Though Buffy was sitting at the Espresso Pump with Willow, her mind was far away. Somewhere on the road between L.A. and Sunnydale, actually. Sipping her mocha and chatting with Willow, her mind was with Angel. It was a good place to be.

"Buffy," Willow broke into her reverie, "Earth to Buffy."

Buffy just grinned to let Willow know she'd heard.

"I'm trying to decide," Willow said, "whether you're still dazed from your dive into the Hellmouth, or Angel's coming any minute."

Buffy blushed.

"Option number two confirmed!" Willow said triumphantly. At Buffy's odd expression, she smiled. "Really, I'm happy for you. Both of you. I like having a happy roommate. You weren't. before. Happy, that is. And Angel happy bad."

Laughing slightly, Buffy replied, "Think you can say 'happy' a few more times?" She smiled. "Thank you. I wish you were happier too."

"I'm not really a nerd, am I?" Willow asked suddenly.

"Of course not," Buffy agreed. She wasn't concentrating on Willow again, though, as she felt a familiar presence behind her; a welcome, waited for presence.

Willow caught the look on Buffy's face. "I wonder who that could be?" she teased. She raised one hand to wave to whomever had just walked in. "I just lost your attention for the rest of the weekend," she said to Buffy, "didn't I?"

Buffy smiled but said nothing, waiting for Angel to weave through the tables and approach. In only moments a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. Angel leaned down to kiss her cheek in greeting, but Buffy turned her head quickly to catch his lips with her own. He chuckled very softly and met her brief kiss.

When they broke apart, Buffy was grinning wildly. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi, yourself," Angel replied, taking a seat next to her. "Hey Willow," he said, acknowledging the third person at the table.

Willow smiled back. She seemed amused, but said nothing.

"What?" Buffy and Angel asked simultaneously, then looked at each other and laughed slightly.

"I'm just not used to seeing Angel in the daytime," Willow mused. Neither of them acknowledged the comment and Willow stood. "And since the hopes of holding a conversation with you two right now is rather futile, I'm just going to go." She gathered her things quickly.

"No, Will, you don't have to go," Buffy protested.

Willow shook her head. "I need to study anyway. It was good to see you, Angel."

"Likewise," Angel replied, and Willow left the pair of them alone.

For a long while neither of them said anything. Buffy gazed at Angel and the rest of the world seemed to disappear. It had been nearly two months since Angel's return to humanity. The change had left its mark on him in that time. The sunlight had lightened his hair so that it was clearly brown instead of the near black it appeared without that light. His unnatural pallor had lessened to something that, while not exactly tan, was a look only the living and sun-touched can have.

Angel returned her silent gaze. His eyes no longer seemed to hold the pain that was so much a part of his underneath. She could only guess that the guilt that had plagued him felt more removed now. It was still there, but less. His eyes shown with love and happiness instead. The love that they had long been afraid to share. The happiness that had long been forbidden them both.

Angel took her hand in his. It was warm, and Buffy grinned ever wider. The little things made all the difference.

They might have stayed and stared at each other indefinitely, but someone cleared their throat loudly next to them. Buffy jumped and looked at the person in surprise. "Riley!"

"Buffy." He wasn't looking at Buffy, though. He was looking at Angel.

*Oh, this is not going to be good.* "Riley, this is Angel. Angel, Riley."

Both men regarded each other in silence for a moment.

"Uh, Buffy's told me a lot about you," Riley said. The phrase was civil, but the tone wasn't.

*No, I didn't,* Buffy thought.

"Really. Buffy didn't say anything about you," Angel replied a touch darkly, and Riley flinched.

"And this is us leaving!" Buffy said suddenly, loudly, pulling out of his chair and dragging him out of the coffee shop. She caught one final glance of Riley standing there still, gaping like a fish. *Keep that up,* she thought in amusement, *and you'll live up to the nickname 'fish boy.'*

Willow was disturbed from her studying by a knock on the door. Even though it was daytime, her experience with almost getting attacked by Spike led to one thing: she didn't *ever* say 'come in' anymore. Instead she took the time to stand up from her desk and open the door.

"Riley!" she said in surprise. "Uh, Buffy's not here."

"Actually," Riley said, stepping through the doorway, "I was hoping to talk to you."

