Born of Darkness

A fic by: Jen

Rating: M

Disclaimer: No, I don't own them…I wished I owned Angelus, but *sighs* I don't, so I just borrow him so I can play with him. :)

Okay, thank you to Amber, one of my best buds and my awesome beta!! You so rock, sweetie. I love ya bunches and bunches!!

Now a shout out to a really great author—you guys have to check out Marenfic. Her fics are like :O AMAZING! "Spoon" is total PWP and it's so hot I got sweaty at the visuals of naked David and Buffy! It's like…OMFG HOT! Okay—now as always I love to pimp other authors because I get so much joy out of these fics so check out anything by Helmi-1, jaymartinez, Esmerada007, Brandi Rochon, frosty600, ChynaFox, bangel'stheonlywaytogo, regretfulXXobsessions, Kay8abc, elaine451, ashes at midnight, MacKenzie Creations, oh and OF Course—my bud and partner in "To Tame a Demon": Vixangel. Also, I'm so sad… "Broken" is going be over soon guys, and we'll all mourn it's loss, but at least she's promised a new fic…so we'll forgive her, right?? As long as she delivers… ;) ;) ;) lol! Kidding, Vix—don't throw things at me! lol! :) :) :p

Okay—thank you to each and every person who R&R's any and all my fics—you guys are the true inspiration for me…I love you and again…thanks.

Now enough of Jen's babble…on with the show!

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Chappie 11

"How much farther?" Buffy asked. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to get out of the car and away from him. He'd been a royal bastard, and after he'd made a snide comment about never being her 'slave', Buffy had a pretty good idea what had triggered his about face. It didn't make her feel any better. She'd been kidding with him and he'd turned it into a fight—well, if he wanted a fight, he was going to get one!

Angelus glanced her way. It was the first thing she'd said to him in almost two hours. Once he'd calmed down he'd realized he'd made a big deal out of what had been nothing but a joking remark and had tried to talk to her, but after receiving nothing but the silent treatment, he'd given up and the last hour had been filled with uncomfortable silence. "About twenty minutes," he replied. "Are you hungry?"

"Would it matter?" she answered back flippantly. She turned to glare at him. "What I want isn't important, remember?"

He made a sound that was part growl, part sigh. "I didn't say that, Buff. You're putting words in my mouth." He laid a hand on her thigh. "I never said you weren't important."

She picked his hand up and tossed it back on his own lap. Two could play his game. "You didn't have to," she shot back. "Fred, did you get to try your clothes on, kitten?" she mimicked sarcastically. "Fred, I'm going to take you shopping…Fred, wanna climb up on my lap and—"

"I never asked her to crawl up on my lap," he growled. "Quit making shit up, will you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You might as well have." She turned her back on him and looked out the window. "Just leave me alone," she said softly, but with a steely determination he both loathed and admired at the same time.

He sighed. Fuck. He'd gone and done it again. He promised himself he wasn't going to let his ego get in the way of his plans this time, yet he'd done just that and all because she'd teased him about keeping him as a 'sex-slave'. What he should have done was told her 'not to threaten him with a damned good time', but hindsight wasn't fact, it was fucking useless! He glanced her way, but she stubbornly refused to look at him again. He grabbed her hand, which got her attention. "C'mon…you know you don't mean that," he said, trying his 'charm' smile on her. She rolled her eyes and yanked her hand back. Angelus counted to ten. His infamous temper was starting to boil, but his anger had gotten him into this situation—being nice was going to get him out of it. He kept his fury in check and gave her another charming smile before taking her hand again. "Look, I was an asshole. It's wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last, but you know you still want me—just like I still want you, that hasn't changed and it isn't going to."

Her eyes widened and she gaped at him in shock. Was that his idea of an apology?! She pulled her hand out of his grasp and clenched her fists in order to stop herself from smacking the taste right out of his mouth. "You're right—you are an ass and right now I don't want anything…" She smirked and glanced down at his crotch, "and I mean anything from you!"

