Lyin Eyes

by ValRose666

This is essentially a TGIQ rewrite that explores the true nature of Buffy's relationship with The Immortal and Why she wants it to remain a secret from Angel. This story is the first chapter of what will probably be a long running series.

1. Lyin Eyes

Title: Lyin Eyes

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Everything is owned by Fox, Joss, and Mutant Enemy. If I owned this series, do you really think there would be a need for Fanfiction?

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: B/A

Author Note 1: The title is a song by the Eagles.

Author Note 2: This first chapter is supposed to be a rewrite of TGIQ and this story will potentially be a part of a bigger story that I think I am going to write.

Author Note 3: The flashbacks are in bold.

Author Note 4: This is my first fic and I had to take some liberties in order to make it work. I basically rewrote TGIQ to where it would center more on the true nature of Buffy's relationship with the Immortal and the impact of how that would affect her relationship with Angel, and less about getting that stupid head and stopping a demon war.

Okay enough with the author notes, onto the story!

/

Los Angeles

May 2004

It was a beautiful bright morning in L.A. and the sun was particularly shining through the necromanced windows at Angel's penthouse apartment, which was situated above the offices of Wolfram and Hart. The inside of the luxurious apartment was a completely different story.

There were beer bottles in one section of the apartment. There were Chinese cartons all over another section of the apartment. There were pizza boxes scattered throughout the front room of the apartment. There were coats left on the front part of a couch in the living room. Needless to say, the penthouse was a complete mess.

Underneath a bunch of coats laid Connor, who had decided to sleep over for the night. In the bedroom laid Angel, who got so drunk that he passed out and had to be put into the bed by Connor.

The previous night, Angel and Connor had decided to have a boy's night where they ordered takeout and beer and just took the time to get to know one another.

Angel had found out something's about his son that he never knew and Connor had found out something's about his father that he never wanted to know. Overall, their bonding time was a great success and Angel enjoyed every moment of it.

The sound of an alarm clock managed to wake Angel from his slumber. Angel rubbed his head, pulled the covers from off of himself, and walked out of the bedroom and into the front room.

When Angel walked into the front room of the penthouse, he stopped himself for a second and admired the view in front of him. There was Connor asleep on one of the couches, snoring loudly and drooling as well. Angel was taking in a sight that most people would take for granted. Angel was happy that things had gone well the night before and that his son was back in his life. Angel knew that their relationship would take a while to rebuild but he was willing to fix it, he had to fix it.

Angel snapped out of his reverie when he saw that Connor was beginning to wake up.

Connor woke up from his slumber and saw that a bunch of coats were on top of him and quickly pushed them off of him and then sat up on the couch and out of the corner of his eye, saw Angel standing in the corner.

"You do know that its creepy to watch people sleeping, right?" Connor told Angel as he was beginning to get his bearings together.

"You are my kid and I love you. If I want to watch you sleep, I am going to watch you sleep. Deal with it." Angel replied, as he walked into the kitchen and prepared to pour himself a cup of warm pig's blood.

"I need to take a shower. I have an early class today and it might not be best to walk into it, smelling like pepperonis, bok choy, and Budweiser."

"You can take a shower here. Connor, its fine."

"What time is it?"

"I think its probably about 8:30am." Angel said, while looking at a clock on a nearby wall.

"Did you just say 8:30am? Angel, my class is at 9:00am and its halfway across town."

Upon hearing that he would possibly be late for his college class, Connor began to frantically run around the penthouse, attempting to find his coat and gather his bearings.

"Connor, would you slow down? Everything is going to be fine. Maybe you can skip this class."

Even at the mere suggestion of skipping a final exam, Connor was quick to give Angel a death stare to end all death stares.

That death stare made Angel think that it probably wasn't a good idea to suggest a thing.

"Okay Connor, maybe I made a big mistake in saying that. You know what? How about I just call a car and it will take you to class?"

"Are you sure about that?"

"I need to put some of this newfound power to good use. Let me help you, please."

"Fine." Connor said, giving into the offer.

Within minutes after accepting Angel's offer, Connor was on his way to class and the elder vampire was headed downstairs to his office to begin the start of the work day.

/

Once Angel was downstairs, he was met by the A.I. team for their morning briefing. The A.I. team briefed Angel on a situation that was happening in Rome. Apparently there was a head that needed to be retrieved and it belonged to the capo of the goran demon clan. If the head was not returned, all hell could break loose. Angel wasn't really invested in the briefing until someone mentioned that The Immortal had the head and that piped up his senses immediately. Angel and the Immortal were long time nemesis and he knew that if The Immortal was involved in anything, all hell was truly about to break loose.

At one point in the conversation, one of Angel's partners mentioned the possibility that Buffy might be in danger due to the fact that she was in Rome.

Angel knew that she was capable of taking care of herself but with the Immortal out there, he didn't want to take any chances. Once the briefing was over, Angel called for the private jet to take him and Spike(who he reluctantly wanted to come on the trip, but just gave into because he didn't want to argue about it) to Rome.

/

Once the both of them were on the plane, the arguing between Spike and Angel started immediately.

"You honestly think that you are just going to swoop in and play the hero-", said the blonde vampire.

"No, because I am not interested in rekindling my relationship with Buffy. You do know that I am happy with Nina, right? Why in the hell did you even come on this trip? I bet it was just to annoy me.", replied Angel, who was visibly annoyed by Spike's voice much less his presence.

"I am here because I want to see the slayer tell you to sod off. You can fool yourself all you want but you are holding out hope."

"Hope for what?" replied Angel.

"That the slayer will fall into your arms and say that all is forgiven." replied Spike.

"I am not hoping for that at all. All I want to do is warn her about the Immortal and try to get the head and get back to L.A. The P.I that I put on Buffy tells me that she is becoming quite the playgirl, dancing and partying and entertaining men. Lots of men.". Angel scoffed while leaning his head back into the leather airplane seat.

"You are stalking her? That really proves how much you love her." Spike said, sarcastically.

"I am not stalking her. I put a P.I. on her because I wanted to make sure that she was okay in a new city. I did it out of concern and not because I am holding on to some stupid hope that we will get back together." Angel vehemently denied.

"Are you going to tell Dog Girl that you are on this trip?" Spike asked.

"I am going to call her as soon as we arrive in Rome. I am not going to start my relationship with Nina with lies." Angel told the younger vampire, knowing damn well that he was lying through his teeth.

Angel was 250 years old and he knew that if he wanted to make it to 251, it might not be a good idea to tell your new girlfriend that you are visiting your old girlfriend…in the most romantic city of the world.

"Well since you claim to be happy with Dog Girl, you won't mind if I have one more roll in the hay with the slayer, right? Spike asked the elder vampire, while feeling very assured of himself and also while hoping to get a rise out of Angel.

Angel's face got very red at the mere suggestion of Spike screwing Buffy and he grabbed him by the lepels of his jacket and lifted him almost of his seat and very angrily said to him "If you fucking touch her, I will stake you and they will never find your ashes. Do you understand me?"

Spike could see that Angel was serious in his threat and said "I was joking" with a bit of fear in his voice.

Angel unleashed his hold of Spike and then stood up from his seat and gave him the death stare of death stares.

Once Spike was unleashed from Angel's hold, he rubbed the bruise that was left on his neck from it and said "You are over her, right?." Sarcastically.

Angel couldn't take Spike's bullshit anymore and lifted his fist to punch the blonde vampire, knocking him out cold.

Angel then shook his fists because he was surprised at how much hitting that idiot hurt and then walked to the back of the plane to get some rest before they landed in Rome.

/

Angel retreated to the back of the plane after his talk of sorts with Spike. Angel was now laying down on one of the beds in the back of the plane. Angel had one of the liquor bottles from the airplane bar in his hand and was guzzling it with fury. The silk shirt that Angel was wearing was tear stained because once he got to the back of the plane and away from Spike, he began to silently start bawling.

In the hand that didn't contain alcohol was an old picture of Buffy and he was crying as he stared for dear life at the photo. Angel didn't want to go to Rome. Angel didn't want to face the woman that he loved and whose heart had been broken by him so many times. Angel hated that they had drifted so far apart but it was partly his doing as well as hers.

Angel had so many chances to jump on a plane and go to her but in doing so, he knew he would have to explain his reasoning for his choice to join Wolfram and Hart and he wasn't ready to do that. If Buffy knew that Angel joined Wolfram and Hart to help save Connor, it might cause her to jump in his arms. Hearing that truth might also break her heart entirely. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't type situation.

Angel knew that Buffy would accept Connor but that he would also be a reminder of the child that she could never give him. Not that they ever got to a point in their relationship where they could even discuss children, Angel knew that Buffy wanted to have a family.

Angel knew that she would never admit it but the fact that being infertile broke her heart and hearing Darla gave him the one thing she wanted to share with him would only add more insult to injury.

Angel seeped his large body into the luxurious airplane pillows and closed his eyes and thought about how he would love to see Buffy laying in a hospital room someday with a beautiful gurgling dark haired brown eyed baby girl in her arms, looking up at him with nothing but love and gratitude on her face.

The tears began to flow even harder from Angel when he realized that his fantasy was nothing more than just a fantasy.

The fates were determined to keep him and Buffy apart and if it wasn't the fates doing it, Buffy and Angel were doing a good job of that themselves.

Angel wanted to fix things but he knew that it was beyond reproach. Angel's spies kept him updated on Buffy's comings and goings.

Angel knew that Buffy was having the time of her life in Europe and more than likely not thinking of him. Dancing, Drinking, Smoking, Fucking.

Buffy was becoming quite the playgirl and he didn't like it one bit but what could Angel do? She was gone. She wanted nothing to do with him.

If Angel tried to call Buffy, she either hung up on him or changed her number. If Angel tried to write letters to Buffy, they were returned and unanswered. If Angel even attempted to send flowers, they were sent back to him as burnt petals. Buffy was done with him. Buffy was moving on with her life.

The thought of finally letting go of Buffy broke Angel's heart but he knew that it was best and he planned to start doing it after he returned from Italy.

However, Angel wasn't sure if he could do that. Angel could proclaim up and down that he was done but deep down inside, he knew that he would get sucked back in once he looked into those big green eyes.

The rift was both of their faults but Angel knew that he didn't do anything to actually fix it and that guilt tore away at him.

The tears in Angel's eyes flowed even harder when he thought back to the last time that they had met. That fateful night in the hotel.

/

March of 2003

It is a random late night at the Hyperion. The A.I. team has left for the evening. Angel is sitting in his office, drinking a cup of warm pig's blood and looking over a folder that contains case files.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the bell for service is rung and when Angel comes out to answer it, he is met with the most unexpected sight.

Buffy standing in the lobby of the hyperion with suitcases in both of her hands and a cute little smirk on her face.

Without incident, Angel immediately rushes to give Buffy a hug and twirls her around. The moment that Angel takes her into his arms, he knows that he never wants to let her go again.

"You are here!" Angel says, after releasing Buffy from the hug.

"Yeah I wanted to come see you before I made my way to my next destination." Buffy said, while still very visibly excited and wiping a hair from her face.

"How long are you going to be in town for?" The dark haired vampire asked.

"Only for Tonight." Buffy replied.

Buffy looked at her watch and said "My plane actually leaves in a few hours. I actually wanted to see you before I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it? Better yet, how about I make you dinner and we talk then." Angel offered to the blonde slayer while still sounding happy and excited.

"I could eat!." Buffy replied.

/

Within an hour of Buffy's arrival to the Hyperion, Angel was in the kitchen cooking and a meal was soon underway. A meal that consisted of spaghetti, homemade garlic bread, irish stew, and a blood red wine. Buffy had attempted to help make the food several times but Angel consistently turned down her offers. Angel knew HIS girl and if he let her in the kitchen, their night might be ruined by the appearance of the fire department.

Eventually after sometime the food was ready and put on the table and the beginning of a conversation followed the meal.

"What are your plans?" Angel asked, before sipping a glass of wine.

"I am not staying in Los Angeles. There is nothing here for me. I think that I am going to Europe." Buffy replied, in between eating bites of her spaghetti.

"I thought that the team was going to Cleveland." Angel asked inquisitively, before putting a piece of pasta in his mouth.

"The team is going to Cleveland but I am not. After the year that I have had with them, I think that it is best to definitely part ways. Plus its time for me to branch out on my own and see the world, you know." Buffy said, matter of factly before taking a bite of garlic bread.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Angel asked with a look of worry on his face. The last thing that Angel wanted to think about was Buffy being in a strange place without her friends or family. Angel knew that Buffy could take care of herself but he was still worried for her.

"I am 22 years old and I have been stuck on top of a hellmouth for seven years. I am officially retired. Its time to explore things, see things. I am going to go to Italy and stomp grapes." Buffy said, before taking a sip of wine.

"Stomp grapes?" Angel asked with a small smirk on his face.

"You know what I mean. I want a life of adventure. I want to have fun. I have seen enough pain and bloodshed for a lifetime. Its time for me to have a life of my own. I want you to come with me, Angel." Buffy asked while clasping her hands together and secretly hoping that her heart was not to get broken by Angel's answer to the question of running away with her.

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked, while being kind of surprised at such a question.

Buffy knew that there might be a bit of opposition to the question but she knew that Angel was in her heart and was who she wanted and she was determined to get him back and so she began to plead her case to him.

"I have been doing a lot of thinking about what you said, about not getting any younger. I know that I gave you a big spiel about needing to find myself but why can't I do that with you? I am not sure what will happen with us but I am willing to try again if you are."

Buffy wasn't sure what kind of relationship that they could have but if she learned anything in the last few days since the fall of Sunnydale, it was that you couldn't take anything for granted.

Buffy was determined to not waste another second getting what she wanted. Buffy was going to follow her heart and pursue her passions from now on, no matter the cost. Oh and one of those things was currently sitting across from her, looking at Buffy with a bit of confusion and bewilderment in his eyes.

Angel contemplated the possibility of running away with Buffy for a second. The idea of running across the globe with the woman that he loved seemed like a beautiful idea in theory but in reality, he knew it was a bad idea. Nothing had changed between them in terms of anything and whereas they could probably make things work for a while, he would probably walk away from her again.

Plus Angel couldn't go anywhere anyway, especially since he now had "Property of Wolfram and Hart" basically stamped on his ass. Angel didn't regret what he did for Connor by giving him a new life. Angel just hated that he had to sign his life over to the literal devil in order to do it.

Angel sat up from where he was sitting at the dinner table and walked over to Buffy and took her hands in his and said "I can't believe I am saying this but I can't go to Europe. I want you. I don't think that there has ever been a point where I didn't want you. I just can't get up and leave my life to run off with you."

Immediately upon having those words come out of Angel's mouth, he regretted them. Angel knew that he had to be the mature one but it doesn't mean that he liked doing it. Upon Angel telling Buffy that he basically was not ready to be with her, she got up from the kitchen table and started to cry.

Buffy felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces. Buffy was fighting to keep the tears from falling but she was losing the battle. Buffy was really trying to avoid Angel's gaze because she honestly felt like she couldn't look at him after that rejection.

Buffy wiped her tears and threw her head back and folded her arms and very angrily said "What life do you have here, Angel? You can run a P.I. agency from anywhere."

"Its not just the company. I have friends here. I have responsibilities. I have a life that I can't just throw away, Buffy. Plus there are some new developments in my life." Angel retorted.

"What new developments?". Buffy asked, curiously.

Angel was a little afraid to tell Buffy about Wolfram and Hart. Buffy was currently standing in front of him, crying and mad as hell and probably wanted to secretly stake him. Anything else that he told her in that moment might get him staked but he figured that she was going to find out about wolfram and hart in the next few days, so why not rip off the wound?

"I am not sure how to tell you this. I am sure that you will find out in the next few days. I decided to join Wolfram and Hart."

Buffy wasn't sure what she had just heard and had to do a mental double take. Buffy knew what she had heard but she was really hoping that it was not true. Buffy was secretly hoping that Angel hadn't done something so stupid as to align himself with evil.

