The explosion broke the windows out for the next two blocks. Glass shook, car alarms went off, sirens blared, and men rushed all around.
And it was that mixture of noise that woke Buffy up.
She stared around her confused, her mind not recognizing where she was for the moment. Then there was a mutter moan and a heavy arm that curled over her waist and it all came back to her.
She turned her head and started at the picture he was making in the orange glow coming from the window.
'He's so perfect. So handsome, so sweet and so gentle.. Wait? Huh? Orange glow!?'
"Angel?" she hissed and nudged on his arm to get him to release her. "Something's going on outside."
"It's outside and not in here," he muttered. He grumbled some more and then drew her back down under him.
"Come on, Angel! Something's going on out there. I think there's something on fire! Wake up!" she nudged at him again and then she elbowed him.
"Yeah, well, something was on fire in here too," he growled.
Angel let her go and rubbed where she elbowed him then stared out at the orange glow. "Shit! Something is on fire," he said then grabbed at his jeans. Looking over her head, he laid his hands down on her shoulders and watched the flames. "That would be the Exxon Station."
She looked over her shoulder at him. "I have to get over there," she said then pushed away from him and reached for her own clothes. "Can you give me a ride?"
"Yeah... but I don't think it's going to be too safe over there. Do you know what would happen in the underground tanks went up?"
"It's all part of the job," she pulled her shirt over her head then laid her hand on his cheek. "But I do appreciate your worrying. It's cute."
Angel sighed and tried to grab her hand but she already took it back away and out of reach. "I can't help it, you've kind of grown on me."
"What, like a fungus?" she laughed and started pulling her pants back on. "Aren't you getting dressed?"
"Yeah, yeah. Nag, nag, nag. You try to give a woman a compliment and she just demands more from you," he smiled. "I'll get dressed on one condition."
"Yeah, and what's that?" she asked as she tucked her shirt into her pants.
"You move in with me."
OoOoO
He slipped through the door of her apartment building. He smiled at the woman who had just opened the door.
"Thanks, forgot my keys again," he said.
"You're welcome," the older woman said then she quickly moved toward the bank of elevators.
He followed her on and ignored how she moved to the far corner of the car, as far as she could.
She hopped off when the door opened to her floor and she snuck a peek behind her as the doors started to close.
He laughed, enjoying the affect that he had on the poor woman.
Buffy's floor was next. He slipped off when it got there and walked the short distance to her door. The locks were a bit of a challenge, they took too long to pick. It made him nervous. Then when the last one clicked, he breathed a huge sigh.
He turned the knob and pushed the door open.
"Buffy Summers," he muttered. "Can I come in?"
His head cocked to the side, listening for any kind of response then he smiled and stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Why thank you so much. You are such a gracious host. Something to drink? Oh, would you happen to have something in say, a white wine perhaps?"
He walked around the apartment, touching her things at random. He ran one of her silk scarfs she'd left on an end table through his burned hands. Most of the nerve endings were dead but he could still feel a bit of the soft material.
"Very nice," he said quietly. "You do have excellent taste, Miss Summers."
Then suddenly he reached out and slashed his arm across the top of her desk, sending her laptop and everything else on top of it crashing to the floor.
"Fucking bitch! Fucking nosy bitch!"
He tore the pillows from the couch. He slashed the pillows with a knife he took from her own kitchen. Feathers flew around in the air, mixed in with the broken glass and dirt from plants she had around her place.
He went down to her bedroom, the knife slashing about her bed. He pulled clothing from her closet and ripped into them also. Bottles of perfume and body mist were broken, her cds were smashed, her books were torn apart.
Finally, he stood in the middle of the mess he had made and he smiled.
Then he pulled out his lighter.
OoOoO
Buffy stared. Stunned.
"Move in with you?!"
"Yeah. You know... share some closet space. Your toothbrush and mine hanging out together in our bathroom. His and her towels?" he said and kissed her. He was almost as stunned as she really. The words had just slipped out before he knew what he was doing or what he was going to say but he didn't regret it. "So..." he urged.
"We've had one date, don't you think it's kind of a stretch to go from one date to living together?"
Angel smiled at the hesitant sound to her voice. 'Okay, so she wants me to convince her. I can do that!'
"Well, besides the mind blowing sex... there is the fact that we enjoy each other. And there's the problem of you always getting yourself into impossible situations. So no, I don't think it's that much of a stretch. Besides.. wouldn't your family feel better if you had a man in your life? A cop no less."
"My family won't be the ones living with you. You gotta do better than that."
Angel sighed. "Alright, how about you don't answer me now, not just yet, and you think on it at least. But I wouldn't take too long Buffy... you don't know how hard it is to hold off all the single women who constantly throw themselves at me," he smirked. "Now come on woman! You have a story to get."
