Life's Reward
By Angela
Summary: Remember that ep of Angel where Angelus calls to Sunnydale to check if Buffy is in L.A.? Well, what if Dawn told Buffy and the gang came over?
Authors note: Cordelia is evil, but not pregnant. That's about it.
Rating: If you can see the show, you can read this.
Dedication: to Leanne, my best friend. You are always there for me and I want to thank you for that.
Chapter 1
In L.A.
So the slayer is in the city. Hopefully the right one. Angelus thought. He walked to a payphone and dialled that so familiar number.
The phone ringed.
"Hi, Dawn. Yeah it's me. Is your sister home? She is." Angelus said and hung up.
"It's the other one." Angelus said not happy.
In Sunnydale
"Who was that Dawnie?" Buffy asked.
"It was Angel." Dawn said.
"Angel?" Buffy said
"What did he want?" Willow asked.
"I don't know. He wanted to know if you were here and then he hung up. He sounded weird." Dawn answered.
"Weird huh?" Buffy asked.
Buffy started walking around with her hand on her stomach.
"Buff what's wrong?" Xander asked.
"I'm having a bad feeling. I have it for a while now. Something is wrong in L.A." Buffy said.
"What do you think is wrong Buffy?" Willow asked.
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." Buffy said and walked to the phone.
She dialled the number of the hotel.
"Hello?" Fred answered the phone.
"Hello, is Angel there?" Buffy asked.
"Who is this?" Fred asked.
"It's Buffy." Buffy said.
"The Buffy?" Fred asked.
"Do you know more Buffy's?" Buffy asked.
"Oh no." Fred said smiling.
"Angel is not here." Fred said.
"Something is wrong. I can feel it. Tell me what happened?" Buffy asked.
"We are having a problem with a demon called the Beast. The Beast knows Angelus, but
Angel couldn't remember him. We needed to bring Angelus back. We did a spell on him and
put his soul in a jar. But when we wanted to put the soul back it was gone." Fred said.
"What! Gone?" Buffy said.
"Yes, Angelus escaped." Fred said.
"Escaped? When did this happen?" Buffy asked shocked.
"He has been Angelus for 2 days now and he broke out a few hours ago." Fred said.
"I knew something was wrong." Buffy said.
"You did?" Fred asked.
"Yes, I felt it." Buffy said.
It was silent.
"I'm coming over." Buffy said.
"You don't need to. We have Faith." Fred asked.
"Faith?" Buffy asked
"Yes, we broke her out because we needed her. We didn't think that you wanted to help us."
Fred said.
"Why would you think that?" Buffy asked.
"Because the last time you and Angel talked we got the impression that it did not go very well." Fred said unsure.
"You not wrong. It didn't go good the last time, but that does not mean that you can't call me to help. I'm on my way." Buffy said.
"You are?" Fred asked.
"Yes, and I'm bringing Willow with me. She restored his soul before, she can do it again." Buffy said.
"Thanks for helping us." Fred said.
"Of course Bye." Buffy said and hang up.
"Buffy, what's wrong?" Dawn asked.
"Angelus, he is back." Buffy answered.
"What? How?" Willow asked.
"I will tell you guys on our way to L.A." Buffy said.
"We are all going?" Dawn asked.
"Yes." Buffy answered.
"What about Spike?" Xander asked.
"He is coming with us." Buffy said.
"What?" Xander said.
"We can't let him here. He is coming with us." Buffy said.
Xander wanted to say something but Buffy cut him off.
"He is coming with us and that is it." Buffy said and walked to the basement where Spike
was.
Chapter 2
On their way to L.A.
"Spike can put that cigarette out!" Xander said.
Annoyed Spike threw his cigarette out the window.
"Why do I have to go with you. The last thing I want to do is visiting the Poof." Spike said.
"I can't risk it to let you alone. Maybe they will come into the house and get you." Buffy said.
Spike smiled a little. Buffy was worried about him. That must mean that she cared for him.
They were almost at the hotel.
"Guys, I want you to stay in the hotel. I don't want you guys wondering on the streets." Buffy said.
"Of course Buffy." Willow said.
Buffy turned to Dawn.
"Dawn, Angelus might say things to hurt you. Please remember that it is not Angel who is talking to you, He is a completely different person." Buffy said.
