Angelus. But you must help them do so."

Buffy nodded, understanding just how much was at stake. "Why me?" "Who else? Angel had only a handful of friends to begin with, and none of them except you and the young spellcaster, and maybe the werewolf, understand the difference between Angel and Angelus. She would speak for him, the wolf might also, but it just wouldn't be the same. You have the unique perspective of loving him, so you can easily separate them. And the fact that you could not kill Angelus shows just how much you love Angel, and that is a fact that will be hard for the council to ignore. A Slayer is something they all know is always on the side of good. And if you love this man then they will realize that he is also on the side of good."

They got off of the boat and were instantly surrounded by people. Buffy shrunk closer to her guide, not sure what to expect.

"You in now in Limbo. It is not even true hell, but is for the Pagans and the other unbaptized who are virtuous within their own rights. There is no punishment here, yet it is not Heaven because we do not have the joy of God's presence. This is my home and my friends. Homer. Plato. Socrates. Electra." He pointed at a few in turn. "They mean no harm, they are merely curious. They have never met a Slayer before, they did not exsist in our times."

Buffy nodded to each of the people gathered, then whispered to her guide. "Can we keep going?" Every second they wasted was a second longer that Angel was in Hell.

He nodded and conducted her on to the next circle, the true beginning of Hell. He conducted her through the winds, hail, foul waters, and boulders that were all part of the punishments of the next few circles. Buffy couldn't believe the suffering.

They stopped when they saw a huge city. "That is Dis, the City of the Dead. The circles from here on are for intentional and deliberate sinners." Her guide said as they passed the three furies guarding the gates.

Buffy was lead through that circle and the next until she came to a huge precipice. Her hand came to her mouth and she tried hard to keep from gagging. The stench was horrific.

"And so begins the seventh circle." The old man commented as they crossed over the River of Blood.

Buffy had thought the suffering she had before witnessed was as bad as things could get. She was so wrong. She here witnessed people forever standing in the River of Blood, some in over their head. Others were attacked constantly be harpies, some were on plains with fiery sand and rains of fire. As they continued their descent she saw people with their heads buried in rock, others submerged in boiling tar, others being beaten only to have their wounds heal so they could be beaten again.

Buffy was in tears by this point. She could barely walk. She knew this wasn't even the worst of it. Angel was somewhere down here, and he was being punished worse than any of these people. She couldn't imagine what could be worse. And it broke her heart to think that she had sent him here.

"We are now passing into Caina." Her guide said. "It begins the ninth circle and is named after the first murderer."

Buffy nodded, remembering it from the book.

Her guide pointed out as they passed through Antenora and Ptolomea, both named for people famous for committing the crime that area punished. And finally then entered the last area. "Judecca. The very center of Hell."

Buffy whispered. "Home to Brutus, Cassius, Judas Iscarriot, and to the Devil himself."

"And to Angelus." A voice boomed out.

Buffy turned slightly to find that her guide was gone. She was on her own. She soon located the source of the voice. She knew immediately who it was.

"Bow to me, lower being." The voice boomed again.

Buffy almost went to make a bow, then stopped short. "I will bow to no one but God."

"This is my realm. Bow to me."

"Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." Buffy quoted from the Bible, inwardly thanking her mom for having made her attend a Christian grade school.

"Glad you know that. Otherwise you would have ended up down here yourself." The voice seemed amused. "And I've never had a Slayer here before."

"And you won't have Angel here for long either."

"Angel? You mean Angelus?"

"No." Buffy looked at him. "I mean Angel. They're two totally different people. Didn't you know that?"

"Angelus is a demon who has killed thousands and committed many haneous crimes against the world. He even tried to suck the entire world into this very Hell. If he had succeeded then all the demons would have been freed from punishment and ruled the world. But since he failed we are all still under God's commands. And we are all punished for what we have done."

"What? Do you have a selective memory or something? You only remember what he did as Angelus? All the hate? What about all the good he did as Angel? What about all the love?"

"I know of no Angel. I know that Angelus disappeared from our watchful eyes for many years, but then he suddenly showed up again. How a demon traveled the world for that long without us being able to detect him is a mystery, but one I don't care to dwell on."

