Disclaimer: I'm very glad that I don't own Kate and Buffy, cos they've both been bitches this year. However, if I could just rent Angel for awhile, I'd be ever so happy. LOL.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None really. This comes a week after Sanctuary, and just for the record Kate's dad is dead too.
Season: AtS 1
Teaser: Buffy and Kate are both starting in on Angel, so he retaliates with the brutal truth.
Author's note: I was in a real 'Hating-the-bitches' mood and this is the result.

Angel perked up slightly. He had a strange feeling, a sensation he hadn't had since that whole Faith incident the previous week. She was here. Not Faith obviously, she was behind bars. No, the other Slayer was here. Buffy.

And sure enough, she was standing at the door to his office, arms crossed and an angry fire glowing in her eyes. Angel gulped involuntarily. That posture could only mean trouble for him.

"Hi," he broke the tense-filled silence. She didn't reply. The Slayer strode into his office with a powerful dignity. She stood so close to his desk that she appeared to tower above him. Hate and anger was written all over her face, the face that Angel stared at every night when there was nothing to do, no one to protect. After an uncomfortable pause, Angel tried again. "Can I help you?" he asked. Buffy contemplated the offer for a second. She was about to speak when another blonde friend marched into the office. Icy blue eyes met hazel and chocolate.

"I see you have company," Kate said with bitterness. Angel sighed inaudibly. This was going to be a long day. When the two women in his office had quit sizing each other up, they simultaneously turned their hateful eyes on Angel. Their gazes bore into his flesh, making his skin crawl. He lazily looked up to Buffy, then to Kate and back again.

"One of you want to start?" he muttered. Buffy nodded first so with a hand gesture from Angel she began her argument.

"I want you to apologise," she spat with venom.

"Same here," Kate added in the same evil tone. Angel was silent for a moment, and the pause hung heavy in the air.

"Wanna tell me why I should apologise?" he asked softly. The tension in the room escalated to a higher level.

"What d'you mean why?" Buffy exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table and leaning down closer to Angel. He revelled in her unique smell while he could, in case she staked him before he could do that again.

"I mean why?" he replied. Buffy saw red at this.

"Why did you say those horrible things to me after Faith was turned in? Why were you hugging her when I arrived?" Angel couldn't hold her fiery gaze. All her anger and frustration was being aimed at him. If he was lucky enough, he might be able to get out of this mess with only a few bruises. Angel was never lucky. Before Angel could answer his ex, Kate butted in.

"Why did you lie to me for so long? Why didn't you save my father? Why do you deny that his death is on your hands?" Angel quickly stood up and moved to the covered window. The sunlight behind the blinds made his skin itch, but he ignored it with practised ease. When he didn't explain himself to the two scorned women, Buffy nearly exploded.

"Answer us, damn you!" she shouted. Angel's patience snapped. He turned around in a flurry, a desperate growl escaping his throat. Kate stepped back slightly but Buffy stood her ground. Angel invaded her personal space until his face was inches from hers.

"Why this? Why that? Has it occurred to you that I am damned? Have been damned repeatedly? The curse, Hell, being away from you, all damnations to me in one way or another." Buffy had stepped back slightly, slightly fearful of that strange look in his eyes. She'd seen it occasionally when she was in trouble. But her anger burned stubbornly strong, and she quickly reclaimed her argument.

"Did you mean those things, huh Angel? Did you? Did you mean to make me hurt so badly?" she shot back. Angel's anger grew as he remembered the events that had brought them to that moment.

"And d'you remember what you said to me? Riley this, Riley that, new love, better without me. I don't care! I don't regret what I said because it was the truth! I'm not allowed to move on, so I'm still hung over you! I gave my life for you and all you can complain about is your problems! Go complain about them to someone who understands you still! Riley, he's your boyfriend! Leave me and my pathetic excuse for an unlife out of this!" For once in her life, Buffy was speechless. She'd never seen Angel this angry. She let out a small sigh of relief when he turned his rage on Kate. Her eyes were narrowed with hate, but there was a hidden worry hidden behind her anger. "I didn't kill your father! That wasn't me, it wasn't Angelus, the only thing it had to do with me was the species! I can't stop every vampire in the world! They still come, and not even two Slayers and me can prevent evil all the time!" Kate took a menacing step forward.

"But you did kill my father! You didn't even try to save him! You just watched him die!" Another growl rumbled deep in his broad chest.

"I'm a vampire! I can't get into a person's house until their soul leaves the body or they invite me in! He did the first! And how many times did I warn you that he was up to something! Phone calls, messages, I tried to get you to listen! Did you? No, and poor Kate's left with no daddy! It's not like he was actually there for you in the first place! And I know what it's like! I killed my father! And I'll never forget how good he tasted!" Buffy shuddered involuntarily. The last sentence really got to her. Angel ran a shaky hand through his silky hair and looked up. Both Kate and Buffy were staring at their feet, contemplating what he had yelled and how it affected them and their emotions. Buffy was first to move. She put a tentative hand on Angel's arm. The touch shocked him and he yanked his limb away. "Don't touch me," he spat. Tears came to the Slayer's eyes but she complied. The two women looked at the vampire's pained face and another wave of guilt crashed though them.

"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered. Angel closed his eyes and turned away from them, leaning heavily on the desk.

"Just go. Both of you," he said quietly, almost in a defeated tone of voice. Buffy nodded and the two women trailed out in the opposite fashion to how they walked in. Angel watched them go, before moving around the desk to his chair and falling into it with a soft thud. He put his hands over his eyes and grappled at what had just happened. Somebody cleared their throat in the doorway and Angel looked up. Cordelia stood there with a sympathetic half-smile on her face.

"Coffee?" she asked tentatively. Angel smiled and followed her to the elevator that led to his basement apartment. At least not everyone was mad at him.

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