Chapter/episode 4: Out of My Mind. Riley suffers in this chapter. He suffers quite a bit. This is not an entirely bad thing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.

Buffy was patrolling. She was currently in a fight with a vampire. Nothing unusual about this, of course. She was about to throw another punch when something slammed the vampire against the wall. "Riley?" Buffy shouted and Riley staked the vampire. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you were in the north sector." Riley said.

"No, Angel is in the north sector. You weren't scheduled at all tonight." Buffy said, annoyed.

"Look out!" Riley yelled suddenly. Another vampire was running over. Buffy looked and saw Angel a short distance away, chasing him. Suddenly Spike jumped out of nowhere and attacked the vampire.

"Why do I even bother to show up?" Buffy cried.

Spike staked the vamp. "Spike!" Angel yelled as he stopped with them. "That was my vampire! He annoyed me and I was looking forward to staking him."

Buffy grinned. "I thought you were in the north sector."

"I was. This guy rose up there, and we fought for a while and he decided he couldn't win and started running away. So I ran after him."

Spike sighed. "Yes, well sorry I saved all of you." He said sarcastically.

"We had it under control." Angel snapped at him.

"I think patrol is over for tonight." Buffy said loudly. "Spike, go away. Riley, go home."

"I think I'll stay out a while longer." Riley said.

"You'll be alright by yourself?" Buffy asked, looking concerned.

"Of course." Riley said, like it was stupid to doubt that he would be ok.

"Ok, see you tomorrow." Buffy said. She and Angel started off back to the mansion.

"Let the commando chase his vamps." Angel said to Buffy as they left the cemetery. "I've got something much more fun in mind…"

Buffy giggled.

The Next Day

Angel and Buffy walked into the Magic Box. It still wasn't open yet, but they were almost done. Willow was admiring some stuff for spells, Xander was working on a shelf he was building for Giles, and Riley and Giles were talking.

"The place looks good." Angel said, looking around. "I'm still not sure this was a good idea though, Giles. The life expectancy of a magic shop owner in Sunnydale is about two months."

"Nonsense, I'm sure everything will be fine." Giles said. He turned to Buffy. "Ready for training?"

"You betcha." Buffy said cheerfully. Giles led her to the back room with Riley in tow. Angel turned to Xander, who was hurrying after them.

"Wait until you see it." Xander said to Angel. "She's going to love it."

They all went into the back room. Buffy gasped. They had turned it into a training room. "Oh my god, this is amazing." She walked through the room, looking around.

"I'm the dummy guy." Xander said, joining her. They all stared at him. "I mean, I built the dummy. The thing you hit that doesn't hit back."

"It's great." Buffy said. She looked at Angel and saw he was smirking. "You knew about this, didn't you?" she said.

"Yeah." Angel admitted. "They told me they were building it to surprise you. I'm glad you like it."

"Come on, Buffy." Riley said, jumping forward. "Think you can take me?"

Buffy laughed. "Yes, but later. Angel first." She turned back to Angel. "Think you can take me?" she echoed.

Angel grinned. "Bring it on."

"Oh!" Xander said. "Willow, Buffy and Angel are going to spar!"

"Don't start without me!" Willow yelled, running into the room.

The others enjoyed watching Buffy and Angel spar. It was quite entertaining, because they were both excellent and they knew each other so well. It could be a very impressive sight.

A minute later, Buffy and Angel faced each other. "Your move." Angel said.

Buffy lunged forward. Angel did a spinning kick and Buffy jumped over his leg and swept his feet out from underneath him. He fell, kicked Buffy so she went stumbling backwards, and jumped back to his feet. What followed was a complex series of punches and kicks that the others, even Riley, could barely follow. Finally Buffy jumped into the air and used him as a brace to actually fly over his head and land on her feet behind him. Angel whirled around and pushed her back. She went flying backward towards the wall, but with the grace only a Slayer had stuck her feet out and jumped off the wall without touching the ground. She crashed into Angel, and they both fell to the ground. Buffy pinned him down pretended to be holding a stack. She rested her fist over his heart. "I win."

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The Next Morning

Buffy opened her eyes and rolled over in bed. Angel was still asleep, his arms wrapped around her. She smiled, content to stay there in his arms forever. She closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to him. She heard him sigh and pull her closer. "Morning." He whispered.

"No, go back to sleep. My excuse for not getting up was that if I moved, I would wake you." Buffy said, not opening her eyes.

"Well you still don't have to get up." Angel replied. He kissed her.

She finally opened her eyes again. "I suppose you're right." She said. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Do we have anything to do today?"

"You have training, and I'm going with you to the Magic Box because I said I'd help Giles setting it up for opening." Angel said. "That's not until late afternoon, though. I don't know what we're doing with the rest of the day."

