Title: Missing

Author: Neamh1

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: NC17

Feedback: Thanks for all the great feedback, you've all ben really gernerous, please keep it coming!

"Liam, where's Buffy, she's ten minutes late? Have you tried calling her house to see where she is?" Terry asked Liam as he paced back and fourth for the fiftieth time since 12:00pm. Buffy was the only one who had not shown up yet, Liam had tried to call her at home but the dial tone said that the line was engaged. That was at 11:45 when he arrived, he had tried her two minutes ago from his cell and still the line was busy. It wasn't like Buffy not to turn up on time, every morning that they had been here last week she had always been ready before him.
"Terry, the line's still busy. Here, this is my cell phone number, I'm going to drive over there and see what she's doing. If you hear from her before I get there call me and let me know. I'll be as fast as I can." Liam said and ran out of the building. Terry started to brief everyone on the shooting schedule, he could always fill Buffy and Liam in on it later.

Liam sped along the highway, if there had been any police about he would have been pulled over for speeding, luckily for him there weren't. By the time he arrived at Buffy's he still hadn't been able to get a hold of her. Buffy's car was still in the driveway so Liam left his on the street and ran up to the front door, it wasn't locked and so he went in calling out for her. When he got no reply he went into the living room to see if she was on the phone.

He'd never felt so scared for someone else the way he did right then for Buffy. The room was in total disarray, the coffee table had been tipped up, and the phone was on the floor off the hook which explained the busy tone. It looked like there had been a struggle, Liam quickly ran through the house checking all the rooms to see if Buffy was still there. He then checked the back garden and when he found nothing he called Kate and told her.

It wasn't long before Kate was sitting outside Buffy's house taking a statement from Liam. He was devastated, Kate had never seen him in such a state, he was on the verge of either breaking down or going mad and rushing off to look everywhere for Buffy. There were several police officers inside looking through the house for evidence, the security camera's had been checked as well but it seemed that they hadn't picked anything up. Whoever had broken in and taken Buffy had entered from the back and not gone upstairs or through the hallway. After finishing Liam's statement Kate told Liam she would take him home, he was in no fit state to drive and she suggested that he phoned in work and told them he wouldn't be in for the next couple of days. When they arrived at his house Angelus' car was parked up so Kate went in and spoke with him whilst Liam called in work.

When Kate had finished speaking with Angelus and getting his alibi she went to see how Liam was before she left.
"You're staying at home right?" Kate asked as she sat down next to Liam on the sofa.
"What else can I do?" he asked feeling completely useless.
"This is what you can do, if he wants anything in return for her safety he's going to call either you or her family. You need to be here in case he calls, here…this is my cell phone number, if I hear anything I'll call you, I promise." Kate handed him the card and then got up and left leaving Liam to his thoughts.

Liam sat by the phone for hours on end, every now and again Angelus would come and check on him to see how he was.
"Liam, I'm sorry about Buffy, I know you two were getting close and it must be hard for you. If it's any consolation I'm sure she'll be fine, she's a fighter, remember the way she tore Darla in two with a few words. She'll make it through this, don't worry." Angelus gave his brother few reassuring words. When Kate had come and told him about Buffy's disappearance he had been completely shocked, after that the anger took over and he asked Kate if there was anything that he could do to help with the search. Kate had told him that the best thing he could do right now was to stay at home with Liam and make sure that he was okay. She was worried about him, he was in a complete state over Buffy's disappearance and she feared what might happen if they couldn't find Buffy or if something happened to her. Angelus agreed to take care of his brother, Kate told Angelus that she would have a couple of officers staying around the grounds in case the kidnapper called or showed up.

At about 6pm Liam heard Angelus leave the house and drive off, he didn't care though and just continued to stare at the wall waiting for the phone to ring, it never did.

Angelus returned late that night to find his brother still sitting on the sofa where he had left him a few hours ago, he felt bad for him; he could imagine what he was going through.
"Liam, I was just wondering…have you called Buffy's parents to let them know what's been going on?" Angelus asked his brother. This seemed to snap Liam out of the trance he'd been in.
"No, I completely forgot, I told Kate on the way home that I'd call them." Liam said and reached for the phone. Angelus went up to his room to give his brother some privacy whilst he spoke to Buffy's parents. No doubt they would come here and stay with Liam whilst the police searched for Buffy. He decided to get a good nights sleep and went to bed early, he didn't really fancy sitting up all night with Liam in silence. If Buffy had been taken away from Angelus he wouldn't be sitting around moping all day, he'd be out looking for her in every place he could think of. Sometimes his brother was so pathetic, he thought to himself before he drifted off to sleep.

