Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everything else belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and the WB.
Finished: January 31, 2001
~~ A Case of the Ex ~~
We leave his apartment and Angel and I make our way to the Magic Box after our--eventful shower. We hold hands and walk in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence after almost three years of being apart. We smile to one another as we stroll wordlessly down the street.
When we reach Giles' shop, Angel holds the door open for me. He's always such a gentleman. We enter the shop and I stop walking as the smile quickly erases itself from my face. Angel nearly runs into me and asks what's wrong before looking up. I can't believe my eyes at the person sitting at the table talking with Giles. It's Riley.
Angel knows almost everything about Riley and I. I told him about the Initiative and that I didn't truly love Riley and how he had gone to his vamp-whores because he felt that I didn't need him. I told him how he gave me an ultimatum and how I didn't make it to the helicopter in time. It hurt Angel to know that I had wanted to try again with Riley, but he had to know. I didn't want to hold anything back with Angel; that's the mistake I made with Riley. I don't regret missing the helicopter, but as I see him sitting there, my heart aches at the thought of hurting him like I did. But then, he hurt me too.
He looks in my direction and quickly stands up as I walk down the steps. I can sense Angel's anger and nervousness in the way he laces his fingers through mine and squeezes my hand gently, letting me know he's supporting me but also flaunting to Riley that we're back together.
"Hi, Buffy," Riley says, smiling slightly. "Angel." He sort of forces himself to say Angel's name, but at least he acknowledges him in a kind way.
"Hello," I reply, returning his smile while Angel nods his hello. "Hi, Giles."
"Hello," he says nervously. I can see his uneasiness, as he stands, uncertain of what to do. Surely he must have expected something like this to happen when he called me at Angel's. "I'll prepare the training room, Buffy." I turn to Angel and ask him to help Giles. He looks in my eyes and gives me a quick kiss. I see him smirk at Riley before following Giles into the training room.
Riley and I regard each other for a minute. The silence is deafening until I decide to break it. "So, how did the mission go in Belize?"
"Well, we got most of them, but a couple of them escaped and we followed them here," he says nervously. "We lost a few men, but they lost a whole lot more."
"That's good," I say but I quickly correct my words. "I mean, not about your friends, but about the demon-slayage."
Riley nods. "It's okay, Buffy. I just wanted to give you a warning."
"So what do these demons look like and how do I kill them?" I ask brightly.
"You don't need to go hunt them down," he says. "It's our mission; we'll get them."
"I'm the Slayer, it's my duty," I say. "I'll find it, slay it, and Giles will tell me what a good job I did."
"These demons won't die from a sliver, Buffy." he says. "They're tough."
"So am I," I return bitterly. "I have other weapons, Riley. You know that."
"Right...like your vampire boyfriend." he says flatly. "You'll get him to kill the demon for you then go home and screw him just like you did before."
My anger and hurt build up inside of me. I step up to Riley and slap him...hard. "You leave Angel out of this!" I say bitterly as he leans on the table for support from my strike. "If you didn't notice, we walked here in the sunlight. He's human. Which is more than I can say for you."
I stalk off toward the training room where Angel and Giles are waiting for me. Before opening the door, I stop and turn around. His cheek is already beginning to bruise and I feel a slight pang of regret, but it quickly passes and I stand my ground. "When I'm done training, you'd better be gone. That includes your army friends. Sunnydale is my territory; it's not for demon-torturing wannabes."
I enter the training room and slam the door behind me. Giles and Angel are startled out of their conversation and turn to face me, each wearing a worried face when they see my hurt expression.
Angel steps toward me. "What happened?" he asks.
I walk past him, practically hearing his heart break. I remove my jacket and set it on a chair. "Not now. It's training time."
While Giles runs the shop, Angel and I train until I finally tire two hours later. I feel a little better now that I've worked off some of my anger. I'm just sorry it had to be taken out on Angel.
"Sorry, I was just in a training mood," I say.
"No, you were in a venting mood," he says. "What happened earlier?"
"Riley doesn't want me to fight the demon because it's 'their' mission," I reply. "I'm stronger than him yet he thinks I can't handle myself."
"Is that all?" he says. "Why get upset over that? He's not worth it."
"I know," I reply. I want to tell him the rest of the conversation, but he'll lecture me on overreacting. "But he knows how much it ticks me off."
