Lucid Dreaming Pt.1
Characters: Buffy, Angel, ensembles of both shows
Rating: PG/PG-13 (not really sure)
Words: 2978
Summary: Set outside events as they progressed. Set sometime during Angel S.5 based on the little I know of it and post series finale of Buffy. Buffy arrives in LA to see Angel...something is up. Not the usual something.
A/N: I wrote this a looooong time ago. It is not complete but I just felt like finally posting it. It will be the first time I have posted anything I have written ever. I am nervous. Also, I clearly don't own any of the characters.
He stood in the now empty alleyway, staring down at what was left of the demon. As was often the case, killing it had rendered the thing little more than an oozing puddle of slime. Despite that it was the middle of night, as most of his life was lived in, and that he was standing in an alley with demon dripping off his broadsword onto his expensive Italian leather shoes, Angel felt better than he had in weeks. At least he was out there. At least he was doing something. He usually tried not to admit how much being cooped up inside Wolfram and Hart disagreed with him. In fact, with each passing day it simply felt more and more like a pricey, luxurious trap.
The hard truth remained that he had willingly signed on for the gig…taking everyone with him. Well, actually, dragging them down into a cesspool of evil would be a more accurate description of what had happened. He knew that he had to remain positive about this undertaking because they were fighting the good fight, were doing more against evil than they had been able to as simply ‘Angel Investigations’. At least that is what Wesley kept reminding him.
Even with the necrotempered glass that walled him in, there seemed to be less sunshine in his life than ever. But there was really not much sense in thinking about that for the zillionth time. Angel just thanked…whomever…that he had been able to slip out and help someone with his own two hands. He took a deep, cleansing but unnecessary breath and a long missed but extremely familiar scent flooded him down to his toes. His heart whispered her name before he ever even turned around. Buffy.
And then he was turning and not imagining it. She was actually standing there, about 10 feet away, wry smile on her perfect pink lips, arms crossed and blonde locks piled on her head. Angel felt like he had swallowed a rock. In a good way.
“I was wondering how long you were going to stand there staring at a puddle of slime. You were starting to worry me.” She said, laughter in her honey voice.
He must have been standing there longer than he realized. And now he was so overcome with simple joy that he still couldn’t move. Her smile fell and she took a few hurried steps toward him,“Angel? Are you alright?”
He finally found his voice, "Yes. I am fine. I am just…glad…to see you.”
Her smile returned and in an instant he had her in his arms and was hugging her with all his strength. So hard he felt her ribs creak.
“Oof. I’m glad to see you too. As long as you promise not to break my ribs.” She laughed as he released her.
Angel took a long moment and simply looked down at Buffy’s smiling face. He felt like he could do a little dance, until he looked deeper and saw the sadness behind them. He didn’t want that to be the first thing he asked her though so instead he said, “What are you doing here?” Putting as much of his joy into his voice as he could manage with the sudden rising worry he felt.
She mocked irritation and said, “Oh, so you aren’t happy to see me after all?”
At the stricken look on his face she hurriedly continued, “I just thought I needed to come get a look at Mr. Big Shot Wolfram and Hart president.” Now she was laughing at him.
“HA. HA.” He replied.
“No seriously, you look good. Apparently endless wealth agrees with you…you don’t have a hankering to add to my shoe collection do you?”
He had lived for 200 years and change, he had seen a few things, add to that that he was talking to the only person he could read like Lorne could read everyone else, and he knew she was avoiding something. But clearly it wasn’t the right moment so he chose not to push.
“Does it really need adding to?” He answered trying to match her tone and raising an eyebrow. She smiled again and Angel felt his spirits lift. Incredible, he thought to himself.
“I have some business in LA.” She finally answered his question…well, sort of.
“Is everyone here?” For some reason that thought didn’t agree with him so well.
“No, just little old me, A #1 slayer. Xander is holding down the fort at Giles’ house in England which has become temporary headquarters and Giles, Will and the rest of the girls are with Faith in Romania doing a little vampire research trip.”