6am and Angelus walked downstairs with a holdall in his hands and stopped by the living room door. Liam was lying on the sofa fast asleep with the cordless phone clutched tightly in his hands, shaking his head at his brother Angelus quietly left the house and climbed into his car speeding down the driveway.

7am and Liam was woken by the sound of the telephone, he quickly jumped up and answered, sitting back down slowly when he heard Kate's voice.
"Liam we have some news, one of the neighbours came forward this morning to speak to us and it seems that the kidnapper might not have been as careful as he thought. One of the neighbours saw a young man walking through Buffy's living room yesterday early in the morning, she didn't think anything of it because she recognised him and had seen him there before with Buffy... We also found a phone book that had been knocked under the sofa when the struggle happened. We looked through it and there was a page which had large messed up writing on it, it took a while to understand what was written but it said 'HELP' and there was a letter after it, we think it was the letter 'A'.

All the pieces started to fall into place for Liam, he left the beach house early that morning, the neighbours recognised the man because he was Liam's identical, he knew about the camera and where Buffy lived. Oh god, he practically made it an easy job for Angelus.
"Where is he?" asked Kate after a few moments of silence giving Liam time to process the information.
"Upstairs, hold on." Said Liam panicking, running up the stairs calling out for his brother Liam found no trace of him. Angelus' door was open and Liam noticed that a few of his clothes were missing. Angelus could be anywhere by now. If they managed to leave the country there would be no way of finding them.
"He's not here, and some of his clothes are missing." Liam said as he ran through Angelus' bedroom, going through his drawers and the trash bin by his desk. "Kate, there's a wallet here which looks like it had tickets in it. He's at the airport, oh god!" Liam said when he realised that he might have lost Buffy already.
"Liam, I'll meet you at the airport straightaway. I'll inform the security there and get some traces done to see if they've checked in with their real names. Meet me at the main check-in desk." Kate said and then hung up to let Liam get on his way. She immediately got back on her cell and called the airport explaining the situation and getting searches done for passengers travelling within the hour and planes that had already left that morning.

By the time Liam got there Kate had not long arrived, she was speaking with some other officers at the check-in desk when Liam approached her.
"Angelus must have fake passports so we don't know which flight they are on or even if they have already left. I've managed to buy us some time and delayed all the flights that were about to take off. We need to discreetly do a search of the airport to see if they are here, I have officers at the door in case they try to leave. I need you to stay out of sight Liam, if Angelus spots you then the game's up. Just do me a favour and wait here, here this is a radio connected to mine, when and if we find them I'll radio you and let you know where we are okay?" Kate said and when Liam started to protest she simply put a hand up in the air and said "Stay!" then she hurried off to help with the search.

Ten minutes later and Liam still hadn't heard from Kate, he couldn't stand it any longer; he had to do something so he went to help look for Buffy.

He went from one area to the next, there were just so many people to search through he nearly gave up and went back to wait for Kate when he saw Buffy sitting amongst a lot of people on the waiting chairs. The first thing he had noticed was the necklace that he had given her; it sparkled out against her top and instantly drew his attention to her. Liam hid behind a wall and attempted to radio Kate to let her know where he was.
"Kate, I have them. Are you there?" he spoke into the radio
"Yeah I see you, I'm to your left, where are they?" she asked
"On the chairs on the other side of this wall." Liam replied and leaned back around the wall to check that they hadn't moved. He could still see Buffy but now Angelus was standing in front of her pulling her up from her seat by her arm. "They're on the move Kate." Liam said, but as Buffy and Angelus turned to move away from the waiting area Angelus' eyes met with Liam's and he grabbed Buffy moving as fast as possible towards the crowd of people trying to board a flight hoping that he could lose his brother. "Shit! He's seen me Kate." Liam shouted into the radio and ran out from behind the wall in an attempt to follow them.
"Freeze! Don't take another step!" Liam heard Kate shout and Angelus instantly stopped swinging Buffy around in front of him as a shield. He then pulled out a knife from a pocket in his coat and held it to her throat.
"Don't make me do it Kate. Stay the hell away from us, I don't want to hurt her!" shouted Angelus.

