Broken Dreams
Disclaimer: All characters, etc. belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, etc. I don't own them. I'm simply dreaming on paper...
Time Line: Takes place after the end of Angel season one and BtVS season four. Darla has been brought back to "life" by Wolfram & Hart and Adam has been killed. This series is basically how i feel BtVS season 5 / Angel season 2 should go, at least if I were doing the show. Which I'm not, so it won't, which is why it's here instead of on screen for your viewing pleasure. However Joss if you'd like to hire me I'd bemore than happy to accept. :::: snaps out of dream :::: Well any way I hope you like cuse I like it, and even if you don't, well too bad for you cuse it's my site and yes I know I'm rambling and can't spell so I'll stop now. Feedback please!
Angel gave the demon a swift kick to the chest sending the demon flying. Off to the far side of the room Wesley and Cordelia hurriedly helped the scared hostages to the exit. The demon hit the far wall and sunk to the floor, lifeless, another demon snuck up behind Angel and hit him in the small of the back. Angel dropped to his knees and took advantage of the movement to lunge upward and ram into the demon with his right shoulder. As the demon fell Angel pulled out his short sword and sliced off the demons head, gasping he looked around and then proceeded to the street to find Wesley and Cordelia.
Cordelia anxiously searched the street, waiting for Angel to appear. Suddenly she collapsed writhing in pain.
Angel saw Wesley catch Cordelia as she fell, he hurried forward to see what he'd have to fight next. As he approached Cordelia opened her eyes and smiled at the vampire. Angel looked at her questioningly. "What?" he asked.
Cordelia stood on her own and hugged the vampire. "Do I ever have good news for you."
Buffy awoke a cold sweat on her brow. It was the third time in as many days that her dreams had awakened her. Her fantasies about Angel turning human had always been intense, often coming to her in her dreams, but these were the most implausible yet. In the dreams Angel's blood mixed with that demon he killed after Thanksgiving and turned him human, they then shared a perfect day together. The fact that it was perfect was how Buffy knew the dreams had to be fantasies, nothing that ever happened to her turned out to be perfect.
Back at Cordelia's apartment the three friends sat in awe as Cordelia explained her vision. Angel sat with a far off look in his eyes and a small smile had begun to spread across his face. Wesley looked from Cordy to Angel obviously trying to comprehend it all. Finally he spoke, "You mean to tell us that Angel has paid his debt? That he's free?"
Cordelia sighed, exasperated. "Yes Wesley. Angel's human."
"But he still has vampric traits?"
"Yup. He's got all the good stuff, the strength, the healing and most importantly the soul. But he's got it with out all the bad stuff like the sun thing and the immortality thing and the whole blood thing."
"But why didn't they take all the traits away? Why did they leave the good things. If he's truly paid his price then why didn't they simply relinquish him of all the traits?"
"I don't know Wesley," Cordelia struggled to keep her patience, "mabey you should ask the Oracles. Oh wait, you can't! So just accept it already!"
Angel sat forward and looked at the watcher, feeling the need to clarify Wesleys worries. "They knew I wouldn't be able to fight with out these powers and more than anything they need warriors."
"See, Angel always knows stuff. Of course you're like two hundred and forty-five so I guess you should. You know now that you're human maybe you could move away from that black on black look. Oh, and you could get an apartment with windows, not to mention getting a tan. And you can - "
Angel shot her a look of amused annoyance. "Cordelia. Not now." There was only one thing on his mind - Buffy.
Buffy and Riley sat at a booth in the Espresso Pump, Riley was chatting away about something but Buffy was only half listening. Riley looked at his girlfriend, she was absolutely beautiful, he took one of her hands in his. "Buffy," he swallowed nervously, "can I ask you something?"
Buffy snapped back to reality, not noticing Riley's nervousness. "Sure. Ask away."
Tucked away in a corner of the Pump Angel watched as Riley slid out of the booth, got down on one knee and offered Buffy a ring box. He couldn't hear what Riley was saying but he had a pretty good idea. Sadly Angel turned and left the cafe, and Sunnydale, behind.
Buffy stared in shock. "Riley, I - I don't know what to say."
