Title: Rain On Me
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own this. If I owned this, there would be no need for Fanfiction.
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Summary: 6 weeks after the fall of Wolfram and Hart, Buffy learns of Angel's fate and how his predicament plays into her own future.
AN: I am sorry that it hasn't taken me so long to update this story. Real life has been kicking my ass in more ways than one. I appreciate everyone's support and readership, you will never know how grateful that I am for it.
AN2: This is the continuation to "Lyin Eyes" and its being broken down into 3 parts. This is the first part.
AN3: I am shutting up now. Enjoy the story. :)
/
June 2004
Rome, Italy
It has been 6 weeks since the fall of Wolfram and Hart and L.A. is a complete disaster zone. The national news has reported that there are mass casualties in L.A. along with whole city blocks being destroyed. The national news is reporting that the reason for the destruction in Los Angeles is because of a nuclear blast of sorts. If the world knew the real reason for why L.A. was in ruins, they would NEVER believe it.
In Rome, Buffy had been situated in front of the TV for weeks watching the news for updates on what was happening in L.A. Every news report that came out of L.A. was worse than the next one and she wasn't sure what the hell to think anymore. Buffy wanted to go to L.A. but she had been sidelined by her stomach injury and also because of her newfound depression, which kept her in bed if she wasn't scouring the TV for updates about her hometown.
Buffy had found out shortly after she got out of the hospital that The Immortal had died and on top of that piece of information, her boss at the escort agency fired her for basically getting The Immortal killed and so on top of her worrying Angel possibly being dust; those 2 pieces of additional information sent her into a mini depression of sorts.
Oh and in addition to dealing with no job and no lover, Buffy was still healing from a gunshot wound. The healing process for her belly was coming nicely but she still would topple over in pain from time to time. The scar that was on her stomach was a piss poor reminder of all the mistakes that she made since leaving Sunnydale and that realization made her hate it all the more.
The immortal was the first bad decision that she made. The second was joining an escort agency. The third was distancing herself from her surrogate family, even though they hadn't really given her a choice. The fourth one was making Angel think that she didn't love him anymore in what she now knew were probably his last days. Buffy was quickly becoming the queen of stupid ass decisions and she knew it.
When it came to the issue of Angel, he had always been her achilles heel. Buffy might not have been on good terms with Angel during the past year but she definitely still loved him immensely. The thought of never seeing him again was killing her inside. Thinking of him as dust in some alley somewhere broke her heart in a million pieces. The look on Angel's face as she told him that she didn't love him anymore replayed constantly in her mind and haunted her greatly.
All Buffy wanted was a chance to make things right with Angel, even if he hated her guts. All she wanted was to hear his voice again or feel his arms wrapped around her or to see that beautiful smile of his. Every day that she didn't get an update about his whereabouts or a phone call from someone on his team told Buffy that her chance to fix things was over because her lover was gone.
The scoobies had arrived in Rome shortly after what happened in L.A. hit the national news and upon arriving in Italy, they held themselves up in Buffy's apartment. Buffy didn't want any of the scoobies around her given how their last interaction in Sunnydale ended but she was too damn depressed to kick them out.
The scoobies had kicked Buffy out of her own home back in Sunnydale and even worse, they questioned her mental capacity and her effectiveness as a leader. Buffy greatly despised her so called family for having such negative connotations about her, especially after how many times that she saved their asses from certain death.
Willow was the only one of the scoobies taking up residence in Buffy's apartment that was actually attempting to be comforting to Buffy in regards to her feelings about Angel possibly being dust. Willow adored Angel just as much as Buffy did and she hoped that he was alive because she knew that the alternative would just destroy her best friend.
Dawn had a soft spot for Angel and she had tried somewhat to be comforting to Buffy about him but she was more concerned on how her apartment in London was going to be paid for, now that the Immortal was dead. Buffy had been sending Dawn money for months via her dealings with The Immortal and with him being dead, that well had dried up.
Xander had never truly cared for Angel, so he really didn't care that the elder vampire might be dust. Xander was really just there in Rome to help Giles possibly cajole Buffy into returning the fold and possibly returning to London. Xander knew that Buffy still had a pang in her heart for who he still thought of as "Deadboy" but he didn't think that she would fall into such a depression over his supposed dusting as she was currently doing.
As for Giles, he always had a contentious relationship with Angel and it only got worse within the last year. Angel had attempted on several occasions to reach out to Giles and the slayer organization within the last year and was rebuffed on every occasion. Giles felt as though he didn't want to send potentials in what might be a suicide mission and with no intel on the happenings of what was going on within Wolfram and Hart or even why Angel had dealings with them, he figured that was a definite suicide mission.
Giles knew that Buffy still had deep resounding feelings for Angel and if she had found out that he had refused to help him or that he might have had the chance to prevent what was currently happening in Los Angeles, she would never forgive him and would probably never be able to bring her back into the fold.
Giles thought that he was doing the right thing by siding with the council to cut off Buffy's stipend when it came out that she was cavorting with Angel around the time that he had joined Wolfram and Hart. Giles was sure that cutting off ties with his surrogate daughter was the right thing to do because of the irrational decision that she had made but he soon regretted that mistake.