"Angel, what are you talking about? What have you done? What do you mean by "you joined Wolfram and Hart"?

Buffy couldn't believe how the night was going. First, Angel tells her that he essentially doesn't want her and next he's telling her that he basically just went full blown evil. Buffy knew that she couldn't take another blow to her ego or her heart. Buffy knew that she had to get the hell out of that hotel quickly.

Buffy walked out of the dining room and immediately went back to the lobby to retrieve her stuff, with Angel literally trailing behind her. Angel knew that she was mad and she was hurt and really pissed off at him and he lightly grabbed her by the arm and turned her around to face him, grey eyes staring a hole into his soul. If Angel wasn't already dead, the painful look that Buffy gave him in that moment would have surely killed him.

"I can't tell you the full circumstances surrounding it but I was offered a position to take over Wolfram and Hart and I took it. I am the CEO of Wolfram and Hart now." Angel said, with a tone of deep regret in his voice.

Buffy couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. Buffy shook her arm out of Angel's grasp and pushed at his chest and very angrily started to scream at him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Why in the hell would you do something like that? I know that you are already dead but do you truly have a death wish? This is not going to end well for you. I just want to know what would possess you to do something like this."

Angel could easily see Buffy was upset about the news as it pertained to Wolfram and Hart and he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her about Connor at that moment and make the situation exponentially worse and so he chose not to do that.

"I can't tell you my reasoning for what I have done but you know me by now and you know that I would never do something like this if there was not a good reason for it." Angel said, secretly hoping that she would see the good in this very bad situation.

Buffy was crying a bit harder at this point and she was becoming more and more furious with her former lover. Buffy threw her head back and took a deep breath and attempted to compose herself.

"I am really hoping that this is some sort of a joke or a nightmare." Buffy said, while shaking her head and rolling her eyes and silently cursing her bad luck.

Angel took ahold of Buffy's hand and led her over to the couch, where they both sat down. Angel reached over to the kleenex box that was on the table next to the couch and grabbed one and handed it to Buffy.

"Me and the team are going to take the company and turn it into a force for good. We are going to change things. We are going to clear all of the bad from the company." Angel said, while hoping that saying that would calm the situation. Angel didn't believe for 2 seconds that he could actually change Wolfram and Hart but he had to at least try, given that he now was stuck dealing with that damn company.

Buffy stopped crying and ran her hands through her hair and then gave Angel a look of disbelief. Then Buffy tipped the bottom of his chin up and climbed into his lap and looped her arms around his neck and very softly said.

" My dear sweet Angel, I know that your intentions are good. I believe that your heart is in the right place. However, you can't change Wolfram and Hart. Wolfram and Hart was founded on evil and consists of evil that can't be changed. If you are involved with something like that, it won't be too long before you are truly evil as well. Come with me please, baby."

"I signed a contract. Even if we were to run, they could still find us. Wolfram and Hart has offices in every city, Buffy. Stay here with me, Buffy. You could help me at the company. We could work together and really make a difference." Angel said, while still trying to sound hopeful about the whole situation. Angel knew that Buffy probably wouldn't go for the idea of being with him at W&H but he had to try something, cause he didn't want to lose her again.

"Angel, you know that I would never agree to work for a corporation like Wolfram and Hart. I would never allow myself to become a beacon of evil. I am not going to sit up and become the first lady of Evil Incorporated, drinking tea with the devil's wife and sankori demons. You really don't see what you have done. Sooner or later, that company is going to destroy you and everyone that you love and I don't want to be apart of that." Buffy retorted.

Buffy wanted Angel more than life itself but she wasn't about to give up her life or risk her losing her morals and values just to make him happy. Wolfram and Hart destroyed everyone and everything that came within 10 feet of it and Buffy knew that she wasn't going to be one of their casualties. Buffy knew what she had to do and it was breaking her heart to even think about doing it, she had to give up any possibility of ever being with Angel again in order to keep her sanity.

Angel could look at Buffy and see that she wasn't going for the idea. Angel knew Buffy and he knew that Wolfram and Hart wasn't for her, hell it wasn't for anyone that was good or kind or decent. Buffy was a warm beautiful compassionate woman whose kindness could be easily destroyed by the likes of Wolfram and Hart and secretly he didn't want that for her. Angel felt foolish for even asking her such a question but he just wanted her in his life again, no matter how.

"I don't know what to say here. You don't want to stay here and I can't go to Europe. Where does that leave us?" Angel said, while trying his best not to cry. Angel felt his heart breaking because he was trying to make her stay but he didn't know what else to say to do it.

"It leaves us nowhere. I came here hoping that we would finally get back together like we always should have been and I got my heart broken. I should have known better but I can be really dumb sometimes." Buffy said, while scrunching up her lips and while also fighting the urge to cry again. Buffy reached out to cup Angel's face and lightly rub his left cheek.

"Baby, we can be happy together. We have been apart for too long. I know that things are a bit odd right now but we still love each other and that can carry us through anything. I made a mistake leaving you years ago. I need to make things right. Please stay in L.A. and give us a chance." Angel said, while secretly praying to whatever god was out there that Buffy would at least consider sticking around.

"You will never know how much I want what you are saying. You will never know how much I have dreamt of our happily ever after. I just can't get that from you. I know what will happen to you and I don't want to witness it. You do know that we are on different sides now, right? You are considered evil to me now and I can't associate with evil anymore." Buffy said, with her tone suddenly being very serious and straight to the point.

"What are you saying?" Angel said, while suddenly finding himself very angry.

"Angel, this is the last time that we will ever see each other. I am erasing you from my life. I am going to get on a plane in a few hours and I am going to forget that you ever existed. I need to forget you to save my sanity." Buffy said, while trying to keep tone serious and not to make it seem as though she was ready to break down and become a puddle of tears.

"Is that really the way that you want things to be with us?" Angel asked, while shaking his head and hoping that his girl would reconsider her decision. Angel was biting his tongue and just in disbelief at what his former lover just said to him.

Buffy's heart was breaking every second that she remained in his presence after that proclamation. Angel was her heart and she didn't want to give up on him but when he signed his soul over to the devil, he made the decision for her.

Buffy stood up from the couch and walked over to her purse and her suitcases and began to gather her things. Buffy was wiping tears from her eyes in the process of doing so and it literally felt as though a boulder was sitting on her heart. God she loved Angel so much but he did the one thing that killed her trust in him and that couldn't be forgiven and therefore their association had to end.

"This is the way that things have to be. Look I have to go, I need to get to the airport." Buffy said, while wrangling her suitcases to the front door of the hyperion.

"Before you go, I want you to know that I love you. I will always love you. I have never stopped loving you. You are everything to me. I know that you are mad at me right now but please know that I had no choice. My back was against the wall and I had no choice. I will win you back someday, even if it is the last thing that I ever do." Angel said, with a deep pain in his voice and his eyes full of sadness.

Angel walked to the door of the Hyperion and he put his arms around Buffy's waist and pulled her close to him and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her passionately. Buffy looped her arms around his neck and her whole body and soul, responded to the kiss in-kind. Angel would always be the love of her life, even if they fought on different sides now.

"Angel, we all have choices. You just chose the wrong one. Goodbye." The former slayer said to her lover, as she left the hyperion and potentially his life forever.

/

It was early in the afternoon at the Antico Albergo del Sole al Pantheon hotel. The sun was shining brightly outside of the oldest hotel in the city. The hotel itself was full of guests, coming to and forth. "I Still Believe" by Mariah Carey was playing somewhat loudly on the hotel speaker. In the upstairs of the Antico in one of its hotel rooms laid a former vampire slayer.

Buffy had arrived at the Antico the previous night to meet with a "friend" named Harold Carson. Harold was a wealthy texas oil tycoon that was in town for one night only and enlisted Buffy's "companionship". The sex between Buffy and Harold wasn't very good but the $3,000 that he paid her for the night made up for the subpar love making.

Buffy woke up to find Harold sleeping next to her and she knew that she had to get out of there before he woke up and so she very quietly gathered her clothes and made it out of the hotel room and onto the elevator.

Once Buffy realized that she was safe on the elevator, she looked into her purse and took out a white envelope and counted the green pieces of paper that were contained within it. It was $3,000 exactly and she was happy to have it. Buffy smiled when she thought about how beautiful this money was compared to the shit wages at the doublemeat palace or even the meager pay that she got as a social worker. Buffy shook her head at how far that she had come from Sunnydale and where she was now, it was quite a journey.

Once Buffy got to her stop on the elevator which was the first floor of the hotel, she placed the envelope back into her purse and proceeded to get off of the elevator but before she could do so, she was met with a sight that shook her to the core. Angel was standing at the front lobby of the hotel, sun shining on him and visibly arguing with Spike and a receptionist.

Buffy was completely shocked to see Angel. Buffy's heart nearly stopped for a quick second at the vision of her ex-honey. Buffy hadn't talked to Angel in a year and she knew that she wasn't ready to dish out their issues at that moment. Buffy knew that she couldn't let Angel see her and so she left the elevator and quickly hid behind a nearby bonsai tree, secretly trying to figure out a way to get out of the hotel unnoticed.

Once Buffy was behind the bonsai tree, she continued to peek out of it and saw that Angel was with Spike of all people. Buffy knew that Spike was still somewhat kicking up dust but she knew that their time had passed and would never be revisited. From what Buffy had been able to see of Angel, he still looked yummy but had gained a tiny bit of weight. In her eyes, Angel could be as big as balthazar and she would still want him to fuck her damn near into oblivion.

Buffy knew that they couldn't have a future together and she had made peace with it, no matter how much it hurt. Buffy wondered what Angel much less Spike was doing in her city, it definitely had to be something evil related. Buffy knew that she damn well wasn't about to leave the bonsai tree and question her former lovers on why they were in Rome, that was no business of hers.

Part of Buffy wanted to leave the bonsai tree and run into Angel's arms and convince him to give them another chance. Part of Buffy wanted to leave the bonsai tree and walk right up to Angel and slap him for being stupid enough to not fight for them yet again. Buffy decided that she was going to stay right behind that damn bonsai tree until both Angel and Spike were gone.

After some minutes had passed, Angel began to make his way to the elevators while leaving Spike sitting at the hotel bar. Once Buffy saw that Angel was almost on the elevator, she left the bonsai tree and started to walk toward the hotel doors. Angel stepped on the elevator and before the elevator doors completely closed, he thought that he saw Buffy and wrote it off as a hallucination due to exhaustion.

Before Buffy could completely leave the hotel, Spike yelled out her name and she turned to face him. Spike curled up his finger and made a motion with it for Buffy to come join him at the hotel bar.

Buffy walked over to the hotel bar and put her handbag on one of the bar stools and very matter of factly said to Spike "I don't care why you guys are here. Fix whatever mess is going on and get out of my town."

Spike picked up the glass of McCallan 25 that he had previously ordered and took a swig of it and then placed the glass on the bar and replied with "You know he's going to come see you, pet. You might want to leave town for a few days because once he gets a whiff of you, you know what will happen."

Buffy decided to play a little bit dumb and asked Spike "What are you talking about?"

"You are a hooker now?"

"Spike-"

"Pet, if the smells didn't give it away. The fact that you are dressed like that and coming out of a hotel at noon would have. You are not going to receive any judgment from me. Are you at least being safe?" Spike asked, sounding concerned.

Buffy gave Spike a tiny peck on his left cheek and then wiped her smudged lipstick off of his face and softly said "When am I not?"

"Leave town for a few days. I can keep the ponce distracted until you do." Spike said, in an attempt to quell the former slayer's fears about potentially running into her ex-lover.

"Spike, that's a nice suggestion but I am not going anywhere." Buffy replied, turning down Spike's offer.

"Its not going to end well, if you stick around," Spike said, while making a gesture to the bartender to bring him another cocktail.

"I can handle Angel. I just don't want to see Angel. Oh and I am curious to know, how did 2 vampires with souls get into a hotel in the middle of the afternoon? Buffy asked, while lifting her eyebrow.

"Pet, the hotel has a back entrance and we came in that way. Then the ponce wouldn't stop yammering about the hotel room situation and hearing him whine like that made me want a drink and so here I am." Spike replied, while holding up his new cocktail and then taking a sip of it.

"Same ol Spike. You will just never change, will you?" Buffy asked, while tilting his chin to meet her eyes.

"Honey, I gotta be me," Spike said, while doing a piss poor voice imitation of Frank Sinatra.

Buffy lightly patted Spike's arm, gave him another peck on the cheek, picked up her purse, and then walked out of the hotel.

/

Once Angel left Spike at the hotel bar, he had headed upstairs to his hotel room. When he first got into the hotel room, Angel immediately started tousling with his computer in it. Angel was 240 plus years old and did NOT understand most of modern technology, much less the device known as a laptop. Angel had previously planned to meet with Connor with Skype upon reaching Rome and he didn't want to miss it due to the time difference.

After several minutes of trying to figure out how the internet works and literally hearing Connor instruct him through the other side of the device on how to actually work the device, Angel finally figured it out and the show began.

Angel was sitting on one side of the screen on a bed with his laptop on it and Connor was sitting on the other side of the screen on a beanbag in his dorm room with his laptop in his lap.

"Hi, dad." Connor said, being the first one to break the ice. "How is Rome?"

"Rome is beautiful. We only arrived sometime ago. How did your final exams go?" Angel replied, just being happy to see his son again.

"I am not going to get my grades for a few days, dad. I am sure that I failed though. I didn't study nearly enough this time around." Connor replied, while scratching his head.

"You are a smart kid, Connor. You have to believe in yourself. I am sure that you did well." Angel retorted, while sounding like a proud father.

"I suppose that it is fine if I fail the class, my professor is hot. How are you dealing with Spike? I can imagine that being stuck with him on a plane for hours was interesting." Connor asked, while picking up a cup of ramen noodles and eating a forkful of the noodles.

"Connor, please don't drudge him up. Spike is one of the most annoying people that I have ever met and this trip is probably going to end with one of us in dust and by the one of us, I mean him. I am able to tolerate him for now." Angel replied, while rolling his eyes at even the thought of dealing with the blonde vampire.

"Dad, you are not going to stake Spike. You have a love/hate relationship with him. You are not going to kill your frenemy." Connor laughed.

"Connor, what the hell is a frenemy?" The elder vampire asked his son, with a confused look on his face.

"It's not important, dad." Connor replied, while shaking his head at the fact that his father wasn't up on modern day slang.

"What is that you are having trouble with specifically in your classes?" Angel asked, hoping to steer the subject away from Spike and onto something positive.

"Do you know anything about Medieval art in the 14th century or the Catalonian language?" Connor shouted, while holding his laptop and walking into the kitchen to throw his ramen container in the garbage.

"I am wise in a lot of things but I know nothing about either one of those things, sorry." Angel quipped with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"It's fine, dad. I am happy to fail those classes because my tutor is really hot." Connor retorted, while taking his laptop and going back to sit on the beanbag. "Dad, can I ask you a question about women?"

"Sure," Angel said, while smiling.

"How do you know when you are in love?" Connor asked, while sounding very solemn.

"Connor, do you think that you are in love with someone?" Angel asked, sounding happy for his son to have potentially found a girlfriend.

"I have 2 girlfriends, dad. One of them is named Ramona and she is hot and we get along great but I don't know about her. The other one is Gem and Gem is kind and warm and makes me happy and I am crazy about her too. I don't want to hurt either one of them but I can't keep stringing them along. What do I do, dad?" Connor asked the elder vampire.

Angel knew that he definitely was not the best person to ask for love advice at the current moment but he was trying to work on being a better parent so he replied with "Connor, ask yourself these 2 questions. Who do you want standing by your side in 5 years? And Who is the one that you can't see yourself living without? Once you have those 2 questions answered, you will know which girl is the one for you."

"Dad, How did you know that you were in love with Buffy?" Connor asked, hoping to get a bit more tidbits on the great mysterious love of his father's life.

