Disclaimer: I don't own anything, please don't sue me, I have no money. Some of the dialog is from Angel episode The Bachelor Party written by Tracey Stern.

Chapter 5: Dinner Plans

Doyle was pacing the office while Angel and Buffy were calmly sitting by the desk, Angel reading a book and Buffy doing her essay for her psych class. He turned to the couple, looking agitated.

“So that's it, that's your idea of a evening well spent, doing homework?” he questioned, looking at both of them in turns but he was ignored. “Come on, our college girl can do her homework on her own, how'bout we guys go out, huh? I've got two beautiful words for you: Sports bar.” Angel just gave him a look and kept reading.

“Come on, man! That book was written when you had a pulse, it's not like you haven't had the time to read it already. I need something to do. Anything! I can't just sit around while...” he said desperately but stopped when Cordelia walked into the room, dressed to go out.

“While I steal into the night with my incredibly 'more-wealthy-than-you' prince? Makes your little life seem a tad drab, doesn't it?” she stated and the two men turned to look at her while Buffy just tuned her out.

“But just because he has money doesn't mean he will make you happy”, Doyle said but Cordelia just shook her head like he was a ignorant fool. “I'll let you know that Pierce has a lot more than money. He has a house in Montecito, he has a Mercedes CLK 320 and a place in the hills with a lap pool.”

“Since you put it that way”, Doyle said sarcastically and even Buffy turned to look at the couple, it should be entertaining. But she didn't get a retaliation when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Well, if I don't come to work tomorrow, you can clear out my desk cause I have moved up”, Cordelia said before she hurried to the door. The others glanced at each other before following her to the front hall. Her date walked in, clearly appreciating the view and telling her so. As she was ready to drag him out of the door, Angel cleared his throat.

“Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend”, he said in fatherly tone. Buffy had to suppress a smile after hearing it and seeing the annoyed look on Cordelia's face.

“Pierce, Buffy, Angel, Doyle. Let's go”, she said signaling at the people while saying their name and grabbing a hold of Pierce's arm, ready to drag him away.

“Do you work, Pierce?” Angel asked stopping them from leaving and earning another glare at his way.

“I trade, futures and options market”, Pierce answered.

“So where you going to dinner?” Buffy asked with a small grin and Cordelia glared at her too.

“Le Petite Renard”, Pierce answered.

“Ah, right. Nice spot. Duck is dry”, Doyle shot.

“As nice as this is, we have to get going”, Cordelia said and practically dragged Pierce out of the door.

“She's not going to fall for my ample, but unpretentious charms, is she?” Doyle said glumly as they went back to the office.

“Not unless unpretentious means you don't like to brag about your family's old money”, Angel stated.

“Well, I think you still have that tiny shot with her. He may be cute and filthy rich but I think she's starting to grow up, as much as it weirds me out to say”, Buffy comforted Doyle, crunching her face as she said Cordelia was growing up, something she never believed to happen.

Angel turned to Buffy, his brows furrowing into a deep frown. “You think he's cute?” Buffy giggled at his expression.

“Hey, focus people, we were talking about my problem here, how am I going to steal sweet Cordelia's heart with my charming personality since I don't have that money part. Not to mention that half of my family are demons, something I doubt she will appreciate.”

Buffy sat next to him and patted his shoulder with a comforting smile. “Cheer up, brooding doesn't become you”, she said with a little smirk.

“I'm not brooding. That's his j...” he started to say pointing his finger at Angel but a vision hit him with full force, his face furrowed in pain and he doubled over, nearly falling off the couch. Buffy grabbed a hold of his shoulders to prevent him from falling. For a moment he steadied his breathe and turned to look at Angel.

“A young guy. In a vampire's nest in downtown and he's going to be the main course of the evening.”

“Well, you wanted some action”, Angel stated but his attention drifted to Buffy who grabbed her jacket from a nearby chair.

“You're not coming”, he said and Buffy looked at him like he had said something in strange language.

“Hello, the slayer. I'm coming”, she said defiantly, almost challenging him with her eyes. When Angel wisely didn't say anything, she left the room to get her weapons.

“Man, you're whipped”, Doyle smirked but truth be told, he wouldn't have contradicted the girl either, he was getting some serious slayer vibes from her.

“You try say no to her when she gives you that look”, Angel defended himself, folding his arms to his chest and Doyle lifted his hands in surrender.

“Hey, I'm half demon, when a slayer gives me the look, I'm not going to contradict her, I like my face just the way it is, thank you.”

Angel, Buffy and Doyle went to the nest, finding a small group of vampires and a frightened guy hanging in the middle of the room. The fight was short but brutal. Buffy grabbed Angels ax and broke the chains that were holding the man. Angel caught him before he fell and they went out the door.

“Doyle, when you're in your demon form, you're stronger, right?” Angel started and continued at Doyle's nod of confirmation.

“Then why do you shake it off?”