OoOoO
You could feel the heat from blocks away. Buffy took a deep breath and gasped as the air seemed to sear through her lungs.
When they got closer, she slipped under the blockade and snuck behind a uniformed cop that were trying to keep people back.
Angel followed her.
He reached out and grabbed her hand then pulled her into an alley. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Getting my story. And if you don't let go of me we are going to get caught."
"We should get caught. You do know those are up for a reason," he started pulling on her but she yanked her arm out of his grasp.
"Okay, you go, but I've got a story to get. It's my job." Buffy started towards the next block and started to pull a small digital camera from her purse.
Angel took a deep breath and tried to control his temper. "Buffy!" he went after her. "You cannot do that. It's too damn dangerous," he grabbed her arm and once more jerked away from him, making him growl. "Don't make me arrest you Buffy."
Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."
"Yes, I would. So don't push me."
"You would seriously keep me from my job?"
"Who the hell do you think you are? I already told you this once. You aren't Lois Lane. I'm not Superman. I can't fly down and save your pretty ass every time you get yourself into trouble."
"I have a job to do. I would never try to stop you from doing yours so would you please give me the same consideration?" Buffy started to turn away but then once more felt his hands go to her arm. Only this time he held her tight, with a grip she knew she'd never be able to break out of.
"Buffy Summers. You are under arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
OoOoO
Angel glanced down at Buffy as he started to pull her back towards the barricade and to his car as he finished reading her the Miranda Rights.
She felt anger building up inside her but that became overwhelmed by something that felt a lot like pain. She stopped fighting him and followed him. She ducked under the barricade without being told while he flashed his badge. She followed him through the ever growing crowd and sat in the car after he opened her door. She crossed her arms over her chest, sat there, stared straight ahead while all of her thoughts racing about.
Angel opened his own door, glanced at her again and then slid behind the wheel. "Look, Buffy..." he began but stopped at her iced glare shot his direction.
"Am I under arrest?"
Angel closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "No, but I couldn't let you go any closer. You have to understand that."
She snorted.
"It's too dangerous."
"Okay, so in other words, I am supposed to sit back, let you do your job, the one that involves drug king pins and cartels and henchmen and all of this, but you can't let me get some facts on a simple arson story?"
Angel sighed and she did too.
"You know it's good to find this out before we actually got involved with each other," she said finally.
"And what is that supposed to mean? I think we got pretty involved last night," Angel dropped his hand down and jammed the key into the ignition.
"We had sex. And sex doesn't make a relationship," she turned to stare out the window. "Just take me home please. Or drop me off somewhere where I can catch a cab."
"Damnit Buffy! Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?"
"Stubborn? I'm stubborn?" she turned to face him. "And how exactly would you feel if I went and threw a fit every time you went undercover? This is my job! This is all that I know, all I've ever wanted. And you are keeping me from that!" Buffy's voice rose with every word and she realized she was just below screaming. "Just take me home," she said and turned her head to the window again.
"Buffy..." he started then decided to drop it. "Fine."
"Fine."
OoOoO
Angel drove her to her apartment.
He made record time as he squealed around corners, blew through stoplights, and then pulled into the parking garage, parking as close as he possibly could to the entrance.
He got out and starting for her side of the door but she opened it herself then she got out and turned to look at him.
"Thank you for a lovely evening. You don't need to come up," she said. Next she turned on her heal and started to her building.
Angel started to follow her but stopped. "Oh, to hell with it," he growled. He turned and got back into his car, slamming the door hard. "Women!"
OoOoO
Buffy seethed all the way into her building then continued as she started up the long flights of stairs that would lead to her apartment. 'How dare he treat me that how? How dare he?!' she thought. 'Did I stop him when he was meeting with that informer? No, no. No, I did not. I knew he had a job to do. I smiled and I let him go do it. Masochistic pig! My job is just as an important as him. And me? I'm damn good at it too! Okay, so what if I had a couple of problems recently, everybody has days off!'
Then once her spout had finished, she pushed through the door to her floor.
Buffy could smell something burning before she reached the door. She was shocked when she saw it standing open and curls of smoke coming into the hallway.
"What in the..."
Then there was shriek of surprise that left her as a hand came out and grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Are you alright?" he asked pulling his pistol from its holster.
"No! I am not! You scared the hell out of me!" she snarled and slapped at his hand. "And somebody broken into my apartment. How could I be fine?"
"Stay here," he ordered. Angel held his gun down in front of him and started sliding closer to the door, peering inside through the crack.
Buffy stared at his back for a moment, then she followed. She slid close to his back and shrieked again when he twisted around and pushed her against the wall.
"Damnit Buffy! Can't you just do as your told once?" he hissed.