"Me?" Willow squeaked. "Um, okay."

Riley sat down on Willow's bed looking uncomfortable. Willow sat in her chair, turning away from the desk and waiting for him to speak. After a couple of uncomfortable moments, he did. "Buffy's with.Angel right now, right?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," Willow replied uncertainly. "Is there something you needed her for? 'Cause if it's important, I."

Riley held up a hand to halt her babbling. "No, no," he said. "I well, the truth is, I'm confused. And since you're Buffy's roommate, and her friend, and not confused, I thought maybe I could ask you something."

"Sure," Willow said with a smile.

"Who's Angel?"

Willow looked at him oddly. "Uh, he's.*Angel.*"

Riley shook his head. "No, I mean, I don't know what I mean. It's just, I like Buffy, and then Angel came out of nowhere and suddenly Buffy stopped even looking at me and I'm confused."

Willow was suddenly reminded of a conversation with Angel over two years earlier when Buffy had briefly turned her attention to an old friend named Ford. Why did all of Buffy's boyfriends turn to Willow for information on the competition? "You're jealous."

"No!" Riley said too quickly. "I'm just concerned."

"Uh huh." Willow said with a grin. "Do you want my advice?"

Riley nodded eagerly.

"Don't."

Riley looked confused.

"Don't try and get in the middle, don't think Buffy's going to 'realize her mistake' and come back to you or something. Nothing is going to break those two up. Even when they had the ultimate forbidden love thing going on, even when we all thought Angel was dead for months, still they always got back together. Something tells me this time they're together for good, so my advice is this: find yourself a new girlfriend, Riley, because Buffy won't look twice at you while Angel is around.

Buffy and Angel sat together in the shady grass of Weatherly Park. They had yet to spend a cloudy day together, so perhaps the Fates were truly smiling at them for once. They sat in silence. There was no need for words. Angel had his head tilted towards the sunlight, his eyes closed, a peaceful, contented expression on his face. The day was perfectly beautiful, and made all the more perfect by the company.

Leaning against Angel's chest, Buffy broke the silence. "Willow was right," she said.

Angel opened his eyes and looked at Buffy. "About?"

"That it's still weird seeing you in the sunlight," Buffy explained. "I used to dream about you that way. Two months, and seeing it is still surreal."

"It feels strange to me too," Angel replied.

"Does it?" Buffy asked out of nowhere.

Angel looked at Buffy oddly. "Of course. Why do you think it wouldn't be?"

"I don't," Buffy replied. "Intellectually, I know it has to be weird for you. You just never talk about it. I know there's all sorts of things about being human that are new to you and that'll take a lot of adjusting, and I want to help. But I can't if you never talk about it."

Angel held Buffy a little tighter. "As long as I'm with you, it'll all work out."

Buffy began to smile, then stopped herself. "That's sweet, but you're avoiding the subject."

Angel sighed. "What's the subject?"

"That you never *talk* to me."

"Yes I do!" he defended himself.

"Really," Buffy said. "Then what's bothering you?"

Angel looked confused at that. "How do you know something's bothering me?"

Buffy turned to look him in the eye. "Because you've got some of that guilty look in your eye again that I was getting used to *not* seeing."

Angel looked down and shrugged slightly. "There was a vampire killing in LA that managed to gain the attention of the police and the newspapers. A vampire that I made."

"Ah," Buffy said, nodding very slightly in understanding. "But Angel, *you* didn't make him."

Angel sighed. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Could we not talk about this?"

Buffy made a sound of exasperation. "See! This is exactly what I mean. Every time we get on an uncomfortable subject, one of us avoids it."

"Buffy."

"No," she interrupted him, sounding angry now. "You told me once that if I ever wanted to know what you were thinking, I should just ask. Well, I'm asking. How come we've never spoken about when you lost your soul, or Hell."

Angel looked stricken, and Buffy instantly regretted what she'd said. She didn't know where this had come from, but she knew that they'd have to talk about these things someday. Perhaps today just wasn't that day. "I'm sorry," Buffy said suddenly.

Angel shook his head and pulled away. "I know," he said softly. "I just can't talk about those things right now." He stood up suddenly, and before Buffy could stop him he did something she'd never seen him do before, neither when faced with vampire nor hell-beast.

