Title: Torn Part 5

Author: Neamh1

Feedback: Come on guys only takes a minute - Please!

Disclaimer: Not mine, belong to Joss and WB.

Rating: NC-17 Please don't read if you are under age.

Quickly picking her into his arms he ran up to the front door and kicked it open with his foot. Thanking the devil that his invitation had not been revoked he stormed into the house, the commotion waking Buffy, he placed her down once they were safely inside.
"Angelus, what's going on? What are we doing here?" Buffy asked confused as she got her footing.
Joyce ran down the stairs at the commotion and saw her daughter and Angelus standing there, her daughter that she thought was dead.
"Buffy? Is that really you?" she asked, afraid that the image of her daughter would simply fade away to nothing.
"Yes mum." Buffy replied, anxious now that she had been forced into this meeting. She had decided to leave things with her mum for a short while longer until she felt settled. She was knocked out of her thoughts as her mother ran down the few remaining steps and enveloped her into a huge hug. Tears streaming down Joyce's cheek as she held her daughter in her arms.
"Joyce we need to stay here for a while, and I need to use your phone. Buffy take your mum upstairs to her room and stay there." Angelus said and then left to go into the living room to use the phone.
"Buffy what's wrong? What's happening, are you in danger?" Joyce asked as her daughter steered her up the stairs.
When she got her mother into the bedroom she began explaining everything to her mother and by the time Angelus returned Joyce was crying softly in her arms.
"What's going on Angelus?" she asked as he paced the room.
"I've just called Giles to warn him and to get everyone over to Xanders new apartment. No doubt the council have told her where he lives and she'll be heading over there soon." He said as he continued to walk back and forth.
"The slayer?" she questioned and he stopped his pacing long enough to face her and nod at her assumption.
"When we got to the mansion the place was in chaos, it looks like she wanted to make an early start and see if she could surprise us, it's lucky we weren't in there when she arrived. The minions that were in there were fleeing, it sounded like she was still fighting someone though, maybe it was Spike…" he said thoughtfully, wondering whether his childe managed to get away from the slayer. There was nothing he could do to help now though, the sun had risen and there was no safe way for him to reach the mansion without being fried in the process.
"You don't think she's gonna hurt Giles or the others do you?" Buffy asked, slayer mode kicking in as she prepared to protect her friends. "I don't know…we don't know what she's like and if Giles refuses to help her and the others are there there's no telling what could happen. It's best not to take any risks." Angelus replied.
"Aren't you supposed to be evil? Why would you care what happened?" Joyce asked, completely confused over everything that was happening.
Angelus simply growled at her comment and then ignored Joyce; Buffy smiled at the comment but quickly hid it when Angelus glowered at her.
"So what do we do now?" Buffy finally asked, the silence in the room beginning to get to her.
"As soon as the sun sets we're leaving for L.A. as planned. I suggest your mother stays here with the others, best for them to be together in a group than with us. Especially if this slayer picks up wind of where we've gone, there's every chance that she's gonna follow us there immediately. Once we get to L.A. I can call in some favours and get us properly protected; you will be confined to the Hyperion"
"I need to get my mum over to Xanders place." Buffy said as she stood from the bed.
"You're not going anywhere without me from now on, I'm not risking it." Angelus replied, there was no way that he was going to allow Buffy to go out alone and likely face this slayer.
"Angelus, she can't go unprotected and besides, it's not me that she's really looking for, it's you. She most likely does know what I look like but without you there with me I doubt she'd start anything." Buffy replied, not willing to leave her mother to go out alone, she didn't trust the other slayer not to harm her family or friends to get information on Angelus.
"Yeah you're right. You should go out there and be seen so that she knows exactly what your mother looks like. Then you can lead her to the others in broad daylight so that I can't help if you get into trouble. Great idea Buff." He said sarcastically. He could see by the look on her face that she considered what he had said and realised that he was right. If the council didn't already know where Xanders new apartment was and she was seen then it would leave them open to attack when Buffy wasn't around.
"Get on the phone to Xander and tell him to get Willow to perform a protection spell for all of them on the apartment. As soon as the sun sets we'll be around there to drop off your mother and then we'll be heading for L.A. Since she found us so easily and is most likely torturing one of my minions right now then she'll know our plans and will follow us to L.A. The best thing we can do is to get to L.A. as fast as possible and be protected; once we're on our own territory she'll stand no chance. You go and use the house phone whilst I make a few calls, I'll be in your room." And with that he turned and walked out.