"I will remember, Buffy." Dawn said.
When they parked in front of the hotel, they all got out of the car. Buffy was the first one who walked into the hotel.
"Hello, is somebody here?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, hello?" Wesley said walking out of the office.
"Hey Wes." Buffy said.
"Hey Buffy glad that you could make it." Wesley said hugging.
"Anytime." Buffy said.
Fred was standing behind Wesley.
"Buffy, I want you to meet Fred, Fred this is Buffy." Wesley said.
"Hi." Both girls said.
"Where is Cordelia?" Buffy asked.
"She is upstairs. She was stabbed today, but she is fine, she just needed to rest." Wesley said.
"Oh good." Buffy said.
"Where is Faith?" Willow asked.
"She, Gunn and Connor are looking for Angelus." Fred said.
"What? They don't know how Angelus is." Buffy said.
"This isn't good." Buffy said walking around.
"Buffy, Faith is also a good slayer. She can handle it." Wesley said.
"No she can't. She doesn't know how he works. He isn't like other vampires." Buffy said.
"Where were they going?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know." Wesley said.
"Then I have to go with our connection. Come Spike, we have to go." Buffy said.
Buffy walked out of the hotel followed by Spike.
"Did I miss something here? Why is Spike helping Buffy?" Wesley asked.
"You better sit down." Willow said as she told the story.
Chapter 3
Somewhere in L.A.
"Are we almost there?" Spike asked.
"Be quite!" Buffy said.
She stood still she could feel him. She felt him to her right. Spike followed her. He did not like this. She could feel the Poof. Sure, she could feel him, but that was because he was a vampire. She could feel Angelus miles away. They still had that connection.
In the old factory
Faith and Angelus were fighting. Gunn and Connor could only watch. They were stunned.
Faith was such a good fighter, although she got some punches from Angelus.
"Well Faith, you can do better then that." Angelus said.
Angelus gave Faith a good kick and she flew trough the air. Angelus turned around and started to smile.
"Why is he smiling?" Connor asked.
"Beats me." Gunn said.
Faith stood again and watched Angelus. Why wasn't he attacking her? Then she saw the reason, Buffy was walking trough the door opening.
"Hey Buff, what are you doing here?" Angelus asked.
"I heard that you came out and play, again. I couldn't stay in Sunnydale." Buffy said.
Angelus looked behind Buffy and saw Spike.
"Isn't it roller boy?" Angelus said.
"How are you doing Spikey?" Angelus asked.
"I'm doing fine." Spike said.
"Are we going to chit chat all day?" Buffy asked.
"No, not if I can help it." Angelus said with a grin.
"Good." Buffy said.
Angelus threw the first punch. He missed. The fight went on for a couple of minutes. Buffy and Angelus received some punches. Finally, Buffy knocked him out.
Gunn went to Angelus body and gave him a shot. This way he would sleep for an hour.
Buffy looked at Angel's face. It was more than a year ago since she last saw him. He was still looking so good.
"Buffy." Faith said for the third time.
"Uh what?" Buffy asked.
"Hi." Faith said.
Buffy smiled a little.
"Hi Faith." Buffy said.
"Long time no see." Faith said.
"Yeah, you look good." Buffy said.
"Thanks, you too." Faith said.
There was silence.
"Shouldn't we go back to the hotel before the big Poof wakes up?" Spike asked.
"We should probably do that." Gunn said.
Gunn and Spike picked up Angelus and walked back to the car. They lay him on the backseat.
Gunn, Connor and Spike sat in the car. Buffy and Faith sat on the backseat watching over Angelus. Buffy still couldn't believe that Angelus was back.
Chapter 4
When they entered the hotel Buffy and Spike carried Angelus.
"Where is his room?" Buffy asked.
"I will show you." Fred said.
"Wesley, can you get me some chains?" Buffy asked.
"Sure." Wesley answered and went away to get them.
Fred walked in front of Buffy and Spike and showed them the way. They lay Angelus on his bed. Wesley came in with the chains. Buffy made sure that Angelus was tied up, and could not go anywhere. He was still asleep.
"Wes, Fred, can you guys help Willow with the spell?" Buffy asked.
"Sure." Fred answered and they both walked out of the room.
"Are you coming love?" Spike asked.