"Maybe you should let them handle the demon," he says. "They've killed a whole lot more of them and they've got their fancy weapons."
"But--" I start to protest before Angel kisses me gently. He pulls away and smiles. I look up at him, still determined to win this argument. "If I find one, I'm going to kill it."
Angel chuckles and nods. "Okay, but promise me you'll be careful."
I nod and smile. "Always," I say. "Now let's ask Giles what they look like so I'll know when I find one." I slip my hand into his and start to walk off towards the door but Angel stops me.
"I heard what Riley said about me," he says. "I also heard the smack you gave him." He smiles slightly. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"It upset me...but I would have told you later," I reply sweetly. I flash him my 'I'm-such-a-cutie-you-can't-possibly-be-mad-at-me' smile and he surrenders and smiles back. And not just his usual grin, an actual smile that melts my heart. When we're around our friends, he'll grin or smirk, but he doesn't usually smile...he saves those for me.
"Are we going to go patrolling tonight?" he asks.
"I have a better idea," I say pulling him close and wrapping my arms around his waist. "How about I go patrolling, and you stay here and work out? Now that you're human you're going to have to keep in shape."
"Buffy, I'm not going to break if I go patrolling with you," he argues stepping away from me. "I've been fighting vampires just as long as you have!"
"But you're not a vampire anymore. You're not built for it," I protest. "I don't want you getting hurt."
He sighs. "I need to get outdoors sometime during my life. I can't sit around all day and read dusty, old books." he says.
"It's what you did when you were a vampire," I say with a grin.
"No, that was poetry," he chuckles. "Books about demons weren't that interesting to me...they weren't brooding material."
"Well, if you promise to be careful, I guess you could come patrolling with me," I say. He steps closer to me again. "But don't try and be a hero."
He smiles. "Okay, okay, I promise I'll behave," he says. Then he leans next to my ear and whispers, "When there's vampires around at least. The rest of the time is my time."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I whisper back. "But first we have to stop by my house for some weapons and a change of clothes."
"I swear you own more clothes than Cordy has in her entire lifetime." he smirks.
I hit him lightly as we leave the shop and head for my house.
Finished: January 31, 2001
~~ A Case of the Ex ~~
We leave his apartment and Angel and I make our way to the Magic Box after our--eventful shower. We hold hands and walk in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence after almost three years of being apart. We smile to one another as we stroll wordlessly down the street.
When we reach Giles' shop, Angel holds the door open for me. He's always such a gentleman. We enter the shop and I stop walking as the smile quickly erases itself from my face. Angel nearly runs into me and asks what's wrong before looking up. I can't believe my eyes at the person sitting at the table talking with Giles. It's Riley.
Angel knows almost everything about Riley and I. I told him about the Initiative and that I didn't truly love Riley and how he had gone to his vamp-whores because he felt that I didn't need him. I told him how he gave me an ultimatum and how I didn't make it to the helicopter in time. It hurt Angel to know that I had wanted to try again with Riley, but he had to know. I didn't want to hold anything back with Angel; that's the mistake I made with Riley. I don't regret missing the helicopter, but as I see him sitting there, my heart aches at the thought of hurting him like I did. But then, he hurt me too.
He looks in my direction and quickly stands up as I walk down the steps. I can sense Angel's anger and nervousness in the way he laces his fingers through mine and squeezes my hand gently, letting me know he's supporting me but also flaunting to Riley that we're back together.
"Hi, Buffy," Riley says, smiling slightly. "Angel." He sort of forces himself to say Angel's name, but at least he acknowledges him in a kind way.
"Hello," I reply, returning his smile while Angel nods his hello. "Hi, Giles."
"Hello," he says nervously. I can see his uneasiness, as he stands, uncertain of what to do. Surely he must have expected something like this to happen when he called me at Angel's. "I'll prepare the training room, Buffy." I turn to Angel and ask him to help Giles. He looks in my eyes and gives me a quick kiss. I see him smirk at Riley before following Giles into the training room.
Riley and I regard each other for a minute. The silence is deafening until I decide to break it. "So, how did the mission go in Belize?"
"Well, we got most of them, but a couple of them escaped and we followed them here," he says nervously. "We lost a few men, but they lost a whole lot more."
