Angel's Return

A fragmented, disjointed series of images – Buffy fighting desperately in a dark and confined space, a glimpse of a fanged face with yellow eyes, a trickle of blood on a slender neck – this was Cordelia's vision (oh, and the place smelled really bad, Cordelia had been particularly vocal about that). It was this which brought Angel back to Sunnydale.

The details were infuriatingly scant. He'd grilled Cordelia over every aspect of her vision making sure she'd left out nothing – but there was nothing more. All Angel knew for sure was that Buffy was going to be in terrible danger and, judging by the cramped space and smell described by Cordelia, it was going to happen somewhere in the miles of sewer beneath Sunnydale.

It had left him sick with worry.

Ever since Cordelia had told Angel her vision he'd been in a state of near panic, which he struggled to conceal. His fear for Buffy was overwhelming. He had to warn Buffy, he had to protect her from the danger she was going to face. He'd packed quickly and left as soon as the sun set beyond the horizon, travelling as fast as he could.

So now he was here, in Sunnydale, in Giles' house, with a sick feeling of panic he was fighting to control and surrounded by blank and worried faces that could offer him no answers. He'd never felt so powerless.

Angel repeated his question to the group.

"Where is she?" Angel couldn't hide the strain of emotion in his voice.

"The simple truth of the answer is ... we don't know," said Giles. He'd taken off his glasses and was rubbing the bridge of his nose, a frequent habit in times of worry.

"We've looked everywhere," added Willow. "as soon as we realised Buffy was missing." She looked tired and pale with concern. "We checked out the usual places. Nothing."

"And even some of the unusual ones," said Xander. "Got nothing there either."

Angel started to pace the room, hoping it would help him keep control. He had to hold himself together, for Buffy's sake if no-one else's.

"We were worried about Buffy's disappearance before you arrived," said Giles to Angel, "but in light of what you've told us about Cordelia's vision we have even more reason to be concerned. I believe we have to find Buffy soon." Everyone was stunned by Angel's news – it just seemed to fuel their worst fears.

"Considering the current Intel, I say we concentrate on the sewers now." It was Riley. He'd said nothing up until now, choosing instead to glare at Angel, as if the vampire's presence in the room was an insult. "Form three teams: systematic sweep and search. I'm sure Buffy's okay no matter what kind of danger she's in. She's tough, she can handle whatever comes her way. But we need to keep looking just to be sure."

Angel wasn't sure if Riley's optimism was genuine or just an act for the others sake. In fact thinking about Riley was something Angel didn't want to do at all. It was too painful. Angel had tried to avoid looking in Riley's direction since he'd walked into the room, practically blanking him out. The whole Riley issue was something he didn't want to deal with right now. He couldn't afford it, he had to focus.

Angel stopped pacing. "How long has she been missing," he asked Giles.

Giles hesitated before replying. "A night and a day," he said, gravely.

That's too long to be missing, thought Angel.

God, he hated this. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to calm his anxiety. He was a swirl of emotions – frustration, anger, fear, love... it was always difficult to keep a level head when it came to Buffy. Angel couldn't help thinking about the vision, about what it might mean, about what might already have happened. A chilling fear went through him.

No, he thought, fighting it back, I won't let it happen. I didn't... come all this way to let her die. He made a decision.

"I'm going," said Angel abruptly and headed for the door.

"Where?" asked Giles in surprise. "We don't know where Buffy is. In the tunnels, yes, possibly. But there are miles of them beneath Sunnydale. We don't know where to begin to start looking. Riley's right. A systematic approach is best... but we have to decide where to start."

"I don't care," replied Angel, sharply. "I'll search every single one of them if I have to, no matter how long it takes."

"That could be a long time," began Willow. She stopped at Angel's expression. The look on his face told her he didn't need to be reminded.

"It's better than staying here," said Angel and made a move for the door again.

Riley stood up purposefully. "I'm coming with you."

This stopped Angel. He turned to face Riley. "No, you're not."

"Buffy is my girlfriend, I have the right," said Riley, pointedly. "Besides, two can search quicker than one. You can't argue with that." Riley held Angel's gaze as if daring him to stop him. For a tense moment it looked as if Angel would – but then he seemed to change his mind.

"Okay, fine," said Angel irritably, giving in, "we can split up."

Privately, Angel was reluctantly grateful for Riley's help, but Angel was not going to have him at his side. Not now.

As they left Willow called out "I'll try another location spell." She had to do something or she'd go crazy.

Willow watched them leave and hoped they wouldn't end up killing each other, or at least not before they found Buffy. She was so worried about her. Willow realised she hadn't been this worried since Buffy ran away from home. She hoped they'd all find Buffy soon.

Very soon.