A/N It's going to get a little R rated in this chapter. But don't let this
stop you from reading on.
As soon as the three were clean, dressed, and ready to go, Willow called Oz. He was going to meet them there later the next day. He and his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, had a rehearsal. By the time they were in the car, it was almost 10:00. Buffy was anxious to get out and start looking. She wanted to go somewhere that would give her a little insight into people that might be able to tell her where Angel had gone to.
Xander pulled up to an apartment building and parked the car. They all got out and followed Buffy up.
"What is this place?" Willow asked.
"This was Merrick's apartment. It's where he taught me to be a slayer. He had a box full of addresses that I need. They're places where vampires and demons hang out. He got them and we were going to sort through them after the whole thing with Lothos ended." Buffy said sadly.
"But you never got to them, did you?"
"No. He was killed before we could even start. Plus, burning down the gym, getting expelled, and moving to Sunnydale would definitely put a crimp in that plan."
"Are you sure no one lives here?" Xander asked.
"Yeah. The building was abandoned not long after I left. There's a hiding place in here that he kept the addresses. If I can remember where that was at."
Buffy jumped up and caught a beam above her. She climbed up a little ways and then dropped back down. She held up a key and then went to the door in front of them. She opened the door and walked in.
The place was dusty to say the least. But it had been straightened up. Buffy had done that. After Merrick had been killed, she and Pike had come here and Buffy had cleaned up. The punching bag was still there and the mat across from it hadn't been folded. His little bed was made and sitting in the corner where she had left it. The little corner that he had used for a dining area slash kitchen was tidy.
"Geez, except for the dust, this looks like a British watcher's house." Xander said.
Willow whacked him in the stomach as Buffy went over to the punching bag and lightly touched it. She remembered pounding on this for hours and being pounded right back by it in the beginning. Then she had gotten better and moved on to the more complicated maneuvers.
Buffy left the punching bag and mat and went to a corner in the furthest part of the room. She stuck her fingers under a loose board where the wall meet the floor and pulled up. The board came up easily. She reached in and pulled out a box.
"What's in there?" Willow asked, coming up next to Buffy and squatting with her.
"A few weapons that he kept hidden just in case, and.." Buffy pulled out a small wooden box out of the larger one. "The addresses."
She opened the box and blew the dust off the papers that were folded neatly. Xander stood over the two girls as they got up. Buffy pulled the first paper off the stack and unfolded it.
"1320 Blanchard Street. That's in east LA near the Long Beach Freeway and the Calvary Cemetery." Buffy said.
"Then Long Beach, here we come." Xander said.
The three searched every place they could that day, part of that night, and the next day before they were scheduled to meet Oz at a bar he knew about at 5:00. When that time rolled around, no one had heard anything about Angel. Xander drove them in silence to the 217 Lounge on Santa Monica Boulevard. Buffy knew that Angel had been in LA before. He had told her about living in a hotel for a while that had happened to be possessed. Maybe he was near there. It was in Hollywood, which wasn't too far from Santa Monica if you stayed on the freeway.
"We're here and there's Oz." Xander said.
They all looked out to find Oz standing in front of the bar. They got out and greeted him before entering the bar and sitting down. Willow and Xander started to tell Oz about the days events while Buffy stared off into space. Angel was here, she could feel him. Plus Willy was a reliable source if prompted with a little violence.
Oz looked over at her when their drinks came. "So, no Angel?"
Buffy shook her head and took a drink of her coke. "I just wish that he would have left me a note or a message or something."
"We'll find him Buffy." Willow said.
"I hope. Cause this pain in my heart is killing me."
"Angel loves you, he'll come to his senses. I mean, come on Buffy, it's Angel."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Angel has this wired logic when it comes to us. He's so stubborn sometimes."
"He's got nothing on Cordelia!" Xander said. "She was the queen of stubborn."
"When does she leave Sunnydale?" Willow asked.
"Next week. She was going to leave sooner, but she couldn't get a place to stay."
"Maybe she'll find Angel." Buffy said lousily.
"No way." Oz said. "Not if this werewolf has something to say about it."
"Thanks Oz. Are you able to pick up his scent in this big city?"
"He's a friend, so yeah."
"Ok."
The man that had been sitting in the booth behind Oz turned and looked at the group. "Did you all say Angel?" he asked in a thick Irish brogue.
Buffy sat up straighter. "Yeah. Why?"
"Name's Doyle. I'm here to find him too."
"I'm Buffy. This is Oz, Xander, and Willow. Do you know where to find him?"
