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Chapter 5- I Fall To Pieces
"Last for the day", Buffy said as the recording came on.
Cordelia walked into the office, ranting about her bills to Doyle as she said they needed to run this business like one and charge, plus she needed a raise. Doyle joked she had worked for him for 20 minutes but she corrected a month and she had needs.
"I don't think that came out the way she wanted it to", Willow commented, everyone chuckling.
Cordelia said a person needed certain designer things.
"So that's what she meant", Xander said, nodding, since his mind had thought of the other stuff.
Doyle did agree with her on Angel needing to charge, but said he hated bringing up finances, and just liked playing the hero, then walking off into the dark with his long coat flowing behind him in a mysterious and attractive way. Cordelia joked she could leave him alone for this private moment but he said he wasn't attracted, just that Angel projected a certain kind of image he was sensitive about.
"Or, you're just attracted", Dawn said and everyone laughed.
"Don't really blame him, do you?" Buffy asked with a smirk.
"Nah", Dawn shrugged.
The elevator opened as the two decided to stand up to him, after he had his coffee. Angel came in as they greeted each other, and he poured himself coffee, making a face after drinking due to it being a week old. Doyle and Cordelia brought up the topic ambiguously but Angel said he wasn't comfortable asking people for money. Cordelia told him to get over it, adding she meant it in a sensitive way. Doyle and Angel had a light argument, Cordelia getting annoyed before Doyle's face scrunched up in pain and he hunched over the table.
"Vision time", Tara said to everyone.
Doyle saw a brown haired woman in an office with shoulder length hair, and took a pen and paper from Cordy, and Angel poured him a shot. Doyle said he saw a 'Melissa Burns' who worked at Pardell Paper Products, and Cordelia found her in the phone book. As Doyle recovered, Angel asked how she looked and he said better than him, before drinking the shot and complained it wasn't single malt but polymalt.
"They really do need the money", Giles said.
"Start asking, Angel", Buffy told him.
Cordelia gave Angel the address and he grabbed his coat, throwing it on, walking off to work, and Doyle watched him leave, the coat flowing appearing in slow motion to him. Cordelia looked at him and he admitted he was a little attracted.
"I knew it!" Dawn said happily.
"Guess people in trench coats have that effect", Xander muttered to himself.
At the office, Melissa and a guy were commenting on an ordered cake where Penny's name had been spelled as 'Benji' instead, so Melissa wiped the bottom bulge of B with her finger as the guy stuck some candles down there. They wondered what to do with the 'j' now.
"So, it's Penji now?" Buffy wondered.
"Guess it is, so she better change her name", Xander quipped.
Penny then arrived and was wished a 'happy birthday', and looking at the name joked how they knew 4 letters of her name, and Melissa joked she should be Penji now since it suited her better. Penny blew out the candles and Melissa gifted her a pot, telling her she could break it by accident but Penny thanked her.
"She took it rather well", Giles said about Penny.
"Nice lady for sure", Willow said.
Then a dark-skinned guy came in with a bouquet, and they thought it was for Penny but turned out it was for Melissa, and she took them, but was spooked out on reading the name. The deliverer asked if something was wrong but she said 'no' and walked away from the rest.
"Looks like she has a stalker after her", Tara said.
"So that's why Doyle had a vision of her", Dawn said.
"RIP stalker", Buffy quipped.
Melissa took out a bottle of pills and hid it in her hands, requesting Penny to watch her phones and walked into the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She took out some pills and swallowed them with water.
"Guess this stalker has been after her for quite some time now", Xander said.
"And is getting more volatile now", Willow agreed.
Melissa walked into the parking garage when Angel called out to her, startling her as he apologized.
"Don't sneak up on girls with a stalker", Buffy said.
Angel introduced himself and said he worked in private security, saying it was his job. She wondered why he was telling this to people in a garage.
"And epic fail", Tara said, everyone groaning.
Angel held out his card and said she might be in need of his services, and she said she couldn't afford it. Angel said he helped people when police couldn't, and she asked if it was due to the goodness of his heart.
"Yes it is, but no one buys it", Buffy said.
"This generation is paranoid like that", Giles said. "For good reason."
