ARG OMG I'M BACK! Thankyou so much for all your reviews....they really meant a lot! Well this chapter is slightly longer, and I know for a fact the next few get longer...So anyway, the same disclaimer and rating apply, and I have but one word to say...ENJOY!!!

Stuck in the Past: Judy

 1952

Buffy sat down on the bed beside Angel. "So what happens next?"

Angel took her hand in his. "Well if I remember correctly, the world is going to end tonight." Angel chuckled at her startled look. "It's a show or something. Come on we're going out."

Buffy stared down at her clothing. "Hey, do you reckon they have other clothes here?" Standing, she strode over to the wardrobe and opened it. Smiling she pulled out a dress. "What do you reckon? Perfect for a night out on the town?"

Angel looked up at the dress. It was perfect for Buffy. "Perfect." he agreed, standing. "I'm staying as I am."

Buffy stared at him. "Oh no you don't mister." Turning back to the wardrobe, she pulled out a white shirt. "Put this on. No jacket, no tie, top buttons undone. Perfect!" Chucking it at him, she smiled. "We have to match you know."

Angel nodded. "I know." He had long forgotten her madness for clothing. While he didn't understand it (perhaps that was because he had perfect fashion sense..?) at least she still kept her youthfulness that was the main thing he had fallen in love with so long ago. Smiling Angel took the short she was offering and changed.

OUTSIDE


Judy looked around before walking into the observatory. Noticing Buffy and Angel standing looking out at the valley below, she smiled. Making her way over, she stood beside Angel. "The world ends in ten minutes." Buffy looked up and smiled at her before continuing to look out at the valley. "I saw you over here. I hope you don't mind. I thought I'd say hello."

Buffy smiled and sneaked a look at Angel's face. He was struggling to keep a straight face. "Hello Judy." she said, looking past Angel.

"Oh hello." Judy laughed. "Have you seen the show? You should. It makes whatever - problems we have seem insignificant in comparison. - I mean, the entire universe explodes."

Angel looked down at Buffy's excited face. Maybe he'd take her inside. "Sounds exciting." He muttered.

Judy shrugged. "Well, it's air-conditioned - and it's cheaper than going to the pictures." She sighed lightly. "I had to get out of the hotel, after what happened."

Buffy looked at her sharply. "He come back?" she asked,

"Come back?" Judy looked at her confused.

Angel looked over at Judy. "Your boyfriend."

Judy smiled. "Oh - no. I-I mean the guy in 215. - You know he killed himself."

Angel sighed. "Yeah, I guess he did."

Judy grinned. "Can you imagine that wallpaper being the last thing you see before you go?"

Buffy giggled. "Maybe it was the wallpaper that drove him to it."

Judy nodded. "Yeah. I sort of hate it there. -Well, - I-I guess it's nicer than - some places."

Angel nodded. "It's a place." He muttered. Although she was right. Compared to others he had stayed in it was much nicer.

Judy took a step closer. "Listen, - uh - I know you didn't want to before, but - you helped me. You did. And - I-I needed to thank you both for that."

Angel turned to look at her for the first time since she had appeared next to him. "You're gonna miss the end of the world."

Judy nodded. "Right." Giving Buffy one last grateful look, she turned and entered the observatory. Pausing mid stride, she turned back. "I'll see you around."

Angel turns as she enters the building. "Yeah." he muttered.

Buffy looked up at his strained place. "What happened? Why is she so important, and why does she have you worked up like this?"

Angel smirked. "Jealous?"

Buffy laughed. "No seriously. What is with her?"

Angel sighed. "She is the one that has me trialed and killed."

Buffy gasped, "What? You die? But that doesn't make sense."

Angel smiled. "Well they hang me. And you know that because I don't breathe, they think they kill me."

Buffy sighed gratefully. "You had me worried there for a second." Buffy moved forward and folded herself into his arms. "I don't know what I do if you were dead."

Angel held her close. "Neither do I." Kissing the top of her head he murmured against her hair, "I love you Buffy."

Buffy sighed against his chest. "I love you too Angel."

2002

Wesley looked over at the photo Willow was holding, then back to the clipping in his hand. "Bellhop arrested for murder." he said, looking over at the photo. "Frank Gillnitz. He worked as a Bellman the year that Angel was in residence, we put him in 1952."

Willow glanced at him. "But he wasn't executed until 1954. Shouldn't we put him there?"

