Title: Blood, Sweat and Tears

Author: Piper Winters

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Buffy stayed in LAwith her dad. So what happens when her and Angel finally meet? AU B/A

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to the WB, FOX, UPN, Joss Weaton, etc.

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A Few days later

Doyle had had another vision, Buffy was going to be in trouble tonight and Angel was worried out of his mind. He had been searching for her for the last hour and he couldn't help thinking that maybe he was too late. He hadn't been able to get her out of his head since he first saw her. The way she smelled of vanilla, how when she smiled you could see her soul, but mostly how she looked in his eyes. Like she didn't see the demon, only the man. He knew the last part was insane considering she didn't want to trust him but he couldn't help but think.... His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a fist hitting flesh. He rounded the corner to see a group of twenty vampires encircling something. He had a pretty good guess of what it was. The group of vampires seemed to be cheering something on. He let his face morphed into vamp mode. He casually walked up to the group and tried to see what they were looking at. Finally he saw it. Buffy and one vampire were fighting. She looked tired and was covered in cuts and bruises. With the strength and swiftness it didn't look like she possessed she staked the vampire. Before he exploded to dust another entered. He was young and the fight was easy. But Buffy was tired and the fight lasted longer than it should have. Another vampire was about to entire the ring when Angel stepped forward. "No let me, I've always wanted to kill a slayer." A cruel smile formed on his lips. Buffy froze.

"Break her yes, but do not kill her," said a strong looking warrior who must have been the leader of the group.

"Why not?" Angel asked knowing the vampire was stupid enough to give the answer.

"We need her as a sacrifice in the Bloodharvest fool," He replied in a booming voice.

"Of course," Angel said as he started walking nearer to her.

"Don't Bite, hun?" her voiced was laced with hatred, it was so low no one but Angel could hear her speak.

"I don't," he replied simply he received a very confused look and then he attacked. He through a punch he knew she would easily block. "We fight all the way over there, see, where there's a gap in the circle, then we break for it, run as fast as we can," Angel said while he threw easily blocked punches. Her only response was to take a step in that direction.

Buffy didn't have any other choice but to trust the vampire standing in front of her. It was either stay here and die or go with him and maybe die. Besides there was something in the pit of her stomach telling her that she could trust this man with her life. She had learned to trust instincts like that. She blocked another one of his kicks and threw one of her own.

It took them five minutes to fight there way over to the gap in the circle. The vampires were cheering and had no idea that Angel was there enemy. "On three" Angel said, "One," he through a punch, "Two," she blocked it, "Three," they dropped there fists and ran. They made it through the circle while the vampires were still trying to understand what happened.

As they turned the corner they heard the leader yelling for them to split up and corner them in. Angel led the way towards his car parked at the very end of the street. Angel picked up the pace when he saw ten of the vampires emerge only a hundred feet behind. Beside him Buffy was breathing hard, she may be the slayer but she couldn't last forever. They were only fifty feet from the car when the other half of the vampire gang came running out of an alley behind the car. "Oh this just gets better and better," Buffy yelled pushing her feet to go faster.

They jumped in the car seconds before the vampires reached it. Angel jammed his foot on the gas pedal and they peeled out hitting more than a few vampires.

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Once Buffy had caught her breath she turned to Angel. Some where along the line his face had returned to normal. "You wanna explain what's going on?" she asked in a harsh voice.

He paused for a long moment and then with a sigh he began, "For a hundred years I killed everyone in my path. Family, children, strangers. And I did it with a song in my heart," Angel said never taking his eyes from the road but Buffy could hear the pain in his voice and noticed how his hand griped the steering wheel tighter.

"What changed?" she asked her voice much softer.

"Fed of a girl about your age.... beautiful..... dumb as a post, but a favorite among her clan," He said relaxing just a little.

"Her clan?" Buffy asked confused.

"Romany," at Buffy confused look he continued, "Gypsies. The elders conjured up the perfect punishment for me, they returned my soul."

"What they were all out of boils and blinding torment?" Buffy asked sarcastically.

"When you become a vampire a demon gets your body but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone. No conscious no remorse it's an easy way to live. You have no idea what is like to have done the things I've done and to care. I haven't fed on a living human being since that day." He explained.

Buffy turned to him and gave him a soft smile showing him she believed him. He pulled his car over and got out Buffy followed.

"You know I still don't know your name," Buffy commented.

"Angel," he said unlocking the door and holding it open for her to come inside.

"Angel," she paused waiting for a last name when he didn't give her one she said, "pretty name." Buffy entered the building and looked around. It looked like an office. "So.........," she paused, "What do you do here?"

"What," Angel asked confused. He walked threw the door and locked it. Buffy knew that should probable frighten her but it didn't.

"It looks like an office," she explained.

"Oh well a friend of mine thinks that we should make money off of saving people so she persuaded me to open a detective agency." He led her to the elevator and took it down.

"You don't agree," Buffy asked with a small smile.

"No," Angel shook his head, "I save people to make up for what my demon did. And because it's the right thing to do. Not for the money."