"This is my apartment and it's on fire," she said, one hand going to her breast to quiet her madly thumping heart. "I am not sitting in the hallway like some child who got in trouble with their teacher. Now quit being an overbearing man and let's go!"
"I swear Buffy Summers, your family is right about you needing a keeper. You," he growled while pushing a finger in her chest, "stay right behind me." Then he turned and opened her door with a lot more force than necessary.
Buffy cringed as she got a good look at her place.
It had been ransacked. There was a small pile of clothing, papers and her laptop in a pile in the center of her living room. Flames burning in their midst. She gasped and stepped forward to try and save her computer but only ran into Angel's back.
"Stay behind me," he repeated. "He could still be here."
"Good, then you go do your job and arrest the son of a bitch. I have to get my laptop," she snapped and went around him to run to the burning pile.
"Goddamnit! Buffy you haven't got one brain cell in that damn blonde head of yours. Are you trying to get yourself killed here?"
He moved quickly about her place checking the other rooms.
"Empty," he said when he came back out. He watched as she cradled her laptop in her arm all the while trying to use a fire extinguisher in the other. "Give me that!"
Buffy gave up the extinguisher and with her eyes almost wild she went to the counter and sat her overheated computer on it. She said a small prayer, popped it open and hit the on button.
"Does it work?" he asked.
The laptop gave a small beeping sound and its screen flickered before lighting. Buffy gave out a sigh when her desktop opened and the picture of her family stared back at her.
"Yes," she said running her fingers over the keys. "I knew you wouldn't give up the goat."
"Give up the goat?" he asked setting the fire extinguisher down. "What the hell does that mean?"
She sighed. "It means it still works, no thanks to you."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing," she said and closed her laptop and she slid it farther down the counter. Without another word, Buffy started toward the other rooms, determined to see what else of hers had been ruined.
She hurried off to her bedroom and stared at the horror left behind. Her photo album was thrown on top of her mattress, her sheets were on the ground, torn and stomped on. Her clothing was thrown about, there was broken glass all over the floor from picture frames, perfume bottles and other small things she'd owned. She saw her books and music collection thrown and ripped up. Her small television was broken. As well as just about everything else.
But it had been the album that had tears falling down her face.
Pictures were torn, throw around the room. They were ripped up and ruined. Pages had been torn from the complete album.
She reached down and let her thumb rest on a picture of her father. The picture had been ripped in half, the other half of it nowhere to be seen.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, just fine," she snapped and wiped her eyes while moving away from him. "I'm just peachy keen, you know considering that ninety five percent of everything that I owned was now taken away from me."
"Buffy..." he started but she left the room and went to her bathroom. He sighed and started after her.
OoOoO
"Buffy? I called in patrol to take a report. You're insured right?"
Buffy let out a snort. "Yeah, and for all the good it does. Money can't buy back the things that really mean something to you," then she wiped the new tears away. turned, straightened her back. She knew she had to get him out of there. Because if he stayed, she would break down. And she couldn't let him be who comforted her. "You don't need to wait on me," she told him.
"What?" he asked. "I don't mind," he told her gently.
"But I do. I'll be fine, Angelus. Go ahead and go," she snapped.
"Buffy."
"Please just go," she said, a bit more sharp then she'd intended.
Her eyes were turned from him and she was staring into the sink of her bathroom. Her knuckles were almost white from gripping the counter with all her might, not wanting to reach out to him.
Buffy wanted to scream from the pain that was tearing her up inside. It was a feeling of almost rape at having someone come there and go through all of her possessions, ripping up the things that meant the most to her.
She heard him sigh and felt his hand brush against her back.
"I'll go," he told her softly, like before, "but I'll be back later."
"Suit yourself, Liam."
Then she heard his footsteps in the living room and the door close behind him And the sound of the door almost sent her to her knees.
She longed to go run after him, to tell him that she really didn't want him to leave and that she was sorry. But instead, she forced her hands to go from the counter to the faucet and slowly run the cold water. She lifted her cupped hands and slapped some on her face.
Buffy was composed when the police arrived. She was able to sit down and let them know all that she knew had happened and what things were missing. She signed her complaint then left the crime scene crew while she went to work.
OoOoO
Angel slammed into his apartment and stared around. "Goddamnit!" he growled and he ran one hand through his hair. "You really fucked that up, Angelus," he told himself.
Angel stomped over to his sofa and dropped down into the leather. He leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands.
"I shouldn't have left her," he muttered.
Once more, he stared around his place. His eyes went to rest on the plates they'd used the night before.
A sharp pang echoes around his chest at the sight. "Damnit," he growled again and stood up to pace.
After two circuts he made through the place, he was more frustrated than ever.
"Oh to fucking hell with it! She'll probably just throw something at me, but at least I'll know she's safe." he said out loud.
He then went to grab his keys from where he'd tossed them on the coffee table and he headed out the door.