Angel flinched almost imperceptibly at the mention of Romania. He wasn’t sure he would ever be comfortable with that memory no matter where the outcome had led him. So he focused on dividing his attention between listening to her and examining her for any change. She was wearing tightly fitted jeans and a black geometrically cut top. Neither garment was hiding the fact that she was too thin, much too thin. He made an effort not to ask if she was eating enough.
“So how long are you going to be here?” Angel tried to keep the hope out of his voice, not sure what exactly it was he was hoping for.
Buffy had taken the broadsword from him and was idly twisting it in her hands and looking at the grip.
“Not sure. A while.”
Good, he thought to himself, it will give me time to find out what is going on.
“Well, maybe, if you would like…but no pressure, I just thought…well…” He started stuttering, Buffy looking up at him with mild interest and great amusement.
“Would you like me to provide some accommodations?”
“Are you asking me to stay with you Angel?”
“Sorry, of course, it’s silly, I’m sure you have a place to stay…” He started mumbling again.
“Angel!”
He looked up at her, surpised into silence.
“I would love to come stay with you.”
Now he smiled.
“Come on. Let’s go get this Greblock off my shoes.” He said putting an arm around her shoulders companionably. And then started having a minor freak out that he was acting so causal with her. Buffy didn’t register anything though and simply slid her tiny hot hand around his waist and smiled up at him.
Angel was utterly preoccupied as he and Buffy walked back toward the Wolfram and Hart offices trying to figure out if he was simply imagining the sadness that he saw hidden under each of Buffy’s smiles, in every movement of her slender wrist, in the waves that seemed to radiate off her body into his. He couldn’t tell if he was just projecting his own issues onto her or if it was real.
Despite the distraction of his own thoughts he was able to remain in the conversation, which was really just friendly surface banter; the kind that the two of them had seldom engaged in. It was good and weird and worrying all at once and he idly wondered what Buffy must think about the him that could engage in chitchat. It didn’t seem to register as odd to her though since she was idly fingering the edge of sweater.
“Cashmere. Nice.” She commented.
It was also nice to see that some things never changed…like the fact that Buffy was still clearly a total clotheshorse. Only, it made Angel sort of embarrassed. He had never wanted for money, except when he himself chose to live in destitution, and he had always enjoyed the finer things in life. But somehow Buffy’s continually drawing attention to those things now made him uncomfortable, more sensible of the fact that he was living off the fat of a corporation that supported evil in more ways than one.
But then again, so was she. It had been almost a year since Giles has written to him saying that the informal slayer school that had been generated by Willow’s spell was utterly lacking in funds. It was one of things he was really proud of, that he transferred a very generous stipend into Giles’ personal and untraceable account each month. It was enough to keep each of the girls in weapons, lodging and food but also keep them all clad in designer duds. Sometimes he wondered what lie Giles told Buffy about where the money for all of it came from but he never asked. She didn’t seem to wonder and it gave him a good feeling each time he thought about where that money went. Wolfram and Hart were spending a pretty penny to outfit one of the ultimately good operations in any dimension.
“Smiling to yourself…that’s not an Angel thing.” Buffy broke his little reverie. She was looking up at him, a smile on her own face, but again with that touch of sadness. He would give anything to know why.
“It’s the being happy to see you that does it.” He answered truthfully as they arrived at what he had begun to think of as the compound. Suddenly he stopped and turned to Buffy.
“Where’s your luggage?” Somehow it seemed like the prosaic facts of life always escaped him. But it was just too strange that she had come all the way from Europe with no luggage and managed to find him instantly. Buffy just gestured to the massive building ahead of them.
“Angel, I can only count on our internal radar so much…I stopped here, dropped my things off and found out at least the general vicinity of where you were.”
“Right.” He responded, chagrined that he hadn’t thought of that and a little bit…tingly…that she had actually mentioned that unspoken link that always led them to know where the other was. They had never mentioned it other than extremely tangentially…actually, since the day that wasn’t. Angel hurriedly pushed that thought away painfully, not sure when it had come from after so long.