Angel said he wasn't explaining very well but she still thanked him, and as she started driving off, he told her to call if she needed anything.
"I have a feeling she is going to need a lot of things very soon", Xander said.
"And I have a feeling your feeling is right", Willow told him.
At the office, Angel groaned he had scared her as Doyle said she seemed pretty scared already. Angel wondered if he put people off. Cordelia said for Vampires, he was pretty cuddly.
"As long as his soul is in place", Dawn said.
"Yeah, Angelus is the opposite of cuddly", Buffy agreed.
Angel asked Cordelia to talk to her but she said she'd get involved when Melissa hired them. Angel said he had a bad feeling so they should get involved, and money shouldn't be a factor. Doyle agreed, surprising Cordelia as he said. "No, it's about doing what's best for the people you've helped. People get attached to a mysterious savior, and can you blame them? But as long as you're just a man who's doing a job, and getting paid, they can feel like they've paid their debt to you and they can move on... independent like."
"Best way to word it in a way both sides are comfortable", Willow said.
"Yeah, that was smart", Tara agreed. "Now it doesn't sound morally unethical in any way."
"Not that it was", Buffy said. "Everyone needs money to live at least."
Cordelia told Doyle he was a lot smarter than he looked, and he looked like a retard.
"Poor Doyle", Dawn said.
"Maybe being with me made her standards higher", Xander said, and all gave him looks. "Who am I kidding?"
Melissa walked to an ATM, trying to get money but her pin was invalid. She tried again as a tall guy in a suit appeared. He had short grey hair but was bald up top. He said he had changed it, mocking her for making it her birthday, startling her.
"So he is the one", Giles said, everyone tensing.
He had changed it to 3-5-9-9, the day they had met. She told him to stop doing this, and he asked if she meant stop looking after her.
"You call that looking after her?" Dawn said angrily.
"I have met many creepy Vamps and Demons, and he is as creepy as the worst of them", Buffy said, everyone already creeped out by his behavior.
"He is worse than the average stalker if he is changing your pin number", Tara said.
"It's like he is controlling her life, making it his own", Willow said, disgusted.
"Hope he gets his soon then", Xander said.
He said he wanted her to be healthy and happy before asking how many tranqs she had taken in the bathroom, horrifying her.
"Oh crap!" Xander said.
"How does he even know that?" Willow wondered. "Can he do some kind of magic or something?"
"Maybe", Buffy said. "Or he has others working with him and they put cameras everywhere she goes."
He asked if she was taking his prescription rather than those.
"If someone like him prescribes you something, take the exact opposite of it", Dawn said.
"Yeah, exactly what anyone should do", Tara agreed.
He then said he knew she had thrown them in the drawers after getting home, saying they were for her good.
"Him managing to see what she does in her private space makes him the creepiest stalker ever", Willow said.
"I have battled multiple Vamps and Demons, and he can stand alongside the worst of them", Buffy said.
Melissa asked to leave her alone but he said two people in love couldn't do that.
"If this was love, everyone would be afraid of it", Tara said.
Melissa reminded the guy, whose name was Ronald, they had one date, but he said he took commitment seriously, and then noticed it was time for surgery. He pulled money out of the ATM, handing it to her, which she took hesitantly. He moved in to kiss her but she recoiled as he walked off, saying he would see her tonight.
"How about never?" Dawn asked.
"He needs to be introduced to someone", Buffy said.
"Who?" Xander asked.
"Angel's fist", Buffy said, and no one disagreed.
At Angel's office, the phone rang as Cordelia picked it up. "Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."
"Wouldn't helpless be better?" Xander asked.
"They did change it to that later", Buffy said, remembering.
After some talk, Cordelia said Melissa was coming as Angel walked off to change. Later, Melissa sat in the office, telling them it had been going on for 7 months, while Angel wore a white sweater.
"Black suits him better to be honest", Tara said.
"I know right?" Willow asked. "His entire appeal is in black."
"Yeah, the broody mysterious stranger. The white sweater doesn't give that vibe", Buffy agreed.
"7 months though, more than half a year", Xander said, and everyone felt bad that Melissa had to live in fear for so long.