"I knew her heart. I knew that she was warm and beautiful and kind and loving and someone who would always accept me for who I was. I also fell in love with her because she is one of the most generous people that I have ever met. I know that we are not on good terms right now but I still think that she is one of the sexiest smartest women that I have met and my position on that will never change." Angel replied to his son, while looking down at his claddagh ring and wishing that things with Buffy were a lot different.

"Dad, can I give you a word of advice?" Connor asked, while feeling sorry for his old man.

"Connor, I am supposed to give advice and not get it, kid. However, go right ahead." Angel replied."

"Go talk to Buffy. Go get some flowers and bring them to her and then talk to her. You clearly still love her, so why not try to fight for her?" Connor shouted to his father while walking to the microwave to put in another packet of noodles.

"Connor, you do know its not that simple, right? I can't just walk up to Buffy's door and say that I was an idiot and expect all to be forgiven. Plus have you forgotten that I have Nina? Did you forget that Nina is my girlfriend?" The elder vampire said, reminding his son of the werewolf.

"Dad, Nina is a bitch. Nina acts like all sweet around you but she is mean to the rest of the world. I don't know what her problem is but Nina is bad news. Please dump her and go get the woman who really has your heart." Connor replied, while rolling his eyes at the few bad run-ins that he has had with the blonde werewolf.

"Nina isn't that bad, she's just a little odd at times. However I am with Nina and we are going to make it work. I am devoted to giving my relationship a chance with her." Angel retorted.

"You don't even believe what you are saying, dad. Please take my advice and go talk to Buffy. I know that she loves you as much as you love her, so go get her. Don't miss your chance to be happy." Connor said, while sounding overly optimistic of Buffy possibly ending up being his stepmom.

"Connor, I don't even know how she is going to react to seeing me. We didn't exactly leave things on the best terms the last time that we saw each other." Angel said, while leaning back on the bed and putting his arms above his head. "I know that I have to go see her and warn her but I am honestly not ready to see her".

"From what you have told me about her, Buffy sounds like an amazing woman and she might be mad at you right now but she loves you. You are probably afraid for nothing, she might fall into your arms when she sees you. Hell, tonight might go better than you think, dad. Tonight might end up with me having a little brother or sister in a few months." Connor said, with a slick little smile on his face.

Angel laughed at the mere notion that he was going to see Buffy later that night and they would suddenly just hop into bed together and somehow miraculously conceive a child together.

"Connor, I don't think that's going to happen but I appreciate your enthusiasm and you being a cheerleader for me and Buffy."

"What can I say? I am someone who believes in love and god knows that you and Buffy have a love story for the ages." Connor replied, while shrugging his shoulders.

"If I do decide to take your advice and somehow win Buffy back, I would like for all of us to have dinner together and for you to meet her." Angel quipped to his son while being excited for the possibility of his son meeting the love of his life.

"Dad, I would like for that to happen. When you come back to town with Buffy on your arm, we should definitely work on making that happen."

"Connor, I am going to try and get some rest before tonight happens. In addition to dealing with my little blonde problem, I have to find this stupid head thingie. I am going to pack it in before the night begins." Angel told his son while propping his head on a pillow.

"Good luck with finding the head and reuniting with my future stepmom. I love you, dad." Connor said, while giving his dad a peace sign from his side of the laptop screen.

"I love you too, Connor". Angel said, while giving his son a peace sign from his side of the screen.

The skype call disconnected after that and Connor left his dorm room to go meet up with Gem and Angel drifted off to sleep, hoping to rest before all hell broke loose in more ways than one.

/

Sometime later, it had turned night in Rome. The city was beautiful, warm, and vibrant. The sounds of the busy city bellowed through the wind and made themselves known. "Somebody Already Broke My Heart" by Sade was heard loudly playing below Buffy's apartment, probably at the restaurant that was seated right next to it.

Buffy herself was sitting on the edge of her balcony, smoking a cigarette and watching the city come alive. Buffy knew that she was supposed to be getting ready for her date with Carlos but she wanted to put it off or find some way to get out of it. Seeing Angel in that hotel made her rethink some things, especially her arrangement with Carlos.

Carlos spoiled Buffy in a way that she had never been before but he could be abusive and mean and arrogant and pushy and way too damn forceful. Buffy had told herself multiple times that if it wasn't for the money, she would have left the Immortal. There was no love and no empathy between her and The Immortal, it was just a business arrangement. The Immortal used Buffy as a trophy girlfriend and Buffy used him for the spoils that he gave her.

Buffy took a puff of her cigarette and then put it out on the edge of the balcony, letting the ashes fall to the roman street below. Buffy laughed when she thought about how the relationship with the Immortal started. Buffy had just moved to Rome after the bust up with Angel and had very quickly realized that she had no money and when that happened, she found herself at an escort agency. The first client that the escort agency sent Buffy to was the Immortal.

The Immortal and Buffy instantly hated each other upon meeting. The immortal thought that whereas Buffy was incredibly gorgeous, she was too American and way too snarky. Buffy's first thought at seeing The Immortal was that he smelled like cheap cologne and dressed like a Leo Sayer cosplayer. The both of them ultimately agreed that whereas they couldn't stand each other, they worked better as a team than apart and ultimately an arrangement was created.

If the Immortal needed a date to one of his parties, Buffy was his first call because a very intelligent, very beautiful ex-slayer was good to have on his arm. In exchange for being his companion, The Immortal paid Buffy's bills and took her on shopping trips and made sure that she had whatever her heart desired. It was the perfect arrangement for both parties, even if it didn't consist of love. There was only one man that Buffy truly desired and he was far out of her reach, forever.

A knock on the door that Buffy assumed was either The Immortal or one of The Immortal flunkies coming to pick her up for their date bounced her out of her reverie. Buffy immediately put out her cigarette and waved the cigarette smoke out into the wind and then proceeded to leave the balcony and then tried to mentally prepare herself for the Immortal's bullshit that was surely coming and then took a deep breath and opened up the door.

Upon opening the door, Buffy was met with the most unpleasant surprise. It wasn't The Immortal or one of his flunkies on the other side of that door. It was her Angel and the mistake of her life, Spike.

Buffy immediately let out a tiny scream and slammed the door in both of their faces. Buffy wasn't sure what to do, she wasn't ready to deal with Angel much less Spike.

Buffy contemplated climbing down her fire escape to get away from them until she realized that she didn't actually have a fire escape and that she was 5 stories up and probably wouldn't survive jumping.

A tiny tear fell down Buffy's face because she knew that whereas she wasn't ready for this confrontation, she had to do it. Buffy wiped the tear and took a deep breath and opened up the door again.

"Hey guys." The ex-slayer, quipped while trying to hold her heart in her throat.

"It's good to see you, slayer." Spike said, trying to remind her that they had just seen each other a few hours before.

"Hi, baby." Angel said with a small smile on his face and a twinge of regret in his voice.

Buffy walked over to Angel and acted as though she was going to hug him but instead raised her hand and slapped him square across the face.

Spike contemplated blocking the slap but he figured that the ponce deserved it.

Angel put his hand on the now very red left side of his face and shouted "What the hell did you do that for?"

Buffy folded her arms and gave Angel a death stare and very angrily said "I haven't heard from you in a year and you really thought that you could walk in here and things would be cool between us. What do you want?"

Angel knew that he kind of deserved that slap but didn't think that it wouldn't hurt so damn much. Angel was about to retort with something snarky but once he really got a look at Buffy, he decided against it.

Buffy's hair was a little bit longer than the last time that he saw her and it was now a shade of deep black, which was a departure from her previous blonde curls. Buffy was wearing a pink silk bathrobe that beautifully showed off her newfound curves and showed off her semi large bosom. Buffy was wearing almost no makeup, which made her look even more beautiful in Angel's eyes.

Angel silently wished that he was human in that moment because all he wanted to do was flip Buffy over and properly punish her for not only slapping him but also for causing his pants to tighten.

"We are here because we need your help." Spike said, interjecting between the 2 former lovers.

Buffy had a look of disdain on her face when it came to Angel. Buffy didn't really care that Spike was there, her focus was on the dumbass who played with her heart like a yo-yo.

"I am not in the helping business anymore, Spike. In fact, I actually have a date tonight that I am getting ready for." Buffy said, while plopping down on her couch and then lighting a cigarette.

"Well we are going to need you to cancel it. Oh and why the hell do you have so many smells on you, lover?" Angel said adamantly. Angel immediately walked over to the other side of the room to get away from Buffy once he got a whiff on her internal smells. One thing that Angel's spy got right was that Buffy had been having a hell of a time in Rome and those smells confirmed it.

Spike wasn't as sensitive as Angel was when it came to the smells and so he stood in his original place by the door. Spike knew off the bat why Buffy had so many damn smells on her but wondered why Angel couldn't figure it out. Spike chalked Angel's ignorance of the smells up to the fact that love made him blind in more ways than one. Spike could sense the tension in the room between the 2 former lovers but knew better than to get in the middle of that.

"I am not canceling anything, Angel. Oh and for your information, my so-called smells are none of your damn business." Buffy said, rather flippantly.

"Spike, how are you not bothered by that?" Angel asked, the younger blonde vampire.

"Because Mate, its fine. She's been out having fun. I am not going to hold that against her. As long as the pet is being safe, let her do what she wants." Spike retorted while giving Buffy a look that said he was secretly giving his approval of her current profession.

"Well I need you to stop having so much FUN." Angel said, sarcastically.

Buffy getting frustrated by the situation got up from the couch and walked over to Angel on the other side of the room and started to shout at him and said "I need you to stay the fuck out of my business and let me run my own life, Angel. You gave up the right to tell me anything when you literally and figuratively sold your soul to the devil."

Angel felt himself getting more and more angry by the second. Angel silently counted in his head from 1 to 10 because he knew that if he said something to Buffy in his current very pissed off state, it might make things even worse.

Angel took as much of a deep breath as an undead being could take and calmed down and simply said to his former lover . "I didn't come halfway across the world to discuss THAT with you. Me and Spike are here because we need your help, Buffy."

"I hung up my stakes a long time ago. I am not in the "business" anymore. I am happily retired. So give me one reason why I should come out of retirement and help either one of you." Buffy asked, while walking back over to her couch and picking up her cigarette and taking a puff of it.

Buffy was really mad at Angel for asking questions about her current life choices but she was secretly happy to know that he still cared about her. Buffy was also a little low-key happy that Angel was a little jealous of her "partners". Buffy looked at Angel standing on the edge of the room with a bit of a growl on his face and clearly mumbling something to himself and thought that he looked really yummy. Sure Angel had put on a little bit of weight but he was still the sexiest man that Buffy had ever met and she would still adore him, even if he was the size of a sumo wrestler.

Buffy silently thanked her lucky stars that Angel wasn't human because if he was, she might find herself in trouble. The good kind of trouble. The kind of trouble that ends in a beautiful irish brown eyed baby girl.

Angel walked over to Buffy who was now sitting back on her couch and took the cigarette out of her mouth and put it out in a nearby ashtray and said very softly yet somewhat adamantly "Something big is coming."

"Something big is always coming. I am sure that either one of you can handle it." Buffy replied while continuing to be rather dismissive on the subject of helping Angel and Spike.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Angel asked, while finding himself getting frustrated again.

Spike is just standing there between Angel and Buffy, watching the show that is their relationship unfold and being smart enough to not interrupt it. Spike could see a metaphorical gasket about to blow in Angel's head while Buffy declined to help them and he was damn sure ready to see the explosion…that would probably lead to Buffy kicking Angel's ass all over that apartment.

"Angel, you know the answer to that question. I am not really keen to help you at the moment." Buffy said, rather snidely. Buffy folded her arms and scoffed at Angel.

The moment that she scoffed at Angel, Angel completely lost his shit. All of the therapy that Angel had secretly taken in order to try and retain some semblance of sanity in the past year had gone out of the window and he successfully lost his shit.

Angel bent down to face Buffy and gave her a look that would scare the devil himself and shouted at her. "Look I don't have time for this shit. If you don't help us, LA is actually going to go to hell. I need you to put your issues with me to the side for 5 minutes and actually help us, please."

Even though she was a skilled fighter and could probably take him on in a fight, Buffy did not want to take her chances with Angel. Buffy knew that if Angel talked to her in that short scary voice, he meant business. Buffy knew that Angel would never hit her but he definitely scared the shit out of her by talking like that. Buffy's eyes were suddenly engorged and there was a bit of fear that made her body tremble. Words couldn't be formed from Buffy's mouth and so she nodded her head in agreement to tell Angel that she was giving in to helping him and Spike.

Angel felt bad that he had raised his voice to Buffy and silently screamed at himself in his head for being that mean to her. Angel sat down on the couch and looked over at a still very stunned Buffy and apologized. Buffy mouthed a simple "fuck you" in Angel's direction and gave him a peck on the cheek for being sweet enough to apologize and then went in her bedroom to change from her bathrobe into her street clothes.

Spike just stood there watching the 2 former lovers have the weirdest interaction in what seemed like human history. Spike knew Buffy and Angel and if history told him anything about their relationship, this trip was either going to end in heartbreak or in a certain someone losing his soul. Spike didn't care how the trip went in terms of Buffy and Angel's relationship, he just knew that they needed to find the head and find it soon.

After about several minutes, Buffy came out of her bedroom in her street clothes. Buffy was wearing a black pair of leather pants, a black leather jacket, and a black lace bra which was barely covered by the leather jacket. Buffy's hair was also put up in a bun with 2 sticks in the middle of it. Spike took one look at Buffy in that getup and felt his pants get tightened. Angel took one look at her in that getup and gave her a look that was dismissive at best.

"What?" Buffy asked, while wondering why Angel was cutting his eyes at her.

"Go and change your clothes, baby. You are not going out dressed like that." Angel said, while secretly wishing that he could rip that off of her. The last thing that Angel wanted was for someone ELSE to come along and try to fuck his mate and with her wearing that ensemble, that was guaranteed to happen.

"I am not going to argue with you. We have bigger fish to try than you being insecure about what I am wearing and who I might fuck. Can we please finally get down to business?" Buffy sweetly asked Angel, secretly hoping to avoid another argument.

Angel just threw his hands up at the whole situation and just conceded the fight. Angel was tired and didn't have the energy to fight with Buffy or anyone else for that matter. It had been a long day and all he wanted to do was quickly go get the head and then go find a big comfy bed.

Angel made a promise to himself that when his shanshu happened, he was bringing his ass back to Rome and the first order of business was to fix this mess with Buffy. The girl that he loved wasn't here at all and he had sensed something dark had happened to make her act this way and when things died down, he had every intention of getting to the bottom of it.

After Angel had conceded the fight, Buffy went into the kitchen to put on a pot of tea. Several minutes later, Buffy came out with several cups of tea and handed one each to Angel and Spike. Buffy then plopped herself down on the couch and began to sip her tea. Angel sat down next to her and began to sip his tea as well. Spike was more interested in beginning his questioning than drinking tea and so he did so.

"Do you know anything about the Goran Demon Clan?" Spike asked Buffy, inquisitively.

"Not very much outside of the fact that they are the biggest demonic mafia in all of Europe." Buffy answered, before taking a sip of the hot warm liquid.

"We need to get the head of the capo of the goran demon clan. If we don't get the head, there is going to be a demon war, the likes of which we have never seen." Angel interrupted, sounding very serious and matter of factly.

"Okay so, where is the head? Why not just go get the head?" Buffy asked, very curiously.

"Its not that easy, Buffy. The Immortal has the head." Angel replied to his former lover, very curtly.

"Carlos has the head?" Buffy asked, while sounding kind of surprised.

"Carlos?" Angel said, while looking directly at Buffy.

"Yes, the immortal has the head. We can't just go in and get the head. The Immortal has necromanced type security. We need a plan if we are going to go in and get the head. How exactly do you know The Immortal? Oh and why are you calling him by his first name?" Spike said, suddenly curious at the former slayer's association with the mysterious figure.

"I don't know how to say this-" Buffy said, while putting her cup down on the coffee table and getting up from the couch and walking to her balcony. Buffy turned around in an attempt to not look at Angel and scrunched her face a bit and said "We are friends."

