Title: The Night That Changed Everything
Author: Neamh1
Disclaimer: Not mine
AN: Just to say thank you to everyone who keps checking back to read the updates and giving me feedback, it's great to know what everyone thinks and i love reading all your comments so please keep sending them! Hope you enjoy this next chapter, Neamh.
...
Chapter 11
Two weeks later and life was as normal as it could be for Angel, Faith and Gunn. Angel had taken all Buffy's details to the detective agency and met with someone named William who was going to be handling his case. The hardest thing had been going through Buffy's things in her room but he had gotten through it with Faith's help and they had sorted through the things that the agency would need to start their search. Angel had heard a couple of times from Kate but she had no news on Buffy and was just checking to see how he was. He had the impression that she was trying to be a friend and build a relationship between them again but he didn't have time to think about that. All his focuses right now was on his work or finding Buffy.
He spoke daily with the agency but as the weeks rolled by and four months passed that contact grew less and less. He now had updates on the case twice a week. William's assistant Willow was really nice and helpful. She had told Angel that William was actually getting really annoyed that he hadn't been able to find her yet and was focusing all of his energy into tracking her down. It made him feel better speaking with the small red head but still there had been no news of Buffy.
She would be about five months pregnant by now and showing. He tried to picture her in his mind, her belly round with his child but every time he did it, it just hurt more and so he tried blocking everything out but his work. He stayed cool and calm. He saw less and less of Faith and Gunn although they came around every week to his apartment to see him, but he usually locked the door from the inside and ignored them.
The few times they'd caught him out and gotten into he apartment he had managed to get rid of them. He just didn't need them talking to him about Buffy and dredging up those feelings. He was barely coping as it was, he didn't need constant reminders of his feelings, cold and distant was the best way to be to keep him from going insane.
Unfortunately this attitude made Angel hard and nasty and in time even Gunn and Faith dreaded the thought of going around to see him. He snapped at them and spoke bluntly saying that he didn't need them and that he was fine without their constant worrying. They understood what he was doing and they tried to help but he just kept pushing everyone away. Without Angel's knowledge they started keeping in touch with the agency to find out if there was any news since Angel wouldn't tell them anything.
The detective had been out scouting a few times when he'd had reports of young pregnant blonde women arriving in different areas but they never panned out.
Angel had just gotten back form the agency's office and found his sister waiting for him at his front door.
"Fred, what's up?" He asked as he unlocked the door and they went inside.
"I came by to see how you are. You know Gunn and Faith said they haven't seen you in a few weeks." She said, placing her bag on his coffee table and sitting across from him on the sofa.
"Yeah, I've been busy." Angel said, not wanting to get into what he knew was going to become an argument.
"I don't know if you know, or even if you really want to, I don't know if I would but...It's Buffy's due
date today." He looked up sharply at her as she delivered the news. "Of course she might not have the
baby today." Fred started to say.
"Can you please leave?" Angel said with no emotion at all; he was numb, void, an empty shell.
"Angel, I think I should stay. I could make us something to eat."
"Fred, please just leave." He said again.
"I call by later." She said nodding and getting up from her seat. He probably needed some time to himself to think things through, she thought as she closed the front door behind her. Walking along the hall she climbed into the elevator as she heard her brother shout in pain at the top of his voice and the loud bangs of him trashing his apartment. Angel threw his furniture, ornaments, anything he could find around the apartment. Then when there was no more destruction to cause to the furniture he started
pounding his fist against the wall until it bleed. A wave of pain washed through his body and he collapsed against the wall breathing hard.
He didn't have time to calm down, his cell rang in his pocket and when he saw who was calling he answered straight away.
"Liam, it's Willow. We've found her."
Angel's heart was pounding as he approached the office of the agency. He'd already been delayed along the way by a police officer who had pulled him over for speeding, now he had a fine and points on his license. Luckily it hadn't taken long for the officer to issue his warning and the ticket and Angel had been back on his way within ten minutes of being pulled over.
He took a deep breath before pushing open the front door and stepping inside the office. Willow sat behind her desk as usual waiting for him; she looked up as she heard him enter and smiled.
"William is in his office, you can go straight in… and good luck." She said with a friendly smile as Angel nodded and walked past her towards William's office. He knocked on the door and then entered finding the man in question sitting in his chair with his feet up resting on the polished wood on his desk.
"Liam, why don't you take a seat? I take it Willow's already let slip the good news?" Spike asked as he
watched the obsessed man sit down on the other side of his desk. He'd never known anyone so intent on finding someone before. But then again, Spike had never had so much trouble finding someone before either and it was only by pure luck that she had been found in the first place but he wasn't going to admit that.