That morning Angelus spent the majority of his time on the phone with Penn or whoever, Buffy didn't stress much about what he was doing because she took the opportunity to spend some time catching up with her mother. There was a lot that Buffy kept from her mother about her life in the past four years, she revealed enough just to keep her in the loop and making sure that she had no worries that her only daughter had not been mistreated.
Joyce realised that her daughter had changed a lot in the four years she had been missing, she had changed from a young girl into a woman but she also knew that her daughter was traumatised beneath it all. When Joyce asked Buffy about her relationship with Angel Buffy told her that he was not Angel any longer, that he was now Angelus and a vampire without a soul.
"I could kind of understand before, with Angel he had a soul and didn't feed from humans and helped you fight evil. Giles explained that you were the slayer after you left and slowly I came to terms with that. What I can't understand is why you are with him now that he's lost his soul, if I'm right then doesn't it mean that without a soul he's evil, feeds from humans, maims and kills and tortures." Joyce said and Buffy looked up in surprise at how much Giles had told her mother about her world. "After Giles told me about it I did some reading up, suffice to say that I was shocked and…scared for you. Vampires can't love Buffy, whatever it is that you felt for Angel can't be returned by Angelus, he's not capable of it. I want you to understand that, I read that all vampires feel are lust and hunger, he may want you but he'll never love you." said Joyce looking into her daughter's tear filled eyes.
Buffy knew that what her mother was saying was right, the whole reason she had run away in the first place was because she was disgusted with the way she had made a mockery of her love for Angel by sleeping with Angelus. In those four years she had missed him so much that she had come back blindly into his arms wanting only to feel him hold her. He had held her, he told her that he'd never let her go, that he'd always be there for her and that she'd have anything she needed or wanted. She wasn't a normal girl, she couldn't live in the world the way she had before, she knew that for a fact…and wasn't having Angel in any form better than not having him at all?

She had managed to get a small amount of sleep but nothing longer than an hour, the thoughts her mother had set in her mind again were playing havoc in her head and her heart. Angelus was continuously working and told her that he didn't have the luxury of sleeping; he had to keep watch and be alert in case Faith decided to pay them a visit.
By nightfall they had been lucky and as they drove towards Xanders house there was no sign of the slayer. Angelus waited in the car whilst Buffy ran Joyce into the house, watching out for any signs of movement. Inside Joyce waited as Buffy said goodbye to all her friends and then she walked her daughter to the door. "Remember what I said Buffy. I know you already know, God knows you've been the slayer for years now and you know more than I do about it but I'm worried that your judgement is blinded by your love for Angel. Be careful; never let your guard down…I love you." Joyce said, tears choking her voice as she hugged Buffy.
"I love you too mom." Buffy replied and then stepped away and took one last glance at everyone before leaving. She knew that they couldn't afford to stay too long, she needed to be away from her friends and family, it was safer for them if she was no where near them. That knowledge hurt her more than she would admit, again she was putting them in danger and again the reason was her misguided love for a demon. She had failed them before to kill Angelus and they had nearly paid dearly with the life of Jenny, others hadn't been so lucky. Angelus had killed countless people after his return and was still doing so now. He was killing people and then returning to her bed…their bed. What was she doing? She couldn't think straight, she was so confused and as she climbed in the car next to him she didn't say a word. She didn't know if there was anything she could say to him that wouldn't let him on to her doubt about their relationship and at the moment all she had was him. She had to keep her family safe and Angelus had told her that he was doing that, he would have people watching their house and keeping them safe whilst he and her were out of town dealing with the slayer. Her mind set she switched on the radio to try and take her mind off her problems, the song playing was cheerful enough and she concentrated hard on the lyrics, anything to take her mind off her undead lover.

Angelus drove as fast as he could out of Sunnydale but before heading for L.A. he made a short stop at Penn's to switch cars, the car he swapped with Penn was a black SUV with tinted windows and a trunk full of weapons. He and Buffy were on the road to L.A. within five minutes of stopping, Buffy couldn't help the bad feeling that settled in her stomach as they headed for the city she hated. L.A. something bad always happened there and she dreaded to think what would go wrong this time.