Author's Note: Alright, can I just say that I actually love this story? It's pretty easy writing something without having to truly worry about the character developments. Now I understand why I always enjoy the second book to a series more than the first one.
You get a little bit of Angel POV. Which I like because it's easier to tell a story about someone if they're telling you themselves. Don't forget to review, they're a lifeline people! :)
Disclaimer: Sadly no. I own nothing. I wish I owned something that someone else wanted to recreate so that they could explain to everyone that they didn't own it. *sigh*
Hehe . . . Happy Reading.
"Connor!" Buffy yells sprinting at full speed through the high school courtyard. She reaches him and very nearly slides on the gravel ground. Connor chuckles catching her waist.
"Buffy, hey there." Connor says through his laugh. Buffy stared up at him. Connor was attractive. Extremely so. Tall, like his brother, except where Angel's hair is a dark brown, Connor's is raven black. Cut short and not spiked. As if he really couldn't give two shits about it at all. Then there was his eyes. They were wide and a dark electric blue. His beauty was nearly as perfect as Angel and it still seemed to startle Buffy at how muscular and well-built he was.
She shook her head. "Where's Angel? Did he always miss this much school? The only reason I come is for him you know." Buffy decides to go with the joking route to keep her exterior casual and calm. Connor smiles, tensely. The thing about Connor, was, that unlike his brother, Buffy could see right through him.
"He's uh . . . around." You see that? The high pitched voice of a kid already far past that stage of puberty? The way he rubs the back of his head with his hand while glancing at anything other than her? That was called open deflection and one day, Buffy was going to have a chat with the boy about it. Because it wasn't an advantage to have everyone able to read you like a book.
"Connor, I've been everywhere. I even texted him. I'm going out of my mind, is he sick?" Buffy asked, yeah, she wasn't above guilt trip. Not that the moment anyway. Connor shifted his weight and shook his head.
"No, he – uh, he went out of town." Connor stammered and Buffy stared at the boy, her lips parted.
"He went out of town? When?!" Buffy shrieks and Connor, clasps his hands behinds his back and lowers his eyes, looking very much like a child receiving a scolding. Which was pretty strange because he was over six feet tall.
"Um . . ." He starts and Buffy knew then that while he wanted to tell her, he wasn't going to. Brotherhood overtrumped brother's girlfriend any day. She spun on her heel and marched off, before breaking into another sprint. She got to her car when her phone exploded in rings. Figuring it was Angel she answered immediately.
"Angel-." Buffy was cut off.
"No, sorry, Buffy, it's Jenny. I was just wondering, if you could pick Kathy up from school? I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience, but Giles is . . . out of town and I have a meeting I have to get too with Connor." Jenny says, sounding rushed and Buffy blinks. Out of town? When in the fuck did Angel go out of town? And why didn't he tell her? Was she overreacting? No, actually, she didn't think she was. How hard was it to send a little text or call explaining that he would be leaving town. She didn't need an explanation, but information would have been better.
"Y-yeah, Kathy sure." Buffy stammered, feeling her anger rising as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Buffy said her goodbyes and hung up, pulling out of the parking lot and driving toward the elementary school for Kathy. Buffy found her waiting by the lot and when Kathy's eyes landed on Buffy's jeep. She grinned and made her way over.
"Hey, kid." Buffy greeted as Kathy settled in the front seat. Kathy was bouncing and Buffy smiled slightly.
"Hi!" Kathy squealed. Her emotions were all haywire because of the anti-depressants from Oz, but from what Jacqueline had told Buffy, Kathy was coming along great. She still had the tendency to copy others and close in on herself, but Withers was confident that with the medication and prescriptions, along with the therapy that she would lead a relatively normal life.
Buffy knew that Kathy could grow to resent the medication and therapy. She also knew that Kathy could go off her meds and that – well, Buffy didn't want to think about that.
"So . . ." Buffy started, knowing that she was going to go to hell for her next actions.
"How's Angel?" Buffy glanced out of the window and Kathy shrugged, not noticing as she fiddled in her backpack.
"He's fine." Kathy answers, still sounding distracted. Buffy bit the inside of her cheek and tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel as guilt and curiosity warred in her heart and mind. Curiosity won.