Giles knew that Buffy's home was in London. Giles knew that she belonged in England running the slayer school, not running around Rome like she had been doing. Giles missed his surrogate daughter and he was ready for her to come back into the fold and he was not leaving Rome without that happening.
As for Andrew's feelings about Angel potentially being dust, he really didn't care. Andrew had a very nonchalant attitude about Angel potentially being dust and he really couldn't understand why Buffy was so upset about it. Andrew was more upset about the possibility of Spike being dust and constantly made his feelings about that known to Buffy, who seriously just wanted to strangle the skinny idiot.
Andrew was so torn up about the aspect of Spike being dust that he literally set up a mini makeshift shrine in Buffy's living room to honor Spike's memory and when Buffy walked into her living room and saw it for the first time, her reaction to it was interesting to say the least.
Buffy kicked over the makeshift shrine and picked Andrew up by his collar and dragged him out to the balcony and lifted him over the railing of the balcony and was about to drop him onto the street below, until Xander and Willow heard him screaming like a girl and came out and stopped Buffy from dropping him off the balcony. It literally took Willow and Xander pulling Andrew away from Buffy to keep her from killing the dweeb.
Buffy had no problem with Andrew paying tribute to Spike but the lovefest to him in her eyes was disrespectful given that Angel also possibly died during whatever the hell happened in Los Angeles. It was disrespectful in Buffy's eyes for Andrew to honor one fallen champion and not the other one and she let his bony dweeb ass know it by almost throwing him off of her balcony.
Buffy wanted all of the scoobies out of her apartment. Buffy felt like all of them with the exception of Willow were suffocating her. Willow adored Angel just as much as Buffy did, so she understood why Willow was supportive and kind in the midst of the crisis. However Buffy was really struggling to see why the other scoobies were held up in her apartment.
None of them never really liked Angel or approved of her association with him, so she didn't understand why they were even there. The idea of moving to London had been brought up by Giles during his stay there so Buffy figured that the group was more there to try to bring her back into the fold than offer actual moral support.
Buffy didn't want to move to London. Buffy didn't even know if she wanted to stay in Italy. Buffy wasn't sure of anything at that current moment, except that she just wanted the love of her life to be alive. If that could just happen, the rest would all fall into place.
/
Buffy got tired one night of constantly scouring the news for updates about Angel and just dealing with the freeloaders that were currently inhabiting her apartment and decided to sneak out and go to a nightclub. Buffy didn't even feel like going out clubbing but anything was better than her home situation at that moment.
Once at the nightclub, Buffy walked out on the dance floor and let the music reverberate through her being. All the former slayer wanted to do was forget her problems for a little while and get caught up in something other than the pain that was searing through her heart and dancing gave her that escape.
The sounds of "Rain On Me" by Ashanti were blaring through the italian nightclub and as Buffy was swaying her hips to the beat of the music, the lyrics sadly began to resonate with the former slayer.
Buffy was a broken woman. Buffy felt like her soul had been crushed. Buffy had moved to Rome with the belief that she could have a new life and a normal life and had received none of the sort. Buffy knew that she had stepped into the darkness by joining the escort agency and by being with The Immortal and those decisions made her believe that she could never find her way back to the light.
All Buffy longed for the life that she used to have. The one where she could smile without feeling the need to cry. The one where she didn't feel as though she was a used up whore. The one where she didn't wake up every morning feeling as though death would be better than walking through her life without her friends, her family, and the man who loved her more than she ever knew.
In her heart, Buffy knew that Angel was dead. The thought that Angel was no longer of this earth was killing her inside but she knew him and if he was alive, he would have contacted her by now. It had been weeks and Buffy hadn't even heard a whisper from Angel or anyone on his team, that just wouldn't happen if he was still alive.
Now that Angel was gone, Buffy felt as though she didn't care anymore about anything or anyone. In Buffy's eyes, the world and the fates could fuck off. Angel was a champion and even better than that, he was a good man. A good man who deserved better than to be dust in an alley somewhere.
Buffy knew that Wolfram and Hart had something to do with whatever happened to Angel. All of the fights that Buffy had with Angel within the last year always managed to correlate back to Wolfram and Hart. Buffy thought about pulling him out of that place about a million times and that always caused friction between them. Buffy wondered what would have happened if she just went against him and did it anyway. A bunch of maybes flooded her mind and she quickly pushed them out of her head.
Buffy tried to put the image of Angel dying alone in an alley somewhere, along with her other 1 million problems out of her head while she was dancing. Buffy had come to the nightclub for some kind of release, not to cry about what she couldn't control. Buffy had come there to drink her problems away, dance her problems away, and hopefully fuck her problems away for the night.
Once Buffy was done dancing, she had made her way to the bar and ordered a cosmopolitan from the bartender. Buffy grabbed her drink and sat down on a stool at the bar and then began to quickly survey the room, looking for the one who would help her forget her problems for the night. It wasn't too long before the ex-slayer had a willing participant.
/
Several minutes after Buffy had found her willing participant, they had ventured outside to a nearby alley and proceeded to begin their fun. The willing participant was named Giuseppe and he had long brown hair, big brown eyes, olive colored skin, and was wearing a white tank top and a blue pair of jeans.