"Maybe we should go see Mom and Dawn." Buffy said. "I did promise I'd visit more this year, and it's been a while already."

"Yeah, we could do that." Angel said. "Is this nearing the topic of telling her we're getting married?"

"Getting close, yes." Buffy replied. "I mean, the only person we know who doesn't know we're getting married is my own mother. It seems like she should know." She sighed. "But…I am nervous. She never really loved the idea of you and me in the first place. I think she always hoped I would get over you, maybe fall for Riley. Although Dawn seems to think that she's taken a liking to you."

"Yeah, I'm not too excited about that conversation either." Angel admitted. "I have no problem with putting it off."

Buffy rolled over and looked at him, and grin forming on her face. "Angel, are you afraid of my mother?"

"No!" Angel cried. "I'm not afraid of her! But I don't see the conversation going very well."

"Why not?" Buffy asked curiously.

Angel looked uncomfortable. He had avoided talking about this…but she deserved to know… "There's something I never told you…about when I almost left."

He felt Buffy stiffen. "What?"

"Your mom came to talk to me shortly before I told you I was leaving. She told me she wanted me to go."

"What?" Buffy cried, the anger in her voice unmistakable. "She did what? She tried to kick you out of my life? What gives her the right-"

"She was worried about you." Angel interrupted. "I don't want you to be angry with her. I understand her concern for her daughter dating a vampire. It was just because she loves you. But it does give me the impression that she was probably a little unhappy that I decided to stay."

"Well she's just going to have to deal with it." Buffy said firmly. "Because nobody is talking me out of marrying you, so there."

Angel smiled. "That's fine with me. But maybe we should talk about something else now."

"Um…I was reading one of the books Giles gave me the other day, and I found this story about a group of slime demons that attacked a town ate everyone, and they oozed this snot-like slime from their-"

"This is horrible pillow talk." Angel said, making a face. "Got anything else?"

"Well…there's one thing, but you won't like it."

"Can't be worse than the last one."

"I'm worried about Riley."

"So snot demons, you say?"

Buffy grinned. "I told you so." She sat up. "I'm starving. We should have breakfast."

"Does this involve getting up?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm against it."

Buffy smiled playfully. "You're not too sore or anything, are you? Cause I totally kicked your butt yesterday."

Angel scoffed at her. "Please. You got lucky."

Still smiling, she leaned over him. "Are you suggesting we have a rematch this afternoon?"

"Maybe." Angel replied. Suddenly he grabbed her and they rolled off the bed onto the floor.

"Angel!" Buffy cried, laughing.

"Now we're up." Angel said. Buffy shook her head and stood up. Angel got up a few moments later to see her putting his shirt on. "Hey!"

"I thought you liked it when I wore your shirts." Buffy teased.

"I do, but I was planning to actually wear that one."

"Oh well." Buffy shrugged. "I'm only wearing it until after breakfast anyway, so don't worry."

Angel sighed and put on a different shirt. "You want eggs?"

"Sure." Buffy said brightly. They headed downstairs to the kitchen when the phone rang. "I'll get it." Buffy said. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

Angel smiled and started getting ready for breakfast until he heard her say, "What? When?" in a panicked voice. His smile faded into a frown and he walked over to see her clutching the phone to her ear, looking terrified. "Ok, we'll be there as soon as we can." She said, her voice still higher than usual. "Yeah, I'll see you there." She hung up and ran her hands through her hair.

"Buffy?" Angel asked, concerned.

"W-we need to get dressed, right now." Buffy stammered. "We have to g-go to the hospital." She tried to move past Angel but he stopped her.

"Buffy, what happened?" he asked seriously.

Buffy started breathing heavily, like she was trying not to cry and was having a hard time staying calm. "That was Dawn. Mom was making breakfast this morning and she just passed out. Dawn called 911 and they're at the hospital now. We have to go right now." She drew a shuddered breath. "Right now, we have to go right now!"

Angel hugged her tightly. "It's alright, we'll go. Don't worry, it's going to be fine." He rubbed her back comfortingly. "Go get dressed, we'll leave right away."

Buffy nodded, blinking back tears. "Yeah, I'll go. Angel…"

Angel kissed her. "She'll be fine."

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Angel drove Buffy to the hospital, and they rushed in to find Dawn, who was waiting. "Dawn!" Buffy cried, hurrying over. Dawn hugged her. "How is she?"

"Your mother's fine." A young doctor walked over to them. "I'm Ben, I'm an intern here."

"He gave me a stethoscope." Dawn said, holding it up.

"I let you borrow a stethoscope." Ben corrected, smiling. "I've been hanging out with Doctor Dawn here while they've been doing tests on your mother."