Melissa said he was Dr. Ronald Meltzer, a neurosurgeon who had saved her sight by operating on a nerve behind her right eye, then asked her out. She had accepted due to feeling obligated, Cordelia noted. Melissa said they had a drink one time but then he had started coming around everywhere, including her apartment, office, etc. and even wanted to get married.
"Way to proposition a lady", Giles said, voicing everyone's disgust.
Melissa said he watched her everywhere, and had even know what she had done in the bathroom. Angel said they would help her and Cordelia added for a reasonable fee, but Angel gave her a look and she ducked.
"While I support them charging a fee, wrong time to ask for it", Tara said, and all agreed.
Angel said Doyle would accompany her home, and Melissa thanked them while sipping the coffee, and said it was terrible. Angel said he had a friend in the police department as Doyle led Melissa out, while Angel wondered how Ronald could watch her in private places. Cordelia noted he could also have cameras everywhere and wouldn't be supernatural, but Angel reminded Doyle had a vision, and Cordelia realized it had to be supernatural then. The two then thought about it as Cordelia commented to her flesh to stop crawling due to the creepy thoughts she was getting.
"So guess it is supernatural in that case", Buffy said.
"Magic has to be it", Willow said.
Melissa drew her curtains and brushed her hair, then got undressed while Ronald sat in his dark office, sipping a scotch, a picture of Melissa in the front. Ronald held the bridge of his nose with one hand while Melissa opened the back of her slip. Ronald took his hand down and his right eye socket was empty. An eyeball was floating in the air with some nerve endings trailing behind, and Melissa got out of her slip, her back to the eyeball.
"Eurrggghh!" Everyone went together in disgust and horror.
"So that's how he is doing it!" Buffy said in realization.
"He can disassemble and reassemble his body", Giles said. "That's how he gets in and out."
"And no one knows it", Willow sighed. "Poor Melissa."
"Angel's fist can still meet him", Dawn reminded.
"What part of him though?" Xander asked.
Angel walked to Kate, greeting her nervously as she wondered if he was here to ask her out or for a favor, and then concluded it was the latter.
"You're not so unlucky, lady", Xander commented, and no one really care for now.
Angel told Kate a girl client was being stalked, and Kate decided to help out.
"Hopefully, Kate has some more", Tara said.
Doyle walked with Melissa in her office, making her feel safe, and Melissa sat down, wondering if Angel had handled a lot of cases like these. Doyle said he had handled dozens of hundreds, not exactly like hers, but had protected 4 women, with 3 being alive, shocking her.
"Don't think you should have mentioned the statistics", Buffy said, cringing, like the rest.
"Yeah, they never help", Willow agreed.
Doyle then noticed a picture of her bungee jumping and commented she didn't seem like the thrill seeker type, and she said she used to do it all before Ronald. Doyle assured when Angel was finished she could jump off bridges again.
"With a cord behind", Xander added.
At the police department, Kate came up with a file and told Angel Melissa had fired a complaint 2 months ago but Ronald's lawyers were Wolfram and Hart.
"And now things are even worse", Giles said as all groaned.
"They have to be everywhere", Buffy muttered.
Kate said they ended filing a restraining order against Melissa instead, though there was no record of violence for the doctor.
"My goodness, a restraining order against the victim?" Giles said while everyone was angered and horrified.
"But, isn't he violating it himself?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, even with restraining orders, if the person filing it goes to the one it's filed against, it's considered harassment by the complainant against the one they complained against", Willow said.
"Yeah, but its Wolfram and Hart", Buffy pointed out, and that said enough.
Angel added 'yet' and said he might just blow. Kate said she'd put a uniform on the building but it would only be for two days max, but Angel said that was enough, and told her his client was scared. Kate told Angel to get her mad so she could fight him, but he said he would do the fighting. Kate told him. "That's not what I mean. This guy could go to jail tomorrow, Angel, and still kill her in her dreams every night. I've put a few of these creeps away and the hardest thing is to know that he is still winning. She's still afraid. He took her power away and no one can get it back for her but her."
"That was deep", Tara said.
"And every word she said was right", Buffy said, thinking of her own experience with the Master. Even after killing him, he had killed her in her dreams every night till she had smashed his bones to get some catharsis.