Spike knew that Buffy didn't have "friends" in Rome and put 2 and 2 together. Spike wasn't going to blurt out that Buffy was a fucking escort in front of Angel but he figured out that The Immortal must have been one of Buffy's clients and subtly said to the former slayer "You are screwing The Immortal, aren't you?"

"Please don't say that you are sleeping with The Immortal. You are better than that." Angel said, very angrily. Angel then walked over to the balcony where Buffy was standing and took her face in his hands and made her face him. Buffy didn't want to look into Angel's eyes and tell him that her body had not only been touched by another man but that it was bought and sold like a piece of meat.

Buffy ripped Angel's hand from her face and immediately threw an emotional dart at him of sorts at him. "Just like you are better than Wolfram and Hart but I can't say that, right? I am sleeping with Carlos. We are pretty much fuckbuddies and we have been since I got here."

Angel could feel the anger that he was suppressing from earlier seeping back to the surface and as much as he was trying to keep his composure, the word "fuckbuddies" made him basically snap.

Angel did an evil laugh and snarkily said to Buffy. " I swear your choice in men is questionable sometimes."

Buffy looked at Angel up and down and snarkily said to him "Yes, I totally agree. The one that I am looking at right now is definitely questionable." Buffy's heart kind of broke the moment that she said that. Being with Spike might have been questionable but never Angel, she loved him even if he was being an ass at the moment.

Angel was beyond mad at this point and he knew his levels of anger were through the roof. Angel silently told himself that a trip to tibet needed to be booked when he got back home because one certain beautiful green eyed girl was making him revert back to someone that he hated and that could not be.

Angel was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of Buffy beginning to cry. Angel looked into those big green eyes and he kind of felt his soul being crushed. Angel wanted to take Buffy into his arms and kiss those tears away along with kissing a few other things on her body.

Angel knew that no matter how she felt, he could not give in and so he angrily retorted with "If you have something that you want to get out, just fucking say it."

Buffy felt her tears begin to flow even harder and her face getting redder by the second and she very angrily shouted at Angel . "As if you would really give a shit, Angel. You haven't cared in a year and you don't care right now."

Buffy shook her head at the whole situation and put her face in her hands for a second and then walked from the balcony to the couch and picked up her couch pillows and literally started to throw them at Angel. Oh and in the midst of throwing couch pillows, Buffy started to cuss Angel out in gaelic.

Spike was just sitting there on the couch, drinking his tea and watching the 2 lovers fight. Spike was laughing his ass off while watching Angel duck and dodge pillows while the slayer basically called him everything from a son of a bitch to an impotent motherfucker in gaelic. Spike considered stopping the fight but he ultimately decided against it, he knew that Angel deserved every bit of Buffy's wrath.

The fight eventually stopped when Angel was able to get over to the other side of the room and get Buffy pinned up against a wall while pinning her arms above her head.

Once he was able to get her at least under semi control, Angel put his head next to Buffy's and said very sweetly to her "Baby, I have never stopped caring about you. I will never stop caring about you. I came to another continent to make sure that you were safe, doesn't that count for something?"

Buffy shook herself out of his hold and said in a sad and defeated sounding voice. "It doesn't erase what happened in L.A. and It doesn't erase the last year or so. Let's stop acting like you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that stupid head. We are finished. If you get the damn head or don't get it, I am done with us. I mean it…don't ever contact me again."

Angel just stood there shocked at his lover's words and the finality with them and before he could even reply to them, Spike decided to finally interject by saying "I am not sure what went down between the both of you but can you shelve it for right now? We have more important issues at hand."

Angel gave Buffy a small peck on the cheek and simply said "We are going to talk about this later, baby."

Buffy gave Angel a death stare and gained her composure and then turned her attention to Spike and said "you are absolutely right. I have to go meet up with Carlos. I will meet up with you guys in a few hours and hopefully we will have figured out how to get the head by then."

"No, you are not going to meet up with The Immortal. I am sure that Carlos as you call him has spies everywhere and if I am right, you are a prime target right now. Its much safer if you just stayed with us, Buffy." Angel interjected.

"I have to keep up appearances, Angel. I can't let Carlos think that anything is wrong." Buffy said, while secretly hoping to make Angel jealous.

Spike was tired of the emotional ping pong match that was going on between Buffy and Angel. A bloody damn war could be breaking out in a number of days and instead of these 2 formulating a plan to stop it from happening, they were busy acting like a couple of teenagers.

Spike stood right in between Buffy and Angel to stop them from potentially fighting again and said very angrily to both of them. "For the love of god, can the both of you stop your bullshit for more than 5 minutes? We have a fucking head to find! The both of you can act like you hate each other later. You can do whatever you want to each other LATER!"

Then Spike opened up Buffy's door and walked out of the apartment.

Buffy and Angel stood there just looking at each other for a few minutes after Spike left, not really sure what to say to one another. The both of them knew that there was a bigger task at hand than arguing about their mess of a relationship but it was hard to focus on that when they wanted to focus on each other.

"I think that I have a plan on how to get the head." Angel said, breaking the ice between them.

"What is that?" Buffy replied.

"I have something that I think could help us but it's at a house that I have nearby."

"Angel, you have a home in Italy?" Buffy asked, curious to know the answer.

"Lass, I have many things that you don't know about." Angel replied, while sounding cryptic and giving Buffy a kiss on the forehead.

"Lead the way, lover." Buffy said, while Angel took her hand and led her out of the apartment.

/

After the both of them left Buffy's apartment, Buffy and Angel made their way to a villa that was halfway across town from it. The villa was old and looked like a home that was straight out of the late 1800's and had trees lined up all around it. The windows of the villa were dusty and needed a lot of windex. The grounds had been mildly maintained since Angel's time there and it showed.

Upon Buffy and Angel entering the villa, it soon became apparent that the home was dark and cold. Buffy was afraid to move around in the villa because it gave her creepy vibes while Angel left her side to go find some matches and lit a candle. Once the candle was lit, Angel walked over to the fireplace and used another match to spark a fire.

Once the fireplace was lit, everything in the room could be brightly seen. In the room where the fireplace was, held a big brass bed that had black satin sheets on it. Also in the room were several tables that consisted of candles, which Angel was moving back and forth to light. Also in that same room held a black fur rug that was situated right next to the fireplace.

There weren't really any chairs in the villa and so Buffy went to sit on the bed, taking off her coat in the process and resting it on the edge of the bed.

"So, what's the plan?" Buffy asked, while watching Angel light the last of the candles.

"I lied. I don't really have a plan. I just wanted to get you here and get you alone for an hour." Angel replied, while sounding a bit sorrowful.

"Why?"

"Spike was right. We are never going to get focused on finding the head until we work out our issues. I need you to take off your clothes, buffy." Angel said, while slowly beginning to take off his own clothes.

"I am not taking off anything, Angel." Buffy said, flippantly. Buffy was not in the mood for games, she wanted to get the hell out of that creepy ass house and find the head and go home.

A now very naked Angel walked over to Buffy and slid his arms around her waist and ruffled his hands through her head and softly said "Baby, that wasn't a request. It was an order. Please take off your clothes. I need to be able to SEE you."

Buffy loved when Angel's voice was stern but sweet. Buffy took a second to truly admire the sight before her. Angel was naked, very naked and so damn yummy. Angel had gained a tiny bit of weight but he still looked as damn good as the day that she first met him. Oh and when Buffy looked down at Angel's cock, she had to lick her lips. That man had a cock that was thick, heavy, and very hard at that moment. God, Buffy loved this man.

"What are you going to do to me, baby?" Buffy asked, very seductively and while beginning to slowly strip off her clothes.

Angel walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine that looked very vintage and used his hand to dust it off and then found an old corkscrew in one of the drawers and used it to pop open the wine. Angel walked back into the bedroom and put it on the nightstand that was near the bed.

Angel walked over to Buffy and tilted her chin up to meet his and began to hungrily attack her mouth. Buffy looped her arms around Angel's neck and the both of them fell back on the bed together, kissing and letting their hands explore each other's bodies. Buffy lifted her leg and wrapped it around Angel's waist, her body aching for him to fuck her mercilessly in the process.

Angel knew his girl and stopped things before they went too far. The curse was still a major issue for them and whereas they couldn't make love, they could do other things that were close to it. Angel gave Buffy a kiss and then lifted Buffy off of him and climbed out of bed, leaving Buffy very horny and very disappointed in it.

Angel walked over to his jacket which was situated near the fireplace and reached into one of the pockets and pulled a little black box out of it. Angel walked back over to the bed and handed the box to Buffy. Buffy opened up the black box and pulled out its contents, which was a long silver and gold necklace.

"Angel, where did you get this? It's beautiful". Buffy asked, while holding up the necklace in the shadow of the fireplace and admiring it.

"I knew that I was going to see you again at some point and so I stopped in a little jewelry store in Los Angeles and picked it out for you. Do you like it, baby?" Angel asked, while taking a swig of the wine that was on the nightstand by the bed.

"I love it but I can't accept it because it is a guilt gift." Buffy said, while putting the necklace back in the black box and handing it right back to Angel.

"Buffy, what the hell is a "guilt gift?" Angel asked, while suddenly being very confused.

"You brought the necklace because you feel bad about how you have been acting this last year and so it's not a gift that you brought because you wanted to, it's because you felt like you had to and that means it is not authentic."

Angel walked over to the fireplace, put his head in his hands, shook his head, and began to curse loudly in gaelic. The whole night was not turning out how Angel wanted in terms of fixing things with Buffy and he was ready to throw in the towel.

"What the fuck is it that you want from me, baby? I am trying here. I got on a plane and came halfway across the world to save your ass. I brought you here to see if we could try to talk. I brought you jewelry to hopefully smooth things over. I don't know what to do anymore." Angel angrily shouted at Buffy, while lowkey on the verge of tears.

Buffy could see that Angel was trying to make things right between them and she thought that maybe she WAS giving him too hard of a time. The necklace was a nice effort, even if it was a guilt gift. Oh it was nice that Angel came to Rome and wanted to make sure that she wasn't brutally murdered. Oh and even though they were in a creepy ass house, Buffy thought that maybe it could be a cute little love den for them if they added some paint to it and windex, lots of windex.

Angel was standing next to a fireplace and he was beginning to cry. Yummy naked Angel was crying and Buffy couldn't stand seeing him that way. Buffy walked over to the fireplace and grabbed Angel by the hand and led him back to the bed.

Buffy climbed into Angel's lap and wrapped her legs around his waist and used one of her hands to wipe his tears away.

"I love you, baby. I appreciate everything that you are doing. I am sorry if I am being a bitch to you. The last thing that I want is for you to be mad at me and cursing in gaelic." Buffy said, while giving Angel a look that could also be described as quizzical but cute.

Angel couldn't help but laugh at his lover's comment about his native language. The tears had turned to laughter and Angel pulled Buffy into a kiss and then he laid her down on the bed and made his way down her body and flipped her over and kissed the small of her ass. The feeling of Angel's cool tongue on her cute little butt sent shivers to Buffy's spine and made her bite her lip.

Buffy flipped herself back over and propped her arm up on a pillow and shot Angel a look.

Buffy looked like a vision in front of Angel. There was a look of desire in Buffy's eyes and that made them appear hooded. Buffy's breasts were large, supple, and looked like they were ready to licked on. Buffy's belly had expanded a bit and she had gotten curves, which made Angel's cock rock hard. There were a pair of sexy fishnets that covered Buffy's pussy but Angel could tell that she was dripping wet and completely ready for him.

Angel knew that he definitely wanted to give Buffy something that would make the both of them smile but before that happened, business had to be handled. It was time for some issues to be dished out.

Angel pulled Buffy off of him and sat on the edge of the bed, taking another swig of the wine that was on the nightstand. Buffy sat up in the middle of the bed and crossed her legs and took the wine from Angel and also took a swig of it before returning the bottle to the nightstand.

The expression on Angel's face suddenly became very serious and that led Buffy to believe that it was time for them to have a talk that she definitely was NOT ready for.

"What have you been doing while here in Rome, baby?" Angel asked, while sounding very serious.

"Whatever do you mean?" Buffy replied, while playing with Angel's nipples and hoping to secretly get out of this conversation. If Angel somehow knew that she had been escorting, she didn't know how she was going to process him knowing that. Their relationship was fraught with problems but Buffy didn't want to hurt Angel and she knew that information would break his heart.

"I think that we both know what I mean. I hear things and I know things. I know that you have been running around town, doing things."

"Tell me Angel, how do you supposedly know that I am doing "things"? Oh and what "things" do you think that I am doing?" Buffy asked, while raising an eyebrow.

"I know that all hell is going to break loose when I say this but I have a spy on you, baby."

Buffy climbed off of the bed and walked over to the fireplace, suddenly avoiding all eye contact with Angel. Buffy's face became completely inflamed and a level of anger that she hasn't shown in quite some time had come to the surface. Buffy threw her hands above her head and just shook her head, while pacing the floor of the villa. Buffy had to take several deep breaths and compose herself before she felt like staking Angel in that moment.

After about several minutes of just trying to hold her shit in and ignoring the urge to kill the love of her life, Buffy finally stopped in her tracks and confronted Angel about his unnecessary interference in her life.

"What the fuck? What is wrong with you? Why the hell would you do something like that? Can you say "Stalker, Much"? I can't believe you right now." Buffy shouted, while putting her hands on her hips.

"You moved here on a whim and you don't talk to your friends or even Dawn anymore. I was just worried about you and I wanted to make sure that you were safe." Angel retorted, while suddenly being sorry that he brought up this subject.

"You want to know how you make sure that I am fine? It's called picking up a phone and asking. It's called getting on a freighter and coming to see me. It is not called sending someone to basically monitor and pick apart my damn life. Tell me, what do you think that you know about my life? What has one of your flunkies reported back to you?" Buffy asked, while rolling her eyes and secretly regretting the day that she met this sexy stupid man.

"I am sorry but I was worried about you, Buffy. I know that I fucked up and I am sorry. I know that you can handle yourself but I just needed some assurance that you were okay in Italy. You can yell at me now." Angel said, while sounding sorrowful and also secretly hoping that this conversation wouldn't end with him in an urn.

Angel had an expression on his face that could only be likened to a kid being caught with his hand in the cookie jar and Buffy thought it was so cute. Even though it was a pure invasion of privacy and downright weird, Buffy knew that Angel had put that spy on her because he loved her. It was hard to stay mad at a man who not only went to extreme measures to keep her safe but that looked yummy while naked.

Buffy was standing in the middle of the room with her arms folded and a pissed off expression on her face and seeing Angel sitting there on the bed looking like a sad ass puppy dog made her heart melt and she felt sorry for him.

Buffy decided to give in to Angel and threw her arms up in the air and shook her head at the whole mess.

Buffy walked over to the bed and crawled back into Angel's lap and looped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and she lifted his chin to meet hers and peered into his beautiful brown eyes and softly said to him.

"I am mad as hell that you went to such an extreme and hearing that you did this has definitely made my pussy dry up but I understand why you did it. For some people, it might be a bit odd that you went the spy route but I know that you did it out of love and genuine concern for me. We just need to have a long talk about boundaries at some point and how you can never do that spy shit again, okay."

"I want to know why you are running around with so many men. My spy told me that you are dating but the level that you are doing it at is a bit odd. You want to tell me about that, lover?" Angel asked, hoping that the answer wouldn't be what he was suspecting.

"I get lonely sometimes and I have needs, Angel. I am just having fun with those guys. I got what I need right here. I got you my love and that's all I want." Buffy answered, while trying to reassure Angel that he was the only one in her heart and that nothing else mattered.

"Oh is that right? Then explain the last year, baby."

"You explain the last year, baby." Buffy countered, while hoping to change the conversation around on Angel.

"Will you please consider moving to L.A.?" Angel asked, while trying to change the conversation around and avoid telling her anything about his own "extra-curricular" activities aka Nina.

"Angel, we only have an hour together before we have to go rescue Spike from something, probably. I would like to not spend this time arguing." Buffy said, in between laying kisses to Angel's neck and reaching her hand down to cup his balls.

