/
Los Angeles
Mid-June 2004
The beeping of the life support machines mixed along with a very loud alarm clock going off that awoke Buffy out of her sleep. A very groggy Buffy reached over to the alarm clock that was situated on a nightstand near the bed and hit the button on it, effectively turning it off.
Ever since Buffy left Sunnydale, noon was Buffy's time for usually waking up and not the crack of dawn. Buffy looked over at the alarm clock and saw that it was 7:35am, that was way too damn early for her taste. Getting up super early was going to take some time to get used to, Buffy thought.
When Buffy completely opened her eyes and gathered all her faculties, she realized that she had slept with her head on Angel's chest. Buffy glanced up at her comatose ex-lover and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before climbing out of the bed and walking over to one of the life support machines in the room to check his vitals.
"Morning, Baby. I have a feeling that today is going to be a little crazy." The ex-slayer said, as she looked back in the direction of the room where Angel was situated.
Buffy exited the bedroom and then walked into the bathroom, where she took a quick shower and then put on her makeup and basically began to prepare herself for whatever the day was going to bring.
In the midst of preparing for the day, Buffy took a second to gather her thoughts and realized that she was meeting with Angel's lawyer that day. Buffy had no idea what Honest Abe might have in store for her but she hoped that it wasn't anything too insane. As Buffy mentally replayed back the information that had been bestowed on her the previous day by Angel's team, she knew that she couldn't handle any more bad news or surprises.
When Buffy left the bathroom, she walked over to one of the drawer's in the bedroom and pulled out her clothes for the day and began to put them on. Buffy's ensemble wasn't anything spectacular, just a blue tank top and a pair of blue jeans and a pair of sneakers.
Once Buffy realized that she was completely put together, she walked over to Angel's bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead and told him that she would see him later and then headed downstairs.
/
When Buffy made her way down the stairs, she walked around for a bit in the hotel until she was able to find the kitchen. Oh and when Buffy did make her way to the kitchen, Fred and Gunn and Wesley were in there having breakfast.
"Good Morning, everyone." Buffy said, as she greeted everyone and walked over to what looked like a pot of steaming hot coffee.
"Hi." said Fred, who was taking a bite of her toast and reading the morning newspaper.
"Good Morning, Buffy." said Gunn, who was drinking his own cup of coffee.
"Did you have a good night's rest?" said Wesley, who was eating some eggs.
"No, I tossed and turned all night. I am trying to make sense of all this and I really can't. I don't know why Angel entrusted me with basically everything that he has, especially with how we left things in Italy." Buffy said, while taking a sip of the coffee that she had just poured.
"That's a mystery that we won't find out about until he wakes up." Fred said, as she picked up her fork and annoyingly scooped some eggs off of Wesley's plate and began to eat them.
"How long are you planning on staying in town, Buffy?" Wesley asked, sarcastically.
"Wesley, I just love how inviting you are to me. If you must know, I am sticking around until Angel wakes up. I thought that I would stay around to work out all of the issues with the estate but I think that I might be here until Angel gets out of his coma." Buffy said, sarcastically and while secretly rolling her eyes at the former watcher.
"Oh that's just fantastic." Wesley said, unexcitedly.
"Wesley, do you have something that you want to say to me?" Buffy said, angrily. Buffy was getting really tired of Wesley's bullshit and so she walked over to him and gave him a death stare.
Wesley didn't want Buffy anywhere near Los Angeles or the Hyperion or Angel and he was not afraid to make his disdain for her known. Wesley shot daggers right back at Buffy.
Gunn and Fred could see that another argument was about to happen between Buffy and Wesley and got up from their seats at the table to get in between the ex-slayer and her former watcher.
"Wes, chill out." Gunn said, as he was trying to pull Wesley away from Buffy.
"Yes, I do have something to say to you. The only reason why you are here is because you feel some guilt for not helping our team this past year. I don't doubt that some part of you still cares for Angel but you are here mostly to appease your own guilt." Wesley retorted, with nothing but vitriol in his voice toward Buffy.
Buffy was starting to get mad as hell at Wesley and she really wanted to strangle him at this point.
"No, I am here because Angel needs me. What is wrong with you, Wesley?" Buffy shouted.
Buffy could feel the tears beginning to rush to her face but she would not let Wesley of all people see her cry, no she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Wesley, you are out of line." Fred said, while shaking her head.
"What do you think that is going to happen, if Angel ever wakes up? Do you think that he's just going to fall into your arms and say that all is forgiven? You are partially responsible for all the chaos that has happened within the last year. If you are here because you think that Angel being human means that he will run back to you, you are sorely mistaken." Wesley said, pointedly.
"You are an asshole, Wesley." Buffy said angrily.
Buffy ran out of the room after that as she didn't want Wesley to see her cry. In her heart, she knew the son of a bitch was right. Buffy was only there to appease her own guilt.
"Did you really have to say that to her?" Gunn asked.
"Wesley, really?" Fred said, as she looked at Wesley disapprovingly.
"Neither of you were going to say it. Buffy has no business being here. I still can't believe that you brought her here, Fred." Wesley said, dismissively.
"Wesley, get over your issues with Buffy. Buffy has every right to be here. Angel wanted her here or he wouldn't have stipulated that in the papers that we found in his desk. Like it or not, Buffy is staying." A very pissed Gunn said.
Gunn couldn't believe how much of an asshole that Wesley was toward Buffy and he couldn't stand to look at him anymore and so he stormed out of the kitchen and went to go find Buffy and apologize on behalf of their team, because Wesley didn't have the balls to do it.
/
When Gunn found Buffy, she was upstairs in Angel's room. Buffy was crying and her arms were folded and she was standing on the hotel balcony, staring out at the beautiful morning sky.
"I am sorry for what Wesley said to you. It was completely out of line." Gunn said softly, while placing a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder.
