"Damnit, Angel. Next time, I'm going undercover while you get to sit in the van, listening to me kissing all the babes."
Angel grinned at his partner, Lindsey McDonald. "Oh, yeah, sure Linds. I'll make sure you get to go undercover next time. With all the babes. Then you can figure out what to do when an anonymous envelope full of very incriminating photos show up on your door addressed to your wife."
Lindsey turned. "You wouldn't! Oh, you would! Damnit, Angel!"
"Oh, shut up. You know that Eve is everything you could ever want in a woman. You'd never do a thing to fuck that up."
Angel then laughed at his partner who had a lust puppy dog expression on his face as he thought of his wife.
"I got lucky, Angel. And maybe someday, if you can quit playing the field long enough, you will have a grown up relationship of your very own. With a woman!" he patted his partner on the head then went to his own desk to sit and finish his own report.
"I've had relationships," he growled and glared at Lindsey. "Just because i don't want to walk down an aisle, subjecting someone, some poor innocent woman, to the life of a cops wife, doesn't mean I don't have relationships."
"We work too long of hours, it is dangerous..."
"And the divorce rate of cops is out of this world!" they finished together.
"Yeah buddy, so you keep saying. So how come Eve and I have been together for this long?"
"Well, you see, Eve? She feels sorry for you. You know, pity really is that woman's thing."
"Fuck you," Lindsey laughed. "She just can't get enough of this sexy body of mine."
Angel snorted, kicking his feet up to his desk and leaned back in his chair. "I can't believe we finally got him."
"Yeah. William Pratt is going down. Big time. Possession with intent to sell, assault, and we even found three pistols in the back of that warehouse. Ballistics has them now, they're going to go through them and see if they can't match the bullets to the ones they found at the scene of a few murders we think he did. You did good partner."
"It's going to be good... going home... to my own bed. That motel the Cap set me up with was the worst ever," he said and leaned back a bit farther then stretched and a yawn caught him. "Shit. I think I'm going to get of here Linds. You can finish this up, can't ya?"
"Sure, I got it. You go home, get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."
Angel grabbed his jacket and roll bag that he had picked up from the motel before dropping off here, then he headed out.
He had a few days off now. He had been eating, sleeping, and breathing William Pratt's case, ever since the Englishman had came to town.
No one had been able to get close enough to him. No one. Not until Angel anyway. And it had taken him months and months of careful planning to be able to get into his world, close enough to be trusted.
And with all those thoughts, another one came to mind. 'Buffy Summers.' She had almost blown it for him, all showing up at the complete wrong time.
'How had the press gotten word about this?' he wondered. He had been so careful, obsessive compulsive even, over all things dealing with Pratt.
Angel figured there was only one way to find out what he needed to know.
He whistled as he got to the elevator, hitting the button for the bottom parking lot, then he glanced at his watch. 'A little after two in the AM, what could be a more perfect time?'
OoOoO
Buffy finished her story and sent it by e-mail to the editor. She then rose and pulled the ties of the dress and yanked it off, leaving it on the floor then went to the bathroom.
Minutes later, she came back out, flushed from the quick shower. Her hair was still wet as she pulled on a big tee shirt. Then, she went to the kitchen, starving as she hadn't been able to eat earlier today, too nervous about what she was going to do.
She opened the fridge and groaned, realizing she had forgotten to go to the grocery store earlier in the week. She pulled out a bottle of water and a box that contained some left-over Chinese, then she put it in the microwave and turned it on.
While she waited, she leaned against the counter, her mind going to what had happened earlier.
'He had saved me. Liam or whoever. He'd saved me from being raped... so what was he? A criminal with a conscience?'
Just then, a large knock on her door broke Buffy out of her thoughts. She sighed, setting down her water, thinking how it had to be Cordy. 'Only she would be up this late and so then think everybody else should be as well.'
She headed to the door, picking up the dress from where she had left it. "Thanks Cordy," she said as she undid the four locks and the chain on her door. "I do appreciate the loan. Let me know how much the dry cleaning... What are you doing here?" she hissed as she opened the door, seeing who it actually was on the other side.
"I thought you might be hungry," Angel said, holding up a pizza box and a six pack of beer. "I know I always am after I finish a case." And he then walked in, not waiting to be invited, and heard her gasp. It made him smile.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked and reached over to grab her cell phone from the charger. She started closing the door but then thought better of it and left it open a crack. "I thought you were arrested tonight. You know, along with your partner there, Spike."
"Well see, that's what you get for thinking too much," he said, siting the box on the counter. Just then the microwave beeped. He went over and opened it, bringing out the box and sniffed it. "Ew! Please tell me you weren't going to eat this," and then without waiting for the answer, he just dropped it into the trashcan.
"Hey! That was my dinner!"
"Oh no, Buff, you can't eat something like that. Stunts your growth," he said looking at her tiny size and chuckling. "Anyway, my name is Liam Angelus. You can call me Angel, if you like," he then started going through her cabinets.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for plates," he answered as he found the right one. He pulled out two plates and a couple of paper towels. He opened up the pizza box and brought out a couple of slices and put them on his plate then hers. He picked them up and carried them over to her coffee table then headed back to grab himself a beer and her water. "Dinner is served," he said before he sat down on her couch.
Buffy just stared at him, looking at him as if he were insane. She held her cell phone opened, 911 was already typed in, ready for the call. "I thought you were arrested tonight."
"Well, Buffy, you thought wrong. I was working undercover tonight. And you? You almost blew the case for me," he said, taking a bite of his pizza. "And you can either make that call or you can come over here and eat with me while we have a little talk."
"Your case, huh?" she asked, stepping closer, closing the phone in her hand. "What do you mean, your case, you're a cop or something?"
"Well she finally catches on!"
Her eyes narrowed at him, "Who are you?"
"Detective Liam Angelus. You can call me Angel. We have been through this. I'm Angel, you're Buffy. Now we've got that out of the way, you should come eat some pizza."
Buffy walked over to the couch and sat at the very edge. "You were working undercover?"
"Yes," he said and watched as she leaned forward and grabbed a tape recorder then sat it in front of him.
"Well... you don't mind if I tape this now do you?"
"Yeah, I do. I work undercover. You write anything that has to do with me, I could end up getting killed over it," he said reaching, out to grab the recorder.
"Okay..." she said slowly, "Do you mind me asking what in the world you are doing here? Especially at nearly three in the morning?"
"Pizza," he said, pointing at his slice. "I'm celebrating, and, I thought you might want to, too. You know, since you made it out of there with your life and all."
"Thanks to you. If you wouldn't have stepped in... they would have hurt me. I guess I owe you a thank you."
He waved it away. "Just have some pizza. I have the next few days off. You wouldn't want to go out with me would you?" he said quickly. And it startled her.
She took a bite of her pizza then looked at him, "You want to go out with me?"
"Yeah, well, I don't think either of us were imagining the whole thing we each felt earlier."
Buffy blushed as she remembered. "I.. I don't..."
"Oh no, no you don't! You're about to tell me you didn't feel anything, then I'm going to have to call you a liar. And that is no way to start off any kind of relationship," he said and reached for her hand. "See what I mean?" he asked at her gasp.
"And how do you know I'm not already seeing someone?" she asked, taking her hand back.
"Are you?"
"Well, no, but you didn't know that!"
"Well Buffy, I would like to hope that a classy lady like you would never lead a man on," he said then tugged on a lock of her hair. "So? Will you go out with me?" he asked her again.