Summary: Buffy loses Angel.
Notes: See, I wonder why Sarah Michelle never accepted to guest-star at 'Angel'. So, I made this little story. After all, through four years there were lots of times when our favorite seeking-for-redemption vampire needed his beloved, and she never showed up.
Timeline: Pretend Angel won the battle against W&H minions and now owns the whole company. It's set more or less one year after 'Not Fade Away'.
Disclaimer: Only the characters you don't know are mine. The others… Well, Mr. Joss Whedon made money with them.
Spoilers: To mostly 'Chosen', 'Home', 'Not Fade Away' and the off-screen meeting between Buffy and Angel.
The Test
Buffy walked in the shiny building. It was around two years since she last saw her Angel, and now he was a rich man. Okay, so he was rich before, but it was money he had kept from his soulless days. Now he was loaded with money he made while fighting the good fight. And she knew he was happy with this. Probably the happier he could be without being returned to his soulless state.
No one looked at her twice. Buffy knew Angel fired all the employees that were hired by Wolfram & Hart's original owners, and those men and women who were filling the building and walking back and forth had been hired by Angel. They were good people, all of them.
A young man sitting on a desk outside of Angel's office got up to greet Buffy. He had blue eyes and dark hair. His complexion was pale, but Buffy could fell the power rolling off his body. He smiled – and it was Angel's smile.
"Buffy, right?" He asked, holding out his hand for her. She shook it and nodded. "I'm Connor O'Connell. I know, weird. But, well…"
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of you before", the Slayer said politely.
"Oh, but of course you don't. Dad and I didn't have the greatest relationship when he last went to help you, and, when you met halfway I was just a baby", Connor said. Buffy widened her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but whose son are you?"
"Oh, I see. You two never really caught up, did you? Well, you see, Angel had a baby. And I'm this baby".
Buffy looked puzzled at Connor.
"How can you be this baby if you're eighteen? For all I know, vampires can't have children?"
"I was raised in a demon dimension. Quortoth. I'm supposed to be three".
"I repeat: vampires can't have children".
"Angel did", a female voice interrupted, and Buffy turned in her heels. A petite woman with long black hair and deep green eyes walked out of Angel's office. She wore a pair of dark purple trousers and a white silky shirt. "Connor is Darla's son".
Buffy felt dizzy. What the hell was going on?
"How could Darla have a son, when Angel staked her in front of me?" Buffy asked, confused. The woman sighed and said:
"You two never really talked about what was going on his life when you met, didn't you? It was always touchy-and-feely. No wonder Spike always said you two made him want to gag".
"Who the hell are you?" Buffy demanded, glaring at the woman. Connor sat back to enjoy the show. The unknown woman arched up one eyebrow.
"My name is Catherine. Nice to meet you".
"What are you to Angel?"
But Catherine never answered that question, because right then Angel walked out of his office holding a little baby on his arms.
"Cathy, honey, I think Julian…" Then he stopped dead at his tracks. Buffy was staring at him, her mouth forming a big 'O'. He waited for the feeling of completeness he always had around her. Nothing. Angel smirked a little. He was free. "Buffy, hey!" He greeted his ex girlfriend friendly. "I see you've already met Catherine, my wife".
"Your what?" Buffy rasped, her voice thick. Angel looked a little worriedly at her, but focused back at the baby in his arms.
"My wife. She's been my wife for almost three years now. And this", he showed to Buffy the baby he was holding, "is Julian, one of our twins. The other one, Nicole, is inside, sleeping".
"What does he need, dear?" Catherine said, walking towards Angel and checking at their baby. "Come with mommy, sweetie. Now, Angel, please go talk to Buffy".
"Okay. Bye. Love you", he whispered the last part, kissing her cheek. "Daddy loves you too, brat", he said to the baby, who gurgled back at him. Catherine walked back inside the office and Angel was left behind to face, alone, Buffy's wrath.