Riley smiled, confusing Buffy's shock for stunned happiness. "Then don't say anything. Just try the ring on and give me an answer when you're ready. I'll wait." Riley's slipped the ring on Buffy's finger and got up. His cell phone went off and he answered it. He looked at Buffy and hung up. "As much as I want to stay darling, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed her and walked out of the restaurant.
Angel entered his office and slammed the door behind him. He couldn't believe his luck. Angrily he headed up to the roof. A few minutes later Cordelia excitedly joined him, not noticing his mood.
"So how'd it go? When can we expect Buffy here? Did she totally flip or what? Come on Angel I'm gonna die of anticipation!" The excited girl finally took the time to study Angel's stoic expression and her mood changed. "Oh. I'm guessing that it wasn't all you planed?"
Angel twisted the chalgadah on his finger. "She's getting married to Riley.", he quietly stated.
"What?"
"You heard me." Cordelia stared at Angel in astonishment. "They were at the Espresso Pump and he asked her to marry him. I couldn't actually hear what they were saying but I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it."
"Angel - Buffy and I may not have been super close or anything but I know she loves you. More than loves you. I mean the girl was so messed up after she had to send you to hell in order to save the world that she skipped out of town for months." Angel shifted uncomfortably and Cordelia put her hand on his arm. "If you couldn't hear them how do you know she said yes?"
"He slid the ring on her finger." Angel chocked back tears and hoped Cordelia wouldn't notice, "I told her to move on and she did."
"I'm so sorry Angel." And for the first time in her life Cordelia truly was.
Buffy silently opened her dorm door and went and sat on her bed, she stared blankly at Willow's side of the room. She looked at the engagement ring on her finger and thought back to when Angel had given her a ring. Lost in memories she didn't hear Willow come in.
Willow brightened at the sight of her friend. "Hey Buffy! I hope you had fun on your date."
Buffy looked up and noticed Willow. "Huh? Fun? Yeah, it was a big bucket of fun."
Willow noticed the little red light on the answering machine blinking and reached over to press the button. "Oh message, goodie! Well as long as it's not an end of the world warning."
The robot-like voice told them it had one message and then Riley's voice blared out of the machine. "Hey Buffy, it's Riley. I know I said we'd talk tomorrow but there's been a family emergency and I'm actually on the plane to Iowa as we speak. Don't worry it's nothing too serious." Riley's message paused and Buffy waited attentively, "We'll start planning when I get back and I can't wait to tell my family the good news. I love you." The message ended and the machine beeped.
Willow looked at Buffy and asked, "Plan what and what's this good news that I don't know?" Buffy opened her mouth as if to speak but no words came out. She ran her left hand through her hair and Willow caught sight of her engagement ring. Willow squealed with delight, "Oh my God! You're getting married! Congratulations!" She raced over and embraced her best friend, only then noticing the tension in Buffy's body. She backed off and sat down next to Buffy. "It's not congratulations?"
Buffy looked over at Willow, still stunned. "I don't know what it is. He asked me but I didn't give him an answer. He just assumed I was gonna say yes, and he put the ring on my finger." Buffy paused and took a breath, her hands shaking. "I mean there we were at the Espresso Pump and the next thing I knew we were engaged."
"He proposed at the Espresso Pump?" Willow asked in disbelief. "Well tackiness, and unromanticness aside, why is this a bad?"
Buffy chocked back tears, "I don't love him."
"You don't?"
"No, I don't. I never have. You know that I've only ever loved one person, and I can't be with him." Buffy continued to play with her ring.
"I know Buffy." Willow hated seeing Buffy in this much pain she tried to think of a way to comfort her but could come up with none. She sighed and looked at Buffy, "Not to state the obvious but you did point it out. You can't have Angel. But you can have Riley."
"I know. I mean I look at him and he loves me, I know he does. And I can talk to him in the daylight and have picnics, but do I really want to wake up next to him every day?"
"I guess this is just gonna have to be a tough discesion. I mean there's no way you can ever have Angel..."
"I know. I just have to decide which is more unbearable, waking up with a man I don't love or being alone." Buffy started to sob and Willow gathered her in her arms. "Why Will? Why did I have to fall in love with someone I could never have?"
The days seemed to blur as Buffy contemplated her future, with and with out Riley, and waited for a discesion to come. She prayed she'd make the right one. One morning Buffy got up early and decided to take an early morning jog to clear her head. Leaving a note for Willow she headed out. After about an hour she decided to visit her mother, after all what was better to help you make big discesions than free food and a shower?
