*New fic* Never Forgotten
Never Forgotten
Post Chosen. Buffy finds out what Angel has been hiding from her these past five years.
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Rated: T
Genre: Angst
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Published: 5-15-12
Thanks to Bre and Leni for the beta!
Pairing: Buffy and Angel
"So, Dawnie, did you ever get the address and phone number I requested?" Buffy asked as she sifted through the newspapers on the table, looking for her keys.
"Yes, I did, but, Buffy, I found something else out that you might want to know about." Dawn moved towards her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You might want to sit down for this."
"Have you seen my keys? Why can't I find anything around here lately! ANDREW!"
"Buffy, did you hear me? There's something I need to tell you. It's about Angel..."
Looking at Dawn from across the kitchen, her eyes widened at the sound of her ex-lover's name."Angel? I...Is he okay? " Buffy stuttered, "Is he alright, Dawn?"
Dawn lowered her eyes from Buffy, shifting uncomfortably in front of the Slayer.
Buffy stomped toward her sister, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
"Dawn, what is it...Is Angel hurt? Dammit, Dawnie, answer me!"
"Okay...okay. Stop shaking me, Buffy, let's take a seat and I'll tell you everything," Dawn said, pushing Buffy towards the love seat in the living room, then taking a seat.
"Do you remember Giles and Willow talking about Wolfram & Hart?"
"Yeah, if I remember correctly, they're that law firm in LA? The one that gave Angel the amulet that stopped The First?"
Dawn nodded and cleared her throat, "Yes! Well, Giles had been doing his research on the law firm or whatever it is and he found out that the Wolf, The Ram, and The Hart are the names of the members in an ancient trio of true demons. The group was at one point, before the dawn of human history, considered relatively insignificant, and was not regarded as a threat by the Old Ones. After humanity's triumph over the demons they remained, and slowly gained power and influence, eventually leaving this dimension altogether. In the present day on Earth they are referred to as the Senior Partners by their employees, and enact their will through various puppet organizations. One of the groups they command on Earth is the 'law firm', Wolfram & Hart.
"Say what?"
"They say that, while the Senior Partners have left Earth's dimension, the source of Wolfram & Hart's power, the home office, exists on Earth itself. Without the evil residing within every living person, the firm would not exist."
"So you're saying that this law firm that gave Angel the amulet to help us destroy The First is evil? But why would they help us out at all? Why would they even bother?"
"I don't know, I just know that something's not right here, Buffy."
"Are you telling me this to warn Angel? See if he can get some info on this Wolfram & Hart. I don't know if he can help. He said he didn't know much about the source of where it came from, said it wasn't a reliable source..."
"Listen, Buffy. Giles found out this afternoon, that the CEO of Wolfram & Hart is...Angel." Dawn sighed, "Buffy, there's more I have to tell you about Angel. Something you should have known about last year..."
"Dawn, just spill it!."
Buffy had been sitting in the same spot for almost an hour now, replaying her conversation with Dawn over and over again in her head.
Darla, Connor, Cordelia, Wolfram & Hart, oh and let's not forget a reappearance of Angelus. What the hell had Angel been up to all those years?
How could she not know any of this? What Dawn told her wasn't just one secret, it was a few and Buffy became angry. She clenched her fists tightly and breathed deeply.
Darla-wow, that had been a blow to her heart. Darla had come back, slept with Angel and got pregnant. A vampire, pregnant. Two vampires having a baby. She couldn't wrap her mind around that. Angel and Darla had a son named Connor. A son.
Buffy could understand the part about Angel falling in love with Cordelia... but she couldn't bear the thought that Angel had found love with someone other than her, she could understand it. Angel and Cordelia had worked with each other for years. A bond was bound to happen.
She knew deep down that the love she and Angel shared once would always be there, but they would never be able to be that close...never again.
It had taken her a long time to come to that realization - that even though they loved each other, they could never be together again. It hadn't been sex that released Angel's soul, it had been her; that was why Angel hadn't been safe around her - and he knew it all those years ago, that was why he left. She had always thought he hadn't loved her like she loved him. But, she was wrong, and she had never fully understood it until the day she jumped from the tower to save Dawn.
The one thing she couldn't really accept was that Angel was the CEO of Wolfram & Hart. No matter how useful this law firm was, she couldn't see Angel being a part of it. There had to be a good explanation, right? There had to be a good reason for why he was there and she was going to find out.
Fuck, she was furious that her friends had kept this from her for almost a year. Angel even longer. Had she been that preoccupied with Spike, The First, that she didn't even really see what was happening around her? She paused, glancing at the clock. "I'll call Faith. She'll tell me what I need to know."
She stood up quickly, grabbing her purse from off of the chair beside the love seat and snorted loudly. "Can't believe he has a son and he didn't even tell me. Jackass," she whispered before reaching for the phone.
She took a deep breath and dialed the number.
"Hey, B!" Faith chirped cheerfully, "What's up?"
