Dilemmas
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Angel and all other characters (except those I make up) are the absolute property of Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy and Warner Bros (If I owned them, the events of Buffy season 4 or most of season 3 wouldn't have occurred).
SUMMARY: Hank gets in trouble with his employers and runs to Angel for help.
SPOILERS: All B/A up to season 3 and minor BTVS 4 & 5 and ATS 1 & 2.
TIMELINE: Approx. 10 years after Graduation Day II.
DISTRIBUTION: You want you can have it; just tell me where you put it.
PAIRING: Buffy/Angel
CATEGORY: AU, Action, and Romance.
NOTES: Buffy and Angel haven't seen each other since GDII and no one back in Sunnydale realised that Cordy was working for him or that he lived in LA.
NOTES 2: This is off one of my own challenges and I'll post the requirements at the end of the fic.
PART 1
Hank Summers stopped just outside of the doors and looked up at the imposing glass structure that housed his firm, Wolfram and Hart. Even though he was a mere accountant and not one of the many hotshot lawyers, he still felt a deep pride about working there. As he walked through the doors and into the building he spotted Lilah Morgan and her special projects flunkies pushing the lesser employees out of their way. He and everyone else he knew resented the fact that she and her subordinates thought they were better than everyone else was when the truth of the matter was that they weren't if anything they were worse. Hank had heard rumours about that division and if even the most harmless of those rumours was true he wasn't sure how any of them could sleep at night. He waited until they were gone, before he headed to the lifts and to another day in his cubicle.
A few hours later Hank began to wish that he'd stayed home that day. He stared down at the memo that he'd found on his desk under some files and felt sick. He knew that he hadn't been meant to see it not only because of its subject matter, but also because it was addressed to the special projects division. Hank sat back in his uncomfortable chair and thought about what he should do with the information. Should he tell the person involved and risk sanction by Wolfram and Hart? Or keep quiet and pretend that he hadn't seen it? Even as he debated with himself, he knew he was going to do the former, he couldn't let an innocent person die because he was scared. Hank stood up and paced his tiny cubicle trying to decide the best way to do it, so that the person was saved and that he hopefully wouldn't get caught.
When lunch time rolled around, Hank left the office just like he always did, but this time instead of heading to the nearest McDonalds, he climbed into his car and drove to the address of the intended victim. When he arrived he got out and gasped at the sight of the big fancy hotel and grumbled to himself about PI's earning more than he did. He entered the lobby and looked around for some sign of life, eventually he spotted a brunette working behind a desk. He crossed the room approaching the woman and said, "Excuse me?"
The woman looked up and smiled, "Hi, welcome to Angel Investigations. How can I help you?"
"I'd like to see Angel" Hank told her. When he noticed her hesitation he added, "It's about Wolfram and Hart."
The brunette quickly stood up, allowing Hank to see her obviously pregnant figure. "I'll just see if he's available," she said walking over to an office and disappearing inside. A minute later she returned, "He'll see you now." Hank walked towards the door she'd just came out of and wondered if all of this was worth him risking his neck for after all.
Angel watched as the door opened and a fifty something, podgy, balding man walked in nervously. He was surprised to find someone who looked so old working for Wolfram and Hart, they were usually so image conscious. "Hi" Angel began trying to put the man at ease, "You said you wanted to talk about Wolfram and Hart?"
"Yeah" Hank replied nervously. "I'm Hank... I uh... I work for them. I'm only an accountant and I know I shouldn't have... Look I found a memo mixed in with my files, it was for the special projects division... it said... it talked about killing you..."
Angel looked at the man sitting in front of him and was disturbed to realise that he was telling the truth. He'd figured that after eight years of blissful silence that they'd forgotten about him, but unfortunately they hadn't. "Did it say how? When? Why?" he asked.
"No" Hank answered, "I just thought you should know." Hank got up to leave and Angel grabbed his arm.
"Wait." He grabbed a business card and shoved it into Hank's hand, "If you need help... call."
"Thanks" Hank said pocketing the card and scurrying away.
A moment later Cordy waddled in with her giant stomach and her two-year-old son Rick on her hip. "What did he have to say?" she asked curiously.
"They want to kill me again" Angel replied.
"Jeez, those lawyers are even more persistent than Doyle was." She looked at her boss and best friend, "What?"
Angel sighed, "I don't think that guy has any idea what he's gotten himself into."
"So? Angel, it's not your responsibility. Unless he asks for help, leave it alone" Cordy told him waddling out.
"Sure" Angel answered absently wondering why the sudden reinterest in him.
"I found the memo," one of Lilah's flunkies Davidson said, walking into her corner office.
"Where?" she demanded. She didn't like mistakes and the employee that had lost the memo in the first place had already been dealt with appropriately and his widow sent condolences.
Davidson took a deep breath, "It was on an accountants desk. Obviously he saw it."
"And is probably warning Angel right now..." Lilah finished. "I want him to pay for this."
"Right away Ms Morgan" Davidson replied leaving the office quickly.
<Damn> Lilah thought, <Why do the screw-ups always happen on my watch. If I get in trouble for this I'll make them pay... all of them. >
Hank didn't go back to the office, instead he spent the afternoon wandering the beach and wondering if he'd made the right decision. Not coming to any conclusions he returned home and decided to put the whole mess behind him. He knew that he'd done the right thing, but from now on he knew nothing, he was going to be oblivious to all that went on around him. He flopped down in his favourite armchair and reached for the phone, he started to dial the number and paused. Hank reconsidered calling his daughter's Buffy and Dawn, he knew that they hated him and he really couldn't blame them. He had abandoned them with Joyce while he lived his own life and when Joyce was sick and they needed him he'd ignored their pleas and stayed on in Europe with is at the time girlfriend. No matter what he did he knew he could never make that up to them.
He put the phone back down deciding not to stir up any bad feelings and shuffled into the kitchen to grab a beer. He went over to the fridge and was about to open in when he noticed the smell and realised how long it had been since he'd bothered to take out the trash. Deciding that there was no time like the present he grabbed the bag and headed outside, he was barely six feet out of the door when his house exploded and he and the garbage were sent flying through the air by its force. Hank landed in the algae filled swimming pool and after a moment gathered his wits enough to climb out. As he sat there surveying the damage he noticed a car speeding away and he felt like he was going to have a heart attack, when he heard the sirens approaching he ran off to the nearest phone booth. Pulling the soggy barely readable card out of his pocket he dialled Angel Investigations.
PART 2
Angel cursed when he was woken by the incessantly ringing phone, but figuring that it must be an emergency - maybe something was wrong with Cordy or Doyle - he answered it. "Hello?" he answered sleepily.
"Angel? It's Hank... you know I warned you about Wolfram and Hart earlier" Hank's anxious voice came down the line.
"I remember" Angel murmured wondering what was wrong.
"I think... no I know that someone is trying to kill me," Hank all but yelled down the line.
"How?" Angel asked suddenly awake and cursing himself for listening to Cordy and not to his own gut feeling.
Hank took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He replied shakily, "They blew up my house...if it had gone off two seconds earlier..."
Angel tried to get his sleep-fuzzed brain to think. "So they think you're dead?"
"Yeah... I don't think anyone saw me" Hank answered.
"Do you have anywhere you can hide... so that they can't find you?" Angel asked thinking he could stash Hank away until it had blown over... or until some new beastie caught their eye.
An idea dawned on Hank when Angel said that. "Yeah... I know the perfect place" Hank replied sneakily.
Buffy had barely climbed into bed when some obnoxious person began banging on the front door. Figuring it was Spike forgetting his keys again, she got up and was prepared to yell at the annoying vampire that had been her and Dawn's roomie for the last eight years. Instead when she opened the front door, she received a shock. "Dad?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.
Hank barged past his shocked daughter and entered the house, "So where's my room?"
"Room?" Buffy asked confused. "Wait a second here. Dawn and I don't see you for more than a decade, you ignored us when mom died and now you show up at three o'clock in the morning and I'm supposed to give you a room to stay in."
"Buffy... I'm here because I want to... no, I need to make all the neglect up to you and Dawn"
Hank told her putting on his concerned face. "Won't you give me a chance? Give us a chance to be a real family?"
Buffy knew Hank was up to something and it obviously wasn't good, but she also knew that she couldn't just send him back out there at night. Not only because there was vampires and other ooky things, but because there was a rogue demon out there that was eating humans. "Look dad, I'm tired and not thinking straight. Can we discuss this when it's daylight?"
"Sure" Hank replied, "Now, where's my room?"
Buffy groaned loudly and led Hank upstairs to the guestroom. Once he was settled, Buffy crawled back into bed and drifted off into peaceful oblivion.
Lilah Morgan was dreaming about rolling around a bed full of money when the phone rang and pulled her from it. "What?" she barked down the line wondering who had the nerve to not only call her at home, but in the middle of the night also?
"Ms Morgan? Begging a thousand pardons, but our attempts to eliminate Mr Summers didn't work" Davidson told her gently.
"WHAT?" Lilah screamed down the line. "How could you miss? You blew up his entire house."
"He obviously was outside when we set the explosion off" Davidson answered, "We found garbage floating in the pool, he may have been taking it out."
"Let me get this straight... My special projects division, the best of the best were screwed by garbage" she said in a tight, sarcastic voice.
"Yes, Ms Morgan."
"Find him and get rid of him or it will be your body they find" Lilah screeched slamming the receiver down. She got up and went to get ready for the office; she needed to prepare in case the senior partners got whiff of what cock-up had occurred. She had no intention of dieing because of someone else's screw-up.
A few hours later Buffy was in the kitchen making breakfast, when a bleary eyed Dawn stumbled in wearing her pink puppy pyjamas. "Who was the moron at the door earlier? Was it Spike again?" Dawn asked sleepily.
"No" Buffy answered continuing to beat the hell out of the pancake batter. A few moments later she put the batter down and turned to face Dawn, "It was Dad."
Dawn's face paled and she sank down to the floor in shock. After a minute she could speak again, "Dad? What is he doing here?"
"I don't know. I told him we'd discuss it later" Buffy replied turning back to her breakfast task.
"Why didn't you throw him out? I don't want him here" Dawn yelled.
"Sshh" Buffy hissed. "I don't want him here either, but I couldn't send him out in the dark. You know there's the flesh eater out there as well as the usual vamps."
"Yeah, I do" Dawn said with an evil grin.
Before Buffy could say another word Hank marched in. "Buffy and Dawnie, my two baby girls. It warms my heart so to be here with you."
"Go to hell, Hank" Dawn told him getting up from the floor and flounced out of the room.
"Well... she's definitely her mother's daughter. It's a good thing you always took after me" he told Buffy.
Buffy had never been so insulted in her life, she turned around and threw the batter at Hank's head, it barely missed him. "You are the biggest jerk I've met" Buffy yelled, "I hate you, Dawn hates you. I sincerely hope you didn't unpack because we want you gone by the time we get home from work." Buffy left the room and then the house trying to distance herself from the conflict.
Hank stood there in shock, wondering where the two sweet kids he remembered had gone and where the shrews had sprung.