"Well, Angel can fight, she can help", Dawn shrugged.
At a clinic, Angel sneaked into Ronald's office, looking through stuff, and then he walked in, asking why Angel was in his office. Angel stuck a book he had gotten inside and pulled out a business card, handing it to him and introduced himself as 'Jenson', lying his wife had a malignant tumor on her ocular cavity and was going to die till someone had the nerve to operate.
"Did he just make a pun?" Xander asked and all nodded. "He made a pun."
"Now hopefully, the doctor buys Angel's charade", Willow said.
"Remember, he is a great actor", Buffy said.
"I remember", Xander sighed.
Ronald said he couldn't help when Angel picked up Melissa's photo and asked what she was to him, and he lied she was his fiancée.
"Did you propose with a ring?" Tara asked.
"I think he assumed giving her money from her own account was a proposal, and her taking it was her accepting", Xander said in disgust.
Angel asked if he had set a date and Ronald said they were working it out. Angel asked how he knew she was the one, and then asked if he would die for her. Ronald said he would.
"I think she would die of you first", Willow said angrily, speaking for everyone.
Angel then begged Ronald to think about it, while Cordelia interviewed a nurse, saying their readers at 'journal of diagnostic orthoped... etcetera' were fascinated with him.
"That's the best she could come up with?" Dawn asked.
"I think she should have come prepared for this", Giles said.
"They're still beginners though", Buffy reminded.
The nurse said he developed nerve and blood vessel accelerants that helped a lot of people, since when a limb was severed there was only so much time to reattach before it atrophied, the image disgusting Cordelia before she asked to go on, and the nurse said he was one of the best at reattaching severed nerves, and then Cordelia asked if he struck her as a creep.
"Should she have really asked that?" Xander wondered.
"If he is a stalker, he would give off some signs to others, especially women", Buffy said.
Cordelia promised to keep the nurse's name out of it, and the nurse said he wasn't generous, not sharing his techniques with the medical community, and what he claimed to have done was radical.
"So, there's some dirt then", Dawn said.
"But not enough to expose him as a stalker", Tara said.
"Actually, it's nothing at all if you want to expose him", Willow said.
"But it's still something", Giles told them.
Later, Cordelia paced around Angel's office, telling him the guy could do anything with a knife and joked stalking was the third most popular sport for men these days.
"Hey, we guys aren't that bad!" Xander said.
"I guess she has more experiences with Ronalds than Xanders", Buffy told him.
Angel said it was 4 th after Luge and then said there was nothing about Melissa that made him stalk her, but he couldn't stand not being able to deal with a real woman, so he created a fantasy about one he barely knew, and when she failed him, he had to hurt her, as she reminded him of how useless and damaged he was.
"He is speaking from experience", Giles said, having a slightly judgmental tone.
"Angelus is as evil as Angel is good", Buffy spoke.
Cordelia commented how he must have been a fun date back in his evil days and said it would give him insight into the jerks. Angel said he may know how he was doing it, and showed her the book he had stolen from the office, mentioning a Vinpur Natpudan, and Cordelia remembered him from the news a few years ago. Angel said he had a nervous breakdown and then had an exclusive retreat for some yogis and doctors, including Ronald, and had sent him an e-mail, and then Cordelia noted he had stolen the book.
"Vinpur would have some more info", Tara said.
"Yeah, since he met him at a retreat of all places, he would know more", Buffy agreed.
Angel then met Vinpur, who asked what he could do about Ronald hurting an innocent woman. Angel asked to help him understand Ronald better, as he wasn't like others. Vinpur said no two people were alike as God kept all people varied and interesting. Angel asked how he had met him, and Vinpur said he had come to one of his lectures and his operating thesis at the time had been that the mind was the single most powerful force in the universe. In any average human it regulated billions of cells, and that was with 80% of the brain still untapped.
"His teachings would sound bogus, but since we know magic, they sound interesting", Willow said.
"And Ronald looks like he's using it", Tara reminded.
Vinpur said Ronald had eclipsed all the psychic surgeons, and he had exploded all the theories and hearsay, so Vinpur had stopped teaching, not because he had stopped believing, but because he had started believing completely.