"It is so weird seeing Angel like this. I keep expecting him to wake up and say something snarky or silly but I know that it won't happen. I wonder if he's even in any pain or if he can ever hear us. I think that I should leave after Abraham reads out the will, it might be best for everyone if I did that."
"Why? Because of what Wesley said?" Gunn asked.
"Wesley is 100 percent right, Gunn. I have no business being in L.A. I wasn't in contact with Angel for most of the last year and the few times that we did talk, it didn't end well. Plus my team dropped the ball when it came to helping you guys and I can't apologize enough for that." Buffy said angrily.
Buffy dropped her arms and walked from the balcony and back into the bedroom, where she sat down on the edge of Angel's bed.
"You can't just leave. Angel would want you here." Gunn said, as he re-entered the bedroom.
"Me and Angel have so many problems that I highly doubt that he wants me here. For all I know, that will of his was filed before the little bit of a relationship that we did have, imploded. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even love me anymore." Buffy said, flippantly.
Gunn was a little shocked by what the ex-slayer was saying. Gunn had known Angel for at least 3 to 4 years at that point and he knew that the recently comatose former vampire was still deeply in love with Buffy. Anytime that Angel had mentioned Buffy, it was with the tone of a man who missed his beloved and not that of a man who had moved on.
Gunn thought back to when Angel found out that Buffy had died. Angel was a complete mess when Buffy died and when he left for Tibet and came back, he was still a mess but hid it very well. Gunn had watched Angel the entire year of their time at Wolfram and Hart and saw how Angel's heart seemed to break everytime that Buffy played one of her games on him or when one of her team did something to show that they were on different sides.
However even in the midst of the obvious turf war that was going on between Angel's team and Buffy's team, Angel still spoke of Buffy with nothing but love and admiration.
Gunn figured that with the shit that he had heard from Cordelia about what Buffy had put Angel through and Angel had put her through when they originally a couple and that they were still putting each other though even after they broke up, they were either 2 of the craziest white folks that he ever met or 2 people who were still deeply in love with each other.
"Well that's a big lie. Angel loved you up until the moment that he went down in the alley. You were everything to Angel. When he talked about you, there was nothing but love in his voice. It broke his heart when Andrew told him that you didn't trust him anymore." Gunn said, adamantly and as he broke out of his reverie.
Gunn walked over to a cabinet containing a kleenex box, grabbed it and then walked back over to where Buffy was sitting on the bed and handed the box to her, because she was crying and her eyes were damn near bloodshot at this point.
"What? What are you talking about?" Buffy said, shocked.
Buffy made a mental note to strangle Andrew, if she ever got ahold of his scrawny little dweeb ass again. Buffy had no idea that Andrew was the source of some of the bullshit that had transpired within the last year but given his obsession with Spike and his dislike of Angel, it made a lot of sense.
Buffy picked one of the kleenex tissues out of its box and dabbed her eyes with it and continued to listen to Gunn.
"Your lackey Andrew came to L.A. not too long ago to pick up a psycho slayer named Dana. When it came time to make the exchange, Andrew told Angel in no uncertain terms that you didn't trust him. I have never seen Angel as sad as he was that day." Gunn said with a semi harsh tone in his voice.
"Wow, I didn't know that happened. I trust Angel with everything in me. I know that Angel was with Wolfram and Hart but I know that he would never betray me. Our rift that started this past year was because I didn't want him in that place at all, not because I didn't trust him. Oh and for the record, Andrew is a dumbass and someone who does not speak for me." Buffy said, angrily and in complete disbelief.
Gunn wasn't sure what to believe. Gunn could tell from how pissed off that Buffy looked in that moment that clearly she had no idea what her friends were doing but he questioned her behavior in Italy. Even if Buffy had no idea that her so called friends were playing her when it came to helping the A.I. team, why was Buffy so frosty toward Angel the whole year?
Gunn might have respected Buffy and had no problem being welcoming toward her in the hotel but at the end of the day, his loyalty was to Angel and he wanted to get answers at least for his sake.
"Okay if that is so true, why did you tell Angel that you didn't love him anymore in Italy? Angel came back from that place, looking like the world's biggest sad puppy dog. It was tragic."
Buffy could see that Gunn was fishing for answers about her time in Italy and she was damn sure not about to tell a complete stranger about the Immortal or The escort agency, so she decided to give him only half of the truth.
"I only said that because I needed to get Angel out of Rome. I knew that he was going to be a target for The Immortal and I couldn't risk something happening to Angel. I had already been shot and so I knew there was a risk. Oh and before you say anything, yes I know that Angel can take care of himself. I just got this thing where I am kind of territorial over him." Buffy said, while looking down at her nails and silently laughing at the fact that yes after all these years, she did still feel overprotective over Angel.
"Territorial?" Gunn said, while burrowing an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I love the big lug. Anyone hurts my honey and there's going to be hell to pay. God I love him. I love him so much that it hurts." Buffy said defensively.
Buffy walked over to the other side of the bed and took the edge of her fist and softly ran it across Angel's left cheek and smiled at the sight of the beautiful now very helpless man that was situated in front of her.
Gunn could feel his resolve weakening. Gunn didn't know if Buffy was being honest or telling him straight up bullshit but from how he could see her interacting with Angel in his current state, that she was still madly in love with the now ex-vampire. Gunn had never been one for love stories but he needed to see how this one ended. Gunn could see that his boss/friend had a ride or die waiting for him when he woke up and that wasn't something that you see everyday.
"If you love him, stick around." Gunn said, boldly.
"What?" Buffy said, shocked.
"Stick around and wait for him to wake up. Don't let Wesley out of all people run you out of town, he's got a big bug stuck up his ass. Do you want a chance to make things right with Angel?" Gunn replied.
"More than anything in this world. I am not sure if we can ever fix things between us but I need a chance to at least apologize for my role in all of this." Buffy said, as she gave Gunn a slight smile.