“I don't like fighting that way”, Doyle answered shrugging his shoulders.

“This isn't a spelling bee. Nobody expects you to fight fairly.”

“It's just not my style. So, you guys need me to get this guy home?” Doyle changed the subject, glancing at the badly beaten guy leaning heavily into Angel's support.

“You can go, I think Buffy and I will manage”, Angel assured him and they parted ways.

Buffy and Angel helped the guy into the car and started driving. “So, where can we drop you?” Buffy asked twisting in her seat to look back.

“I live in one of the UCLA dorm houses”, he answered.

“No kidding, that's where I go, well I don't live there but I study there”, Buffy answered.

“And on your spare time you save people from...” he started not knowing how to finish, there was no such things as vampire's.

“Gang on PCP if you want to go with the official report”, Buffy said helpfully, getting a grin from Angel and a disbelieving look from the guy.

They dropped him off to his dorm room and started walking back to the car. At the main door they nearly ran into someone. “Sorry”, the girl said automatically and then raised her gaze to the people she had almost ran over. Her eyes widened in recognition.

“Buffy?” she asked hesitantly causing Buffy to look at her more thoroughly.

“Melissa”, she said with a small uncertain smile, she hadn't seen the girl in years, she had been the only on to still acknowledge her at school after she had been abandoned by all her other friends.

“Wow. What are you doing here?” Melissa asked awed by running into her.

“I actually go here. Everybody seems to be going here, I ran into September and her flock a while back.”

Melissa nodded her head knowingly. “Yeah, she hasn't changed much has she, except for the plastic surgery that daddy paid for.”

Angel shifted on his feet and by doing that drawing Buffy's attention back to him. Buffy looked between Angel and Melissa and gave a embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I didn't introduce you two. This is Melissa Braddock, we went to high school together, Melissa, this is Angel, my boyfriend.”

“Hi, nice to meet you”, Melissa said extending her hand.

Angel shook her hand nodding his head in acknowledgment. “You too.”

“So, you go here too?” she asked but he shook his head, feeling uncomfortable. Buffy noticed that and gave his hand a light squeeze.

“No, he has a detective agency”, she stated.

“Oh, that's interesting”, Melissa stated with a smile.

“It was great meeting you, but we have to go, I still have a psych paper to finish. But maybe we could have coffee or something tomorrow... If you want?” Buffy said testing the ice and Melissa gave her a wide smile.

“That would be great. How about we meet in front of the cafeteria on lunch?”

“Yeah. I'll see you then. Bye!” Buffy said with a relived smile and gave a wave of goodbye before leaving with Angel.

“So you knew her in high school? I gathered that she didn't belong to the group you met back in that club”, Angel stated while they were walking to the car.

“Well, she was more or less. After I became the social reject at my school, she was the only one that would acknowledge I existed”, Buffy answered and a frown rose to her face, those times weren't happy memories, even Cordelia the Queen C was a Mother Teresa compared to September and her group back in high school.

Angel sat behind his desk, trying to find some papers after Cordelia had “cleaned” his table. She was sitting on the chair in front of his desk and telling about her date even though in his opinion Buffy would be more likely person to talk about it.

“So, here I am at Le Petite Renard with Mr. Armani, who could keep me in blue boxes for the rest of my life...” she said waving her hands vividly.

“Blue boxes?” Angel asked, lifting his gaze from his desk.

“Tiffany's!” she shouted like it was obvious. “God! Hasn't Buffy taught you anything!” she added and continued like there hadn't been a leap from the original topic. “And the whole night I was bored silly. All I could think about was, if this wimp ever saw a monster he'd probably throw a shoe at it and run like a weasel. Turns out the shoe part was giving him to much credit” Her face scrunched into a frown and she gave a exhausted sigh.

“There aren't very many people that wouldn't run. It's just human nature”, Angel tried to reason giving her a sympathetic look.

“Yeah, but all of a sudden rich and handsome isn't enough for me. Now I expect a guy to be all brave and interesting. And it's your fault!” she said pointing her finger at him.

“Maybe you’re just changing, becoming more mature. That could be a good thing.”

“Disastrous, that's what it is. And as if I wasn't confused enough, then Doyle comes along and rescues me like some...” she paused trying to get the right word out. “...badly dressed superhero. He was really beat up, but you know the first thing he asked?” she again paused, a small smile playing on her lips. “Are you okay? He got a good beating by a burly, ugly vamp and the first thing he asks is if I'm okay. I mean, that's like... substance, right?”

“Yeah, well, there is definitely more to Doyle then meets the eye”, he stated.

“So, now I've got to kill myself. I swore when I went that road with Xander Harris, I'd rather be dead then date a fixer-upper again. Still, maybe you're right. Maybe Doyle does have some hidden depths. I mean, really, really hidden. But depths. And I'm gonna have to buy him a moccachino to thank him for saving my life, don't you think?” she said thoughtfully and Angel opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, she was on her feet and going towards the door.