"He wasn't a demon!" Buffy yelled.

"Then what was he?" A new voice asked. Buffy suddenly found herself surrounded by nine forms, who she realized must be the judgement council her guide had mentioned.

"He was a vampire with a soul. He was cursed with a soul by Gypsies, and because of that soul he no longer killed or hunted. He spent his time trying to make amends for what he had done. He helped me kill demons and stop the Master from rising and..." Buffy trailed off, by now in tears.

"And what Slayer?"

"And I loved him! I still do. You know I fight for good. And you know that I would never love a demon. You must know that he's a good man!"

The members of the council looked at her a moment, then one of them raised his hands above his head and clapped them together.

There was a flash of light and Angel appeared in front of her.

Buffy let out a cry at the state he was in and took a step towards him. He began to collapse and she reached out and drew him towards her, slowly sinking to the ground with him in her arms.

Her flesh burned wherever it touched his, but she didn't even notice. She cradled him to her, crying out at what they had done to him.

"How could you not know who he was? Can't you tell he has a human soul? That soul is free of all crimes. There's a demon inside of him, locked away by his soul. If you need to punish something, punish the demon, not the man." She cried out hysterically.

"You believe the good you say is in him outweighs the bad?"

"No, that's not the point. You've got two different people here. A demon named Angelus and a human body with a soul named Angel. You can't punish one for what the other did."

"You truly believe they are different people?"

"Yes, I do." Buffy replied with all her heart.

"We will need to see how certain you are."

"How?" Buffy looked at them with fear.

"We need access to your mind, your memories. Because you are protected by the Powers we cannot access your mind unless you allow it. We will access only parts we need to confirm your feelings about Angel and Angelus."

Buffy looked at them fearfully for a moment, but realized that it was the only way. She nodded her agreement. A second later she closed her eyes in shock as memories ripped through her.

~Let's just say I'm a friend~This guy; dark, gorgeous in an annoying sort of way~Angel, It's a pretty name~You're cold~It looks better on you~Perfect gentlemen~All I can think about is how badly I want to kiss you~Kiss me~Her elders conjured up the perfect punishment for me, they restored my soul~I haven't killed a living thing since that day~You think I want anything to happen to you~You think I could stand it~

Images accompanied the words and thoughts that flowed through her and made her smile as she remembered those simple days. The council knew exactly which memories to pull and they were doing so at such a rapid pace that Buffy only caught a few words of each memory, although she somehow knew that they were seeing the entire scenes.

~I missed you~It's okay~One little dance, which I only did to make you crazy, by the way; behold my success~Love makes you do the wacky~This could get out of control~Isn't that the way it's supposed to be~I always wished I could meet someone exciting, interesting~You're the one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense to me~I didn't even notice~Angel, when I look into the future; all I see is you~All I want is you~And the part at the end of the night, where we say goodbye, it's getting harder~The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty, and the heart...well, you know~I love you~Just kiss me~

Buffy began to cry now as the scene faded away. She tried to brace herself for what she knew was coming next but it was too hard. She had buried these memories so deep she barely thought about them anymore. Now they came crashing back to her.

~Come on Buffy, it's not like I haven't been there before~Love ya too, I'll call ya~If Angel ever achieved true happiness, even just a moment of...he would lose his soul~The important thing is, you made me the man I am today~You're still the only one he thinks about~I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you, for her, when I had the chance~Hello lover~I don't have time for you~Me~I love you~Close your eyes~

Still sitting and holding Angel with his head on her lap, Buffy bent over, her body over his and wracked with sobs. She cried harded than she had the first time because now she knew what had happened to him because of her actions.

As she cried into him she felt him stir beneath her. "B..Buf..Buffy?" Angel managed to pull himself up slightly, enough to take her into his arms.

She cried even harder at this, knowing how much pain he must be in, knowing all that had been done to him because of her, and his first thoughts were still to comfort her.

She pulled away then, horrified to know she was the cause of this, unable to believe he'd forgiven her. "Do you believe me? Can't you tell the difference?" She shouted up at them.

