PART VIII
Je veux tout. / I want everything.


A lot can happen in a couple of days. Buffy hated Sacramento. It was too… something. She couldn't put her finger on it. The city just annoyed her.

There was a park across from the motel. She spent the afternoon watching toddlers and preschoolers play. What she really wanted to do, needed to do, was kill something. Demon, vampire, she didn't much care. The last fight for her life had been with Angelus. Wonder if Angel would spar with me Probably not. They were back to the awkwardness of their first weeks in LA.

Buffy sat in the park until nightfall. Angel had given her some money. She had bought a large pretzel, yoghurt, and diet soda from one of the vendors. The sun turned the leaves gold as it set. She waited for darkness.

She was swinging with her eyes closed when Angel found her. He stood beneath a tree and observed her. Buffy was smiling like a little girl. He hadn't seen her do that since her birthday. He stepped into the moonlight.

Buffy slowed and then stopped the swing. "Hey! You got my note. I already ate dinner."

Angel sat on the swing beside her and shook his head in disbelief. "'Out' is not my idea of a note."

"Sorry." Buffy twisted the swing's chains and spun dizzily as they unravelled. "I haven't done this for ages." She did it again. And again. And felt sick. "Suddenly remembering why not."

The dark-haired vampire quickly stood, pulled a stake out of his pocket, and handed it to her. "Here's hoping you remember how to fight."

They were surrounded by a gang of six vampires dressed in tie-dyed shirts and pants. Several sported afros and John Lennon glasses. Buffy took one look at them and couldn't resist. "Oh, give me a break. Hippie vampires?" She glanced at Angel. "Now, I've seen everything." Angel just shrugged and kept his eyes on the two vampires behind them. "I mean," said Buffy as she ducked, parried, and staked a vampire. "This is 1998. And Woodstock is on the other side of the country. Right?"

"Let's discuss it later," said Angel as the remaining vampires rushed them.

*****

Buffy sat on the swing again. This time she was accompanied by a chocolate mint ice cream cone. "You have no idea what you're missing," she teased Angel.

Angel stood by the swingset and watched her eat the ice cream. My imagination is doing a pretty good job. Especially when he substituted Buffy for ice cream. He shrugged again.

She glared at him. "When did you learn to shrug? That is such a Xander—" Buffy winced inwardly.

Buffy finished her ice cream and licked her fingers. "I called Willow last night." And? "Giles has been fired. He was 'removed' because he refused to 'sanction the disposal of a rogue Slayer'. Direct quote from the Council."

"I know."

"You know?" Buffy jumped off the swing. She suspected that he'd known for days. "You knew and you didn't say anything? I thought they were hunting you, and I was just bonus points. All this time, I'm the one they're after." Her fist caught his chin. Angel's head snapped against the metal pole. "When were you planning on telling me?" Another blow sent his head spinning in the opposite direction. "Or maybe you were never going to say anything?" Buffy drilled a series of punches into his kidneys. "Is that it?"

Angel took all of her punches, her anger, her fear. When she was spent, so was he. He collapsed to the ground. For a good time, call 1-800-Beat-Me-To-A-Pulp. Buffy may not have worked out in weeks, but her punches still packed a wallop. Angel was in severe pain. And he knew she wasn't done yet.

"Willow say anything else?" Angel coughed and spat blood onto the grass. His lips were swollen and split. Buffy was not the only one who had been in contact wth Sunnydale.

"I asked her… I wanted to know…" Buffy couldn't tell him. She wouldn't. "Nothing."

Angel opened one bruised eye and looked at her. She still didn't trust him with her feelings, and it was starting to annoy him. "So you used me as your punching bag because what? I'm convenient?" Buffy didn't answer him. Angel shook his head in disbelief. He made a decision. "You want me to leave? Fine. I'm gone." He groggily stood and faced her. Then he turned and walked away.

*****

Buffy sank onto the swing. It had taken every iota of will to repeatedly hit Angel. The longer he stayed with her, the greater chance he had of dying. Willow had told her what her lover wouldn't. "Giles said the Council wouldn't stop until you're both dead. They think Angelus, well Angel, is protecting you." I feel like I'm dying inside again. Her thumb traced the outline of her claddagh ring. How am I supposed to live without you? She stared at the spot where Angel had stood and watched her eat ice cream.

*****

Angel packed his clothes and left an envelope with $500 on the table. The money would keep Buffy off the streets for a couple of weeks. It would also give her a chance to get out of Sacramento and find a new place to hide. He would shadow her as he had when she was first called. With luck, Angel would be able to keep the Council from finding her. Willow either hadn't told Buffy everything or didn't know that this was a bounty hunt. Rogue slayers were not tolerated. The Council may have been inept and outdated in many of its methods, but Angel had never heard of a Slayer escaping its wrath. Multiple teams had been sent. He had already eliminated one team in LA, and they had eluded a second team.

He added a brief note to the envelope. Be safe. Remember I love you. Always.

*****

The conversation with Giles was awkward and brief. The now ex-Watcher could not provide much additional information. Giles had been unprepared for the absoluteness of the Council. He had tried to reason with them, tried to salvage his Slayer, but he had been overruled or isolated at every opportunity. It had culminated in his dismissal. He had hurried back to Sunnydale and tried to avert some of the consequences but he was failing at that too. Most of Giles' sources disappeared or refused to co-operate when they heard he was no longer an official member of the Council. He now found himself in the unseemly position of depending upon Angel to protect Buffy. Giles didn't completely trust the vampire, but he was prepared to accept that he was speaking with Angel and not Angelus. He still vowed to kill Angel if he ever saw him again. The vampire did not doubt that he would.

Giles had heard rumors that a new Slayer had been called in Boston. Also, there were four Council assassination teams in the United States. He was rather pleased when Angel corrected him ("Three, then? That's too bad.").

Angel assured the ex-Watcher that Buffy was safe and no longer with him. ("Was that a good idea?" Now you want me to be with her? Make up your mind, Giles.) He refused to give the man more specific information. It's not you I don't trust; it's everybody else on the Council.

Giles' voice was momentarily replaced with Willow's.

"Angel? Is Buffy okay?" Angel winced. He vividly recalled standing in the hallway of Sunnydale High School with Willow's tantalizing neck inches away from his fangs. "She was gonna call me back. Tell her I think everything's fine." Willow paused. "Angel? Giles? I don't think Angel's there anymore."

Giles got back on the phone. "Angel? Has something happened?"

Angel's voice miraculously appeared albeit with much remorse. "No, nothing's happened. I'll call if something changes."

"Wait."

He returned the phone to his ear. "Yes?"

"Look after her. If you need anything…"

"I'll take care of her, Giles." How can I not? I love her.