Buffy ended up spending most of the day at home, she found it was helping to clear her head and get her thoughts together. As the evening rolled around Joyce came home from work and fixed them dinner. Almost as an afterthought Buffy slid off Riley's engagement ring and put it in her pocket before joining Joyce for dinner. They ate quietly at first but slowly crept into the usual chit chat they were so good at. Finally Joyce couldn't take it any more. She looked at Buffy for any sign of excitement. Feeling as though she were going to burst Joyce spoke up, "So isn't there something you'd like to tell me?" Joyce waited impatiently for Buffy to answer.
Buffy looked at her mother questioningly, "Like what?"
"Like you and Riley are getting married! I'm so excited for you! My little baby getting married!"
"How did you know Riley asked me to marry him?"
"He called and told me. I completely forgive you for not telling me. I remember when your father asked me to marry him, I was so excited that I went around in a daze for days afterward - " Joyce paused and sighed happily at the memory. She picked up the dinner dishes and carried them over to the sink.
Buffy looked down and softly said, "Mom, I'm not marrying Riley."
Joyce stopped and turned to look at Buffy, "Why not? I like him. You two are good together, he loves you and together you two can have a normal life."
Buffy looked at her mother in shock. "I can never have a normal life, you know that. Not with Riley," Buffy paused and added softly, "not with anyone."
"This is about Angel isn't it?" Buffy looked at her mother.
"I don't love Riley, Mom. That's what this is about."
Joyce was starting to get angry, she couldn't believe that her daughter still had feelings for Angel after all this time. "You and Angel aren't right for each other. He's far to old for you and for god sakes Buffy he's demon!"
Buffy stood up and looked at her mother, infuriated. "You didn't even know him Mom, so don't you of all people judge him!"
The arguments continued to come forth and Joyce let her displeasure be known to her daughter, both of them began to shout. Joyce went to her liquor cabinet and poured herself a glass of schnapps. "I can't believe this! I talk him into leaving you so you can meet someone like Riley and here you are throwing it all away for the vampire!"
"You what! You're the reason he left! I knew there had to be more but I never thought you would be the one to do this to me!"
"I was helping you! You two were not good together!"
"You have no idea what we were like together! You never even saw us together! Angel loved me and I loved him and you ruined it! I can't believe this!" Buffy hurried over to the back door and opened it.
"Where are you going! We were having a conversation!" Buffy simply left and slammed the door. She ran in the direction of one of the cemeteries, fighting tears all the way there. Once she got there she sank down next to a tombstone and cried until there were no tears left. In her wildest dreams she never imagined that her mother would have been the one to separate she and Angel.
Inside the office it was dark, the blinds had all been pulled shut so no sunlight could come in and accidently burn their client. Lindsey spoke, "So Darla, we at Wolfram & Hart brought you back for a specific purpose, a task we need you for."
Darla looked at the lawyers, they looked so stiff and formal in their suits. She stood up, enjoying the feeling of her clothes, leather had always looked good on her, and she was enjoying these a lot more than the catholic school girl routine she had worn the last time she was alive. She turned to the one they called Lindsey and spoke, "Well you see I usually don't take orders. But seeing as you are the reason I'm here today I might be willing to consider it. So what's this important task?" Lindsey handed the blond vampire a manilla folder. Opening it she saw it contained pictures of Angel and his office. "Angel is in Los Angeles?" She grinned wickedly, thinking back to when he had killed her, all because he loved the slayer. "If that isn't an interesting development."
Lindsey cleared his throat and spoke, "He's proved to be quite a problem for the firm. We've sent numerous assassins after him including a vampire slayer - "
Darla looked up in shock, "Buffy tried to kill him?"
The lawyers looked at her in confusion, "No the other slayer, Faith."
"The other slayer? Looks like you're misinformed or I need some back story."
Lilah took the lead. "We don't know much. Buffy - she fought the Master and he killed her," Darla smiled wickedly,"but she was resuscitated and she killed the Master." The grin disappeared from Darlas face. "However, the slayer was dead long enough to call another. This slayer was killed and thus called Faith. Faith turned out to have a passion for the wrong side of the law. Unfortunately she ended up being redeemed by Angel instead of killing him and now rests in the county jail."