A thousand thoughts were going through Buffy's mind, joy at seeing Liam again, terror at the thought of the blade that was pressed up against her throat and understanding as she saw a number of police officers and security staff approaching the scene and moving the now terrified bystanders out of the area.
"Angelus, put the knife down, you know you're going to hurt her." Liam tried reasoning with his brother but to no avail.
"Shut up! You don't get to do that anymore Liam!" Angelus spat out. "I've had it with you, you call yourself family? You don't give a shit about me, I may not have your job or your home, but I have something better than all that, I have the woman you love. She's mine now and she loves me, we're going to go away and be happy, don't worry, I'll send you pictures of the kids when they're born, it's the least I could do." Angelus shouted. By this time tears were streaming down Buffy's cheeks and keeping one eye on Liam, Angelus leant down and kissed the tear trail from Buffy's face making her cry harder.
"Angelus, let Buffy go and we'll go to the station and speak about this." Kate said trying to diffuse the situation between the brothers; she could see that Liam was ready to rip out his brother's throat.
"Well thanks Kate but that's not on my schedule, I'm real busy, but I'll call you." He replied in a sarcastic voice.
"Your not leaving with her, I won't allow it." Liam said drawing Angelus' attention back to him.
"What are you going to do about it brother." He spat the last word out. Liam's attention flicked for a second to the officer who was attempting to approach them from behind. The quick look was enough to alert Angelus and as he turned slightly to see how close the officer was, he was stabbed in the leg with something by Buffy, the pain shot through his leg and his grip loosened on her. Buffy took the opportunity and elbowed Angelus in the chest then made a run to Liam.

She dived into his arms and they fell to the floor together, the police officers made a run for Angelus, Buffy and Liam turned when they heard Kate scream for everyone to stop…but it was too late. Buffy and Liam watched as Angelus' body dropped to the floor.

Angelus felt the pain hit him as he saw Buffy and Liam drop to the floor together, Liam raining kisses over Buffy's face and checking that she was alright. He would have never hurt her, in his own way he loved her, all he wanted was to be truly happy for a change and he thought that being with her would do that. He knew now that there was no chance of it, he had fooled himself into believing that given enough time she might come to love him back. There was nothing left for him now except prison, and he couldn't live like that again. Angelus brought the knife up to his throat and in one swift movement he ended his life, the last thing he saw was a solitary tear run down Buffy's cheek, and he hoped that the tear was for him.

"Get an ambulance now!" shouted Kate as she rushed to Angelus' body.
Buffy was shaking in Liam's arms; she couldn't take her eyes off Angelus. He had been good to her; he hadn't hurt her except for knocking her out at her house, and he had made sure that she had everything she needed.

"Buffy? Buffy?" she felt someone shake her and she looked up to see Liam's worried face. They were still at the airport, ambulance staff were attending to Angelus' body and Kate had come to approach them. She didn't know how long she had zoned out for but with everything that had happened she didn't really care as long as she was back in Liam's arms.
"Liam, why don't you take her home, I'll come by later to speak with you both. Larry here is going to drive you, just tell him where your car is and he'll go and get it then pick you up outside. I'll see you later, and I'm sorry." Kate said and then left them in Larry's capable hands as she went off to speak with her chief inspector.

Buffy and Liam waited outside for Larry and when he arrived they climbed in the back together, Liam holding Buffy tight never wanting to be more than an inch from her side again. He had come so close to losing her today, he didn't even want to think what his brother's motives had been and where he would have taken Buffy. If he hadn't spotted them when he did Buffy would be on a plane now to God knows where and he would have never seen her again. The thought made his stomach turn and he turned his attention back to Buffy who was silently crying in his arms. Liam gave Larry instructions of how to get to his house but Buffy started protesting saying something about assassins.