"Buffy, huh? I know you. You're that vampire slayer that got him all hot and bothered." Buffy stared at him intently.
"Saw him last night. He's not the most cheeriest person in the world I have to say. I helped him save some girl."
"He's still helping people?"
"Yeah. But like I said, he's not cheery about it."
"He used to be."
"He did, did he? Could've fooled me. Anyway, I know where he lives. Want me to show you?"
"God, that would be great. Please."
They all left the bar and went to Xander's car. Willow got in with Oz while Doyle and Buffy rode with Xander. Doyle directed Xander to a large office building.
"He's in there. Go to the second door past the stairs and take the elevator down. His apartment's down there." Doyle said. "I don't know if he'll be there, but he should come back."
"Thank you. Listen, Xander can take you wherever you need to go. Xander, go ahead and go back to my dad's house. Tell him I'm staying at Nathalie's. He knows who she is. I'll call you guys later." Buffy said.
"You got it Buff. Go get him!" Xander said.
Xander drove off with Willow and Oz behind them. Buffy followed Doyle's directions into the building. She found an old office that was piled with junk and a doorway that led to another junky office. She pushed boxes out of her way and walked to the stairs by the elevator. The elevator didn't look like something she wanted to ride.
Buffy walked down the stairs and found a darkened apartment. It was beautiful though. Angel always did have good taste. A patch of light shown down on the floor from a slit in two doors that slid open. She walked over to them and peeped through the slit. A bedroom was lit by a single lamp on the nightstand that also held a beautiful ornate clock and a telephone. On the bed sat her Angel. He stared at the phone a long moment and then picked it up. He dialed a numbed, long distance obviously, and put it to his ear. After a moment, he hung it up.
Angel got up and walked to the doors. Buffy jumped back into the shadows and hid there. He came out of the room and walked right past her. Walking to a coat rack, he picked up his leather duster and went up in the elevator. Buffy ran to the steps silently and took them two at a time. When she reached upstairs, he was headed out the door of the outer office. Buffy swore and walked after him. When she got out on the street, he wasn't there.
"Damn it!" Buffy said. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. Nothing. He was out of her range. Buffy slid to the sidewalk and just sat there. She had been so close! Why had she jumped into the shadows?
Sitting there for an hour, getting cold, she decided to call Willow. She had brought her cell phone with her just in case. Buffy got up and went to find a payphone. She found one a couple blocks away in a gas station that was across the street from a bar. Digging out a couple of quarters from her coat pocket, Buffy dialed Willow's cell phone number.
She picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Wills, did I wake you?" Buffy asked.
"Not really. I was just worried about you. Did you find him?"
"Kind of."
"Kind of?"
"He was there and then he came to the door and I panicked and jumped into the shadows. I-I just watched him as he walked out. Now I can't find.." Buffy was cut off by the sounds of loud arguing coming from the bar.
"Buffy?"
"Hold on Will." Buffy looked harder into the bar and saw Angel arguing with a robust man with a towel over one of his shoulders and an apron over his waist. The guy took a swing at Angel who narrowly avoided it. He swaggered and Buffy knew that he must be drunk. "Willow, hold that thought. I found him. I'll get back to you in a little while. Stay by your phone."
"Will do Buffy."
They hung up and Buffy ran across the street. She burst through the door, startling everyone in there, and went to catch Angel as he nearly fell to the floor.
"Get that low life drunken trash outta my bar." The guy yelled at Buffy.
"Bite me." Buffy growled at him. She turned to Angel and held him up.
He looked at her with glazed eyes. She had never seen him like this before. He was dunk out of his mind. Buffy remembered him telling her about the last time he had ever been like this. Angel had been Liem back then, and he had been constantly drunk. Not once had Buffy seen Angel drink in the three years she had known him.
"Hey there darlin'. I know you." Angel said. His speech was so slurred that Buffy swore she heard his Irish brogue.
"Yeah, you do sweetie."
The big guy that had tried to punch Angel came up and grabbed her by the arm. "I said get that trash outta here! He comes in here almost every night and gets this way. I'm fed up with his shit!"
Buffy knocked the guy backwards with her free arm. "Don't touch me and DO NOT call him trash. This man is the most wonderful man in the world. He's done more good than you're whole idiotic family could ever imagine."
The guy stared coldly at her with a little bit of shock in his eyes as he watched her practically carry the man that was twice her size easy out of the bar.