They were already entering the building, he ushered Buffy through security, reasonably sure that they knew exactly who she was to a man. She walked through seemingly unconcernedly but he could feel some disgust radiating off her body. He knew the feeling intimately. This place even made him feel tainted and they didn’t get more pre tainted than him…he couldn’t even imagine what it must be to be a being of true goodness to enter this stronghold of evil.
“I see that some things never change.” Buffy commented idly as the elevator doors closed. She was looking at him in a way that made him feel like his heart and soul were exposed, it was discomfiting and addicting just as it had always been. “Brooding is still your favorite hobby.”
“Well, it’s hard to break the habit of a lifetime…or several.” He laughed.
“I like the new looser joking brooding look on you.” She replied also laughing a little.
As the elevator arrived on their floor Angel wondered when they had become grown up enough to talk to one another like this. There was still some deep intensity of feeling there but it slept. It wasn’t close enough to the surface anymore to chafe them into hurting one another. Could he even hurt her anymore? It seemed like he might not be able to though he knew somewhere inside that she could still make his soul bleed if she put any kind of effort into it. Mental sigh…she was right some things never changed.
Despite the hour his office floor was still bustling with activity. Buffy had stepped out of the elevator and just kind of stopped and stared. He didn’t think that she had expected it to be so busy in the middle of the night. He stepped up behind her and gently put his hand on her back, steering her toward his office. She looked back at him gratefully.
Just as they were about to get safely through the double doors a voice inevitably called out, “ANGEL!”
It made him cringe and as he turned around he started regretting that he hadn’t really warned Buffy about some things she might see in the office. He was sort of hoping that since she was so small that he might prevent her from getting a look at the person calling his name but slayer speed beat him out. Before he even knew it she was in front of him, “Harmony?”
His assistant came to an abrupt halt and then took a step back.
“Buffy?”
“What are you doing here?” At least Buffy only sounded shocked and not angry.
Harmony squared her shoulders and stepped forward again, “I work here. I’m Angel’s assistant.”
Buffy spun and looked at him for confirmation. He decided to try to ignore the tension until he got her into his office alone.
“What is it Harm?” He asked a touch exasperated.
Harmony tore her eyes off Buffy who was busy glaring at Angel himself, and said a little huffily, “I just wanted to tell you that Wesley is looking for you. Has been…for hours.”
“Ok. Thank you.” He replied pointedly.
Harmony thankfully took the hint and sashayed off and he was able to herd Buffy into his office. It was easier than he was expecting.
She didn’t say anything, just stood there waiting. Not mad, not happy, just totally inscrutable. He sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk.
“It was the senior partner’s idea of a joke.”
“Funny.” Buffy commented wryly. At least she wasn’t mad.
“She’s not really evil…just…vapid.” He finished tiredly. This night was going to be a lot more complicated than he thought.
“Angel, vampires, they’re evil. No exceptions…” She paused a moment, “Well, except for you…and come to think of it, Spike.”
Spike! Alarm bells went off in Angel’s mind. If Harm was a surprise he better explain the situation with Spike before the bastard popped in and gave Buffy a heart attack. But first he needed to talk to Wesley, “Well, that’s debatable.” He mumbled to himself ignoring Buffy’s glare, “I need to run and talk to Wesley for a minute. Please sit tight. I will be right back. Ring Harm if you need anything.” She would be fine for five minutes…Spike’s visits were kind of few and far between…though still completely annoying.
“Ok. Can I sit in your chair?” She asked like a little girl.
He gave her a smile that indicated, of course, and then stepped out closing the doors behind him.
Angel had to ignore the insane melee of emotions raging around inside him as he stormed down the halls toward Wesley’s office. Right now he couldn’t afford to be emotional because there were a lot of things he needed to tell Buffy and a lot of things he needed to find out from her. If he gave into his emotionality now things would simply spiral out of control so instead he focused on Wesley…talking to Wesley.
He apparently wasn’t hiding his emotions as well as he might have liked because instead of greeting him as his staff usually did, most of them were making an effort to totally avoid both his person and his eye. He tried to smooth what he knew was a ferocious scowl and to slow his pace a bit but he wasn’t that successful because he really just wanted to get to Wesley’s office and back to Buffy before there were any more surprises.