After a little bit of light kissing, Giuseppe grabbed Buffy by her hips and threw her semi harshly up against the wall of the nightclub. Giuseppe then proceeded to push Buffy's lacy panties down her legs, exposing her ass to the cold air of the roman night. Buffy reached down on the ground into the purse that she had and pulled out a Trojan condom, ultimately handing it to Giuseppe.
Giuseppe pressed Buffy up against the wall and held her hands up so they were firmly planted against the tiles and then ripped open the condom and placed it on top of the mushroom head of his cock and began to thrust wildly into Buffy's ass.
The intrusion of Giuseppe's cock was like a shock to Buffy's system and she loved the thickness of it and how it felt pumping crazily inside of her. Giuseppe reached around to cup one of Buffy's breasts, teasing the hardened nipple through her dress. Buffy reached down to massage the aching nub between her legs, with Giuseppe also using his own fingers to assist her.
As Giuseppe was thrusting in Buffy's sheath, she knew in her heart that it was wrong and that she shouldn't be in that alley with him. However she needed an escape from the disaster that was now her life and sex gave her that out. Plus on that night in particular, sex allowed her to forget that her heart was visibly broken and the carnal act allowed the ex-slayer to forget that pain at least for a little while.
"fottimi più forte! fottimi più forte!" Buffy screamed, as she felt Giuseppe lay a light slap to her ass.
"Sei così caldo! Così stretto! Così stretto!" Giuseppe replied.
As Giuseppe began to thrust harder inside of Buffy, she felt her orgasm build up and when she finally did reach her crisis, she yelled out the name of the man that she truly wanted in that moment.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! I love you so much, Angel!"
Giuseppe was so wrapped up in his own release that he didn't even realize that another man's name had been called.
/
Several minutes after they got done having sex in the alley, Giuseppe and Buffy were making small talk while readjusting each other's clothes.
"Do you want to continue our fun at your appartamento". Giuseppe asked, as he was buttoning up his jeans.
"No, I can't do it. I got a appartamento full of people that I hate. I think that we better call it a night." Buffy replied, as she was pulling up her panties and readjusting her dress.
"Questo è stato divertente. Dovremmo farlo di nuovo. Sei un selvaggio." Giuseppe retorted.
"I am sorry baby but this is a one time deal." Buffy said sweetly, as she kissed Giuseppe on the cheek and then gathered her things and walked off, leaving him standing there in the alley.
/
As she was walking down the street to her apartment, Buffy's cell phone began to ring in her purse. Buffy stopped for a second and pulled the phone out of her purse and looked at the name of the caller ID of it, which said the name "Winifred Burkle" on the screen.
It took a second for the name to click in Buffy's mind and she realized that it was one of Angel's associates and quickly answered the call.
"Hi, this is Buffy." Buffy hurriedly answered, as she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hello, my name is Winifred Burkle. I am a friend of Angel's and I was asked to call you. I am sure that you are aware of the situation here in Los Angeles." Fred replied, as she stood right next to the hotel counter in the Hyperion.
"Yes, I have been watching the news for weeks. This is the first time that anyone from Angel's team has reached out to me. I have been worried sick. Is Angel okay?" Buffy frantically murmured.
"There are things that have transpired that I cannot discuss on the phone. Are you able to come to Los Angeles? There is something that involves you that needs to be taken care of." Fred asked.
"Yes, I can be on the first flight out. I just don't understand why you need me." Buffy asked, as she rubbed her head and was visibly confused by Fred's request.
"Angel instructed us that if things were to go a certain way, we were to contact you. I have to go. I will see you soon. Goodbye."
"Goodbye".
The phone line went dead and Buffy closed up her cellphone and smiled. She was going to L.A. and she couldn't wait to get home and pack.
/
When Buffy finally did arrive home from the nightclub, Willow was sitting on the couch waiting for her while reading a magazine.
"Hi, Will." Buffy said, as she tossed her keys on a nearby coffee table and proceeded to take off her coat and place it on a nearby coat rack.
"Where did you go?" Willow asked, as she put down the magazine.
"I went out for some fresh air and ended up doing a little dancing at a club." Buffy replied, as she put her purse on a coffee table that was close to her couch.
Buffy then retreated to her bedroom and pulled out 2 empty suitcases out of her closet and opened them up and then walked over to one of her drawers and started taking various items out of the drawers and started to put them in the suitcases.
"You packing to go someplace, Buffy." Xander asked, as he leaned on the front door of Buffy's bedroom.
"Yeah, I got a call from a girl named Fred. I am going to L.A. I think that Angel is in trouble, he needs me." Buffy said, as she was walking back and forth from her closet to her suitcases to put clothes in them.
"Dead Boy comes calling and naturally you go running." Xander said, sarcastically.
"Look I don't have any time for your self-righteous bullshit. I need to get packed and get on the next flight out." Buffy said, angrily. An argument with Xander was definitely not what she wanted at that moment.
"You are not going to Los Angeles right now. Buffy, what if you are walking into a trap?" Giles said adamantly, as he entered the bedroom.
"I am not walking into a trap. I don't know very much about the person who called me but I know she's reliable, her name is Fred." Buffy said, as she was folding up some dresses and putting them into one of her suitcases.
"Winifred Burkle. She's a good person. If you are going to L.A, I think that I should come with you, Buffy. " Willow said, while entering the bedroom. If it was indeed a trap, Willow didn't want Buffy going to L.A. without some backup enforcements.