"What happened?" a voice behind them said. Buffy and Angel turned around.

"Riley." Buffy said, sounding surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Angel asked, irritated. This was serious, no time for the commando to be hanging around.

"I heard." Riley said shortly, glaring at Angel.

"It's fine." Buffy said to Angel before turning back to Ben. "So what's wrong?"

"She seems fine, they're still trying to determine what happened." Ben told them.

As Ben explained what was going on, Dawn started playing with the stethoscope again. She listened to Ben's heart, then Buffy's. Next she turned to Angel, but he grabbed her hand before she could listen. "Vampire, remember Dawnie?" he whispered quietly so Ben wouldn't hear. "I don't have one."

Dawn nodded and moved on the Riley. There was something weird about this one though…

"So your mom should be out fairly soon." Ben finished.

Buffy turned to Angel. "We have to tell her!"

Angel looked at her, surprised. "Er…tell who what?"

"Tell Mom that we're engaged!" Buffy cried. Angel, who clearly had not been thinking about their wedding at all, seemed caught off guard. "I mean, what if it had been something worse and she died without ever knowing?"

Before Angel could respond, Dawn said, "Ben, listen to Riley's heartbeat."

Everyone looked at her. Dawn handed the stethoscope to Ben, who took it and listened. His eyes grew wide. "What?" Buffy asked.

"Oh my god." Ben said.

"What?" Riley asked, confused.

Ben looked at Riley. "Would you allow me to run some tests?"

Riley nodded. "Ok, but would you tell me why?"

"There's something wrong with your heart."

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They had finished the tests on Riley. "You said you couldn't keep me here." Riley said.

"I can't." the doctor said. "But I would get down on my knees and beg you if I thought it would change your mind."

"It won't." Riley said. "I'm leaving."

"There's nothing your friends can say to make you stay?"

Angel really wanted to point out that he was not Riley's friend, but this didn't seem the time. Buffy looked worried. "Riley, you're going to have a heart attack." She said. "You know how many drugs they pumped into you at the Initiative."

"I'm fine Buffy, I can handle it." Riley said.

"Nobody can handle a heart attack, Riley." Buffy insisted. But Riley wouldn't listen.

The door opened and Dawn and Joyce appeared. "The doctors say I can go know." Joyce said.

"How do you feel?" Angel asked.

"Embarrassed, mostly." Joyce said.

"I'll see you later Buffy." Riley said. He walked out past Joyce and Dawn.

"Riley!" Buffy called, but he ignored her.

"Is Riley ok?" Joyce asked, frowning.

"No." Buffy sighed. "Come on, Angel and I will take you guys home." They started down the hall.

Buffy looked at her mom and thought about what she had said earlier in the waiting room. "Mom?"

Joyce looked at her. "Yes sweetie?"

"I have to tell you something." Buffy said. Dawn gave her an encouraging nod. Buffy caught Angel's eye before saying, "Angel and I are getting married."

Joyce stopped walking, as did the others. Buffy and Angel looked at each other anxiously. "Oh." Joyce said. She seemed to be quite shocked. "This is…sudden."

"No it isn't." Dawn said. Buffy put her hand over her sisters' mouth.

"Well…congratulations, Buffy." Joyce said. She hugged Buffy. Angel looked uneasy. Joyce pulled away from Buffy and started walking again.

"I think that went well." Dawn said.

"Oh, shut up." Buffy said. She turned to Angel. "Go talk to her."

Angel nodded and caught up to Joyce. "Joyce?"

"Angel."

"I know you never liked the idea of me and Buffy. I can understand why. But I just want you to know that I love her more than anything in the world, and I would do anything to keep her safe and happy."

After a few moments, Joyce said, "I know. And I know she's lucky to have found someone who loves her as much as you do. I just…I never wanted her to be with a vampire. I wanted her to at least try to have a normal life. But…" she looked at Angel. "I tried to get you to leave. That was wrong. I saw how torn up she was after you broke up with her and planned to leave. I judged you by what you are, something I never should have done. She loves you, and she's happy with you." Joyce smiled. "I'm glad you're marrying her. I think you'll both be very happy. Welcome to the family."

Angel smiled. "Thank you."

Buffy and Dawn approached cautiously. Joyce turned to Buffy. "I'm so happy for you." She said, and hugged Buffy again. Dawn gave Angel a thumbs up.

Angel smiled again. "Come on, let's get you home."

They went outside and headed to the car. "Do you guys have any wedding plans?" Joyce asked.

Buffy and Angel looked at each other. "Well…no." Buffy admitted. "We haven't talked much about it."