His jaw tightened as his temper reached critical overload, and Angelus gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles whitened. "Yeah, we'll fucking see about that," he bit out. "Keep pushing me, babe and see what happens!"

"Yeah, we will!" she shot back, crossing her arms and scooting as far away from his as she could get while still remaining in the car.

He'd had enough. "Bitch," he snarled, and backhanded her.

Buffy laughed and wiped the blood from her lip. "Is that all you got?" she snapped right back, unfazed.

He growled dangerously, but her chin only jutted up further until it was at an impossibly stubborn tilt. He laughed and shook his head. "God damn, Buff, I think it's your taste for violence that keeps me coming back for more and more," he mused as he turned off the highway. They came to a stop light, and he glanced her way. "Last chance for food," he said, motioning to a fast food place on the corner.

She remained insolently silent, and he had to restrain himself from backhanding her again.

"I-I'm hungry," Fred piped up, while still managing to cower nervously in the back seat.

Angelus had almost forgotten she was there. He glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "Fine," he said, minus his earlier flirtation. He wasn't interested in playing nice-nice with the woman anymore. Buffy's cold shoulder was beginning to bug him—more than he liked to admit. He pulled in to the drive-thru burger place. He made a face as the smell of grease and fat-filled beef hit his nostrils. "Ugh, how you eat this garbage is beyond me."

"Yeah and blood is sooo much more appetizing!" Buffy quipped sarcastically, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

"You know I think I liked it better when you were ignoring me—why don't you try that again," he snapped, shooting her a dark eyed look of warning.

"I don't think so—I think I like it better when I'm pissing you off," she returned, still giving him that too-sweet grin.

His eyes flashed dangerously. "Buff—"

"Don't Buff me!" she interrupted. He started laughing suddenly and she scowled. "Wanna share what's so funny?"

His hand shot out and he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her across the seat. He leaned down and licked the side of her neck, nipping at the scarred flesh of his mark. "I'm going to do more than 'buff' you if you don't zip it, lover."

"I'd like to see you try," she taunted him further. "It might give me the push I've needed to stake your ass once and for all!"

His long simmering temper erupted. "That's it!" he roared and shoved her away from him. Tires squealed as he whipped the car out of the drive-thru line.

"What the hell are you doing?" Buffy cried. Her nails dug into the dash when he recklessly sandwiched the big Plymouth between two other parked cars. She gasped and her eyes clenched shut when he braked hard, narrowly avoided hitting one of the cars as he skidded to a stop. "Are you out of your mind?" Buffy hissed, but he ignored her. Instead he hunkered over the back seat and reached for Connor. "What are you doing?" she asked nervously. A sickening gut wrenching fear washed over her when he picked up the baby and brought him close to his cold-hearted chest.

He smiled, but it never reached the cruel depths of his eyes. "I'm reminding you why you don't want to keep yapping that vindictive little trap of yours, lover," he said softly, but the threat was there—he might as well have screamed it. Buffy could take whatever he dished out, but she knew if she kept fighting him—he'd hurt Connor.

"I really hate you," she told him, swallowing back the ridiculous tears that threatened to fall. Why was she surprised? He was what he was, and he'd never pretended not to be a monster—so why did it hurt like this that he was proving it to her yet again?

He noticed the tears and realized despite their fight tonight, his plan to make her love him wasn't completely ruined. Not to mention, actually hurting the kid was a sure fire way to wake up one day with a stake to his chest. With quick and cunning precision, he changed tactics yet again. "It doesn't have to be like this…" he said, giving her a small smile. "I know I've been a bastard tonight, but I'm tired, and I don't want to fight with you anymore. And I sure as fuck don't want you to hate me," he whispered, and to Buffy's utter shock, he handed her Connor. "How about we start tonight over?"

She had no idea what to make of this new about face, but she realized this was about as close to an apology as she was likely to get. "I-I—okay," she agreed, too dumbfounded to do more than stare at him while she cuddled Connor protectively to her chest.