PART 3
Lilah Morgan sat at her desk looking over the status reports on the Hank Summers situation and grimacing over the incompetence of those working fro her. She was majorly upset with the progress and when she was displeased bad things happened to those who worked for her. She was about to deal out some punishment when Davidson walked in with a fresh report. "Well..." she demanded bitchily.
"We think we've found him" Davidson told her calmly, "We're waiting on confirmation of the location."
The look of evil left Lilah's eyes and was replaced by a look of triumph. "Excellent. The second confirmation is in send our most talented assassin after him" she ordered feeling pleased with her new situation.
"Yes, Ms Morgan" Davidson parroted and exited the office. Lilah smiled with this move she would surely impress the senior partners, ensuring her survival and maybe even a little extra funding to some of her projects. Life was good and as soon as that turncoat Hank Summers was dead, it would be even better.
Hank was still at the house when Buffy returned home from work, which just cheesed Buffy off even more. "I thought I told you to get out?" Buffy said in an unnaturally calm voice.
"I can't" Hank replied not moving from his seat on the couch.
"Huh? Why can't you?" Buffy asked.
"No."
"Look just grab your stuff and leave" Buffy repeated. She wanted him gone; she had a bad feeling that having him there would mean trouble for her.
Hank looked up at his eldest daughter and realised that the doting father routine wasn't going to work on her. "Buffy, I'm in trouble. Big trouble."
Buffy sighed and didn't feel any triumph over being right. "What kind of trouble?" she asked praying that it was tax evasion or something like that and not vampires or something.
"I don't want to involve you" Hank replied, "I just need a place to crash."
Buffy sat down next to him. "You involved both Dawn and I the second you walked through that door" she told him.
Hank sighed, "This could take a while."
"I've got time" Buffy answered determined to make her father squirm for this.
"Angel man, where are yer goin'?" Doyle asked as Angel rushed past him.
"Just to Caritas" Angel replied skidding to a stop. "I thought that Lorne might be able to shed some light on the Hank situation."
Doyle quickly looked around and saw that his wife was nowhere to be seen. "Take me with ya" he begged pathetically.
"No. I promised Cordy that I'd keep you away from bars" Angel told him.
"But... but I'm not goin' for the drinkin', just the singin'" Doyle protested.
"Do I look stupid enough to believe that?" Angel asked incredulously.
"Maybe."
"Bye Doyle" Angel replied leaving.
Doyle watched his best friend's retreating figure and muttered "jerk" under his breath.
"I heard that" Angel called back over his shoulder.
Ten minutes later Angel entered Caritas, the small out of the way karaoke bar that he'd frequented for the past nine years and sat down at the bar. He ordered a whiskey and scanned the room for Lorne, whom he spotted coaching a nervous Cava demon onto the stage. As soon as he was finished, Angel saw him heading in his direction.
"Angel, how's the PI business?" Lorne asked taking a seat next to him a moment later.
"Same old" Angel answered casually.
"You of course mean besides the fact that a certain law firm wants you dead once again" Lorne replied.
"How did you..."
"Some of the special projects guys were in here earlier" Lorne told him. "By the way, did you know that they know exactly where your client is hiding?"
"WHAT?" Angel could hardly believe his ears; even he didn't know where Hank was hiding out.
"Where?"
Lorne nodded towards the stage, "You know the deal, big guy."
Angel looked him straight in the eye and said, "You really want me to sing?"
Lorne thought it over for a moment; "Okay this one's a freebie. Hank is hiding with his children."
"So?"
"You know them" Lorne answered cryptically.
"How do I know them?" Angel asked confused.
"Hank is your old gal-pal's daddy" Lorne answered gleefully.
Angel paled, of all the people in LA that could've warned him about things, it had to be Buffy's father. "Thanks" Angel managed to get out.
"No problem. By the way say hi to the slayer for me" Lorne replied walking away.
Angel struggled over what to do all the way back to the Hyperion, but in the end he knew that he was going to go to Sunnydale and help Hank. It was just a painful and extremely awkward bonus that he would also get to see his beloved Buffy again after all this time. He walked into the hotel in time to catch Cordy and Doyle before they left. "Go home and get packed. We have to help Hank" he told them hoping to not tell them their destination until they were on their way there.
"Why? Where are we going?" Cordy asked curiously.
Angel sighed and realised that he should've known he'd have to convince Cordy to go. "We're going to Sunnydale" Angel told her.
Cordy stared at him as though he'd grown another head. "No way. They say you can't go home again and I don't want to test the theory."
"We're going, so go home and pack. I'm picking you two up in an hour" Angel told them going off to pack for himself.
Doyle put his hand on his wife's shoulder, "Does this mean I'm finally gonna meet me in-laws?"
"Don't count on it" Cordy told him. "Okay, I'll go, but the second he starts to brood over Buffy... I am just so out of there."
"Buffy? He's over her, it's been ten years" Doyle said confused.
Cordy turned and kissed him, "I love you, but sometimes you're an idiot."
"What?"
"Let's go pack," Cordy said grabbing him and their son and heading home.
PART 4
"So... you're employer's are trying to kill you?" Buffy asked staring at her father while trying to assimilate the information.
Hank stared back and said, "You don't believe me do you? I guess I can't blame you."
"Actually I think I do..." Buffy said. She stood up and paced for a moment and then turned back to Hank, "Dad, do you trust me?"
"Yeah" Hank told her confused.
Buffy sighed, she knew she had to help him out of this and to do that she was going to have to involve the gang. "I have some friends... maybe we can help" she said.
"I already have a PI working the case" Hank replied.
"It can't hurt to get another opinion, can it?"
"No, it can't. Are you sure they'll help?" Hank asked.
"I'd like to see you stop them."
Lilah was getting ready to leave the office for home when Davidson caught up with her outside of the lifts. "Ms Morgan?" he called.
Lilah turned around and used her charming smile, lulling him into a false sense of security, "Yes, Davidson."
"We just received confirmation of his whereabouts" Davidson told her.
"I trust you carried out my orders," she said with cool distain.
"Yes, Ms Morgan. I did so immediately."
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow Davidson," she said climbing aboard the lift. When the doors closed she sighed in relief, not only was her own neck saved by this, but she now didn't have to train a new assistant to replace Davidson. She stepped out of the lift and headed to her car and home.
Hank watched Buffy while she was on the phone and realised he was feeling better. Sharing his secret with Buffy had definitely lightened his burden; he didn't even feel all that bad about increasing hers. He listened to her talk to someone named Giles and wondered who exactly was going to help him. Buffy hung up the phone and said, "They'll be here soon."
"Who are they?" Hank asked.
"Just some friends of mine, they like to help people" Buffy replied hoping Hank didn't find out about the whole slayer thing. Just then she heard the sound of the basement door opening, she'd forgotten about Spike... hopefully he wouldn't do or say anything too strange.
"Fluffy... where's me damn wheatbix?" Spike yelled from the kitchen a minute later.
"Who's that?" Hank asked suspiciously. He didn't want to believe that one or both of his daughters were shacked up with some guy.
"Oh, that's Spike... he's a... friend who we let stay in the basement" Buffy managed to say. She was mentally kicking herself, but that was the only thing she could come up with it's not like she could tell her dad that Spike was a vampire and grand-childe of her ex-boyfriend.
"FLUFFY!" came the yell from the kitchen.
"I'll be right back" she told her dad as she rushed off to quieten Spike down.
Angel was starting to wish that he'd left Cordy behind in LA. All that she'd done since they started the trip was whine and complain, then because of her advanced pregnancy they'd had to stop every twenty minutes so she could go to the bathroom. They were ten minutes outside of Sunnydale and she was starting again, "I need to go to the bathroom again."
"We're almost there, you can wait" Angel said his patience strained to the limit. He tried to remind himself that the last few months that she'd been in Sunnydale had been hard and her parents and she didn't speak, but she shouldn't whine like a two-year-old trying to get her own way. He silently hoped the whining was because of her pregnancy and not some new manipulation technique she was trying out, because he'd really hate to have to deal with it.
"No."
"Princess... you're scaring Rick" Doyle said pointing to his son.
"Rick's asleep" Cordy argued. She knew she was being a big baby, but she really didn't want to come back to Sunnydale. In her opinion she never had to come back here, her parents had all but disowned her when she informed them of her impending marriage to Doyle all those years ago and since Buffy and Angel didn't talk... she thought she'd seen the last of Sunnydale.
"Well, you're scaring me" Doyle sniped. He could understand about her not wanting to be here, but he knew that part of her needed to be, she had to face the past to get completely over it. He knew that she still cried on her birthdays and Christmas when a card from her parents never arrived, even though she sent them one.
A few minutes later they arrived at the mansion and they all climbed out. "How come it's so clean?" Cordy asked suspiciously as they entered.
"I pay someone to keep it that way" Angel replied walking past her. He turned back to his friends and said, "I'm going to unpack and then patrol. Pick any room you like."
Doyle looked at the impressive surrounds of the mansion and whispered, "How much money does he have?"
"A lot... after all he's been around for a long time" Cordy replied walking off. Doyle carrying their sleeping son followed without question.
A few minutes later Buffy returned to living room towing a blonde guy that reminded Hank of Billy Idol. "Dad, this is Spike. He's Dawn's and my lodger" Buffy introduced the two men knowing that it was her only option at the moment since she hadn't thought to lock the basement door and trap Spike.
"Nice to meet you" Hank replied politely all the time sizing this guy up.
"So you're their dad? Wow" Spike said somewhat sarcastically. Even though this was the first time he'd ever laid eyes on Hank, he was most definitely not his biggest fan; in fact he thought Hank was a giant scumbag.
Buffy stood there eyeing both men trying to figure out if they were going to be civil or fight. After a moment Spike sat down and Hank relaxed slightly, causing Buffy to sigh in relief. Just then the doorbell rang and Buffy went to answer it, but as she left the room she heard Spike say, "Hank, did you know Buffy and I were once engaged?"
PART 5
Buffy returned to the living room with the scooby gang in tow and saw the look of shock on her father's face and secretly wondered what Spike had been telling him. "Dad... these are my friends" she told Hank introducing them hoping to take Hank's mind off anything Spike had said.
They all sat down and Hank began retelling his story, he was up to the part when he'd warned the PI when Dawn came home and Buffy rushed up to greet her and stop Dawn from making a scene in front of everybody.
"Buffy... why are you hanging around the door?" Dawn asked as she entered the house. Buffy hadn't hung around the door waiting for her since senior year, except when something had happened... something Dawn wouldn't like. She searched her sister's face and groaned. "Please tell me he left" she begged.
"Well..." Buffy began.
"BUFFY! I want him gone" Dawn told her. She tried to march past her, but Buffy grabbed her arm.
"Dawnie, he's in trouble."
"So? Let him be" Dawn replied, "You can't save everyone and some people don't deserved to be saved anyway."
"He's still our father" Buffy argued.
"No, he's the biological donor... as far as I'm concerned Giles is our dad" Dawn said rushing up the stairs not looking back.