Angel ran away.

Riley was thinking about Buffy again. And when Riley was thinking about Buffy, Forest couldn't get him to talk about anything else. 'Work,' school, relaxing in the frat house; it didn't matter. Riley's preoccupation was driving Forest up the wall.

At the moment they were walking the corridors of the Initiative's underground headquarters. Conscious hostiles in their cells watched the two of them warily as they passed. One of them growled. Still, Riley rambled on.

"So, there's Buffy," he said, "sitting in the coffee shop with this guy who's much too old for her. They're just sitting there, staring at each other. They didn't even notice me."

"You just wish she was making googly eyes at you," Forest replied, trying to halt his rant.

"No," Riley replied half-heartedly. "I just was hoping for an introduction, you know?"

Forest sighed and decided to go along with the conversation. "So what's the guy's name?" he asked.

"Angel," Riley responded with a sound of disgust. "I mean, what kind of name is that for a *guy*?"

Forest just made some general sound of agreement and ignored him.

"And who is this guy anyway?" Riley demanded. "He just comes out of nowhere and it's 'sorry Riley, I made up with my old boyfriend. Bye.'"

Riley might have continued on that vain for some time had one of the hostiles not drawn his attention. The vampire had listed to much of this exchange and started chuckling. "You want to know who Angelus is?" he asked.

Riley took a step towards the cage, but Forest put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Don't. He's just trying to get to you."

Riley ignored him and turned to the vampire. "I don't know anyone called, what was that name again?"

The vampire grinned. "Angelus, and I heard you talking about him. Angel." The name came out mocking. "Tall, dark hair, hangs out with the Slayer?"

Forest rolled his eyes. *This old game again.* Then he remembered that the Slayer myth was another of Riley's latest obsessions. "Just ignore him and come on."

The vampire wasn't the one ignored. "How do you know him?"

The vampire grinned. "He made me."

Riley stepped back quickly and turned down the hall at a brisk walk. His babbling was finally silenced. Forest knew that had to be a bad sign. "He was just making trouble, Riley."

Riley shook his head. "Either that, or Buffy's dating a vampire. She wouldn't, I have to know."

Forest sighed. "What are you going to do? Find him and say, 'Hi, are you a vampire?'"

Looking over the weapons and various methods for capturing vampires, Riley shook his head. "I wasn't planning on *asking*."

"Riley!" Forest demanded, getting a bad feeling about the whole situation, "Don't do anything stupid!"

But once again, Riley just ignored him.

*And every time I'm close to you
There's too much I can't say
And you just walk away
And I forgot
To tell you I love you
A night's too long
I'm cold here without you
I grieve in my condition
For I can not find the words to say
I need you so*

Buffy switched off the radio quickly. Watching from her desk, Willow noticed the force that had gone behind that simple movement. They were lucky she hadn't broken the radio. "Don't like Sarah McLaughlin?" Willow asked curiously.

"Her stuff hits too close to home," Buffy said. When she didn't continue, Willow sighed.

"What was it this time?"

Buffy said nothing, and put a lot of attention into organizing her desk into neat little piles.

"It has something to do with Angel, right?"

Still nothing, and this time Buffy moved on to organizing her closet. By color.

"Buffy, stop it!" Willow demanded suddenly. "All this pacing and cleaning is making me dizzy. Now, tell me what happened."

Buffy sighed and flopped down onto the bed. "It's Angel," she began.

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that, 'cause he's in town and you usually are all happy then, but he's not here and you are and something's bothering you. So, what did Angel do?"

A long pause.

"Did you two have a fight?" Hard to imagine that, considering the pair of them had seemed joined at the hip lately.

"Yeah," Buffy said softly.

"Buffy, couples have fights all the time. What was this about?"

Buffy sighed again. "That Angel never talks to me."

"Well, I know he's not the most talkative guy in the world." Willow began.

"That's not all, though," Buffy explained. "Did you know that we've never spoken about when he went evil, or when I sent him to Hell, or any of that?"

Willow looked at her roommate in surprise. "Never?"

Buffy shook her head. "I tried to talk to him about talking, and he kind of bolted. Well, not *kind of*. There was no 'kind of' about it."