He nodded, and the slow smile that spread across his face was arrogantly pleased. "Now are you hungry?" he asked, and this time his voice was husky, almost sweet.

Against her will, her insides melted at the seductive tone of his voice and smile. It was almost sinful the effect he had on her when he was trying to be nice. "Yeah, I am, but…"

His brows lowered, and his teeth gritted before he caught himself. With a concentrated effort, he relaxed his jaw and leaned back in the seat. He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Buffy's ear. "But what?" he asked, keeping his voice and expression as calm as possible, considering how much he detested demands of any sort.

She couldn't suppress the shiver his touch caused, but she ignored it. "But you need to stop threatening Connor," she demanded, clutching the baby to her in a way that reminded Angelus of a mother tiger protecting her cub. "I mean it. I can't deal with you constantly threatening to hurt him—it gives me the wiggins, and really…do you want to deal with a Slayer on the edge?"

"Are you threatening me?" he asked, his voice a silky, deadly purr.

"No. I'm asking you," she replied, knowing she was pushing him, but they needed to get this cleared up.

He tapped a finger against his chin as he seemed to way his answer. "Then you need to stop fighting with me," he countered.

"I wasn't the one fighting with you," she reminded him exasperatedly. "Not to go all schoolyard on you, but you started it. I was kidding with you—playing—you're the one who turned it into a smack-down!"

He chuckled and relaxed—he felt her tension ease when his did. "So I did." He nodded and acquiesced to her demand. "Fine, the kid is safe for now."

That wasn't exactly the agreement she'd wanted, but it would suffice until she figured out a way to get Angelus to let her in. He wanted her—maybe even more than Angel ever had. Could she make him love her too? Buffy searched the dark depths of his eyes. She saw passion there, a dark fire that burned so bright, it thrilled as much as it terrified her. Maybe to Angelus that passion was his form of love? She decided to wait and see.

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Lindsey finished his set, packed up his guitar and headed for the bar, halfway there he was intercepted by the same waitress Lilah had spoken to.

"Hey Linds," she said brightly. "You were terrific tonight!" she gushed.

The girl had been an open invitation since the first night he'd arrived in town, but he wasn't interested. Only one woman/creature had ever captivated him, and she'd betrayed him for one night with his worst enemy. He smiled at her, but sidestepped the hug she tried to give him. "Um…thanks Polly, but I see a shot of Jack over there with my name on it…"

He went to move past her, but she grabbed his arm. "Wait, you have a lawyer for some record company here, she's been watching you all night—this might be your big break."

The word 'lawyer' sent chills racing up his spine, and his head whipped around, frantically searching the crowd. His eyes narrowed. "Dammit what the hell is she doing here?" he growled when he spotted Lilah.

"Do you know her?" the waitress asked, surprised at his reaction.

"Yeah, I know her better than I'd like. She's not here for a record deal, Polly. What did she ask you about me?"

"Not much just how long you've been here. If you were a regular—nothing sinister if that's what you're getting' at."

Lindsey sighed. Well, at least it was her and not some gorilla sent by the Senior Partners, though Lilah could be just as dangerous. "Thanks darlin'. It's alright, you didn't know she was lying," he said, giving Polly a smile. "Would you mind bringing my drink over to her table." He started to leave before turning back. "Oh and run my tab on her tonight too."

Polly's eyes widened. "I—Are you sure? I could get in trouble if she refuses to pay…"

He chuckled, his eyes never leaving Lilah's determined face. "Lilah always has a plan—she wants something. She'll pay—trust me," he said and headed over to his ex-colleagues table to find out just what the hell that 'something' was.

Lilah saw him coming and raised her glass. "Nice Linds," she said with a smirk. "So this is what you left L.A. for—singing second set in a broken down honkey-tonk?" She took a sip of her drink. "Wow, if Harlan Manners could see you now," she taunted.

Lindsey placed his guitar case in the booth before sliding in next to it. "What do you want, Lilah?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"Who says I want anything? Maybe I just came by to see an old friend?"

