Title: Lost and Found
Author: Kat
Distribution: Go ahead, I guess. Just ask first, please.
Feedback: Ok, here's the deal. The less feedback I get, the more depressed I am, and the less inspired I feel to write new chapters. Consequently, the time it takes for me to post a new chapter is directly proportional to the number of reviews I get for the last chapter. Translation: Review. Get your friends to review. Send this story to random strangers and have them review. 'Cause the more reviews I get, the quicker you get to find out what happens next.
Summary: Riley fights a demon that feeds on human energy, and an electrical charge transfers that to Riley. He can only get energy from sucking it directly from other humans, not from food. The more he takes, the stronger he gets, and it goes to his head. Then he discovers the Super-Power-Bar that is Buffy, and things get interesting. Of course, he hasn't told her about the whole energy-sucking thing. Buffy has to choose between Riley and Angel, and of course she chooses Angel, cause Riley's showing his true colors now. He always was an emotional leech. Angel gets to kill him; I decided he deserves the privilege right now.
FYI: This story is true to previous events. Other than that, not only does it not stay remotely true to the story line, it is part of my ongoing 'Corrections' series; meant to remedy Joss's mistakes! Starts around the time of The Yoko Factor on Buffy, and Sanctuary on Angel, just before Buffy gets back from LA.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss created them. And then he messed with their lives and separated soul-mates and tortured them and hurt them and we hate him for what he's done to our beloved characters… Ok, done ranting. For now.
Dedication: For Stephanie, who will never give up on B/A. And who deserves a great correction fic to clear up a mistake even I, non-Riley-hater that I am, thought was way out of character. Buffy Soooo would not have chosen Riley over Angel. Even if she was mad at him. And thus this fic was born.
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Angel gaped at the woman who opened the door. Was this Buffy? She looked exhausted, she was muddy, with twigs and leaves tangled in her hair, she had a cut on her cheek and one on her neck, and a black eye starting, and her shirt was torn… He hastily tore his eyes away from THAT problem. "Buffy." He mentally kicked himself for not being more articulate. But his protective instincts were aroused, and he was torn between wanting to take her in his arms and soothe her hurt away, and knowing that that was no longer his responsibility or his right. He had given it up when he walked away from her last spring, and had just driven that point home with his treatment of her in LA. In fact, he dimly recalled he had come to apologize for that, but the sight of her had driven it completely out of his head. What on earth had done this to her? It had been a long time since he'd seen her so beat up, if ever. He reached out to her instinctively, only to come up against the invisible barrier that bared all vampires from this room who had not been previously invited.
Buffy's first reaction to his presence had been relief, and she hated that weakness in herself. After all this time, all this hurt, even after she had found someone to replace him, he was still the one she wanted to turn to, to lean on. But that reaction was swiftly overrun by another, healthier one; annoyance. "What are you doing here? Did you think of anything else really hurtful to say? Decided to come here and say it in person, since the best part is that look on my face…" She was stopped by the tenderness and resignation in Angel's eyes.
"No, actually, I wanted to apologize."
Buffy wrapped her anger around her like a cloak. She would not let him in, not let him comfort her, not let him apologize. She had to stay angry with him, to keep herself from falling into his arms. And there was plenty of anger there for her to work with. "Apologize? I come to see you, to help you, because I thought you were in trouble, and you threaten me, HIT me, order me out of *your* city, and then you have the nerve to show up on my doorstep and think you can make it all go away just by *apologizing*?"
'Remember Riley?' she thought furiously to herself. 'You know, the guy you've been dating for a while now? The guy who lost his job for you, became a fugitive for you, nearly got himself killed on patrol last night for you? The guy you tell yourself you love? Yeah, that guy. The guy whose arms you *should* find comfort in. Not the guy who's standing outside your door, waiting for you to ask him in because what he is prevents him from coming in uninvited. The nice, normal guy you found to replace the one standing outside your door.' Keep her mind firmly fixed on Riley, and maybe thoughts of Angel could be confined to anger or distant, vague memories. But even that anger, the one thing she could safely feel, seemed to be slipping away.