"There's something that you are not telling me. What's going on?" Angel asked, concerned. Angel lightly placed Buffy's hands off of his balls because this wasn't a time for fun, this was a time to figure out why his girl was acting so strangely.

Buffy could clearly see that Angel might have suspected that she was escorting but she wasn't going to give him the answers that he might be seeking. There was no way that Buffy was going to tell Angel that she was escorting. Buffy wanted to keep that secret from him for as long as possible. Buffy knew that Angel wanted an answer to his question and so she decided to play dumb.

"I have been a little stressed out. I have a lot going on and I don't want to talk about it. Can you please not press the issue, Angel?"

"It would be a bit strange if I did not press the issue, buffy. I would like to know why the woman I love has at least a dozen smells on her and is smoking like a chimney. Baby, talk to me. Tell me what's really going on." Angel asked, knowing that he probably wouldn't get a straight answer.

"If you are going to ask me a million questions, I can just put back on my clothes and we can find Spike's stupid ass. Is that what you want?." Buffy retorted. Buffy was very ready to drop this conversation and she figured that the mere threat of putting on her clothes would hopefully cause Angel to shut up about what he thought he knew about her life in Italy.

Angel could see that Buffy was trying to bullshit him and deviate from his questions and that was frustrating the hell out of him. Angel wasn't going to play her game. Angel knew that something dark made Buffy act the way that she was acting and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Lose the defensive bullshit for 2 minutes, Buffy. I don't understand you. You claim that I don't care and that I am not here nearly enough and when I finally do come to Italy and try to show you that I do care, you act like this." Angel retorted.

Buffy could see that her methods of persuasion were not working at all and she climbed out of bed and started walking around the bedroom, while folding her arms and avoiding eye contact with Angel.

"I am under a lot of stress at the modeling agency and so I picked up smoking to cope with it. Oh and I am trying to dress a bit more sexier because it makes me feel good. I don't know if you noticed this Angel but I have gained 20 pounds since I moved to Italy. I feel really fat and ugly. You wanted the truth for my sudden change in behavior? That's the truth." Buffy said, as she stopped to look at herself in a mirror that was placed in the center of the bedroom.

Angel knew that she was lying through her teeth about the modeling agency but he felt himself getting really upset when she mentioned that she felt fat and ugly. The woman that stood in front of Angel was beautiful and sexy and snarky and made his cock completely rock hard. Truth be told, Angel was secretly happy that Buffy had gotten curves. In his mind, at least she was eating something. Hell, the last time he saw her, she was skin and bones.

Angel was pulled out of his internal dialogue by Buffy literally standing in front of the mirror and criticizing certain parts of her body. Angel felt bad that Buffy had gotten so much self-doubt since coming to Italy, that was not like his girl at all and it was another thing that they were going to work on in time.

Angel walked over to the mirror where Buffy was standing and wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her now very dark hair from upon her shoulders and started to lay kisses down her neck. Buffy softly leaned her back into Angel's chest and smiled and let out a cute little giggle.

"Are you delusional, Buffy? You could never be ugly, baby. You are the sexiest woman that I have ever met. I look at you and I am instantly turned on. I love your curves, they compliment your body very well. As for smoking, stop it. Smoking is a bad habit that is hard to break."

For the first time in a year, Buffy felt sexy and vibrant and confident and it was all courtesy of a man who she was sure hated her at one point. A man who she loved more than words could admit. A man who no matter what dumb shit that he did or she did, would always have her heart. A man who was currently on his hands and knees, playfully biting at her ass.

Buffy couldn't help but laugh at Angel, who looked like he was having a ball being silly down there. Angel got up off of his knees and pulled Buffy into a kiss. A kiss that was hot, passionate, and led to him picking her up and Buffy wrapping her legs around Angel's waist while he carried her back to the bed.

Once Angel carried Buffy back to the bed, he laid her down on it and they continued to kiss and eventually the kiss broke apart and when it did, she looked into his eyes and said "Do you know that I love you Angel, more than life itself? Do you know that you do something to me? I wish that you could stay a little bit longer in Rome than a few hours. If you could stay here for a few days, that would be great too. Anyway I can get you, I will take you baby." The last part of that being said while Buffy was fumbling around with Angel's nipples.

"I am working on a plan to permanently make that happen. I want to come home to you, Buffy. It's time for us to really make a go of things again. I realized tonight what I have always known, that you are my heart and that nothing else matters but us. The first thing that we have to do after my plan works is have a proper wedding, you deserve that baby."

Buffy allowed herself to think for a second about marrying Angel. Buffy smiled when she thought about walking down the aisle to marry her honey, with all of her family and friends watching. Just thinking about Angel standing at the end of that aisle waiting to pledge his love to her made Buffy's heart explode with love.

In actuality, Buffy knew that they would never make it down the aisle. There was still the issue of Angel not being human yet and also the issue of her secret about being an escort being a factor that they would have to work through before any wedding bells could ring. However in Buffy's heart of hearts, she still dreamed of maybe just one day that her greatest wish would come true.

Buffy knew that Angel would never speak to her again if the secret about her escorting ever came out and all her possible wedding dreams would go up in smoke. The fear of losing Angel after she literally just got him back scared the hell out of her and immediately made her tense up.

Buffy took a deep breath, pulled herself out of the deep thinking that she was suddenly doing, and turned her attention back to the sexy naked Irishman whose lap that she was sitting on.

"Before we start talking about bridal registries, what is this plan that you got cooked up?"

"I am not telling you but it's something that will work and when it does, I am fixing the mess that I created with you. We are going to have a home and a real marriage and maybe even adopt some kids." Angel said, rather excitedly.

"Oh now we are talking about adopting kids? You have got our whole future planned out, don't you?"

"When this mess is over, there is someone that I want you to meet and you are going to love him as much as I do. I can't tell you too much now but when the time is right, the both of you will definitely meet." Angel said softly.

Angel was beyond excited for the aspect of Buffy meeting Connor but he knew it had to be at the right time and the right time was definitely NOT when the world was in peril. The time had to be when he had left Wolfram and Hart and it had to be when Angel truly fixed his mess with Buffy, that was the time to make the proper introductions between Buffy and Connor. In his heart, all Angel wanted was his family together and that just so happened to be a cute bubbly snarky ex-vampire slayer and a dorky teenager and he loved them both to bits.

"Angel, what are you talking about? I know that you like to be Mr. Cryptic but this is a terrible time for it." Buffy said, confused. Buffy wondered what in the hell that Angel was talking about. Who was this mysterious person that Angel wanted her to meet?

"Lass, don't ask questions. I promise that I will tell you what you need to know in time. Now I want you to lay down so I can give you what I promised you, before we have to go find that bleach blond idiot." Angel said, while putting his finger in the middle of Buffy's lips.

Angel very softly laid Buffy down on the bed and began to slowly lay kisses down her neck, eventually leaving a trail of kisses down her body. Angel stopped for a second to admire the woman that was lying beneath him. Buffy was laying down on a pillow with her hair wild and her nipples hard and her sex completely exposed and her curves in full view and Angel thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Angel placed one of his hands on Buffy's left nipple and began to lick circles around it. Buffy ran her hands through Angel's hair as he went from each one of her nipples, sweetly taking his time to savor the taste of them. While Angel was kissing her nipples, Angel snaked his left hand down into Buffy's black lace panties and massaged her aching bulb.

Angel made his way down Buffy's body, arriving at her front of her pussy. Angel quickly removed the little black lace panties that encased his heaven, tossing them to the side and eliciting a small laugh from Buffy in the process of doing so. Angel slid his cool tongue into Buffy's wet hot center, causing her to wrap her legs around him and rub one of her nipples while he rubbed the other one.

Angel slid Buffy's pussy lips apart, switching between plunging 2 fingers into her core and also his tongue as well. Angel slid his tongue deep inside of Buffy's pussy and the sudden intrusion of doing so caused the former slayer to damn near fall off the bed.

"Clumsy girl", Angel said, while lightly laughing. Angel moved up Buffy's body to give her a quick kiss.

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too."

Angel returned his attention to Buffy's pussy, slowly licking circles around her clit along with plunging those 2 fingers deeper inside of her. Buffy ruffled her hands through Angel's hair, begging him to suck her pussy deeper, harder, and faster. Angel bit down hard on Buffy's clit and that sent convulsions through her body and caused her to have an orgasm so explosive that she saw stars.

"Oh my god! Angel!" Buffy screamed, as the orgasm rippled through her body and she grabbed a nearby pillow very roughly. Angel continued to bite and lap at her pussy, causing several more explosions to erupt through her body.

Buffy could barely gain her composure before Angel climbed off the bed and walked over to a drawer that was in the center of the bedroom.

Angel pulled out a small bag out of the drawer and unzipped it and the contents of it were various sex toys.

Angel took one of the sex toys out of the bag, which was a rather large vibrator and said to his anxious lover. "Do you think that you can take this, baby?"

Buffy in her still very disheveled state nodded her head. Buffy looked at the large vibrator and felt a bit of heat surge through her body. The vibrator wasn't as big as Angel's cock but she couldn't wait to play with it. Angel walked back over to the bed and took Buffy's chin in his hands and gave her a kiss.

"God, you are beautiful. I would do anything to make you happy, baby." Angel said, while taking in the sight of the gorgeous woman that was standing before him.

Buffy was sitting up on the bed with her knees situated underneath her. Buffy's breasts were completely exposed and her pussy was dripping for him. Buffy's eyes were hooded and she had a look of desire on her face. Angel couldn't get enough of this woman.

Angel grabbed Buffy's hair roughly and threw her down on the bed. Angel grabbed Buffy by her hips and pulled her ass up to the vibrator, sliding it deep into her ass. Angel bent down to wrap one of his arms around her waist while keeping the vibrator steady in Buffy's ass with his other hand.

Buffy tilted her head to the side and started to passionately kiss Angel while he had the vibrator in her ass and had now started to rub her pussy in very slow circles.

"Do you like that, baby? You like that vibe in your pretty little ass?" Angel asked, as he was plunging the vibrator deeper and deeper inside of Buffy's ass.

"Yes, Angel. Fuck me with it. I need to feel like your cock is riding me." Buffy said seductively and in a low voice, as she was wiggling her cute little ass on the vibrator. Buffy loved having her ass filled with that vibrator, it filled her up so well and gave her more satisfaction than any of her clients did in the last year or so. Plus it didn't hurt that the man she loved was fucking her with it.

Angel wanted so badly to just bend Buffy over in that moment and bury his very hard throbbing cock deep in her ass instead of a toy but the curse was an issue and making love to her this way was how they got around it. Angel knew that the vibrator was a stupid way to make love to someone but as long as Buffy was happy and satisfied, Angel was fine with it.

Angel plunged the vibrator into Buffy's ass at such a frenzied rate that she felt like she could cum at any second. Angel wasn't about to show Buffy any mercy by fucking her so crazily with the plastic toy, he wanted to remind her that no matter who or what she was doing; her body belonged to him completely.

Buffy's heart was swelling up with love at the fact that Angel knew her body so well and he was giving her just what it needed and what it had so deeply been desiring over the past year.

With one last hard plunge into her asshole, Angel sent an orgasm surging through Buffy's body so hard that made her scream so loudly that he was sure he might lose his hearing from it.

"Holy Shit! Oh My God! I love you Angel, so FUCKING MUCH! Oh My God!"

Buffy wasn't sure that she could take anymore after that and she felt her whole body damn near give out and she collapsed on the bed. Buffy's face was flushed and her hair was a complete mess but she didn't give a fuck, her baby had given her what she needed.

Buffy used the little strength that she still had to pull Angel down to her level on the bed and gave him a kiss that was hot, sensual, and full of gratitude. Angel lightly rubbed Buffy's ass and then laid a kiss to the small of it. The sensation of the kiss caused Buffy to smile.

Angel laid down on the bed next to Buffy and wrapped his hand around his cock, gently stroking it. Angel closed his eyes and imagined how much he wanted to grab Buffy by her head and make his cock disappear in her throat. Oh how he wanted to look down at those pretty green eyes and big fucking perky tits, as she was giving his dick the attention it had been starved of for so long.

An image came into Angel's mind of Buffy calling him "daddy" and riding him until the both of them were completely spent made Angel stroke his cock even harder. Angel grabbed Buffy with his free hand and made her wrap her hand around his cock, where she started pumping it up and down.

Buffy knew that she was in dangerous territory. Buffy licked her lips at the sight of Angel's very thick and very erect cock. Buffy considered climbing on top of Angel's dick and giving him a treat for being such a good boy but then she remembered that nobody wanted Angelus to rear his ugly head and so she ditched that idea.

Buffy was pushed out of her naughty thoughts about Angel's cock possibly riding her to satisfaction by the sound of him literally telling her that he was about to cum.

"Oh god, BUFFY! I fucking love you baby! Love you so damn much!" Angel yelled loudly, as his dead seed spilled all over the bed. Buffy pulled her hair back and immediately rushed to lick some of the cum, happily doing it with a smile on her face.

Angel put his hand over his eyes and laughed heartily, watching his lover lap up his cum like a cat drinking milk.

"Get your hot little ass over here and kiss me, baby" Angel said, as he roughly grabbed Buffy by her hair and hungrily began to attack her mouth. Their tongues seemed to be wrestling together and Buffy grabbed Angel's ass cheeks, pushing his cock up against the front of her core.

Angel knew that they were about to break into dangerous territory and stopped it before it happened by rolling off of Buffy and walking over to the dresser and picking the vintage bottle of wine from before and taking a swig of it.

"I am going to give you the world, baby". Angel said softly.

"I don't want the world, Angel. I just want you baby. Can you give me that?" Buffy asked Angel, as she sat up in bed and watched him in the shadow of the fireplace.

"I will give you whatever your heart desires, my love." Angel replied, hoping that the answer would give Buffy some faith that he truly did desire a future with her and that tonight wasn't a fluke.

Angel knew that the shanshu was coming and he had to wait just a little longer for it and then he would definitely give his lover whatever she wished for. Angel's patience was wearing thin when it came to the shanshu but he knew that it would be worth it in the end. Oh and the beautiful naked woman in his bed who now had slid the giant vibrator from before into her pussy again was definitely worth waiting for the shanshu.

"You are a very greedy girl, do you know that baby?" Angel said, as he climbed onto the bed and laid a kiss to Buffy's supple lips.

"I know that but I couldn't help it." Buffy said softly, as she rubbed her tits with one of her hands and plunged the huge vibrator deeper into her pussy with the other one. "Do you wanna give me a hand here, baby?"

"God, you are so damn beautiful." Angel said, before engaging Buffy in another round of lovemaking or what they considered to be "lovemaking".

Once the both of them rode out their orgasms, Angel and Buffy just laid there in bed together with his arms protectively wrapped around her. Angel was nibbling on her ear and softly kissing her neck, whispering sweet nothings in it. Buffy was giggling and smiling and she had a glow about her that wasn't caused by the roaring fire in the room. Buffy was satisfied for the first time in a long time and she was surrounded by the arms of her lover, so things were good.

"Angel, I need to ask you something." Buffy said.

"Baby, what is it?" Angel replied, hoping the question wouldn't be something silly.

"Did I make you happy tonight? You know what we did here? I know it was a little unconventional but I thought that it was nice." Buffy said, while giving a little sly smile.

"Baby, watching you ride a giant vibe while screaming my name made me more than happy. I love you, Buffy. I needed to reassure you that no matter where I am or whatever I am doing, you are the only woman in my heart. Baby, I am sorry for everything that happened last year."

"Angel, I am sorry for what happened last year. I shouldn't have walked out on you in Los Angeles. I should have taken the time to hear you out and not have acted so stupid. Can you please forgive me?" Buffy said, while sounding sorrowful and shaking her head and giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Buffy, I forgave you a year ago. My love, can you forgive me?" Angel asked, while taking Buffy's hand and kissing it.

