First off, I just wanted to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I've been sick for the past two weeks and trying to cough up a lung just isn't conducive to posting. Secondly, I want to thank my reviewers and those of you who have the story on alert. I'm honored. For the rest of you, if you're reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts, both good and bad. This is not my usual fare, so to speak, so I'd love to know what you think. Now, on with the show.
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This had to be one of the stupidest things he'd ever done.
Probably not even in the top five, buddy. Maybe we should list every boneheaded move you've ever made in alphabetical order so we can be sure.
He inwardly groaned. He wasn't sure when he had begun hearing Cordy in his head on a semi-regular basis. He crossed his arms and argued that he had very good reasons for coming to Sunnydale at 12 AM in the middle of the week. No visions in LA, Sunnydale was on a hellmouth so extra help was always appreciated, it was a really nice night for a drive…
Buffy the Cordy voice snarked.
Not Buffy, he sternly answered. She was dating that Riley guy, she was happy, Buffy and he couldn't be together and if he happened to catch a glimpse of her, well that wasn't his fault.
He broke out of his musing when he realized he wasn't alone. A scant second later, he was surrounded by four men, all dressed the way Riley had been in the past. He began to rapidly put two and two together when one of them pulled out some sort of Flash Gordon ray gun and aimed it at him. He kicked it out of the man's hand and the fight was on.
He could hear the crackle of electricity that exuded from one of the devices. He decided that posed the most danger and faking a punch to the left, he followed it with an actual uppercut straight to the guy's nose. Blood poured freely as the guy fell heavily to the ground, dropping the small electronic device. The other three closed ranks around him, attempting to work in concert to take him down, but Angel was stronger, faster, and had a couple hundred years of experience on them. The whole affair lasted a minute, tops, and in the end the remaining three also littered the ground.
He carefully surveyed the scene, first making sure that all of them had steady heartbeats. So Riley was part of a government-sponsored demon-hunting outfit. He'd known that the government had been aware of the demon underground for decades. And he wasn't all that surprised that it had taken them this long to mount some sort of response to it. Bureaucracy took forever to get anything accomplished. He supposed it was a good thing that Riley did this professionally, as it were. Gave him more in common with Buffy. He suddenly realized he was once again not alone and that the object of his musing was literally five feet away from him
"Riley Finn." Name not spoken as challenge but as simple statement of fact.
"How do you know my name?" Riley's eyes narrowed in hostility.
Angel shrugged. "Mutual friend."
He watched as understanding blossomed in Riley's eyes, merged with fury and revulsion. No fear though. He wondered if that was because Riley was too stupid to appreciate what he once had been, who he still was.
With a deep grunt, Riley launched himself at Angel, baton extended in his hand. And that's when Angel smelled it - Buffy's scent covering Riley like a shroud. He hadn't been intending to get into it with Riley, but suddenly all he wanted to do was teach this boy a lesson.
He punched Riley in the jaw, harder than he had planned. Riley crumpled to the ground for a moment and then, shaking his head, got back up. Angel was briefly surprised by how quickly Riley was back on his feet but then he smelled why. Riley's blood was off; he was being drugged. He wondered briefly if Riley was aware of that.
His brief speculation cost him. He hadn't noticed that Riley was carrying the same electrical device the other soldier had possessed. Riley slammed it up against Angel's chest, lightening coursing through his body, causing his limbs to jerk helplessly.
"You're not going anywhere near Buffy."
He could feel himself losing control, starting to topple over. Through sheer force of will he jerked himself backward and slammed his booted foot into Riley's abdomen. He followed it up with his hands on Riley's shoulder, forcing the taller man to his knees, and then tossed him across the alley. Riley lay crumpled in a heap.
"Don't you ever tell me what to do, boy." His eyes glittered yellow in the moonlight as he stalked away.
Angel quickly strode down the campus walkways. He wasn't in any mood to meet any more of Riley's pals. He supposed that during the day the tree lined paths must have been pleasant to stroll on. At night though, in between pools of light from the lamp posts there were patches of shadowy gloom, perfect for those that preferred to lurk unseen.