"Will, I appreciate the offer but I think that I have to handle this one on my own." Buffy said, sweetly. Buffy was touched at the fact that Willow wanted to help but this was her problem to deal with and nobody else's.
"I will never understand the hold that Dead Boy has over you. You are thinking that you are going to run off to L.A. and land right back in his cold arms but it's just going to end in tears like it always does." Xander retorted, coldly.
"You know what? You can go right back to Mogadishyhu or wherever the hell that you came from. I normally try to tolerate your bashing of Angel but honestly I don't want to hear it right now. If you thought that Anya was alive but in trouble, wouldn't you want to help her?" Buffy snapped. Buffy didn't mean to sting Xander by mentioning Anya but she was pissing him off.
"Its not the same thing." Xander snapped back.
"Its exactly the same thing. I don't know what is going on in L.A. but I am going to help Angel, if he is in trouble. I am not just going to abandon him." Buffy shouted.
"I still think that this is a bad idea. L.A. is a warzone right now." Giles interrupted.
"Giles, I need to know something and I want the truth from you. Did Angel attempt to reach out to you or anyone from our team within the last year or so? Could whatever happened in Los Angeles have been prevented?" Buffy asked, while secretly hoping the answer wasn't what she already felt she knew.
"Buffy-"
"I want the damn truth!" Buffy screamed.
"Angel attempted on several occasions to reach out to me and also the council for help and we rebuffed him." Giles relented.
Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Buffy had figured that something like this had transpired but she didn't want to believe it. Tears began to glisten her eyes and she angrily lashed out at her now-watcher.
"Why the hell would you do something like that? This is Angel that we are talking about. If he needed help, you should have gotten in touch with me. Something should have been done before it got to this damn point." Buffy said harshly, as she was throwing metaphorical daggers with her eyes at the man who was once her surrogate father of sorts.
"Do I need to remind you that Angel was associated with Wolfram and Hart? There was no way in hell that I was going to risk any slayers going into that place. Nobody was sure as to why Angel was working with that law firm and we had to disassociate ourselves from him." Giles retorted, with his words coming out like venom.
"Guys, stop fighting." Willow said, in some attempt to stop what was now a very heated argument.
"I can't believe you. I know that I definitely need to get out of here now." Buffy said, as she shook her head and threw her arms up in the air. Buffy quickly made an exit from her bedroom and headed for the living room, where she placed her suitcases next to the front door of her apartment.
Willow and Xander and Giles followed Buffy into the living room. Giles continued his tirade, hoping that Buffy would somehow understand his reasoning for the situation.
"You are forgetting that you weren't even on speaking terms with Angel this past year so please stop acting as if me and the council are the only ones who might have had a part to play in what happened in Los Angeles."
Those words from Giles cut Buffy deep. Buffy didn't realize until that moment that perhaps she had something to do albeit inadvertently with what was happening in L.A. and that was a bit much for the ex-slayer to handle. However Buffy wouldn't let Giles see that he might have been right in his observation of her treatment of Angel and his team during the last year and quickly defended her position in that regard.
"When Angel and Spike came to Rome, I helped them reluctantly. Oh and do you know why it was reluctantly? Because I had no plans to ever pick up a stake again. I had retired dammit. I knew that something was about to go down in L.A. but I didn't know it would be of this magnitude and if I knew that it was going to be this bad, I would have gone down fighting by Angel's side."
"You would have died right beside a man who showed his love for you by literally leaving you, yeah that's poetic." Xander said sarcastically, while rolling his eyes.
"Xander, shut the fuck up. Just the shut the fuck up. I don't need commentary from cyclops about my life and my choices." Buffy retorted. Between Xander and Giles, Buffy was slowly getting a headache and that was one thing that she did not need at that moment.
"Buffy, I know that you want to go find Angel but have you truly thought this through?" Giles asked, with a bit of sincerity in his voice.
"There's no time to think. I am not really sure why Angel needs me in Los Angeles or if he himself is even alive at all but I need to go find out." Buffy said hurriedly, as she opened up her apartment door and put her suitcases out in the hallway.
"You are making a decision based on emotion. You are not thinking clearly, Buffy."
"I hate you and I am never speaking to you again. If Angel or any of his team are dead, that blood is on both of our hands. Giles, I can't believe you." Buffy said harshly. Buffy was beyond disappointed with her former watcher aka surrogate father and she wanted to make it known.
"Buffy-"
"Be out of my fucking apartment by the time that I come back, if I decide to come back." Buffy said angrily. Buffy was on the verge of tears and immediately retreated from her apartment with her luggage, before Giles could even respond to that sentence.
"You are really just going to let her go? Giles, do something." Xander said, as he watched Buffy walk down the hallway of the building.
"Xander, go to hell." Giles said, with annoyance and frustration in his voice toward the former construction worker turned human cyclops.
Once Buffy made her way downstairs, she put her luggage in her car and headed to the airport.
In her heart, Buffy knew that she was leaving Rome behind and that was for the best. Rome was a beautiful city and she had enjoyed her time in it for the most part(with the exception of being an escort and dealing with the Immortal) but she was a cali girl at heart and she was ready to return home to L.A. and find the man who she loved more than words could say.