Buffy got Angel back to his building safely and took him down to his bedroom. The whole time he was mumbling about how sorry he was and that he was stupid and drunk. She managed to get him on his bed without letting him fall and then get his socks and shoes off of him.
"Angel, sit up." Buffy said gently.
"Ok Buffy." he said. He did as she said and Buffy stripped off his shirt. "This game is fun. Let's play some more." Angel tried to pull her to him to kiss her, but Buffy wouldn't let him. She shoved him back onto the bed gently.
Once she made sure he would stay, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood. Buffy searched the cabinets until she found a mug. Then she put the blood in the mug and stuck it in the microwave. She let it warm up a little and then she went back to Angel with it.
He was sitting on the bed, leaning over, head in his hands, and groaning. When she walked in, her looked up at her and tried to focus. She sat down next to him and handed him the mug. He took it and sniffed at it.
"It's blood. It should thin out that alcohol in your system." Buffy said.
He didn't say anything; he just put the mug to his lips and drank deeply. Buffy watched him, not disgusted like he thought she should be. Once he was done, a little bit of the glaze over his eyes was gone and it was replaced with a shine. She reached up and wiped some of the blood off his lips. He took her hand and stuck her fingers in his mouth and licked the blood off.
"Buffy.. I'm sorry." Angel said.
"Shh.. Just lie down. We'll talk later."
Angel did as she said and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. Buffy covered him up and went to the phone. She took the line out into the larger room and sat down in a chair. She dialed Willow's call and waited until the other girl picked up.
"Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Did you find him? Was it him?"
"Yeah. Will, he was drunk out of his mind. He kept apologizing and then he tried to come onto me. He's so drunk that his Irish accent is coming out."
"Oh, Buffy! Where is he now?"
"He's passed out on his bed. I'm going to stay up and watch him."
"Good idea."
"What did my dad say about me not coming home?"
"He said that it was a little odd that you would ditch us for a friend, but since you said it was Nathalie, he understood."
"Good. That was the reaction I was hoping for."
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Try to get some sleep?"
"I'll try, but I don't know. I'll call you tomorrow Will."
"Ok. Bye Buffy."
"Bye."
Buffy hung up and took the phone back on the nightstand. Then she pulled up a big puffy chair and curled up in it. After a little while, Buffy drifted off. She slept peacefully watching her lover.
As soon as the three were clean, dressed, and ready to go, Willow called Oz. He was going to meet them there later the next day. He and his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, had a rehearsal. By the time they were in the car, it was almost 10:00. Buffy was anxious to get out and start looking. She wanted to go somewhere that would give her a little insight into people that might be able to tell her where Angel had gone to.
Xander pulled up to an apartment building and parked the car. They all got out and followed Buffy up.
"What is this place?" Willow asked.
"This was Merrick's apartment. It's where he taught me to be a slayer. He had a box full of addresses that I need. They're places where vampires and demons hang out. He got them and we were going to sort through them after the whole thing with Lothos ended." Buffy said sadly.
"But you never got to them, did you?"
"No. He was killed before we could even start. Plus, burning down the gym, getting expelled, and moving to Sunnydale would definitely put a crimp in that plan."
"Are you sure no one lives here?" Xander asked.
"Yeah. The building was abandoned not long after I left. There's a hiding place in here that he kept the addresses. If I can remember where that was at."
Buffy jumped up and caught a beam above her. She climbed up a little ways and then dropped back down. She held up a key and then went to the door in front of them. She opened the door and walked in.
The place was dusty to say the least. But it had been straightened up. Buffy had done that. After Merrick had been killed, she and Pike had come here and Buffy had cleaned up. The punching bag was still there and the mat across from it hadn't been folded. His little bed was made and sitting in the corner where she had left it. The little corner that he had used for a dining area slash kitchen was tidy.
"Geez, except for the dust, this looks like a British watcher's house." Xander said.
Willow whacked him in the stomach as Buffy went over to the punching bag and lightly touched it. She remembered pounding on this for hours and being pounded right back by it in the beginning. Then she had gotten better and moved on to the more complicated maneuvers.
Buffy left the punching bag and mat and went to a corner in the furthest part of the room. She stuck her fingers under a loose board where the wall meet the floor and pulled up. The board came up easily. She reached in and pulled out a box.
"What's in there?" Willow asked, coming up next to Buffy and squatting with her.
"A few weapons that he kept hidden just in case, and.." Buffy pulled out a small wooden box out of the larger one. "The addresses."