"We can tell the difference. We knew nothing before of Angel, for we do not keep track of the actions of people unless they are doing wrong. But seeing through your eyes, we can see that Angel is not the same as the demon Angelus who deserves to be here."

"So you'll give me him back?" Buffy cried again, but this time her tears were of joy.

Angel looked at her trustingly, barely understanding what was going on. He only knew that he had his Buffy back in his arms.

"We cannot give him back."

Buffy was about to say something about that when the figure continued. "Not as he is now. Angelus must remain here and he must be punished for what he has done. But we have nothing to keep Angel here. We will separate them, and Angel will return to you. He will be human."

Buffy started to babble her thanks but before she had more than a few words out her and Angel were enveloped in a bright white light.

The next thing she knew they sat on the floor of Angel's mansion in Sunnydale.

"Buffy?"

"You're okay?" Buffy asked in amazement, looking at him and seeing none of the wounds and scars that had covered his body.

"Yeah, thanks to you." He took her hand gently.

"Well, it was the least I could do. It's my fault you were down there." She looked down.

His other hand moved to her chin, making her look him in the eyes. "No, it's not. It's Angelus's fault. I know that you only did what you had to do to save the world. It's who you are Buffy. You had no choice."

"I did, I..."

Angel silenced her with a soft kiss. "I love you."

Everything flew out of her head. All her words, her rationalizations, her apologies, they were all gone. Instead there was only him. He filled her senses.

"I love you." Buffy whispered back, realizing that was all she needed to say. She leaned into him again, kissing him with all her might.

Angel pulled away a moment later, panting hard. "I've gotta get used to this breathing thing again." He chuckled.

"Oh, I'll get you used to it." Buffy grinned as she trailed kisses down his neck. One hand came up slowly and began to unbutton his shirt. "After all, you've got a whole lifetime."

~~~If you don't like reading this kind of stuff, the story can end here and still be perfectly good. If you enjoy mild PWP, keep reading. Here's where the R rating kicks in. I'm not too good at writing this stuff so it's not too smutty, but it's naughtier than anything else I've written so far. Let me know if you think I should do stuff like this in other S3 Rewrite fics.~~~

"I'm more worried about making it through the next few hours." Angel gasped into her hair as she continued to trail kisses down his chest. Every patch of skin that was revealed she laid her lips to until she was at the waistband of his pants. She slowly pulled the shirt out of the waistband and pushed it back over his shoulders.

She brought her hand to his chest for a moment, relishing not only in the warmth of his skin but in feeling his heartbeat.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she felt his hands move hesitantly towards the bottom of her top. She pulled back from him and lifted her hands above her head, silently giving him her permission just as she had the first time they made love.

He slowly raised the top over her head and dropped it to the ground. His eyes shone. "You're beautiful." Angel whispered as his hands spread across her flat abdomen, sending shivers all throughout her body. His hands moved towards her back as she leaned into him, kissing him with all her might. Buffy's hands trailed over his arms, caressing the muscles as she went. Their tongues continued to dance. Buffy shifted herself closer to him, moving so that she straddled his lap.

Her mouth left his and started to trail across his face, kissing her way from his mouth to his ear. She kissed and nibbled on the sensitive lobe and felt him groan in response. Her mouth trailed lower, finding the pulse of his neck where she lay a feather-light kiss.

The hands that had been moving over her back stilled at her kiss, his pulse still amazed him, maybe even more than it did her. His hands moved down to cup her butt, pulling her even closer to him as their lips met again. He was already hard with wanting her.

Buffy twirled her hands into his hair, rememorizing every detail of him. She rubbed herself against him slightly and felt him grow even more. He moaned against her, hands again moving across the soft skin of her back. His hands found the clasp of her bra and he slowly undid it. Buffy pulled away from him for a second to let the straps slid off her arms, then pushed herself back against him, now skin to skin.

She slowly leaned furthur into him and pressed him back until they were both laying down.

"I love you." Angel whispered again between kisses.

"Prove it." Was Buffy's reply, a teasing tone coming into her voice.

And for the rest of the night, Angel did just that.

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