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Chapter 12: Old and New
The demon just growled and started stomping towards her. She quickly glanced around her, seeing her axe laying on the grass behind the demon. She ran towards it, dodging the blow the demon was swinging her way and she dived into the ground picking up the axe in full speed. She rolled over and jumped to her feet. The demon had turned around and was coming after her looking very threatening. Buffy raised the ax and was ready to fight when the demon groaned from pain and turned around looking very pissed off. That’s when she saw Riley holding the tazer gun and she groaned out loud. The demon grabbed on to the wires and yanked, the gun flying off Riley’s hands. He took his combat baton out and attacked the demon. “Riley! What do you think you are doing!?” Buffy yelled pissed off and attacked the demon herself. “My job”, answered Riley and was hit by the demon. He flew right to a wall of a mausoleum, sliding down like dead weight. ”Puny human”, the demon growled and turned to Buffy. “He’s just naive”, Buffy answered and swung her ax, cutting off the demons head. “IU!!” she said when the bright lime green goo splashed around the cemetery. She looked down on herself and her clothes were covered in the slime. “Do you still love me, even if I’m covered in slime?” she asked without turning around. Angel appeared from the darkness and smiled his charming smile. “Yes, I do”, was the answer and he came to stand in front of her. He was about to lean in for a kiss but she pulled back. “I’m gross. But you can prove you love by helping me bury that corpse.” Angel smiled. “I think I can do that, it will be just like old times.” He leaned closer to her ear and whispered huskily: “And I will get that kiss later.” Buffy smiled brightly at him and said back: “I think I can do that.” But their moment was interrupted by Riley’s painful groaning. They both turned to look at him, he was trying to get up holding his head in his hands. Buffy looked skywards and sighed. She went and helped him to his feet, holding on to him so he wouldn’t fall. Angel was standing in the background, glaring at Riley who was too close to Buffy for his liking. An involuntary growl escaped his lips. Buffy turned to look at him like a mother to a child that had been naughty but she couldn’t help but feel slightly amused by his jealousy. She turned back to Riley, looking at him with a scowl on her face. “What were you thinking, Riley?!” she scolded him and he just looked at her innocently. “I was helping you. You shouldn’t do this alone”, he explained. “Riley, those electric thingy guns only piss off those demons and your stick is useless against them.” Angel chuckled and both Buffy and Riley turned to glare at him, even though Buffy didn’t really give much heart to it. “What is he doing here?” Riley asked not even trying to keep the hostility out of his voice. “He’s here with me”, Buffy said and Angel couldn’t keep the smug grin out of his face. “What you mean by with you!?” Riley turned to Buffy with his eyes wide. “As in spend some time with me and help with the slaying”, was her answer. Riley looked at him suspiciously and then turned back to Buffy. “Did you cheat on me with him? You just suddenly went in bed with the guy that just showed up in New York. Or did he know you were there all along”, he accused and Angel had to use all his self control not to jump on him and beat the living daylights out of him, nobody insulted his Buffy. “I can’t believe you!” Buffy yelled with a high pitch voice, she was truly insulted. “Xander said...”, Riley started but was stopped by Buffy who raised her hand as a sign for him to shut up. “Xander said! And since when have you been all buddy buddy with Xander. I never knew how little you knew me, I never cheated on you”, Buffy said and turned around, she couldn’t even look at him. “But Buffy”, Riley tried after he realized he was letting his jealousy run his mouth. “Don’t. Just go home, Riley”, Buffy said and left the cemetery with Angel.