"Well you have to have a wedding." Joyce said. "I'm not going to let you just elope, if that's what you were thinking."

"Of course we weren't." Angel said.

"We weren't?" Buffy asked.

"Of course not. You deserve a white dress and wedding music." Angel said, smiling. "I want to give you something normal."

Buffy smiled. "Really?"

"Definitely. It won't be a big wedding, but hey, it's better than nothing."

"Sounds perfect."

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Buffy and Angel were in the tunnels of the Initiative, looking for Riley. They hadn't gotten any help from Spike. They had to find Riley and get him to the doctor before he had a heart attack. "You go that way," Buffy said, "I'll look over here."

"Sounds good." Angel said. Buffy had begged Angel to help, and he wasn't about to say no when it was that important to her. They split up.

Buffy turned a corner and found Riley. "Riley Finn, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Hiding from you." Riley replied honestly. "I don't want to see the surgeon."

"You have to." Buffy insisted. "Riley, we're all worried. I'm worried. I care about you-"

"No you don't." Riley interrupted. "You don't care about me. I love you, Buffy. I loved you the first time I met you, and the worst pain I've ever felt is the pain I face every day when I see you with him. Every day I see how much you love him, and I know that you'll never feel that way for me. I can't lose this strength, Buffy. The thing that gets me through my life is the idea that maybe one day you'll have feelings for me, and your type is the kind of guy that can be like you. I need the strength I have."

Buffy stared at him. "Angel was right." She said. "You're an idiot." Riley looked at her in surprise. "You actually think I'm in love with Angel because he's a vampire and can fight stuff? If that was the reason, I might as well be dating Spike. I'm in love with Angel for who he is. And you're right, I'm not in love with you, but I'm not going to fall for you because you can fight like me. But I do care about you because you are my friend, and I will drag you to that doctor unconscious if I have to!"

Riley looked at her. "Alright. Take me to him."

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Buffy and Angel led Riley into the room where they were supposed to meet the surgeon. "Oh no." Angel said.

"Graham." Riley leaned down to where Graham was lying on the floor. He held up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Seventeen." Graham said.

"Uh oh." Riley mumbled nervously.

"Hostile Seventeen." Graham clarified. "Him and some blond woman."

Buffy and Angel looked at each other. "Spike and Harmony." Buffy said.

"Together again." Angel finished.

"They took the surgeon." Graham gasped, standing up.

"Oh no." Angel groaned. "I'll bet you anything Spike wants him to take the chip out."

Riley groaned suddenly and leaned over. "Riley?" Buffy asked. She looked at Angel. "We have to find them. Now."

"I can find them." Angel said.

"Really?" Riley asked, recovering.

"Yeah, I can find Spike easy." Angel said. "Not my favorite skill, but it can come in handy."

"Let's go." Buffy said, leading them out of the room. "When I get my hands on Spike…"

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"No more chip." Spike said to himself. He vamped out. "I'm feeling kind of hungry." He looked at the surgeon.

"Not gonna happen, Spike." Buffy said. Spike and Harmony turned to see Buffy, Angel, and Riley.

"How you gonna stop me, Slayer?" Spike taunted.

"I was thinking massive violence." Buffy said.

"That's my girl." Angel said.

Harmony suddenly shot Riley in the leg with an arrow from her crossbow. They all stared. "Oops." She said.

The fight broke out. Angel and Riley went for Harmony, and Buffy and Spike went at it. Angel would have helped Buffy, but he knew better than Spike. There was no way the surgeon got that chip out. Buffy had it covered.

Spike's yell of pain confirmed Angel's suspicion. Angel punched Harmony, knocking her to the floor. "You know, you suck at fighting." Angel said. "No wonder Buffy laughs when she thinks of you trying to kill her."

Harmony took one more look at Angel and ran away. Spike went after her. Riley fell to the ground.

"Riley!" Buffy yelled. "Doctor!"

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Buffy and Angel walked into the Summers house to check on Joyce. She was watching TV in the living room. "How's Riley?" she asked.

"He's fine. The surgery went really well." Buffy said.

"Thank god." Joyce said. "Sit down, stay a while."

"Ok." Buffy sighed. She and Angel sat down with her on the couch.

"So do you guys know when you want to get married?" Joyce asked.

"We haven't thought about it yet." Buffy admitted. "It's been hectic and only so many people knew…"

"We should start thinking about it, I suppose." Angel said.

"Yeah." Buffy agreed. Joyce said she'd be right back and left the room. "Mom seems excited." Buffy said. "Maybe Dawn was right. She does like you."

"I'm so glad." Angel said. They kissed.

I love this chapter. You have sparring and fluff and Riley suffered and Joyce know about the wedding now. It was great. Please review!