"So you want me to take Angel out of the picture?" She studied the photos of Angel. His style had only minimally changed in the past four ears, she doubted much else about him had changed, including his heart.
"Yes, though this firm will disavow any knowledge of you actions. If you can kill him you will be handsomely reward as well as receive your freedom." Lilah watched the vampire, "Any ideas?"
"A few. I'll take him out for you."
Lindsey emerged back into the conversation. "Excuse me, not to down play your abilities but why do you think you can be successful when so many others weren't?"
"Because they were using the wrong method."
"Meaning?"
"If Angelus taught me one thing it was that in order to really harm you enemies you never have to lay a hand on them. You need to go for the people they care about."
Lindsey looked to Lilah and then back at Darla. "We tried that already. We put his friends in the hospital, they should have died. Why don't you just kill him?"
"You don't get it. If you kill him you make him a martyr for the cause. You people had the right idea but you went after his friends, you needed to go after the person in his heart. Trust me by the time I'm done with my plan Angel will be so messed up that he won't even resemble the threat he was."
"I kinda like the sound of that."
Angel walked into the newly rebuilt apartment. The office had been up and running for about a month but since the bomb had gone off in his apartment it had taken longer to fix. He would be so glad to be on his own again instead of living with Cordelia. At last he could be alone with is thoughts of Buffy as he tried to move on. He walked into his bedroom and noticed the mirror Cordelia had added. Angel looked at his reflection and prayed silently for the strength to get through life with out Buffy.
Buffy walked through the cemetery, a stake in one hand, waiting for the demons to find her. From behind her Riley walked up and tried to hug her. She caught one of his arms and flipped him over in front of her. Riley landed on the grass with a thud. "God Riley! Don't you know not to sneak up on me!"
Riley stood up and brushed himself off. "Thanks it's good to be home dear." He leaned down and kissed her before she could react. "So you done patrolling?"
"I guess." Buffy listlessly looked at her stake. "No one seems to be out tonight."
"Well good, cuse that means we have time to start planning our -" From out of nowhere at least six vampires emerged from the bushes. Buffy jumped up and kicked one in the face - hard. As the vamps closed in she and Riley began to fight them, finally Buffy finished off the last vamp.
Buffy put her stake in her pocket satisfied. "Well that was quite an exercise."
Riley stared at her in disbelief. "Exercise? That was three against one! What were you thinking sticking around for odds like that! As a good soldier you just don't do it Buffy!"
"Well then it's a good thing I'm not a soldier. And for you're information Riley this IS what I do."
"Well then you better enjoy it now cuse it's not gonna last!"
Buffy stared at Riley. "Meaning?"
"Meaning that when we get married I don't want you doing this so much any more. There are other people that can do this!"
Buffy stared at him in disbelief. "Other people? Have you learned nothing Riley! I'm the slayer, I do this. I'm the only one that can really do this. And while we're on the topic of silly ideas what gave you the idea that I'm marrying you?"
"You said yes, and you have my ring. That generally gives a guy the idea that you're marrying him." Riley stared at Buffy confused. "Did I miss something?"
"Yeah you somehow skipped over the part where I didn't answer and assumed that meant yes. So here's the ring." Buffy pulled the ring out of her jacket pocket and put it in Riley's hand.
Riley calmed down. "It's ok Buffy. We were moving too fast. We can slow down, just date for a few more weeks then we'll start planning."
"Riley," Buffy's voice hit a note of desperation, "you just don't get it. I don't love you." Riley's head shot up, his eyes narrowed as he began to get angry. "I can't marry you, and I don't want to date you. I'm sorry." Buffy turned and headed back to her dorm.
Darla entered the lawyer's office, ready to set her plan in motion. Lindsey looked up as she entered. He rubbed the joint on his prosthetic hand and motioned her in. "What can I do for you Darla?"
"I need some vampires."
"You mind on telling me you plan first?"
"I already told you. I'm going to hurt Angel by hurting those close to him. I'll need a couple of vans and some weapons too."
"You're sure your plan will work?"
"I may have made Angelus but I learned more from him than I learned from anyone else."
Lindsey scrutinized the vampire. "They'll be ready for you tomorrow morning."
On to The Battle