Buffy sat on the couch, snuggled into Angel’s arm. “I can’t believe he would think so little of me. And believe Xander...”, she said miserably and buried her face into his broad chest. “If he really believes into those things, then he’s truly an idiot”, Angel said and stroked her hair soothingly. “I just want to forget it”, she said and raised her head, looking into his soulful eyes. A small smile rose to her lips and she said with a low seductive voice: “How ‘bout that kiss I promised you?” A wide grin firmed into his lips and he leaned closer to her face, his lips almost touching her. “Yeah, how about that.” He hovered over her lips, teasing her, almost touching but not quite. “Stop teasing me”, she commanded, grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. After the long kiss ended, he pressed his face into her hair taking a long breathe of her scent. She was breathing hard and trying to steady her mind that seemed to be numb. Her fingers played mindlessly with the buttons of his shirt and the other hand was lazily twisting the short hair on the back of his neck. “How long are you going to stay?” she asked him not lifting her gaze. “Till tomorrow night. I wasn’t supposed to come tonight but I had to see you.” “How’s business? Lawyers giving you any trouble?” He gave a brief chuckle and smoothed her hair that he had messed during the heavy kissing. “It’s been strangely calm. They’re up to something.” “Aren’t they always”, she whispered and closed her eyes, placing her head against his shoulder. Angel smiled and looked down on his soon to be sleeping lover. She looked so innocent and young.
When she woke up, he was gone but that didn’t come as a surprise to her. She just guessed he had left to the mansion before sunrise. Languidly she stretched her muscles and got up from the bed which she didn’t remember going to. She felt like she had slept a week, which was a very strange feeling for her lately, she always had slept better when Angel was around. She turned in the bed and saw a large print on the sheets, it appeared he had slept next to her or just stayed awake and stared at her sleeping. She had a quick shower and pulled on some sensible clothes that Cordelia wouldn’t have approved of. She chuckled to herself, it was just so out of this world that she had actually become friends with Cordelia. She could still be a pain in the ass and have no tact but still, she could be a real friend when she wanted to. Shaking her head at that thought she went to Giles’ apartment to give him the report on her slaying. Buffy stepped inside the apartment where the scoobies and Giles were already waiting. “Why didn’t you tell me about a nooner?!” demanded Anya from Xander who was bright red. Everyone else were just trying to ignore them which was quite hard since Anya voice was very loud now. “Anya, could we please not talk about this now”, he pleaded and was returned with a huff from her. “I’m sorry to interrupt but could we talk about something else, like demons for change”, Buffy said from the door and closed it behind her. “Thank you, we already had too much information on Xander’s... umm... private life”, Giles said and returned to the living room from the kitchen that he had been hiding in. “Met a big demon last night, Riley interrupted, I killed it”, Buffy gave her report with a shrug in the end. “So, you faced the Barag demon? Am I correct?” Buffy nodded absently. “Yeah. Somebody really should have told me how messy they are before I chose that axe.” “Well, the Barag demons are messy with their green blood. And it’s not just the blood that is green”, Anya added to the conversation and everyone turned to look at her like she had grown another head. “What!? I used to be a demon. Considering how old I really am, I didn’t get around that much”, Anya defended. “How ‘bout we go to the Bronze tonight, we haven’t been partying together in a long time?” Willow changed the subject looking at Buffy. “Sorry, Willow, I can’t. I’m meeting Angel tonight”, Buffy said feeling bad that she had to let her down. “Angel! Is that really wise?” piped up Xander and jumped up from the couch. “And why is that? We both have self control, we are not going to let Angelus out”, Buffy said feeling defensive. “Like we haven’t heard that before”, Xander muttered and Buffy looked at him vehemently. She turned around and said: “I’m not staying to listen to this.” And with that, she walked out the door. “Buffy!”, yelled Willow after her but it was too late, she had already left. She turned to look at Xander, not feeling pleased with him, she was trying to get back to the way things were and he certainly wasn’t helping. “You better keep that curse at ready, Wills”, Xander said and sat down on the couch with a huff.
After leaving Giles’ Buffy was feeling angsty, she wanted to beat something. Angel could have gotten the anger out of her by his soothing voice and gentle kisses, but she didn’t want that. She wanted to vent it out. So she found a nest and soon the dust was flying in the air. But that didn’t satisfy her either. She couldn’t believe that Xander still was so jealous of Angel. He was with Anya so he had gotten over her but still he couldn’t help but strike at Angel. He was a hypocrite, he himself was dating an ex vengeance demon that had probably killed millions of men but it was wrong of her to date Angel that had no control over what Angelus had done and who was making amends on those things. Sometimes Xander just made her so angry.