"Yes, she said you've found Buffy. Where is she?" Angel asked anxious to know where she was and if she was with someone.
Spike passed Angel a file across the desk containing pictures of Buffy...and Riley. Angel heart clenched when he looked at the pictures and he had the sudden urge to smash something up again.
"The guy in the picture with her is Finn isn't it?" Angel nodded, in reply, "Well they were together every day that I was there, didn't once see Buffy alone and I thought it was better not to approach her whilst she was with Finn just in case there is something going on. I followed them back to the place where they are staying, small house on the outskirts of town, very secluded from the rest of the town. I waited for Finn to leave and when he had gone I approached the house.
There are security cameras around the perimeter, along the decking at the front of the house and at the
back of the house there are bars on the windows but I couldn't get close enough because of the cameras. It seemed strange to have so many bloody cameras and bars on all the windows. All the blinds inside were closed as well so I couldn't see if there was any movement inside but she was definitely in there. I
think the best thing to do is go back and keep watching them until we can get her alone outside of
the house to speak with her. I don't think it's safe going to the house with all this surveillance equipment around as Finn may have a link up to his office in town and be watching, it may put Buffy at risk."
"But surely we could get her out before he had chance to get back to the house and get her out of town again." Angel said now starting to worry now that it looked like Riley had actually kidnapped Buffy. But if she had why was she walking around holding hands with him in the pictures?
"We could, as long as he didn't have any sort of failsafe plan. You said this guy burnt down her house. What if he has a bomb or something inside ready to set off in case anyone tries to rescue her? Maybe that's the reason why she's not escaping from the house during the day when he's out. Plus she's hardly in any position right now to be running away from Finn, she so pregnant she looks like she's going to drop at any time!" Spike said.
"She's due today." Angel said quietly.
"Then lets get going, any signs when we get there that she's in danger then we'll bring in the police, is
there anything you need to collect from your place before we leave?"
"No, I have my wallet. I'll buy anything I need there, let's just go." Angel said already out the office door. "Thanks for your help Willow." He said passing the redhead on the way out.
"See you when you get back, and good luck!" She called to them both as they left the office. She'd seen the pictures Spike had brought back and knew what Liam's first thoughts would be but everything would be made clear for him soon. She just hoped that everything turned out all right.
The car journey had been hell. Angel couldn't keep still and Spike was getting annoyed with his constant fidgeting and anxiousness to arrive. Angel found out the detective wasn't a very patient person and swore a lot.
Angel was even more surprised to find out from Spike where they were headed. It seemed that Riley hadn't known where they'd gone for the carnival because he'd taken Buffy to Sunnydale, or perhaps he did know and it was where Buffy had chosen to go because she'd had such a great time there, the irrational part of his mind thought bitterly.
They checked themselves into the hotel where he'd previously been unable to stay at the time of the carnival and went to their rooms briefly before going out. Spike had suggested that Angel change his clothes and wear a hat to disguise himself in case they accidentally came across Buffy and Riley in the open.
They quickly made a stop at the mall and Angel brought some black slacks and a white long sleeved t-shirt. The whole time he was changing in the gents, he felt like shouting at the top of his voice. He wanted to just run in that house, pick up Buffy and carry her out of there and away from that creep. He couldn't wait to see her again, he just wanted to tell her how much he loved her and that from now on everything was going to be alright and that he would never again let her get away from him or let anyone hurt her.
Spike waited patiently whilst Angel changed. He came out from the gents in the causal clothing with a cap on his head and sunglasses. It wasn't perfect but it would at least do the job as long as they didn't draw attention to themselves.
They set out for the house and hid in the bushes on the outskirts of the garden and waited for some movement. It was an hour before they saw anything. Riley must have finished work for the day because he was returning to the house just after five thirty in a suit carrying a bag of what looked like take out food. Riley unlocked the door and went inside.
"Now what do we do?" Angel asked.
"Nothing, we watch and wait. We can't do anything else whilst he's in there with her, its too dangerous. We'll wait until the lights go out and then we'll go back and get some sleep and come back in the morning."
"I'll stay here." Angel said not wiling to move away in case he left the house.
"Right, so you're going to stay here all night and risk someone seeing you and reporting you to the police."
"Who's going to see me? We're on the outskirts of town!" Angel said, his voice rising with anxiety.