He snorted rudely. "We were never friends—rivals, colleagues at best, but never friends."

Lilah glanced at the hand W&H had given him right before he'd left. "So how are you, anyways? Still writing kill-kill-kill, or are sad songs about a certain blond vampire all that new hand can come up with now-a-days?"

He leaned across the table threateningly. "Not the only thing—I could wrap it around your neck if you don't tell me why the hell you're here." He noticed Polly coming with his drink and paused, before relaxing back into his seat.

Polly glanced from Lindsey to Lilah, noticing the tension between them. She gave Lilah a dirty look for lying about why she was there and turned a bright smile on Lindsey. "Can I get ya anything else, sugar?" she asked the handsome ex-lawyer, practically melting all over him.

He glanced at Lilah, noticed her roll her eyes and grinned. "Yeah darlin', you can keep 'em coming," he said before shooting back the shot of Jack Daniels in one swallow. He handed Polly back the empty shot glass. "I get the feeling I'm going to need more than a few," he muttered.

Polly leaned down. "Is she paying?" she whispered.

Lindsey laughed. "Oh yeah, you're paying, right Lilah?"

"Yeah, whatever," Lilah agreed with another eye roll.

As soon as Polly was gone, Lindsey smirked. "So…what did Angel do now that made you decide to take a trip out here?" He grinned. "Must have been something bad to get you out of L.A. and desperate enough to ask for my help."

Lilah bit back the urge to just drop the Darla bomb on him. "Well, first off…he's not Angel anymore…"

Lindsey's eyes widened and he sat forward, suddenly very interested in what she had to say. "You're kidding?" His eyes narrowed. "How?"

The ever present Polly was coming back, and Lilah gritted her teeth as she spied at the single shot the girl had on her tray.

"Here ya are, sugar," Polly said putting the shot down in front of Lindsey. She gave him an 'anytime you want me I'm yours' smile, which he ignored, so she sighed and turned to leave.

Lilah grabbed her arm to stop her. "Never mind the shots. Bring us a bottle of Makers Mark and…" She glanced at Lindsey. "Jack?" He nodded and she smirked. "Can't afford the good stuff anymore, eh Linds?" She chuckled at his expression and gave Polly her credit card. "Here, charge everything to this and then don't interrupt us again sugar, okay?"

Polly glared, but realizing even at fifteen percent her tip for Lilah's table was going to be very nice with little, if any effort on her part—she went and did as she was asked.

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Sunnydale:

"Angelus definitely has the Slayer, and he's destroying all those orb things you people used to curse him the last time," Spike announced as he marched Warren and Jonathan into the house on Revello Dr. He pushed them towards the couch where Andrew was already detained. "There ya go—take a seat with your little friend there, and if your intel works out—you won't be dying tonight," Spike growled.

Xander frowned. "But with Will's power gone, why would he need to destroy the Orb's of Thessula?"

"Cause Angelus has never heard of the word too careful or overkill, that's why," Spike said, scowling. "And these buggers caught most of it on tape and never said boo about it!" His flashing eyes raked over the 'geek-trio'.

Giles hung up the phone. "None of my contacts have even heard that Angelus was back, but there is a bizarre rumor that Darla is and that she's…" He paused, as if still trying to wrap his mind around it.

"Is what?" Spike asked.

"Pregnant," Giles answered.

The entire Scooby gang, Spike included, all turned and stared slack jawed at him.

A chorus of questions and exclamations of how impossible that was were sounded from everyone in the room.

Spike's eyes widened as he put two and two together. "It was the kid—it makes sense. Angel lost his precious soul because his she-bitch of a sire had his spawn!" Despite the gravity of the situation, Spike let out a small chuckle. "How perfectly perverted…Darla always wanted to bring back Angelus—little did she know all she had to do was shag Peaches!"

Giles' eyes drilled into Spike. "Care to explain why you're not surprised Darla is even back, much less why you think her being pregnant would be the cause for Angel to lose his soul?"

