A.N. Remember that B/Aness I mentioned? Yeah, there's a lot in the following chapters but it's not all entirely what you expected.

Also, Thank you for reviewing! I feel so loved!

- Chapter Fourteen -

A calm silence draped itself gratefully over the living room, the panic of the previous crowded night over.

Buffy sighed and rearranged herself on the overstuffed gray couch. The doorbell rang just as she laid her head back on the black throw pillow. "What type of moron would interrupt quiet, sleepy time? I should have let Piper have Faith's room instead," she grumbled to herself while she padded toward the door adjusting her green tank top, blanket trailing behind her.

She flung open the door, "What," she snapped before she fully noticed who it was.

Angelus pushed his way in, slammed the door behind him and pulled her against his chest. His lips crashed down on hers before either could come up with a real, verbal greeting.

They began fumbling clumsily toward the stairs before he groaned and lifted her off her feet. Her legs automatically wrapped themselves around his waist.

His mouth was still fused to hers, tongues dueling in a primitive battle for control, when he reached the stairs...and fell on top of her.

"Ow."

"I'm sorry," he grimaced and pulled himself off of her only to be pulled back down.

"Don't be," she laughed. "Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."

He stared down at her as if he were trying to memorize her face. "Ryan," he told her after a brief silence. "Why is it that I have trouble remembering my own name around you?"

"I'm just one of those people," she murmured, pulling his mouth back down to hers. "Wait," she stopped. "What about Ryan?"

.:.:.:.

"He saw you," he growled at Riley.

"I didn'-"

"Quiet! You fucked up! Simpering moron," he finished under his breath. He stared off into the distance. Riley had the sense to remain silent as his new boss thought. A soft chuckle wormed its way through the eerily calm quiet. "Well, we'll just have to fix this."

"How?"

"This time, don't leave them for dead...finish the job."

Riley gaped at him. "How?"

He sighed impatiently. "Are you really this stupid or is this just an act? We can't have you attack the same people, they'll be watched. We need a different target. This time...we kill."

"Great," Riley smiled.

"Don't do that."

.:.:.:.

Buffy rubbed her tired eyes before staring out the window to watch the neighborhood children play in the mid-morning sun.

She heard someone rush down the stairs behind her. "Ryan saw Riley last night during the attack."

"Who's Riley," Faith asked with distaste and walked over to sit by Buffy.

"You remember. The greasy blond that used to always give Liz trouble? Wouldn't take 'no' for an answer? C'mon, ring any annoying little bells?"

"Oh! Wasn't that the guy Angelus wrecked?"

Buffy frowned, "Yeah. And after that Riley pretty much avoided us and Liz."

They both thought that over. "Don't you think that's odd?"

"I think we need to have a chat with our pal Liz," Buffy put on her resolve face.

"You get me."


.:.:.:.

"I need to talk to you," Liz whispered urgently into the phone.

"What time," Angelus asked through a yawn.

"Tonight? About seven?"

"Ok. So, what's so damn important?"

"I don't want to talk about it here. Get some sleep. You'll find out."

"Can't wait. Thanks."

Liz hung up and stared thoughtfully out the window of her apartment. The place Angelus had hooked her up with through a contact. She stretched and removed herself from the uncomfortable leather chair she hated to walk around the room. Angelus had decorated it himself after telling her that she wasn't suited for picking out her own furniture. Now, every room had at least one piece of leather furniture. Her eyes drifted restlessly to the painting over the matching black leather couch. In gold, bronze, and various blues, it depicted the Greek myth of the creation of mankind. Angelus had been overjoyed to find it. And now he might get to have it for himself. She checked her watch as the grandfather clock chimed. "Six already? I need to work on my concentration." She changed quickly into a white blouse and a pair of black jeans before putting on her black tennis shoes and grabbing her black leather jacket Angelus had given her for her last birthday.

"Buffy," she gaped in surprise at the girl standing in the doorway. "I was just heading out."

"So," she drawled, "you know Angelus?"

Liz laughed uncomfortably, "Of course I do. We all do."

"That's not what I meant," she gently chided. "It all makes so much sense now. The way you seemed to always push me towards him, the way you took up for him...it's like everything's so clear now."

"Oh?"

"Why'd you lie to me? You betrayed our friends- bmy/b friendship for what? Money? Power? Why were you playing us? Me? Did Angelus use you to get us to let our guard down so you could try to hurt us?"

"It's not like that! If you knew he and I were friends, would you have accepted me? No! I helped bring you and him together! Like you should be."