"Buffy, its okay, calm down. I've had police officers patrolling my grounds ever since you disappeared, there's no way there could have been someone there, the police would have seen them and arrested them." Liam tried to assure her. Larry got on his radio and spoke with the officers that were at Liam's house; they did a thorough check of the grounds but hadn't found anyone by the time they arrived there. Buffy had fallen asleep on the way so Liam gently lifted her and carried her up the stairs to his room and tucked her in the large bed. Larry had offered to do a sweep of the house and then said that he would let himself out. Liam lay down on the bed next to Buffy and softly stroked her cheek, careful not to wake her. It wasn't long before he drifted off himself, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist and she snuggled closer to him seeking comfort in the depth of her dreams.

Liam was the first to wake up and after watching Buffy for some time he decided to go and make her something to eat; he had no idea if Angelus had taken care of her since he took her. Liam busied himself in the kitchen making soup for them both, he cut some bread up and put it all on a tray. He had intended on taking it up to Buffy but when he turned around to get the spoons she was sitting at the dinning table behind him, he jumped out of his skin which gained him a small smile from her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't want to be alone." She said and Liam got the spoons and put her soup in front of her, then came and sat next to her with his soup and the plate of bread.
"I didn't know whether you had eaten or not so I made you some soup." He said and watched as she took a taste.
"It's great thank you. I haven't had anything for breakfast yet but I did get something to eat for lunch and for dinner yesterday." Buffy replied and took another spoonful.
"Well, it's nearly 5pm now so you've technically missed lunch as well. I'll make us a snack later, just make sure you eat all your soup." He said, they heard the door bell ring and Liam got up to answer the door, Buffy lingered behind him until she saw that it was Kate at the door. Kate was not alone, she was accompanied by Buffy's parents and they all embraced before heading back to the kitchen so that Buffy and Liam could finish their meal. Everyone took a seat at the table and Kate waited until they had finished eating to ask Buffy if she was okay to give a statement.
They all went into the living room and it was not lost on either of Buffy's parents how she snuggled up in Liam's arms on the sofa.
"Kate, I'm only telling this once so make sure you get all the details. After this day I won't ever speak of it again, it hurts too much." Buffy told Kate and she nodded her understanding. For the next half an hour everyone was completely quiet listening to Buffy relay her story from the moment that Liam dropped her off at home to the moment she fell into Liam's arms at the airport.

/She had been scared at first when she had seen him sitting on her sofa; she couldn't understand what he was doing there.
"What do you want, and how did you get in here?" she asked him, staying as far away as she could without bolting through the door.
Angelus held a key up to her, "Did you like the flowers?" he asked with a smirk. He had gone to the studio one day and to Wesley's assistant telling him that he need the spare key to Buffy's house, he said she had lost her other one and; pretending to be Liam he had said she was waiting for him downstairs. Jonathon had happily given him the key and Angelus had left without having any problems.
"It was you, all this time…I trusted you enough to stay in the same house as you and all this time it was you taking my things and breaking into my home. You swore that it wasn't you; you acted so hurt that we thought it might have been. You sick bastard." She said to him, she refused to let him see how scared she really was by his presence.
"Don't you dare talk to me that way!" Angelus shouted, and then he tried to compose himself again and stood from the sofa. "Don't worry Buffy, I'm not sick and I'm certainly not a bastard. I'm just a man in love." Angelus took a step towards her and Buffy took a step back bumping into the table holding the phone and her address book. Thinking quickly she moved one arm discreetly behind her back searching for the pencil she knew she had left with her address book. She began trying to scribble something down in her address book but Angelus began to move forward, Buffy shoved the pencil into the pocket of her long denim skirt and picked up the phone. She didn't even have to chance to dial a number before Angelus reached her knocking the table over and grabbing her by the arm. She kicked him in the shin and made a run past him for the front door. Angelus charged after her knocking the coffee table over in the process, the next thing Buffy felt was a sharp pain to the back of her head. Her body fell limp to the floor instantly, Angelus didn't bother to tidy things away, he knew that they would know something was wrong when Buffy didn't turn up for work so he quickly carried her through the back garden and to his car that was waiting in the street behind Buffy's house. He opened the back door and placed Buffy into the back seat, securing her arms behind her back with some plastic holds. He then got in and drove to the crypt where he would be keeping her until the flight tomorrow.

The crypt was in one of the smaller graveyards just outside L.A. It rarely had lots of visitors and even if there were they wouldn't be able to hear Buffy's screams. He got her out of the car outside the crypt and quickly carried her in unlocking the metal gate that lead through an underground tunnel to the room where he would be holding her.