/
After 12 hours in the air, Buffy arrived at LAX and immediately hailed a cab to the address that she had for the Hyperion. Upon arriving at the Hyperion, Buffy got her luggage out of the cab and walked into the hotel. Buffy's first impression of the inside of the Hyperion is that the hotel was classic, mysterious, and had a quiet quality to it. The hotel was just like Angel, Buffy thought.
Buffy left her luggage at the entrance of the hotel and walked over to the counter and pressed a bell to get someone to come out and meet her. Some seconds later, a young woman in her late 20's with dark hair and who appeared to be wearing a polka dot dress emerged.
"Hi, How are you?" The young woman said, with a smile on her face.
"Hi, I am Buffy. You must be Fred. It is great to meet you." Buffy said, while smiling and reaching out her hand to shake Fred's hand.
Fred was so happy to finally meet Buffy but she definitely did not look like Angel and Wesley described her. Buffy was supposed to be blonde and basically your average all american girl and this woman had long pink hair and a septum in her nose and was wearing a short leopard print dress. Plus Buffy had the aura of someone who appeared to be running away from something.
Regardless of the aura that she was putting forth and her presentation as a whole, Fred was aware that Buffy was an amazing person with a good heart from what Angel had told her and from what Buffy's friends(when they would visit the hotel) told her over the years.
Fred knew that Angel would want her to welcome Buffy with open arms and she did that literally and physically by pulling Buffy into a hug.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to be so tiny and I was told that you were a blonde. Come here!"
"You are a hugger, that's nice. So why exactly did you call me? Where is Angel at?" Buffy said, while being caught off guard by Fred's hug. Buffy didn't know Fred at all but she knew from the way that this woman hugged her that Fred was a good soul and would probably be a good friend to her in time.
"Guess who decided to show her face?" Wesley said sarcastically, as he was walking down the hotel stairs after hearing the commotion from Angel's hotel room.
Wesley never truly cared for Buffy and actually found her to be rather nauseating but he tolerated her because of Angel. Wesley's disdain for Buffy had only grown within the last year, because of her disrespect of Angel and her disrespect toward Angel's team in general. Wesley was baffled at why Buffy might be at the Hyperion and he suspected that it might be because of Fred's kindness and her need to respect Angel's wishes.
"Hi, Wesley. Its good to see you too." Buffy said, while trying to hold in her disgust for the man that had been her watcher for a short time.
"Why are you here, Buffy? Shouldn't you be somewhere in Europe, forgetting your duties and getting people killed." Wesley said harshly, as he arrived at the end of the hotel steps.
"You know what? I have had a long flight and I am really not in the mood to argue. Oh and for the record, Fred here called me and asked me to come to Los Angeles." Buffy shouted, while lightly scratching the temples on the sides of her forehead.
"You did what?" Wesley said, while looking in the direction of a now somewhat nervous fred.
"Wesley, Angel wants her here. You know as well as I do that Angel would want her to be here." Fred quickly retorted.
Fred wasn't stupid, she knew that there was no love lost between Wesley and Buffy. However Fred knew Angel's wishes regarding Buffy being there at the hotel during Angel's current predicament and she wasn't going against that, because Wesley was having a hissyfit.
"Angel has barely spoken to Buffy within the last year and the few times that he did do so, they didn't end well from what he told me." Wesley said, cruelly.
Buffy was going to respond to Wesley's cruel statement with a jibe of her own but before she could do so, a bald African American man that was wearing a L.A. raiders jersey and a pair of blue jeans and who was carrying a bowl of cereal entered the lobby of the hotel.
"Who is the chick with the pink hair?" Gunn said, as he placed his bowl of cereal on the hotel lobby counter.
"Hi, I am Buffy. Who are you?" Buffy said curiously, as she extended out her hand to shake Gunn's hand.
"Oh you are Buffy. Nice to meet you, the name is Gunn." Gunn said nicely, as the realization hit him that this was the one and only Buffy. A woman whose reputation preceded her. Gunn could see why Angel was so smitten over the pink haired girl that was currently in his eyesight. Buffy was beautiful and bubbly and emitted an aura of sweetness and she truly looked like a damsel in distress.
"Wesley, I am not sure what is going on here. I just know that Fred asked me to come here. I didn't know what Giles and the council were going to backstab you and your team.." Buffy said apologetically, as she was turning her attention back to Wesley.
"You didn't know because you were busy gallivanting around Europe? Buffy, you are not needed here. Please go home." Wesley said, loudly and while shooting her a look.
Buffy was hurt by Wesley's words and she was fighting the very real temptation to knock him out. Buffy also felt the small urge to cry but locked her tears away. Buffy would not give the sad and very stupid British man what he wanted, that was not what she was there in that hotel for.
Fred could see that Wesley was truly trying to go out of his way to hurt Buffy and decided to step in and stop his verbal tirade before he could spread anymore of his vitriol toward Buffy.
"Wesley, stop this. You know how Angel felt about her. Buffy has every right to be here. This is the worst time to act like this. Given Angel's condition, do you think that this is the best time to be fighting?" Fred said, angrily.
"Fred, what do you mean Angel's condition? Are you trying to say that Angel is dead?" Buffy asked, as she put her hand over her mouth and gasped. Fear ran through Buffy's being at the mere aspect of Angel potentially being dead.