Angel's heart ached at seeing her like this, and not being able to help her, not even able to touch her. And he mentally kicked himself for how much he wanted to do that right now. 'She's not yours anymore!' his mind railed at him. 'And why is she not yours, again? Because you left her, you moron, you walked out of her life, to leave her free to find a better one. And now here you are on her doorstep, interrupting that life, barging in again, because YOU can't bear to be away. Admit it, you fool; you can't stay away from her. You need her more than she needs you. Mighty creature of the night, ha! You're a moony-eyed child in love when it comes to this girl. She's your weakness.'
Angel came to a decision then, and told his mind fiercely to shut up. He didn't give a damn about any of that, though he knew it was true. He just wanted to erase the pain from her eyes. He had to find a way to make it all up to her. He just had to. "Buffy, please, I know I can't make it right by just saying I'm sorry, but it's the only place I could think of to start. How I was in LA… I was just being selfish. I was hurting you to drive you away, so I wouldn't be tempted, so I wouldn't have to remind myself every second that nothing had changed, all my reasons for leaving you still stood. So I wouldn't hurt worse, knowing you were there and that I couldn't touch you." Angel stared at the floor, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. What was he doing? He was shocked at himself, opening his heart this way, telling her the whole truth, but he couldn't seem to stop the flow of words, once he had started. "So I wouldn't just fall down at your feet and beg you to forgive me and take me back." He was finally able to look at her then. "Buffy, I'm not begging you to take me back; you've moved on, like I wanted you to. But I am asking you to forgive me. What I said, what I did- I couldn't stand to see you hurt like that. I had to come and try to make it right."
Buffy leaned on the half-open door to keep from collapsing under the torrent of Angel's apologies. She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but that definitely wasn't it. He stood silently in the hall when he'd finished speaking, waiting for her reaction. He stared blankly at her when she swung the door wide. "Come in, Angel."
He stood staring for a moment; had she really just invited him in? Why? Not that he was objecting, but…"Buffy, are you sure? I mean, not that I'm not grateful, but you know you don't have to. I only came to apologize, and you look tired, I could just go…" His words were interrupted as her knees buckled and she started to fall. He leapt forward instantly, catching her and cradling her battered and exhausted body against his own. She smiled wanly up at him, and made no move to pull away or re-gain her feet, letting him carry her to her bed. He growled before he caught himself, thinking of what had done this to her, set her down gently, and went to find bandages and a clean cloth.
Buffy drifted in semi-consciousness. She was dimly aware of being carried to the bed, and set down, and having her hurts tended. She felt drained, and not just physically. Everything that made her who she was seemed to have been sucked out of her, leaving her feeling empty, exhausted, and confused. But Angel was there, and she dimly wondered how he could be, as she wandered in and out of dreams. She decided she must be hallucinating, but no matter how she tried to clear her mind, all she could see or feel was him. Angel catching her as she fell. Angel tenderly cleaning her wounds. Angel gently touching her hair as he sat by her side through the night. She knew he wouldn't be there when she woke, so there was no harm in this sweet delusion. No need to worry about the hurt that stood between them. No need to stay away for fear of giving in to love. For now, she was content to drift, safe in the knowledge that he guarded her from harm.
Angel worried as he watched her sleep. She shouldn't have just collapsed like that. Either she'd been driving herself far harder than even she could take, or something more was wrong with her than the physical hurts he had tended. And he was inclined the think the latter. She pushed herself hard, but she knew her limits, and he thought she had more sense than to drive herself to the point of collapse. He gently touched the bandage on her neck, just above the small round scar that was his mark on her. His mark. The bite mark that in his culture marked her as his own. His mate. No, he wouldn't think about that. Down that road lay way too many painful memories and what-ifs. No matter how much he loved her, she could never be his. It wasn't meant to be. No matter how much the mark beneath his hand might seem to proclaim otherwise. She wasn't his. She never could be. That scar was a lie. But he leaned down and kissed it anyways, before he could stop himself.