Willow was quiet for a long time. She regarded Buffy seriously. "Have the two of you ever fought before? Just a normal couple sort of fight?"

"No. I feel awful, Will. He wasn't ready to talk about it. I shouldn't have pushed."

"It'll be okay," Willow said with a smile. "It was only your first fight a milestone. And Angel loves you. He'll be back any minute asking for your forgiveness for running off, and you'll ask for forgiveness too, and I'll make a discreet exit while the two of you kiss and make up."

Buffy laughed. "Make out, you mean."

"Oh yeah, that too."

Angel had been standing across the street from the dormitory for an hour. The sun had set while he was standing there, but he paid no attention. The colors that usually entranced him could not draw him from his melancholy thoughts.

He felt awful.

And not just emotionally awful. His churning emotions were bothering his physical state too. He felt sick to his stomach. It was a new feeling, actual nausea. *Well, okay, there was the time with the roller coaster.*

But this was different. This time it was completely caused by emotions. Nervousness, mostly. And fear. Nervousness about apologizing to Buffy.

Fear about speaking at all.

But fear could be conquered. That was one thing that Angel knew for sure as he stood outside of Buffy's dorm. And Buffy was right. They couldn't really go forward with their relationship until they truly faced some issues in their shared past. The thing was, as painful as these emotions right now were, the emotions that dwelled back there were even more painful. The memories got only harder to face as time went on.

Some of them, Angel would just as soon forget. When it came to Hell.Angel knew he was repressing, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Ignored, those memories might come back to him at the worst possible time. The thing was, though, he didn't want to remember. He certainly didn't want to talk about it.

But he had to, that was for sure. If nothing else, Angel at least owed Buffy an explanation of *why* he didn't want to talk about it. *She wants to help,* a small part of Angel's mind prodded. *Maybe it's time you let her.*

It had taken Angel a half an hour standing here to get the point where he knew he had to speak to Buffy. It had taken another half an hour before he worked up the courage to go to her, to approach the door to her building. Yet finally, here he was, about to take that big step and actually open the door.

Still standing across the street, Angel's body had yet to follow the path his mind had taken. Almost hesitant, he walked forward, moving quietly in the total darkness he was used to and drawing ever closer to Buffy.

A rustle in the nearby bushes drew Angel's attention. He whirled, battle ready, and was struck with a terrible pain before he completed the motion. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Buffy sat on her bed, staring out her window at the darkened campus. Any minute, and she was going to have to go out there and patrol. She knew, though, that she wouldn't be looking for vampires at all. She'd be looking for Angel.

She wanted nothing more to run out into the night, into Angel's arms, and apologize profusely for the afternoon. She'd tell him that they didn't have to talk about it. Hell, they didn't have to talk at all. All she wanted was to be with him, and have everything be forgiven. The thing was, she didn't even know where Angel was staying when he was in town this time.

The shrill ringing of the telephone interrupted Buffy's reverie. Her heart leapt, and she felt herself growing nervous. *Please, let that be Angel,* she thought. The phone rang again, and Buffy picked it up quickly this time. "Hello?" She felt out of breath.

"I need to talk to Angel," the equally breathless and pained voice on the other end said quickly.

"Cordy?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's me. Pass the phone to Angel."

"Um, Angel's not here, Cordelia."

"Well, where is he?" Cordelia asked impatiently.

"I don't know, alright?" Buffy blurted.

A long moment of silence on the other end. Cordelia cursed. Buffy had never heard her curse before. "Well, that's just great," she said sarcastically. "I get this vision where he's in danger, and he's not around to hear it! Great, big old waste of a headache."

"Cordelia!" Buffy yelled, interrupting her rambling. "You had a vision? Tell me what you saw."

"Hey, my visions are for Angel, not for you!" Cordelia protested.

"If it involves Angel, it involves me. Now, you said he was in danger." Buffy tried not to let her rising panic show in her voice. "You have to tell me."

Cordelia started to protest again.

"Cordy!" Buffy yelled in exasperation. "Please! I promise you, I will go find Angel, and I will tell him word for word exactly what you saw. Now tell me already!"

Finally Cordelia relented. "Well, it was real dark, and Angel was outside. Then I got this flash of two guys in full, like, military get up, and just this big sense that he's in danger. All right? Can I go now?"