Buffy stood there looking at the empty staircase for a moment and headed back into the living room and found everyone sitting there in silence. "What's wrong now?" she asked her patience growing short.
The gang looked at each other and Willow whispered, "Don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"Who the PI is that Hank hired?" Xander asked.
Buffy looked at her friends and said, "I didn't ask. Why?"
Spike cracked up laughing and replied, "This is too good. Fluffy has no bloody idea."
"What?" she asked looking directly at Giles.
Giles shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tried to think of a way to tell Buffy the news.
Fortunately for him and unfortunately for Buffy, Anya was the one to tell her. "It's some guy called Angel. Heard you bonked him until he was evil once" Anya told her.
Buffy went pale and sank to the floor in shock. Angel... after all this time he was back in her life and there was no way she avoid dealing with him or any of the issues he brought up. Since all of their attention was on Buffy, no one noticed when Spike slipped away from house and disappeared into the night.
Angel sneaked through the cemeteries of Sunnydale patrolling, but not once did he catch sight of Buffy. He couldn't pretend that this was good because as much as he wanted to avoid her, he also wanted to see her. Even after all this time he couldn't get the last haunted look she'd shot him across the yard just before he walked out of her life, leaving her alone just as he promised he never would do. He could tell himself a million times that he was only here in Sunnydale to protect Hank, but the truth was he was really here to see her... to protect her from harm. After a few more minutes he headed back to the mansion to sleep, prepare for the coming trouble and to protect not only his client, but also those near and dear to him. He was about halfway there when he felt a familiar but annoying presence. "Spike" he said turning around and facing the angry vampire.
"Bloody hell Peaches, yer human. First the poofy soul and now this, 'ave yer no shame?" Spike asked staring at Angel like he was some sort of freak.
"If I'd wanted to discuss my lifestyle with you, I'd've called. What do you want?"
"Keep away from Fluffy and the Niblet... they don't need yer hangin' around" Spike told him.
Angel looked at Spike and saw something in his eyes. "Why?" Angel pressed trying to crack Spike's veneer, "I marked her, it's my right to do what I please with her."
"Because... yer... well..." Spike didn't know what to say, "Bloody hell, just keep away."
When Spike turned and started to walk away realisation dawned over Angel. "You're in love with her" he yelled after Spike.
Spike suddenly turned around and rushed at Angel knocking him down. "So what? It doesn't matter, no matter what I do... how I'm there... she still wants you" Spike said pounding his fist into Angel's nose. "I was the one who helped when Joyce was sick, I was the one who looked after the Niblet when evil attacked, I was the one who helped organise the damn funeral and what do I get... nothin'. She still wants you" Spike climbed off of Angel and continued his tirade. "I'm sick of it... now you turn up all poofy human and I'm out of the runnin' again, not that I was ever in it. You make me sick" he told him as he walked away.
Angel lay there for a few minutes trying to absorb the information. Spike was in love with Buffy, Angel couldn't help but feel sorry for his former grand-childe, and he of course knew how unrequited love could eat at you from the inside. And Joyce had been sick... and died? He hadn't known, if he had he would've been back there instantly at her side to help both her and Dawn through it. Angel climbed to his feet and hobbled back to the mansion for a deep brooding session.
PART 6
Buffy creped downstairs the next morning and was relieved to find that everyone must still be asleep. She'd skipped patrol and hidden out in her room all night after the incident and even after hours of intensive thought she couldn't deal with the fact that out of every PI in LA her dad had to help Angel. She started to make breakfast for her, Dawn and their dad and a few minutes later Dawn joined her in the kitchen.
"Buffy? You're okay aren't you?" Dawn asked worriedly. She'd never seen Buffy look like she had the night before and it had scared the heck out of her.
"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Buffy continued cooking.
"Buffy?" Dawn pressed.
Buffy took the bacon off the pan and then turned around and faced Dawn. "What do you want me to say? That I'm glad he's back or something? Because I'm not sure how I feel about all of this"
Buffy told her. "I'm not sure I'm supposed to feel anything... it's been ten years."
Dawn looked at Buffy in amazement, "Oh My God... you're still in love with him."
"Don't be stupid Dawnie. The guy took my heart and tore it apart. Why would I love him?" Buffy said turning back to the bacon and slapping it into a sandwich.
"Because he's Angel" Dawn told her coming up behind her and hugging her.
Neither of them heard Hank walk in until he spoke. "So you do know that Angel-guy, huh?" Hank questioned wondering what circles Buffy travelled in to meet all of these strange people.
"Nah, Hank. She looks like she did last night all the time" Dawn told him sarcastically. She'd accepted that they had to help him, but it didn't mean she had to be nice to him.
Buffy handed Hank his breakfast and said, "We dated once."
"Really?" Hank asked all though he wasn't really interested.
Dawn saw the interest leave Hank's face and realised that she needed to shake him up a bit.
"Yeah, he was the first boy Buffy... uh... slept with" Dawn announced.
Hank choked on the bite of his breakfast and while Buffy rushed over to help him, Dawn happily left the room whistling a merry tune.
"So... Spike's in love with Buffy?" Cordy asked Angel for the millionth time that morning.
"For the last time, yes" Angel replied wishing that Doyle could keep his mouth shut and not tell Cordy everything he hears in confidence.
"Wow. Ten years later and she's still head-lining the freak show" Cordy muttered to herself.
Angel was just about to kill her, when Doyle entered the room with Rick. "Hey Ricky-boy. Go to yer Uncle Angel, while I kiss yer mommy," Doyle told his son.
Rick did as he was told and Angel picked up his beloved Godchild, the closet thing he expected to get to have a child of his own. He watched Cordy and Doyle together and for a moment wondered what it would've been like if he'd come back to Sunnydale after his sanshu. To break the train of thought he said, "I'm going over to check on Hank after breakfast."
Cordy turned to Doyle and said, "See less than a day and he's already heading to Buffy."
"Uh... princess, she's probably at work" Doyle replied hoping to avoid an argument between Angel and Cordy.
"Unless she's now an unemployed freak?" Cordy said.
When Doyle saw the look in Angel's eyes he said, "I think it's a good idea... why don't yer go now."
Angel took his friends suggestion and put his Godson down before leaving the mansion in a swirl of his black duster.
"He's still an attractive man" Doyle muttered, earning him a smack from Cordy as they carried on with their meal.
Hank was sitting on the couch watching Days Of Our Lives, recovering from his earlier shock and trying to ignore the loud snoring coming from the basement when it first attacked. A dart of some sort whizzed past Hank's head and hit a photo of his late ex-wife right between the eyes; this caused Hank to duck down near the couch. He wondered what was attacking him and how it had found him so quickly; his thoughts were interrupted as another dart impaled the TV screen. Hank snuck a look over the couch and saw nothing, and then he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up. Whatever it was it was hanging from the ceiling, poised for its next attack, Hank got up and tried to run but it pounced on him. This knocked him down and Hank let out the biggest scream ever heard in Sunnydale.
PART 7
Angel was almost at the house when he heard a scream and he rushed inside, breaking the front door in as he went. He spotted Hank lying on the floor unconscious but otherwise okay, but he didn't see anything that could've attacked Hank. Something dripped onto the sleeve of Angel's duster and Angel slowly looked up towards the ceiling where he saw a Zortax demon hanging there ready to pounce. As it let go of the ceiling, Angel rolled out of the way and stood up; he faced the demon and slowly tried to circle towards the kitchen and a weapon. The Zortax made another lunge this time knocking Angel down, he pushed the demon off and crawled towards the kitchen. He was only part the way there when it grabbed him and pulled its way up his body towards his throat. Angel swallowed the bitter taste that had suddenly come into his mouth and closed his eyes knowing that this was the end... he was going to die. A minute later when nothing had happened, Angel opened his eyes to find Spike standing over him holding the Zortax like it was a misbehaving puppy.
"Is the big poof bothering you?" he asked it, all the time laughing at Angel.
"Ha-ha Spike" Angel replied climbing to his feet. He looked at the tiny, but dangerous demon in
Spike's hands and said, "You do know you have to kill it."
"Yeah... Fluffy doesn't allow pets, especially evil ones" Spike agreed breaking the Zortax's neck.
Angel couldn't help himself the words were out before he could stop, "So how come you're still around?"
"Stuff it..." Spike began, but he was cut off by Hank regaining consciousness.
Angel rushed over to help his client and Spike hung back thinking how bad it was that the Zortax hadn't finished Hank off before it attacked Peaches.
"Hank... you okay?" Angel asked helping him up.
"Angel?" Hank asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you." At Spike's cough Angel added, "Getting saved by Spike."
"We have to call Buffy" Hank said moving to the phone.
Angel watched him do that and realised that he didn't have a choice he was about to come face to face with Buffy... a lot sooner than he'd intended.
Buffy was having a hard time concentrating on her job, all she could think about was Angel and what Dawn had said to her earlier. It was ridiculous... she wasn't still in love with him, Dawn was imaging things again, she kept telling herself. She could almost believe it, if she blocked out the voice inside that kept reminding her that it could be true. None of her relationships had made it, she just could never bring herself to make a true commitment... to reveal the secrets she kept and the one time she did do that it was a disaster. Riley Finn, she couldn't believe how he'd reacted when she'd turned down his proposal at college graduation... had he really thought she'd abandon everyone to follow him to Iowa. She looked up when the student she was supposed to be counselling said, "Can I go now?"
"Sure... same time next week" she told him distractedly.
"Whatever" came the mumbled reply.
Buffy was just about to leave her office for lunch when her phone rang. "Hello?" she said answering it.
"Buffy... something happened" Hank's voice came down the line.
Buffy suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach, accompanied by butterflies in her tummy the feeling she had whenever a certain someone was around... and something she'd lived without for a decade. "What?" she asked hoping she was panicking for nothing.
"Well this thing attacked me and..."
"Are you okay?" Buffy interrupted.
"Fine... so is my PI. That Spike weirdo saved us" Hank finished.
"You're PI? And Spike saved you? Why?"
"I'll explain all when you get home. When will that be?" Hank said.
"A while... there's a staff meeting after. I'll call the gang and we'll be there as soon as possible" she told him.
"Okay. See you soon sweetie" Hank told her.
"Bye dad" Buffy said softly and hung up the phone. She sat back down, stared out of her window and wondered why this had to happen to her. Why she had to face Angel? And how she was going to get through it? She damned Dawn for reminding her that she had a heart and that it belonged to someone who didn't want it.
PART 8
Davidson creped towards Lilah Morgan's office slowly, he didn't want to be the one to tell her that the assassin had failed and that Hank Summers was not only alive but being aided by Angel, a vampire and a slayer who happened to be his daughter. He remembered vividly how he came to be her assistant in the first place, when the previous one was found hacked into little pieces in her apartment. He knocked softly on the door and entered when told too, he walked to the desk and waited for permission to speak.
"Well?" Lilah demanded when she saw him.
"The Zortax failed" he said and braced himself for the icy grip of death.
"How?" she asked in an icy voice.
