Part Two
Cuz I can tell
You know what it's like
The Long Fare-well
Of the Hunger-strike
But can you Save Me
Come on and Save Me
If you could Save Me
From the Ranks of the Freaks who suspect
they could never love anyone
Buffy woke after a fitful night in which the two hours of sleep she
managed was filled with dreams of Johnny finding her and torturing
her in cruel and inventive ways. She turned toward the clock on the
bedside table. *4 am. Great. Exactly the time of morning I want to
be up and wide awake.* She sighed, and dragged herself out of bed,
knowing that fighting the insomnia was useless.
After a relaxing shower, she pulled on the pair of jeans she had worn
the previous day and her last clean shirt, a red halter top. She
looked at the clock again, but only an hour and a half had passed.
*I'm getting used to counting the minutes in the days though. And at
least today I don't have to do it wondering when Johnny's going to
find me. Because I get to see him today, yay for me. At least Angel
will be there...WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT! He's a complete stranger,
and we agreed that you would start being a better judge of character
from now on and that meanst NOT falling for a guy within the first
five minutes you meet. Just because he seems like a nice guy is not
an excuse. Johnny seemed like a nice guy too, remember?*
&&&&&&&&&&
Across town, Angel awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, which he
promptly threw across the room. He smiled at the sound of it
shattering against the wall. *Damn, I will have to buy a
replacement.* he realized. *I gotta break myself of that habit. That's
what I get for trying to impress Sonny by staying out 'til all hours
of the night tracking down Johnny Rivera and getting a shadow on him.
Who am I kidding, I'm not just doing it for Sonny, I'm doing it for
Buffy too. Even though I most likely do NOT have a chance with her.
Now that I know who her ex is, she probably wants to stay as far away
from guys in this line of business as she possibly can. And that
takes me out of the running.*
He finally got himself up out of bed and into the shower. He then
went to his closet and found a black silk shirt, which he put
on along with a pair of black jeans. He smiled as he remembered the
last argument he'd had with Carly over his 'non-color wearing habits'
as she put it. Well, argument wasn't quite the right word. She'd
informed him of his flaws, and he'd smiled and nodded politely. He'd
learned years ago that was the best response where Carly was
concerned. It didn't mean he took her advice, but it kept her from
getting _too_ irritated with him.
He checked his watch, it was 6 am. Time to go to work. *Maybe Buffy
will be up.... Would you stop that!? ... What? ... Well, other than
carrying on a conversation with yourself, stop acting like a sixth
grader with a crush where that girl is concerned. You don't even know
her. ... So? ... So, keep your mind on what's important, like keeping
Sonny, Carly, Michael, and now Buffy out of danger.* Having received
no more objections from himself, he gathered his wallet and keys and
headed out the door to his car.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Turn it off" Carly muttered, giving Sonny a gentle shove in the
direction of the screaming alarm clock. She heard rather than saw
Sonny glare at her and move to obey. She knew he had glared first,
because it was one of many morning rituals they had. "Good morning,
Sunshine," she heard him say, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Go away and let me sleep," she said as she turned away from him. He
chuckled, and moved off the bed to take a shower. When he'd come back
out again, and started to get dressed, she was
less hostile. "Sorry, not a morning person," she said.
"I hadn't noticed," Sonny teased her. "Feel free to go back to sleep.
I just have a lot to get done today."
"Something about the person who is now occupying Jason's apartment?"
Carly questioned.
"MOMMY!"
"Michael's awake," Sonny said unnecessarily.
"No kidding," Carly replied, as she got out of bed and went down the
hall to get her son. "I swear you take after Sonny," she said to
Michael as they joined Sonny in the living room.
"Or maybe it's Jason. You've never slept past 6, and you're killing
Mommy with those sleeping habits, I hope you know."
"He's an early-bird," Sonny said. "Nothing wrong with that. You get
more accomplished that way."
"You sound like Edward," Carly accused, receiving another glare from
Sonny. "Geez, sorry just making an observation. And to get back to
what I was saying earlier, who's in Jason's apartment?"