Buffy nodded, then realized Cordelia couldn't see it over the phone. "Yeah, thanks Cordelia."

"Does it mean something to you?" Cordelia asked suddenly.

"It means I know where to start looking for Angel."

"You've done some pretty stupid things before," Forest was saying, "but this takes the cake."

He'd followed Riley at a distance after the vampire had made his claim as to the identity of Buffy's new boyfriend. He should have done something right away. He should have tried to stop Riley from taking any weapons with him at all until he calmed down. Still, he trusted Riley to do the right thing in the long run. He certainly didn't expect him to do anything *this* stupid.

"I mean, you electrocuted a *human being!* You know, as in a person with a pulse? And body heat? You're lucky you didn't shock him into a heart attack or something!"

"Will you just shut up?" Riley said testily. "Okay, so I was wrong. I was stupid. Are you going to help me figure out what to do now, or are you going to run and tell Ms. Walsh what I did?"

The shocked man in question was being carried between the two of them through half dug tunnels beneath the town. This had almost been the site of the Initiative's base until a tunnel collapse had begun a series of strange disasters. Still, this tunnel was sturdy, as was the room they were heading towards.

"Well?" Riley asked.

"I'm thinking about it," Forest replied. Still, as inept as Riley was, he was Forest's friend, and he wasn't in the habit of turning friends in.

"He's heavy," Riley said after a moment. "We should have just left him."

"And leave him as prey to any vampire that came along?" Forest asked. "Surely you don't wish that on him, even if he 'stole your precious Buffy.'"

Riley made a face at that comment. "Of course not. We could have called an ambulance and just watched until they arrived."

Forest sighed. "*Now* you think of that. Well, we can't take him back now." They entered the room that was almost their headquarters. Together, Riley and Forest laid Angel down on one of the tables that remained. "He does need medical attention, though," Forest pointed out.

"I'm more interested in how he survived," Riley replied. "That was enough shock to immobilize a large hostile. It should have killed a human being." He pulled a rope out from his belt and began to tie Angel's wrists and ankles.

"Surely you weren't planning on keeping him here!" Forest said in surprise.

Riley just looked at him. "What were you suggesting? That we bring him to the Initiative and reveal what we did? We'll get kicked out or worse. More likely worse. No, wait, how about we fix him up and release him? Oh yeah, that's a good idea, reveal the presence of the Initiative to someone who is quite likely dangerous." His tone was sarcastic now.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Riley replied. "But he's staying here until I figure it out. And so are you."

Forest was liking this plan less all the time.

The phone call had transformed Buffy. With a new sense of purpose, she changed into clothes fit for patrolling, slipped on Angel's leather jacket, her crossbow over her shoulder, and was out the door before Willow could even comment. All that mattered now was that Angel could be in danger. If he was, Buffy would blame herself. If she hadn't gotten angry with him he wouldn't have run off and gotten himself hurt or killed, oh God.

Buffy fought the wave of panic that threatened to consume her. Surely if something had happened to Angel she would have known. Right? The thing was, Buffy had no idea where to look for Angel. Was he even still in town? He could have left after their fight.

So, places where Angel could be staying. The mansion, no, the long abandoned building was unlivable at the moment. Still a suitable lair for a vampire, but as a home for a human it needed a lot of work. The apartment he'd stayed in when he'd first lived in Sunnydale *surely* had new tenants by now. Which left hotels. And Buffy had no specific one to begin her long, possibly door-to-door, search with.

Fortunately, there weren't that many hotels in Sunnydale. Using the Espresso Pump as a starting point, Buffy began to wander, especially alert for vampires, commandos, and Angel.

As luck would have it, Buffy spotted Angel's car outside the first hotel she approached. She sighed with relief that he hadn't left town. *Which is a good thing, Angel, because if you had I'd hunt you down and stake you, vampire or not.* She instantly felt guilty for the thought and hurried into the office.

Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust. It wasn't as bad as the place Faith had stayed in, but it smelled like old cigarette smoke. A young woman behind the desk was watching a small black and white television.

"Excuse me!" Buffy said loudly.

"Yeah?" the woman said, continuing to watch the television.