"That's good," I say but I quickly correct my words. "I mean, not about your friends, but about the demon-slayage."
Riley nods. "It's okay, Buffy. I just wanted to give you a warning."
"So what do these demons look like and how do I kill them?" I ask brightly.
"You don't need to go hunt them down," he says. "It's our mission; we'll get them."
"I'm the Slayer, it's my duty," I say. "I'll find it, slay it, and Giles will tell me what a good job I did."
"These demons won't die from a sliver, Buffy." he says. "They're tough."
"So am I," I return bitterly. "I have other weapons, Riley. You know that."
"Right...like your vampire boyfriend." he says flatly. "You'll get him to kill the demon for you then go home and screw him just like you did before."
My anger and hurt build up inside of me. I step up to Riley and slap him...hard. "You leave Angel out of this!" I say bitterly as he leans on the table for support from my strike. "If you didn't notice, we walked here in the sunlight. He's human. Which is more than I can say for you."
I stalk off toward the training room where Angel and Giles are waiting for me. Before opening the door, I stop and turn around. His cheek is already beginning to bruise and I feel a slight pang of regret, but it quickly passes and I stand my ground. "When I'm done training, you'd better be gone. That includes your army friends. Sunnydale is my territory; it's not for demon-torturing wannabes."
I enter the training room and slam the door behind me. Giles and Angel are startled out of their conversation and turn to face me, each wearing a worried face when they see my hurt expression.
Angel steps toward me. "What happened?" he asks.
I walk past him, practically hearing his heart break. I remove my jacket and set it on a chair. "Not now. It's training time."
While Giles runs the shop, Angel and I train until I finally tire two hours later. I feel a little better now that I've worked off some of my anger. I'm just sorry it had to be taken out on Angel.
"Sorry, I was just in a training mood," I say.
"No, you were in a venting mood," he says. "What happened earlier?"
"Riley doesn't want me to fight the demon because it's 'their' mission," I reply. "I'm stronger than him yet he thinks I can't handle myself."
"Is that all?" he says. "Why get upset over that? He's not worth it."
"I know," I reply. I want to tell him the rest of the conversation, but he'll lecture me on overreacting. "But he knows how much it ticks me off."
"Maybe you should let them handle the demon," he says. "They've killed a whole lot more of them and they've got their fancy weapons."
"But--" I start to protest before Angel kisses me gently. He pulls away and smiles. I look up at him, still determined to win this argument. "If I find one, I'm going to kill it."
Angel chuckles and nods. "Okay, but promise me you'll be careful."
I nod and smile. "Always," I say. "Now let's ask Giles what they look like so I'll know when I find one." I slip my hand into his and start to walk off towards the door but Angel stops me.
"I heard what Riley said about me," he says. "I also heard the smack you gave him." He smiles slightly. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"It upset me...but I would have told you later," I reply sweetly. I flash him my 'I'm-such-a-cutie-you-can't-possibly-be-mad-at-me' smile and he surrenders and smiles back. And not just his usual grin, an actual smile that melts my heart. When we're around our friends, he'll grin or smirk, but he doesn't usually smile...he saves those for me.
"Are we going to go patrolling tonight?" he asks.
"I have a better idea," I say pulling him close and wrapping my arms around his waist. "How about I go patrolling, and you stay here and work out? Now that you're human you're going to have to keep in shape."
"Buffy, I'm not going to break if I go patrolling with you," he argues stepping away from me. "I've been fighting vampires just as long as you have!"
"But you're not a vampire anymore. You're not built for it," I protest. "I don't want you getting hurt."
He sighs. "I need to get outdoors sometime during my life. I can't sit around all day and read dusty, old books." he says.
"It's what you did when you were a vampire," I say with a grin.
"No, that was poetry," he chuckles. "Books about demons weren't that interesting to me...they weren't brooding material."
"Well, if you promise to be careful, I guess you could come patrolling with me," I say. He steps closer to me again. "But don't try and be a hero."
He smiles. "Okay, okay, I promise I'll behave," he says. Then he leans next to my ear and whispers, "When there's vampires around at least. The rest of the time is my time."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I whisper back. "But first we have to stop by my house for some weapons and a change of clothes."
"I swear you own more clothes than Cordy has in her entire lifetime." he smirks.
I hit him lightly as we leave the shop and head for my house.