“Me, too. We'll be back in a half. You watch the phones, okay?” she said and was gone. Angel sighed deeply and returned looking for the papers. Finally he gave up, he wasn't going to find the papers until he asked Cordelia where she had put them, if she knew either. He just decided to take the bull by the horns and go and ask her. He got up from his chair and went to the lobby where he found Cordelia and Doyle with a unknown woman.

“Cordelia...” he started but was interrupted by her.

“Angel, come and meet Doyle's wife”, Cordelia said with a fake smile nodding her head to the woman.

“Nice to meet you”, Angel said and shook hands with the woman. When Doyle's wife's, Harry's, new husband-to-be walked into the office, Angel thought it was best to let them talk in private and the perfect time to ask Cordelia where she hid the papers.

Buffy sighed deeply, finally the class was over. The professors monotone voice was sending her to sleep and it happened to be one of those class' you couldn't just nod off and know where you were going, since the professor had a annoying habbit of making the students write page after page of the stuff he wrote on the chalkboard. Even worse was that not all the things were on the books and he had warned they were going to be on the test. Life was cruel and briefly Buffy thought of dropping out but then the thought was dropped, there was no way she was going to spend her days with Cordelia. They got along just fine these days but too much was just too much, she had her limits.

She stopped as she saw the missing person fliers on the wall, there were at least four of them and all of them were girls. Since there was more copies on the opposite wall, she didn't feel guilty of taking one of each off the wall and hiding them into her bag, she would look more into it once she got back to the office.

“Professor Clift asked me to a private tutoring this evening at his place. And we all know what that means”, Buffy heard September's voice say and laugh triumphantly.

“I know he's like old but he's still good looking. And it's gonna do wonders to my grades”, she continued and Buffy noticed as September and her followers were walking by her, that she cast a disapproving look at her way.

“God, look at that outfit! Where does she shop, Salvation army for retards”, September sniped and the flock giggled. Buffy just let the insult roll over her, she wasn't going to let them get to her, and she almost broke into a smile as she thought what Cordelia would have done to them since it was her who had chosen the outfit.

She had been having her morning coffee when Cordelia had strode into the office and said that Buffy couldn't go to UCLA dressed like that because she was someone Cordelia Chase knew and it was her job as a humanitarian to prevent it. And just to make sure Buffy wouldn't leave in a pair of jeans and black tank top, she had spilled her coffee allover her clothes, leading to Cordelia rummaging through her closet and picking her outfit. Buffy sighed and headed to meet Melissa.

Buffy walked into the office but only saw Cordelia. She dropped her bag on a chair and acknowledged her with a 'hey' but Cordelia wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

“Did you know Doyle was married?!” she asked loudly jumping from behind the desk. All Buffy could do was look at her dumbly.

“What? Doyle is married? To who?”

“Some Harry-girl, she popped in with her new husband-to-be with the divorce papers”, Cordelia explained and walked around the desk, leaning against it and folding her arms on her chest.

“Wow. Where is he? And Angel?” Buffy asked a little surprised by the revelation, she just hoped Doyle hadn't whisked Angel away to a drinking binge, she still needed help investigating the missing girl.

“Brooding in the apartment, possibly drinking each other under the table. He looked a little upset when she gave him the papers”, Cordelia answered, starting with her usual flippant manner but ending up with a sympathetic tone. “I knew this was going to happen. A guy saves my life, of course there's something wrong with him, like he's married”, she continued with a frustrated sigh.

“I guess there's no need to ask how your date went?”

“It went. Slowly. When he finally gave me a ride back here, a vamp attacked me and he ran with tires squealing and get this, it was Doyle who saved me. Can you believe it!?”

“Believe it or not, I can. Doyle is a good guy”, Buffy answered nodding.

“Yeah well, now I have to kill myself. I was going to look through my fingers all his faults like that he has no style but now he's married, it's like Xander Harris all over again”, Cordelia said with a huff.

“Cordy, it's not like with Xander”, she started but quieted as Angel and Doyle walked through the apartment door.

“I'll look into it after sundown”, Angel promised to Doyle and then noticed Buffy. “Hey”, he said and earned a smile from her.

“Hey yourself”, she answered walking to him and stealing a quick kiss before turning to Doyle.

“Doyle, you wouldn't mind lending me those computer skills of yours, would you?”

“What? You need to hack into the school files to change your grades, or what?” he asked with a smirk, making Buffy roll her eyes.

“Funny. It's business, missing girls”, she answered and dug into her bag, pulling out the fliers. Angel looked at them over her shoulder, his arm instinctively wrapping around her waist.

“They all disappeared in three weeks period”, he stated and Buffy just nodded.

“Well, I'll look into it while Angel does his other thing”, Doyle promised and took the fliers from Buffy, looking through them as he went to the computer.

“What thing?” Buffy asked turning to Angel, speaking quiet enough so Cordelia wouldn't hear.

