Disclaimer: Again with the previous - does anyone read this stuff, anyway?
Spoilers: This was written about half way through season one ATS, so anything prior to that. Rating: Back to PG again

Chapter 9

He'd decided on Italian. He was slurping up what was left of the tomato penne while she watched, nibbling on her Caesar salad. She had to admit that it was fun to watch him eat with such abandon. He sat back with a huge sigh, a grin on his face.
"Feel better now?" She asked him, a fork of lettuce half way from the bowl.
"Oh, completely. I didn't know it, but I missed Italian food when I was in the ward." He picked up his wineglass and took a small sip. He'd only drunk half a glass with dinner, the red wine gleaming in the dim restaurant lights.
"So, what are we going to do to start again? I mean, are we going to date?" Buffy asked after she'd swallowed the lettuce.
"We already have." Angel grinned at her. He was smiling a lot today.
"What do you mean?" She asked him, placing her fork on the plastic table-cloth.
"This is our first dinner-date!" He polished off his wine in one long gulp.
"Dinner date? No one told me about this being a date! You were hungry, remember!?"
"Well. I was hungry. You ate with me. We had dinner. We were together...That says to me, date!"
"But-." The phone on the table beside Angel stopped any more arguments from Buffy.
"Yes, Cordy?" He answered. He listened for a while, nodding his head, then hung up without a word. He stood up, leaving some notes on the table to pay for the meal. Buffy stood up and followed him out of the restaurant.
"Well?" She asked, stepping up beside him.
"The closest one is about two miles from here." He looked down at her. "We can walk or get a taxi." She looked at the traffic moving slowly alongside them.
"I think we'll walk it."
"The others are going to meet us there, with a fix." He grabbed her hand and they started off at a pace that would quickly tire any body else.

"Next time, I want to have a bit of warning." Buffy told him.
"Why?"
"Because I'd like to be able to ....."
"Get all pretty?" Angel smiled. "You already are."
"Not just that, but a date is....different. People behave....differently."
"Buffy, you don't have to behave differently just because it's a date. I've seen you at your best. And your worst. Just being with you is a date to me."
"That's sweet. But I still want a warning next time." He studied her, then nodded.
"What do you mean, at my worst?" She demanded, suddenly realising what he'd said.
"Ahh, nothing."
"You're not getting out of it that easy, Mister. Tell me what you meant by seeing me at my worst!" She was enjoying watching him squirm.
"I...ahhh....Oh look, we're here." He sounded relieved. She growled, but let him off the hook. Across the road and half way down the next block was the power plant, lit up and bright against the darkening sky. They stopped where they were and slunk back into the shadows of the building beside them, suddenly all business.
"Where are the others?" Buffy whispered. Angel looked around, squinting against the setting sun.
"There!" Buffy pointed, spotting them driving up in Giles' car. She dashed out onto the road and waved them down. Angel was grateful that the road was out of the way and quiet at this time of day. Giles pulled the car up beside the kerb, and Willow, Cordelia and Xander poured out. Giles shut the door and locked it. He was very protective of the new car.
"So, how do we kill this guy?" Buffy asked them.
"No Hi, guys, good to see you?" Xander complained.
"Hi guys, good to see you. How do we kill this guy?" She saw Giles smile briefly.
"At the moment he's pretty much as killable as all of us. Bullet to the heart, fall from heights, electric shock. All pretty much deadly." Willow told them I a voice that sounded remarkably teacher-like.
"Ahh. And after?" Buffy asked.
"That get's a little dicey." Cordelia told them. "Pretty much the dismemberment guys after the ritual. Much like that doctor a couple of years ago."
"Doctor?" Buffy asked, looking at Angel.
"We had a psychic surgeon who left bits of his body all over the place. We had to split him up and put him into.....You really don't want to hear this." He said after a long pause.
"Yes, we do." Xander said with a silly grin. "We love hearing about your....cases. They're such interesting stories."
"We put him into ten steel boxes and buried him in a new apartment concrete floor." Angel finished in a rush.
"So, we have experience in that type of thing!" Cordelia said brightly.
"Let's not let it get that far." Buffy suggested.
"Can I second that?" Willow piped up. "Oh, I forgot to mention one little thing."
"What's that?" Angel asked her.
"He's kind of.....strong now, like you two." The two warriors looked at each other.
"He's stronger now. Much stronger." Buffy told them.
