Title: Silence

By: Tater17

Discalimer: I own the story, but nothing else.

Raiting: PG

Summery: ((REVISED NOW)) In an eppy during 6/3 we were cheated out of seeing Buffy and Angel reunite after Angel learned his beloved in among the living, well, here's my version of what happened, based on the rest of the season

AN:Slience takes place near the beginning of season 6/3 before Buffy and Spike had sex, before Angel felt for Cordy, but after Connor was born. Kinda shifting around the seasons. Does that make sense? Well tell me what you think....

AN2: If you want more email me at PeachyWritingFreakyahoo.com OR BooLoop8587hotmail.com

Silence

The scoobies all stood around looking at the mess that was layed before them of the Summers residence, or from the looks, what was left of it for them to clean up and get back into order.

"So, I guess-" Buffy started to say but was cut short when the phone rang.

She walked away leaving Giles, Xander, Willow, Tara, and Dawn in the living room. Whe she returned it was obvious something happened on that phone call.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asked worridly, he didn't think anyone in that house could handle any more bad then what had happened.

She nodded, never looking into any of her friends eyes. "It-it was Angel."

They all just stared at her.

"I- he.. um, he wants to see me."

She turned around to grab her keys and purse. "Wants to meet me between here and there, uh..." she looked at her trashed house. "I'm sure you guys can handle clean up."

With that Buffy walked out the door with out a second thought.

"Oh God, here we go again." Xander complained.

"Xander!" Willow said sternly.

Angel Investigations:

Angel grabed his keys and headed for the doors.

"Angel, where are you going?" Cordelia asked in a panic.

He looked at her as though that was the dumbest question he had ever heard. "Where the hell do you think I'm going Cordelia?"

"Don't you think you should-" He walked out the door before she could finish.

"Where was he going?" Fred asked looking around confused.

"I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one." Wesly piped in.

"Buffy?" Fred asked, still not too sure of what was going on.

Cordeila nodded, saving Wesly from of having to speak.

"Shouldn't he have waited until it wasn't day though, I mean how will he meet her?"

"This is Angel. There's no way anything could keep him from her right now." Wesly said

As Angel walked through the tunnels leading to the subway, he was left to his own thoughts and kept going over what had just happened in his head and fumming each time it started over in his mind.

Angel and co. had walked into the hotel after just killing a demon that was going to sacrifice children. Everyone was pleased they had saved the day again, that is except for Angel. He just hadn't been right since he got the news of Buffy's death. Even after staying with the Monks all those months it still hadn't helped him get over his beloved. Everyone thought he was over it, or atleast getting close to being over her, but no one knew that he sat awake every night staring at her picture. He had one of when she still had her long hair at 16, and her short hair at 17, a picture of her before and after his demon conterpart Angelus was released into the world, and wrecked havoc. There was a big difference in the way she looked, her eyes were old, and Buffy often seemed wary after that. Angel even began to draw pictures of her. Buffy being pregnant, and each of the stages, her holding Conor, her sleeping, slaying. Everything. But now that she was out of his life forever, now that she was buried in the ground, he had nothing left to fight for. Atleast when they were apart and never spoke or saw eachother, she was still alive which gave him a reason to fight, he fought for her to one day have a better life and Angel still clung to the hope that one day their love could work.

"I'm going into your office Wesly." He said, without looking at anyone.

Angel walked into the office and sat down at the desk and began fiddling with the phone. He had wanted to call. Talk to Dawn or Willow. Anyone to remind him of her... He made up his mind.. he'd call.

Angel picked up the phone to dial and heard Cordeila on it, he was about to hang up, but curiousity got the better of him.

"Hey Tara, just returning your message."

"Hey. I was wondering if you had any extra of those health herbs I got from you last time?"

"Maybe. I'd have to check inventory. Why, are things still rocky?"

"More than ever. She doesn't think she came back normal. Period."

"Why?"

Angel shuffled the phone. Came back normal?

"Is someone else on the line?" Tara asked.

"I don't know, let me call you back on your cell." Cordy said, wary that someone else might listening in.

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

Angel walked out of the office as quietly as he could to hear:

"Hey Wes, Tara needs more of those herbs thingies. Buffy thinks she came back wrong and Tara wants to do a spell I guess, they're all really worried about her." Cordy said in a low voice to Wesly

"Bu-Buffy?" Angel asked. He hadn't spoken her name in months, it sounded so foreign, but like he was supposed to say it, like it was his.

Cordeila turned around in horror. "Angel..."

"Came back wrong?" His voice was rising. It was obvious there was extreme angery.

"Calm down, Angel, just calm down."

"How long has she been back?" Angel yelled.

"I.. uh."

"Tell the truth." His voice was deadly.

"A couple months. Willow brought her back."

"Who else knew?!"

"We all did."

Angel nodded slowly. "And you didn't tell me, why?! None of you did." He shouted looking all his friends in the face.

"Be-because you were doing so much better I didn't want you to get hurt again. I knew you'd rush back to her. I didn't think the time was right."

Angels voice, now more quiet, low, and deadlier "We'll talk later."

He rushed back into Wesly's office to call Buffy.

As Buffy is dashing through traffic to get to her destination, she went over the conversation with Angel in her mind:

"Hello." She tried to sound perky.

Angel would know that voice anywhere.

"Beloved." Was all he could manage to get out.

Tears formed in Buffy's eyes. She'd waited for his phone call. Cordeila said she'd tell him when it was right, and he'd call when he felt he could. But it had been months, and she wondered if he did know, she was too afraid to ask Cordeila if she'd told him out of the pure fear that she had and he refused to call... she couldn;t handle that, not now, not ever.

"My.. ahem ..Angel."

Angel took a few moments to speak.

"I.. we need to see eachother."