She opened the box and blew the dust off the papers that were folded neatly. Xander stood over the two girls as they got up. Buffy pulled the first paper off the stack and unfolded it.
"1320 Blanchard Street. That's in east LA near the Long Beach Freeway and the Calvary Cemetery." Buffy said.
"Then Long Beach, here we come." Xander said.
The three searched every place they could that day, part of that night, and the next day before they were scheduled to meet Oz at a bar he knew about at 5:00. When that time rolled around, no one had heard anything about Angel. Xander drove them in silence to the 217 Lounge on Santa Monica Boulevard. Buffy knew that Angel had been in LA before. He had told her about living in a hotel for a while that had happened to be possessed. Maybe he was near there. It was in Hollywood, which wasn't too far from Santa Monica if you stayed on the freeway.
"We're here and there's Oz." Xander said.
They all looked out to find Oz standing in front of the bar. They got out and greeted him before entering the bar and sitting down. Willow and Xander started to tell Oz about the days events while Buffy stared off into space. Angel was here, she could feel him. Plus Willy was a reliable source if prompted with a little violence.
Oz looked over at her when their drinks came. "So, no Angel?"
Buffy shook her head and took a drink of her coke. "I just wish that he would have left me a note or a message or something."
"We'll find him Buffy." Willow said.
"I hope. Cause this pain in my heart is killing me."
"Angel loves you, he'll come to his senses. I mean, come on Buffy, it's Angel."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Angel has this wired logic when it comes to us. He's so stubborn sometimes."
"He's got nothing on Cordelia!" Xander said. "She was the queen of stubborn."
"When does she leave Sunnydale?" Willow asked.
"Next week. She was going to leave sooner, but she couldn't get a place to stay."
"Maybe she'll find Angel." Buffy said lousily.
"No way." Oz said. "Not if this werewolf has something to say about it."
"Thanks Oz. Are you able to pick up his scent in this big city?"
"He's a friend, so yeah."
"Ok."
The man that had been sitting in the booth behind Oz turned and looked at the group. "Did you all say Angel?" he asked in a thick Irish brogue.
Buffy sat up straighter. "Yeah. Why?"
"Name's Doyle. I'm here to find him too."
"I'm Buffy. This is Oz, Xander, and Willow. Do you know where to find him?"
"Buffy, huh? I know you. You're that vampire slayer that got him all hot and bothered." Buffy stared at him intently.
"Saw him last night. He's not the most cheeriest person in the world I have to say. I helped him save some girl."
"He's still helping people?"
"Yeah. But like I said, he's not cheery about it."
"He used to be."
"He did, did he? Could've fooled me. Anyway, I know where he lives. Want me to show you?"
"God, that would be great. Please."
They all left the bar and went to Xander's car. Willow got in with Oz while Doyle and Buffy rode with Xander. Doyle directed Xander to a large office building.
"He's in there. Go to the second door past the stairs and take the elevator down. His apartment's down there." Doyle said. "I don't know if he'll be there, but he should come back."
"Thank you. Listen, Xander can take you wherever you need to go. Xander, go ahead and go back to my dad's house. Tell him I'm staying at Nathalie's. He knows who she is. I'll call you guys later." Buffy said.
"You got it Buff. Go get him!" Xander said.
Xander drove off with Willow and Oz behind them. Buffy followed Doyle's directions into the building. She found an old office that was piled with junk and a doorway that led to another junky office. She pushed boxes out of her way and walked to the stairs by the elevator. The elevator didn't look like something she wanted to ride.
Buffy walked down the stairs and found a darkened apartment. It was beautiful though. Angel always did have good taste. A patch of light shown down on the floor from a slit in two doors that slid open. She walked over to them and peeped through the slit. A bedroom was lit by a single lamp on the nightstand that also held a beautiful ornate clock and a telephone. On the bed sat her Angel. He stared at the phone a long moment and then picked it up. He dialed a numbed, long distance obviously, and put it to his ear. After a moment, he hung it up.
Angel got up and walked to the doors. Buffy jumped back into the shadows and hid there. He came out of the room and walked right past her. Walking to a coat rack, he picked up his leather duster and went up in the elevator. Buffy ran to the steps silently and took them two at a time. When she reached upstairs, he was headed out the door of the outer office. Buffy swore and walked after him. When she got out on the street, he wasn't there.
"Damn it!" Buffy said. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. Nothing. He was out of her range. Buffy slid to the sidewalk and just sat there. She had been so close! Why had she jumped into the shadows?