"He's that good?" Buffy wondered.
"Well, he was able to take an eye out of the socket", Xander reminded, touching his own spot where he had lost his eye sadly.
At Melissa's house at night, Ronald stood outside and stared inside. Melissa slept in her bed as a police car pulled over. The officer got out, telling Ronald to put his hands in the air, and when he turned around, his hands were in his pockets so the officer pulled out his gun. Ronald pulled out his arms, but had no hands.
"No hands to put in the air", Buffy commented. "He is creepy, but there's a joke there."
"I am worried what he's gonna do to the cop though", Willow said.
The severed hands crawled up the side of Melissa's bed, while the officer apologized to Ronald, who accepted. He then walked off.
"Well, at least the cop is safe", Willow said.
"But Melissa isn't", Tara pointed out.
The hands slipped under Melissa's blanket, and she woke up, looking under, then screamed. The officer heard the scream and ran inside, smashing the glass of the door to open it. Melissa undid the safety chain on her door and met the cop, frantically telling him there was someone inside her bedroom. The officer went inside and checked, before coming out and said there was nobody inside, only for a hand to grab him and pull him back.
"And now he's going to die", Willow groaned, everyone now feeling even worse for him as well as Melissa.
Ronald watched from outside as his hands choked the cop, while Melissa ran out of the house right into Angel.
"Right on time", Xander of all people said as they sighed in relief.
"Maybe Ronald's fist can meet Angel's fist", Buffy suggested.
"But wouldn't it be a fist bump then rather than beat down?" Dawn pointed out.
"I hate you", Buffy muttered.
"Feeling's mutual", Dawn smirked.
Angel calmed her down while saying he knew what Ronald could do, while she cried against his chest, and during that time, Ronald watched, the hand crawling up his leg and reattaching, while he took one last look at Angel and Melissa before walking away.
"Your days of stalking with your body parts are over", Willow snarled at him.
People then crowded around Melissa's house as the cop's body was wheeled away, and Doyle handed Melissa a cup of coffee, a blanket around her. Kate told Angel she wasn't making too much sense, and Angel said he knew it was the doctor. Kate said the cameras caught no one and asked if Ronald was Houdini, and Angel said something like that. Kate said if the prints matched, Ronald would go down, and then walked off to sign the coroner's release. Angel walked to Doyle, and he commented if they got prints Ronald would be put behind bars for 90 seconds before skittering through them, saying this just made him shudder.
"Join the club", Xander said.
"Imagine a random prisoner sees his hand skittering around and in a panic stabs or smashes it", Dawn suggested, making everyone chuckle at the mental image.
Angel said if the body parts went too long without blood or oxygen, they would deteriorate, and then he wouldn't be able to put himself back together, but it was just a theory, and right now they had to protect Melissa from Ronald, who was out of control and killing anything between himself and his obsession, and right now the thing in between was them.
"Good luck guys", Buffy said.
"I am sure after all they have went up against, someone who can fall to pieces won't be too much", Willow shrugged.
"As long as they get the parts that is", Tara said.
Doyle later put a duct tape over a vent, but then Cordelia touched his collar, making him jump. She said she was fixing it but he told her to leave it till this was resolved.
"So a half Demon got scared by a cheerleader", Dawn said, and that made all chuckle.
"There is an irony about that", Giles agreed.
"Plus, she tried to fix his collar", Willow piped up.
"So she's into him too", Buffy smirked.
"Just doesn't know it yet", Tara said.
They walked into the other room where Angel comforted Melissa, and told her he dealt with things like this. Cordelia offered a tissue but Melissa said she was tired of crying and being afraid. Angel said she had survived hell for the last few months and was still standing while Ronald had become unhinged, so she was strong and he was weak.
"Good point", Willow agreed.
Cordelia told Melissa to listen and started that Angel had stalked, but when they looked at her, she quickly corrected he had stalked a lot of books on the subject.
"Narrow save", Buffy said.
"She needs a little more tact is all", Dawn said.