Giles looked up from the piece of paper he was holding. "He wasn't executed until 1954, but the crime that he committed, the murder of the salesman and the storing of the body in the hotel meat locker that occurred in 1952."

Cordelia sighed. "It's kind of like a puzzle. The 'who dies horribly because Angel screwed up 50 years ago' game?"

1952

Angel slowly moved to his room, Buffy nestled under his arm. She had enjoyed the show so much; she had fallen asleep half way through. Grinning he pulled his key out of his pocket and was about to open it, when a voice called out.

"Uh - Hey. Can you come in here for a second?" Judy walked back into her room.

Buffy looked quizzically up at Angel, before turning and entering Judy's room. The second they entered Judy shut the door and turned to them. "Did you hear?"

Buffy frowned. "Hear what?"

Judy pulled a cigarette out of her bag. "The guy in 215 - it wasn't a suicide. He was murdered."

Angel frowned. "I don't think so."

Judy nodded. "No, it's true. Which means there is going to be police - and-and questions, and-and I thought that you'd want to know, in case, maybe -" she trailed off laughing nervously. "I'm not implying that you've got something to hide but..."

Buffy crossed her arms across her chest and was about to speak when Angel jumped in. "Everyone here's got something to hide."

Judy nodded and avoided looking at Buffy, the way she was glaring at her was making her uncomfortable. "Yeah. I just figured that I owed you a heads up, on account of what you did for me before. So..."

Angel nodded. "Thanks." He muttered dryly.

Judy turned away. "I guess if we left now it would look, I don't know, bad, huh?"

Buffy considered the question. "That all depends. This have anything to do with that PI Angel tossed out of here?"

Judy gasped and look over at them both "You knew he wasn't my boyfriend." She stated.

Angel shrugged. "We had a hunch."

Judy sighed heavily. "I'm pretty sure he works for my former employers, the City Trust Bank of Salina, Kansas. I was a teller there. I think maybe they want this back." She pulled a bag out from under her bed and opened it, revealing it to be full of money, 1000 printed on each of the separate bags. Judy looked at them. "I haven't spent any of it. Not a dime. I-I can't even bring myself to touch it."

Buffy stared at the money. "Why take it?" she asked.

Judy shrugged. "I don't know. I was angry - and I-I guess I panicked. I mean, things were going so well! I-I loved this job, and I loved this guy. - We were going to get married, and they found out about me at the bank, and so they fired me. And then Peter found out why and he broke it off and I just couldn't go back to where I came from. I just couldn't. So I took this and I-I just ran! Aren't you going to ask me why they fired me?"

Buffy rolled her eyes irritated, but asked anyway. "Why did they fire you?"

Judy looked at herself in the mirror. "Because I'm not what I say I am. I've been passing since I was 15 years old."

Angel frowned. "Passing?"

Judy nodded. "For white. My mother was colored, my father - I didn't even know him! My blood isn't pure. - It's tainted."

Angel smiled and took a step closer. "It's just all blood - Judy. - It-it's all just blood."

Judy shook her head. "Nobody believes that! Not even my mother's family. I'm not one thing or the other. I'm nothing."

Angel sighed. "I know what that's like." He said quietly.

Judy paused. "Yes. Yes, I am. - I am something. I'm a theif!" She gasped at her realization. "I've never stolen anything before in my life. It's just - god, the things they called me."

Buffy nodded, remembering how many times she had been branded. "Fear makes people do stupid things."

Judy sighed. "It was stupid. And I wish I'd never done it."

Buffy shook her head. "I didn't mean you. I meant your former employers. They were afraid. That's why they fired you."

Judy looked at them fearfully. "What am I going to do? I'm trapped!"

Angel shook his head. "You're not trapped." Angel walked over to the bag of money.

Judy jumped out of her chair. "I am! Look, if I leave now it'll look too suspicious, but if I stay here and the cops find this..."

Buffy smiled. "They're not gonna find it. 'Cause we're gonna help you."

Angel nodded. Placing his hand on her back, he led her out of the room, Buffy holding the bag.

2002




Cordy held out another newspaper clipping. "So where do we put her?"

Giles looked up. "When did she die?"

Willow leant over to peer at the clipping. "Uhm, it doesn't say. Just that she was being tracked by federal authorities for bank robbery. She checked into the Hyperion in '52 and was never heard from again."

Wesley looked up. "'52?"

Cordelia nodded. "'52."

Wesley put the news clipping down on the 1952 folder, beside an image of Judy.

OMG The fourth chapter is done! So, you know the drill review...then press next! WOOT