Finally the darkness came and Angel rushed out of the mansion. He was taking a short cut through a cemetery to get to her faster but it seemed like some vampires had some other ideas. In a flash he was surrounded by a gang of vampires, they didn’t seem all that smart and they certainly didn’t know who he was. The fight wasn’t going to last that long but one of the vamps managed to wound him and that made his game face surface. He finished the vampires without knowing that Riley was standing in the bushes looking at him with wide eyes. Riley turned around and, what he thought was soundlessly, crept away. He was going to tell Buffy that her boyfriend was dead, he was going to give her a shoulder to cry on and soon she would be over him. With a smile on his face, he headed towards the Big Joe’s bar that Buffy worked in. Riley stepped into the bar and looked around him with a frown on his face. His girlfriend shouldn’t working in a place like this. Once he saw Buffy, he went to her and gently grabbed her by the arm. She spun around smiling, thinking it might be Angel but was disappointed to find Riley, she still managed to keep a frown off her face. “Riley. I never figured you'd hang out in a place like this”, she stated but soon frowned seeing the look on his face. “What is it?” “Maybe we should sit down”, he stated and tried to steer her towards a table but she wouldn’t move. “I don’t need to sit, you tell me now cause you’re starting to scare me, Riley.” He gulped and ran his hand through his greasy hair. “Okay. Buffy, I’m sorry but that guy you are seeing.” He stopped and looked into Buffy’s expecting eyes. “He’s dead.” “What?” Buffy whispered, her voice cracking. “I saw him. He’s a vampire”, Riley explained and was taken back when Buffy started giggling. “Buffy?” Buffy lifted her gaze to him trying to stop laughing. “I’m sorry, Riley. But I know he’s a vampire, he’s been one for over 240 years”, she explained and he looked at her with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open. “But you’re the slayer! Why haven’t you killed him?” he said loudly and she glared at him. “Why don’t you ask that little more loudly?!” she hissed at him, all laughter gone. “But Buffy...”, he tried but stopped when he saw Angel walk through the door. Buffy turned around and smiled brightly at her boyfriend. “Hey stranger. Riley was just telling me you’re dead.” Angel smirked. “A little late.” Buffy rolled her eyes while Riley glared at the vampire. “And what took you so long?” she asked him placing her hands on her waist. Angel shrugged innocently. “Met some friends on the way here.” That was when Buffy saw the blood and in a flash she grabbed the hem of his shirt, trying to lift it. “You’re wounded.” “It’s just a scratch”, Angel assured and took hold of her hands, feeling a little embarrassed of her actions. Riley felt his anger rise and he tried to grab a stake but was stopped by Buffy. “Don’t even think about it, Riley. He’s not evil, he has a soul”, Buffy commanded and grabbed the stake away from Riley. “Buffy, what are you doing?! He’s a vampire!” “He doesn’t kill, he has a soul. How hard can that be to understand?!” “He’s an animal”, he tried again and Angel shot a murderous glare at him. “He’s a man”, Buffy answered and grabbed hold of Angel’s hand. “He may have a demon inside him but he’s a man because he has a gentle and loving soul”, she continued. “I can’t believe this. He has you under some kind of thrall”, Riley tried desperately. Buffy shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you. He doesn’t have me under any kind of thrall. I love him. I have loved him before I knew he was a vampire and I have loved him after I knew. This isn’t some fling or high school crush, this is the real thing”, she said without leaving room for argument. “I’m not gonna sit and watch you get hurt”, Riley said and dashed out the door. Buffy sighed deeply and leaned closer to Angel. “Are you okay?” he asked smoothing her hair back and pressing a gentle kiss next to her ear. “Yeah. Just peachy”, she said and snuggled closer to him, taking comfort from his presence. She may not have loved Riley but she had had some feelings for him and his actions still managed to hurt her even if it was just a sting compared to others.
Lindsay sat on the chair in front of Lilah’s desk. “Everything is running smoothly. Angel is in Sunnydale and everything should be ready before he comes back”, he said and smiled smugly. “Not should be, or I will have your head”, said Lilah and send a cold glare his way. “There isn’t going to be any complications, Lilah. Just relax.” “I’m not going to relax before it is done”, she said and send a fake sweet smile at his way. “Nothing is going to go wrong this time”, he assured and flashed his charming smile.
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