“I take it that Cordy has already filled you in with what happened”, Angel said and at Buffy's nod, continued. “Doyle asked me to check this guy his ex is going to marry.”

“Okay, you better not tell Cordy, she'll want to charge him”, Buffy said with a lopsided grin, bringing a smile to his lips cause it was the same thing he had said to Doyle just some moments ago.

“Okay, I've got something”, Doyle hollered from the computer and others went to look. “Mary-Anne Nelson, disappeared exactly three weeks ago today, B-student studying psychology at UCLA, roommate reported missing as she went out to meet a guy and didn't come back, she didn't tell who the guy was. Caryn Peterson, also a student at UCLA, psychology as her major and went to meet a new boyfriend but didn't come back, friends reported since she never missed a class. Lorraine Garcia, same thing except she was studying journalism, mother reported her. And a fellow Irishman, Karen O'Connell, an exchange student from Dublin”, Doyle informed them.

“I remember her from psych”, Buffy stated sadly and looked at the picture on the computer. Angel wrapped his arm around her and pressed a comforting kiss to her cheek.

“So, what do these girls have in common?” Doyle asked, swinging in his chair to look at the others.

“Well, for starters they're all girls, and pretty”, Buffy stated.

“And went out with a guy nobody knew anything about”, Angel continued.

“Yeah, and all except this Lorraine-girl had psych”, Cordelia added not really paying attention to the others.

“Yeah, I need to ask around. Cordy, how would you feel about going to a frat party with me?” she asked turning to Cordelia.

“The last time I went to a party with you, I was almost eaten by a giant snake”, Cordelia accused but the others could see that she was considering the question.

“I doubt there will be any snakes in the basement, and as long as you don't take any drinks from anyone, I think we should be okay.”

Cordelia sent a glare at Buffy while Angel frowned. “You're going to a frat party?”

“Yeah, but just to talk to people, find out if anyone knows anything about the missing girls”, she explained but Angel still didn't like it.

“I don't like you going there alone”, he protested, guiding her away from extra ears.

“I'm not going alone, I'm going with Cordelia. And don't you have a boyfriend to follow?”

Angel glanced outside, the sun was setting. “I still don't like it”, he reminded her like a little child, only the pout was missing.

“I know, but I promise to be careful. And I'm the slayer, remember, I can take care of myself”, she assured him with a smile before giving him a brief kiss.

It was already nearly three am when Buffy came back home, she hadn't got much information on the missing girls but it wasn't from the lack of effort. Considering it was a weekday, the party had been mild even though it was a huge change to Sunnydale.

She walked into the bedroom, finding Angel laying on the bed, reading a book by the bedside lamp. “Hey”, she said and yawned.

Angel set the book to the table and turned to look at her. “Hey.”

Buffy shed her clothes off and slipped into one of his old shirts before she crawled into the bed and wrapped her arms around his chest. “How was your night of stalking?” she asked yawning again, she was just glad to be home, she had been bored silly at the party but she had been determent to find the cause to the missing girls and Cordelia had insisted they'd stay a moment longer, soon the moment had stretched into three hours. Well, at least someone was enjoying herself.

“Richard, Harry's guy is a demon”, Angel started.

“No kidding.” Angel nodded his head and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before continuing.

“Yeah, an ano-movic demon, they gave up the violence in the turn of the century and we're getting a bill for a window.”

“A window? What?” Buffy asked confused, lifting her head enough from his chest to look at his face.

“Well, Richard owns a restaurant and I sort of broke a window while thinking that he was attacking Harry and...” he tried to explain awkwardly but stopped as Buffy started giggling.

“He had a knife”, he defended himself and Buffy nodded her head as a sign she believed him but that didn't stop her from grinning at him.

“So how was your night?” he asked frowning, he hadn't done much actual reading while waiting for her to come home, many times he had to stop himself from crashing the party.

“Long, very long. But I managed to run into Caryn's friend, Alyson and got her talking. She said that Caryn revealed that the new boyfriend was a older guy and he didn't want anyone to know about their relationship yet, Alyson suspected that the guy had a wife or a girlfriend”, she answered and Angel looked at her intently.

“But you don't think so”, he stated and Buffy nodded.

“I'm thinking it's a professor at the school.” Again she yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“Go to sleep”, he whispered and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Reaching over to the night table, he turned off the light.

“Goodnight, Angel”, she mumbled against his chest and in few minutes she was fast asleep.

“Goodnight, love”, he whispered back but she didn't hear him anymore.

Buffy was like a sleepwalker as she made her way to the coffee maker, she had only got few good hours of sleep cause Angel had decided to get up before her and she only slept well when he was with her.

“You look terrible”, Cordelia said ever so helpfully.

“Thanks”, Buffy said sardonically and started drinking the coffee, it was horrible, naturally since Cordelia made it but at least it was sure thing to wake her up.