"Right, so you're going to shout and let them know you're here then? Look Liam, you employed me to help you get her back. Now trust me and let me do my job or you're going to blow this and she'll be gone again, and this time I might not be able to find her." Spike said, he knew that it was going to be hard convincing Liam to follow his rules. It seemed like all sense flew out the window when the person you loved was in danger, understandable, Spike was just glad that he wasn't in the situation.
"Fine." Angel said, realising that he might have just alerted Riley to their presence. Just then the front door of the house opened and Angel's whole body went tense worrying that Riley was coming to check on him. They didn't move a muscle; Angel even held his breath as they waited. They watched Riley look around outside and then go back inside but he left the door open.
Their anticipation rising, they watched as Riley walked back outside holding Buffy's hand.
They watched as the pair walked out through the woods behind the house. Angel followed Spike quietly and they stopped when the reached the outskirts of a clearing leading to a small grassy area on the edge of a cliff where Buffy stood with him, his arm around her shoulders.
Angel's anger flared as he watched them sit down and share the food and conversation with each other. From what little he could hear it sounded like a civilised conversation; it seemed as though Buffy was happy to be there but appearances could be deceiving. He wouldn't make any conclusions until he had spoken with her. She looked amazing; it wasn't that she was wearing anything stunning, he was just glad that she was wrapped up warm in a long coat as it was freezing outside. He couldn't remember when it had last been so cold in November.
They seemed to be just watching the water below the cliff, moon and stars; allowing Buffy some fresh air, he thought. They didn't stay out long, soon they were heading back through the woods towards the house.
"Let's make our move now." Angel suggested, not wanting to wait another minute, he didn't like the thoughts that were running through his head at the thought of what Riley might be doing with her when he got her back inside that house.
"We won't be able to get close enough without making noise and alerting them. We'll have to wait until they go out somewhere in town." Spike said. Truthfully the thought had run through his head but there was no way that they would get close enough and keep the element of surprise. If Riley heard them coming he may use Buffy as protection for himself and she could get hurt.
Angel didn't argue, he knew that Spike was right. They followed them back to the house and waited outside until the lights all went out at roughly eleven. Then after a lot of tugging on Spike's behalf, they headed back to the hotel with the intention of returning early in the morning.
Angel tossed and turned in his bed that night, knowing where she was and trying to stay away was the hardest thing he had ever done. He would never be away from her again after this. He'd move her straight into his house and that's where she'd stay forever. Or maybe they could look for a place together, somewhere away from the city so that their child could learn to ride his bike along the street and take their dog for a walk in the nearby fields and woods. A perfect image entered his mind of him and Buffy walking along holding hands and smiling as their son chased the dog in front, throwing sticks for him to fetch.
A knock sounded at his bedroom door and he got up, cautiously pulling it open until he saw that it was only Spike. "What is it?"
"Nothing, I was just making sure you were here. Make sure you're ready in the morning for six, he usually leaves the house at seven." Spike said and then he was gone, leaving Angel to go back to his perfect world. Not long, he told himself as he closed his eyes on the bed trying to conjure the image again...soon.
The next morning Spike and Angel arrived at the house at a little after six thirty. Unlike usual, there
seemed to be no movement in the house and Spike couldn't understand what was happening. Riley went out every single day at the same time. He began to worry that they had been seen yesterday and Riley had skipped town with Buffy through the night.
They waited for 2 hours until finally they saw lights come on in the front room. Another hour later and Riley emerged from the house, Buffy following him.
"I thought you said he works through the week?" Angel asked harshly, worried about the change in routine.
"He does, he must have taken the day off to take her somewhere." they watched as Buffy and Riley got into his car and then they ran through the woods and jumped in Spike's car. Angel had to get in the back and lie down so that he wasn't spotted whilst Spike drove and followed Riley at a slow pace.
"Where are they headed?" Angel asked from his position in the back seat.
"It looks like they are going toward the mall, maybe they are just going shopping." Spike said hopefully.
"Then we can get her away from him?" A burst of excitement went thorough Angel at the thought of having her back with him so soon.
"Maybe, if the opportunity presents. We have to be careful, we don't want to endanger anyone else but
he's less likely to make a scene and pull a gun out on us if we're in public." Spike said. He never trusted anyone and had his own insurance strapped to his waist.
Angel felt the car halt as Spike pulled it into a parking space in front of the mall. "Don't move yet." Spike said as he watched Riley help Buffy out of the car and they walked across the parking lot to the mall. "Okay, let's go."