"See, that's my honey bear. Of course, I forgive you Angel. I still want to know why you joined Wolfram and Hart but I forgive you. I don't want to fight anymore. I just want you. I love you, Angel." Buffy said softly, before leaning over to give Angel a kiss.

"I love you too, buffy. Always and forever, baby." Angel said sweetly, as he pulled Buffy close to his chest and looking into those big green eyes of hers.

"Now that we got that out of the way, do you think that we have time for another session?" Buffy asked seductively, while slowly tracing her fingers down Angel's back.

"I can see that look in your eyes and no, greedy girl. Put on your clothes. We have to get going. Once we get the head and I make sure things are good in Los Angeles, I am bringing my ass back here and I am going to give you exactly what you want." Angel said, as he gave a light slap to Buffy's ass and gave her another kiss.

Angel climbed out of bed and began to retrieve his clothes and Buffy followed soon after. Buffy watched Angel get dressed and got a little sad because she thought he looked his best while naked. Buffy was also sad because reality set in and she knew that once they found the head, she probably wouldn't see Angel for quite some time. God she loved him immensely and would have done anything to keep him around with the lives that they led, that was damn near impossible.

Buffy was pulled out of her deep internal thoughts by Angel standing by the door of the villa, making a gesture to her that it was time to go.

"I think that we should go to the catacombs and see if we can get a little help there on how to get the head. I have a contact in Italy who might be able to help us conjure a spell to get into The Immortal's mansion and get the head." Angel said, while straightening up his jacket.

"I think that we should split up. Carlos knows me and so I have a better chance of getting into the mansion and getting the head or at the very least, finding out where the head is if it is not there, Angel."

"Buffy, there is no way in hell that I am letting you go off by yourself. If we split up, the immortal is bound to do anything to you now that he knows we have been together. Oh and he definitely knows, because the asshole has eyes and ears everywhere." Angel said, while sounding very concerned and wondering what the hell was wrong with Buffy.

"Angel, would you stop worrying? I can handle myself. The Immortal isn't going to do anything to me. You go meet up with Spike and I will meet up with you guys when I find something." Buffy said, while being very nonchalantly.

"I don't like this idea at all, honey."

"Angel, everything is going to be fine. I love you for being concerned but nothing will happen to me." Buffy said sweetly, while lightly caressing Angel's cheek.

"Fine, we split up but we will meet up in an hour. Do you understand me?"

Buffy nodded her head and then stood up on her toes to give Angel a peck on the cheek.

"Buffy, before we go. Are you sure that there isn't something that you want to tell me?" Angel asked, as they were just about to walk outside of the villa. Angel knew that he still probably wouldn't get the answer that he had been wanting but he had to try to get it at least one more time.

"Just that I love you and no matter what happens tonight or in the next few days, you should know that will never change. You are in my heart always, baby." Buffy said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I love you too." Angel replied.

Buffy pulled Angel into a sweet kiss that left the both of them damn near breathless and then they left the villa after that and parted ways.

/

About 20 minutes after Buffy parted ways with Angel, she was walking to Immortal's mansion when a van pulled up beside her and several guys got out of it and tried to grab her and put her in the van.

Buffy tried her best to fight off her would-be kidnappers but there were too many of them for her to fend off. In the midst of the fight, one of the kidnappers grabbed Buffy by her arm and injected her with some kind of a serum and that knocked her unconscious. The kidnappers then picked up Buffy's very unconscious body and put her in the van and drove off into the night.

/

About an hour after parting ways with Buffy, Angel met up with Spike at the catacombs. In the period of time between Angel last seeing Spike and the current moment, Spike hadn't found anything that could help them get into the Immortal's mansion and retrieve the head. Plus the contact that Angel had been told was at the catacombs hadn't showed up at all.

Neither Angel nor Spike were sure how they were going to get the head. The whole night was a complete shitshow and Angel only expected it to get worse. Angel just wanted the night to be done with, so he could find a bed. The man was beyond exhausted. All Spike wanted on the other hand was just a stiff drink. The both of them knew that they overplayed their hand on this one.

Angel and Spike were currently standing in the courtyard of the catacombs, waiting for the contact that they figured was not coming and also for Buffy, who Angel figured something had happened to cause she was late.

"Did you get your lady love or did she toss you out on your ass?" Spike asked, with a smile.

"Spike, I am not discussing what happened earlier between me and Buffy earlier with you. Oh and for the record, she did everything to me but toss me out on my ass." Angel said, smugly. Angel thought back to the villa and the image of Buffy riding that vibrator while screaming his name brought a smile to his face and gave him a instant hard-on.

"You are delusional if you think that she's just going to take you back. You are keeping a bunch of secrets from her, mate. Tonight was a one off. I am going to have her back in my bed before you know it." Spike said, while feeling very assured.

"You do know that she was only sleeping with you cause I wasn't there, right? Oh and because her mind wasn't in a good place. You can't expect someone to make rational decisions Spike that literally climbed out of their own fucking grave. What you think was love was actually PTSD, you moron." Angel said, while rolling his eyes.

Angel normally had a lot of patience with Spike but tonight was the exception and he silently prayed for strength to keep dealing with this fool.

"You got a lot of room to talk, mate. You break the girl's heart by leaving her on one of craziest nights of her life and then you pop up everytime that she finds someone else to love and then you leave her yet again…and somehow you think that my relationship with Buffy was weird?" Spike said, with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ours is a forever love, that's something that you will never have with her. You know what? I am done talking about this with you. We have more pressing concerns at hand than talking about Buffy." Angel said, with a heavy amount of annoyance in his voice.

"Speaking of the little lady, Where the hell is she at?"

"I don't know but she's supposed to be here by now."

The conversation between Spike and Angel was interrupted by the sounds of cars pulling up to the courtyard. Several of the men got out of the cars with large semi automatic weapons in their hands. One of the men that exited one of the vehicles was someone that Angel recognized immediately, The Immortal.

Immediately standing behind The Immortal in the courtyard was Buffy. Buffy was being manhandled by 2 of the Immortal's goons and there was duct tape on her mouth and rope on her arms to tie them up. Buffy's face was completely tear stained and she had a look of her fear on her face.

Buffy was mumbling something under the duct tape and the Immortal hit her in the head with the butt of his gun to get her to shut up. The immortal then repositioned his gun and pointed directly at the left side of Buffy's head.

Angel immediately tried to rush The Immortal but was pulled back by Spike. The Immortal's goons drew their guns. The Immortal threw Buffy to the ground and kicked her square in the stomach. Buffy was on the ground, crying and toppled over in pain. Buffy looked up at Angel and he gave her a look that said things were going to be fine.

"Its nice to see you Angelus and William. What brings you to my fair city?" The immortal said with a smile on his face and his gold tooth gleaming.

"Carlos, cut the bullshit. Where is the head?" Angel said, while visibly pissed off and trying to keep his eyes on Buffy.

"Angelus, you were always a straight shooter. I will give you the head when I get the money.

Do you have the money?"

"Right here." Spike said, while opening up a briefcase that contained several thousand bills in roman currency.

Spike was about to walk over to the Immortal and hand him the briefcase, when Angel stopped him from doing so.

"If you hurt the girl, you won't get anything. We will give you the money if you release Buffy and the head to us. That's the only way this exchange will work." Angel said, while trying to broker a deal with the ancient roman vampire.

Buffy was still on the ground in the midst of the standoff, trying to figure out how to get herself out of the ropes without getting killed.

The immortal was offended that Angel thought that he was calling the shots there. The immortal found it an insult that Angelus came to his city and was doling out orders. The Immortal didn't give a fuck if Buffy lived or died but he wanted to keep the head, no matter the cost.

Seeing that Buffy was trying to wriggle out of the ropes and just being plainly annoyed by Angel much less Spike, The Immortal picked Buffy off of the ground and repositioned his gun at her head, pressing it closer to her temple this time.

"Do you think that I care about the bitch? She was just a means to an end, Angelus."

"If you kill her, you don't get anything, Carlos. Don't make a dumb fucking mistake."

"Oh dear sweet Elizabeth, shall we tell Angelus about your activities here in our lovely city." The immortal said sweetly to Buffy, while clicking the gun against her temple.

"Carlos, shut the fuck up. If you say anything, I will kill you." Buffy said angrily, as she spit the duct tape off of her mouth.

"What the hell is he talking about, Buffy?" Angel asked, while suddenly feeling confused.

"Oh holy hell, not him too." Spike shouted in the direction of Buffy. Buffy shot Spike a look and he just shook his head and threw his hands in the air.

"You wouldn't want Angelus to find out that you entertain-"

Before The Immortal could finish his sentence, Buffy managed to loosen the ropes on her arms and kneed him in the groin and ran. The action caused a hail of bullets from The Immortal's goons to permeate throughout the catacombs. One of the bullets somehow managed to hit the Immortal, turning him into dust and killing him instantly.

In the midst of the gunfire, Angel and Spike ran like hell behind Buffy to avoid the bullets. All 3 of them were soon running through the roman streets for their lives and unlives.

/

Buffy was running from the catacombs with Angel and Spike when she stopped abruptly in the middle of a random street and touched the hem of her top and saw that her stomach was bleeding profusely. Panic surged through her body and she instantly became dizzy at the sight of the red liquid.

Angel and Spike turned around to see where Buffy had gone because they saw that she hadn't caught up with them. When the 2 vampires looked behind them, The sight that they saw was of Buffy literally standing in the street, about to topple over and grasping her stomach.

Angel immediately rushed to catch Buffy before she collapsed and she fell right into his arms.

Angel laid Buffy down on the ground and lifted her top to examine her wound and then he took off his coat and then wrapped it around her torso as a tourniquet.

"Spike, where the hell is the nearest hospital?" Angel said, while bending down on the ground to tie up the tourniquet.

"It's miles from here, honey." Buffy interrupted.

"Pet, you were shot." Spike said, while noticing the wound.

"I am not letting this happen again." Angel retorted.

Angel took his phone out of his pocket and tried to call someone to come help them but gave up when he saw that there was no cell service in that particular area.

Angel began panicking because the wound wouldn't stop bleeding, even with the tourniquet.

Angel had just recently lost Fred and he was not going to lose Buffy as well. It can't end like this, he thought.

Spike bent down to try and apply some pressure on the wound but even that wouldn't stop the bleeding.

"Funny enough, we met in an alley and now our story ends in an alley." Buffy said, weakly. Buffy knew life was leaving her body but she was trying her best to hold on.

"Who said that our story is going to end here? You have to stick around because I need you." Angel said sadly, as he softly caressed Buffy's cheek.

Angel was afraid to move Buffy so he sat her down on the ground and put her head in his lap.

"We had fun earlier, didn't we?" Buffy smiled, while referring to their time at the villa.

"We have to try and call someone. We have to get some damn help. We can't just let her die." Angel said, angrily.

"We are in the middle of nowhere, mate. Nobody's going to be able to find us." Spike replied.

"There's no help coming, Angel. The nearest hospital is miles away. I am not going to make it through this one, baby." Buffy said, while clutching her stomach tightly.

Buffy could feel the pain coursing through her body by the second. The wound felt like a hot coal sitting on Buffy's stomach. Out of all the times that she had been shot, Buffy was sure that this time was the worst.

"I will pick her up myself and take her to a hospital." Angel said, as he began to lift Buffy up off the ground and into his arms.

"Mate, look at her wound. You won't make it in time." Spike said. Spike knew that the situation was bleak and he knew that someone had to be realistic here and it damn sure was not going to be Angel.

"I lost Fred, Spike. I am not going to lose Buffy too. " Angel said, as he started to carry Buffy down the street in his arms.

"You would think that after all the times that I have been shot or stabbed or maimed in some way, the pain would get easier but yet it never does." Buffy said, while shaking her head and internally screaming at her own luck.

Buffy silently began to cry when thinking about the events of the last year. Buffy knew that she shouldn't have gotten involved with The Immortal but his power and his money overpowered her common sense and that led her to this moment. Buffy was going to die in the arms of the man who truly had her heart on a random street and she only had herself to blame for it.

"She's going to bleed out completely before you get there." Spike said.

"Then what the hell do you suggest as an alternative?" Angel said angrily, before pushing Spike out of the way and carrying on down the street.

"Angel, I love you baby." Buffy said sweetly, as her eyes began to flinch.

"Buffy, I love you too. Don't close your eyes, okay. You are not going to leave me." Angel said softly, as he took one of his hands and lightly slapped her chin to keep her awake.

"Angel, I am trying to stay awake honey but I want to go to sleep so badly." Buffy said, as she was beginning to drift in and out of consciousness.

"Baby, tell me something about anything. I don't care. Just keep talking. Please keep talking." Angel knew that the situation was bleak but he just had to keep her talking until they could get to a hospital.

Angel looked down at Buffy who was drifting in and out of consciousness and he felt himself begin to cry but held back the tears. Crying was not what his lover needed at that moment.

""You remember how we used to talk about the kids that we might have if the fates hadn't fucked us over? If we had gotten the chance to have a girl, it was going to be Abigail Katherine." Buffy said softly, with a hint of a smile.

"What?" Angel replied, while sounding surprised.

"If it had been a boy, it would have been Donovan Ian after your grandfather. I remember you telling me once back in Sunnydale about how much he meant to you, Angel." Buffy said, sadly. Buffy could feel the last stitches of life leaving her body by the pain getting too intense but she knew that she had to keep fighting.

"I can see you with a huge pregnant belly. You would look so beautiful, waddling down the aisle." Angel said, while trying to disassociate himself from the current situation at hand by imagining a very heavily pregnant Buffy walking down the aisle.

"I don't think that's going to happen. There isn't going to be a happy ending to our story, honey. You know it and I know it." Buffy said, while beginning to get drowsy again.

"Baby, its going to happen. You just got to stay with me and Spike, okay. Please stay with me. I can't lose you." Angel said.

"I am cold, so cold Angel." Buffy said.

"Hold on baby, we are going to get you to a hospital and everything is going to be fine. I promise you that things are going to be fine." Angel said.

Buffy reached up with the little strength that she still had to cradle Angel's face. Angel held her hand in his and kissed her deeply on the lips.

"Angel-" Spike said, solemnly. Spike peeked at Buffy who was on her last leg in Angel's arms and then looked at Angel with a glare that only meant one thing.

"Spike, don't you look at me like that. We just need to go a bit farther and she's going to get the help that she needs.

"She's gone."

Buffy closed her eyes and then fell limp in Angel's arms and when he looked down at her and saw that she was indeed lifeless, he let out a roar that was almost deafening and screamed.

"No, Fucking No! No! No! No! Please God No!"

Angel laid Buffy down in the middle of the street and pressed his lips up against hers, giving her one last kiss to them. Angel began to cry and then leaned over Buffy's barely cold body and put his forehead up against hers and whispered words of love in her ear, hoping that she could still somehow hear him. Angel silently said a prayer to whatever god was out there for a miracle.

Spike could just stand there looking at the scene before him in pure astonishment. Spike considered comforting Angel but he knew that his grandsire needed anything but that at the moment. Spike was on the verge of tears himself. Spike couldn't believe that Buffy had gotten herself into a mess so bad that it had now potentially gotten her killed.

Angel had lost the love of his life, the girl that he had loved for years and one of the reasons that he was fighting for his redemption. Angel suddenly didn't care about the shanshu anymore because if he couldn't be with the woman who held his heart and soul, what was the point of it?

Spike picked Buffy's body up off the ground and continued to carry it down the street, because Angel was too distraught to do it. Angel just followed behind Spike, completely distraught and looking as though he was completely out of it.

/

Eventually Angel and Spike were able to make their way to a hospital. At some point during the walk to the hospital, Spike had lifted Buffy's body back into Angel's arms and she was that way when they arrived at the hospital. Angel was despondent, pissed, and heartbroken when they got to the hospital. Angel didn't even want to let go of Buffy's body because he was still in shock. Angel was afraid to let Buffy go cause his heart wasn't ready to say goodbye. Eventually a doctor and Spike convinced him to do so, if they were going to truly help her.