“No problem”, Cordelia answered carefree and walked into the lobby where Doyle had just signed the divorce papers. Buffy grimaced at the coffee and put the cup down before grabbing her bag and following Cordelia into the lobby. As soon as she saw a frighteningly familiar face and in a flash she was in fighting stance, her whole being screaming slayer. Richard stiffened and turned to look at the new addition to the room.

“Buffy, this is Doyle's ex, Harry and this is her fiancé, Richard, and this is Buffy, Angel's girlfriend”, Cordelia introduced the two strangers, seeing that there could be a bloodbath any minute.

“Nice to meet you”, Buffy said and shook both of their hands, keeping an eye on Richard and getting same pleasantries back.

“Angel tells me you're a ano-movic demon”, Buffy stated.

“Yes, I am, does that make you uncomfortable, that I am a demon?” Richard answered giving her a polite smile.

“Not really. Does your human face come off or do you just slip into it like a vamp?”

“My face doesn't come off, why do you ask?” Richard answered looking at her in question, everyone else wearing similar faces not knowing where she was going with her questions.

“Just happened to meet one hell dimension demon who looked identical to you.”

“Oh, I met him back in the 90's, well 1890's, I heard his portal here was closed”, Richard answered, the realization dawning to him.

“Yeah, I know”, she answered dryly, finally letting her piercing gaze leave him and letting herself relax a little. She turned around and went to Angel.

“You have some explaining to do”, he whispered to her.

“Later”, she whispered back and gave him a brief kiss. She gave him a quick smile and left.

Her first class was psych and as they settled on their seats, she noticed that September was absent. “I wonder where September is, I was going to return those Prada shoes she's been whining about, she knew I was bringing them today and there's no way she wouldn't come even sick for those”, Buffy heard Marissa say to Jo, they were sitting two rows behind her. Buffy turned to look at professor Clift, she needed to talk to him but she had to wait till the class was over.

Buffy had trouble concentrating but finally the class was over and the students spilled out of the room. Buffy made her way to professor Clift who was packing his things away. “What is it, miss Summers?” he asked not looking at her.

“Just wondering why September didn't come to class today, I figured you might know since you were the last to see her to my knowledge”, she answered looking intently at Clift, watching his reaction. He stopped his movements, but only for a second before continuing like nothing had happened.

“What makes you think I was the last person to see her?” he asked nonchalantly before lifting his piercing eyes to look at her.

“Since you were tutoring her last night.”

“And who said I was tutoring her, she doesn't need tutoring, she is a better student than you are and I don't give private lessons”, he said with a tone that told her he wasn't going to discuss the matter any further.

“I must have misheard”, she answered and left the classroom, even more suspicious than she had been moments earlier. Buffy went to the pay phones and dialed the office number.

“Angel investigations”, Cordelia's cheerful voice started at the other end.

“Hey, Cordy. Is Doyle there?” Buffy interrupted her, she had a limited amount of time before the next class.

“Yeah, he's here. You want me to give him the phone?” Cordelia asked but was already yelling at Doyle for the phone before Buffy could answer.

“Buffy?” she heard Doyle's voice from the phone.

“Hey. Could you look if Lorraine had psych? And who the professor was, if all the missing girls had the same one?” Buffy asked, she heard some tapping noises and few minutes later Doyle gave the answer.

“Yeah, they all had psychology and their professor was Alexander Clift.”

“I knew he was evil”, Buffy muttered to herself and watched as Clift walked past her. “Thanks Doyle”, she said before hanging up and discreetly following Clift to the teachers lounge that was empty. She listened to the noises before opening the door enough for her to see into the room. Her eyes widened as professor Clift walked past a mirror that showed twisted features of nearly rotten face that had glowing green patches and tufts of hair around sharp spikes. She stepped back and quickly left the school, she doubted she would have any concentration if she went to the classes.

The office desk was filled with a pile of books and the team had been going through them to find a demon fitting to Buffy's description. “IU!” Cordelia yelped and threw her book to the table. “That's it, I'm done”, she said and jumped up to her feet. The book had stayed open from another page and Buffy saw that there was a drawing of the demon she was looking for.

“That's the demon”, she exclaimed and Angel picked up the book.

“Gradokh demon”, he started but was interrupted by Buffy.

“I told you he was evil.”

“The Gradokh demons possesses a human body and it needs to feed on young women to stay inside the host and in full power. Only mirrors show their true face”, he told the others as he read the book.

“So how do we kill it?” Buffy asked, reading the text over his shoulder.

“Beheading or cutting the heart out works, but it also kills the host. According to this, the host won't remember anything from the time he was under the demon influence. The only way of killing the demon without harming the host is with a enchanted dagger, you stab the demon into his heart with it and it jumps into the nearest mirror”, he answered and frowned as he read the description for the spell.

“Is that a pair of ox's...” Buffy started to say as she read the list of ingredients too but stopped as Angel nodded.