Buffy sat down on the bed a little bit closer to Angel and looked at his monitor and back at him.
Buffy lifted some of Angel's now longer hair for where it was situated on his face and kissed his forehead and then bent down and whispered in his ear that she loved him. Buffy grabbed the kleenex box again and pulled a kleenex out of it and dabbed her eyes with it, because she had started to cry again.
"Me and Fred are happy to have you here. You are not going anywhere. You are one of us now." Gunn said happily, as he walked over to Buffy and gave her a hug.
"Thank you for your kindness, Gunn." Buffy replied, while breaking apart from the hug.
"Anytime, Buffy. I will leave you alone with this one. Abraham will be here soon." Gunn said sweetly, before he left the hotel room to see if Abraham had arrived yet to the Hyperion.
The talk with Gunn gave Buffy a bit of confidence. Buffy might have wanted to give up and leave but after the unexpected pep talk with Gunn, she knew it wasn't possible. Angel needed her to stick around and fight for them and fight for his survival and that mattered more than any self-doubts or guilt that she might have had in regards to their past.
Buffy made it up in her mind and in her heart that she was going to be there until Angel opened up those big brown eyes again that she loved so dearly. Buffy knew that Angel would never give up on her if she was in his predicament, so why not do the same thing for him? It was a no brainer. Buffy was in it for the long haul.
Several minutes after Gunn left the hotel room, Buffy composed herself and then walked into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. Then Buffy readjusted her makeup because of her mascara from all the crying that she had been doing.
Once Buffy had fixed herself up again, she walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom and prepared to head back downstairs to meet Abraham. However before she exited the hotel room, she ran back to where Angel was situated and bent down to give him a kiss on his right cheek and whispered softly in his ear.
"Baby, I am not going anywhere until you come back to me. I promise you that."
Buffy then slightly smiled and wiped her lipstick off of his cheek and exited the hotel room.
Buffy made her way down the hyperion steps and when she made it to the end of the stairs, she saw Fred sitting on the couch in the lobby and scribbling something down on what appeared to be a notepad.
Buffy plopped down next to Fred on the couch and tried to get a good sense of what the dark haired woman was writing down but was unable to do so.
"Everything, okay?" Fred asked, with a bit of concern in her voice.
"Yes, everything is fine. Things have been so crazy that I forgot to ask you. Where is my blonde problem? I don't see him skulking around here, stinking up the place with his marlboro lights." Buffy asked, referring to Spike.
"In a funny twist of fate, Spike was awarded his shanshu right along with Angel. Oh and 2 minutes after that happened, Spike left for Morocco. Nobody has heard from him in months." Fred replied, with a smile.
Buffy was genuinely happy that Spike had turned human. Buffy had done a lot of soul searching within the last year and one thing that she knew for a fact that Spike was not who she loved but that he was someone who she cared for.
Buffy's relationship with Spike was one that had happened at one of the darkest periods of her life and it was filled with nothing but darkness and she had no plans to revisit that period of her life. Buffy was still happy though that Spike had turned human, she hoped that he would do something meaningful with that blessing.
However if Buffy knew Spike, he was probably in morocco sleeping with prostitutes and stealing cigarettes from people. Buffy was sure that her and the A.I. team wouldn't see Spike again until he ran out of money.
Buffy was pulled out of her reverie by the appearance of a short blue man with horns sticking out of his head, walking into the lobby of the hotel.
"Hi." Fred said, while getting up to greet the blue man.
"Who are you?" Buffy asked, curiously.
"I am Abraham T'kainoi but you can call me Honest Abe. I am Liam's lawyer. Who might you be?" Honest Abe asked, while reaching out a hand to shake Buffy's hand.
"I am Buffy." Buffy replied, while giving Honest Abe a once over. Abe was about 4'9 and very blue and he had horns in his head and was dressed from head to toe in hippie like clothes and looked as though he could be Wavy Gravy's(Hugh Romney) extremely short twin.
"You are much prettier than Angel stated. Where are the others?" Honest Abe asked, just as he took Buffy's hand and kissed the top of it. Buffy blushed at his words and lightly pulled her hand back from him.
"We are right here." Wesley said, as he entered the lobby with Gunn.
"Great, now that everyone is here. I think that we should begin. Is there somewhere that we can conduct the reading?" Honest Abe asked Fred.
"Yes, just this way." Fred said, as she led Honest Abe along with Buffy and Gunn and Wesley to a media room that was situated near the basement of the hotel.
In the media room that was near the basement of the hyperion, there were several chairs and a giant library of books and what appeared to be a giant TV situated within it. When the group entered the room, everyone quickly made their way to their seats and prepared for Angel's will to be read.
Once everyone was situated, Honest Abe walked to the TV and pulled what appeared to be a dvd out of a yellow envelope that was in his hands and placed the dvd into the TV. Before turning on the TV and playing the dvd, Honest Abe addressed Buffy and The A.I. team.
"As you all must know. We are all here to read the will of Liam Seamus O'Flannery commonly referred to as Angel. Are the following people able to join us? William Pratt and Faith Lehane and Connor Reilly."
"I talked to Faith about a week before I came here. Faith is somewhere in the middle of London right now, so she can't join us." Buffy replied, as she raised her hand up.
"Spike is in Morocco and we haven't seen Connor in months and have no way of getting ahold of him." Fred said, as she raised her hand up.
"Who is Connor?" Buffy asked, confused.
"We will explain him to you after the reading of the living will." Gunn replied. Gunn and Fred then shot each other a look. Gunn did NOT want to tell Buffy about Connor although Fred felt like she had a right to know. The both of them wanted to scream at Angel for putting them in that awkward position.
"Oh well, I guess that it will just be all the parties that are currently present. Angel revised his will within the last year due to unexpected changes in his life and he left explicit instructions on a dvd that I was given, as to how his wishes would be carried out." Honest Abe said, as he continued to address the group.