"No, I want to keep an eye on him. Who knows what will happen if he will gets loose." Buffy said.
"Okay, see you later than." Spike said and walked out of the room not liking this.
Buffy was looking at the face of her former lover. God, did she still love him. Every time that she saw him, she was falling again. The last time they saw each other things did not go smooth. Angel told her about Connor. She told him that she was in heaven. Angel was very distend and angry. She could understand why he was angry. He was angry at Willow that she pulled her out of heaven. However, she didn't know why he was distended; she just couldn't figure it out.
She saw Angelus stir. He was waking up. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"Hey Buff." Angelus said and tried to get up. , but he was pulled back the chains.
"Ah ah ah, what are you having in mind with these chains?" Angelus asked.
"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure that you aren't going anywhere." Buffy answered.
"Shame, I could use a little fun with you." Angelus said.
"Is that so?" Buffy said.
"Yeah, crazy enough this body has a special reaction on you. Even tough Angel thinks different about that." Angelus said.
"What did you say?" Buffy asked a little hurt.
"That retard thinks that he is in love with that tramp Cordelia." Angelus said.
"He what?" Buffy asked not believing this. He is playing with you Buffy don't believe him. Buffy thought.
"Yep, Soul boy thinks he is in love with Cordelia." Angelus said.
"Why should I believe you?" Buffy said a little unsure.
"Okay don't believe me. Ask those so called friends of Soul boy." Angelus said.
Right on cue, Fred walks in.
"Oh, I see that he is awake." Fred asked.
"Yes, I am a live and kicking. Sort of." Angelus said.
"Go on Buff. Ask her." Angelus said.
"Ask me what?" Fred asked.
"Does Angel have feelings for Cordelia?" Buffy asked.
"I think he does. They are together all the time." Fred answered.
Buffy's face fell.
"See Buff, He is but don't worry. I'm not happy about it either. I mean really. He has lost his taste. It went all wrong when he left you." Angelus.
"Aww thanks." Buffy said sarcastically.
"I just came to tell you that it will be ready within an hour or so." Fred said.
"Thanks Fred." Buffy said and Fred walked out of the room.
"What will be ready?" Angelus asked.
"Dinner." Buffy lied.
"I was getting hungry." Angelus said.
"Not for you, for us. What do you think I am? I'm not giving you blood so that you can be stronger." Buffy said.
"Should have known." Angelus said.
Buffy sat on a chair next to the bed.
"So Buff how's life?" Angelus asked.
"Why do you care?" Buffy asked.
"I'm evil, but that doesn't mean I don't care for you, in my own way that is of course. You are
my mate. I branded you." Angelus said.
"How nice of you." Buffy said sarcastically.
"Really, I want to know." Angelus said.
"Okay, last year really sucks. You will probably know that I was in heaven when I died." Buffy said.
Angelus nodded.
"I couldn't feel anymore. I was empty. When Angel and I met, he was very distant. It hurt like hell. So when I got back it went bad. I started to sleep with Spike." Buffy said and heard Angelus roar.
"It was awful. I let him hurt me. I just wanted to feel something. He told me that he loved me. At least somebody loved me. At one point, I broke it off. I just could not keep on going with it. Spike tried to let me know that he really love me. He tried to rape me. That is when he left town. When he came back, he had a soul. I couldn't blame him for the things his demon did, so I promised him that I would help him." Buffy said with teary eyes.
"I don't understand why I am telling you this." Buffy said wiping away her tears.
"I'm going to kill him!" Angelus said.
"Please don't. He helps us fight. We need him." Buffy said.
"You replaced Angel with Spike." Angelus said.
"No, if Angel told me when we met that he wanted me back, I would say yes within 2 seconds." Buffy said. Buffy what are you saying? This vampire tried to kill you friends. Buffy thought.
"I can't believe that Spike has touched you. It is a vampire rule then when somebody is branded by a vampire, that person will be his or hers. He broke that rule." Angelus said angry.
"I'm not Angel's." Buffy said.
"Yes you are Buff. You gave your heart and body to Angel and he still has it." Angelus said.
"It seems that I don't have his heart." Buffy said sad.
"Yes you do." Angelus said.
"But you said…" Buffy started to say.