"Um, I'm looking for someone?" Buffy began, then realized she had her crossbow slung over one shoulder and dropped it on the ground out of site. The woman was too caught up in her television show to notice. "It's my boyfriend, and his car's outside, so I was hoping.?"

"You want a room number, I can't give it to you. You give me a name, though, and I could call him for you." The girl smiled, a bit apologetic.

Well, that would have to do. "His name's Angel." Buffy began, then realized she didn't know Angel's last name. "Uh, I have a picture of him." She pulled out the photograph of them at the beach that she'd hastily shoved in her jacket.

The woman smiled appreciatively. "Yeah, I've seen him. Hot one, isn't he? But he's not here right now. He left about two hours ago."

Great. Just great. Now she was looking for one man on foot who had an uncanny ability to hide in the shadows. "Thanks anyway," Buffy said. "Could you give him a message in case he returns?"

"Sure."

"Tell him Buffy's looking for him, and to please call me. It's very important." Buffy picked up her crossbow then and walked back out of the hotel and towards the campus. Her next clue, if not to Angel's whereabouts then at least to the source of the danger, lay in Cordelia's vision. Military type guys, huh? Well, there was one person Buffy knew she could ask about that.

But Riley wasn't home, or so the guy who answered the frat house door assured her. "What are you looking for him for anyway?" the guy asked, regarding Buffy's attire and crossbow oddly.

"Uh, target practice?" *Sure, and Riley dresses like an army man to play paintball. So lame excuse.* "Could you tell him I'm looking for him?"

Great. So where to now?

The guy looked at the door oddly after it closed behind the girl. Then he picked up the nearest phone. "Yeah," he said into it, "tell Professor Walsh that there was some girl with a crossbow here looking for Agent Finn. No, I don't know where he is. No one does."

Angel woke up with a start. He was cold, he ached all over, and his heart was racing. He tried to sit up but found his hands were tied, making the movement difficult. Still, he managed, though he groaned as his body ached in protest.

"You're awake," a voice said near at hand. "I'm surprised."

Two men in full military style attire regarded him through masks. "Well, I'm full of surprises," Angel replied. "Aren't you two a bit late for Halloween?"

"I'm asking the questions," the same voice replied. "How are you alive?"

*Loaded question, if only you knew.* "I feel like I'm in a bad spy movie," Angel said with a laugh. "And don't I know your voice from somewhere?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Sure I do!" Angel replied even though he was captured. "Riley, isn't it?"

The second commando's start of surprise was all the answer he needed.

"Decided to take care of the competition, huh? Be careful. I've seen what jealousy can do to a person."

Riley pulled off his mask angrily. "I'm not jealous. I'm just looking out for Buffy."

"Right. I'm *sure* you had her best interests at heart." Usually Angel wouldn't have said these things - though it was fun seeing the boy squirm - but right now he needed to keep Riley off balance. He needed time. That given, he could get out of these ropes.

"I'll ask again," the boy said, sounding angry, "how are you alive?"

Angel thought on the question for a moment. "Disappointed that you didn't manage to kill me?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you!" Riley replied.

That hung in silence between them for a moment. Like a puzzle, the pieces snapped together in Angel's mind. "You thought I was a vampire."

Riley looked flustered and the second man spoke. "He has you there."

The boy ignored the comment. "A reliable source informed me that you were."

Angel shook his head. "Let's see, heartbeat, check, desire for blood, non-existent, and I'm wearing a cross. Nope, I don't think so." He smiled. "And Riley? I'd hardly call a vampire a 'reliable source.'"

Meanwhile, the ropes loosened a little bit.

Buffy was at a loss. Cordelia's vision suggested that Angel was in danger from Riley's commando group, but that didn't make sense. There was no reason for them to go after him; he wasn't a vampire anymore. If anything, Angel was on the same side they were. They all fought demons.

Unless, of course, the danger wasn't from that group as a whole. She didn't think he'd do anything, but the danger could be from Riley himself. *If he's done anything to Angel, I'll kill him. Several times.*

That was, of course, assuming that Buffy could find either of them. She was hoping to find Angel - he was all she really cared about - but something told her Riley had the information she needed. This time she'd get it from him, even if she had to torture him for it. She didn't know where to look though. Buffy, in increasing waves of panic, was reduced to wandering and hoping.