Spike sighed. "Because Dru told me that some law firm down in L.A were after Angel, and they brought his bitch of a sire back to drive the poof bonkers—apparently it worked cause Angelus is definitely back, and since we all know the Poof didn't shag the Slayer—it had to be the kid being born that gave Angel that moment of 'perfect-bloody-happiness'…"

The ex-Watcher took his glasses off, polished them nervously and then slipped them back on. "That's impossible. Vampires cannot have children."

Spike shook his head. "I know that, but we all know Angelus has never been a normal vampire—it makes perfect sense. On the tapes those wankers recorded…" He motioned to the Nerds. "I saw Angelus…he had this other chit with him—a coltish brunette—a bit anorexic—kind of reminded me of Drusilla, actually…" He realized he was getting off topic and shook his head. "Anyways, the duck was carting around a kid with her, and I thought it bloody bizarre at thee time that Angelus was traveling with a human child in tow, because normally he'd have just eaten the brat…" The Scoobies looked horrified, so Spike skipped the details. "But if that kid is Angel's—it makes sense now, don't you see? Angelus has the kid because that's a way to keep the Slayer under his thumb."

Giles nodded. "Yes, I agree. It would be the perfect way to control Buffy." He sighed long and hard. "We need research. Anything we can find on Darla, her pregnancy—if the child is Angel's then we may have a lot more to deal with than just Angelus." Giles shuddered when he thought of the Council hearing about this. They'd stop at nothing to get their hands on a child created by two vampires—especially from Darla and Angelus. They would have no qualms killing one of their own—even if she was their Slayer.

Xander glared at Spike. "Care to share why you never told Buffy about Darla being back?"

Spike shrugged, but looked guilty. "I was working another angle—told her about Dru though, but I didn't really want to bring up the poof if ya know what I mean?"

"Yeah, but only because you were trying to get closer to Buffy—not because you really cared what kind of damage Dru and Darla together could do," Xander growled.

"Hey Darla wasn't here and she wasn't after Buffy—she was after Peaches, so why would I tell her that?"

"You were worried she'd go to L.A. to help him, weren't you?" Willow asked softly.

Spike looked down and away from her knowing green eyes and Xander pounced. "Figures," the boy exclaimed spitefully. "Like I said, more worried about getting Buffy to yourself than anything else—and yet you say you care about her?" Xander snorted. "Right!" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Like you would have encouraged her to go and help Angel?!" Spike scoffed and glared at Xander. "Please…you hated the ponce even before he went bad." Warming to his argument, Spike poked Xander in the chest. "At leastI have a reason to hate the prick—you have no bloody idea what Angelus put me through! But you—you hated Angel for no other reason than he had the chit you wanted for yourself," Spike snarled softly. "So don't sit there and pass judgment on me Cheeto-Boy."

Anya jumped up. "That's not true! My Xander loves me, not Buffy so why don't you keep your opinions to yourself!"

"Children!" Giles yelled, gaining everyone's attention and interrupting what was about to turn into a fight. "This isn't helping," he finished softly. "We could lament on how this happened all night. We need to discover how many people know about this birth, what Angelus' plan is and how we can save Buffy."

Willow sighed. "Giles is right, Xander. You know if Spike had come to us with a problem about Angel…we'd have told him to keep that to himself, right?" Xander looked away, but Willow wouldn't let him ignore her. "You know we would have—we wanted her to forget him, so really this is as much our fault as it is Spike's, so lets stop pointing fingers, okay?"

Giles collapsed into a chair. He looked tired, weary. "So, you know him better than any of us do," he said directing his comment to Spike. "What do you think he'll do next?"

Spike ran a hand across his gelled platinum head. "He'll take her someplace safe—somewhere out of the way and he'll break her down a bit at a time until she sees only him—wants only him and then he'll come back and…"

Xander felt chills race up his spine. "And what?"

"And he'll kill each and every one of us, that's what," Spike whispered.

