A/N: This is a story that will happen much later in the after-verse that I'm working on for Angel and Buffy, so it will have continuity with my upcoming stories starting at "A Different Hole in the World" under the Angel section. However, I really like this one and it works pretty well as a stand-alone, so I decided to post it early. It's fairly self-explanatory over the complete story, but I will be updating in one chapter-per-day increments, for fifteen short chapters. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1 – The Injury

I found Angel as he was regaining consciousness, rolling onto his stomach to push himself up. A huge gash across his forehead evoked a disturbing mixture of worried empathy and arousal in me. I decided the situation called more for the empathy bit. I caught him in my arms as he stumbled.

"Whoa there, big guy," I muttered. "The baddies are dead, luv. Why don't you sit back down, let me take a look at that wound?"

"Uh?" he asked, the look of confusion on his face more severe than usual, but he let me sit him on a low table. I hoped the great ponce wasn't too heavy for the rickety piece of furniture. Wouldn't want a sliver of wood to go the wrong way. One of his hands drifted up to touch the injury, but I batted it away.

"Uh, uh, Peaches. You don't need to know how bad this is. Just let me clean it out, yeah? Then you'll heal up all bright and shiny new."

"Okay?" Angel said, looking up into my eyes for the first time. He looked so lost, so despondent that I couldn't help but draw him into my arms. I squeezed him and he seemed oddly stiff, not returning the hug like he usually does. He must've been more injured than I thought. As I pulled back, I ran a hand over his cheek and leaned in to kiss him.

"Hey!" he yelled, scrambling backwards on his hands. "Get off me, you deviant!"

"Well, fuck you too, Angel!" I stood up, fuming. "What's wrong with you? Did that bash in the head knock loose the last straw holding together that mush you call a brain?"

Angel stood up, his teeth clenched and eyes fiery. "I'm not the one molesting and insulting perfect strangers, now am I?"

"Strangers?" He really had blown a gasket. "You don't remember me, pet?"

"Don't call me that!"

"What? 'Pet'?"

"Pet, love, peaches, angel. None of them. It's just sick."

Briefly I wondered if a punch in the mouth would rattle things loose. "What would you have me call you then?" My heart sank and my throat closed in dread. We were supposed to be done with all this bullshit, "Angelus?"

"What? No?" He didn't recognize that name either! And I could still feel the soul burning in his chest. Angel opened his mouth to speak again, drawing breath, but he didn't finish the action. "Why can't I remember my name?"

"It's probably that nasty gash on your head, mate. You don't remember me either."

"Should I?"

I scoffed. "You've known me for a long time, Angel. Plus," I grinned, "we've been sleeping together for over a year."

"Fuck you," he spat, turning from me and pacing away toward the end of the room.

"That's sorta the idea…"

He shot me that disapproving look, lips pursed, brow low and furled. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?"

"Angel, luv. You may not remember yourself, but that expression is pure you."

"I thought I told you to stop the pet names," he snarled, stepping up toward me, trying to intimidate me.

"Okay, first off, 'Angel' is actually your name." He scoffed, stepping closer, nostrils flaring. "Well I didn't pick it out, mate. Don't blame that decision on me."

"And second?" he asked.

"Second…" I smiled and stepped closer, letting the scent of my love and lust for him roil from my skin. "I called you 'luv' because we love each other. I'm your boyfriend."

I saw his eyes dilate as he caught my scent, but he shook his head as if to clear it and stepped back from me.

"That's impossible," he insisted. "How do I know you weren't the one who injured me in the first place?"

I sighed, pointing to the bodies piled around the room. "Do you see the very large demons, mate?"

Angel stepped closer to one of them, getting just a quick look at the beastie before jumping back in horror. "What is that thing?"

"It's a demon. Quit being such a nancy." He gave me that disapproving look again, but didn't answer. "Oh, balls. Please tell me you remember what you are."

"What I am? And if we're really 'in love' as you claim, why do you keep insulting me?"

"Bugger. You really don't remember me, do ya?"

"What did you mean by 'what I am'?" Angel held out his hands in front of him, turning them over once before examining his face with them. "Is there a mirror anywhere? I don't look like them, do I?" He pointed to the corpses.

"A mirror won't do you any good, pet. Just try to feel your pulse."

He put a hand to his neck, searching around. "I don't feel it…" He put a hand over his heart. "Why isn't my heart beating?"

"God!" I gasped in exasperation. "Because you're a fucking vampire, dumbass." I slit my wrist on my sword, holding it out to him. "Here, maybe this will help you remember."

"This is Hell, isn't it?" he asked, backing away from me. "There are demons, I'm dead, and a bleached blond fruitcake is trying to feed me his blood. Yep, definitely in Hell."

"You're not in Hell, Angel. Just take the blood, will ya?" I shoved my wrist at his face, wafting the smell of the blood under his nose.

"No," he whispered, but a low growl in his throat preceded the change in his face, eyes turning gold, brow growing larger and ridged, teeth pointed and needle sharp.

"There's my boy," I smiled, backing him against the wall and pressing my wrist to his lips. He tried to struggle against me, but he didn't realize how strong he was. My blood trickled over his lips, but he refused to open his mouth. Wondering just how much he didn't remember, I held him against the wall with my hips and used my free hand to pinch his nose closed. Like I thought, he opened his mouth to take a breath, and my blood trickled in.

Angel tried to spit it out, but instinct took over and he latched onto my wrist in short order, sucking my blood down. He tried to use his teeth to open the wound further, but I didn't let him, pulling my arm away before he took too much.

"Did that help, luv?" I asked quietly, still holding him pinned against the wall. "Do you remember who you are?"

"No," he breathed, almost panting under me. "But now I know why we're sleeping together."

Angel captured my lips in a kiss, his need pulsing against my whole body in waves. I returned his affection, holding his face to mine by the back of his neck, kneading the muscles. Maybe his blood was remembering what his brain didn't. But, suddenly his whole body stiffened and he pushed me away, finally using something approximating his full strength. I slid back three or four feet, just managing to keep my balance.

"No!" he yelled. "It's a test. A wicked temptation. I have…I have to get out of here."

Angel tried to run past me to get to the door, but I blocked his way. "'m sorry you don't remember me, Angel, but you can't run off by yourself. You don't remember what's out there."

"I don't really care. It's gotta be better than being here with you!" He tried to pass me again, but I caught him by the shoulder, jumping onto his back. I couldn't let him go, not with my blood flooding his system. If normal control-freak Angel could barely handle drinking my blood without causing trouble, amnesiac Angel would be a dangerous animal unleashed on the world. I wrapped an arm around his neck in a sleeper hold, praying he didn't remember how to break it. He didn't. Slowly enough blood drained out of his big head that he fell unconscious again.

This was just great. Angel didn't fucking remember me. Or his name, or anything relevant to keeping himself alive and out of trouble. The only thing he seemed to remember was how to insult me. He would rather take his chances on the street than stay in a room with me. And I had moronically fed him my blood, making him twice as dangerous as before. I shuddered to think what a creature as confused and powerful as Angel would do with that much sexual energy when unleashed on the public. God fucking damnit.

When I was sure he wouldn't be waking up again anytime soon, I released my hold and pulled him into a fireman's carry, slinging him over my shoulder. With my free hand, I picked up our weapons and prayed I wouldn't hit any trouble on the way back to headquarters.