"That's not the way it works. That's a seriously fucked up thing to do to someone! How messed up to you have to be to do shit like this to friends?"

"I don't have to take this. I hope you're happy," Liz coldly glared at her as she walked through the still-open door.


.:.:.:.

Paul'll let me in if I'm early, she thought to herself as she rushed down the sidewalk.

"Who does she think she is," Liz raged to herself as she quickened her pace. "You try to help someone and they get all pissed off just because you went behind their backs and repeated their secrets. Where's the justice?"

"I couldn't tell you," Riley sneered and blocked her path.

She sighed impatiently and waved dismissively, "I don't have time for you."

He didn't speak but instead chose to stand there with an odd smirk on his face.

"God! Didn't Angelus make it clear that I don't want you, you dolt?"

"This isn't about that." He signaled someone behind her.

Two sets of hands grabbed her by the arms. They held tighter as she struggled. "Let me go!"

His face reddened and his dull blue eyes gained light. "You do something for us then."

"No," she spat back and renewed her efforts to get away.

On his serious face, his eyes seemed to be laughing at her. He continued as if she hadn't spoke. "Where's Angelus' girl?"

"I don't know," Liz answered on of the others, ignoring him.

This time he did laugh at her. "Liar. See Johnny over there," he asked, pointing to a dark-haired boy that looked as if a tomato had exploded in his face and he'd been too lazy to clean it off.

"Yep. You know, a little bit of toothpaste, the ordinary kind, not the whitening junk, will help clear all that up," Liz advised, once again pretending Riley didn't exist.

He cleared his throat angrily, "He followed you from your place. Heard your argument about Angelus."

She gasped indignantly, "Johnny! That's not very nice! But anyway, so what? You honestly expect me to tell you anything?"

"You told him."

"Well, duh. He's my friend. You, on the other hand, are just an annoying greasy jerk who can't take a hint."

"Maybe instead we should leave a message for him and his toy."

"Message? Great, I'll just get my notebook and I'll be sure they get it," she pulled her arms away as much as she could.

"Not that kind of message," Riley began advancing with a malicious glint in his eyes.

She sighed and looked down, "I was afraid of that." She coyly watched him under her eyelashes and when he got close enough, she used the boys holding her back as leverage then used her right foot to kick his face, leaving a mark. She watched his head jerk back, unimpressed with the blood dripping out of his mouth, then used her other foot to connect with his groin as hard as she could. She watched him go down with a smirk before turning her attention to her captors.

She used all her weight to jump down on the one at her left's foot. He let go and she jerked her arm from the other's grip. She paused to knee him before taking off in a full sprint toward Angelus'.

She felt someone pull her roughly back. She was then turned around to face Riley and the others.

His eyes were bulging as he glared at her. He held up a bloody knife. "Do you know what this is," he asked with unrestricted glee.

She stared at it in confusion before realization spread across her face.

"That's right. It's the knife we used on the bitch and that asshole," he looked as if he could die from joy on the spot.

"Get away from me!" Liz began to struggle, kick, bite and scratch any skin she came in contact with.

A sudden rush of pain brought her flailing to a screeching halt.

She looked down at the knife, still connected to Riley's hand, but now imbedded in her chest almost impassively.

Her brown eyes looked past him, an apology clear in their depths before sagging in their arms. Riley removed the knife from her then signaled for the boys to let her go. Her body fell limply to the pavement and they walked away.

She heard footsteps approach her at a run and opened her eyes at the sound of Buffy's choked gasp.

The light was fading from her eyes as they met Buffy's red ones.

"Liz," she timidly spoke. She looked at the blood seeping through the white blouse and quickly pressed her hands over the wound to try to stop the flow, muttering 'oh God' in rapid succession. "You have to hold on," Buffy spoke, her voice squeaking as she tried to hold back tears. "Please," she brokenly whispered.

"Liz? Get up. Please," she pleaded. Her eyes drifted from the vacant stare to her chest, which had stopped moving.

"No," she drew in a shaky breath then made her way to the pay phone to call the police before going back to wait for them with Liz. She hugged her knees to her chest and began rocking slightly. Her hands uncaringly wiping the blood on her sleeves.

Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer by the second.

"Miss? Do you know who did this," a man asked her gently.

She rose her head, cold rage filling her features. "No." The red lights illuminated the scene, giving it a slightly horror movie feel.

He seemed to believe her, "Let's get you home."

She numbly stood and began calculating revenge.

.:.:.:.

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