"Why do you say that?" Giles asked. Buffy hesitated and Angel picked up the slack.
"We found....a body in his apartment. He'd been....tortured to death. The kind of pain and fear involved in his death would be like a drug to Timothy. He won't feel pain or exhaustion. There won't be a need for hunger, sleep. Nothing but the thrill of the kill." The others shifted uncomfortably. Angel sounded far too knowing.
"Oh. Well then." Giles cleared his throat and looked at the power station down the road. "Do we have a plan?"
"Well, I was thinking." Buffy drawled. "Maybe Angel and I could go in there, rough up some demon guys, kill them, kill Timothy, stop the dominion ritual and then maybe, go home and talk about how to date a woman in the new millennium."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Xander cried. "What about dating in the new millennium?"
"Never mind." Cordelia told him, hitting his arm.
"Do you need backup?" Giles asked her, polishing his glasses. Buffy and Angel exchanged glances.
"That would be good." The others looked at Buffy in shock. She was actually agreeing to their backing her up. She looked at them and smiled.
"We have this big bad to deal with. If you could watch out for the demons that we miss, that's all we'd need. We just need to be able to concentrate on Timothy, without distractions." They nodded, taking deep breaths. Buffy stepped forward, but Angel grabbed her arm. He looked to the others.
"Just give us a couple of seconds." He told them, pulling Buffy with him around the corner.
"What?" Buffy asked, then shut up as her mouth was smashed up against his. Minutes later, a breathless Buffy stepped back and looked at him, all soft eyes. He smiled at her gently, tracing her jaw. She leant into his hand, her eyes closing.
"We need to go back and get this over with. I just wanted you to remember why we're doing this." He told her softly, hugging her to him.
"Not likely to forget." She said into his shoulder. "Although I would like to remember what happened that day that they took back." She felt him chuckle, could hear the suppressed laughter in his chest.
"You have no idea, Buffy." He grinned down at her. She pulled back and looked up at him, somber.
"Tell me." Angel looked away, suddenly hesitant.
"Buffy, we have to go and get Timothy." He objected.
"Trust me, he won't be starting the ritual for a while yet. Most of these things don't come to a climax until midnight. As it's only just." She checked her watch. "7 o'clock, I think we have time. If this goes bad, I want to at least know what we had, once." He looked at her for a long time.
"Okay, but I have to tell the others we'll be a little longer." He walked to the corner. "You guys want to go grab something to eat? We've got some talking to do. Give us half an hour?" The others stared at him for a minute, then walked up the street, away from the power station. Angel and Buffy sat down on the stairs, deep in shadow. "The first time you came to LA, when the Morha demon attacked. I didn't know how to kill it, and we followed it into the sewers. We tracked it, got separated and I killed it, but it's blood mixed with mine and made me human."
"And?" She asked when he stopped talking.
"I went to the Oracles-."
"Oracles?"
"Yes, the Oracles. I asked them why I was made human, and they said because it was so. They were the Oracles, so I don't know why I expected a sensible answer from them. So anyway, I went to find you, and we..."
"Did the wild thing?" She asked.
"Not quite."
"We didn't?" Buffy sounded stunned.
"Well, not right there on the beach." He smiled. "We went back to my building where I proceeded to explain why we couldn't ...then we did any way." She grinned back at him.
"Well, that's something any way. Did we have fun?" She asked. It felt funny, not remembering any of this. She jerked back when he grinned at her. It was so bright and full of mischief.
"We broke the kitchen table." She spluttered. "Then there was some chocolate and peanut butter. Oh, and the ice cream." Her mouth was open now, stunned. "Don't forget the shower. Or the staircase. My office chair. Oh, and the lift."
"The lift?" She squeaked.
"So maybe the last two were my imagination. But the others?" His mouth turned up in a soft, memory filled smile. She smiled back at him, but there was sadness there.
"Buffy?" He asked, reaching for her hand.
"I wish I could remember it. Not just that, but the day." He pulled her to him, holding her close.
"We'll make another day like it." She nodded, then looked up at him.
"Angel." She said softly. He looked down at her.
"That whole thing about going slowly?" He nodded to show he knew what she was talking about. "I lied. I don't want to start again." She saw his eyes widen in shock. "No, not like that. I just don't want to waste any time with you. We've been apart for long enough as it is, and I just don't know how long I have left. As it is, I'm one of the oldest slayers, and I'm bound to meet up with a vampire stronger or faster than me at some point. I don't want to die thinking that I'd wasted time." She studied him for a time, watching the emotion play over his face. "Can you understand that?"