Angel and Cordelia then went upstairs as she pointed out the doctor was dangerous. They went down via elevator and Angel looked through some pages, saying he was trying to find metal boxes, to pack up the doctor. Cordelia started commenting about the job but the ringing phone made her jump, and then noticed it was the special line, the two arguing about the business name for a bit before Cordelia picked up, introducing their company as 'Jensen International Holdings.'
"Wondering if 'holdings' is because they are going to hold his body parts", Buffy said.
"These two just had a minor argument like a married couple", Willow noted on Angel and Cordelia.
"I know right?" Tara said.
"I don't really see 'em together to be honest", Xander said.
"Yeah, doesn't sound like something that would happen", Dawn agreed.
Cordelia gave the phone to Angel, Ronald saying he would operate on his wife but it had to be done out of country and there had to be some cash. Angel asked if Ronald was in his office and when he said he was, Angel said he would bring it over right now.
"Little does he know Ronald saw him earlier with Melissa", Giles reminded and everyone gulped.
"He has a plan", Buffy muttered. "But I am sure Angel can handle it."
Cordelia asked what if Ronald came apart on him but Angel said he would stay apart in that case.
"Hopefully", Willow said.
Angel came into Ronald's office, who immediately dropped the pretext, saying he knew Angel wasn't Jensen and had no wife. He reached for something with his left hand, distracting Angel as he shot him with a tranq with the right one. Angel started falling and gasping as Ronald said the paralytic was slowing down his heart.
"But it doesn't even beat!" Buffy snapped, everyone worried for Angel.
"Maybe it is affecting him in a different way", Willow suggested.
Ronald was angry Angel was trying to take Melissa from him, telling him he had seen them together. Angel rolled back onto the floor, Ronald ranting about how devoted he had been but she had still lied and cheated, now no more, and he left while Angel passed out, commenting she would have made a beautiful bride.
"If she becomes one, it won't be yours", Tara snarled.
"And his definition of devoted is creepier than his stalking", Dawn said.
Doyle taped another vent as he and Cordelia looked at the sleeping Melissa, Doyle saying he had put enough whiskey in her tea to drop his Aunt Tudy who had some girth. Cordelia wondered what the point of going out was, as Doyle pointed out people needed people. Cordelia said either you liked them and they didn't, or you couldn't stand them and they hovered around you, while Doyle said he hated guys like that.
"She isn't talking about me, right?" Xander wondered.
"No, you don't fit either of the definitions", Willow said. "Both of you liked each other, and when she couldn't stand you, you didn't hover around her."
"Aside from you, her other relationships could have been like that", Buffy said.
"Guess so", Xander said, feeling sated.
Cordelia said how dating a doctor should be a good thing but now instead this was a psycho who could come apart. Doyle said not all relationships ended in disaster, and Cordelia asked if he had one, but he said he had read stuff in books. During that time, fingers poked through the duct tape.
"Uh-oh", Tara said.
"Where's Angel when you need him?" Willow wondered.
"Having his still heart slow down", Buffy said, no one being able to make sense of that.
Doyle and Cordelia wondered who out of Angel or Ronald would show up first when a rattling noise was heard, and they went through the living room, Doyle pulling two weapons as he gave one to her. Doyle said it could be the wind as an eye watched from behind a pipe. Doyle and Cordelia decided to do something for fun when the rattling started again, and two fingers came through a slit, slowly pushing the bolt aside, and another hand opened the door to the apartment, Ronald stepping in as his eyeball returned.
"How many pieces is he going to make to come in?" Dawn said, creeped out badly.
"As many as he can, he's a creep", Buffy said.
The fingers pushed the bolt to the side. Doyle crouched down next the trap door, hatchet at the ready and flicked the latch back. He opened the trap door and peered into the tunnel below. Ronald put a hand over Cordy's mouth from behind, slammed her into a wall and then out through the door, while the other hand pulled Doyle head first through the trap door, which slammed shut behind him. Ronald shut the door and turned around to look at Melissa who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at him. She watched as his second hand came over and melded back into place. Ronald adjusted his tie.
"Face to face at last", Willow said.
"Now time for him to find out how much of a coward he really is", Xander said. "If you have guts, try to stalk me like that."
Then he quickly added. "Or don't!"