"Angel" Davidson said knowing that one word would explain more than any other explanation he could give.
Lilah's face turned red and she looked like she was going to explode. "Angel?" she managed to hiss, "Send another assassin and this time kill that meddling PI too."
"Right away Ms Morgan" Davidson said rushing from the room grateful to be alive.
Angel was silently freaking out, he'd called Cordy and Doyle and they had promised to be there soon, but what if Buffy arrived before them? He didn't think he could handle her presence without their support. He stole a quick look at Spike and saw that he was glaring at him, he couldn't blame him... according the logic of Spike he was intruding on his territory and on his woman. The doorbell rang and Angel let out a sigh of relief, until he saw that it wasn't Cordy and Doyle but Giles who had arrived.
"Angel" Giles said staring at him. "My God, you're..."
"Yeah" Angel said. He was growing more and more uncomfortable and wished that he was anywhere but there at that moment.
"Well..." Giles didn't know what to say, he didn't like that Angel was sitting there and was human after all he'd done, after Jenny...
The doorbell rang again and this time Angel answered it, he didn't actually care who was there as long as he didn't have to sit there and be stared at by Giles. This time it was actually Cordy and Doyle.
"Sorry man, 'Delia didn't wanna come" Doyle apologised for leaving his friend in the lurch.
"It's okay" Angel understood where Cordy was coming from and in fact he was mere moments away from telling Hank to handle it himself and heading back to LA.
They headed into the living room Angel introduced them to Hank and then introduced Doyle to Giles and Spike. Everyone started to talk and Angel pretty much hid in the corner wondering when the torturous wait would be over and if he'd lose his nerve and run when he saw her.
Buffy arrived home an hour later, having just endured the worst staff meeting of her life of course that paled in comparison to what she was about to have to go through. She pulled up in front and saw everyone just standing around outside, she got out and went over to them. "What are you doing?" she asked them.
"I don't want to go in there" Xander said, "Helping your dad was one thing. Dealing with Deadboy..."
"Grow up" Anya told her husband. "I wanna go inside and get a look at the eye-candy."
Willow looked at Buffy, grasped Tara's hand and said, "We just joined in."
"Look guys, we have to face him sometime and frankly I have more to worry about than you. I'm the one he dumped, he didn't do anything to you" Buffy told them. She knew she was being snippy to them and didn't want to be, but it was just too hard to ignore the feeling of him nearby and it made her mad that even after a decade she was aware of his presence.
"Your wrong" Willow told her, "He did do something to us."
"What?"
"He left us to pick up the pieces of what once was Buffy" Xander said marching off towards the house with the others following.
Buffy found herself standing there all alone and wondered why everything happened to her. After a few seconds she sighed and followed too.
Part 9
Buffy found herself attacked by Dawn just as she got to the door. "Isn't it so cool?" Dawn said bouncing around.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked confused. She didn't know what Dawn was babbling about, but she also didn't care at the moment all she wanted was to get the first meeting over.
Dawn stopped bouncing and looked at her, "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Boy... are you in for a major surprise" Dawn said calmly walking off.
Buffy shook her head and walked into the living room... well she tried to walk into the living room, but Xander and Willow blocked the door. "Guys... wanna move?" she said pushing them, all the time wondering why they were acting weird. She managed to push them out of the way and stopped in shock as soon as she saw him. It wasn't just the shock of seeing him instead of feeling him; there was something different about him. "You're alive?" she managed a few minutes later.
"Yeah" was all Angel said as he braced himself for the fireworks.
"Congratulations" she told him as she moved and sat down next to her father. "So what are we going to do about the situation?" she asked the room as though it was an ordinary scooby meeting.
Angel was confused... very confused, she hadn't even slapped him or called him a pig or accused him of controlling her life. Why hadn't she? Why was she treating him like nothing had ever happened between them? He'd expected some reaction; it's just not an everyday occurrence that your ex-boyfriend who was a vampire showed up human. Besides Dawn had assured him that Buffy still felt something for him... had she been mistaken? He was driven from his thoughts when Cordy kicked him in the shin, "What did you do that for?"
"Why don't you just take the photo from your wallet and stare at that. At least that won't kick you butt" Cordy told him.
Angel dropped his eyes away from Buffy's face. "I don't know what you're talking about?" he said to Cordy.
"Please! You are like a stalker" Cordy replied, "If you want to know what she's really feeling about this whole situation, I'm sure she'll let her true feelings show sooner or later."
"What feelings? She acts like I'm not even here" Angel hissed.
"Hello!" Cordy stated sarcastically, "What did you expect to find ten years after you dumped her?"
"I don't know, but not this. I can't take this indifference, she should hit me or something" Angel replied quietly.
Cordy felt her friend's pain; "Maybe it's up to you to make the first move."
"Maybe she doesn't want me to make one."
"Then it's her loss" Cordy said showing her support.
Angel looked at Buffy once again and saw that she was avoiding looking in his direction. He took that as a hopeful sign, if she felt nothing she could stare through him like he didn't exist and this proved she did, didn't it? Angel wasn't sure, but he knew that after this mess was over he was going to reclaim what he should never have let go of in the first place.
Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy could see Cordy and Angel discussing something, not that she cared what it was. Okay, she did care and a small part of her wished that it were her he was talking to, but she wasn't going to let some left over feelings from high school cost her dad his life.
She turned to Willow and said, "What do you think they're saying?"
Willow gave Buffy a strange look, "Probably the same thing we are. How to save your dad from Wolfram and Hart."
"Right. Of course they are."
"Buffy, are you okay? You're acting really strange and you didn't kick his butt over the humanity thing" Willow asked concerned.
"I'm fine. I didn't kick his butt because it's none of my business" Buffy answered trying to look at Angel without anyone else seeing her do it.
Willow wasn't so sure; Buffy was behaving like she still had major feelings for Angel. She vowed that as soon as she managed to get Buffy alone she was going to confront her about this, because if Buffy and Angel were distracted by their feelings then someone could die as a result.
When this was all over whatever they choose, then she'd be happy for them, just not now.
PART 10
Buffy was going slowly nuts; the last three hours had been torture. Everyone had been sniping at each other (especially Dawn and Hank), Spike had kept putting his hand on her knee as a sign of ownership, Cordy had been glaring at her for no apparent reason and last but not at all least, Angel had been continually staring at her. She needed to escape... in fact she needed to patrol; killing something would definitely improve her mood. She stood up; "I need to... uh... go to the market."
"I'll come" Spike and Angel said at the same time, standing up.
Buffy's eyes widened in panic, "I think I can go to the market by myself."
Both of them sat down again and Hank opened his big mouth. "Someone should go with you. A woman isn't safe alone at night, even in a small town" he said.
"I'll go," they both said again.
But Hank had already decided who would go. "I think Angel should go with her" Hank said, "He's a trained PI."
"So?" Spike whined as Angel stood up.
"All right, I'll go" he said to Hank.
Hank was the only one who didn't notice the pained look on Buffy's face as Angel dragged her out of the door. All he could think about was that Angel seemed a heck of a lot more trustworthy with Buffy than that Spike-guy, despite the past relationship that they might've once had.
They'd been walking around Restfield for ten minutes and she was still ignoring him. "Buffy, we'll have to talk sometime" he told her. When she didn't do or say anything, he continued, "Come on. Say something... even better, hit me!"
"Why?" she said pretending that she didn't know what he was talking about.
He sighed, he should've known that nothing was ever easy for him when it came to her. "Because I didn't tell you where I was..."
"I didn't actually care."
"Or that I had become human?"
"None of my business" she said as she kept walking on.
Angel ran ahead and stood in front of her, "Yes it is."
She looked at him with a non-expressive face, but the fire in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
"If it was my business, you'd have told me somehow" she said pushing past.
He grabbed her arm; "Maybe I thought you'd reject me. I don't think..."
"That's right, you don't think. As Willow and Xander reminded me earlier, you broke me when you left. I became someone that I didn't like and I'm just returning to me now. So why should I give you the chance to break me again?" she said walking off.
Angel just stood there helpless. He'd been totally unaware of the effect his leaving had, had on her. Even though it was much too late for regrets, he suddenly wished that he's done things differently.
PART 11
After she'd stormed away from Angel, Buffy wandered around Sunnydale aimlessly. She wasn't really patrolling, she was thinking... about her life - especially the last decade, her relationships since he'd left... her relationship with him and any feelings that she might have now. She didn't come to any major conclusions, except that she must still feel something or him keeping his humanity from her wouldn't have hurt this much and neither would the fact that he'd been a measly two hours away from her all this time. Buffy wasn't sure what to do about these feelings or how to cope with Angel being in her face constantly for the foreseeable future, so she headed back home. As to keep up her cover story she stopped by the twenty-four hour market and grabbed something. When she arrived back she was relieved to find the house in darkness, this meant there wouldn't be any uncomfortable questions before the morning. Trying to sneak in quietly she came in the back door and was scared witless when she bumped into Spike. "Jeez" she said trying to get back her equilibrium, "Why are you sneaking around in the dark?"
"Well, Fluffy... I'm a vampire. We don't need a light to see in the dark" Spike answered sarcastically. Buffy glared at him, but he continued, "What did yer buy me?"
"Nothing" Buffy said handing him the shopping bag. She moved past him and headed off to bed.
Spike watched her go and was secretly happy. It was extremely obvious that she and Peaches had, had a fight... a bad one since the great poof hadn't even followed her home. Maybe this meant that she was finally over Peaches and ready to start anew... with him.
Angel was sitting in the courtyard of the mansion, berating himself for his monumental stupidity.
What had he expected her to do... throw open her arms and say all is forgiven? He was so lost in his brooding that he didn't hear Cordy approach.
"Hey" she said starling him.
"What are you doing up?" he asked her concerned. He hoped that she wasn't in labour and that he'd have to deliver the baby... not again.
"Couldn't sleep... same as last time. It's uncomfortable" Cordy told him. At the look on his face she added, "Don't worry. I intend to have this one in a hospital."
"Good" Angel mumbled. "What about Doyle?" he asked her.
"He can sleep through an earthquake... in fact he has done that" Cordy replied. They sat in silence for a moment, until Cordy asked, "How was the marketing?"
"Fine" he grumbled reluctantly.
"Angel" she pushed.
Angel gave in, "Nothing happened. We didn't even... market... together."
Cordy looked at her best friend's glum face. "What did she do?" she demanded.
"Nothing" Angel answered. At Cordy's glare he added, "She just told me that I broke her... when I left."
"Maybe you did" Cordy said sympathetically, "But you did what you thought was best."
"Was it? Was keeping the fact that I lived two hours away best? Was keeping my shanshu from her best? Was not being there for her and Dawn when their mom died best?"
"Angel... don't beat yourself up" Cordy told him, "You can't change the past."
Angel looked at her with those damn puppy dog eyes and she sighed. She didn't want to have to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Buffy, but if he wanted her... "You really want to go through this again?" Angel gave her look that said, "Duh". "Be there" was all she said.
"That's your big advice... Be there" Angel replied.