"There's a DVD, okay." Buffy said, shocked.
"Yes, Mrs. O'Flannery." Honest Abe said, as he happily replied to Buffy.
"Why is he calling you by Angel's last name?" Fred asked, curiously.
"That I will explain to you after the reading of the will." Buffy replied.
Buffy knew exactly why Abe had called her that last name but she didn't want the rest of the group to know. To be honest, nobody was ever supposed to know. However Buffy had been promised by Angel that the reason for why she was being called that name would never come out and she figured that he reneged on that promise, which she knew that he would never do.
Buffy closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and waited for what was to happen next.
Seeing as he had no more questions for the group and most of the recipients that were stipulated in the living will were present, Honest Abe turned out the lights in the media room and turned on the TV and pressed "Play" on the dvd player portion of it.
An image of a man appeared on the TV screen. The image was of Angel sitting at his desk at the hyperion and the date of "5-15-04" appearing at the bottom of the screen. Angel was sitting at his desk with some papers situated in front of him and what appeared to be a shot glass of bourbon and also what appeared to be a cigar that was emitting smoke from it in a nearby astray.
Angel gave a wave to whoever might be watching the dvd and then put on a pair of glasses that was also sitting on the desk and picked up the papers that were on it and began to read from them.
"I, Liam Seamus O'flannery being of sound, mind, and kind of body am present and will be reading my living will." Angel said, softly.
"Hi, Guys. If you are watching this dvd, my plan didn't exactly work out how I planned and I am dust. I knew that it was a stupid decision to try to take down the senior partners but I had to at least try it, ya know." Angel said, dejectedly.
Angel stopped reading for a second and picked up the glass of bourbon and took a sip of it and then returned to reading the papers in front of him.
"If you guys are sitting there with scowls on your faces, then put them away now. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to do it. I am fine or at least I think that I am fine. Now let's get down to the first order of business. First one to get my dough is Fred." Angel said sweetly, as the glasses tipped on his nose.
"To one of my closest friends and associates, Winfred Burkle, I leave you the sum of $50,000 and I am also donating an additional $25,000 for the science program at the University of Texas. You are a good soul, Fred. You were a bright light in my life and I cherish my time with you dearly." Angel smiled.
Fred was shocked at Angel's generosity. Fred didn't think that she would get anything from the former vampire but what he did give her was beautiful. Tears began to fall from Fred's eyes when she thought of her almost fallen friend and that caused Buffy to reach over and take her hand in Fred's and comfort her.
Once Fred's portion of the will was over, Angel went from being very sweet to being serious in a matter of seconds. Angel leaned forward in his desk, rolled his eyes, scowled and then looked directly at the camera.
"To William Pratt, my grandchilde and eternal pain in my Irish ass. I know that you are out there smirking and thinking that you are going to get a big payday as a result of my dusting. I got news for you Blondie Bear, you aren't getting shit. You slept with my girl and tried over and over to kill me. Why would I give you anything? Fuck off." Angel said harshly, as he raised his middle finger to the camera.
The whole group burst out laughing because they couldn't believe that wherever Angel was, he was still mad at Spike.
Buffy, who was in the midst of tears, even had to laugh. Buffy was a little sad that Spike wasn't there in the room because she wanted to see his reaction to Angel.
"Even in a comatose state, Angel is still being petty. I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head." The ex-slayer said while dabbing her eyes with a kleenex.
After the Spike portion of the will was read, Angel took about as much of a deep breath as an undead person could take and then picked up his glass of bourbon and took a sip of it and then returned to reading his living will.
"Now that I got that out of the way, the next one to get my assets is Faith Maria Lehane. Faith, you have been a friend to me over the years and you are like family. You have been a confidante and a bit of a support system when I needed one. I trust or rather trusted you with my unlife. I am leaving you the sum of $800,000 and half of my sword collection. Never stop being you, Faith." Angel said, wryly.
"As long as I live, I will never understand that love fest." Buffy said, annoyed. Buffy rolled her eyes and shook her head. Buffy was glad that Faith was somewhere in London because if she had been there and heard her portion of the will, she would have gone on a "Angel is my saviour" rant and Buffy would have gagged at that.
Once Faith's portion of the will was read, Angel stepped out of the frame of the dvd to walk over to a nearby liquor cabinet and refill his shot glass with bourbon. Once that task was completed, Angel sat back down at his desk with his glass of bourbon and got right back to business.
"The next one on the list is Charles Gunn. Gunn, you have been a trusted associate of mine as well as a dear friend. I have always valued you and respected your loyalty and friendship. For you, I leave the sum of $100,000 and a plane ticket. Get out of Los Angeles and go be with your family in Chicago. Go start your life over." Angel said, kindly.
"Wow, I can't believe this." Gunn said, shocked. Gunn was completely floored by Angel's generosity and was almost speechless. Gunn got up to leave the media room because he needed to go outside and get some air after his portion of the will was read.
Once Gunn's portion of the will was over, Angel took a second to regroup. Angel picked up the cigar from the ashtray and took a puff of it and then picked up his shot glass and took a sip of bourbon and then immediately got back to business.
"To my associate and friend, Wesley. We have had our moments of trepidation but I always respected you. You are a good man. For you, I am leaving $5,000 and the other half of my sword collection and 5 percent of the Hyperion. Make sure that you put all those things to good use, Wes." Angel nodded, toward the camera.
Wesley couldn't believe what he was hearing. All the bullshit that he's been through with Angel and all the former vampire left him was $5,000 and 5 percent of an old dingy hotel and some swords, what was Wesley supposed to do with that?
Wesley was literally staring at the TV with the biggest scowl on his face and Buffy was loving watching him get heated. Wesley had treated Buffy like shit for the last few days that she was in L.A. and so why not revel at him getting his comeuppance?.