"Not, not exactly. I think that you better see for yourself. Come with me, Buffy." Fred said, softly. Fred then started to walk up the hotel stairs with Buffy and also Gunn and Wesley following suit.
When Fred walked up the hotel stairs, she made her way to what was Angel's hotel room and put her key in the lock and opened up the door to it and the 4 of them ascended into the hotel room.
When Buffy walked into the hotel room, she first noticed that there were several machines that were loudly beeping and that there was also a large gray pole that contained what looked like IV bags at the top of it.
The 2nd thing that Buffy noticed was that Angel was laying in a bed and he was attached to those machines and that IV stand. Angel had also appeared to be breathing via a breathing tube. The thing that Fred didn't want to tell Buffy on the phone in Italy was that Angel was in a coma. An irreversible coma.
Buffy was standing at the center of the hotel room and she walked closer to the bed that Angel was situated in and saw that in addition to the coma, he had various scars all over his chest. The sight of her former lover in such a dire state became too much for Buffy to handle and she kneeled down next to the bed and broke down and started to cry.
"What in the world? How did this happen? I want an explanation." Buffy said angrily, while trying to collect herself.
"Now you care what happens to Angel? Where has that concern been this past year, Buffy?" Wesley snidely asked.
Buffy ignored Wesley and turned her attention to Gunn and Fred in her search for answers about Angel's predicament.
"Is he going to wake up whatever this is? Or is this permanent?" Buffy asked, as she crawled into bed with Angel in a sudden need to be near him.
"We have had 2 shamans come in and try to access what is happening here and well Angel is basically in a coma. The shamans have tried to bring him out of the coma but nothing worked and he has to come out of it on his own." Fred said, sadly.
"Nobody has answered my original question. How did Angel get into this supposed coma?" Buffy shouted. Buffy was mad as hell and she wanted answers. The man that she loved was hooked up to wires and machines and she wanted an explanation for it, then and there.
"It's a long story, Buffy." Gunn replied.
"Well luckily for you, I have nothing but time. Now start talking." Buffy said, adamantly. Buffy folded her arms and the expression on her face went from sad to serious.
"While at Wolfram and Hart, Angel decided that the best way to get out of his deal with the company was to essentially bring forth armageddon. In order to do that, he decided to align himself with the circle of the black thorn." Wesley said, as he walked to the kitchenette that was in the hotel room and poured him a cup of tea from a teapot that was situated on it.
"What the hell is the black thorn? Wait, he decided that he was going to bring forth armageddon? Why would he do something so stupid and suicidal? I am already confused." Buffy said confusedly, as her eyes suddenly became widened. Buffy scratched the top of her head as Wesley was saying was not making any sense to her at all.
"The circle of the black thorn was the mouthpiece for the senior partners through this realm. Angel and the rest of us took down the circle and there was a horde of demons and a dragon in an alley." Gunn Interjected.
"Wait, there was a dragon? Angel got to fight a dragon? That's interesting." Buffy asked, while burrowing an eyebrow. "At least my honey went out in a crazy way", Buffy thought.
Buffy reached over to give a very comatose Angel a kiss on the cheek and then returned her attention to the matter at hand.
"Angel basically took down the circle because he was tired of how things were going at the law firm and wanted a way out. We all wanted a way out." Fred interjected, while thinking of the disease that took her life for a short time and swapped her body with that of Illyria.
"I think that this is all very interesting but I need to know one thing. If all of you helped Angel during this supposed battle, why aren't all of you in the same condition as him if not worse?" Buffy asked, curiously.
"Its a long story but I was dead for a while and my body was replaced with that of a blue hellgod. When the battle in the alley was over, apparently Illyria, who was the hellgod that I am talking about, just reverted back to me and here I am." Fred replied, with a huge smile on her face.
"I was hurt really badly prior to the battle and I was clinically dead for a while but I woke up in a hospital shortly after the battle began and now here I am." Wesley replied.
"And that is such a beautiful thing to know." Buffy said, sarcastically.
Wesley and Buffy shot each other a dirty look and she rolled her eyes at him and then turned her attention back to the conversation at hand.
"What about you, Gunn? How did you deserve this disaster?" Buffy asked, while unconsciously reaching down to tangle one of her hands through Angel's hair.
"I was hurt pretty badly in the battle in the alley as well but my story is the same as Wes's. I woke up in a hospital and here I am. I lost 2 of my damn toes in the battle but besides that, I am fine." Gunn replied, with a nod of his head.
Buffy looked down at Angel and shook her head. The tears were coming to her eyes again and she did nothing to contain them. Buffy placed one of her hands on Angel's chest and traced one of the scars with her fingers and when she did that, it felt as though her heart fell to the pit of her stomach.
"I told Angel NOT to align himself with Wolfram and Hart. I just knew that he would end up in a coma or worse. Why didn't he tell me that he was planning to pull this shit when he was in Rome?" Buffy said angrily, as she was wiping some tears from her eyes.
"Probably because Angel knew that you would try to stop him from doing it or that he would tell you and you would want to get involved and he couldn't risk that. Angel didn't want you associated at all with Wolfram and Hart." Fred said, while looking and mentally analyzing Angel's heart rate numbers on one of his life support machines. Angel's heart rate was steady and strong and that made the former physicist smile.