"I said that Angel THINKS he is in love with Cordelia. But he is not. He loves her like a sister. He lost his love of his life. He wanted to fill that hole with something easy. Easy love and tadaa there was Cordelia." Angelus said.
"If Angel still loves me, then why was he distant when we met?" Buffy asked after a while.
"When Willow called to say that you were alive, he was so happy. He felt perfectly happy." Angelus said.
"Perfect happiness." Buffy said.
"Yup, he felt it and didn't lose his soul. He thought that his love for you was over. The moment he saw you again he didn't lose it either. He was afraid that he didn't love you anymore." Angelus said.
"Oh." Buffy said very sad.
"But that is not…" Angelus started to say, but then kept his mouth shut.
"That is not what?" Buffy asked.
"But that is not the reason why he didn't lose his soul." Angelus said.
"Why didn't he lose his soul?" Buffy asked.
"There was no way that I could get out. I was bound." Angelus said.
"Bound?" Buffy asked.
"Yes bound. His soul was bound." Angelus said.
"But why are you here now?" Buffy asked.
"Magic. Angel didn't get perfect happiness. It was all magic." Angelus said.
Buffy just had to take it in.
"So he still loves me." Buffy said.
"How many times do I have to say this: Yes he loves you?" Angelus said.
Buffy looked at Angelus.
"I don't know why I said everything to you." Buffy started to say.
"Because we have a connection." Angelus said grinning
Buffy looked annoyed at him.
"Like I said, I don't know why I told you all this, but thank you for telling me that he still
loves me." Buffy said.
"You're welcome. I don't like that ho at all. Don't want Cordelia to see naked." Angelus said
with a disgusting face.
Buffy laughed a little.
Chapter 5
After a while the gang walked into the room.
"What is this?" Angelus asked.
Buffy stood up out of her chair.
"This is your welcome home party." Buffy said.
Willow took her book and started chanting. Wesley started to burn some herbs.
"What is this!" Angelus said angry.
"I loved talking you, but I want Angel back." Buffy said.
Spike looked hurt.
"No!" Angelus screamed.
In an other room
Cordelia was sitting on her bed. Her plan was going well.
Then she saw the jar glow.
"What the hell!" Cordelia said.
She saw the jar move. Someone was trying to free Angel's soul. With all her powers she was trying to stop it.
Angel's room
"Someone is fighting me." Willow said.
"Come on Willow. You can do it!" Buffy said.
"I'm going to get Cordelia. She would want to see this." Connor said.
"Okay." Fred said.
Connor nodded and walked to Cordelia's bedroom.
He knocked on the door. This interrupted Cordelia and she stopped using her powers. The jar felt down and the soul was free.
"Damn it!" Cordelia said.
"Cordy are you alright?" Connor asked behind the door.
"Yes, I'm fine." Cordelia said. She removed the glasses.
"Come in." she said.
Connor walked into the room.
"It's almost done. Angel's soul will be back in a few seconds. Willow and Wesley are working on it." Connor said.
"Oh good." Cordelia said with a fake smile.
"How is your leg?" Connor asked.
"It's fine. Just fine." Cordelia said not happy.
"Come let's go to Angel." Connor said.
Cordelia got out of bed and walked out of the door.
Angel's room
"RELEASE!" Willow screamed.
They all saw a yellow cloud flowing in the room. It went to Angel's body. The cloud was moving very slowly.
Cordelia and Connor walked into the room.
"What is that?" Connor asked pointing to the cloud.
"His soul." Xander said.
"No, no!" Angelus screamed.
The cloud went into Angel's body. His eyes went yellow and he gasped.
Buffy looked into Angel's eyes and started smiling.
"I'm glad you're back." Buffy said.
"Glad to be back." Angel said.
Buffy took her key out of her pocket and started to open the chains.
"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked.
"Opening the chains." Buffy said.
"How do you know that this is Angel?" Cordelia asked.
"Because I know that this is Angel. Come on, look in his eyes." Buffy said.
"Sorry, but he tricked us before." Cordelia said.
"Think what you want to think, but this is Angel." Buffy said.
Buffy removed all the chains. Cordelia looked at Angel. She didn't saw the difference. Angel didn't look at her. He only had eyes for Buffy. And this annoyed her. But she knew that they wouldn't go back together. And that made it alright.
Angel sat up.