"I can. That is almost word for word what you told me on that day we lost. But right now, we have a little something to deal with."
"Timothy, right." She turned to face him full on, bracketing herself between his thighs. She leant forward, her eyes sparkling with the same mischief as his had shown minutes before. "But after that.....We need to go and buy some ice-cream. And peanut butter and chocolate." She leant even closer, so that their eyes were inches apart. "There's an elevator in your hotel building, isn't there?" She grinned, darted forward to give him a quick kiss, then leapt back and stood up. Angel just sat there, his mind elsewhere. He shook his head then growled at her.
"That wasn't fair." He complained, getting up slowly.
"What?" She sang innocently. He just glared, then sobered. "What." She repeated, but this time seriously.
"Nothing." Angel dismissed her question.
"Angel. Tell me what's wrong." She touched his arm softly. He looked at her, his eyes black and bleak behind his brows.
"I'm afraid." She frowned at him. Angel? Afraid?
"Of what?"
"You." He put a finger to her mouth, stopping her from talking. "Not of you, but for you." He looked at the power plant just down the road, then turned back to her. "We have never had anything go right since we first met. Something always got between us, separated us. Like the Powers That Be never meant for us to be together. My curse was the biggest thing between us. And now it's gone....." He gripped her hand, hard. Buffy could feel the bones crunching together. "Now the curse has been lifted, and I'm mortal again, I'm scared that one of us isn't going to make it to tomorrow. And I'm terrified that it's going to be me left here to go on without you." Buffy was quiet for a long moment.
"Angel, look at me." He did so, his eyes pleading with her to tell him his fears were incorrect. "You may be right. But if you think for one moment that either of us will ever leave the other again, you are so wrong. We have never left each other." She was no holding onto his hand has hard as he was holding hers. Their knuckles were turning blue from lack of circulation.
"But I did. I was sent to hell. I was without you for more time that I can recall."
"But you weren't. While you were in hell, you visited me. Or rather, your sane self did. In dreams. You advised me, kept me from giving up, gave me support, comfort and love when I most needed it. Even from another dimension, suffering God knows what torments, you stayed with me. If you can do that, how easy would it be for us to stay together even after one dies? Trust me when I say that if I do die tonight, which I can assure you, I am not planning to do, I will not leave you." She touched his chest, over his heart. "I'm in here, and you're in me. And the PTB know that. Besides," she added, to lighten the tone. "Who's going to help me eat all the ice-cream I intend on buying after this is over?" She smiled at him, her head tilted to one side. He slowly smiled back, then leant against the wall beside the stairs, holding her close and resting his face against her hair. She was right, they were together no matter what. Had been since he'd first seen her, years before. They stood that way for long minutes, each gaining strength from the other. The others, returning from wherever they'd managed to find some food, found them like that, almost asleep.
"How can they be so damned relaxed when they're fighting a guy for dominion tonight?" Xander commented from the roadway. The couple jumped, and separated. Buffy sent a playful glare Xander's way, straightening her top and neatening her hair. Angel just stood straighter and said nothing.
"Can we go kill Timothy now?" Cordelia asked. Buffy looked at Angel, who shrugged.
"I got nothing planned for a couple of hours. You?" Buffy shook her head, then turned to the group.
"Sure, sound's like a good way to waste a few hours. Weapons, anybody?" Giles silently held out a large gym bag, bulging at the seams.
"None for me, thanks." Angel said, drawing his axe from his coat. "I already got me a play stick."
"I'll have one, though." Buffy said, reaching in and pulling out a cross-bow. "Ooh, my favourite. How did you guess?" She checked the trigger and made sure each of the three arrows was notched correctly. Giles cleared his throat pointedly.
"Oh, sorry Giles. Thanks. And well-loaded, too. Did you remember to-?"
"Don't teach me how to suck eggs, Buffy. I'm not you're grandmother." Giles pointed out. Buffy blushed, realising that Giles knew all about cross-bows.
"Sorry, Giles." She apologised.
"Shall we?" Angel asked. They all nodded and he started forward, everyone falling in behind him. He heard Xander start whistling the tune from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and smiled to himself. It was off to work they went.