He could hear plenty of voices in the background. Obviously the very real dangers of walking through the campus at night hadn't made an impression on the student population. He wasn't surprised, vampires counted on the sense of invincibility that attached itself to the young.
Out of the shadows, a young man suddenly appeared on the path in front of him. Stretched out Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt, ripped jeans, hair in desperate need of a trim. Looked pretty much like your average student. "Dude, looks like you went five rounds."
"You should see the other guy," Angel said without any humor.
"Dead?" His mouth suddenly became a lot fangier, his forehead a lot bumpier. Damn drama queen, Angel thought. Probably had been an acting major.
"Where's the slayer live?"
"What do you want to mess with her for? She's just going to harsh your mellow. Tasty pickin's right here, man. And I'm ok with sharing."
Angel came close to rolling his eyes. The younger generation did not have any respect for their betters. "By the time I'm through with her, she'll wish she'd never laid eyes on me." The words came out in a low, menacing hiss.
"Woah. Awesome speech. Total chills. After you give her what for, you want to grab a snack? Sorority's right down that way."
"Her address?" Angel snapped.
"Yeah, right. Three streets over, she's second dorm on the left. Can I come and watch?"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?" The stake slid home. "Guess not," Angel said as he walked away.
As soon as he was in front of the dorm, he knew she was in there. He felt that peculiar rush he always felt when she was nearby. It was an easy matter to walk in behind someone else, security be damned.
He hadn't even intended on seeing her and here he was, knocking on her door. Her eyebrows were raised and her voice held an obvious note of concern. "What happened to you?"
Angel shrugged. "Can I come in?"
"Sure."
"A little more specific?"
"Oh. Come in, Angel." Had she somehow forgotten what he was? He didn't know what to make of her. One thing he did know. She looked fantastic. Pregnancy seemed to agree with her.
"What's going on? Is there something I need to know about?"
Before he could answer, Riley pushed his way into the room. "I told you to stay away from her."
Angel gave him a smug look. "You can't even stand up straight."
"Straight enough to dust you."
"What the hell is going on here?" Buffy glared at both of them. "Cut the macho tango both of you or I'll polka your asses."
"He attacked me." Riley took a single menacing step toward Angel.
"He started it."
"Polka. I mean it." The two men pouted, both trying not to look at the other one. "Angel, out in the hall. Now." Riley grinned at his obvious win. And then his face fell as he realized that Buffy was going into the hall also.
"Buffy," he started to say.
"I'll be back in a moment." She kissed his cheek and closed the door behind her. Facing Angel, she glared at him, hands on her hips. "What are you doing here? And what's with beating up my boyfriend?"
"I wasn't intending to beat up anyone. I was walking along when a bunch of Riley's pals jumped me. And when Riley showed up, he didn't ask any questions before he started with the fancy weapons."
"Well, from their point of view…"
"I get it," he said tersely.
Buffy sighed. "So, if there's no big evil afoot, why are you here?"
"Would you believe big shoe sale at Stewart's?"
She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at his thoroughly serious expression and then she was laughing loudly, joined by Angel.
"You look great," he offered once the two of them had calmed down.
"Thanks, I feel great."
"Everything fine on my favorite hellmouth?"
"There's an escaped sixth grade science project running around, but I'll deal."
"If you need any help."
She stared at the wall, past his shoulder. "You can't come back here any more."
He nodded and began to walk away.
He was at the end of the hallway when he turned back around, knew he should say goodbye. Knowing but unable to; a finality that he still pretended hadn't already occurred.
He left her but she was the one who had moved forward, as he knew she would.
He wanted to fall to his knees and beg her forgiveness for every time he'd hurt her, every time he'd made her cry, even (especially) the times she no longer remembered. He wanted to tell her that all he had ever wanted was to love her and he was sorry that his very existence made that impossible. That's what he wanted to do, but he didn't of course. He didn't have any claim any more.
Instead he gave her a crooked grin and said, "I really don't like your boyfriend."
She rolled her eyes at him, opened the door to her room and stepped inside. And then Angel was alone once more.