"See Wesley, Karma is a bitch." Buffy said sarcastically, as she reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.
Once Wesley's portion of the will was read, Angel took another break. Angel sat up from his desk and stepped out of the camera frame again to walk over to his liquor cabinet and refilled his glass of bourbon again.
Angel was trying to mentally prepare himself for the next portion of the living will reading, because it was going to be about Connor and that would be the hardest one of all to read.
Angel went back to his desk to sit down, rubbed his eyes because he was beginning to cry, ran a hand through his hair, took a sip of his bourbon, and continued to read his will.
"To my boy, Connor. I want you to know that I love you. I was never the kind of father to you that I wanted to be and that's a regret of mine. We have had our moments but I always loved you and I am proud of the man that you have become. I am leaving you $300,000 and an additional $100,000 to be put toward your education. You are going to do great things my boy, I know it." Angel said, sorrowfully.
"What? I am confused? Angel had a kid?" Buffy interrupted loudly.
Wesley and Fred shot each other a look because they knew she had questions and the both of them did NOT want to be the one to explain Connor to Buffy. How do you tell your boss/friend's ex that he had a baby with someone else? That's a position that nobody wants to be in.
As the DVD continued on, Angel was sitting at his desk and he was truly beginning to cry. Angel then realized in his mind what he had just said about Connor and that Buffy probably heard it and he began to shout "fuck fuck fuck" in his head and then looked at the camera with sad eyes.
"Buffy, I know that you are sitting there a little confused right now but the gang will explain Connor to you. Baby, take care of him for me." Angel pleaded while putting his hands together in a prayer like position.
Buffy was really confused as to what the hell was going on. In her mind, Buffy knew that it wasn't possible for Angel to have had a child. Buffy considered for a small second that maybe Angel somehow adopted a child and she tried to accept that as a logical explanation for why her ex-honey was claiming to have had a kid.
Buffy looked at Fred and Wesley and saw how they were looking at each other. There was something in Fred and Wesley's body language that told Buffy that they knew more about this Connor person than they let on and Buffy was determined to find out after the will reading was completely over.
The DVD continued on and Angel was still sitting at his desk, reading through his papers and trying to see who was next to receive his assets. There was only one person left on the list and it was the one person that Angel didn't want to disappoint ever again, his Buffy.
Angel leaned forward in his desk and gave a sad smile to the camera and took a sip of his bourbon and then shook his head and then let the tears flow that he was holding back and started to read off the last portion of his living will.
"Onto my beautiful complicated wife, Elizabeth Anne Summers O'Flannery. My Buffy. The queen of my heart. A woman who could make my heart melt with her smile. I love you so very much. I would go to the ends of the earth for you, my ioniun." Angel said, sweetly.
Fred piped up when Angel said that Buffy was his wife and then she glanced over at Wesley, who gave her a look that basically said "Don't ask." Gunn who had come back in the media room in the middle of the will reading had his jaw drop when Angel said that Buffy was his wife on the DVD.
Buffy sat up from her seat and walked over to the TV and traced the lines of Angel's face on the TV and then shouted at the TV and said angrily. "Then how about you come back to me and prove that?"
Buffy then sat back down in her seat, put her face in her hands, ran her hands through her hair, and continued to cry. Wesley in a rare moment of kindness toward Buffy attempted to comfort the ex-slayer by walking over to her and rubbing her back and whispering in her ear that Angel loved her at the end and she was his heart.
Wesley gestured to Honest Abe to stop the DVD but Buffy composed herself and gestured to Honest Abe to keep the DVD playing. Wesley and Buffy went back to their seats and Honest Abe continued the DVD.
Before Angel continued reading the last portion of his living will, he raised his hand up that contained his claddagh ring to the camera and gave a smile to the camera. Angel cried a bit more and he wiped his tears with one of his hands and then composed himself and picked up his papers and then continued reading his will.
"This one is hard to do because it always feels like I am saying goodbye to you and this is actually goodbye. I have been fighting like hell for 5 years to prove not only to myself but to you that I am a decent man and that I was worthy of your love and to find out that it was all for nothing is a bit much to handle." Angel said angrily as he shook his head and shook his fists and was fighting an urge to scream.
"You were worthy of my love. You were and are a good man. I just wasn't worthy of your love, baby." Buffy said softly and with her eyes glistening with tears.
Buffy's heart was breaking by the second and she wasn't sure how much more of this that she could take. Buffy thought about just walking out of the media room but she knew that she had to hear what Angel had to say.
"I know that I am babbling on and on here but the thought of knowing that this is the end for us before we ever had a beginning hurts more than I can say. I am kind of struggling here because I know how much I love you. God, it wasn't supposed to end like this honey." Angel said regretfully, on the DVD.
"I don't know how much more of this that I can take." Buffy said, as she was about to get up from her seat and walk toward the door of the media room.
"Its going to be okay, Buffy." Fred said woefully, in an attempt to stop Buffy from leaving.
Buffy's eyes were damn near bloodshot at this point and she felt as though her heart might fall out of her chest. Buffy got up from her seat and was preparing to leave the media room when she heard Angel's words on the TV and that made her stop right in her tracks.
"I have so much to say to you. I know that you want me to skip to the point and believe me, I am getting there. Do you remember the day that we met? You drop kicked me in that alley and that was the beginning of the end for me. You changed me from that day on. You made me want to be a better man. You gave me a purpose and for that, I will always be indebted to you." Angel said confidently, as he sat on the edge of his desk and then sadly smiled at the camera.
"You changed me too." Buffy said, quietly. Buffy reluctantly walked back over to where she was seated previously and continued to watch the DVD.
"No matter what you have done, my love for you hasn't wavered. Even when I tried to hate you, it wasn't possible. You are the love of my life. I am afraid that you lost your purpose and that frightens me. You are stronger than you know and I want you to find your way back to the beautiful sexy intelligent woman that I know you are." Angel murmured, while giving a serious look to the camera.