"And the words none of your business would get me...."
"Absolutely nowhere," Carly assured him. "You should know that by now,
Sonny. You should also know by now that if you don't tell me I will
find out. Even if I have to go across the hall, knock on the door and
find out that way."
"Okay, okay," Sonny said. "I give. Her name is Buffy Summers, and
she's been targeted by Johnny Rivera. Her life's in danger, and I'm
trying to protect her."
"Why?" Carly asked. "What's in it for you?"
"Did I mention the name Johnny Rivera?" Sonny asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I get you're doing the feuding mob-boss thing, but that's
all there is to it?"
"What else would there be?" Sonny returned. "I'm doing my good deed
for the week, let it go."
"Fine," Carly shrugged.
"Really?" Sonny asked, searching her face.
"Yeah," Carly said. "You don't lie to me, I trust you."
"Good," Sonny said, as he approached her and kissed her passionately.
He broke it off, when Michael hit him. "What was that for?" Sonny
asked with a frown.
"He's being protective of me," Carly explained and sat Michael on the
floor so he could explore. "He used to do that to AJ too." She looked
up as she realized the association she had made. "Which doesn't mean
you're anything like AJ, I was just saying. Besides the fact he
misses Jason. I'm going to get him some breakfast, could you keep an
eye on him?"
"Sure," Sonny said. "He likes Angel, and he'll be here soon."
"Great," Carly said sarcastically. "And lemme guess, he'll be
wearing....black?" she said as she went to the kitchen.
Sonny chuckled at Carly's irritation at Angel's fashion sense. There
was a knock, and he opened it after checking the peephole to see
Angel standing there.
"So?" Sonny asked.
"Found him last night around 3 am," Angel replied. "He and about five
of his men were checking out all the motels in the area. They reached
the one Buffy was staying at around that time, and he was not happy
when he found out she had been there, but wasn't anymore. I put
Richie and Mark on his tail around four am. I've told Matt and Jared
to take over around four this afternoon."
"Good job,' Sonny said.
Michael took advantage of that moment to use Angel's leg to pull
himself to a standing position. Angel chuckled and picked up the
boy, "You're up early, aren't you?"
"Carly doesn't appreciate it very much," Sonny replied with a
smile. "I think it's great. He's learning good habits early."
"What else do you need me to do?" Angel asked.
"Get a few of the guys who aren't on Rivera's tail, and you guys
escort Buffy back to her apartment. She needs to get the rest of her
things. All she left with was that little backpack."
"Okay, what if there's trouble?" Angel replied.
"I'll leave it to your judgement, just don't get caught," Sonny said.
"Got it," Angel said. "Do you think she's up yet?"
A timid knock on Sonny's door answered his question. "Answer it,"
Sonny said.
Buffy was glad to see Angel when the door opened. "Hi," she said. "I'm
sorry if I'm interrupting."
"You're not," Sonny replied. "Come on in."
"Thanks," Buffy said gratefully. "I woke up spooked, and I can't shake
it. I was thinking about what you said about going to the police
though. And I think you're right." She took a deep breath, and
added, "I'll go to them with what I saw last night. It's the only way
to be really free of him, right?"
"I think so," Sonny said. "Do you mind if I tell Angel what we're
talking about?"
"Of course not," Buffy replied. "I've already decided to trust you to
help me, so that goes for any of the people you trust, too."
"Buffy saw Johnny kill someone," Sonny told Angel. "So her life is in
danger from him and all his guys." He turned to Buffy and
said, "Angel's my best man, and I'm making him responsible for your
safety. Meaning, that from this point on, he doesn't leave your side.
He goes anywhere you go, and when you're in that apartment he is too.
He'll sleep on the couch, or whatever, but he's your new shadow.
Especially now that you've decided to go to the police, because
Johnny is going to go on the offensive. I'm not trying to scare you,
but I do need you to understand how serious your situation is."