"Then why do you do it," Buffy asked while he lead her into the living room.

"Because Cordelia is very hard to say no to," Angel said with a small chuckle.

Buffy smiled at that then looked at her watch. It was only eleven O'clock but Buffy was exhausted. Guess that's what fighting for your life does for you she thought. Angel motioned for her to sit in a chair as he went into what must have been the kitchen and emerged with a first aid kit. He stopped at the counter and picked up the phone and called Giles' number.

"Hello?" asked a woman's voice.

"Hello Jenny it's Angel is Giles there?" Angel asked while watching the slayer who was looking around his apartment. Her eyes would ketch on the strangest things, she would examine them a moment longer then move on. He felt a smile form on his lips.

"Angel what's the matter?" came Giles' tired voice.

"I need you to research something for me and call me back with the information, I would tell Cordelia to do it but this is really important. Will you do it for me?"

"Of course," Giles said.

"I need you to find out every thing you can about the Bloodharvest, okay?" Angel asked.

"Right on it," Giles said.

"Thank you"

"Goodnight," Giles said.

Angel hung up the phone and walked over to Buffy. He looked over her once and decided she would live. "I think you should sleep here tonight," Angel said shrugging off his jacket and taking out disinfectant and bandages.

"What?" she asked and he realized how it must have sounded.

"Well, I can't take you home and I'm not letting you walk, you can sleep on the bed and I'll take the couch." Angel explained.

"No, I'll take the couch." Buffy said as she watched Angel inspect a cut on her leg. Angel was about to argue but he looked up and saw Buffy's look that said 'don't argue with me.'

When she looked at him that saying of "Tall, Dark and Handsome" came to mind. He put disinfectant on her cut and then blew on it and she felt her heart start to beat a little faster. A shiver ran down her back. He looked good in his tight black shirt you could just barley see the lines of his muscles through it. He touched one of her cuts with his soft hands and she grimsted in pain. He looked up at her with his dark chocolate eyes she could still see the pain in them even though they were now laughing at her, "Stop being such a baby," he teased.

"It hurt," she defended herself.

"Right," he said and turned back to his work.

When Angel finished caring to all her cuts he went into his room and gave her a shirt of his to sleep in. When she came back from changing the couch was made up and he was sitting at the end staring off into space. As he heard her approach he turned to look at her and noticed that his shirt was way to big for her.

"Your beautiful even when you go to sleep," Angel said without thinking. Then he could have kicked

himself in the head. What was he thinking? Way to scare the girl.

She just blushed and said, "Well, when I wake up it's a completely different story."

As Buffy walked by she accidentally bumped into a table and knocked a picture frame off. Luckily she caught it before it hit the ground. The picture was of Angel and a group of people. Buffy examined it as she sat down next to him. "Your friends?" she asked.

Angel smiled and pointed to the two older people "That's Rupert and Jenny Giles he's a watcher and she's a techno-pagan they just got married a month ago." Buffy smiled and Angel pointed to a red head girl and a boy with spiky black hair, "That's Willow she's amazing on computers and starting to get into the dark arts, her boyfriend is Oz, who just happens to be a werewolf. That's Anya she's an ex-demon and that's Faith the slayer."

"Who are they?" Buffy asked pointing to a brunette girl and boy. The girl was fashionable dressed and the boy who had his arms raped around her had a goofy but attractive grin.

"That's Cordelia Chase and Xander Harris," Buffy noticed the smirk on his face as he said his name and silently wondered what that was about.

"So what are they?" Buffy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know you've got a techno pagan, a witch, a were wolf, an ex- demon, a slayer, watcher and your a vampire with a soul. So What are they?" Buffy asked.

Angel laughed for a second and then said, "Well Cordelia is Homecoming Queen and Xander is a clown.... among other things."

"So your saying there normal." Buffy asked.

"yeah"

"Lucky them........... you know I would really love to meet them sometimes," Buffy said as she put the picture back in it's place. She sat down and yawned.

"I should let you go to sleep," Angel said getting up and walking to his room.

"Wait," Buffy said and when Angel turned around she quietly said, "Thank you."

"For what?" Angel asked confused.

"For saving me tonight, if it wasn't for you I'd be dead," she replied quietly.

"You don't know that," Angel protested.

"Yes, I do, thank you and ... good night" Buffy said.

Angel turned around and headed for his room. He changed, turned of his lamp, and laid down in bed. He seriously doubted he would get any sleep tonight. He let his thoughts drift to Sunnydale and his friends. He should invite them up some time it had been a long time since he'd seen any of them. Then his thoughts drifted to the petite blond laying on his couch. He had seen some beautiful women in his time but she was gorgeous. Even for a Slayer. The way her green eyes laughed at you, the way she carried her self, everything about her was entrancing. He could picture her prefect smile and hear her -- His thoughts were interrupted by a small voice coming from his living room saying, "Angel?"

"hum?" he muttered pretending to be somewhat asleep.

"Do you snore?" she asked.

A small smile formed on Angel's lips, "I don't know.... It's been a long time since anyone's been in the position to let me know."

TBC