Buffy contemplated for a second that maybe Angel did know about her being an escort in Italy but immediately pushed that idea out of her head. Such a thought wasn't one that Buffy wanted to fathom. The mere fact that Angel might have gone into his coma even having an inkling that Buffy had become an escort broke her heart and she just couldn't stomach such a thought.
"You forgot your purpose and that frightens me. You are amazing and not what you think you are. I don't know what the hell is happening with you in Italy but that's not my girl. The way that you are acting is not my girl." Angel shouted, with the sound of his voice being raised by at least 2 decibels.
Fred was a little confused by what Angel meant by what he was saying about Buffy's actions in Rome on the dvd. Gunn knew exactly why Angel was getting mad on the dvd but out of respect for Buffy, he wasn't going to blurt that out. Wesley could have cared less that Angel was getting mad on the dvd, he was still pissed about his share of the will.
"I forgive you for what you said in Italy because I know that you didn't mean it and I know why you said it. I know that you still love me and how devoted that you are to me, even when I am not worthy of such devotion." Angel murmured, as he thought back to how he slept with Nina immediately after coming back from Italy and how he felt immediate regret afterwards.
Buffy began to toy with the cross necklace that Angel had given her when they met and she smiled and thought of some of the good memories that they had. Honest Abe could see that Buffy was a little heartbroken at the possible loss of her ex-lover and walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We truly had a once in a lifetime love, baby. Next to my son, you are the most important thing in my life and I want you to find happiness. I need you to find love. You are too giving and too kind to not give someone your heart again and when you do it, he's going to be one lucky bastard." Angel said, as he lightly laughed and then took a sip of his bourbon on the dvd.
"God I just want you, my Angel. You are supposed to make me happy." Buffy said quietly, as she ran her hands down her shoulders and put one of her hands over her mouth and sobbed a little bit.
"I am sorry to interrupt this but is he ever going to get to the rest of reading the will or are we going to keep being subjected to this love fest? We know how much he loved Buffy but is that all the rest of the dvd will consist of?" Wesley said, as he looked over at Buffy and then toward Honest Abe and loudly interrupted the will reading.
Wesley might have shown a bit of kindness to Buffy earlier but that was a one time deal in his eyes. Wesley was already pissed that he had gotten the lowest amount of money in Angel's will and so hearing the former vampire yammer on and on about his love of Buffy wasn't something that he wanted to keep hearing. Oh and watching Buffy get teary eyed over a man that she had treated like shit for the better part of a year was something that Wesley was tired of seeing.
Wesley was ready for the reading to end and he made his feelings about that clear to Honest Abe and the rest of the group in the room.
Honest Abe paused the DVD when Wesley made his interruption and when he did make his interruption, the rest of the group threw metaphorical daggers at the former watcher.
"Wesley, shut the fuck up." Gunn said, angrily.
"Does anything ever come out of your mouth that isn't complete bullshit?" Buffy said, heatedly.
Buffy literally was not in the mood for Wesley's snideness. Buffy was already a hormonal mess and so it wouldn't have taken too much more for her to reach over to Wesley and knock the hell out of him. Buffy took a deep breath and resisted the idea.
"You are just mad because Angel barely left you anything, get over it." Fred said, flippantly to Wesley.
"Can we continue?" Honest Abe asked the room.
"Yes of course." Fred replied.
Honest Abe walked over to the TV and unpaused the DVD.
When the DVD began to play again, Angel was shown sitting at his desk. Angel picked up his papers and pushed his glasses up on his face, took a sip of his bourbon, and then continued to read the rest of his will.
"Okay, now that I got that out of the way. Let's get to business. To my beautiful wife Elizabeth Anne Summers O'flannery, I leave the majority of my estate. My estate includes the Hyperion, A 1968 Pontiac GTO, numerous stock certificates, and also the sum of 15 million dollars."
The whole media room just turned deadly silent as Angel made what seemed to be the last of his wishes known on the TV screen. Honest Abe paused the TV when he saw that Angel's biggest announcement in regards to his living will had caused tension in the media room.
The reactions to Angel leaving the bulk of his estate to Buffy were definitely interesting to say the least. Wesley was extremely pissed because he didn't think that Buffy deserved even half of Angel's money. Gunn and Fred were shocked as well at Angel's revelation about his will but they weren't jealous about it like Wesley was.
As for Buffy, well Buffy didn't know what to say. Buffy was baffled and completely speechless by her portion of the will reading. Buffy felt like the wind had been knocked out of her sails. Buffy felt like her heart had sunk to the pit of her stomach.
Buffy wasn't so much shocked at the fact that Angel had left her most of his estate but rather that he still found her capable enough and responsible enough to handle such a responsibility, especially after how her behavior had changed within the last year.
"You still think that he didn't love you in the end?" Gunn leaned over and asked Buffy, who was sitting right next to him. Buffy didn't reply to him, she just gave him a small smile.
"I can't believe this." Wesley said, just before he walked out of the media room in a huff.
Gunn, Fred, and Buffy were tired of Wesley's shit and could have cared less if he left. The will reading was about Angel's wishes and who he wanted to have his assets, not a poor excuse for a British man that was having an adult temper tantrum because he didn't get his way.
"Are you ready to continue?" Honest Abe asked the group.
"Yes, please." Buffy replied.
The group sat back down into their seats and Honest Abe walked over to the TV and resumed the dvd.
When the dvd was resumed, Angel was back sitting at his desk. Angel had a piece of paper in one of his hands and a pen in the other and a look of intensity plastered upon his face. Angel knew that Buffy was probably freaking out after hearing about her newfound responsibilities and he felt like he had to explain his reasoning for giving them to her quickly.
"I am leaving you the hotel because I know that you are going to do something amazing with it. I am leaving you the money because I want you to be fine for the rest of your life. I know your heart and you are going to do great things with both of those things." Angel said, assuredly on the dvd.