When Buffy awoke she had a throbbing headache, she could feel cold metal cuffs around her wrists and when she moved her arms to sit up they made a rattling noise as the chains moved along with her. She was lying on some cushions on the floor in what looked like an underground building, the only light came from a couple of lanterns that were placed out of her reach. She noticed that at her side was sitting a bottle of water, a package containing a salad sandwich and some fruit. She heard footsteps approach and she looked up to see Liam walk through a door, a smile lit her face and he smiled back. Buffy's face instantly dropped when she realised it wasn't Liam but Angelus.
"No need to be like that Buffy, I'm sorry about hitting you but it was necessary to get you here, you weren't very well going to come of your own accord were you?" Angelus approached her and passed her a thick fur blanket and two tablets. "They're for the headache I imagine you have." She gave him a sceptical look wondering whether there was something more in the tablets. "I promise, they're only aspirin." When Buffy picked up the water and swallowed the tablets Angelus continued "I've left you some food for lunch, I'll bring you a takeout for dinner, I will be back later on tonight. The blanket is to keep you warm; it gets really cold in here at night, I'd like to keep you warm myself but then it would raise questions as to where I was." He looked at his watch "I'd better get going, by now they will have figured out something is wrong, I need to be at the house when Liam comes home. And Buffy, don't waste your breath shouting for help, you're in an underground crypt in a graveyard, no one will be around even if they could here you through the ceiling." With those last words he walked out leaving Buffy alone, she tried shouting him back and asking why he was doing this but she got no reply.

Angelus came back later that night as promised with takeout food, he had brought them both Chinese food and although Buffy didn't want to rely on him for anything she had no choice. They sat in silence eating together, when they finished their food Angelus stood up and started to pick up all the rubbish.
"You're going to leave me here again aren't you?" she asked him as he busied himself with the food wrappers.
"I have to go back otherwise they'll get suspicious that I've been out all night. Kate's already been to take my alibi; I did some damn good acting if I do say so myself, must run in the family eh? I hadn't long gotten home after they arrived, I actually feel sorry for Liam, you should see the state he's in." Angelus told her, making it sound as though he cared.
Buffy was fuming, "You aren't capable of feeling sorry for someone, you wouldn't have done this if you cared at all about him. You're supposed to be his brother and this is what you do for him after he took you back into his home!" she shouted at him.
Her words struck Angelus harder than she thought, she thought that it was all about hurting Liam, it wasn't. "I didn't do this just to hurt him; I did it to stop my pain too." When she looked at him not understanding he moved closer to her but still keeping out of reach in case she decided to attack him.
"Don't you get it Buffy, I love you. I can't get you out of my head and it's killing me seeing you with him. I think that given some time away from each other you'll both adjust to being separated, you'll be with me and he'll be with who ever. You'll find a place for me in your heart, given time granted, and we'll be happy, you'll be mine." He said reaching out and brushing her cheek with the back of his hand.
"I'll never be yours" she spat out and pulled away from his touch. Angelus was in no mood to argue with her. He simply stood up, grabbed the rubbish and walked away from her. He could hear shouting him to come back, calling him a bastard and everything under the sun but he didn't care. She would love him, even if he had to chain her up every day for the rest of his life just to be close to her he would.

When Angelus returned in the morning Buffy was still fast asleep, he took some time to watch her sleep peacefully and was disappointed when time ran away with him and he had to wake her. She came around groggily when he gently shook her by the arm.
"Buffy, we're leaving now, we're going to the airport and I need you to behave. I didn't want to have to do something like this but to make sure that you don't draw any attention to us it's necessary. I have two of my men waiting outside Liam's house for my word, if you draw any attention to us then all I have do is call them from my cell and they'll kill him, I'm not bluffing Buffy, so don't test me." He slowly stood up and unclasped the manacles from her wrists checking that they hadn't done any damage. Handing her a bag she looked inside and saw that he had taken a set of clothes from the things that she had left at Liam's house. "Put them on, Liam will have told the cops what you were wearing so you need to look different, and tie your hair back with this too. When we get to London I'll buy you whatever clothes you want, I didn't want to have to worry about lugging around suitcases." He handed her a clip and she finger combed her hair back into it. Buffy stood expectantly waiting for Angelus to leave the room so that she could change. She knew that there was no point fighting him at this moment for her freedom, she didn't even know where she was and if he was telling the truth she couldn't put Liam's life at risk.