"I get it," Buffy nodded. "Whatever you think is necessary, I'll go
along with. So what's next?"
"Well, whenever you're ready, Angel and a few more of the guys will
take you back to your apartment so you can get the last of your
stuff. From there you can go to the police station." At Buffy's
frown, he said, "Don't worry. Angel's gonna be there, and I'd trust
him with my life."
"Okay," Buffy replied. "Let's get it over with," she added to Angel.
"Okay, but don't you want breakfast first?" Angel asked as they walked
out to the elevator.
"Eating isn't something I'm really attached to right now," Buffy said.
"All the more reason that you should eat," Angel said firmly. "You
mentioned you knew Jake, why don't we go to Bobbie's Diner for
breakfast?"
"I guess," Buffy shrugged.
At the Diner after breakfast, she had to admit, "Okay, so I feel
better. Thanks for insisting," she smiled at Angel, and it made his
heart skip a beat.
"Well, Sonny said I was supposed to look out for you," Angel replied.
"So I'm doing that. Not to bring up a not-so-fun topic, but the rest
of the guys can't meet us until nine. So we've got time to just take
it easy for a while."
"Or not," Buffy said nervously as she saw Johnny enter the diner.
Followed by five of his men. Angel looked over to the door, and saw
recognized Johnny Rivera. He had dark skin, jet-black hair, and was
six feet tall. He was wearing a dark blue Armani suit, and looked
every bit the mob boss. *He's just asking for the federal goverment
to go after him.* Angel thought with a roll of his eyes. He saw the
frightened look on Buffy's face, and came back to reality. "Don't
worry," he said, reaching over and squeezing her hand
reassuringly. "We're in a public place, and he's not stupid."
"I hope you're right," Buffy replied. She didn't make any effort to
remove her hand from Angel's grasp, she liked it there. *I'm hopeless*
she thought. *But I like being hopeless at the moment.*
Johnny, true to his personality, broke the moment. "Well, well, well,"
he said as he walked up to the table. "There you are Babe. I was
worried sick about you, and it turns out you're just fine." He
narrowed his eyes and glared at Angel, "Your choice of company leaves
a _lot_ to be desired though. Do you _know_ who this guy works for??"
Buffy pulled her hand away from Angel's guiltily, and looked down at
the table. "Just leave me alone, please?" she begged.
"Now why would I do that, Buffy?" Johnny replied. "We've got wedding
plans, remember?"
Buffy laughed, and said, "Have you lost your mind? I'm not marrying
you, not after....I'm just not marrying you, okay? Please go away and
leave me alone."
"Sorry, I can't do that," Johnny said, and this time his voice held
the coldness that signalled his temper was running on a short
fuse. "You ran out on me, Buffy, and nobody does that."
"Get lost," Angel said softly, but his tone was firm. "She doesn't
want you around, get over it."
"Do you have any _idea_ who you're talking to?!" Johnny demanded.
"Yeah," Angel shrugged indifferently. "Johnny Rivera. Big deal. Go
away."
"Nobody treats me with disrespect!" Johnny shouted as he grabbed Angel
by the collar, pulling him to his feet.
"Johnny, no!" Buffy yelled, getting up. Angel, however, was more than
capable of dealing with Johnny. He punched him in the stomach, and
Johnny doubled over in pain. Angel then shoved him roughly, and Johnny
fell to the ground a few feet away. His men moved to help him up, and
Angel turned back to the tabl. He left a twenty dollar bill on the
table, then reached his left hand out to Buffy.
"Let's go," he said.
"Son of a--" Johnny yelled, and lunged at Angel. Angel dodged to the
side and watched with amusement as Johnny went flying over their table
to crash to a landing on the other side.
Buffy hesitated, looking at Johnny. *What are you kidding me? He's not
the right man for you, besides the fact he wants to kill you!* Having
gotten that established, she turned back to Angel, placing her right
hand in his left. "Okay, let's get out of here," she agreed. They
walked outside and to Sonny's limo, to the accompanying sounds of
Johnny's curses.