Sitting there for an hour, getting cold, she decided to call Willow. She had brought her cell phone with her just in case. Buffy got up and went to find a payphone. She found one a couple blocks away in a gas station that was across the street from a bar. Digging out a couple of quarters from her coat pocket, Buffy dialed Willow's cell phone number.
She picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Wills, did I wake you?" Buffy asked.
"Not really. I was just worried about you. Did you find him?"
"Kind of."
"Kind of?"
"He was there and then he came to the door and I panicked and jumped into the shadows. I-I just watched him as he walked out. Now I can't find.." Buffy was cut off by the sounds of loud arguing coming from the bar.
"Buffy?"
"Hold on Will." Buffy looked harder into the bar and saw Angel arguing with a robust man with a towel over one of his shoulders and an apron over his waist. The guy took a swing at Angel who narrowly avoided it. He swaggered and Buffy knew that he must be drunk. "Willow, hold that thought. I found him. I'll get back to you in a little while. Stay by your phone."
"Will do Buffy."
They hung up and Buffy ran across the street. She burst through the door, startling everyone in there, and went to catch Angel as he nearly fell to the floor.
"Get that low life drunken trash outta my bar." The guy yelled at Buffy.
"Bite me." Buffy growled at him. She turned to Angel and held him up.
He looked at her with glazed eyes. She had never seen him like this before. He was dunk out of his mind. Buffy remembered him telling her about the last time he had ever been like this. Angel had been Liem back then, and he had been constantly drunk. Not once had Buffy seen Angel drink in the three years she had known him.
"Hey there darlin'. I know you." Angel said. His speech was so slurred that Buffy swore she heard his Irish brogue.
"Yeah, you do sweetie."
The big guy that had tried to punch Angel came up and grabbed her by the arm. "I said get that trash outta here! He comes in here almost every night and gets this way. I'm fed up with his shit!"
Buffy knocked the guy backwards with her free arm. "Don't touch me and DO NOT call him trash. This man is the most wonderful man in the world. He's done more good than you're whole idiotic family could ever imagine."
The guy stared coldly at her with a little bit of shock in his eyes as he watched her practically carry the man that was twice her size easy out of the bar.
Buffy got Angel back to his building safely and took him down to his bedroom. The whole time he was mumbling about how sorry he was and that he was stupid and drunk. She managed to get him on his bed without letting him fall and then get his socks and shoes off of him.
"Angel, sit up." Buffy said gently.
"Ok Buffy." he said. He did as she said and Buffy stripped off his shirt. "This game is fun. Let's play some more." Angel tried to pull her to him to kiss her, but Buffy wouldn't let him. She shoved him back onto the bed gently.
Once she made sure he would stay, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood. Buffy searched the cabinets until she found a mug. Then she put the blood in the mug and stuck it in the microwave. She let it warm up a little and then she went back to Angel with it.
He was sitting on the bed, leaning over, head in his hands, and groaning. When she walked in, her looked up at her and tried to focus. She sat down next to him and handed him the mug. He took it and sniffed at it.
"It's blood. It should thin out that alcohol in your system." Buffy said.
He didn't say anything; he just put the mug to his lips and drank deeply. Buffy watched him, not disgusted like he thought she should be. Once he was done, a little bit of the glaze over his eyes was gone and it was replaced with a shine. She reached up and wiped some of the blood off his lips. He took her hand and stuck her fingers in his mouth and licked the blood off.
"Buffy.. I'm sorry." Angel said.
"Shh.. Just lie down. We'll talk later."
Angel did as she said and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. Buffy covered him up and went to the phone. She took the line out into the larger room and sat down in a chair. She dialed Willow's call and waited until the other girl picked up.
"Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Did you find him? Was it him?"
"Yeah. Will, he was drunk out of his mind. He kept apologizing and then he tried to come onto me. He's so drunk that his Irish accent is coming out."
"Oh, Buffy! Where is he now?"
"He's passed out on his bed. I'm going to stay up and watch him."
"Good idea."
"What did my dad say about me not coming home?"
"He said that it was a little odd that you would ditch us for a friend, but since you said it was Nathalie, he understood."
"Good. That was the reaction I was hoping for."
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Try to get some sleep?"
"I'll try, but I don't know. I'll call you tomorrow Will."
"Ok. Bye Buffy."
"Bye."
Buffy hung up and took the phone back on the nightstand. Then she pulled up a big puffy chair and curled up in it. After a little while, Buffy drifted off. She slept peacefully watching her lover.