A.N. I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer

A.N. 2 This is AU and I love making my characters ooc

Buffy did not return when she ran away from home but she did move forward with life and can never go back. The police did clear Buffy's name immediately but Buffy would never step foot in Sunnydale again. She found her way to a homeless shelter for teens and there she got her GED. It was mandatory and she did quite well. From there Buffy enlisted in the army and she graduated at the top of her class in basic training beating out the men in everything.

Meanwhile in Sunnydale everyone had tried to find Buffy even with them bringing Angel back. Angel learned what was said to her by them and no wonder she cracked. He went on his own quest to find her because unlike them, he had the resources to find out what happened. He would not stop searching the world for his wife. Yes, Buffy is his wife. One of the first things he did was register the marriage in Ireland and had it transferred to the US. Being her husband and he is legally gave him more avenues.

The trail heated up in 2003 when he learned she made her way to a teen homeless shelter and he learned she left with a GED. The next thing he learned is she is serving in the army as an intelligence analyst. She is stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. He read her personal file. Buffy had recently come back from an 18 month tour in Iraq. That scared him more than the slaying. A terrorist could kill her.

It was October 31, 2003 when he saw his Buffy again. He found out where the favorite watering hole was for base personnel and he waited it out. There in front of him was Buffy in a shirt and a pair of jeans with her hair tied back in a military bun.

Buffy looked wide eyed "Angel?"It almost seemed like a dream to her when she felt him pull her in. Every wall she put up over the years crashed down and she let tears fall.

Angel thought about contacting Sunnydale but with what Buffy's mother said, Willow and Xander it is a no. Buffy is his priority and not them.

"Talk to me Buffy. I am real, right here."

He could tell she had been crying "How, how long?"

"The powers that be said I am needed here with you and we are supposed to be together. I know you can never have a normal life with slaying and you can not stop slaying until you die. They seem to think they can make you normal when normal is not an option. I have been looking for you for the past five years beloved. The curse is fixed so you do not need to worry about me losing my soul again."

Angel knew she was in shock in drew her into him tighter. He needed to feel her to make sure she is real and most likely she needs to feel the same. He placed a kiss on top of her head and she relaxed. Now he had a question.

"Out of all the things Buffy, the army."

Buffy gave off one of her musical laughs. "I wanted something where I could use my slayer skills to kick ass and the military made sense. I did very well in basic training. I beat out all of the men in their performance. It was there it was discovered I had a knack for intellegence and I was sent to be trained as an analyst. Then September 11th happened and I was needed more than ever. I just got out of an 18 month tour and they are already talking about deploying again in 4 months. My term of enlistment is not over for another four years and with how the war is going I may not leave especially where they need the expierenced. I did one tour of duty in Saudi Arabia and this is my second tour."

Angel could see the fatigue in her eyes and she has seen more in her lifetime than he has seen in his 246 years on this earth. "Buffy, we will get through this together. I promise you. I will not let you go ever again."

He knew what war did to people and you are never the same again. He knew she is not broken, just worn out and all he wanted to do is take that away. His grandfather had served in the army and he lost use of his arm. It made his very angry and bitter because he could not save either one of his brothers. He was named after his great uncle Liam.

Now he had a question "Can you get time off? Let me help you. I want to help you out of pure love. You need a break."

Buffy smiled "I have been forced to take 3 weeks off starting next week. Apparently I have an obscene amount of leave time on the books and I am being forced to use it. No major plans."

Angel was thrilled "What about Ireland? It gets you away from here. I think you will enjoy it."He was looking just to have it as the two of them. "Yes Angel, I would love that. Thank you."

"So Buffy, any unusual slaying you have been doing these last five years?"

Now it was going to get interesting. "Let's just say when I was deployed I had a vampire come after me screaming I am a sorceress. They thought base camp would be easy pickings. Let's just say a quick double tap of hollow point bullets destroys their hearts. I don't see that many of them but there again this is the desert."

Angel had his own words. "We tend to avoid places like the mid east, too many holy objects. The desert is a turn off, not really good hunting. I will be fine."

Buffy laughed for a second when Angel saw her sleeve roll up a bit. He knew it was not a slaying injury but an injury from war. "You had been shot?"Buffy knew he was worried.

"I was coming back from patrol for the day when the humvee I was on was ambushed. No one was killed fortunately but most of us had gun shot wounds. "

The evening ended with Angel taking Buffy hack to the gates of the base and a promise to see her tomorrow night.