"I'm not changing in front of you Angelus. I may be your prisoner but I'm not your whore." She said and Angelus walked quickly out of the room closing the door behind him. A few minutes later Buffy knocked on her side of the door and Angelus opened it to reveal her wearing the clothes he had brought for her. She was wearing a black knee length pencil skirt and a blue, black and white sixties style top that dropped off her left shoulder exposing her perfectly tanned skin. She looked stunning and Angelus wanted nothing more than to shove her against the wall and fuck her hard and fast. He remained in control though and took Buffy' hand to lead her from the crypt, she resisted at first and tried to pull her hand away but when she realised that he wouldn't let go she just let her hand go limp in his. Angelus noticed that Buffy was still wearing the necklace that she had on from last night.
"Take that necklace off Buffy." He said and stopped letting go of her hand so that she could take it off.
"No." she said and Angelus didn't look happy. She saw him move his hand towards it to rip it off but she clutched the necklace and wouldn't let go. "Liam gave this to me Angelus, you're taking me away from him, please just let me have something to hold on to. I'm not going to fight you but please, just let me keep it?" she pleaded with him and Angelus relented.
"Okay, but tuck it inside your top. That thing is extremely noticeable." He said and took Buffy's hand again walking to the car with her whilst she tucked the necklace in like he had asked.

When they reached the outside of the crypt it took a few minutes for Buffy's eyes to adjust to the light, when they did she still had no idea where she was. When they reached the car Angelus let go of her so that she could get in, as soon as his hand left hers she made a run for it. She half expected to feel Angelus grab her from behind but when she turned to see where he was he was still standing at the car dialling a number into his cell. Buffy stopped abruptly "Should I press the dial button Buffy?" he asked in a normal voice as though he wasn't threatening her with Liam's life. Reluctantly she returned to him and climbed in the car. He could see tears in her eyes but she turned away from him and simply stared out of the window. The drive to the airport was made in complete silence until Buffy saw the airport signs and panicked.
"How did you know that I'd be at home?" she asked him, she hadn't seen him that morning at the beach house, he had already left when they came up from the beach.
"Well, you hadn't been home in a few days and I checked your clothes supply at Liam's, I saw you only had a few things left and so I knew you'd make a quick stop there before heading to work. It was really sheer luck that you told Liam to go, if he'd have come in and waited for you I might not have had chance to take you and wouldn't be here with you right now." Angelus said and Buffy wished that she could turn back time.
"I wasn't coping well with you two getting so close and after yesterday morning when I woke up and saw you lying naked in his arms I snapped. It should have been me holding you, not him. Anyway, I had to leave and I ended up at your house, I had been planning it since Saturday and managed to get some last minute tickets. We're lucky you know, they are first class." Angelus said.
"Lucky me." she replied sarcastically and turned away from him to look out of the window as a plane took off from the run way.

They pulled up in the airport car park and Angelus parked the car up, they both got out and Buffy waited at the side of the car for him. He got out the suitcase he had packed for the both of them and took her hand leading her into the airport, when they arrived at the desk Buffy wondered where he had found her passport until the lady wished them; Mr and Mrs Henley, a safe journey. Angelus led her around the airport and they left the holdall to be boarded whilst they went to find seats to wait. They had been told that the plane would be boarding in little over half an hour and was right on time. Buffy sat twiddling her thumbs in her seat next to Angelus, she didn't know how much time had gone by but she remembered feeling panic when a flight boarding was announced and Angelus got up and told her that was their flight. She stood up and they headed for their gate…/