"My house, twenty minutes. You have some explaining to do about a certain vampire losing his soul, a mind trip and a son... "
"Damn, B, who told you?
"Twenty minutes, Faith." Buffy shut her eyes, tonight was going to be a long night, "Bring some wine."
Faith laughed nervously." On it. I'll be there in fifteen."
"See you then, Faith." Buffy said her goodbye and closed the phone. She moved across the room to where she kept her mail. Flipping through the many bills and junk mail, she found what she was looking for and opened the letter, scanning the contents.
She opened the phone again, and dialled quickly. 'Be calm, Buffy. You can do this.'
"Hello?"
"Angel...It's Buffy."
"Buffy...?"
Buffy could sense confusion in the vampire's voice and she frowned. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
Angel grunted and Buffy could hear shuffling in the background and a small growl. "Hold on!" Angel put the phone down, slipped out from behind his desk and rushed to the door, glancing quickly outside. HE shut the door and locked it. Taking a unneeded breath, he sat back down at his desk and picked up the cell phone.
"Buffy?" No answer. "Buffy, are you still there?" Again no answer. "Dammit!" He growled, gripping tighter at his cell phone.
"Hey," she whispered nervously, "Did I call at a bad time?"
"Oh no... No, not at all. How are you?"
Buffy laughed softly at the nervousness in his voice and she relaxed a little. "I'm good, thanks. Um... Angel, I'm coming to LA. Could we meet?"
"When?"
"Two days, seven pm at Mamma Mia's on the corner of Fifth and Craig Drive?"
"I'll be there," he responded. Reaching for his coffee, he took a sip, then leaned back in his large leather chair. "I miss you, Buffy..."
He could hear her breathing hitch slightly, he could almost sense the uneasiness in her breath and before he could say anything else. The line went dead.
It had probably been about fifteen minutes since Angel got there, watching her through the pizza shop window. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. She had grown her hair long and dyed it a dark chocolate brown color. He had always loved her blonde locks, but the brown she wore now, made her look more of her age...more sophisticated.
Even after all this time apart from her, he could still feel a powerful pull towards her - just as intense as when he first laid eyes on her. Angel knew part of that was because she was the slayer and he was a vampire, it almost seemed like tonight their souls were calling out to each other in a way he had never felt before…not even when they were together all those years ago.
He sighed heavily, creeping closer to the window, so he could get a better look at her. God, he had missed her so much. He needed her so badly right now, but part of him was still angry with her for what had happened between them.
He knew he was at fault, just as much as she was - even more so. But it still didn't change the way he felt, like she had betrayed him.
He knew deep down inside that wasn't the case, that it was him that betrayed her. She had come to him for help just after her friends resurrected her from the dead and begged him to take her back to LA with him and he refused, telling her she needed to stay in Sunnydale. That she was still the slayer and that she still had a job to do.
Angel cringed as he remembered their intense meeting, the way he had pushed her away when she had needed him the most. He was so involved with his own problems that he never once thought about what she had been feeling. He had been so engrossed in his sire. Darla, that he never did anything to help Buffy, just shooed her away into the arms of his grandchilde: Spike!
"Spike..." Angel muttered angrily, there had been only one person Angel wished dead. Hoped that one day, one glorious day that he would stake the annoying, bleached blonde vamp.
Angel growled, feeling the deep rage inside of him start to grow. He reached for the brick wall and leaned against it, closing his eyes, trying to calm himself. ' How did she become so close to Spike anyways? How could that evil, selfish asshole get to touch Buffy in a way he never could...only dreamed about?'
At first he couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. No, his Buffy would not have slept with an evil soulless demon... No, not his Buffy.
When he first realized Buffy and Spike had been intimate, he thought his mind had been playing tricks on him. When she didn't deny having feelings for Spike, when she had told him that Spike was in her heart, he knew then that had lost her.
He had wanted her to have a normal life. A life where she could separate being a slayer with being a normal human girl. Falling in love, getting married, having children.
She had deserved more than just darkness, demons and inevitably death .
What the fuck had he been thinking back then? He knew that what he thought was bullshit, knew Buffy really couldn't have a normal life.
Buffy was the Slayer. It was and would be a part of her and nothing could change that.
Buffy was getting impatient and irritated as she waited for Angel at the `Mamma Mia` pizza shop. It had been twenty-five minutes already and she was getting nervous, especially when she had felt him there at the shop for fifteen of those minutes. Hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching her.
That was one thing she had really disliked Angel for. He had almost a stalker-like personality about him and it creeped her out at times. She knew that Angelus had a huge part to do with that, but it had always been something she couldn't let go when it came to Angel.
Angel watched her, as she fidgeted slightly in the corner booth, sipping at her coke. He smiled to himself as he realized she was just as nervous as he was. Taking in an unneeded breath Angel decided that he had kept her waiting long enough. Moving out of the shadows, Angel grabbed the knob opening the door to the café and headed inside.
TBC...
INTRIGUED?