"I don't want any of this, Angel. I don't want any of this to be happening." Buffy thought.
"We both knew that it wasn't going to end in cradles, wedding cakes, and old age for us. We were fooling ourselves, baby. I never thought that I would be saying goodbye to you again but here we are. You are going to be fine, baby. Goodbye, my love." Angel said, sadly on the dvd.
Angel then got up from his desk and sat on the edge of it and blew a kiss to the camera, knowing full well that the recipient of the action was a sweet beautiful woman that he would never see again.
Buffy felt as though her heart was collapsing in her stomach as she watched the last part of the dvd. Angel didn't say goodbye to her, they never said goodbye to each other. How could Angel be sitting on the other side of a TV screen, telling her that he was leaving her yet again? Buffy didn't understand it and damn sure couldn't wrap her head around it.
"No, I am not! I need you! How could you leave me again, Angel? Oh my god?" Buffy shouted at the TV, just as she sat up from her seat and walked out of the media room while she covered her mouth with her hand and allowed her tears to freely fall.
The DVD continued as Buffy left the media room, leaving only Gunn and Fred and Honest Abe there to hear Angel's parting words for his team.
In the final shot of the DVD, Angel composed himself after reading Buffy's portion of the will and then sat back down at his desk and raised up a glass of bourbon to the camera and said this to his team:
"To everyone that is watching this dvd, I don't want your tears. I made this mess and well it backfired on me obviously. Don't cry for me guys, it's been one hell of a ride. I will be okay where I am going."
Angel then took a giant puff of his cigar and gave a wave to his team and then the DVD faded to black.
Once the DVD ended, Honest Abe walked over to the light switch in the room and flipped it on and then Gunn, Fred, and Honest Abe exited the media room and made their way back to the hyperion lobby.
/
When Gunn and Fred and Honest Abe made their way back to the Hyperion lobby, they found Buffy and Wesley still nowhere to be found. Gunn and Fred figured that Buffy was upstairs with Angel and Wesley still out nursing his wounds after his little temper tantrum.
Gunn and Fred walked into Angel's office with Honest Abe to sign papers to get their portion of Angel's will and Honest Abe left some papers for the other recipients of Angel's will to sign when they arrived back in town.
As Fred and Gunn and Honest Abe were walking out of Angel's office, Fred walked Honest Abe to the front door of the hotel while Gunn walked behind the hotel counter to grab a pepsi out of the mini fridge behind it.
"Honest Abe, I have a question for you." Fred asked, when she and Honest Abe got to the front door and just before he prepared to exit it.
"What would you like to know?" Honest Abe responded, as he was shuffling some papers into his knapsack.
"Why did Angel want his will read before he died?" Fred asked, curiously.
"Angel was very frazzled in the last few months of his life and his decisions were interesting to say the least. Angel wanted his will to be read even in the event that he became incapacitated, because he wanted anyone to get what he left for them and not linger around waiting for him to wake up in order to read his will and just move on with their lives." Honest Abe replied, with a smirk.
"Why didn't Angel leave any instructions for how he wanted things to go if he went into a coma?" Gunn asked, as he stood behind the hotel front counter and before he took a sip of his pepsi.
"Angel was more concerned in the last few weeks when he was still coherent about how his money was going to be distributed, rather than anything about possible end of life care. I am guessing that Angel didn't entertain the idea of a living will because he figured that he would just be dusted anyway and it wouldn't matter. For obvious reasons, I think that he should have had a living will regardless." Honest Abe murmured, while wringing his hands around and looking in the direction of Gunn.
After the questions from Gunn and Fred were answered, Honest Abe was about to leave the hotel but before he could do so, he left them with a word of advice regarding Buffy.
"Take care of the little missus, she's got a hard battle ahead of her. That poor kid is about to experience the greatest pain that anyone can imagine." Honest Abe said, with some trepidation in his voice.
"What is that?" Fred asked, as she walked away from the front door and leaned toward the hotel counter.
"Losing the love of one's life, tinkerbell." Honest Abe said sadly, before tipping his hat to Gunn and Fred and walking out of the hyperion.
"Poor Buffy. You think that she's going to be okay?" Fred asked, as she plopped down on the couch in the hotel lobby.
"Do I think that one of the strongest women in the world who just found out that her ex-lover left her most of his entire fortune and who is in a coma upstairs and that she might have to pull the plug on is okay? I don't know about that one, Fred." Gunn replied, as he plopped down on the couch next to Fred.
"Whatever happens, we have to be here for her as that is what Angel would want." Fred said, sheepishly.
"Yup, Buffy is family now and we got her back now." Gunn said sweetly, with a smile.
"I think that the last hour or so calls for a drink. I am heading to Caritas. Are you coming?" Fred asked, as she got up from the couch and walked to the front doors of the hyperion.
"Sure after what just happened, I need to get out of here before Wesley reappears. Speaking of Wesley, where did he go?" Gunn asked, as he walked to the front of the doors of the hyperion as well.
"I am not sure if I want to know." Fred replied curtly, as she opened up the doors of the hyperion and started walking outside toward her car.
"Do we think that we should check on Buffy? She's probably upstairs with Angel." Gunn asked, as he opened up the passenger side of Fred's car and climbed in.
"I don't think that she would want us to bother her. Plus after what she just heard and received from him in the will, she needs time with him alone. We need to give her as much time with Angel before she has to do the THING." Fred said sadly, as she started to drive off the Hyperion lot.
"You really think that she has the strength to take Angel off of life support, Fred?"
"No, but she will do it if she truly loves him." Fred said matter of factly, as she drove off of the hyperion lot and began driving toward Caritas.
"Something tells me that the next few months are going to be a hell of an adventure." Gunn said, as he leaned back in his seat and placed his head on Fred's shoulder and she caressed his chin with her hand that wasn't situated on the steering wheel.