Thankfully he was finally at his coworkers’ office. The door was open as usual and he could see Wes sitting inside with a book.
“You wanted to speak to me?” He queried.
“Ahh, yes.” Wesley replied looking and standing up. “Did Buffy find you?”
“You knew she was here? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Well, in fact I did call you. Curious thing about cell phones…they don’t ring if you turn them off.” Wes paused a moment to take in the chagrined look on Angel’s face. “She came here and when they told her you weren’t here downstairs they called me. I pointed her more or less in the right direction.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you alright?” Wesley had worked with Angel long enough that he could tell when he was working himself into some sort of a funk.
“I’m fine.” Angel replied, effectually ending that line of conversation. “Harmony said you needed to speak with me.”
“Yes, well, there have been some disturbing signs in my books of late and I have had a visit from someone upstairs confirming my burgeoning suspicions that something is…amiss.”
Angel started to pace.
“Buffy mentioned some business in the neighborhood.” He said more to himself than to Wesley.
“And you think that maybe these portents are her ‘business’?” Wes asked concluding the thought. Angel stopped,
“But it just doesn’t make sense that Giles would send her here alone to deal with whatever this something is when now there are a pack of other slayers to back her up…Speaking of, any idea what the portents are indicating?”
“Actually…” But whatever Wes had been about to say went unsaid because a scream shattered the air.
Angel was off and running before Wesley even gathered himself to say, “Bugger.” And follow.
It was like an obstacle course trying to get back to his office but Angel just kept jumping and skidding his way through it. That scream had beyond a doubt been Buffy and the only imperative in Angel’s mind was to get to her…now.
He crashed through the doors of his office ready to fight and was confronted by the last thing he wanted to see. Buffy was far from terrified or hurt. She was standing in the middle of the room, hand out, trying to touch Spike. His little plan of avoidance had been somewhat of a failure.
Angel forced his body to relax and muttered, “Wonderful.”
Rating: PG/PG-13 (not really sure)
Words: 2978
Summary: Set outside events as they progressed. Set sometime during Angel S.5 based on the little I know of it and post series finale of Buffy. Buffy arrives in LA to see Angel...something is up. Not the usual something.
A/N: I wrote this a looooong time ago. It is not complete but I just felt like finally posting it. It will be the first time I have posted anything I have written ever. I am nervous. Also, I clearly don't own any of the characters.
He stood in the now empty alleyway, staring down at what was left of the demon. As was often the case, killing it had rendered the thing little more than an oozing puddle of slime. Despite that it was the middle of night, as most of his life was lived in, and that he was standing in an alley with demon dripping off his broadsword onto his expensive Italian leather shoes, Angel felt better than he had in weeks. At least he was out there. At least he was doing something. He usually tried not to admit how much being cooped up inside Wolfram and Hart disagreed with him. In fact, with each passing day it simply felt more and more like a pricey, luxurious trap.
The hard truth remained that he had willingly signed on for the gig…taking everyone with him. Well, actually, dragging them down into a cesspool of evil would be a more accurate description of what had happened. He knew that he had to remain positive about this undertaking because they were fighting the good fight, were doing more against evil than they had been able to as simply ‘Angel Investigations’. At least that is what Wesley kept reminding him.
Even with the necrotempered glass that walled him in, there seemed to be less sunshine in his life than ever. But there was really not much sense in thinking about that for the zillionth time. Angel just thanked…whomever…that he had been able to slip out and help someone with his own two hands. He took a deep, cleansing but unnecessary breath and a long missed but extremely familiar scent flooded him down to his toes. His heart whispered her name before he ever even turned around. Buffy.
And then he was turning and not imagining it. She was actually standing there, about 10 feet away, wry smile on her perfect pink lips, arms crossed and blonde locks piled on her head. Angel felt like he had swallowed a rock. In a good way.
“I was wondering how long you were going to stand there staring at a puddle of slime. You were starting to worry me.” She said, laughter in her honey voice.