Author: Kat
Distribution: Go ahead, I guess. Just ask first, please.
Feedback: Ok, here's the deal. The less feedback I get, the more depressed I am, and the less inspired I feel to write new chapters. Consequently, the time it takes for me to post a new chapter is directly proportional to the number of reviews I get for the last chapter. Translation: Review. Get your friends to review. Send this story to random strangers and have them review. 'Cause the more reviews I get, the quicker you get to find out what happens next.
Summary: Riley fights a demon that feeds on human energy, and an electrical charge transfers that to Riley. He can only get energy from sucking it directly from other humans, not from food. The more he takes, the stronger he gets, and it goes to his head. Then he discovers the Super-Power-Bar that is Buffy, and things get interesting. Of course, he hasn't told her about the whole energy-sucking thing. Buffy has to choose between Riley and Angel, and of course she chooses Angel, cause Riley's showing his true colors now. He always was an emotional leech. Angel gets to kill him; I decided he deserves the privilege right now.
FYI: This story is true to previous events. Other than that, not only does it not stay remotely true to the story line, it is part of my ongoing 'Corrections' series; meant to remedy Joss's mistakes! Starts around the time of The Yoko Factor on Buffy, and Sanctuary on Angel, just before Buffy gets back from LA.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss created them. And then he messed with their lives and separated soul-mates and tortured them and hurt them and we hate him for what he's done to our beloved characters… Ok, done ranting. For now.
Dedication: For Stephanie, who will never give up on B/A. And who deserves a great correction fic to clear up a mistake even I, non-Riley-hater that I am, thought was way out of character. Buffy Soooo would not have chosen Riley over Angel. Even if she was mad at him. And thus this fic was born.
*******************************************************************
Angel gaped at the woman who opened the door. Was this Buffy? She looked exhausted, she was muddy, with twigs and leaves tangled in her hair, she had a cut on her cheek and one on her neck, and a black eye starting, and her shirt was torn… He hastily tore his eyes away from THAT problem. "Buffy." He mentally kicked himself for not being more articulate. But his protective instincts were aroused, and he was torn between wanting to take her in his arms and soothe her hurt away, and knowing that that was no longer his responsibility or his right. He had given it up when he walked away from her last spring, and had just driven that point home with his treatment of her in LA. In fact, he dimly recalled he had come to apologize for that, but the sight of her had driven it completely out of his head. What on earth had done this to her? It had been a long time since he'd seen her so beat up, if ever. He reached out to her instinctively, only to come up against the invisible barrier that bared all vampires from this room who had not been previously invited.
Buffy's first reaction to his presence had been relief, and she hated that weakness in herself. After all this time, all this hurt, even after she had found someone to replace him, he was still the one she wanted to turn to, to lean on. But that reaction was swiftly overrun by another, healthier one; annoyance. "What are you doing here? Did you think of anything else really hurtful to say? Decided to come here and say it in person, since the best part is that look on my face…" She was stopped by the tenderness and resignation in Angel's eyes.
"No, actually, I wanted to apologize."
Buffy wrapped her anger around her like a cloak. She would not let him in, not let him comfort her, not let him apologize. She had to stay angry with him, to keep herself from falling into his arms. And there was plenty of anger there for her to work with. "Apologize? I come to see you, to help you, because I thought you were in trouble, and you threaten me, HIT me, order me out of *your* city, and then you have the nerve to show up on my doorstep and think you can make it all go away just by *apologizing*?"
'Remember Riley?' she thought furiously to herself. 'You know, the guy you've been dating for a while now? The guy who lost his job for you, became a fugitive for you, nearly got himself killed on patrol last night for you? The guy you tell yourself you love? Yeah, that guy. The guy whose arms you *should* find comfort in. Not the guy who's standing outside your door, waiting for you to ask him in because what he is prevents him from coming in uninvited. The nice, normal guy you found to replace the one standing outside your door.' Keep her mind firmly fixed on Riley, and maybe thoughts of Angel could be confined to anger or distant, vague memories. But even that anger, the one thing she could safely feel, seemed to be slipping away.