"We do Angel. We do."

"Meet me in an hold warehouse, off of I-58, you can't miss it. It's past the rest stop, near some tunnels."

"I'm on my way."

Silence for a moment.

"I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, too."

They both hung up.

Buffy pulled up and entered the warehouse. She looked Angel and suddenly felt uneasy and scared. They walked to eachother.

"An-Angel." Buffy said.

Angel looked at her. She was beautiful, breath taking. But, obvisouly older; and not by age, she looked tired, worn, and sad. Her front, though, was good. I bet no one else notices.

"Buffy.. hi." Angel said uneasily. God, his nerves were shot to hell Calm down....

God he's handsome...

"You seem.... better? Is that a good way to say it? Maybe more confident." Buffy said fidgeting.

Angel nodded noticing her uneasiness, with any luck she wouldn't notice his. He was terrified. What if all this was a deam and when he awoke she would still be dead, buried in the ground while he was still walking on this earth... she deserved to live a happy life not.... Stop it he scolded himself. He couldn't feel guilty because he couldn't save her.

"Yeah, the business is great. I- Well I am a little better I guess you could say."

Angel now regretted meeting Buffy is this old warehouse, it should have been a nicer place, but he had to see her once he found out. He looked at the torn sofa and moved to sit down, motioning for Buffy to do the same. And she did.

"So, I.. who told you I was back?" Buffy asked, in a questionable tone.

She didn't seem that confident, all her confidence was lost, lost somewhere with the young woman he had once known, the child that had grown into womanhood. Her spark was missing and she did seem more cut off from the world- running, hiding.

"Cordeila did. She kinda, I.. she let it slip."

"Oh.. slipped?" Buffy asked. Did she really let it slip or was that just Angels excuse for not coming sooner? She looked into his eyes and began to drop her front. "I wanted to call you, but then I wasn't sure if you knew. God I wanted to call so many times. And things got hectic, then I thought you might know something happened if you had gotten my message before I..."

"Message?"

"Yeah. Before we went to fight Glory for the finale time, I called you, but you weren't there. So I left a message explaining as fast as I could what was happening, and tried to tell you how much-- how much I wanted to see you."

"No I- uh- I didn't get it. As soon as Willow told me I left...."

Buffy nodded. "So how have you been?"

"Alright. After I was told I freaked out, didn't do so well."

Buffy fidgeted, "I meant all around..."

Angel looked shy for a moment. Had he been human he would have blushed.

"Well, what about you. How are you and Dawn?"

"We're..." Buffy looked away. "Alright. Willow is living with us, and so is Tara. I'm sure she explained the whole Dawn thing... didn't she?"

Angel nodded. "I would have come to help if I could have. You should have called sooner..."

Buffy stood up quickly as did Angel. "I did call, then told Cordy not to say I called. I called a dozen times. Just to check up on you," She began to pace, "She told me everything was great. Cordeila always kept me posted. She's told me about Kate, and that woman from that other reality. Told me about Darla and all yur battles ."

"How long have you been calling?" Angel inquired. He wanted to know... no he needed to know.

"How long has Cordeila been with you? When-when I died, before I jumped... I wondered what you would do. I prayed to whatever God you wouldn't walk into the Sun, and begged selfishly you wouldn't find someone-- this... I can't go into it."

"It's alright." Angel walked closer and pulled Buffy into his arms. He so desperately wanted to tell her about Connor, but he hoped somehow she knew and yet she would never be burdened with the fact that he had a child, a child that wasn't hers, when even though he had never thought she had meant it when they both had vowed never did they want children with another soul.

He looked into her eyes and they were so lost. So alone. She was protecting everyone and looked like she had all the answers but like she didn't have any. Buffy wanted answers to questions she had yet to think about, and wanted her answers to be wrong. She desperatly wanted things to be right for once, atleast for one of them, because she knew it would never be her. She was so weak and yet so strong. Strong for the world, her friends. Strong for her sister. Even for Angel and if she didn't know about the child, still yet strong for him, and for herself she was weak.

Angel's eyes filled with tears, just by looking into his soulmates eyes he had learned everything in the universe and yet he had learned nothing. She had all the answers and many questions, but she too had nothing but questions with all the wrong answers. In her eyes he saw what he was once like, before she had shed her light into his world. He had been alone, but Buffy had pulled him out of his dispair when she was still yet a child growing up too fast. Atleast when he was like that he'd had her, now she had no one.

Buffy's eyes too filled with tears. She had stupidly let her gaurd and, let someone in. Let him in. He had seen what she couldn't see, and what she hid so well.

"I'm sorry Buffy." Angel said. "I should have-"

He was cut off by Buffy hushing him with her finger over his lips.

"Shh... " she whispered. "Don't say something you'll regret later. And don't say something that might make me stay longer, and us start something painful that we can't finish because of who we are and our destinies. I know what you are going to say, so there's no need. We still have our past together, but don't drone on that after this, after I leave. We had our time. I love you Angel."

They kissed passionately. Lovingly. Rough. With all of who there were, what the once were, and what they would become. When they parted Buffy looked into his eyes, silently telling him everything she ever wanted to say about their relationship and what he had meant to her. Telling him she was still his girl, and that had never changed, and never would. He would still calm her heart as his. She forever more belonged to him.

She lightly kissed his sweet lips one more time, just for the memory and whispered softly that she loved him with all her heart. Buffy then turned around and walked into the day light. Walked away from Angel. Away from the pain. Leaving him, with hopefully a better life.

"I love you, Buffy." Angel said as she turned her back.

THE END

The End.... Want a sequal? Send feedback. AIM- BadGurl278711 MSN- BooLoop8587hotmail.com Yahoo- PeachyWritingFreakyahoo.com