Something broke through Buffy's emotions suddenly, making her stop and stand perfectly still. It took her only a moment to recognize it. It was the sense she got whenever Angel was near. *Yes!* Never had she been so pleased that she could recognize his presence.

Buffy took another step forward, presumably towards her goal, and the sensation vanished. *What.?* She took a step back and she felt him again. Buffy stared around herself in confusion. *But, he's not here.*

Her vision fell on a sewer grate at the edge of the street. *If I don't see him here, that leaves only one option. Down.*

Into the sewers and caves beneath Sunnydale.

"It has come to our attention that Agent Finn is missing and may have endangered the security of the Initiative. Your task is to find him and any accomplices and bring them back to base for questioning."

The ropes loosened with a sudden jerk. Fortunately, Riley was too blind to notice. No, that's not true, he wasn't *blind,* he was just too busy listening to himself talk.

He was babbling. Something about Buffy, and how good he was for her, and how obviously bad for her Angel was, but truth be told Angel wasn't paying any attention to him. Neither was the other commando, who seemed to be lightly dozing against the far wall.

When Riley paused for a breath, Angel cleared his throat. Riley glared at him. *I don't think he's stupid enough to fall for this, but.* "Um, the ropes are cutting off the circulation to my hands. Could you loosen them a little bit?"

Riley stopped his ranting and crossed behind Angel, coming closer. *Okay, so he is stupid enough. Why did Buffy ever date you?* As soon as Angel knew Riley had drawn close enough, Angel jerked his arms free of the ropes. Before Riley could react, Angel punched him hard in the side of the head. The boy slumped to the floor instantly, making a satisfying 'thump' as he hit the floor.

Untying the ropes around his ankles was much easier, and soon Angel was free. He stood quickly. The second commando moved slightly, and Angel instantly moved into a battle stance.

The commando held up his hands. "I'm not going to stop you," he said. "Actually, I wanted to thank you. I've wanted to knock Riley out for some time. Just to shut him up."

Angel grinned, flashed the boy a wave, and disappeared into the tunnels at an easy run.

Buffy carefully lowered herself into the sewer. She landed lightly on her feet, surveying the tunnel around her. She hated the sewer tunnels. What girl wouldn't? But Sunnydale's sewers were especially nasty, and not with the usual sort of sewer nastiness. No, these sewers were a haven for Sunnydale's more troublesome elements. Specifically vampires. After all, they were a handy, sunlight-free highway all over town. Or under town. Whatever.

This time, though, Buffy was hunting monsters of the human variety. Sadly, they were the type she couldn't slay. However, in Riley's case, she just might have to make an exception.

Her sense of Angel was stronger down here, so she knew her hunch had been right. She followed that sense of him through the tunnels. It led her to a corridor that broke off from the sewer and became something else. A roughhewn hallway of sorts.

As Buffy drew close to the corridor, lights further along the tunnel caught her eye. Voices came as well, but they were too distant to make out clearly. Buffy intended on them staying that way. All she could here was a stern, leader voice calling out "This way!" as they people or creatures came closer. She ducked around the corner.

Just in time to run smack into someone running from the other direction. Both of them went down in a heap, her assailant on top. For a brief moment Buffy panicked and tried to free her crossbow. Then her senses normal and otherwise became suddenly clear and she pulled him into a rough embrace.

"Oh God, I was so worried," Buffy cried, raining small kisses on Angel's face. "I thought something terrible had happened."

"Nothing more terrible than listening to Riley for hours," Angel replied with a small smile as he climbed off her. She would not let him pull away and sat up with him, continuing to kiss him. She shook with relief. "I'm alright, I'm alright," Angel assured her between kisses, returning her embrace.

Buffy's soft, relieved kisses changed into one far more passionate, and Angel returned it wholeheartedly. Nothing else was important at the moment. They held each other to reassure themselves that all was well. In each other's arms, all was instantly forgiven.

But not forgotten. Angel broke from the kiss for the moment. Still holding Buffy close, he looked at her seriously. "Buffy, I." he began.

Knowing what he was going to say, Buffy silenced his apology with a gently hand to his lips. "It's okay," she whispered. "We have plenty of time to talk about everything later." She kissed him softly again. "Right now, let's just leave some things unsaid."

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