“You think you can get those?” Angel asked Doyle and gave him the list. Doyle nodded grinning and both Buffy and Cordelia just rolled their eyes at him. Doyle left the room and Angel turned to Buffy.

“Doyle asked me to accompany him to Richard's bachelor party.”

“Doyle is going to his ex's future husbands bachelor party?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“Yeah, the family needs his blessing.”

“Wow, that must be really weird for him.”

“You won't go after that demon by yourself. Promise me that, okay?” Angel asked glancing at the open book. Buffy just diverted her gaze away from him, looking guilty. “Okay?” Angel asked again.

“Buffy, those things are strong and they have poison in the spikes on their head, it paralyzes the victim”, he reminded her with a sigh and slowly Buffy turned to look at him, finally nodding.

“Fine, I promise. I'll just patrol like a good little slayer but we're taking him down later”, she finally said with a pout.

Doyle and Angel walked into the restaurant while Cordelia was at Harry's party and Buffy had gone out for a quick patrol. Richard approached them as soon as he noticed them.

“Hi, Francis”, he greeted and pulled Doyle into a hug.

“It's just Doyle”, Doyle corrected him.

“Sorry. Hey everyone, this is Doyle”, Richard said, turning Doyle to greet everyone. Then he noticed Angel. “Angel, what a surprise”, he said shaking Angel's hand.

“I thought I'd use the door this time”, Angel said dryly.

“I asked him to come. Hope that's okay?” Doyle explained and Richard nodded absently.

“Sure it is, the more the merrier. Now the party can really start, huh?” he said turning to the other people or demons on the room. “Everybody, this party is for Doyle as much as it is for me, more even. He's the real bachelor here.”

“Thanks for not rubbing that in, by the way”, Doyle said dryly.

“Let’s set you up with a beverage?” Richard suggested and guided Doyle to the bar. Angel started to follow them but his suspicions started to surface as he heard two demons talking in their language while looking at him. He glanced at their way, receiving two fake smiles that did nothing to ease his mind. Maybe he was just paranoid, at least he hoped he was.

Buffy staked her third vampire and slipping the stake back to her pants pocket, she wiped the dust off her clothes. She looked around her, noticing a shadow walking on the sidewalk and curiosity got the best of her, she sneaked closer. As the form passed a lamp, she could see his face, it was professor Clift.

She followed him till his house and she kept watching him from the window as he went to the basement. She circled the house till she found the tiny window to the basement, she dropped down to the ground to look inside and she saw a cage there but it was empty. She tried to look for other clues but there were none, just bunch of antique daggers. She cursed under her breathe for promising Angel that she wouldn't go after him alone. She looked through the living room window as she walked past it, all the mirrors were smashed into pieces. The rational part of her realized that it would do her no good to go just rushing in since she didn't have the dagger or any mirrors in one piece but still the emotional part of her wanted to go in the slim hope that one of the girls would be alive.

Angel walked to the bar where Doyle was sitting as the stripper was keeping Richard busy. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah”, Doyle answered staring at his drink before drinking it. Angel looked at his friend with concern but then he noticed that the two guys sneaked out of the room. He glanced at Doyle before following them through the kitchen to the second floor. At the end of the staircase he looked around himself, not seeing anybody but then he heard a voice. He quietly walked to the door and watched as Richard's father cut himself with a knife and let the blood drip to a small bowl as he spoke in his supposedly dead language. Angel's suspicions rose to another level. He went to a room which looked like an office, he grabbed the phone and dialed Cordelia's cellphone number.

“Hey, it's Angel. Where are you? -- Let me speak to Harry. -- How is your Aratuscan? -- Not so dead lately. I need a translation, 'Ino platbrata iko iko retvan el shak'. -- I don't know yet if it's anything. Will you just look into it for me? -- Thanks”, he spoke to the phone and hung up. He turned around to leave but collided into the other guy he had been following.

“Hey, what's your problem?” he asked.

“There's no problem”, Angel answered and tried to walk past him but he stepped in front of him, poking him in the chest.

“Are you disrespecting me?” the guy accused.

“No”, Angel answered incredulously.

“So now you're calling me a liar”, the guy said and suddenly hit Angel in the face. He managed to get two punches on Angel before he retaliated, grabbing hold of his oncoming fist and hitting him back while twisting his arm down. The guy went stumbling down but three other guys showed up, two of them grabbing a hold of Angel and bending his arms back while the others attacked. Angel kicked the oncoming attackers to the ground but the other guy that was holding him, swept his legs from under him and once on the ground, they started kicking him. They grabbed him by his jacket and threw him against the wall before continuing with the brutal kicks to his sides and finally throwing him through a ventilation window.

Buffy arrived just in time to see Angel rolling down the roof and falling to the ground, a metal dumpster “softening” the fall. Buffy wanted nothing more than to run to him but she saw the men on the window and decided to wait till they were gone. At the second they drew off the window, she ran to Angel, dropping down to her knees next to him.