"How are you feeling?" Buffy asked.
"A little dizzy, but I feel okay." Angel answered.
He looked into her eyes. She smiled at him. He smiled back.
"Angel man, I'm glad you are back." Gunn said.
Angel didn't say anything. He was to lost in Buffy's eyes.
"Oh God." Xander said.
"Shut up Xander." Willow said.
"We need to talk." Buffy said.
Angel nodded.
"Can you all give us a minute. We will come down stairs when we are done." Angel said.
"Sure." Wesley said.
"I'm glad that you are back." Cordelia said and gave Angel a kiss on his cheek.
Buffy grew jealous, but remembered what Angelus said to her.
When the hole gang was out of the room, they both sat down on the bed.
"Do you remember everything?" Buffy asked.
"Sort of." Angel said.
"You remember the conversation I had with Angelus." Buffy said.
"A little." Angel said.
"He explained why you were so distant when we met." Buffy said.
"Oh." Angel said.
"Angel it isn't what you think." Buffy said.
"It isn't?" Angel asked.
"The reason that you didn't lose your soul when you heard that I wasn't dead, is because it's bound." Buffy said holding his hands.
"What did you say?" Angel asked.
"Your soul is bound." Buffy said smiling.
Angel looked at her with big eyes and a smile started to come on his face. He cupped Buffy's face and kissed her. The kiss became passionate. When Buffy needed air they stopped.
"Wow." Buffy said.
"Yeah." Angel said smiling.
"We really need to talk before we could do other stuff." Buffy said.
"Yes we should." Angel said.
"Okay, let's talk." Buffy said.
It was quit.
"This is going well." Buffy said.
"Sorry, but I'm starting to remember some things." Angel said.
"Oh." Buffy said.
"You slept with Spike." Angel said.
"God and I really wished you wouldn't remember that." Buffy said.
"Buffy." Angel said.
"Yes I know. We should talk about it." Buffy said.
"Why did you do it?" Angel asked.
"Like I said, I felt horrible after I saw you. You were the only one who could let me feel something. When I was back in Sunnydale I wanted to feel again. Spike made me feel. It wasn't a good feeling, but it was something." Buffy said with teary eyes.
"Spike was the only one who understood. He told me that he loved me. Because my friends pulled me out of heaven, I thought that they didn't love me. And because you were so distant, I thought that you didn't love me anymore." Buffy sobbed.
"Shh Buffy." Angel said pulling Buffy into his arms.
"You muss think that I'm a horrible person." Buffy said.
"No not at all. Buffy, you are heaving a tough life. I don't expect you to have a flawless live. You can make mistakes. Buffy you were pulled out of heaven, what did you expect." Angel said.
"Really?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy, what did you expect? You are the love of my life. I could never stay mad at you. You had your reasons and I totally understand them." Angel said.
"I love you Angel." Buffy said.
"I love you." Angel said and they kissed.
"So you don't love Cordelia?" Buffy asked after they stopped kissing.
"I think I was crazy when I thought that." Angel said.
Buffy started to smile.
"Angelus was right. I had to fill the hole that you left. And when I thought that I didn't love you anymore it was the final thing." Angel said.
"I'm glad that nothing happened between you." Buffy said.
"I'm glad too. I don't know what would happen if we crossed that line." Angel said.
"I don't want to think about it anymore." Buffy said.
"Me either." Angel said and they kissed again.
Chapter 6
Downstairs
"About what are they talking about?" Cordelia asked jealous.
"I think about Angelus. He killed some people, it's gonna be hard for Angel." Wesley said.
"You are probably right." Cordelia said.
Angel's room
But they were wrong. There was some major making out going on.
Buffy and Angel were laying on the bed now. Things started to heat up. Buffy started pulling at Angel's shirt. She started to unbutton his shirt. When all the buttons were done she slid the shirt of his shoulders. Her hands went over his muscular back. Angel pulled Buffy shirt over her head. They were kissing. Angel started to work on Buffy's pants. She helped him when he took them of. He did the same when Buffy was working on his pants. Buffy only had her bra and panties on. Angel only his boxers. Angel started to low his kisses. With his hands he removed her bra. Her breasts were exposed now. He started to suck on them. The went trough with it till the nipples were hard. Buffy moaned. He kissed his way to her belly button. His hand went over her panties. She arched her hips into his hands.