They followed slowly; Buffy and Riley went first to get some breakfast from the food court. It was so busy that they couldn't do anything because of all the tightly packed people so they had to wait whilst they ate and then follow them again. Spike could see that Angel was getting anxious, he kept walking faster and getting closer to them and Spike had to keep pulling him back a little. He didn't think that Angel was going to hold out much longer when the perfect opportunity presented itself. They entered a men's shop and whilst
Riley was paying for something Buffy wandered from his side over to the women's section. They moved like lightening, grabbing her arms and spinning her from the clothes and toward the door.
"Hey what are you doing?"
"Getting you out of here and back home where you'll be safe." Angel explained quickly, glancing back to see if Riley had noticed Buffy was missing.
"Let go of me! Riley!" she shouted.
The unexpected action paused Spike and Angel in their movements and they both stared at her as though she'd gone mad. Angel glanced back and saw Riley's eyes fixed on them.
"Stop them security; they're kidnapping my fiancé!" Riley shouted as he ran across the store pushing people out of his way, his wallet forgotten back on the cashier's desk.
Spike and Angel pulled harder on Buffy trying to get her to move out of the store but she fought them and for a heavily pregnant woman she had a lot of strength.
Riley caught up with them and pulled Angel back. The two began fighting as Spike held on to Buffy and tried to speak with her, "Buffy we're here to rescue you. Liam's been looking for you for months, what are you doing, are you here with Riley willingly?" Spike asked, trying to get to the bottom of things.
"What are you talking about, I don't even now who he is?" She said, still pulling at Spike's hands around her wrist.
"What?!" He was completely baffled, what the hell was going on?
Before he could ask any more questions he was grabbed from behind by a security guard and another three came and split Riley and Angel apart, both bloodied and almost snarling at each other.
"Alright you lot, come with us, the police will be here for you soon." One of the guards said, as they were all, minus Buffy, dragged away; she followed with an insistent hand to her back by another guard.
The guards led them to the security room where they all waited in silence for the police to arrive, which didn't take long. They were taken in two cars to the police station after the guards had described what had happened in the store.
Waiting in the cells that they had all been placed into, Angel was furious! He was mad that things had gone so wrong, mad that Buffy hadn't seemed as though she wanted to leave Riley, mad that he'd been arrested and mad that the police had put Buffy, a pregnant women in a cell!
He tried to calm himself down, there was no way he was going to get out of there if the police came back and found him all worked up and pounding the crap out of the walls.
It was a long wait until someone finally came to him and took him into an interrogation room. He was told to take a seat and then the officer stated the date and asked him to confirm his personal details.
"Mr. O'Connor, can you tell me what happened back in the men's clothing shop at the mall?" The officer asked, looking for any signs that he might be lying.
"I went there to try and get my...friend back. She's been missing for months, left without her clothes or
anything after we had, sort of a fight in a nightclub. She hadn't even contacted her best friend so I hired a detective agency to track her down. It took a while but we did and we arrived yesterday and followed them today to the mall. That's where we tried to get Buffy out of there but...something went wrong, and then the next thing I know Riley is there and he's fighting with me and then we were arrested by guards." Angel said disappointingly. He'd been waiting too long; he'd given up hope that he was going to get out of the station that day.
"That's about the same thing your PI told us, plus he showed us ID, we just needed to confirm your stories. We're going to let you off with a warning about the fighting given the circumstances but there is something you should know. Miss Summers says she has no recollection of you, she doesn't even remember Mr. Finn. She has a case of severe amnesia, we've sent her to the hospital and they are looking her over now. You're free to go along. I've informed the hospital that you and Mr. Turner will be collecting her and returning her home. Detective Lockley from L.A. confirmed your story so we thing it's safe for you to return her there for the time being provided you see that she receives the appropriate care. Mr. Finn will remain here, Detective Lockley will be arriving soon to examine his property and escort him back to L.A. for further questioning."
Angel heard but he couldn't believe what the officer was telling him. It was like some crazy novel unfolding about them, just when you thought everything would be okay in the lives of the lovers in the story; the writer would throw in some twist.
"Mr. O'Connor?" The officer said when Angel didn't move or say anything.
"Yeah, I'm going. Thank you." He said, getting up and leaving. Going to the front desk he collected his
things, Spike was waiting for him in the waiting area. Whilst Angel caught a cab to the hospital, Spike
caught one back to the mall to collect his car and then arranged to meet with Angel outside the hospital
when Buffy was ready to leave. He felt bad for Angel, the man had searched for this woman for months only to find her and have her reject him because she doesn't know him. Spike couldn't have dreamed up a worse punishment. No, he thought, at least she's alive.
TBC…
