Chapter 2: August 6, 2013 – Double Trouble

Chapter Summary: **The 'Love Interest' Part of the 2013 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts FaD** series. After months of searching, Angel and his team finally find Buffy in the last place they'd expect to find her…

Timeline: AU post-'The Gift' for BtVS; vague for Leverage; probably early on in season 4 for AtS, I think.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2013 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.

Warning: Not for BAngel fans!

A/N: Let me know if you have any ideas for fandoms that you'd like Buffy paired with (male or female).

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Leverage characters belong to John Rogers, Chris Downey, and TNT. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Secessus Nightclub

When the AI crew barged into the subterranean bar, they were hit by a sense of familiarity. The place didn't look like Caritas, but it certainly felt like it.

A friendly, but not too friendly hostess come up to greet them, "Welcome to Secessus, your retreat from your worldly troubles! I'm your hostess, Sheila. Would you like a seat in our smoking or non-smoking section?"

"You have a non-smoking section in a bar?" Gunn couldn't help but ask.

The woman shrugged slightly and replied, "More like we have a section where people can smoke without leaving the building. Outside of that section, they can't or they have to drop $10 in the smoking jar. If they are a repeat offender, they get asked to leave."

Angel's patience was already worn thin by the months of worrying about Buffy, so this unnecessary conversation about smoking made him snap, "We can talk about this later. Right now we need to find Buffy," he growled at Gunn.

Sheila was the one who answered him, though, "Buffy? Does she know you're coming?"

"Then she is here?" Angel demanded.

Knowing the limitations imposed on the nightclub patrons, Sheila nodded/gestured to the upper balcony. "She's in the VIP section. If you want, I can see if she'd like to see you."

Ignoring the subtle hint to stay where they were, Angel brushed past her, followed by his slightly apologetic team.

Rather than get upset, Sheila gestured towards a couple bouncers by the door. "Can you just follow them to be safe?" she requested.

Upstairs

At first Angel was going to lecture Buffy about abandoning the Hellmouth, but when he saw her in the arms of his nemesis – or one of them, anyway – he saw red. He stormed over and yanked her off her seat and yelled, "Buffy! What are you doing here, and what are you doing with him?"

"Angel?" Buffy muttered in confusion. She looked over his shoulder and saw a few other faces, but one she recognized. "Hey people I don't know and Wes." Then she turned back to Angel and said, "Mind getting your hand off me?"

"I want some answers!" Angel insisted.

Her smoochies partner scoffed at somebody giving Buffy orders. If she followed them, it was only because she wanted to, not because she had to. The reason he didn't jump to defend her was because he knew if he did, she beat him into the ground…even if she thought it was romantic. Still, he itched with the need to get that guy's hands off her.

"Okay then," Buffy replied, pulling out of Angel's hold. "I'm observing my club. As for the second question…well, if you have to ask, then I think it's a good thing you broke up with me all those years ago."

"Your club?" Wes asked, surprised that she could own a club in Vegas – especially a fairly popular one, based on the crowd down below them.

"Don't you know who he is?" Angel asked at the same time, but in a louder, more demanding voice.

"I got my share as a thank you for helping to get rid of an unpleasant pest," Buffy answered Wes' question first. Then she replied to Angel's, "Of course I know who he is; we've been dating for a couple months now. But I suppose I have to do the whole intro thing, huh. Angel, Wes, people I still don't know, this is Eliot. Eliot, well you heard what I called them."

Angel's face tightened in anger, "His real name is Lindsey, and he's evil!"

"Lindsey isn't evil anymore," Buffy shot back, rolling her eyes. "After he left LA, he turned over a new leaf."

"So you admit that Eliot is Lindsey?" Wes inquired after a brief moment of confusion.

"Eww, no!" she exclaimed. "That'd be like kissing my brother! Ugh!"

"But they look the same," the brunette girl said from next to the solid-looking black guy.

"You think so?" Buffy asked, disbelief coloring her words. "I just don't see more than a passing resemblance." She looked across the balcony and called out, "Hey, Linds! Got an old friend who wants to say hello to you!"

When the two men stood side-by-side, the differences were easy enough to spot. Not only was Eliot more athletically-built, he had a scruffier feel to him. Lindsey had bulked out a little, but not to the point where he matched Eliot. And he was more preppy than street thug.

Currently, both men had similar looks of annoyance on their faces, though, and both were directed at Angel – but for different reasons. Eliot just didn't like him touching Buffy; Lindsey…well, given their history, it would be shocking if he wasn't annoyed to see Angel again.

"What are you doing here, Angel? Run out of people to save in LA?" Lindsey snarked.

"I came here for Buffy. I heard a rumor that she was in Vegas, and I came to take her back to Sunnydale," Angel answered.

Despite knowing that it would get him in trouble with her, Eliot moved to stand between Buffy and Angel. "You and what army?" he asked, feeling a little like a 12 year old for resorting to that particular taunt.

"It's where she belongs! People are counting on her!" Angel insisted, not wanting to have a public discussion about the supernatural.

His concerns were immediately made moot by Buffy's response, "If they need a Slayer, they can have Faith. Or if they don't want her, they can kill her and get a new Slayer. Either way, I'm done in that place. I told Giles that if Dawn died, I was done. It's not my fault if he thought I was kidding."

"You would really quit over something that wasn't really your sister?" Angel asked.

The collective groan that came from the people who knew Buffy, as well as the two who didn't, said that he just made a monumental mistake by phrasing his question that way.

Buffy pushed Eliot aside so she could grab Angel by the throat and shove him against a pillar. "NEVER refer to Dawn as a something again! For your information, it wasn't just about her; it was about everything I've lost because of being a Slayer over the past five-six years. Losing my sister was the final straw! And if leaving the Hellmouth unprotected bothers you so much, you can go sit on it!"

Gunn couldn't stop himself from chuckling. He adored Fred and would do anything for his little genius, but this Buffy chick was funny. A quick glance at his lady love showed she was at least mildly amused as well.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to have a little talk with my honey about playing the big, macho protector for me," Buffy said, pulling Eliot away.

Just to cause Angel some grief – after all, just because he wasn't evil anymore didn't mean he liked the souled vampire – Lindsey clarified Buffy's statement for them, "And by talk, she means that she'll scold him for about ten seconds, then they're going to fuck like rabbits for the rest of the night." He handed Wes a card and said, "Have a round of drinks on me." Then he walked away, humming 'Let's Get it On' loudly enough for the people behind him to hear.

A/N: You know Lindsey would like to torture Angel that way, even if he was redeemed. Oh, and according to latinwordtranslation dot com, 'Secessus' is the translation for 'solitary retreat'.