“Angel”, she called out and groggily he rolled over to his back.

“Buffy? What are you doing here?” he asked squinting his eyes and slowly sitting up.

“I was going to crash the party so we can go and kill that demon since someone made me promise not to do it alone.”

“The dagger isn't ready for another half an hour, the spell needs to emerge with it before it's of any use”, he reminded her and slowly got to his feet with Buffy's help.

“What going on in there? Why were those guys testing if you could fly?” Buffy asked worriedly as they started walking around the building and towards the front doors.

“You know how it is when some have little too much liquor”, he answered with his face morphing into demon form before he kicked the door open, breaking the hinges in the progress.

“The party is over”, he announced.

“You brought a vampire to my brothers bachelor party!” one of the guys accused incredulously.

“Hey, no girls is allowed in here”, Richard said to Buffy with a large knife in his hands. Doyle was behind the crowd, stuck into a box with only his head in sight. A fight broke down, Angel was giving them a full payback for the beating from upstairs while Doyle was rolling around the floor with the box, till it collided into the bar and the lock snapped open. He jumped out the box and joined the fight, this time staying in his demon form.

The fight wasn't long but it was messy till Cordelia and Harry ran into the restaurant, Harry yelling for them to stop fighting. Everyone froze, with two guys on Angel's back and Buffy holding one in a tight arm lock. “Honey bun? This is for guys only”, Richard chastised, awkwardly climbing off the booth he had been thrown in. Everyone seemed to start relax and even Buffy let go of the guy she was holding in death grip.

“I know what you're up to Richard Howard Straley”, Harry accused.

“The stripper wasn't my idea, pook. I swear”, Richard defended himself.

”Not the stripper, Richard”, Harry said angrily, then realized what he had said. “There was a stripper?!”

“You really shouldn't be here”, Richard chastised again.

“Well, you shouldn't be trying to eat my friend's brains! You horrible, ugly demon people!” Cordelia accused, then noticed Doyle in his demon form and grabbed a silver tray, starting to beat him with it. Angel ran across the room and stopped her from doing any more bodily harm to Doyle.

”Easy there, Cordelia. It's OK!”, he said to her and she threw the tray away, noticing Doyle slowly climbing up to his feet after the beating.

“Doyle! Oh, look what they did to you!” she exclaimed. Rolling her eyes, Buffy went to stand next to the others.

“I'm only going to ask you this once, Richard, and I expect a straight answer: were you or were you not intending to eat my ex-husband's brains?”

“In a way”, Richard answered sheepishly.

“And when were you planning on telling me?”

“I thought maybe I wouldn't have to.”

“You were going to start out our life together with deceit?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Sort of missing the point, isn't she?” Doyle commented to Angel. Harry and Richard kept discussion their situation, Buffy didn't really pay attention, she just kept glancing at the clock.

“I should have told you. I'm sorry. But unless we complete the ritual my family will never consent to the marriage”, Richard said to Harry, his family nodding their heads in confirmation. Harry looked at Doyle before taking hold of Richard's hand with a solemn look on her face. She handed the engagement ring to him and turned away.

“One word, Francis, just one word and I'll eat your brains”, she warned as she walked past Doyle.

Cordelia took Doyle home while Buffy and Angel headed to Clift's house after dropping by the office and getting the dagger and a mirror. Buffy was about to kick down the door but Angel stopped him.

“Maybe we should look for a spare key”, he suggested and slightly embarrassed, she nodded. He checked over the door frame but she found it under the welcome rug. The stepped in and searched the house, finally finding him in the basement, chanting while holding a dagger.

“He's not human”, Clift stated, sniffing the air before turning around to look at the couple.

“Well, you're not either. So I guess nobody's perfect”, Buffy answered and walked down the stairs. She pulled out the dagger, his eyes drawing to it before they drifted to her face.

“I always knew there was something peculiar about you, miss Summers. I was going to ask you for little tutoring but you are not like the others”, he stalled, stalking her like a prey.

“I'll take that as a compliment”, she said then switched into business mode. “Where is September?”

Clift smirked. “Wow, she was such a bitch. I almost didn't eat her, I was afraid of indigestion”, he answered shaking his head. “What are you going to do girl? Poke me with that little knife of yours?” he taunted, trying to distract her before he attacked her, trying to slice her with his dagger. She managed to dodge his every move and Angel joined the fight, kicking him across the face. Clift's demon face surfaced and he attacked the couple, they traded punches, their strength quite evenly matched.

Angel growled as Clift backhanded her hard enough to draw blood and he grabbed the demon by his shirt and flung him up the stairs. Clift crashed to the basement door and just managed to get up to his feet as Angel ran after him, hitting him hard enough to send him sprawled to the floor. Growling, Clift jumped to his feet, he grabbed a hold of Angel's jacket and headbutted him. Angel felt disoriented and stumbled on his feet before falling down to the floor.