"We might know where's he's going," Warren piped up from across the room. "But it'll cost you for the information."

Spike made a beeline right at the boy, game face to the fore. "I'm thinking it'll cost you more if you don't tell me what you know," he snarled, flashing his fangs.

Jonathan and Andrew cowered.

"Warren, can you not make the vampire mad!" Jonathan cried, covering his face with his arms. "I really wasn't planning on becoming a snack tonight, you know?"

Andrew nodded frantically. "Me either. Just tell them what you know—I just want to go home. I'm suddenly seeing the complete wrongness of this whole plan," the blond haired boy sobbed.

Warren backed away from Spike, but his crafty mind was still plotting. "Hey—if he hurts me you can kiss seeing your precious Slayer alive ever again!" he yelled to the room in general.

"Spike!" Willow cried. "Stop!" She wrung her hands. "He's our only clue to finding Buffy. You can't hurt him."

Spike skidded to a stop. Red was right, but that didn't mean he couldn't threaten. "Tell us," he growled, his fierce golden eyes clashing with Warren's dark ones, "or you're going to be one more 'Happy Meal' on legs for me."

Warren laughed. "Not for you—you're a de-fanged vampire." Spike looked insulted. Warren simply laughed. "Come on Spike—you came to me, remember? I know all about the hardware you have in your head, so the real question here is—are you willing to pay the price for my information, or does Buffy's evil-ex make off with the girl?"

Spike clenched his fists in an effort to stop himself from just ripping the man's throat out—even the excruciating pain of his chip wouldn't stop him at this point. "Whatever you want—I can get it, now talk."

Warren shook his head. "No, first you get me what I want…then I talk."

Now the boy coming to the door made sense. These three had an agenda, and they needed the Scoobies help and in return for that they'd share the information they had on Buffy. The ex-Watcher sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in an effort to relieve the headache he already felt coming on. "And just what is it that you want?"

"I want him…" He motioned to Spike, "to steal the Wilksburgh Diamond from the Sunnydale museum, after I have that—you can have the exact location of this Angelus guy and the Slayer."

"Exact location…?" Giles asked, his eyes widening. "And how is it you would have her exact location?"

Warren smirked confidently. "I might have put a GPS tracking device under the big guy's Plymouth…" He shrugged when everyone gaped at him. "Hey, I didn't know him or his agenda...It pays to know where your enemy is at all times. Really you guys should know that," he chided insolently.

"You mean to tell me that you've known of her whereabouts this entire time, and you're just now mentioning it?" Giles exclaimed, outraged that this boy would play so fast and loose with Buffy's life.

"That's just it old dude. I'm not mentioning, at least not yet…not until I get what I want."

Willow gasped. "Tell us where she is and I'll—"

"You can't do anything anymore. No powers, remember?" Warren cut in. He glanced at Spike. "But this guy…he can get me my diamond and then I'll share everything I got on Buffy and Angelus." He glanced around the room. "Have we got a deal?"

Spike didn't wait. "Yeah, you got a deal you twit. Give me the details and I'll get you your soddin' diamond, but you better be telling the truth because if ya aren't…" He let his face shift and gave a wicked—toothy grin towards the nerds as he tapped his head. "This chip won't stop me from tearing all of you apart one bloody piece at a time, got it?"

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Haceta Head, Oregon:

They were right next to the ocean. Buffy could hear the waves crashing close by and was almost soothed by the constant sound when Angelus pulled down the private road that led to wherever he was taking them. They pulled in front of a beautiful three story home, and Buffy stared in awe at the massive place that sported wooden verandas on every floor, yet still managed to look like a quaint little country cottage. It even came with the traditional white picket fence in the front yard. It was so not the dark demon sitting next to her that she frowned at him and asked, "When did you get this place?"