Once Angel allowed the doctor to examine Buffy, he found a pulse for her. It was a light pulse but a pulse nonetheless. Once the doctor found Buffy's pulse, she was immediately rushed into surgery. From that moment on, all Angel and Spike could do was sit in the waiting room for the doctors to bring Buffy back around.

While Angel and Spike were waiting for updates on Buffy's condition, he tried to make calls to anyone that might be her immediate family or friends to come to the hospital. It was still late at night in Rome so Angel couldn't get all the scoobies on the phone but he was able to reach Willow and Dawn, who promised to be on the first flight out to Italy. Angel attempted to call Giles but his call went straight to voicemail and he didn't think it was right to tell the man that his surrogate daughter almost died that night via voicemail. Angel didn't have a current number for Xander and he had no idea where he was in the world, so he wasn't informed of Buffy's condition.

After about 2 hours of just sitting around in the waiting room and waiting for an answer, The doctor came out to them with an update for Angel and Spike. Buffy lost a lot of blood but they were able to remove the bullet and she was stable. The doctor also told the 2 vampires that Buffy was sleeping but that she could have visitors.

Angel and Spike immediately rushed to Buffy's hospital room after that. When the both of them reached her hospital room, they saw that she was still very unconscious and hooked up to several monitors. Buffy laid in the bed with her arms to the side and her hair back to its natural blonde state, gone was the wig that she had been wearing all night. Buffy's makeup had also disappeared. Buffy looked like her old self, save for the bullet wound in her stomach.

Angel walked over to Buffy's hospital bed where she was sleeping and bent down and laid a kiss on her forehead, dropping a tear on her face in the process of doing so. Angel sat down at Buffy's bedside, holding her hand and watching the monitors.

"Baby, you have to pull out of this. You have so many more things to do. I am not ready to lose you." Angel said, as he whispered in Buffy's ear.

Angel thought that Buffy looked Ethereal in her hospital bed. Angel picked up Buffy's hand and lightly kissed it.

"What are we going to do about the head?" Spike said, while trying to remind Angel of the other elephant in the room.

"I am not really concerned with that at the moment. I will deal with Wolfram and Hart and their bullshit later. What matters is making sure that Buffy pulls through this. I am not leaving her side until she wakes up." Angel said adamantly.

Angel didn't care what was happening in Los Angeles. Angel considered the whole night to be a disaster and the love of his life lying before him in a hospital bed was the biggest reminder of that. Angel was torn between wanting to punch someone and wanting to cry until there were no more tears left.

Angel had a pretty good idea of what Buffy was doing with The Immortal but he didn't want to accept that she would do something THAT insane. Angel wondered how far into the darkness that Buffy must have gone in order to give herself to The Immortal. Angel wasn't sure who to actually blame for Buffy's current condition, himself or the Immortal or Buffy's so-called family or Buffy herself.

Angel knew his girl and if her so called family had been around this last year, there is no way that Buffy would have become a companion for the Immortal. Angel figured that Buffy might have felt so lost by not having her family around that she sought comfort and other things in the arms of the first willing body that came along. Angel tried to not blame himself for Buffy's current predicament but he wondered if things would have turned out differently, if she had stayed in L.A. with him.

Angel immediately threw away any thoughts of guilt that he might have. However he couldn't believe that someone so beautiful and intelligent would stoop so low. Angel pondered if he even really knew Buffy anymore because the woman that he loved would never become a paid whore for someone as nasty and vile as the Immortal.

"I am going to get coffee. Do you want anything?" Spike said to Angel, as he was about to exit the hospital room. Spike couldn't watch Angel basically hold vigil for Buffy one more second and he needed air, about as much air as an undead being could get.

"No, I am fine. I just need her to wake up." Angel said softly, as he took Buffy's hand and rubbed it in small circles.

Spike knew that Angel still loved Buffy and that she still loved him and whereas that broke his undead heart, he understood that they had a connection that was damn near impossible to break. Spike had tried to make Buffy love him multiple times(sometimes to the point of extremes) and it never worked. Angel was always in Buffy's heart, even when she tried to deny it to him and the rest of the world.

Spike had been around Angel for a year and saw him every time that he received a puddle of rose petals from Buffy or everytime that his grandsire tried to call Buffy and was rejected. When those sorts of things happened, Spike was happy because he thought that Buffy woke up and smelled the coffee and was finally moving on. Now after seeing how Buffy interacted with Angel tonight, he was convinced that she only did that to protect him from not only The Immortal but also herself.

Spike knew Buffy and she knew that if Angel had somehow found out that she was prostituting herself for The Immortal or anyone else, he would be on the first thing smoking and ready to talk some sense into her and pummel anyone to death that touched her. Spike knew Angel for over a century and when it came to his possessive nature, the man thought that he was Frank Sinatra and that Buffy was his Ava Gardner. God help any man that touched his Buffy, where it be paid or otherwise.

Spike figured that Buffy had gotten so deep in her "job" that perhaps she felt like she couldn't reach out for help when it got to be too much. Spike also knew that Angel thought of Buffy as like a heavenly goddess and she didn't want to look at her as otherwise and if he found about her "activities", he would look at her with shame and she couldn't handle that happening.

"You know that she might not wake up for hours." Spike said.

"I am not going anywhere, Spike. I won't leave her again." Angel said, solemnly.

"You do know that you are not responsible for this right, mate?" Spike asked.

"Spike, I don't know who the hell is responsible for this. I just know that I need Buffy to wake up." Angel said, while rubbing his forehead and wiping some tears from his eyes. "Look, it's a long story but if push comes to shove and something happens, I am able to make medical decisions for Buffy."

"You want to share the details, mate?" Spike asked.

"All you need to know is that I have legal authority here, in the event that Buffy might need another surgery or if Dawn comes in here and starts barking orders. I don't know why I am telling you this. Go get your coffee, Spike." Angel said, angrily.

Spike gave Angel a friendly pat on the back, exited the hospital room, and made his way down the hall to try and find a cafeteria or a coffee dispenser.

When Spike left to find coffee, Angel was left at Buffy's bedside. Angel, who obviously was not the biggest believer in christianity put his hands together and said a silent prayer for Buffy. In the middle of his prayer, he heard a noise. The noise was Buffy mumbling something that Angel couldn't really make out.

Buffy opened her eyes and all she could see was lights and for some reason, Angel sitting by her beside with his hands in a prayer position. Buffy was confused and not really sure where she was at. Buffy tried to lift herself out of the bed but the still searing pain of her bullet wound stopped that from happening. Angel immediately rushed out of the room to find a doctor.

The doctor and Angel soon came back in the room and the doctor proceeded to examine Buffy from head to toe. Angel stood in the corner of the room with his arms folded, while the doctor examined Buffy.

"Mrs. Summers, do you know where you are?" The doctor said, while flashing a light in Buffy's eye.

"Well I am guessing by your coat, a hospital?" Buffy answered, snarkily.

"Its nice to see you have a sense of humor. Do you know what happened to you?" The doctor asked.

"I was running from some bullets and caught one in the gut. I definitely caught one in the gut." Buffy said, while rubbing her stomach through her hospital gown. The wound was beginning to sting again and she definitely was feeling it.

"You were very lucky tonight. We were able to remove the bullet before any major damage was done to your body. You still have a long road to recovery though. I recommend that you go on bedrest for at least 6 weeks." The doctor said, as he was finishing up his examination.

"6 weeks? I can't be out of commission for that long. I have to get back to work." Buffy said, surprised at the suggestion.

"You ARE going on bed rest. You almost died tonight. Nothing else matters except for your health." Angel interrupted.

"But Angel-"

"Baby, listen to the doctor."

"Fine!" Buffy said, while throwing up her arms and feeling defeated.

"We will have you discharged within the next day or so and I will send you home with some pain medication. Mrs. Summers, you were very lucky tonight. You should be thankful for Mr. O'Flannery and Mr. Devane, you would be dead if they hadn't brought you in when they did." The doctor said to Buffy, before exiting the hospital room.

/

Once the doctor left the hospital room, Angel and Buffy were left by themselves there. Spike hadn't come back yet from finding the coffee dispenser and neither Buffy or Angel cared, they were just happy to be in each other's presence again.

Angel climbed into Buffy's hospital bed and wrapped his arms protectively around her waist, careful to not upset her wound. Buffy leaned back into Angel's chest, taking in the warmth of his being. Angel pulled some strands of hair from off of Buffy's neck and kissed the golden skin on it.

"So are you going to take care of me for the next 6 weeks? Because I got a few ideas on how you can do that." Buffy suggested seductively, as she played with Angel's hands. The thought of Angel being her nursemaid sent a jolt of heat to Buffy's core.

"No, my naughty Ioniun. I gotta get back to Los Angeles and try to fix this situation with the head. Although the idea of being your nurse sounds a whole lot more pleasurable." Angel said, just before he tilted Buffy's head around and gave her a kiss.

"Where did Spike go? He's been gone for what it seems like forever." Buffy asked, while mildly scratching her head.

"Spike went to go find coffee just before you woke up and I guess he got lost somewhere in the hospital. I am glad for that because it gives us more time to be together before I have to leave." Angel said, while turning Buffy around to face him and then pulling her closer to his chest.

Angel looked into Buffy's eyes and wondered what other secrets she was keeping. Sure they weren't close as they were once but she had to have known that she could tell him anything and he wouldn't turn on her. Maybe she was afraid to admit the truth. Maybe she didn't think that the truth mattered. In any case, Angel was determined to get the truth out of her about tonight before he went back to Los Angeles.

"How long before you have to leave?" Buffy asked, sadly. The last thing that Buffy wanted Angel to do was walk away from her again. Seeing him tonight was the happiest that she had been in a year and she didn't want to give that up. Sure they hadn't made any commitments to each other but she felt like she was his again and that wasn't a feeling that she wanted to give up.

"Maybe another hour. It is going to be Dawn very soon." Angel said sadly, not wanting to leave the beautiful complicated soul that was currently within his reach. Angel knew that he had to mentally prepare himself for what was waiting for him back in L.A. but that wasn't something he was ready to do. Buffy was alive and in his arms and that made him content and he would give anything to keep feeling that way.

"Tonight was insane but it was nice to see you even if it was for a few hours. You have no idea how much I missed you." Buffy said sweetly, as she used the nook of her fist to caress Angel's jaw and then wrapped her arms tight around his torso to give him a hug.

"You gave me a hell of a scare tonight. I almost lost you and I couldn't take it. If I can get ahead of whatever is coming, we are definitely revisiting the idea of you moving back to Los Angeles." Angel said adamantly, before giving Buffy a kiss to her forehead.

There was no way in hell that Angel was letting Buffy out of his sight if he survived what he was planning. Angel didn't care if he had to knock her out and throw her over his shoulder and carry her ass back to Los Angeles kicking and screaming, her place was with him! The cookies were done!

"Angel, I don't want to hear that right now. Can we please spend these last few minutes that we have together not arguing?" Buffy said, while rolling her eyes. Buffy unlatched Angel's arms from her waist , got out of the bed, and walked over to the window. Suddenly looking at the beautiful roman night sky was a lot better than looking in the trusting eyes of Angel, the man who she loved unconditionally but whose heart that she would soon break.

As Buffy looked out of the window and away from those chocolate orbs that she loved so much, she wondered what Angel would think of her if she did tell him the truth about her escorting. Would he stop loving her? Would he hate her? Would he think that she was a used up whore? Would he try to fix the mess that she got herself into?

The thought of Angel looking at Buffy with disdain and disappointment in his eyes when hearing her truth scared Buffy to death. Buffy could handle a lot of things but not having the love of the beautiful man that she knew was currently staring at her was not one of them.

Buffy might not have been in Angel's orbit for quite some time but she still felt as though she knew him immensely and if this secret came out, any shot of a future that they might have would surely be destroyed. No, the secret had to stay hidden and she knew just how to make that happen.

Angel could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Buffy when it came to the conversation about moving to L.A. and so he changed the subject.

"I called Willow. Willow is going to be here in a few hours. I needed to have someone here to look after you because I have to go back to Los Angeles soon." Angel said, while sitting up on the edge of the hospital bed and lightly rubbing his forehead. Angel knew that Willow was a sore spot to talk about for Buffy these days but the witch was coming to Rome, whether Buffy liked it or not.

At the mere mention of Willow coming to Italy, Buffy spun around to meet Angel's eyes and she immediately became angry at him for doing such a thing.

"Why the hell did you do that? I haven't spoken to Will in a year and I am not looking to change that now." Buffy said, angrily. Buffy's anger caused her stomach to sting a little bit and she rubbed her stomach.

"Oh maybe because she's your best friend and she loves you just as much as I do and she needs to know what happened tonight? Do you know that you almost died?" Angel retorted.

"It wouldn't be the first time that I died, Angel. You kind of get used to it the first couple of times." Buffy said, sarcastically.

"I don't think that this is a time for jokes, Buffy." Angel said, while being wide-eyed at the fact that Buffy was literally joking about possibly dying again. Angel was really trying to hold his anger in but Buffy was really beginning to push his buttons.

"I don't want Will here. I sincerely hope that you didn't call any of my other so-called family." Buffy shouted, while her hands were firmly on her hips and she was pacing back and forth. Buffy was really trying to avoid eye contact with Angel because if she looked at him in that moment, she was going to blow a gasket and it was going to land firmly in his direction.

"I couldn't get in touch with Giles, although I doubt that he will take my calls after the last year. I was however able to get in touch with Dawn and she's going to be coming here from London."

"Oh my god, things just keep getting better. I know that you called them because you thought that the worst had happened but wow." Buffy said, while still obviously very pissed but trying to take deep breaths to keep her composure.

"Maybe if you had your friends and family around this past year, you wouldn't have done something so stupid as to hook up with The Immortal of all people and get yourself almost killed in the process. Maybe if people like Giles had been around, you wouldn't have made some other questionable choices as well." Angel said angrily, as he jumped off the bed and walked in Buffy's direction and roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at him. Angel was tired of Buffy's bullshit and it was time for the gloves to come off.

"What the fuck does that mean? Other questionable choices?" Buffy said angrily, while shaking herself out of Angel's grasp. Buffy wondered for a second if Angel somehow knew her secret but immediately dismissed that idea.

"You know what? I am not going to have this conversation with you. You are still recovering and I am not going to upset you. Let's just change the subject." Angel said, while trying to calm himself down.

Angel knew that THE conversation about The Immortal had to come at some point but he knew that the best place for it wasn't a hospital and so he tried to change the subject quickly, before the woman he loved caused a vein to burst in his head.

"No, you clearly have something to say and I want you to say it. Spit it out, Angel." Buffy said, while pushing Angel away from her and lightly laughing at him.

"I am going to ask you this one damn time and I want a fucking answer, Buffy. What the hell was The Immortal talking about in the courtyard? What have you really been up to here in Rome?" Angel said, enraged. Angel really didn't want to give Buffy the fight that she was seeking but he was annoyed and decided to give in.

"It's none of your damn business, Angel." Buffy said, while trying to hold back the tears that were trying to come. In her heart, she wanted to tell him the truth but she knew it wasn't possible. The truth would hurt Angel more than the lie would and Buffy knew it.

"If you give a damn about us and any future that we might have, quit the defensive bullshit and make it my business. If you don't tell me the truth this instant, I am going to walk out of this hospital and we are done." Angel said angrily and with a pain in his heart.

"What was all that shit at the house about how you loved me and how you wanted me and how you wanted to fix things between us? I guess that you were just pulling my leg, right?" Buffy said, while trying to turn the tables around on Angel.

"I love you more than life itself, you know that. Do NOT turn this around to make me the guilty one here and save your own ass. I want the truth and I want it right now." Angel retorted. Angel could see exactly what Buffy was trying to do and he was not going to let it happen.

"I don't owe you an explanation for anything that I do, Angel. You won't tell me about certain things in your life so why should I tell you about mine? It doesn't seem very fair, lover." Buffy could see that her diversion method didn't work and so she threw that metaphorical dagger at him.