He must have been standing there longer than he realized. And now he was so overcome with simple joy that he still couldn’t move. Her smile fell and she took a few hurried steps toward him,“Angel? Are you alright?”
He finally found his voice, "Yes. I am fine. I am just…glad…to see you.”
Her smile returned and in an instant he had her in his arms and was hugging her with all his strength. So hard he felt her ribs creak.
“Oof. I’m glad to see you too. As long as you promise not to break my ribs.” She laughed as he released her.
Angel took a long moment and simply looked down at Buffy’s smiling face. He felt like he could do a little dance, until he looked deeper and saw the sadness behind them. He didn’t want that to be the first thing he asked her though so instead he said, “What are you doing here?” Putting as much of his joy into his voice as he could manage with the sudden rising worry he felt.
She mocked irritation and said, “Oh, so you aren’t happy to see me after all?”
At the stricken look on his face she hurriedly continued, “I just thought I needed to come get a look at Mr. Big Shot Wolfram and Hart president.” Now she was laughing at him.
“HA. HA.” He replied.
“No seriously, you look good. Apparently endless wealth agrees with you…you don’t have a hankering to add to my shoe collection do you?”
He had lived for 200 years and change, he had seen a few things, add to that that he was talking to the only person he could read like Lorne could read everyone else, and he knew she was avoiding something. But clearly it wasn’t the right moment so he chose not to push.
“Does it really need adding to?” He answered trying to match her tone and raising an eyebrow. She smiled again and Angel felt his spirits lift. Incredible, he thought to himself.
“I have some business in LA.” She finally answered his question…well, sort of.
“Is everyone here?” For some reason that thought didn’t agree with him so well.
“No, just little old me, A #1 slayer. Xander is holding down the fort at Giles’ house in England which has become temporary headquarters and Giles, Will and the rest of the girls are with Faith in Romania doing a little vampire research trip.”
Angel flinched almost imperceptibly at the mention of Romania. He wasn’t sure he would ever be comfortable with that memory no matter where the outcome had led him. So he focused on dividing his attention between listening to her and examining her for any change. She was wearing tightly fitted jeans and a black geometrically cut top. Neither garment was hiding the fact that she was too thin, much too thin. He made an effort not to ask if she was eating enough.
“So how long are you going to be here?” Angel tried to keep the hope out of his voice, not sure what exactly it was he was hoping for.
Buffy had taken the broadsword from him and was idly twisting it in her hands and looking at the grip.
“Not sure. A while.”
Good, he thought to himself, it will give me time to find out what is going on.
“Well, maybe, if you would like…but no pressure, I just thought…well…” He started stuttering, Buffy looking up at him with mild interest and great amusement.
“Would you like me to provide some accommodations?”
“Are you asking me to stay with you Angel?”
“Sorry, of course, it’s silly, I’m sure you have a place to stay…” He started mumbling again.
“Angel!”
He looked up at her, surpised into silence.
“I would love to come stay with you.”
Now he smiled.
“Come on. Let’s go get this Greblock off my shoes.” He said putting an arm around her shoulders companionably. And then started having a minor freak out that he was acting so causal with her. Buffy didn’t register anything though and simply slid her tiny hot hand around his waist and smiled up at him.
Angel was utterly preoccupied as he and Buffy walked back toward the Wolfram and Hart offices trying to figure out if he was simply imagining the sadness that he saw hidden under each of Buffy’s smiles, in every movement of her slender wrist, in the waves that seemed to radiate off her body into his. He couldn’t tell if he was just projecting his own issues onto her or if it was real.
Despite the distraction of his own thoughts he was able to remain in the conversation, which was really just friendly surface banter; the kind that the two of them had seldom engaged in. It was good and weird and worrying all at once and he idly wondered what Buffy must think about the him that could engage in chitchat. It didn’t seem to register as odd to her though since she was idly fingering the edge of sweater.
“Cashmere. Nice.” She commented.
