If you read this before I completely redid it. Edited it and rewrote quite a bit of it. I have no idea how often I'll update. Reviews are a great motivator and constructive criticism is appreciated!

It was a typical Friday night, or as typical as a Friday night slaying vampires could be. Buffy was walking through the graveyard alone thinking about how Willow, Xander, and even Cordelia were probably partying the night away at the Bronze. They had offered to tag along, but of course selfless Buffy didn't want them to waste away precious weekend time.

"Come on, come on…" Buffy muttered as she had impatiently been waiting for this particular vampire to rise all evening.

She looked to the sky; the moon was shining brightly as there were no clouds to block its gentle beams. She picked at her fingernails, smoothed down her short, light pink skirt and raked her fingers through her hair.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered hopping off of the headstone that had been her seat all evening.

"I agree Slayer," said the voice from a few feet behind her. She turned to look at the fledging; he was baring his teeth and growling softly. He began to circle her menacingly.

"Finally! I was getting worried you weren't going to show, don't you know it's rude to keep a girl waiting?" Buffy replied.

The vampire quickly lunged at the small girl thinking about his easy meal. He was startled a second later when he realized his face was smashed into the freshly cut grass on the cemetery floor. He flipped over and tried to lunge again but was tripped by a fashionable high-heeled shoe.

"Oops, my bad," Buffy stated as she plunged the stake she was holding into the back of the vampire. She straightened up and dusted the vamp dust off of her clothes and resumed her patrol. An hour later she realized that there probably weren't any more vamps to slay tonight and began her short walk home.

'Maybe Willow and Xander are still at the bronze' she thought but was startled out of her musings by a large clap of thunder. "That's strange," she muttered to herself, "there were no clouds earlier." She looked up to find large, thick black clouds forming overhead. Not good.

"This is definitely not normal." She was getting nervous, vampires she could handle demons too but huge clouds black as ink appearing instantly, no way. She began walking faster as lightening started spreading through the sky. Suddenly a large clap of thunder caught her attention and she noticed something falling out of the sky at an alarming rate.

The object was hurdling for earth so fast that it was almost a blur; it cut through the air and disappeared into the trees surrounding the graveyard. The object hit the ground with amazing force, sending a shockwave through the grass and trees. The lightening cracked one more time across the blackened sky and with a final great clap of thunder the clouds disappeared and everything returned to the serene silence on the night.

"I swear, why do these things always happen when I'm alone?" Buffy questioned as she debated whether to go and see what had just literally fell from the sky. Her slayer instincts and curiosity won in the end and she jogged over to the spot the object had landed. When she arrived the sight took her breath away.

Exactly ten feet in front of her was a crater at least twenty feet wide and extremely deep. She could feel the heat coming off of the ground and noticed the smoldering remains of bushes scattered around the huge hole. It wasn't the crater that took her breath away though; it was the sound of a groan coming from the exact center. She kept her distance and held her stake high ready for whatever it was to attack. When she realized that it wasn't moving she slowly crept forward staying on alert.

When she reached the center of the crater she gasped, it was the only sound that could be heard on the night air other than the sound of her stake hitting the smoldering dirt beneath her feet.

"Oh my God," she whispered as she raised her hands to cover her mouth at the horror in front of her. It was a man, a man that had fallen from above. He was laying in the fetal position and was covered in dirt and black ash. His body was trembling and his eyes were closed. He had cuts and bruises all over his body from what she could see and a large gash in the back of his head. She crouched down and extended a hand to touch the man but drew back at the last moment. 'I need Giles,' she thought and ran into the night.

With Giles in tow the two arrived at the spot of the crater relatively quickly. "I swear Giles he just fell from the sky and there were these black clouds, and I didn't know what to do…" she said, tears sliding down her cheeks, guilt for leaving the man or creature weighing heavily on her.

"I don't doubt you Buffy but we need to find out if he's still alive, where he came from, and why he is here. You did nothing wrong," he stated as he followed his slayer into the woods.

When they reached the spot of impact Giles was left speechless, "My lord…" he said as he began wiping his glasses furiously. He had heard Buffy's description but this was just astonishing.