"You are determined to play games, Buffy. I am not in the mood for games. If you don't cut the bullshit and stop trying to divert from the issue at hand, we are finished and I mean it." Angel said, while growing impatient with his lover. Angel put his hands above his head and started to take deep breaths. Angel remembered the breathing techniques that his therapist told him about and decided to use them at that moment.

"Whatever I did or didn't do with The Immortal is none of your business. You have a lot of nerve to question me about my life when I have not seen you or even gotten a phone call from you in a year. If you want to end any association that we have with each other, that's fine by me." Buffy said, infuriated.

Angel was growing more and more irritated by the argument and he couldn't believe what Buffy just said and was trying to make sense of it. Angel moved to be closer to Buffy who was now sitting back on the hospital bed and took her face in his hands and made her look at him and gave her a look that could only be described as "seriously?"

"Baby, I highly doubt that the girl who was proclaiming her love to me and making plans to be with me a few hours ago was bullshitting me. What the fuck is really going on here?"

"Angel, I don't want you back and I don't want to fix things between us. I was lying earlier to get what I wanted from you. We can't even have a life together, so what I said at the house was moot. If you survive whatever the hell is coming cause you failed to get the head, don't ever contact me again. I am done with you." Buffy said, coldly.

"You can lie to yourself but you can't lie to me, baby. I can see through the hair and the clothes and whatever crazy alterations that you have made to your body that the woman I love and who loves me unconditionally is still somewhere in there. My god, I hope that she comes out soon." Angel said angrily and on the verge of tears.

Angel put his head in his hands, raised back up, ran his hands through his hair, and then started to wipe the tears from his eyes. Angel loved Buffy more than life itself and she was breaking his heart by the second.

"I am not the same girl that you fell in love with. I will never be her again. Angel, please go back to Los Angeles. Just let go of us for the last time, please." Buffy said softly, reaching up to cup Angel's chin. Buffy could feel her own tears beginning to fall and she didn't even try to stop them from coming. Buffy was trying to put up a rough exterior but it wasn't working.

"Tell me the truth, baby. We can work through whatever trouble that you are in. I am giving you one chance here to be honest." Angel said softly. Angel lifted up Buffy's chin and caressed her cheek with his hand and she rubbed her face up against it. Buffy's heart hurt more in that moment than her stomach did.

"There's nothing to tell you, Angel. You should probably get out of here, it's going to be daylight soon. Go back to your life and leave me alone, please." Buffy said harshly. Buffy wiped her tears and turned her back to Angel. Buffy just couldn't watch Angel walk out of her life again, this time for the final time.

"Fine, you want to play this game and I can play it too. Have a good life, Buffy." Angel said, before giving Buffy a kiss on the cheek and walking out of the hospital room.

The moment after Angel left the hospital room, Buffy just fell to her knees and started crying. Buffy was inconsolable and she was clutching her chest and felt like she couldn't breathe. Buffy felt like her whole being was crushed and that hurt more than her stomach wound. Angel was the love of her life and she just let him go and whereas she knew it was for the best, her heart was telling her otherwise.

Even if Angel had turned human tomorrow, Buffy knew that she couldn't have a life with him. The moment that Buffy took her first client, she killed any future of a life with Angel. The way that she acted and she represented herself was different from the girl that he met and fell in love so many moons ago on a hellmouth. Buffy had buried that girl the moment that she moved to italy.

The way that Buffy acted earlier in the night at the villa was who she dreamed of being again, a girl just fooling around with her hunky boyfriend with not a care in the world. Buffy knew that she was far removed from that person now and had been for quite some time. Buffy wasn't the soft sweet girl that someone like Angel would be proud to have on his arm.

Pushing Angel out of her life and making him think she hated his guts was breaking Buffy's heart but she knew it was for the best. Angel was a good man and he deserved love from a woman who truly could be what he needed and Buffy knew that she would never fit that narrative again.

Buffy's life was a non-stop party now, one that consisted of things that Angel would never be comfortable with. Buffy had become hardened and cold since she arrived in Rome. Buffy was more driven by money and power more than anything else now.

Buffy was the girl that you called at 4am for a little bit of fun. Buffy was the girl that you paid thousands of dollars to bring to parties and impress your ritzy friends. Buffy was the girl that drank till dawn, slept till noon, and then did it all over again. Buffy was the girl that was down for anything and everything.

Buffy pondered possibly running after Angel and begging him to come back to her but she decided that what she did was for the best. Angel was still full of goodness and fighting for good and she was anything but good anymore. Buffy had stepped into the darkness and let it completely engulf her. Buffy loved Angel enough to not pull him into her bullshit and she knew it.

Buffy always knew that Angel would always be in the back of her mind, as the one who got away. Buffy secretly hoped that someday she would make her way back to Angel but she knew that it wasn't possible. Their lives were too different now and she knew he deserved better than her and always would. God, she loved that big adorable irish oaf with all of her heart.

/

Several minutes after Angel left the hospital room, a nurse came in the room to check Buffy's vitals. Several minutes after that happened, Spike finally came from the cafeteria.

"Damn roman hospital is bigger than the whole vatican." Spike said, as he entered the hospital room.

"I wouldn't know anything about that but I'm glad that you made it back." Buffy laughed, while swabbing some of her tears with a kleenex that the nurse was nice enough to give her.

"What in the world happened?" Spike asked, while reaching around to give Buffy a hug.

"Me and Angel had a fight and I told him that I didn't want anything else to do with him. It was really bad, Spike. We are done for good this time, no turning back." Buffy said, sadly and while her voice was cracking.

"I am definitely NOT the biggest fan of the both of you being together but why the hell did you do something silly like that?" Spike said, as he sat down on the hospital bed next to Buffy.

"If I told him the truth about what Carlos said in the courtyard, Angel would hate me forever. I can't have him look at me with disgust in his eyes. I love that man too much to see him just think I am some used up whore, so I let him go." Buffy said, while shaking her head and then leaning her head on Spike's shoulder. The tears were still pouring as she was leaning on him and they were falling on his shirt but he didn't care.

"The ponce loves you, pet. Don't let him give up on you. Tell him the truth." Spike said, as he was literally gritting his teeth. Spike didn't want to push Buffy toward Angel at all but he knew her heart and that big irish dumbass took up most of the space in it.

"Spike, I can't do that. I can never do that. I love Angel too much to break his heart like that. Look I don't know what's coming since we didn't get the head but I need you to do me a favor, Spike." Buffy asked.

"What is it, pet?" Spike replied.

"I need you to protect my honey. I need you to look after him. I know your relationship is clearly contentious for obvious reasons but I need you to keep Angel's ass out of trouble. I don't know what's coming cause he didn't get the head and I need to know he's going to an ally when it does." Buffy said, while sounding very serious.

"You are making a mistake, buffy." Spike retorted.

"Spike, the alternative is having the man that I love hate me with every fiber of his being. Angel can never find out that I am an escort. I need your word that you are never going to tell him that and you are going to look after him. Now do I have it or not?" Buffy said, adamantly.

"I could care less about the poof but for you, I would do anything." Spike said, while leaning over to give Buffy a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Spike." Buffy said, while giving Spike a smile. Buffy reached over to Spike and gave Spike a kiss on his cheek, which made the Englishman blush.

"How are you feeling?" Spike asked.

"Like hot coals exploded in my stomach but the pain meds are helping a lot. Now go get out of here, I am sure that my honey is ready to get out of Rome." Buffy replied with a sigh.

"It was really good to see you, pet." Spike said, as he gave Buffy a hug.

"Likewise. Don't you dare be a stranger." Buffy said, as she unlatched from Spike.

"Never!"

"Bye, Spike."

"Bye, pet."

Several minutes after Spike left Buffy's hospital room, Willow showed up to it. Willow had a balloon with "Get Well Soon" written on it in one hand and some roses in the other one. Willow also had this really goofy smile on her face that Buffy did not understand at all. Buffy loved the sentiment of the flowers and the balloon but had no desire to see the person who held the sentiment. It was going to be a long recovery process and Buffy knew it.

/

When Spike made his way back to the plane, Angel was on his cellphone trying to contact members of his team. It was still early in L.A. but the team had to be informed of what happened in italy.

The rest of the trip back home however was spent in complete silence. Angel was too tired and too sad to engage in ridiculous banter with Spike and Spike was just not in the mood for Angel and his pity party.

Halfway through the trip though, Angel was nearly asleep in his seat on the plane with a blackeye mask over his eyes that had the words "leave me the fuck alone" printed on it when he could feel Spike staring at him.

"I know that you are looking at me, blondie bear. What do you want?" Angel mumbled, while bouncing in and out of consciousness.

"I am not going to say anything. I am not going to say anything at all. Fine, I am going to say it. You are a moron." Spike said harshly.

"Spike, I really need to do me a favor, a huge favor." Angel said, while taking off his eye mask and sitting up in his seat to face Spike.

"What is it, mate?" Spike replied.

"Please for the love of god, shut the fuck up for the rest of this trip. I would love for us to have a plane trip back to L.A. in complete silence. I don't want to hear anything from you about Buffy or how we didn't get the head. Can you do that for me?" Angel said, angrily. Angel was heartbroken about what happened with Buffy and he had no time for Spike's bullshit.

"Absolutely NOT. Nope, not gonna happen." Spike replied, with a sly smile on his face.

"I swear to god. I would literally stake you if I didn't think that Buffy would kick my ass for it. Fine, get out what you really want to say." Angel said, while sighing and rolling his eyes and leaning back into his leather seat.

"Not that I am rooting for the both of you to get back together but why in the hell didn't you just tell the girl about why you joined the sodding place?" Spike asked.

"Because I know how Buffy is. If Buffy knew that I had a child with anyone but her, it would break her heart. We have enough problems right now without me telling her about Connor. Plus what I am keeping from her is nothing compared to what secret Buffy is keeping from me." Angel replied, while looking down at his claddagh ring and wondering if it even mattered anymore. Angel rubbed the edges of the ring and just shook his head. The man was heartbroken.

"What exactly do you think that Buffy is keeping from you?" Spike asked, while being scared of the answer.

"You mean the fact that the woman I love is a fucking escort? Yes, spike. I definitely know that." Angel scoffed.

"Wait? How?" Spike replied, with a shocked look on his face.

"I am 253 years old. Do you honestly think that I can't tell what a prostitute is? I am a lot of things but I am not stupid. I knew it from the moment that I could sense her presence in the hotel this afternoon. I just didn't want it to be true because I love her." Angel said, curtly.

Angel slipped off his claddagh ring and put it in his coat pocket. Angel knew that if he looked at that ring one more time, he was going to start crying again and he couldn't do that again.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Spike asked.

"Because I wanted to give Buffy a chance to tell me herself. I gave her multiple opportunities tonight to say something and she lied, so I am done." Angel replied, while sounding pissed. Angel just turned away from Spike's direction and looked outside of his own airplane window and took as much of a deep breath as an undead being could take.

"Have you ever thought that the girl was scared to say something? I mean let's be honest here mate, you aren't exactly the easiest person to talk to. In fact, you are actually an asshole." Spike said, very harshly.

"Spike, I love Buffy. I would have worked things out with her if she had been honest. I would have been mad as hell about her being an escort but I wouldn't have given up on her cause of it. With as many things as I have done in my life, how could I hold that against her?" Angel said, very sadly.

"The both of you are keeping secrets from each other, that's no way to start things back up again." Spike said, while holding a finger up to the middle of his lips and tapping his lips with it and making a tsk tsk sound.

"Spike, I am done talking about this with you. We have bigger things to worry about than my relationship or rather lack of a relationship with Buffy. We have to figure out how the hell to stop what is coming, since we didn't get that damn head." Angel said, while getting further frustrated with the subject and truly trying to change the subject.

"Mate, I am sure that you and the rest of your team of misfits will figure out something. I am going to sleep." Spike said, dispassionately. Spike pulled up the black blanket that was at his legs up to his chest and started to doze off.

"Why in the hell do I even deal with you? You are no help, no fucking help at all." Angel said angrily, as he just threw his hands up and walked to the back bedroom of the plane and laid down.

Angel figured that he would try to get a few hours of sleep before they landed in Los Angeles. The shitstorm that was awaiting him there was not something that he was ready to deal with. Although he knew that mess would keep his mind off of what happened with Buffy and so he welcomed the distraction.

/

After Angel got back from being in Rome, he told Harmony that he didn't want to get bothered for the rest of the night and then retreated to his penthouse. Angel immediately upon entering his penthouse, poured himself a glass of bourbon and put Sinatra on the stereo and then turned out all of the lights and jumped on the couch and allowed himself to brood.

As the sounds of "Angel Eyes" by Frank Sinatra bellowed through the spacious penthouse, Angel laid back on the couch and closed his eyes and slowly sipped the brown liquor and allowed himself to reflect on what happened in Italy.

Angel knew that the trip wasn't going to be pleasant for obvious reasons but it was more horrible than he ever expected. Not only did he not get the head but now he lost the love of his life forever. The look on Buffy's face and the hurtful words that came out of her mouth when they were parting was confirmation that she was truly done with him forever.

Angel replayed those last moments with Buffy in his head over and over again and each time he did it, a tear began to appear. Angel thought about Frank Sinatra for a second and came to the conclusion that Buffy was his Ava Gardner, a girl that he loved but would never get.

Angel knew what was coming now that he didn't get the head and that made him realize that Rome was the last time he would probably ever see Buffy. The last time that he would ever see her big green eyes and her imp-ish smile and witness her snarky personality. The last time that no matter what he told himself or whatever feelings that he tried to block, Angel still loved Buffy more than life itself.

The realization that he had lost her for the final time made Angel's tears flow even harder and it made him guzzle more of the brown liquid that was contained within his hands.

The thought that he wouldn't be able to fully fix his relationship with Buffy and Connor damn near tore him to pieces. Nothing else in the world mattered more to Angel than those 2 people and if he didn't fix the mess that not getting the head in Rome created, he would never be able to fix the mess that he created with them.

Angel silently promised himself right there in that dark room with ol blue eyes playing, that if he survived whatever was surely bound to come, he was going home to the woman that he loved and he was going to start being a father to his son.

The "Only The Lonely" album stopped playing on the stereo and that caused Angel to break out of his deep thought and stand up from the couch and walk over to the counter and pour another glass of bourbon. However before Angel could completely pour the brown liquid into the glass, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Angel made a mental note to tell Harmony in the morning that he was firing her ass. Angel was already in a very piss poor mood and the last thing that he wanted was visitors.

"Go the fuck away!", Angel yelled loudly in the direction of the door.

"Please open the door.", a feminine voice requested.

Angel recognized the feminine voice and walked to the door and answered it. The person on the other side of the door was Nina. Before Nina was able to muzzle out a word, Angel had pulled her into the penthouse and began to maul her mouth. Nina didn't put up any kind of restraint. Within minutes, Angel and Nina were in the bedroom.

Angel knew that he didn't love Nina. Angel barely cared for Nina. Angel just needed someone to help him that night to forget about the girl that had got away.

The end of Part 1

/

"You can't hide your lyin' eyes, and your smile is a thin disguise"

/

AN: Thank you for reading this part of the story. I have been working on this story for 3 weeks straight and I am exhausted. I did not expect this story to be as long as it is and I appreciate anyone who was sweet enough to sit and read all 72 pages of it. I am not even sure if I am going to write a part 2 to this story and if I do, it won't be coming for some time.

I am actually going to try to write some tie-ins to this part of the story before I officially start working on the actual part 2 of it.

AN2: I added music to certain scenes because I have a terrible time describing character's emotions and I figured that if I put music to a scene, you could see how XYZ character was feeling in the moment.

AN3: I am going to reunite our favorite lovers, just in case you are wondering. I just think that their reunion will be several chapters down the line. Several extremely short chapters down the line.

AN3: I would like to dedicate this part of the story to all of the lovely people over on the fanfiction reddit forum and to Sybil from the old blood roses forum. All of you gave me the strength to go ahead and finish this chapter when I really had no confidence in it at all. I love you guys immensely and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You don't know how much your warmth and kindness meant to me throughout this process.