Ronald said how he was more than met the eye, taking out a scalpel as she ran past him but he cut her off, saying she still cheated on him with a LA pretty boy. Melissa, finally feeling brave, said he had given up on love so now he was a creep who got off on pain, and said he was a vile, repulsive freak, so she won't be afraid of him anymore. He could kill her and cut her up, but it wouldn't change who he was. His throat bulged strangely.
"You go girl", Buffy cheered for her.
"Yeah, tell him how much of a creep he is", Willow added.
"Angel was right. You're weak!" Melissa snarled. "I'm weak? Then how was it I killed him?" Ronald asked. The door slid open behind him to reveal Angel. "Inefficiently."
"Hell yeah!" Dawn said.
"Guess it affected him but he shrugged it off eventually", Buffy said, now looking forward to the beatdown.
"Yeah, Vampires can get affected for a bit", Tara agreed.
"But now he is going down", Willow smirked.
Ronald was shocked as his teeth flew out and bit Angel's arm, but he slammed them against the wall, Ronald holding his mouth in pain.
"Love coming apart now, huh creep?" Xander taunted.
Ronald stabbed his shoulder with the scalpel but Angel was barely slowed down. Ronald threw his right hand which grabbed Angel's throat and threw him to the ground. As he turned to Melissa, Angel threw the hand away, but it came skittering back as Angel pulled out the scalpel and stabbed it, stopping it. Ronald told Melissa they could have been happy as his ear fell off, when Angel hit his head with a pipe, sending it flying across the room, and then held the gasping Melissa.
"He didn't meet Angel's fist", Dawn said.
"But he did meet a pipe", Buffy pointed out. "Even better."
"Yeah, no more than he deserved", Xander said.
Next day, Cordelia made coffee, saying recycled was her favorite but added fresh grounds. Angel walked in wearing a dark blue shirt and handed her some papers, her asking if he would ever pull himself back together, and Angel said he was in 12 steel boxes in buried in 20 cubic feet of concrete in the floor of LA's newest subway station. Doyle commented how it would bring in the tourists.
"Here lies a creep who could come apart, and now he stays apart", Xander said, making everyone laugh.
"I guess RIP to him, Rest In Pieces", Buffy said as all chuckled.
Melissa came in with a potted plant, giving it to Angel as he asked if it needed light and she said it would be fine in there, saying now she had places to go and people to see thanks to him. Doyle and Cordelia then started coughing, and so Angel asked for a bill, and so she pulled out a check and handed it to Angel, but Cordelia grabbed it and took it.
"Finally some money for them", Willow said.
"It shouldn't be the priority, but there is nothing wrong in making it a priority", Buffy said.
Angel said he didn't do it for the money but Melissa said he had earned it, and they shook hands as she hoped to never see him again and he agreed, her walking out. Doyle said that didn't go badly, and Cordelia said this was a good country, and Doyle decided to deposit this in the bank. Angel said he would stay so as to not burst into flames, and Doyle said he was the night deposit guy, but still cause to celebrate.
"He wants to celebrate a lot", Giles noted.
"Maybe it's a superpower", Buffy suggested jokingly.
They walked out as Doyle said they would have more soon but Cordelia said they needed more right now, asking him to have a vision, but he said he couldn't perform on demand, but Cordelia said they needed clients and asked to have a vision again, but Doyle said money had corrupted her. Cordelia asked if she hit his head, would he have a vision, but he told her to get away as she was insane, but she said she wasn't and asked if he would have a vision. Angel walked into his office with a slight smile and put the plant on the desk.
"Now I'm wondering if she hit his head or not", Willow said.
"I think if she does, she will see a green face, blue spikes and red eyes instead", Tara told her.
"This is it for today, right?" Xander asked.
"Yeah", Buffy said. "And there are many more, we can't watch them all today, we need more time."
"Well, we're in the future so we will be dropped off where we were picked from", Dawn pointed out.
"So we should go talk to your future selves then, and then eat and sleep", Giles suggested and everyone nodded in agreement, getting up and walking out of that room.
And this chapter ends, next will be a break chapter so that will come out faster, and then we get to the introduction of Ghost Dennis. Yes!
Oh Xander, Dawn, you two have no idea! *smirks ominously*
Hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!