One thing that Fred noticed while observing Buffy's interaction with Angel is that everytime Buffy touched him or kissed him while she was in his hotel room, his heart rate seemed to go up. Fred knew that Buffy's presence probably wasn't the real reason for the acceleration in Angel's heart rate but she wanted to believe that it was and that gave her some hope that Angel might be trying to come back to them.
"Maybe if I had known, I could have done something. I don't know what I could have done but I know that I could have possibly prevented Angel from being in this bed. What if he never wakes up? Then that means I helped kill the man that I love." Buffy said, regretfully.
Buffy knew that she could never forgive herself if she was the reason why Angel was in that bed and in her heart, she knew that she was part of the reason why he was in that coma.
"You can't think like that, Buffy. Miracles happen everyday. Angel is fighting to come back to all of us." Fred said, in an attempt to be comforting toward Buffy.
"What are all of his injuries as a whole?" Buffy asked.
"The injuries that Angel sustained in the battle range from possible brain damage down to possibly being paralyzed from the waist down. We had a demon doctor come in and assess his injuries and he is at least going to need a cane for the rest of his life. We won't know the extent of his brain damage until he wakes up." Wesley replied.
Buffy couldn't believe what Wesley was telling her. Angel might be paralyzed or even worse, he could be severely brain damaged. The realization that Angel might wake up and never be the same as she knew him was too much to hear. Buffy refused to believe in that grim prognosis that she was sure that some hack of demon doctor gave Wesley.
"I refuse to accept this. We will get a second opinion, Wesley." Buffy said, as she looked at Angel and swiped away some of his now very longer hair from on the top of his forehead.
"If Angel ever wakes up, he won't be as we knew him. Angel will be a vegetable. In fact, Angel's condition is one of the reasons why I called you to Los Angeles." Fred said, sadly.
"What do you mean?" Buffy replied.
"We found some papers with your name on them in regards to Angel's will. Angel wanted you to make decisions for him and his estate in the event that he became incapacitated or was staked." Fred said, nervously.
"I think that what Fred is trying to say is that you are the only one here with the power to keep Angel in his current state or cut off the machines and end his life support." Gunn interjected.
The tension in the room was suddenly very thick after Gunn and Fred explained the real reason why Buffy was in Los Angeles. Buffy was a little baffled and shocked by what she just heard. Buffy was essentially in town to kill Angel. The man who she had loved since she was 16. The man that still had her heart some odd years after they parted ways. The man who she still stupidly dreamed of a future with, even though she knew that wasn't possible.
"You called me to Los Angeles because you want me to pull the plug on Angel? What the hell?" Buffy said, angrily and completely incensed.
Gunn could see that Buffy was now very pissed and just as he was about to explain in further detail about the life support situation, his cellphone rang and he stepped outside of the hotel room to take the call.
Buffy felt like she suddenly needed some air after hearing such a crazy revelation and so she walked over to the hotel balcony, opened the doors to it, and stepped outside onto the balcony.
"It is more than that but yes, you are the one who can decide what happens to him from this point on." Fred said, as she followed Buffy out onto the balcony to continue the discussion.
"What do you mean that there is more than this?" Buffy asked, while being afraid of the answer. After the revelation that the A.I. team basically wanted her in Los Angeles to kill Angel, Buffy wasn't sure if she could handle any more surprises.
"There are issues that have to be worked out in regards to Angel's estate, things like money and assets. Now that you are here, I suppose I should call Angel's lawyer and get the ball rolling on that." Fred said, as she stood on the balcony next to Buffy with her arms folded.
"All of this is too much. I need a second to process all of this." Buffy replied, as she was looking out at the night sky. Buffy was in sheer disbelief. How could Angel's team expect Buffy to be the one that cuts him off of the life support? That was a task that Buffy knew in her heart that she could never do. It wasn't even a thought for the former slayer.
"There's also something else that you need to know." Fred murmured.
"Oh great, I can only imagine what other surprises are coming." Buffy said, sarcastically.
"When we removed Angel from the rubble of the Wolfram and Hart building, something happened that nobody was anticipating. Angel was badly injured but he somehow had a heartbeat." Fred said, with a bit of trepidation in her voice.
"What?" Buffy said, shocked.
"Angel is human." Fred said.
"He's human? Oh my god!" Buffy said, stunned.
Buffy wasn't sure that she heard Fred right. Angel was human. Angel…was…human. The words were ones that she never thought that she would hear. Buffy had thought that Angel was a little warm when she sat next to him earlier in his bed but didn't think too much of it.
With Fred's revelation, Buffy realized why the life support machines were there in Angel's room, it wasn't to stop his vampire body from being reduced to dust. The life support machines were there to keep Angel's human body alive.
Buffy quickly ran from the balcony and back into Angel's bedroom and stood at the foot of his bed, looking at what she now knew was his very human and scarred frame. Her Angel was alive. The man that she loved was alive. If Angel was alive, there was no way in hell that she would cut off his life support machines. Angel was going to get a chance to live as a human man and Buffy was going to make sure of it.
"Human and in a coma. A coma that is irreversible." Wesley arrogantly told Buffy.