********
End of 2
Cuz I can tell
You know what it's like
The Long Fare-well
Of the Hunger-strike
But can you Save Me
Come on and Save Me
If you could Save Me
From the Ranks of the Freaks who suspect
they could never love anyone
Buffy woke after a fitful night in which the two hours of sleep she
managed was filled with dreams of Johnny finding her and torturing
her in cruel and inventive ways. She turned toward the clock on the
bedside table. *4 am. Great. Exactly the time of morning I want to
be up and wide awake.* She sighed, and dragged herself out of bed,
knowing that fighting the insomnia was useless.
After a relaxing shower, she pulled on the pair of jeans she had worn
the previous day and her last clean shirt, a red halter top. She
looked at the clock again, but only an hour and a half had passed.
*I'm getting used to counting the minutes in the days though. And at
least today I don't have to do it wondering when Johnny's going to
find me. Because I get to see him today, yay for me. At least Angel
will be there...WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT! He's a complete stranger,
and we agreed that you would start being a better judge of character
from now on and that meanst NOT falling for a guy within the first
five minutes you meet. Just because he seems like a nice guy is not
an excuse. Johnny seemed like a nice guy too, remember?*
&&&&&&&&&&
Across town, Angel awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, which he
promptly threw across the room. He smiled at the sound of it
shattering against the wall. *Damn, I will have to buy a
replacement.* he realized. *I gotta break myself of that habit. That's
what I get for trying to impress Sonny by staying out 'til all hours
of the night tracking down Johnny Rivera and getting a shadow on him.
Who am I kidding, I'm not just doing it for Sonny, I'm doing it for
Buffy too. Even though I most likely do NOT have a chance with her.
Now that I know who her ex is, she probably wants to stay as far away
from guys in this line of business as she possibly can. And that
takes me out of the running.*
He finally got himself up out of bed and into the shower. He then
went to his closet and found a black silk shirt, which he put
on along with a pair of black jeans. He smiled as he remembered the
last argument he'd had with Carly over his 'non-color wearing habits'
as she put it. Well, argument wasn't quite the right word. She'd
informed him of his flaws, and he'd smiled and nodded politely. He'd
learned years ago that was the best response where Carly was
concerned. It didn't mean he took her advice, but it kept her from
getting _too_ irritated with him.
He checked his watch, it was 6 am. Time to go to work. *Maybe Buffy
will be up.... Would you stop that!? ... What? ... Well, other than
carrying on a conversation with yourself, stop acting like a sixth
grader with a crush where that girl is concerned. You don't even know
her. ... So? ... So, keep your mind on what's important, like keeping
Sonny, Carly, Michael, and now Buffy out of danger.* Having received
no more objections from himself, he gathered his wallet and keys and
headed out the door to his car.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Turn it off" Carly muttered, giving Sonny a gentle shove in the
direction of the screaming alarm clock. She heard rather than saw
Sonny glare at her and move to obey. She knew he had glared first,
because it was one of many morning rituals they had. "Good morning,
Sunshine," she heard him say, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Go away and let me sleep," she said as she turned away from him. He
chuckled, and moved off the bed to take a shower. When he'd come back
out again, and started to get dressed, she was
less hostile. "Sorry, not a morning person," she said.
"I hadn't noticed," Sonny teased her. "Feel free to go back to sleep.
I just have a lot to get done today."
"Something about the person who is now occupying Jason's apartment?"
Carly questioned.
"MOMMY!"
"Michael's awake," Sonny said unnecessarily.
"No kidding," Carly replied, as she got out of bed and went down the
hall to get her son. "I swear you take after Sonny," she said to
Michael as they joined Sonny in the living room.
"Or maybe it's Jason. You've never slept past 6, and you're killing
Mommy with those sleeping habits, I hope you know."
"He's an early-bird," Sonny said. "Nothing wrong with that. You get
more accomplished that way."
"You sound like Edward," Carly accused, receiving another glare from
Sonny. "Geez, sorry just making an observation. And to get back to
what I was saying earlier, who's in Jason's apartment?"