"Do you remember where Angel was going? He told me, but I can't seem to remember what he said." Buffy laughed it off, feeling the guilt at this . . . well this blatant manipulative lie, but hey, Buffy never claimed to be an angel. In fact, she could be downright demonic when trying to figure out what was going on with her Angel.
"He went to see his dad." Kathy answered, opening a pack of skittles. Dread and different scenarios raced through her mind as Buffy tried to understand what could be so bad that Angel wouldn't' tell her he went to go see his father.
Was he ashamed of her? Did he think she couldn't handle it?
Then Buffy remembered that Angel said his father was extremely abusive. Was he protecting her? What was going on?! She was going out of her mind and that was supposed to only happen with her own shit. Fuck.
"Right, his dad and Connor didn't want to go." Buffy guess and that gained Kathy's attention. Suspicion narrowed the little girl's eyes as she inquired Buffy as if Buffy were the idiot.
"No, Connor can't go. You have to be eighteen years or older." Kathy said as if this were common information. Eighteen years or older?
"The courts said that?" Buffy concluded, but it was a question and Kathy shrugged.
"The entire world knows that, Buffy. Connor's too young to visit the prison." Kathy huffed and shook her head, going back to her skittles. Buffy was no longer breathing. She was freaking out; yes, but breathing? No. She wasn't doing that.
This made sense, but why would Angel go visit his father? In a prison no less. Buffy never missed the pure hatred or distain that would emanate from Angel whenever Buffy tried to bring up his father. He was never angry with her about it. He was just angry.
Buffy released a worried breath, oxygen allowing the squeezing in her chest to loosen the burning in her lungs to release. She hadn't even realized it.
•••
Angel walked down the familiar grey and empty halls of the Los Angeles state penitentiary. Giles next to him with two guards leading them down to the familiar waiting room. FBI Agent Jack Bishop walked next to Angel in his usual crisp suit, black coffee in hand, steaming hot in a white foam cup. In all honesty, the coffee didn't look like coffee at all, but to Angel it looked like black sludge and Angel knew, the man lived on the stuff.
Angel came to stand in front a large metal door to the interrogation room. One he'd stood in front of countless times since he was fourteen. And just like every other time a feeling of icy dread pooled in the bottom of his stomach, along with the guilt. Always the guilt, because behind this door was a reminder. A reminder of all the horrible, despicable acts he'd been forced to do.
Every single face of every victim to ever die at his hands would flash his mind and over the past eleven months one face would come at the very end of the internal picture show. Buffy. She'd hate him, if she knew. She'd loathe him and despise him and he'd lose her. He wasn't going to let that happen.
Jack grasped the back of his neck with a strong hand, "Alright, son. You go in there and you keep everything calm. Here." Jack handed him a list. A folded piece of yellow paper, the entire page filled with names in seemingly endless rows and columns.
Some were crossed out, but most were just there, glaring at him. Blaming him. He folded it and cleared his throat, pushing the emotions back. Emotions weren't something you used in this type of situation.
"Okay, Angel, you go in there and you try to get as much information out of him as you can. Understand? You need to get out, you just knock on the door, we'll be watching. Keep him talking. Alright?" Jack asked and Angel nodded once, Jack patted his back in reassurance before walking toward a door leading to a room where he, several guards, and his stepfather would be watching the events unfold.
With a deep breath, he shoved Buffy out of his mind or at least into the very far corners. She had no business near this room and he had no business thinking about her while in the presence of pure evil.
He entered and shut the door, looking to the middle of the room. At a simple, clean metal table, in an equally metal chair chained to the ground, sat a man in a bright orange jumpsuit. Each hand was cuffed while his legs were chained to the chair. Angel wasn't intimidated. Actually, he wished they hadn't chained the motherfucker up. Angel would enjoy delivering a few blows to the bastard's face.
The man looked up and eyes that mirrored his own, met Angel's. A slow, devilish grin spread across the older man's face.
"Angelus." He greeted, still grinning. A face that rivaled the Joker's. A face that would have brought the devil himself to his knees. Angel nodded once and greeted him.
"Dad."