“Hey ugly!” Buffy yelled behind him and as he turned around, she struck the dagger into his heart. The dagger started glowing with a mist that was a mix of red and brown. She pulled out the mirror, that fortunately was still in one piece and the mist was sucked into it with a demonic scream echoing in the room. She smashed the mirror to the floor and ran to Angel while Clift fell down unconscious.

“Angel! Are you alright?” she asked frantically, lifting his head to her lap.

“Just fine, a little numb”, he answered.

“I think we better get out of here before he wakes up. Are you sure he won't remember anything as he wakes up?”

“Yes, I'm sure”, he assured her. She looked around herself and gently laid him back to the floor, rushing to the living room and retuning with a glass of scotch.

“You're not drinking that!” Angel said from the floor and Buffy rolled her eyes.

“I'm not gonna drink it”, she said and threw half the glass to the unconscious Clift's shirt before setting it down next to his hand. “It's better for him to think he has developed a drinking habbit than wonder why he can't remember anything from the past three weeks”, she explained before lifting him up to his feet that didn't hold him up.

“Okay, let's try to get you to the car”, she said and half carried and half dragged him out of the house.

“You're not driving”, he protested but she just gave him a wicked smirk while putting his seatbelt on.

“I don't think you're in a position to do anything about it”, she said throwing the keys into the air and catching them before walking around the car to the drivers seat.

“Don't worry, I'll be extra careful”, she smirked.

Buffy, Angel and Cordelia were standing on the office window looking at Doyle who had just laid down on the sofa.

“So he spoke to Harry?”, Cordelia asked and Angel nodded. “Didn't go all that well, huh?”

“He just needs time”, Buffy suggested.

“He's still hung up on her, isn't he?” Cordelia stated with a sigh.

”Probably more than he realized.”

“Well, someone has to go out there and cheer him up”, Cordelia said and Angel started to get up but Cordelia stopped him. “Oh please. Someone with a heartbeat”, she said then glanced at Buffy. “And someone normal”, she added before strolling over to Doyle.

“Hi, Doyle. Are you going to become loser pining guy, like full time now? Because you know, we already have one of those around the office”, she said bluntly, getting a protest from both males as Buffy just smirked.

“He can get away with it. He's tall and and look at the way clothes hang on him”, she continued pointing at Angel.

“Hey! No looking at his hanging clothes!” Buffy protested.

“Okay, I think you've cheered us up enough”, Angel interrupted.

“You can't live in the past. You got to move on. Let it go, forget it. Tomorrow is another day. Did I mention letting it go?” Cordelia continued like no one else had said anything.

“Twice”, Doyle assisted, now sitting up. Cordelia sat next to him, patting his knee.

“You'll get through this, Doyle. Nice guys don't always finish last, you know”, she said with a softer tone.

“You think I'm a nice guy?” Doyle asked.

“I think it, I say it”, she shrugged.

“And I can verify that”, Buffy said from the door, she could very vividly remember when she had the aspect of a demon, and she could safely say that Cordelia was telling the truth.

”Feeling better?” Cordelia asked turning to Doyle and he nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Well, my work here is done”, she stated and jumped to her feet.

“We should talk”, Angel whispered turning to Buffy. She nodded and they went back to the apartment.

“So, what you wanted to talk about?” she asked even though she could guess.

“What happened the other morning with Richard. What was it all about?”

“I just thought he looked like someone else”, she answered, turning her back to him, remembering the time she had ran away wasn't something she liked to do.

“A demon from a hell dimension”, he stated and she just nodded, not turning to look at him. “Buffy”, he whispered and took a hold of her shoulder, gently turning her to look at him. Slowly she lifted her gaze to his face, swallowing the thick feeling she had on her throat.

“It was when I ran away”, she started, her voice ragged and barely more than a whisper, she still couldn't look into his eyes. “After I send you to hell”, she added and a single tear slipped down from her eye.

“Buffy, you did what you had to do, I have never, never blamed you for that”, he said pointedly and forced her to look into his eyes. She swallowed again and averted her eyes from his piercing gaze, it was too much too look into his eyes.

“I... I was so lost. I was determined to leave Buffy the vampire slayer behind and be just Anne the waitress. But I realized I couldn't run away from being a slayer.. a girl I knew was taken into a hell dimension and I followed her. This guy, that turned out to be a demon, lured young runaways from the street and took them to the hell dimension, it was easy since nobody missed them and when they were spit out, they were too old to be recognized by anyone. Well, long story short, we got out and I got back home.” She tried to down play it by fake cheerfulness but failed miserably. Angel pulled her into his arms and placed a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I'm sorry, love”, he whispered and just help her tightly, rubbing her back soothingly as she cried against his chest. Finally she pulled back, but not completely out of his embrace.

“Well, it's in the past. We're together now”, she said sniffing.

“Forever”, he promised wiping away her tears.

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