"Well, if every time she turns around you're in her face..."
Angel smiled, "She'll have to deal with me."
"Yep" Cordy said. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep. You should too."
"Goodnight Cor."
"Goodnight Angel."
Angel watched her waddle away and then stared up at the sky for a moment. For the first time since this whole mess with Hank started he felt hopeful... like everything would work out. He'd save Hank and then if his luck held out... he'd get the girl.
PART 12
The house on Revello Drive was quiet, but Greltar could still feel the presence of the bodies sleeping within it. She crept around the outside of the house; familiarising herself with the layout and then let herself into the house, walking in brazenly and heading up the stairs. She entered the bedroom Hank was using and stood there watching over his still form. It would be so easy to kill him now... but it wouldn't be any fun. Greltar's greatest joy came from the torment, the fear that she put her victims through before the kill. She leaned over him and placed a note she'd written next to his head on the other pillow and left as silently as she'd entered.
The next morning both Buffy and Dawn were awoken by Hank's terrified scream and went rushing into his room. Buffy rushed to comfort him as she attempted to find out what was wrong, while Dawn simply stood in the doorway.
"Damn, he's still breathing" Dawn stated turning around and leaving again.
Hank momentarily forgot to think about himself as he watched Dawn walk away. "She really hates me, doesn't she?" he asked Buffy.
"Dawnie and mom were really close. She took it really hard when mom died and since you weren't around..."
"She blamed me" Hank finished. Suddenly remembering that his own butt was in jeopardy he changed the subject and showed Buffy the note he'd found.
"Where did you get this?" Buffy asked after reading the chilling note, which explained exactly how Hank was going to die... and how anyone who got in the way would also meet their demise.
"It was on my pillow next to me when I woke up" Hank told her, "What should I do?"
Buffy freaked over the intrusion into her own home and though she hated to say it, but she did. "Call Angel" she told him.
Hank looked at her in surprise and with a slightly sheepish grin said, "I'd forgotten about him."
Buffy simply rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, leaving Hank to make his phone call.
Angel arrived just as Buffy was in the middle of making breakfast. Hank let him in and told him where Buffy was and scurried off. Angel walked into the kitchen and just stood there watching her cook... it drove her nuts. Buffy couldn't concentrate under his scrutiny... with him so close to her, all she could think about was him and she didn't want to think about that. "Could you back off?" she asked a moment later.
"Back off where? I'm standing across the room from you" was his reply.
Buffy groaned silently, "Can't you go bother someone else? Like Hank."
Angel moved to behind her, "No thanks. I like Hank and all, but I don't want to shower with him."
He grabbed Buffy's hand before she could move away and pulled her around to look at him, "There's only one Summers' that I'd be tempted to join in there."
Buffy's eyes widened in shock and she pulled her hand out of his grip. She couldn't believe that Angel had just made such a pass at her, he'd never done that... even when they were together. "I prefer baths" she told him turning back to breakfast.
"I can do baths" Angel whispered in her ear.
Before Buffy had a chance to stab Angel with the fork she was holding, Dawn entered.
"Morning Angel" Dawn greeted him happily. Then she looked at how close Buffy and Angel were standing, "Am I interrupting something?"
"No" Buffy said stiffly.
Angel smiled at the younger girl, "No, but five more minutes..."
"And nothing" Buffy said cutting him off, "There's nothing going on between us."
Dawn looked at Angel shaking his head and tried not to laugh. She decided to change the topic, "Where's the thing?"
"According to Angel, dad's in the shower" Buffy told her.
"Ooh" Dawn said visibly shaking, "Scary visual place."
"What's scary?" Hank said walking in.
"The scarring mental image of you naked" Dawn told him.
"Someone saw me naked? Who?" Hank asked.
"Angel" Dawn said.
Angel looked horrified; "I didn't..."
"You saw me naked?" Hank asked Angel, wondering if this was the reason that Buffy and he had broken up.
"No" Angel denied again, "I didn't."
Buffy was giggling at Angel being uncomfortable. "Dawnie" she said a second later, "Leave them alone."
"But they're so much fun to torture" Dawn whined good-naturedly.
Buffy just picked up the breakfast dishes and said, "We can discuss Hank's reason for calling over breakfast."
Before she even took a step, Angel took them for her arms and walked towards the dining room, leaving Buffy to wonder what the heck was going on.
PART 13
"You found a WHAT?" Angel yelled at them.
They had all just finished eating the breakfast Buffy had prepared and were now discussing the reason that Hank had actually called Angel.
"A note" Hank repeated feeling as though he was being interrogated. "Buffy thought that it was a warning from the assassin."
Angel looked at the note, as Hank passed it to him and realised whom it was that had written it ...it was not good news. However suddenly a plan came to him, one that would benefit his plan to get Buffy back, but also offer protection to Hank, Buffy and Dawn. "I think you're in serious trouble" he told Hank, "I think that you all should move into the mansion... at least until this is over."
"I don't think so," Buffy said in panic. She was having a hard enough time dealing with Angel being in Sunnydale. How would she cope in the same house?
"It's that, or Cordy, Doyle, the little one and I move in here. And let's face it the mansion has got a lot more room" Angel replied.
"Why should we move?" Hank asked Angel confused.
"Yeah, why?" Buffy echoed.
Angel looked at Hank and Buffy, "Because if we're under the same roof, Hank will stand a better chance of surviving this."
"I can protect him here" Buffy argued.
"Yeah, but at the mansion he'd have you, me, Doyle and Spike to watch him. It doubles his chances."
"Like Spike's ever gonna agree to move in with you" Buffy retorted.
Angel tried to hold in a smile, "Sure he will. It's his big chance to annoy me 24/7."
"Buffy... if it saves me..." Hank applied the pressure.
Buffy felt herself wavering, but decided to remain strong... at least until Dawn spoke.
"It's a good idea. Not only because of Hank, but because it will also protect you and me from this assassin. Who says that after it's finished with Hank that it won't come after one or both of us" Dawn said.
Buffy sighed; she didn't want anything to happen to Dawn... or Hank. "Okay, but I don't like it" she answered.
"All right" Angel said, "Go and pack. I'll meet you at the mansion in two hours. Spike can come after dark." He got up said goodbye and left.
Buffy watched him leave and wondered why it was always her life that went to hell.
When Angel arrived back at the mansion he found Doyle playing with Ricky. "Where's Cordy?" he asked his friend, "I need to talk to you both."
"She's lyin' down... she was upset" Doyle told him angrily.
"What happened?" Angel asked both curious and concerned for his friends.
Doyle sighed and tried to reign in his temper. "We went out for awhile and we ran into 'Delia's parents. They pretended not to know her or the little one."
"Poor Cordy" Angel said sympathetically.
"Yeah. Yer know it was the one time in my life when I actually wanted to hit a woman."
Angel took a deep breath and said, "So I guess this isn't a good time to tell you we're having house guests?"
"Buffy?" Doyle questioned his friend.
"And Dawn, Hank and Spike" Angel added. "Hank got a note from the assassin."
Doyle looked at Angel, "But the only one of Wolfram and Hart's assassin's that does that is..."
"Greltar" Angel finished.
"I thought that we got rid of her?"
"Well, she's back. This means that Hank's in worse trouble than I'd thought" Angel replied.
"Shall I call the... what are they... Scoobies?"
"Yeah, with Greltar around, we're going to need all the help we can get" Angel told him as he went off to get the rooms ready.
"Buffy?"
Buffy turned towards her door when she heard her name called and found Dawn standing there.
"What is it, Dawnie?"
"You really don't wanna go there, do you?"
"No... yes... no... I don't think so. However I need to for dad's sake, but..."
"But..." Dawn pushed. She had high hopes that Buffy and Angel would work out now that they'd both grown as people.
"I don't think I can handle being that close to him" Buffy replied. "That's not it... the truth is I think you were right about me still having feelings for him."
"Why is that a bad thing?"
"Because I have trouble willing myself to keep my hands off him and cover it up with vicious sarcasm" Buffy told her.
Dawn nodded, "Yeah, he's pretty hot... for an ex-dead guy."
"Dawnie!"
"Hey, I was only looking" Dawn told her. "Besides anyone can see they don't stand a chance by the way he looks at you. Plus this time around you don't have to keep your hands off."
"I know" Buffy said, then she sighed. "But I can't."
"Why not?"
"Dad's safety has to come first" Buffy said, "And when it's over, he'll be heading back to LA."
"Which is only TWO hours away" Dawn reminded her.
Buffy looked at Dawn suspiciously, "Why are you suddenly pushing me at Angel?"
"I just want you to be happy" Dawn replied.
"So it doesn't have anything to do with a blonde vampire?"
"No."
"So, you don't think that if I end up with Angel, that Spike will decide that you're the one?" Buffy asked.
"Maybe."
Buffy walked over to her sister. "Don't worry, I will never fall for Spike... he's all yours."
"Would you tell him that" Dawn said walking away back towards her own room.
Buffy sighed and turned back to her own packing and wondered why she didn't tell Angel to stick the co-habitation idea. She knew why, because it was really what she wanted, even if it killed to be with him and not WITH him.
PART 14
Lilah Morgan was upset. She was upset because Hank Summers, even after sending her two best assassins, was still alive and was now under the protection of a vampire, a slayer and Angel.
Not only that but Greltar was proving to be a total incompetent... actually Greltar was just following her own weird routine, but this time stalking and the use of torture was a luxury that just couldn't be afforded. Her thoughts were disturbed when Davidson walked into the room. "Well?" she demanded she wanted the latest news and she wanted it now.
Davidson was sweating, he was nervous because he knew that she wasn't going to like the news he had to deliver. "Our sources on the Hellmouth say that they've moved."
Lilah glared at her assistant, "Where did they go?"
"No one seems to know. They weren't expected to make a move during the day" Davidson explained.
Lilah shook her head as if she was clearing out the anger. "You're right," she said in a neutral tone, "Why don't you go and check if any more news has come through?"
"Yes, Ms. Morgan" Davidson said relieved to be escaping in one piece.
As soon as Davidson had left the office, Lilah was on the phone to her secretary. "Janet," she said, "Terminate Mr. Davidson and inform Mr. Adler that he's been promoted."
'Right away Ms. Morgan."
Lilah hung up, sat back in her chair and relaxed. Even though she now had to go through the trouble of training Adler to take Davidson's place, she was in a good mood. After the example that she'd just made of Davidson, everyone in her department would be anxious to please her and work twice as hard at finding and disposing of the traitor, Hank Summers.
Dawn sat in her new room and had to admit to herself that Angel had one hell of a plan. His idea of putting Buffy in the room straight across from him was predictable, but to put Hank next to her and Spike on the other side of Hank was genius. Buffy couldn't object because Angel explained to her that she was part of what Angel called 'Hank's protective habitat,' which basically meant that she was in the best position to help Hank if someone tried to kill him. Buffy had stormed off to her room in a huff, knowing that Angel had tricked her but that she couldn't do anything about it.