"Yup it's going to be a hell of a ride." Fred replied, as she continued toward Caritas and as she was excited and terrified for what was to come with Buffy, Angel's coma, and their love story in general.
/
After Buffy rushed out of the media room following the will reading, she knew that she was too distraught to just go upstairs and check on Angel and so she left the hyperion and got in her rental car and just started driving. Buffy knew she was an emotional trainwreck and she was really struggling to get her emotions in check and so she took a drive to try and clear her head.
Buffy didn't have the faintest idea of where she was driving to but she knew that she had to get the hell out of the hotel and anything that reminded her of Angel.
Buffy's heart was beyond broken, it felt completely crushed. The mere fact that only days after their last interaction in Rome, Angel was on a dvd proclaiming his love to her was a bit much to take. Oh and the added fact that he still trusted her to take over his estate after what happened in Italy was even more overwhelming.
The memories of their life together in Sunnydale mixed with the last time that Buffy saw Angel in Rome were surging through Buffy's mind hard as she was driving and in order to avoid a possible car accident, she pulled over to the side of the road and took the keys out of the ignition and tried to gain her composure.
Buffy with damn near bloodshot eyes leaned her head toward the car window and closed her eyes and took a deep breath and just began to wonder what she was going to do now, since the business with Angel's estate was now solved.
Buffy contemplated for a second just driving until she was far away from Los Angeles, Angel, and anything associated with him. Buffy threw out such an idea once she realized that Angel still needed her. Even though the issue with the estate was now solved, there was still the issue of his life support that was up in the air.
Buffy knew that she couldn't run off and leave Angel's fate in the hands of others and the idea of doing so seemed asinine and she felt as though she would be betraying him if she did that.
Buffy was already hellbent on not cutting off the machines before but now that she saw that dvd, there was no way in hell that Angel was going off the life support machines. Angel deserved a chance to enjoy his humanity and she was going to see to it that he did exactly just that. The shanshu was his reward and his redemption and he earned every bit of it.
Buffy wondered why Angel didn't come to her when he decided to partake in his crazy plan to take down Wolfram and Hart. Then Buffy remembered that Angel did try to ask her team for help on multiple occasions and was rebuffed everytime. Oh and when he came to ask for her help in Italy when it came to finding the head, she acted like a total brat about it for the most part.
Buffy figured that both of those events probably made Angel think that he was alone and found any further attempts to seek help to be pointless.
Buffy felt as though she was responsible for Angel being in that coma was another reason why she couldn't just leave his fate to someone else. Buffy had abandoned Angel once in his time of need and there was no way in hell that she was doing it again. There was no way in hell that he would leave her if she was in that predicament, so why shouldn't she do the same thing for him? It was a no brainer. Buffy was determined to stick around in L.A. until the man who she adored woke up.
As she sat in the car on the side of the road and thought of the events of the last few hours, Buffy mentally screamed when she thought of her newfound responsibilities. In addition to handling the issue of Angel's life support, Buffy was stuck dealing with the issue of dealing with the Hyperion and the added responsibility of what to do with Angel's money. Buffy figured that she might sell the hotel as she knew that place gave her the creeps but the money was another story entirely.
In her heart, Buffy knew why Angel had left her that money. Angel always felt this innate sense where he felt like he had to take care of Buffy, even though their association had been a complete dumpster fire. Plus even though she had no concrete proof of it, Buffy was sure that Angel knew of her predicament in Rome and never wanted her to return to a life of escorting and that's why he left her that money.
The problem with Angel's money is that secretly she didn't even really need it. Buffy had made a lot of money during her time in Italy as an escort and she had invested a great deal of it, so she had a pretty decent nest egg. The nest egg wasn't anywhere near 15 million dollars but it damn sure was tons more than she was making flipping burgers at the doublemeat palace or counseling moody teenagers at Sunnydale High and she was more than grateful for that.
Buffy knew that she was not worthy of Angel's money. Buffy knew that she had no desire to touch that money and if she did touch it, it was going to be to help people. Angel had spent the last few years trying to help others and even if he never woke up from that coma, Buffy was determined to continue his mission. It's just that the mission was not going to be continued in that creepy old hotel.
Buffy was bounced out of her deep inner thoughts by the DJ playing "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton on the car radio. Buffy laughed at the irony of the song. The last thing that she needed to hear was a song about a long lost lover who was struggling to return to her.
Buffy knew right there in that moment that she couldn't cry anymore about her new predicament, it was time to pull up her big panties and get a little tough if she was going to survive this new reality. Crying wasn't going to solve anything and it was not going to bring Angel out of his coma. Buffy knew that if Angel was ever going to wake up, she had to call in a big favor.
Buffy pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number and the number that she dialed automatically went to voicemail. Buffy figured that she could at least leave a voicemail for Willow and that she would call her later.
"Hey, I know that I haven't talked to you since Italy but I need your help, Will." Buffy sighed, while placing her head atop her forehead. "Will, I am still in L.A. and there's a lot going on here not only with it being kind of a warzone but with Angel. I really need your help, Will." Buffy said softly, as she was fighting the urge to cry again.
"Will, I know that we have our problems but I need you here. Angel's in trouble and I think that you might be the only one who can help him. Please come here if you can. I am staying at Angel's hotel." Buffy said, as she finished leaving the voicemail for Willow.
Buffy ended the call after leaving the voicemail for Willow, put her phone back in her pocket, and then tried to figure out exactly what street that she was parked on. Buffy looked outside of the car window and saw that she was clearly in Weho and that she was parked outside of what happened to be a club called "Caritas".
Buffy hadn't had a drink or even a cigarette since arriving in Los Angeles and after the last few hours, she knew that an appletini was definitely needed. Plus Buffy was in no rush to head back to the hotel, so she decided to head inside the club.
End Of Part 3