"Angel? I need you, inside." Buffy said.
She didn't need to say more. Angel took off her panties and he took off his boxers. With one smooth motion he was in her. Buffy almost screamed out loud. Angel started to move. They both moaned. Buffy's hands roamed over Angel's back. Angel gave kisses on Buffy's neck.
They moved more and more, faster and faster. They both came and the same time.
"God I love you." Angel said.
"I love you too." Buffy said smiling.
Buffy and Angel were laying in each others arms, enjoying each other.
"As much as I'm liking this, they will go search for us if we stay here." Buffy said.
"You are right." Angel said but didn't move.
"Angel? Do you want Gunn to see me naked?" Buffy asked.
"Come on lets go." Angel said and stood up.
Buffy grinned. Angel looked at her.
"What?" Angel asked.
"I love you." Buffy said.
Angel walked to Buffy and kissed her.
"I love you too." Angel said.
"We should hurry." Buffy said.
Angel nodded and they searched for their clothes.
When they were fully dressed again they hugged.
"I can't believe we can do that without any consequences. That is, if you want to do it more with me." Buffy said shyly.
"Off course Buffy. I will never let you go. I promise." Angel said and kissed her.
"Come on, let's tell the gangs." Angel said and they walked out of the room.
Chapter 7
In the lobby
"They sure had a lot of talking to do." Dawn said smiling.
"What do you mean by that?" Cordelia asked.
"Oh come on Cordy, don't tell me you didn't see it." Dawn said.
"See what?" Cordelia asked.
"When Angel was back, they only had eyes for each other." Dawn said.
"So?" Cordelia asked.
"You know what that means." Willow said.
"No I don't. Why should they get together? I am sorry to say this, but Angel didn't talk about Buffy since she came back from the dead." Cordelia said. She wasn't lying much. She was a little bit right. Angel didn't say a word about Buffy, but he thought about her all the time. She could she it. He always had a 'Buffy-face'.
"I don't know Cordy. Those two looked pretty much inlove with each other." Gunn said.
"And what if they are. They still can't have sex. He will lose his soul again." Cordelia said.
"They can work around that." Dawn said.
"You are sure? Because I don't think so. When it comes to those two, they are like a couple of horny bunnies." Cordelia said.
"Did you had to say bunnies." Anja said.
"Hey Buffy!" Dawn said when she saw Buffy and Angel walking down the stairs.
"Hey Dawn." Buffy said.
"Did you guys talked it out." Willow asked.
"Yep we did." Angel said trying to hide his smile.
"We sure talked things out. Like 3 times." Buffy thought.
What Buffy didn't know is that Willow heard her in her thoughts. Her eyes grew wide. Buffy looked at Willow not knowing what was going on.
"How could you do that. He will become Angelus again!" Willow said.
"What?" Xander said.
Buffy and Angel stood there with open mouths.
"Did you have sex?" Wesley asked.
"Uh…Yeah…We kind of did." Angel said.
"How could you?" Connor said.
"Calm down everybody. Let us talk." Buffy said.
"I don't think we have time for that. He will turn into Angelus in a few seconds." Xander said angry.
"No I won't." Angel said.
"You won't?" Dawn asked.
"That was what we were trying to tell you guys." Buffy said.
"Tell us what?" Wesley asked.
"My soul is bound." Angel said.
"It's bound?" Cordelia asked.
"Yes it is." Angel said.
"How come you know this. Did you try it out before today?" Gunn asked.
"No off course not. I didn't know about it till Buffy told me." Angel said.
"How did you know about his soul?" Fred asked.
"Angelus told me." Buffy said.
"Hahaha, that's a laugh. Why do you think that Angelus will tell you the truth." Spike said.
"Okay this may sound weird, but Angelus and I had a good conversation when we were alone." Buffy said.
"Oh really?" Cordelia asked sarcastically.
"Yes really. I can remember the conversation. Angelus is a really vicious vampire. He is very arrogant. But he knows who his mate is. He loves Buffy, in his own weird way." Angel said holding Buffy's hand.
Cordelia was almost fuming. This wasn't the plan at all. She couldn't control her anger anymore.
"You stupid bitch. You had to ruin it, huh?" Cordelia said angry.