"A coma that he is going to come out of. Now that I know that Angel is human, there is no way in hell that I am cutting off those machines." Buffy retorted.
"Buffy-"
"I am going to give Angel every chance at life. I am not going to take away his opportunity to enjoy his humanity. Wesley, the machines are staying on. I don't care how many demon doctors that we have to get or what shamans we have to get, I am going to do everything in my power to bring Angel back to us." Buffy said adamantly.
Wesley knew that he couldn't expect Buffy to think rationally. Wesley knew that Buffy had an evergreen personality, she couldn't see things for what they are. Wesley figured that Buffy thought she could fix some sort of a metaphorical magical wand and make things better for Angel.
Wesley wanted Buffy to take her emotions out of the situation and look at the things as they were and not what she wanted them to be. Angel was badly injured and had severe internal injuries as a result of the battle in the alley, he was never going to be the same again if somehow did wake up from that coma.
No amount of love or hoping or possibly praying was going to bring Angel out of the coma. For once in her life, Wesley hoped that Buffy was capable of making a sensible decision even if the decision broke her heart.
Fred took one look at Wesley and knew that he was about to mentally gear up for another argument with Buffy and after the day that she had, she was not in the mood to play referee with them again.
"You know what? I think that it has been quite a day and we all should revisit this in the morning." Fred said, as she interrupted the verbal storm that was about to brew between Buffy and Wesley.
"I totally agree. In the meantime, I will leave a voicemail for Abraham and see if he can meet all of us in the morning." Wesley said, as he was mentally separating himself from yet another argument with Buffy.
"I have a question for you guys. Why are you holding a reading of Angel's will before he is even dead?" The former slayer asked the group.
"That's honestly what none of us cannot figure out. Angel listed in one of the papers that was in his office that he wanted the will read and done before he was completely out of commission. We have just figured that Angel wanting his will read before IT happens was just another crazy thing that he thought up in the last few weeks before the battle happened. Angel was a little insane near the end." Wesley replied, while shaking his head.
"Who is Abraham?" Buffy asked, while sitting down on the edge of Angel's bed.
"Abraham is Angel's lawyer. Buffy, do you have reservations anywhere?" Gunn asked, as he was coming back into the room from downstairs.
"I actually rushed out so fast to come here that I didn't do that." Buffy said, sheepishly.
"You are staying here. There's plenty of room and I think that Angel would want you to be close to him." Fred said sweetly, while walking over to Buffy and giving her a small hug.
"Fred, thank you so much for calling me. I deeply appreciate it." Buffy said, while smiling at the dark haired girl.
"Good night." Gunn said, as he was exiting the hotel room.
"Good night, Buffy." Fred said, as she was exiting the hotel room.
"Good Night, Buffy." Wesley said, as he was exiting the hotel room.
"Good night, you guys." Buffy said.
Sometime after everyone left Angel's hotel room and also left the hotel for the night, Buffy went downstairs and finally carried her luggage upstairs to Angel's hotel room and began to unpack her items and sort them into drawers.
Once the task of unpacking her luggage was over, Buffy started rumbling through one of Angel's drawers and came across an old jersey of his. After taking a very quick shower to wash the stench of the day off of her body, Buffy came out of the bathroom and slipped into the jersey.
Buffy put on the jersey because she needed to feel close to Angel. The feeling of having something of Angel's pressed up against her skin was nice and it made Buffy smile.
Buffy then went back into the bathroom and wiped off her makeup. Buffy looked at herself in the mirror and she felt as though she looked older than 23. Having a crazy life that consisted of slaying and then getting into the world's oldest profession had aged the former slayer more than she thought.
Buffy looked at the top of her head and noticed the long pink wig that she was wearing. Pink wasn't really Buffy's color and so she slipped it off of her head and placed it on the bathroom counter.
Buffy's naturally dark hair became visible after that and she grabbed a brush out of one of the makeup bags that she had brought into the bathroom and began to brush her hair. Within minutes, Buffy looked like Buffy again and not the character that she had created in Rome to escape her true self.
Buffy contemplated ditching the septum right along with the pink wig but it was cute and she liked it a lot, so it stayed.
Buffy exited the bathroom and made her back into the bedroom. Once Buffy was back in the bedroom, she made her way over to Angel's heart monitor where she checked his vitals. Strong and Steady, Buffy thought.
Buffy leaned down to give Angel a kiss on his right cheek and when she did that, his heart rate ticked up a bit on the monitor.
"I guess that means you are somewhere in there, baby." Buffy said, as she smiled and lightly tangled her hands through Angel's hair.
Buffy walked over to a nightstand that was situated on the left side of Angel's bed and turned off a lamp that was on it.
Buffy pulled the covers off of the bed, slipped under them, and then laid down next to Angel.
Buffy rested her head on Angel's chest, listening to his heartbeat. The sound of his heartbeat was beautiful and it seemed like music to Buffy's ears.
"I know that you can hear me in there, honey. I am here now and I am not going anywhere. I am sorry that this happened to you. They want me to kill you but I won't do it. I love you too much to let you go just yet. Goodnight, my Angel." Buffy said, softly.
Buffy sat up for a second in bed to give Angel a kiss to his forehead and then laid her head back down on his chest, slowly drifting off to sleep while listening to what she considered to be the best sound in the world.
End of Part 2