Dawn's favourite part was that Angel had put her straight across the hall from the room he was giving to Spike. Unfortunately Spike wouldn't be so happy with it; he'd want to be with Buffy. Not that Dawn had any idea why he preferred Buffy to her, but she knew that there was nothing that she could do about it... for now. Her immediate plan was to sit, wait and hope that Spike eventually got a clue.
"Dawn?"
Dawn snapped out of her thoughts and looked towards the doorway. "Hey Cordy" she said, "Is something wrong?"
"Angel... he's depressed... over Buffy" Cordy said. "He's my friend and if... she is what he..."
"Cordy, I'll help you set them up" Dawn told her.
"Great. Any ideas?" she asked waddling over to Dawn.
Dawn shrugged, "Nope."
Cordy looked at Dawn; "Spike has a whole Buffy-thing going, doesn't he?"
"Yeah."
"Then lets make them jealous. We'll use Spike on Angel and... Kate on Buffy" Cordy said deviously.
"Who's Kate?" Dawn asked confused by Cordy's so called plan.
"Never mind. All that matter is that it works" Cordy told her smiling.
Dawn smiled back even though she felt uneasy about Cordy's plan, but it wasn't like she had a better idea.
PART 15
Buffy lay down on the bed in her assigned bedroom and tried to get a grip on her raging emotions. She was feeling so many conflicting ones that she didn't want to leave her room and do something stupid, like going into Angel's room and killing him... or jumping his bones. There was a lot of crap that she had to get through and work through before she could actually do either. A knock on her door sounded quickly and before she could say anything, Hank entered.
"Hi" he said cautiously, "Are you still mad?"
Buffy sat up and stared at her father, "Why would I be mad?"
"That Angel put you across the hall from him" Hank said.
"No, not really."
Hank stared at her, "Well I am."
"Why?" Buffy asked him confused.
Hank looked at her even more intently, sometimes he swore she was still five years old and needed him to protect her from the world. "He's after you" Hank simply stated.
"I know... he always was" Buffy replied. "And I'm seriously debating letting him catch me."
"WHAT?"
"Dad..." Buffy started to say.
"Don't dad me, young lady. He is too old for you" Hank replied.
Buffy muttered, "You have no idea." Then she said as she got up, "I'm old enough to make my own decisions dad.
Hank looked somewhat embarrassed, "I know you are. I'm just worried... even though I'm not around much, you're still my little girl."
Buffy hugged him, "I know. But you don't have to worry, your safety is the only thing I'm concentrating on at the moment."
"I wasn't about me," Hank said returning the hug.
"Liar."
Meanwhile Cordy was in Dawn's room using Doyle's cell phone. "Kate" she was saying, "You're one of Angel's best friends and we need you down here to help in this situation."
"Cordy, I'll try to come down if it's necessary, but we're really swamped with work here" Kate replied looking through some case files.
Cordy frowned, "Angel would really appreciate it."
"I'm sure Angel can take care of the problem by himself" Kate answered.
"But..."
Kate sighed, "Look I'll come if I can, no promises. Bye."
"Bye Kate" Cordy replied disappointed. She really needed Kate down here or the whole plan that she and Dawn had come up with wouldn't work. Either that or they'd have to double up on sneaky Kate/Angel stories to compensate.
"So?" Dawn asked after Cordy hung up.
"Maybe."
Dawn just sat there with her mouth open. "What are we gonna do now?"
"Kate gossip."
"Huh?" Dawn asked confused.
Cordy sighed, "We just tell Kate stories... one's that are slightly altered to make it seem that she and Angel are more than friends."
"Will that even work? Buffy's not stupid" Dawn said.
"The way I alter them... even Angel will believe."
"Okay" Dawn agreed, "What should I do?"
"I'm tellin' yer man, 'Delia's up to somethin'" Doyle said pacing the living room with Rick in his arms.
"What makes you think that?" Angel asked unconcerned.
Doyle stopped pacing and stood in front of Angel. "She's been talkin' to the younger one for hours."
"So... she's talking to Dawn. That's not suspicious" Angel replied.
"She also took my cell phone and is in a really good mood" Doyle added sitting next to Angel.
Angel stared at his friend, "Ooh run everyone, Cordy's in a good mood."
"Laugh it up" Doyle said, "I think she's plotting somethin' to do with yer... Remember what happened last time."
Angel could vividly remember Cordy's last set-up. He ended up spending six hours trapped in a lift with Cordy's friend, Gayle. An aspiring actress with a voice to rival Fran Drescher's. "Okay"
Angel said trying to remain calm, "We've got to stop her."
"I'd like to see yer try" was all Doyle said.
PART 16
Doyle and Angel were still trying to figure out what Cordy's latest plan was and how it could involve Angel, when there was a loud knock on the front door. Angel got up and answered it and then found himself pushed aside as the Scooby gang walked in looking for Buffy. Although he'd never expected to be welcomed back into the group with open arms, he'd at least expected them to treat him politely and not as though he didn't exist... or wasn't worthy too.
"Hey. Where's Chip head?" Xander asked looking around the living room.
According to what Dawn had told Angel, Xander and Spike had become good friends... obviously united in their hate of him. "Well Einstein" Angel replied cheesed off at being ignored. "Since it was daylight when Buffy, Dawn and Hank arrived... I assume they left him at the house. You know, so he wouldn't fry."
Xander just stared at Angel, amazed that for once he had answered back. "Sure, whatever" he muttered trying not to show how that comment had unnerved him.
Then they all just stood there in an uncomfortable silence, none of them sure what to say to Angel and Doyle, when Dawn came downstairs.
"Hey guys," she said greeting her extended family. "If you're looking for Buffy she's upstairs with Hank." Dawn had barely finished the sentence when they all left the room without saying a word, to go to Buffy. "Was it something I said?" she asked Angel confused at their abrupt departure.
Angel shook his head sadly, "No. It was something I did."
Hank had just left and Buffy was looking forward to some quiet alone time, but the door swung open and in trumped the Scooby gang.
"Buffster" Xander yelled jumping on the bed, rattling Buffy.
Buffy looked at her friends in shock, "What are you guys doing here?" She didn't know how they knew that she was at Angel's and not at home, especially since she had decided not to tell them.
"That Irish fellow called us" Giles answered looking around curiously.
"Oh."
Willow looked at her friend's suitcase and duffle bag lying on the floor. "You're staying here?" she asked in a small, nervous voice.
"Yeah. Both Angel and Hank thought that it would increase the chance of Hank surviving the assassin" Buffy told her, trying to sound like the whole thing was no big deal.
"I'm surprised he didn't try to move you into his room" Xander said voicing his dislike of Angel again. "He didn't try that did he?"
Buffy sighed and pointed the room across from hers, "That's his room. And chill Xan, he didn't try anything."
"That..." Xander started not believing Buffy, but he was interrupted by Cordy coming into the room.
"Hey" Cordy said waddling over to the bed. "I thought I heard your big mouths in here. So how is everyone? You won't believe just how much I missed living here in good old Sunnyhell."
Xander took great offence to Cordy sitting in on what was supposed to be a Scooby meeting.
"What do you want, Queen C?"
Cordy looked up at him and the others; "I just wanted to say hi... and to offer my help in say...research."
"We always need help with research," Willow said staring at Cordy's stomach. She had a hard time picturing Cordy as a mother period, never mind becoming one for the second time.
"Cool" Cordy answered. She then turned to Buffy and said, "I wish that I could help in a physical way, but..."
"That's fine Cor" Buffy answered glad that Cordy couldn't help in that way.
Cordy smiled, "Anyway Kate will probably come help."
"Kate?" Buffy asked confused.
Cordy looked around at everyone; "Didn't Angel tell you? Kate is a good friend of his."
"Good friend? How good a friend?" Buffy asked unaware of how jealous she sounded.
"Well... they go out a lot," Cordy said omitting the 'on cases' bit.
Willow said, "I guess he really isn't interested in Buffy."
"Good" Xander added. He didn't want Angel back in Buffy's life, whether he was dead... or alive.
"Yeah, good" Buffy echoed. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach; another feeling began to surpass this feeling though. The feeling of wanting to track down this Kate-person and scratch her eyes out. Leaving Buffy reeling from confusion over what to do.
Doyle was just passing by Buffy's room on the way to his and Cordy's when he heard his wife's piece of fiction. Kate, no one that knew Angel and her would believe that they were... it was a stupid suggestion. That was when Doyle realised what she was up to. In her own twisted way she was trying to set Buffy and Angel up and Doyle hoped that this time, for once one of her plans actually worked. He moved along shifting his son from one arm to the other and saw that Hank's door was open. He decided to check on him and when he looked inside he saw Hank leaning against the wall eavesdropping on the conversation. Suddenly Hank noticed he was being watched.
"I'm just watching out for my little girl" he justified to Doyle.
"No yer not. Yer just looking out for yer" Doyle answered before moving on.
PART 17
Spike was not a happy vampire. Ever since he had woken up and found Buffy's little note explaining that she, Hank and Dawn had moved to Peaches mansion and asking him to join them there after dark, he'd been pretty mad. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that this was all Peaches idea, he'd convinced them all or at least Hank that it was a great idea. Spike was sure that it wasn't, it was just an excuse for Peaches to try to get back with Buffy and it had nothing to do with him being a bad ass PI taking care of his client. Angrily he threw some clothes into a bag, grabbed some of his blood stash from the small refrigerator he kept in the basement and headed off towards the mansion, intending to get there before Peaches tried anything on Buffy. Spike was halfway to the mansion when he felt something; he turned quickly and thought he caught a glimpse of something. Not sure but wanting to keep on Buffy and Dawn's good side he doubled back and headed to Willy's bar, sure enough the feeling followed him. When he finally reached the popular demon hangout, he greeted the gang, stuffed his belongings behind the bar and headed straight to the payphones in the back. He dialled Buffy's cell phone number, after a minute she answered.
"What?"
"Hey Fluff" he replied.
"Hey. Where are you? Is something wrong?" Buffy asked him concerned for his welfare. She knew how much he meant to Dawn and if she was honest she kind of thought he was okay... in a disgusting sort of way... it was more like she'd gotten used to having him around.
"I'm here at Willy's. I think someone or something was following me," he told her.
Buffy was silent; it appeared that Angel's moving house idea had actually worked. "Spike. Head back to the house. We just can't risk whatever's following you finding Hank here."
Spike didn't answer her; instead he hung up in a fit of temper over Peaches getting the upper hand once again. Then he headed back into the main bar and started to drink himself into oblivion.
"Ms Morgan?"
"What?" Lilah hissed at her new, but extremely annoying assistant. She was pissed; there hadn't been a single development on the 'Hank Summers' situation and the senior partners were breathing down her neck.
"Nothing."
Lilah watched him scamper away and wished that the remainder of her problems would disappear as easily as it was to dispose of her staff. The phone rang and she instantly answered it, thinking it was news of Hank. "Hello?"
"Lilah... it's been a while" a familiar yet impossible voice said.
"Holland?" she asked gasping for breath.