It was also nice to see that some things never changed…like the fact that Buffy was still clearly a total clotheshorse. Only, it made Angel sort of embarrassed. He had never wanted for money, except when he himself chose to live in destitution, and he had always enjoyed the finer things in life. But somehow Buffy’s continually drawing attention to those things now made him uncomfortable, more sensible of the fact that he was living off the fat of a corporation that supported evil in more ways than one.
But then again, so was she. It had been almost a year since Giles has written to him saying that the informal slayer school that had been generated by Willow’s spell was utterly lacking in funds. It was one of things he was really proud of, that he transferred a very generous stipend into Giles’ personal and untraceable account each month. It was enough to keep each of the girls in weapons, lodging and food but also keep them all clad in designer duds. Sometimes he wondered what lie Giles told Buffy about where the money for all of it came from but he never asked. She didn’t seem to wonder and it gave him a good feeling each time he thought about where that money went. Wolfram and Hart were spending a pretty penny to outfit one of the ultimately good operations in any dimension.
“Smiling to yourself…that’s not an Angel thing.” Buffy broke his little reverie. She was looking up at him, a smile on her own face, but again with that touch of sadness. He would give anything to know why.
“It’s the being happy to see you that does it.” He answered truthfully as they arrived at what he had begun to think of as the compound. Suddenly he stopped and turned to Buffy.
“Where’s your luggage?” Somehow it seemed like the prosaic facts of life always escaped him. But it was just too strange that she had come all the way from Europe with no luggage and managed to find him instantly. Buffy just gestured to the massive building ahead of them.
“Angel, I can only count on our internal radar so much…I stopped here, dropped my things off and found out at least the general vicinity of where you were.”
“Right.” He responded, chagrined that he hadn’t thought of that and a little bit…tingly…that she had actually mentioned that unspoken link that always led them to know where the other was. They had never mentioned it other than extremely tangentially…actually, since the day that wasn’t. Angel hurriedly pushed that thought away painfully, not sure when it had come from after so long.
They were already entering the building, he ushered Buffy through security, reasonably sure that they knew exactly who she was to a man. She walked through seemingly unconcernedly but he could feel some disgust radiating off her body. He knew the feeling intimately. This place even made him feel tainted and they didn’t get more pre tainted than him…he couldn’t even imagine what it must be to be a being of true goodness to enter this stronghold of evil.
“I see that some things never change.” Buffy commented idly as the elevator doors closed. She was looking at him in a way that made him feel like his heart and soul were exposed, it was discomfiting and addicting just as it had always been. “Brooding is still your favorite hobby.”
“Well, it’s hard to break the habit of a lifetime…or several.” He laughed.
“I like the new looser joking brooding look on you.” She replied also laughing a little.
As the elevator arrived on their floor Angel wondered when they had become grown up enough to talk to one another like this. There was still some deep intensity of feeling there but it slept. It wasn’t close enough to the surface anymore to chafe them into hurting one another. Could he even hurt her anymore? It seemed like he might not be able to though he knew somewhere inside that she could still make his soul bleed if she put any kind of effort into it. Mental sigh…she was right some things never changed.
Despite the hour his office floor was still bustling with activity. Buffy had stepped out of the elevator and just kind of stopped and stared. He didn’t think that she had expected it to be so busy in the middle of the night. He stepped up behind her and gently put his hand on her back, steering her toward his office. She looked back at him gratefully.
Just as they were about to get safely through the double doors a voice inevitably called out, “ANGEL!”
It made him cringe and as he turned around he started regretting that he hadn’t really warned Buffy about some things she might see in the office. He was sort of hoping that since she was so small that he might prevent her from getting a look at the person calling his name but slayer speed beat him out. Before he even knew it she was in front of him, “Harmony?”
His assistant came to an abrupt halt and then took a step back.
“Buffy?”
“What are you doing here?” At least Buffy only sounded shocked and not angry.
Harmony squared her shoulders and stepped forward again, “I work here. I’m Angel’s assistant.”
Buffy spun and looked at him for confirmation. He decided to try to ignore the tension until he got her into his office alone.