"So, the pencil you…was what you wrote the note with in your address book?" Kate asked and Buffy simply nodded.
"When he left here last night to go out for a few hours he was going to Buffy." Liam said in understanding as all the pieces started to fit together.
"The only thing left now is for us to check out that crypt and then we can close the case. There is one more thing though, Liam I think maybe I should speak with you alone, it's about Angelus." Kate said, but Liam shook his head.
"Anything you have to say about him you can say in front of me too." Buffy knew that Liam would only tell her anyway, she had a right to know and there was no point in messing around with private conversation.
"Okay…Angelus…isn't, that is, he didn't pass away, the paramedics managed to save him. He's at the general hospital at the moment; he lost a severe amount of blood and had the paramedics not be there straight away the cut would have been fatal. What I'm trying to say is…he's in a coma. The doctors have said that they don't know how long if at all he'll wake up, they have contacted your father and he's agreed to pay the medical costs to keep Angelus at the hospital. I didn't know whether or not you'd want to…but I took the liberty of getting his room number for you…just in case." Kate passed a folded piece of paper to Liam.
"Thank you Kate. For everything." He said.
"I'm gonna get going now, paper work to get done, you know the drill." She smiled and when Liam began to get up she stopped him. "Don't worry about it, I can see myself out. Look after her, I'll see you later Buffy." Kate said and left the two and Buffy's parents alone.
"Honey I'm so sorry. How are you holding up?" Joyce asked her daughter.
"I'm fine, thank you for coming, did Kate call you?" Buffy asked wondering what would have gone through their minds after having a call from a police officer.
"Actually I called them. Kate gave me the number; I thought it would be better coming from me." Liam said and Rupert leaned forward to shake hands with him. Joyce smiled at Liam and Rupert; she had thought that Rupert would have been awkward with Liam as Buffy hadn't had a boyfriend in some time. But the men seemed to be getting along fine which seemed to please both Joyce and Buffy.
"We came by earlier but there was no one here and we spoke to one of the officers, they told us about the search and told us that we should go and wait at the station until they had any news. When Kate arrived a little while ago she told us that you were safe and told us that she was coming to see you so we followed her here in our car. Are you sure you're alright honey?" Joyce asked her daughter, she was so relieved that Buffy was safe and unharmed that she cried in the car all the way to Liam's house.
"I am, but can we please go out somewhere?" Buffy asked and got curious glances from everyone. "I've been locked in a room underground for a full day; I want to go out for dinner. Please?" she asked Liam, her mom and Rupert. They all agreed to go out after they had freshened up and changed, Joyce told them that they were staying in a hotel not far away but Liam would have none of it and insisted that they stay with them and he showed them to one of the guest rooms. He then led Buffy back to his room and got her a fluffy white bathrobe and ran her a bath, she relaxed for a while in the heated scented water, relishing in how good it felt to be able to get clean after sleeping in the dank hole all night. She had only been away from Liam for a day and she had missed him so much, it was strange how when you realise how much you love a person when you're about to loose them. She got changed into a light blue knee length dress whilst Liam showered and changed into a simple black suit with a white shirt.

They all met downstairs forty minutes later and Liam drove them to one of the many Italian restaurants in L.A.

Buffy was glad to be out and started to feel more like herself surrounded by the people she cared about most in the world. The majority of conversation during dinner centered around Joyce and Rupert getting to know Liam better. They asked him questions about his family and childhood, about his hobbies and how long he had been in the acting industry. Everything ran smoothly and Buffy was so pleased that Rupert wasn't making any fatherly comments to Liam. During their dessert Liam asked Buffy's parents for their permission to take Buffy away to Sweden the next chance they got for a holiday. She couldn't believe how sweet he was, asking for permission. At the end of the night Liam drove everyone back to his house. They said good night and Buffy's parents retired to their room saying that they were tired from the journey and they would speak more tomorrow with Buffy. Buffy and Liam headed to the kitchen and Liam got them both a glass of wine and then he joined her at the dinning table.
"I propose a toast." He said with a half smile.
"To what?" Buffy asked.
"To us. To having you back safe and sound in my life, and to never losing you again." He said and they clinked their glasses both looking at the other whilst they sipped from their crystal flutes.
"Can I move in to your room? Just until I move back home?" Buffy asked hoping that Liam wouldn't deny her. She didn't really feel like going back to her house yet and she just wanted to know that there was someone there with her. She knew that she was going to have nightmares about what had happened and she needed the support that he could offer her.
"I have a better idea, why don't you move in with me, permanently, I don't want to spend another night without you falling asleep in my arms." Liam suggested, the shock was written all over her face but it was quickly replaced by joy and she moved into his lap kissing him. "Is that a yes then?" he asked and she laughed nodding her head. Liam stood up with Buffy in his arms and carried her back to their bedroom. Lowering her down on to the soft sheets he showed her just how different from his brother he was and just how much he loved and cherished her.

TBC