"And the words none of your business would get me...."
"Absolutely nowhere," Carly assured him. "You should know that by now,
Sonny. You should also know by now that if you don't tell me I will
find out. Even if I have to go across the hall, knock on the door and
find out that way."
"Okay, okay," Sonny said. "I give. Her name is Buffy Summers, and
she's been targeted by Johnny Rivera. Her life's in danger, and I'm
trying to protect her."
"Why?" Carly asked. "What's in it for you?"
"Did I mention the name Johnny Rivera?" Sonny asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I get you're doing the feuding mob-boss thing, but that's
all there is to it?"
"What else would there be?" Sonny returned. "I'm doing my good deed
for the week, let it go."
"Fine," Carly shrugged.
"Really?" Sonny asked, searching her face.
"Yeah," Carly said. "You don't lie to me, I trust you."
"Good," Sonny said, as he approached her and kissed her passionately.
He broke it off, when Michael hit him. "What was that for?" Sonny
asked with a frown.
"He's being protective of me," Carly explained and sat Michael on the
floor so he could explore. "He used to do that to AJ too." She looked
up as she realized the association she had made. "Which doesn't mean
you're anything like AJ, I was just saying. Besides the fact he
misses Jason. I'm going to get him some breakfast, could you keep an
eye on him?"
"Sure," Sonny said. "He likes Angel, and he'll be here soon."
"Great," Carly said sarcastically. "And lemme guess, he'll be
wearing....black?" she said as she went to the kitchen.
Sonny chuckled at Carly's irritation at Angel's fashion sense. There
was a knock, and he opened it after checking the peephole to see
Angel standing there.
"So?" Sonny asked.
"Found him last night around 3 am," Angel replied. "He and about five
of his men were checking out all the motels in the area. They reached
the one Buffy was staying at around that time, and he was not happy
when he found out she had been there, but wasn't anymore. I put
Richie and Mark on his tail around four am. I've told Matt and Jared
to take over around four this afternoon."
"Good job,' Sonny said.
Michael took advantage of that moment to use Angel's leg to pull
himself to a standing position. Angel chuckled and picked up the
boy, "You're up early, aren't you?"
"Carly doesn't appreciate it very much," Sonny replied with a
smile. "I think it's great. He's learning good habits early."
"What else do you need me to do?" Angel asked.
"Get a few of the guys who aren't on Rivera's tail, and you guys
escort Buffy back to her apartment. She needs to get the rest of her
things. All she left with was that little backpack."
"Okay, what if there's trouble?" Angel replied.
"I'll leave it to your judgement, just don't get caught," Sonny said.
"Got it," Angel said. "Do you think she's up yet?"
A timid knock on Sonny's door answered his question. "Answer it,"
Sonny said.
Buffy was glad to see Angel when the door opened. "Hi," she said. "I'm
sorry if I'm interrupting."
"You're not," Sonny replied. "Come on in."
"Thanks," Buffy said gratefully. "I woke up spooked, and I can't shake
it. I was thinking about what you said about going to the police
though. And I think you're right." She took a deep breath, and
added, "I'll go to them with what I saw last night. It's the only way
to be really free of him, right?"
"I think so," Sonny said. "Do you mind if I tell Angel what we're
talking about?"
"Of course not," Buffy replied. "I've already decided to trust you to
help me, so that goes for any of the people you trust, too."
"Buffy saw Johnny kill someone," Sonny told Angel. "So her life is in
danger from him and all his guys." He turned to Buffy and
said, "Angel's my best man, and I'm making him responsible for your
safety. Meaning, that from this point on, he doesn't leave your side.
He goes anywhere you go, and when you're in that apartment he is too.
He'll sleep on the couch, or whatever, but he's your new shadow.
Especially now that you've decided to go to the police, because
Johnny is going to go on the offensive. I'm not trying to scare you,
but I do need you to understand how serious your situation is."
"I get it," Buffy nodded. "Whatever you think is necessary, I'll go
along with. So what's next?"