He debated lying, but decided against it. He was trying to win her trust—better to tell the truth here. He shrugged and watched her intently as he said, "It was Angel's." Buffy's eyes widen and Angelus heard her sharp indrawn breath. She blinked, and her face clouded over with confusion. There was an unspoken question in her eyes and again he answered with the truth. "Yeah, he bought it with you in mind," he said. He cupped her face. "Listen to me, Buffy…Angel couldn't handle what he was…but in the sap's defense, he wanted a happily ever after with you." He smirked as he waved a hand at the beautiful home. "This was his little dream house—now it's ours." He paused. "Don't let it get you all weepy, lover…remember, he left you—I'm here. I'll never leave you." He eaned forward and kissed her. "Want me to carry you over the threshold," he teased.

Buffy swallowed back the torrent of tears that were threatening to fall. She never knew—had never dreamed Angel had thought this far ahead for them. "Oh God," she whispered and turned away from Angelus.

He scowled when she began to cry softly. "God dammit! See, this is why I don't talk about Soul-Boy," he snapped. He grabbed her chin in a harsh, punishing grip and made her look at him. "Buff—he gave up this dream a long time ago." Again he went with the truth. "Your precious Angel hasn't been up here since a few months after he left Sunnydale. He closed up the house after you came to L.A. that last time and hasn't been back since. He wasn't ever planning on coming back…" He held back the part about the day that never was and how that had dashed Angel's hopes of ever being with Buffy. That was a can of worms he wasn't going anywhere near. It had nothing to do with him—hell, he wasn't even there for the whole fiasco so why should he try and explain it?

Buffy nodded sadly. "I-I get it—it's just…" Her breath hitched and she let out a ragged sigh. "I never knew he even thought about those kinds of things, much less got a house." She turned to Angelus for answers. "Why didn't he ever tell me?"

He bit back a curse. Great, now he was supposed to explain his Soul's fucked up motivations?! He mentally kicked his own ass for going with the truth. He should have just said he'd bought this place a few days ago, or it was a rental…anything, but the truth. "How the hell would I know?" he growled. "Peaches worked in bizarre and more often than not disturbing, disgusting ways—so don't ask me to explain what the hell he was thinking!" She looked so distraught, he took pity on her, but he was still annoyed Angel affected her so deeply. "Oh Jesus fucking Christ, Buff—stop will you? The idiot loved you, alright? But he was too damned scared of losing himself in you to ever stay with you. That's the hard, honest truth. He was just too damned scared to work things out, so he ran. Deal with that and let's move the fuck on, okay?"

"So he still…loved me?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Fuck what was he, her therapist now? "Yes," he answered again honestly, but he added a truth Buffy needed to hear despite the fact that she wasn't going to like it. "But he'd never have come back to you." Her face crumpled, but he pushed on, amazed he wasn't enjoying her pain more. "The truth is if it came down to you or his precious soul—Angel would have always chose his soul. But that's gone, and so is he, and he isn't ever coming back, so can we go in the house now?"

Buffy ignored his sarcasm as she digested that, and realized he was right. Angel was afraid of what she made him feel—he'd said as much when they met on the beach that night when she'd come back. His soul was more important to him than having a life with her—he hadn't even tried to find a cure. She nodded. "Thanks for telling me the truth," she whispered. "At least you do that," she said, giving him a smile. The first since they'd started fighting earlier.

He felt something inside him jump, but filed it under his eagerness to have her under him willingly again—he refused to think it was anything more than that. "I won't lie to you, lover—you may not like my truth, but I'll still give it to you straight."

She reminded herself to ask him to turn his honest eye on his own emotions someday, but not today. His truth today was he didn't want to love her and she had no doubts he'd stick to that story to the bitter end—she didn't want to go there, so she nodded and got out of the car without further comment.

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Okay guys, click the little blue button and feed the musie. oh, btw: next chappie just might be pure porn. I had to really restrain myself this chappie… *GRRRR* I had to further the plot, dammit! :( :(

I wanted SMUT though—so don't be surprised if I just slip a pure PWP chappie in like…I don't know…maybe tomorrow or something!! lol!

Okay—feed the musie please…

Hugs,

Jen