“What is it Harm?” He asked a touch exasperated.
Harmony tore her eyes off Buffy who was busy glaring at Angel himself, and said a little huffily, “I just wanted to tell you that Wesley is looking for you. Has been…for hours.”
“Ok. Thank you.” He replied pointedly.
Harmony thankfully took the hint and sashayed off and he was able to herd Buffy into his office. It was easier than he was expecting.
She didn’t say anything, just stood there waiting. Not mad, not happy, just totally inscrutable. He sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk.
“It was the senior partner’s idea of a joke.”
“Funny.” Buffy commented wryly. At least she wasn’t mad.
“She’s not really evil…just…vapid.” He finished tiredly. This night was going to be a lot more complicated than he thought.
“Angel, vampires, they’re evil. No exceptions…” She paused a moment, “Well, except for you…and come to think of it, Spike.”
Spike! Alarm bells went off in Angel’s mind. If Harm was a surprise he better explain the situation with Spike before the bastard popped in and gave Buffy a heart attack. But first he needed to talk to Wesley, “Well, that’s debatable.” He mumbled to himself ignoring Buffy’s glare, “I need to run and talk to Wesley for a minute. Please sit tight. I will be right back. Ring Harm if you need anything.” She would be fine for five minutes…Spike’s visits were kind of few and far between…though still completely annoying.
“Ok. Can I sit in your chair?” She asked like a little girl.
He gave her a smile that indicated, of course, and then stepped out closing the doors behind him.
Angel had to ignore the insane melee of emotions raging around inside him as he stormed down the halls toward Wesley’s office. Right now he couldn’t afford to be emotional because there were a lot of things he needed to tell Buffy and a lot of things he needed to find out from her. If he gave into his emotionality now things would simply spiral out of control so instead he focused on Wesley…talking to Wesley.
He apparently wasn’t hiding his emotions as well as he might have liked because instead of greeting him as his staff usually did, most of them were making an effort to totally avoid both his person and his eye. He tried to smooth what he knew was a ferocious scowl and to slow his pace a bit but he wasn’t that successful because he really just wanted to get to Wesley’s office and back to Buffy before there were any more surprises.
Thankfully he was finally at his coworkers’ office. The door was open as usual and he could see Wes sitting inside with a book.
“You wanted to speak to me?” He queried.
“Ahh, yes.” Wesley replied looking and standing up. “Did Buffy find you?”
“You knew she was here? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Well, in fact I did call you. Curious thing about cell phones…they don’t ring if you turn them off.” Wes paused a moment to take in the chagrined look on Angel’s face. “She came here and when they told her you weren’t here downstairs they called me. I pointed her more or less in the right direction.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you alright?” Wesley had worked with Angel long enough that he could tell when he was working himself into some sort of a funk.
“I’m fine.” Angel replied, effectually ending that line of conversation. “Harmony said you needed to speak with me.”
“Yes, well, there have been some disturbing signs in my books of late and I have had a visit from someone upstairs confirming my burgeoning suspicions that something is…amiss.”
Angel started to pace.
“Buffy mentioned some business in the neighborhood.” He said more to himself than to Wesley.
“And you think that maybe these portents are her ‘business’?” Wes asked concluding the thought. Angel stopped,
“But it just doesn’t make sense that Giles would send her here alone to deal with whatever this something is when now there are a pack of other slayers to back her up…Speaking of, any idea what the portents are indicating?”
“Actually…” But whatever Wes had been about to say went unsaid because a scream shattered the air.
Angel was off and running before Wesley even gathered himself to say, “Bugger.” And follow.
It was like an obstacle course trying to get back to his office but Angel just kept jumping and skidding his way through it. That scream had beyond a doubt been Buffy and the only imperative in Angel’s mind was to get to her…now.
He crashed through the doors of his office ready to fight and was confronted by the last thing he wanted to see. Buffy was far from terrified or hurt. She was standing in the middle of the room, hand out, trying to touch Spike. His little plan of avoidance had been somewhat of a failure.
Angel forced his body to relax and muttered, “Wonderful.”