"Well, whenever you're ready, Angel and a few more of the guys will
take you back to your apartment so you can get the last of your
stuff. From there you can go to the police station." At Buffy's
frown, he said, "Don't worry. Angel's gonna be there, and I'd trust
him with my life."
"Okay," Buffy replied. "Let's get it over with," she added to Angel.
"Okay, but don't you want breakfast first?" Angel asked as they walked
out to the elevator.
"Eating isn't something I'm really attached to right now," Buffy said.
"All the more reason that you should eat," Angel said firmly. "You
mentioned you knew Jake, why don't we go to Bobbie's Diner for
breakfast?"
"I guess," Buffy shrugged.
At the Diner after breakfast, she had to admit, "Okay, so I feel
better. Thanks for insisting," she smiled at Angel, and it made his
heart skip a beat.
"Well, Sonny said I was supposed to look out for you," Angel replied.
"So I'm doing that. Not to bring up a not-so-fun topic, but the rest
of the guys can't meet us until nine. So we've got time to just take
it easy for a while."
"Or not," Buffy said nervously as she saw Johnny enter the diner.
Followed by five of his men. Angel looked over to the door, and saw
recognized Johnny Rivera. He had dark skin, jet-black hair, and was
six feet tall. He was wearing a dark blue Armani suit, and looked
every bit the mob boss. *He's just asking for the federal goverment
to go after him.* Angel thought with a roll of his eyes. He saw the
frightened look on Buffy's face, and came back to reality. "Don't
worry," he said, reaching over and squeezing her hand
reassuringly. "We're in a public place, and he's not stupid."
"I hope you're right," Buffy replied. She didn't make any effort to
remove her hand from Angel's grasp, she liked it there. *I'm hopeless*
she thought. *But I like being hopeless at the moment.*
Johnny, true to his personality, broke the moment. "Well, well, well,"
he said as he walked up to the table. "There you are Babe. I was
worried sick about you, and it turns out you're just fine." He
narrowed his eyes and glared at Angel, "Your choice of company leaves
a _lot_ to be desired though. Do you _know_ who this guy works for??"
Buffy pulled her hand away from Angel's guiltily, and looked down at
the table. "Just leave me alone, please?" she begged.
"Now why would I do that, Buffy?" Johnny replied. "We've got wedding
plans, remember?"
Buffy laughed, and said, "Have you lost your mind? I'm not marrying
you, not after....I'm just not marrying you, okay? Please go away and
leave me alone."
"Sorry, I can't do that," Johnny said, and this time his voice held
the coldness that signalled his temper was running on a short
fuse. "You ran out on me, Buffy, and nobody does that."
"Get lost," Angel said softly, but his tone was firm. "She doesn't
want you around, get over it."
"Do you have any _idea_ who you're talking to?!" Johnny demanded.
"Yeah," Angel shrugged indifferently. "Johnny Rivera. Big deal. Go
away."
"Nobody treats me with disrespect!" Johnny shouted as he grabbed Angel
by the collar, pulling him to his feet.
"Johnny, no!" Buffy yelled, getting up. Angel, however, was more than
capable of dealing with Johnny. He punched him in the stomach, and
Johnny doubled over in pain. Angel then shoved him roughly, and Johnny
fell to the ground a few feet away. His men moved to help him up, and
Angel turned back to the tabl. He left a twenty dollar bill on the
table, then reached his left hand out to Buffy.
"Let's go," he said.
"Son of a--" Johnny yelled, and lunged at Angel. Angel dodged to the
side and watched with amusement as Johnny went flying over their table
to crash to a landing on the other side.
Buffy hesitated, looking at Johnny. *What are you kidding me? He's not
the right man for you, besides the fact he wants to kill you!* Having
gotten that established, she turned back to Angel, placing her right
hand in his left. "Okay, let's get out of here," she agreed. They
walked outside and to Sonny's limo, to the accompanying sounds of
Johnny's curses.
********
End of 2