"I know, it's a shock. But what can I say?" he replied. "Anyway, the senior partners asked me to check on your progress... I guess they want to know just how soon they'll be seeing you."
"Everything is fine" Lilah assured him, "Hank Summers will die soon."
"You'd better hope so," Holland said suddenly sounding very far away, "Goodbye Lilah."
"Bye" she added in a small voice. She quickly hung up the phone and tried to get her breath back, but couldn't. If Greltar didn't kill Hank soon... then she'd be one dead lawyer and there was no way she was going to allow that to ever happen.
PART 18
Late that night a long time after all of the Scoobies had gone home and everyone else was in bed, Buffy snuck across the hall to Angel's bedroom. She needed to talk to him about Hank's safety, the fact that Spike was followed and the wisdom of inviting your new girlfriend to help protect the old one's father. Naturally Buffy didn't want to admit that she could possibly be jealous of this Kate, the woman that Angel went everywhere with. She didn't have any right to be jealous anyway, she and Angel had been over for a long time. She knocked softly on his door and was forced to suck in a breath when he answered it wearing only a pair of black silk boxers.
"Buffy? Is everything okay?" he asked concerned at why she was at his door at two in the morning.
"Yeah" she replied trying to stop herself from staring at his body, "It's just we need to talk... about stuff."
Angel stepped back from the doorway, "Come in."
Buffy went inside showing none of the hesitation or the nervousness she felt about being here in this room again with him. It may not have been the room or bed that they made love in, but it wasn't as if she'd never spent the night there.
"So... what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked her as he sat down on his bed.
Buffy sat down next to him, since there wasn't anywhere else too. "Spike was followed from the house. I told him to stay there and not risk Hank. I don't think he's happy about it" Buffy told him.
Angel smiled, "So that's where he is. I didn't think anything would stop him from rushing to your side."
"I told him to go home and he did it. Is that so hard to believe? Would Kate have ignored you?"
"Kate! How do you know about Kate?" Angel asked.
"Cordy" Buffy answered.
Angel was confused. Why was Cordy talking about Kate? They loathe each other's very existence. And why in hell was Buffy talking about Kate? "What did Cordy tell you?" he asked her.
"That she would soon be joining us," Buffy told him, trying desperately not to sound like some jealous shrew.
"But Cordy hates Kate? Why would she say that?"
Buffy just stared at him, "You're dating someone that Cordy hates?"
Angel found himself even more confused, "What?"
"Cordy told me all about you and Kate finding each other" Buffy said in a strained voice, "I'm very happy for you."
"I am not seeing Kate."
Now Buffy was confused, "Huh?"
"Cordy lied. Kate's a friend... there has never been anything romantic between us," Angel told her.
"Oh" Buffy said, "Night." Then she got up and practically ran out of his room.
Angel just sat there watching her go and then when he was alone whispered, "I'll be damned. She was jealous."
Dawn couldn't sleep; she was worried about Spike. About him being all alone in that big house with an assassin running around trying to kill the occupants. She got up and left her room just in time to watch her sister enter Angel's and being the caring sister that she was, she snuck up and tried to listen in on the conversation. Unfortunately she couldn't hear anything through the door, she didn't know if that was the reason or if there wasn't any verbal conversation going on. She was about to pull away when she thought she heard the name Kate, but she wasn't sure. Dawn didn't want to be caught eavesdropping by either Buffy or Angel; so she headed downstairs to do something... she just wasn't sure what. She walked into the kitchen and found Cordy in there.
"You okay?" she asked her.
"Fine. I just can't sleep when I'm this pregnant" Cordy told her, rubbing her back. "What are you doing up?"
"I was worried about Spike?"
"Why?" Cordy asked.
Dawn actually blushed, "He's..."
"Oh my God" Cordy said her eyes widening in shock. "You're in love with Spike. How could you do that? Have you seen how he wears his hair?"
Dawn ignored Cordy and changed the topic. "Buffy just went into Angel's room," she said instead.
Cordy smiled, "I am such a genius."
"Yeah. I think I'm going back to bed" Dawn said, "Good night."
"Goodnight Dawn" Cordy said still smiling at her own brilliance.
PART 19
Cordy snuck back into her and Doyle's room and was shocked to find him awake and waiting for her. "Hi" she said, "Why are you still up?"
"I needed to talk to yer" Doyle replied looking at her suspiciously, "About yer schemin'."
Cordy feigned innocence, "What scheming? I have never in my life schemed."
Doyle almost choked when she said that. "I know that yer up to somethin'. I heard yer talking to those Scooby people earlier... about Kate."
Cordy sighed, knowing that she had been caught. "It's for Angel's own good. He's the one who's all whiney with 'I want Buffy, I love Buffy'. I just thought I'd give him a hand. And Dawn... well she just wants Buffy to be happy..."
"Wait a second. The little one is in on it too," Doyle said in disbelief. "Yer corrupted her."
"I so did not. Dawn said she was trying to push them together anyway" Cordy defended herself.
"Did yer have to involve Kate?"
Cordy sat down on the bed and looked at her husband. "She's the only girl Angel knows...besides me."
"It's not a good idea," Doyle warned.
"Doyle, everything will be fine" Cordy assured him.
Doyle kissed her quickly on the lips; "I hope yer right, Princess."
Hank couldn't believe what he had just heard. That nice Cordelia had been making up all that stuff about Angel having a girlfriend. That of course meant that his best chance for survival, his protection from Wolfram and Hart would probably want his eldest daughter in payment. Although it was tempting to just give him Buffy and walk away, there was still enough paternal feeling left in Hank for him to balk at the idea. Hank decided that the best course of action would be to tell Buffy what he had just heard and then sit back and watch her kick all their butts. He knocked on Buffy's door and waited until she answered.
"Daddy... what do you want? Are you okay?" she asked wondering why Hank was at her door at two o'clock in the morning.
"I need to tell you something" Hank replied, "Can I come in?"
Buffy moved out the way and after he was inside asked, "What?"
"Angel doesn't have a girlfriend."
Buffy looked at him, "I know. Cordy made it up."
Hank just stared at her, "Why haven't you hurt them? You can right... you're a slayer or something? You hurt things."
"Mom told you about the slaying?" Buffy asked in disbelief.
"When you were missing she blurted it out" Hank admitted.
Suddenly Hank's decision to hide in Sunnydale made sense. Buffy decided to ignore it; he'd just deny it anyway. "Since it was Cordy and not Angel, I figured I'd wait until morning to kill her" Buffy said turning the conversation back to the previous topic.
"Okay" Hank replied.
"Goodnight" Buffy told him as she pushed him out of the door.
Once he was in the hallway, Hank happily went back to his room secure in the knowledge that there was going to be bloodshed in the morning.
When Buffy walked into Angel's kitchen the next morning, she couldn't believe her luck. Cordy was there... all alone. "Good morning Cordy" Buffy said smiling evilly.
"Hey Buffy. I was just about to call Kate... to see when she was coming down" Cordy replied not noticing the evil smile she had shot in her direction.
Buffy simply walked over and took the cell phone off Cordy. "What gives you the right?"
"Huh?" Cordy said distracted by the sharp pain in her back.
"The Kate thing" Buffy elaborated. "Why are you trying to mess with my life? Its not as if we were ever friends."
"But I am his" Cordy answered wincing, "How did..."
"Angel told me, but even if he hadn't Hank knew" Buffy cut her off. In reply Cordy winced, obviously in some pain. "Cordy? What's wrong?"
Cordy rode out the pain and said, "I think I'm in labour."
"I'll get Doyle and Angel," Buffy said panicked, running from the room.
"Okay" Cordy said.
Five minutes later Doyle was by his wife's side with everyone else looking on. "We have to get her to the hospital" Doyle told them. "I need someone to come with me. To keep her calm while I drive."
"I'll go" Dawn volunteered picking up Ricky. Then she turned to Buffy and Angel; "You two are the strongest. It's better that you stay with Hank."
Buffy nodded, "Okay." She hadn't wanted to go anyway because she felt guilty about yelling at Cordy.
Angel helped Doyle get Cordy into the car and then they all watched as they sped off towards Sunnydale General.
PART 20
Lilah Morgan was panicked. She knew that her department's failure to rectify the Hank Summers situation was bringing her unwanted and unwelcome attention from the senior partners. If that despicable Hank Summers didn't die soon, she was sure that she'd be the one to go, the senior partners did not tolerate failure and the stories about their punishments were legendary. She pulled up another file, this one pertaining to property owned by Angel and discovered something that had been either overlooked or dismissed as unimportant. It seemed that Angel owned several properties in Sunnydale, some of which could be immediately discounted as his hiding place by being either too small or a business. However there was one property that seemed to be perfect, a mansion in one of Sunnydale's quieter parts. Lilah picked up her phone and dialled her assistant's extension and when he answered started speaking. "I know where he is," she told him.
"Who?" he replied sleepily, secretly wondering if she could tell he was slacking off.
Lilah sighed at his immense stupidity, "Hank Summers, you moron. Get word to Greltar and tell her, the mansion on Crawford Street." She then hung up and sat back, relaxing. <Soon> she thought <I'll be free of Hank Summers and able to return to my normal life>.
Dawn hated hospitals, especially this one. It was this very hospital in which she and Buffy sat and waited for news on their mother, only for them to say she was fine and send her home to die. So while she was sitting in the small waiting room looking after Ricky, waiting for Doyle or someone to tell her what was going on, she thought about her mother. It was something she didn't allow herself to do often, it was just too painful, but with Hank suddenly showing up she began to wonder what would've happened if her mom was still alive. Would she have let Buffy help him?
Dawn just couldn't think of the answer, but she decided that Joyce probably would've given him a chance and that's what she decided to do. From now on she was going to try to be nice to Hank.
She looked up and saw Doyle walk in with a big smile plastered across his face, "Well?"
"It's a boy," he told her.
Dawn smiled, "Great. When do I get a look?"
"After Cordy lets them take him, she's possessive" Doyle said sitting down. When Dawn looked at him he asked, "What?"
"Aren't you going to call Angel and Buffy?"
Doyle stood up, "Oh crap, I forgot them."
Dawn laughed as she watched him sprint from the waiting room and spared a moment wondering what they were doing in that big mansion... almost all alone.
Buffy, Angel and Hank were slowly going insane. Not only hadn't there been any word from Dawn or Doyle on Cordy's condition, but also they were all on edge waiting for the assassin's next move. After a couple of hours of sitting in Angel's living room staring at Angel and Buffy, he headed off to his room, leaving Buffy and Angel alone together. They just sat there staring at each other and not actually knowing what to say to each other, just when Angel was about to say something his cell phone rang. Angel immediately answered it and hoped that everything was okay. It was, Doyle was just calling to tell him that Bradley Jacob Doyle had arrived and to explain that he and Dawn were going to stay at the hospital for awhile longer to keep Cordy company. As soon as Angel hung up, Buffy bombarded him with questions.
"Who was that? Boy or girl? And how long are they going to be if it was them?"
"It was Doyle and they had a boy" Angel told her. "He and Dawn are going to stay with Cordy for awhile."