"Dad, I believe Mark's office is free. He's out for a hearing" Connor interfered. Angel smiled thankfully at his son and motioned for Buffy to follow him. Once they were inside the office, Angel pressed a few buttons on the table.
"I sat up the hearing shield, because I don't want any of my inferiors to listen to what we're going to yell at each other. Better yet, what you're going to scream at me", he explained, dryly.
"Angel, who is she?" Buffy asked.
"Her name is Catherine Wallace. She was the younger sister of Connor's foster mother. One day she came to see Connor and… We fell in love", he said, simply. He never told her how special Catherine made him feel. How great he felt when she held him in her arms. How wonderful it felt when they kissed. Once he had felt all those things with Buffy. Not anymore.
"Angel, you promised me forever", she whispered. Angel sighed.
"Buffy, please, don't make this harder than it is. I love you dearly, but Catherine… Catherine needs me. And I need her. I have a healthy relationship with her".
"What do you mean, a healthy relationship?" Buffy asked. "What we had together was healthy too!"
"No, it was not. It was co-dependency. And guilt. Sure, we were in love, but we were not together because of it. We were together because I felt guilty of what Angelus inflicted upon you, and you felt guilty of killing me".
Buffy felt like he had punched her. All air left her lungs. Angel was looking at her and, for the first time since they met, there was no love inside his eyes. Even when he was soulless, there was some kind of sadistic love inside of them.
"Angel, you can't be serious", she nearly pleaded with him. Angel sighed and showed her his left hand. A golden wedding band rested in his ring finger. She took it on her own and felt the warmth of his skin. She looked up. "Oh, God. You're warm. Angel…"
"I'm alive" he answered the unspoken question. "I didn't tell you because I was already engaged back then, to Catherine. We were planning our wedding then I had to send her away, because I had this huge apocalypse to avert. But she didn't leave. She stayed hidden in my old place until everything was calm. We went to bed and, the next day, when I woke up I was alive".
Angel didn't tell her that he and Catherine cried when they realized what had happened to him. He kept secret that she took him to where Connor was living, and he and his son made peace, and the three of them went to have lunch together, as a family. The Slayer was hurting too much without knowing those little details that made his relationship with Catherine so special.
Then it hit Buffy. This was wrong. This was not her Angel. Angel always kept his promises and this one didn't keep the most important one.
"You're not Angel", she said coldly. The vampire in front of her looked at her in shock. "Where is he?"
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm Angel".
"No, you're not. I won't repeat it one more time. Where. Is. Angel?" Buffy said, pointing the stake towards the vampire's heart. He smiled and then the office they were into dissolved, turning into a huge, door less, window-less room. Buffy looked around frantically. "Where the hell am I?" She yelled.
"Do not speak this word in here, Chosen One", a male voice scolded her severely. A couple with blue skin and golden togas appeared in front of them. "I do not see why the Warrior loves her so much".
"Where am I? Where is my Angel?" Buffy asked, her voice weak. She recalled very well the last time those beings stepped into her life. Everything Angel and she had ever wanted had been taken away from them.
"You see it well, brother. You see her power, her purity. She craved for darkness but her life force was too strong for her to submit to it", the female said. "It was a test. We made your worst nightmare to come true, so we could test you. Test the strength of your love".
Buffy fell to her knees.
"Oh, thank God, it's not true", she breathed before she could prevent herself. The female smiled to her like she was a little child, while the male snorted. "Okay, so now you saw that I still can recognize whether it is my Angel or not. Now where is he?"
The male glared at her, but Buffy glared right back. The female slapped his arm and then said:
"He is where you saw him. But your nightmare, he having a wife and a family, does not exist. Go for him, Chosen One. And be happy".
And that Buffy did.
The End
Author's Note: God, I don't understand myself. This did not end the way I planned it. I started writing this so it could be a not B/A fic. But, like always, my B/A side came to life and it ended the way it did. Anyway, hope you like it. Oh, and this goes to my babe Liam. I love you, honey.