Angel's heart ached at seeing her like this, and not being able to help her, not even able to touch her. And he mentally kicked himself for how much he wanted to do that right now. 'She's not yours anymore!' his mind railed at him. 'And why is she not yours, again? Because you left her, you moron, you walked out of her life, to leave her free to find a better one. And now here you are on her doorstep, interrupting that life, barging in again, because YOU can't bear to be away. Admit it, you fool; you can't stay away from her. You need her more than she needs you. Mighty creature of the night, ha! You're a moony-eyed child in love when it comes to this girl. She's your weakness.'
Angel came to a decision then, and told his mind fiercely to shut up. He didn't give a damn about any of that, though he knew it was true. He just wanted to erase the pain from her eyes. He had to find a way to make it all up to her. He just had to. "Buffy, please, I know I can't make it right by just saying I'm sorry, but it's the only place I could think of to start. How I was in LA… I was just being selfish. I was hurting you to drive you away, so I wouldn't be tempted, so I wouldn't have to remind myself every second that nothing had changed, all my reasons for leaving you still stood. So I wouldn't hurt worse, knowing you were there and that I couldn't touch you." Angel stared at the floor, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. What was he doing? He was shocked at himself, opening his heart this way, telling her the whole truth, but he couldn't seem to stop the flow of words, once he had started. "So I wouldn't just fall down at your feet and beg you to forgive me and take me back." He was finally able to look at her then. "Buffy, I'm not begging you to take me back; you've moved on, like I wanted you to. But I am asking you to forgive me. What I said, what I did- I couldn't stand to see you hurt like that. I had to come and try to make it right."
Buffy leaned on the half-open door to keep from collapsing under the torrent of Angel's apologies. She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but that definitely wasn't it. He stood silently in the hall when he'd finished speaking, waiting for her reaction. He stared blankly at her when she swung the door wide. "Come in, Angel."
He stood staring for a moment; had she really just invited him in? Why? Not that he was objecting, but…"Buffy, are you sure? I mean, not that I'm not grateful, but you know you don't have to. I only came to apologize, and you look tired, I could just go…" His words were interrupted as her knees buckled and she started to fall. He leapt forward instantly, catching her and cradling her battered and exhausted body against his own. She smiled wanly up at him, and made no move to pull away or re-gain her feet, letting him carry her to her bed. He growled before he caught himself, thinking of what had done this to her, set her down gently, and went to find bandages and a clean cloth.
Buffy drifted in semi-consciousness. She was dimly aware of being carried to the bed, and set down, and having her hurts tended. She felt drained, and not just physically. Everything that made her who she was seemed to have been sucked out of her, leaving her feeling empty, exhausted, and confused. But Angel was there, and she dimly wondered how he could be, as she wandered in and out of dreams. She decided she must be hallucinating, but no matter how she tried to clear her mind, all she could see or feel was him. Angel catching her as she fell. Angel tenderly cleaning her wounds. Angel gently touching her hair as he sat by her side through the night. She knew he wouldn't be there when she woke, so there was no harm in this sweet delusion. No need to worry about the hurt that stood between them. No need to stay away for fear of giving in to love. For now, she was content to drift, safe in the knowledge that he guarded her from harm.
Angel worried as he watched her sleep. She shouldn't have just collapsed like that. Either she'd been driving herself far harder than even she could take, or something more was wrong with her than the physical hurts he had tended. And he was inclined the think the latter. She pushed herself hard, but she knew her limits, and he thought she had more sense than to drive herself to the point of collapse. He gently touched the bandage on her neck, just above the small round scar that was his mark on her. His mark. The bite mark that in his culture marked her as his own. His mate. No, he wouldn't think about that. Down that road lay way too many painful memories and what-ifs. No matter how much he loved her, she could never be his. It wasn't meant to be. No matter how much the mark beneath his hand might seem to proclaim otherwise. She wasn't his. She never could be. That scar was a lie. But he leaned down and kissed it anyways, before he could stop himself.