"Wow" Buffy said letting the news wash over her, "Cordy's a mommy... again. Even now I have trouble picturing it."
Angel smiled, "I guess this means I'm an uncle again."
"In that case... congratulations" Buffy told him leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
At that exact moment Angel turned to face her and their lips met. Instantly they pulled apart and just stared at each other in shock, but something drew them back together and they kissed again.
It had been such a long time for them, for their bodies and hearts to be deprived from their other half and now they had the chance nothing was going to tear them apart. Suddenly Buffy stood up and Angel growled at the loss of contact, but instead of running away she held out her hand and they ascended the stairs together.
PART 21
Greltar stared at the mansion in amazement; her target had only been hiding a few minutes away and yet had managed to elude her. Never again would anyone ever do that to her again she silently vowed. She stretched her senses out and felt and smelt the bodies, her prey within the confines of the structure and closed her eyes momentarily revelling over the anticipation of the kill. When she was sure that she was ready, she entered the mansion swiftly and silently and headed on her way to complete her mission. Greltar did a quick survey of the ground floor and when she was sure that nothing or no one was hiding there, she headed upstairs. She slipped stealthily down the hallway, allowing her senses to guide her towards her intended target.
Halfway down the hall she found him. She quickly entered Hank's room and stood over him and marvelled at how someone so obviously stupid had almost gotten away, and then she slowly lifted the sword she carried to impale him. As it towered above Hank's balding head the impossible happened... Hank awoke, looked up at his assassin and screamed.
Angel was just lying there watching Buffy sleep, barely able to believe that she was there with him, that she'd actually wanted him. He leaned over and gently placed a kiss on her lips and was surprised when she opened her eyes. Before either one of them could open their mouths to talk, they heard Hank's scream. They quickly got up, grabbed any clothing available and ran to Hank's room and that's when Buffy finally got a look at her opponent. Greltar was at least seven feet tall, black in colour and had weird looking horns all over her body.
"Drop my dad" Buffy ordered, hoping for once that it would be a nice, biddable demon that she got to fight with, unfortunately it wasn't.
Greltar looked at Angel as he entered the room behind Buffy and hissed, "You."
"If you put Hank down, I'll give you me," Angel offered the demon.
"I'd much rather kill you both... and then the blond" Greltar hissed in reply.
She moved towards Angel with a surprising grace and agility for someone her size, never letting go of Hank. Buffy tried to help Angel and save her father by kicking Greltar in the stomach, it had absolutely no effect other than to make Greltar laugh.
"Foolish little girl" it hissed at Buffy, "Nothing can stop me, especially you."
Angel managed, barely, to avoid the attack aimed at him. "That's not true" he said trying to catch his breath, "Doyle and I stopped you before." Angel decided to try and lure it downstairs, towards the supply of weapons he foolishly left downstairs while he was otherwise occupied earlier. He made a run from the room.
"An aberration."
Buffy was desperate, she climbed up on the bed and jumped on Greltar's back, trying to slow it down instead she was immediately shaken off. As Greltar tried to leave a second time, Buffy grabbed her arm and bashed her into the wall causing her to drop Hank. Luckily instead of going after Hank again she followed Angel, most likely thinking she come back for them later.
"Dad? Are you okay?" Buffy asked giving him a quick check over.
Hank was shaken and bruised but otherwise okay. "Fine" he wheezed.
"Stay here. I'm going to help Angel," she told him leaving the room.
"Be careful" Hank called after her.
Buffy rushed into the hallway and found Greltar's sword lying there, so she picked it up on her way and rushed downstairs. She found Angel in the living room trying to dodge Greltar's blows and not being entirely successful. Angel was bleeding from a head wound and looked kind of woozy from the loss of blood. Buffy rushed in to try and help him; unfortunately Greltar heard her approach and swung at her, sending Buffy crashing into the wall and causing the sword to drop to the floor.
"Buffy" Angel called out worried about her and not himself. But Buffy didn't answer, in fact she didn't even move and Angel put himself in jeopardy by rushing to her side.
Greltar used this distraction to her own advantage. "Time to die" she hissed stepping towards them with one of Angel's daggers. Suddenly she stopped and let out an ear-piercing scream.
Angel was confused, but then he saw the tip of a sword poking through Greltar's stomach, the silver visible against the black. Then a familiar voice was heard.
"That's twice in a week that I had to save yer worthless butt, Peaches" Spike said coming into view as Greltar's lifeless body fell to the ground.
Angel didn't even bother to answer him; he just sat there holding an unconscious Buffy in his arms.
Hank hearing the silence climbed downstairs and joined the group in the living room. "Wow" Hank said, "Some fight."
Less than two minutes later Dawn and Doyle walked into the diaster area. The living room was a write off, most of the weapons had been bent or destroyed and he and Buffy were bruised, battered, bleed in and/or unconscious. Doyle surveyed the area and then turned to them and asked, "What in the hell happened here?"
Lilah was sitting at her desk, impatiently waiting for word of Hank Summers demise. The waiting was almost killing her; she knew that her whole future... not only with the firm, but also her life depended on this piece of information. When the phone finally did ring, she was hesitant to answer it, but she did. "Hello?" she said nervously.
"Lilah. It's so nice to hear your voice again" Holland Manners voice filtered down the phone line.
She instantly knew that she had been irrevocably screwed, Greltar had obviously failed if he was calling. "Hello Holland. How are you?" she asked politely, yet at the same time freaking out.
"Just peachy" Holland replied cheerfully. "But enough with the pleasantries. Could you please come up to the top floor? The senior partner's would love to see you."
"Right away" Lilah answered with a cheerfulness she didn't feel. She hung up the phone and slowly got up from behind her desk for the last time. When she went out into the hallway she took one last look around at what had once been hers. She was certain that this would be the last time she saw this place... the last time she'd see anything if the rumours about the senior partner's were true.
PART 22
Three Days Later:
Angel looked around the mansion for the last time, the pretence was to make sure that nothing was left behind but he was really just remembering what had gone on there. After a few minutes he went to leave, but was stopped by Spike, who'd been staying there to make sure Angel kept away from Buffy.
"Yer know Peaches, you're an idiot" Spike told him.
Angel looked at his most unwelcome and unwanted houseguest, "Why?"
"Because she's still in love with yer and yer tossing it away like it means nothing."
"Loves me? She won't even speak to me" Angel replied sadly.
Spike poked him hard in his bruised ribs. "Why should she talk to yer? Yer leaving her again."
"What's that got to..."
Spike cut him off, "Everyone leaves her. Her dad, you, any guy she dates. Why do yer think she puts up with me hanging around?"
"She's nuts" Angel replied.
"No, because I'm a permanent fixture" Spike told him.
"And I'm not" Angel said, "I sleep with her and leave again."
Spike looked at him in shock; "You slept with her?" At Angel's look Spike went back to the original subject, "This time you're leaving her with no reason. There's no clause; there's no trouble on the horizon. If I were yer I'd kidnap her on my way out of town."
Angel just looked at him, "Why are you encouraging me? I thought you were in love with her?"
"I was... maybe I still am, but she was never gonna be mine... not with yer poofy self out there somewhere."
Angel for once felt sorry for Spike. "You know maybe you were looking at the wrong Summers," Angel said.
"Hank's just not my type" Spike replied. After a few seconds realisation hit him, "Dawnie?"
"Who else would want you with that hair?" Angel said leaving.
Spike never noticed Angel was gone, he just stood there with shock written all over his features and then suddenly he smiled.
Angel had Doyle drop him off outside of Buffy's house, just as Hank was preparing to leave. He headed over to Hank to say goodbye... and good riddance.
"Angel?" Hank said in surprise as he looked up and saw him approach. "I thought you'd gone back to LA."
"Soon," was all Angel said.
Hank stuck out his hand and shook Angel's. "I just wanted to say thank you," Hank told him.
"No problem" Angel said trying to see past Hank towards the house.
Hank on the other hand didn't let go of Angel when the handshake was over. Instead he pulled him in closer, "I don't like you and just for the record you're not good enough for Buffy. I think it would be best if you left her alone."
"No offence Hank, but mind your own business" Angel replied pulling his hand away.
Just then the door opened and Buffy and Dawn came outside to say goodbye to Hank. Angel noticed that Dawn seemed to be in an extra happy mood.
"Hey Angel" she said rushing up to him and giving him a hug. After a moment she turned to her dad, "See ya Hank... in what another decade or so."
Buffy stepped forward and hugged Hank, "Bye dad. Keep in touch."
"Bye girls... Angel" Hank said climbing into his rental car and driving away.
As soon as Hank was gone, Buffy rushed inside the house, pretending Angel wasn't there.
Dawn looked at Angel's crestfallen statement. "It will be okay" she assured him, "Hank's been telling her how she could do so much better than you."
"She could." Angel said more to himself than to Dawn. Then he said, "You know you're dad kind of reminds me of your mom."
"So he told you to leave Buffy too?" Dawn asked.
Angel stared at her, "How did you..."
Dawn cut him off, "Mom told me before... She made me promise not to tell Buffy."
"Oh."
"Why don't I take a walk or something... so you two can talk" Dawn suggested.
"Thanks Dawnie" Angel said walking towards the front door. Then he turned back to the younger girl, "You know Spike is trapped in the mansion..."
"I know" Dawn replied smiling evilly.
Angel shook his head and wondered what she saw in Spike, as he headed inside the Summers' house.
Angel found Buffy sitting in her room, sitting on the bed and staring out of the window. He'd barely stepped into the room when she said, "Aren't you gone yet?"
"No."
"Why not?" she asked still staring out the window.
Angel sat down on the bed next to her, "I couldn't. We need to talk."
"About what?"
"About us" Angel told her.
Buffy just kept on staring out of the window, "There is no us, Angel."
Angel ignored her; "I love you Buffy... I always have..."
Buffy cut him off, now looking at him. "Then why are you leaving again?"
For the first time he noticed the sheen of tears in her eyes. "I still have a life and a business in LA. But it's not easy," he said.
"What isn't easy?"
"Living there... while my heart and soul are here in Sunnydale" he answered her. "Give me another chance, please?"
Buffy just stared, "If I do... there's some rules."
"Anything," he agreed without hearing them.
"No lying... we tell each other the truth no matter what. No listening to my dad, he's a dope and you have to call me every night," she told him.
"What about visiting?" Angel asked moving closer to her.
"I'm sure we can arrange something."
"Does this mean we're back together?"
Buffy leaned in closer her lips almost touching his, she whispered, "What do you think?"
"Even if I'm in LA and have a thriving business..."
Buffy shut him up with a kiss. "I think we're mature enough to make it work" she told him a moment later.
"I love you" Angel told her again.
Buffy smiled, "I love you too."
"Good" Angel said pushing her back onto the bed.
"Angel... what about Dawn?"
"She can't join in" Angel replied. At Buffy's glare he added, "She's torturing Spike."
Buffy smiled, "In that case..."
Buffy never got to finish her sentence because Angel cut her off with a kiss. One that lasted for a very long time.
END.