"Hurry Giles he still hasn't moved," Buffy said shakily.

"Yes, yes of course," he replied trotting down the hill until he reached the center of the crater. The man was still lying perfectly still except for the small tremble here and there.

"Can you hear me sir, what is your name?" Giles asked the figure and frowned when he received no response.

"Well let's try to get him to my home and we'll go from there. We'll call the others when we arrive." Giles and Buffy stood on opposite sides of the man and gently raised him to his feet. They pulled his arms over their shoulders and slowly made there way to Giles' small beat up car. The laid him softly in the front seat and started off for Giles' home.

Upon arriving Buffy and Giles got the man to Giles' guest bathroom and placed him in the tub.

"Lets get him cleaned up, assess his injuries, and then get him to rest," Giles said as he wiped a handkerchief across his brow. Dragging a man across town was quite taxing.

"I'll do it Giles, I found him. You go call the others."

"Are you quite sure, what if he wakes?"

"I'm fine Giles, really. Go call the others," Buffy pleaded looking at him with a soft, pleading expression. He met her gaze with a furrowed brow and reluctantly turned and shut the bathroom door excusing himself to make the calls. Buffy turned her attention back to the man. She began removing his clothing one piece at a time. The material and design were strange, 'must be hand made' she thought as she placed them on the bathroom floor. She then started a warm bath and began to wash the layers of dirt from his skin. When she reached his torso and began scrubbing the dirt and grime away she froze. She furrowed her brow and looked closer at the dirt that was not coming off the mans skin. Finally she realized that it was not dirt but tattoos that were covering almost every inch of his torso, the sides of his neck, and his arms. It looked like writing but she didn't know what type it was. When she leaned him forward to wash his back she screamed and fell back. It took a minute for her mind to settle itself before she reached forward again and looked at his back again. There was tattoos covering his entire back but it was the huge ugly gashes that caught her attention. Directly over each shoulder blade was a vertical ten inch gash. The wounds were open and bleeding with what looked like bone protruding slightly. She gently cleaned the area and finished cleaning the man.

"Giles!" she shouted. "I'm done lets get him to bed," she yelled.

"Yes, how is…. My God what are those markings?" he questioned as he took in the sight of the man still passed out in his bathtub.

"I'm not sure but his back is bad, like really bad Giles," Buffy said as she tried to lift him. Giles rushed over and helped her lift him and looked at his back.

"We'll have to stitch those closed otherwise I'm afraid he'll continue to lose blood."

After stitching the man up and laying him in the bed Giles left the room to meet the others that were gathered in his kitchen.

"Are you coming Buffy?"

"In just a minute Giles," Buffy stated. When Giles left the room Buffy stared at the man in the bed. She took in his appearance slowly. He has soft black hair that seemed to stand up on end on its own even though it was in slight disarray. His pale skin was perfect with no blemishes anywhere. He had a strong jaw and high cheekbones. He was a very attractive man. He was the picture of perfection, his chest and abs were sculpted and his back was strong. He had to be around 6' 3" because he towered over her and Giles both.

"Who are you?" she said softly to herself as she caressed his cheek. She stood slowly and with one final glance she started for the door. As her hand touched the handle she barely heard the reply to her question.

"Liam… my name… is Liam."

She gasped and turned quickly to look at the figure in the bed. Did she just imagine that? He had not moved and his eyes were still closed. She walked over to the bed and touched his hand. His fingers moved slightly in her small hand and he turned his head to look at her. He opened his eyes but everything was blurry. All he could tell was that there was a small woman speaking to him.

"Wh..what?"

"Liam. My name is Liam," he repeated softly. She looked at his black and seemingly endless eyes, they were amazing. She stared at him, mesmerized by the shining black pools that were trying to focus on her. She had seen eyes so dark they appeared black before but these eyes were truly the deepest black she had ever seen.

"What are you?" she asked. 'Wow, great question Buffy, rude much?' she thought to herself as the question slipped past her lips.

At first she thought he had fallen back asleep, the minutes ticking by. She was beginning to stand up to let him rest when she heard the reply that shook her to her very core.

"I am…. I was…." He coughed and took a deep shuddering breath.

"I was…. an angel."