PART 6

After she'd stormed away from Angel, Buffy wandered around Sunnydale aimlessly. She wasn't really patrolling, she was thinking… about her life - especially the last decade, her relationships since he'd left… her relationship with him and any feelings that she might have now. She didn't come to any major conclusions, except that she must still feel something or him keeping his humanity from her wouldn't have hurt this much and neither would the fact that he'd been a measly two hours away from her all this time. Buffy wasn't sure what to do about these feelings or how to cope with Angel being in her face constantly for the foreseeable future, so she headed back home.

To keep up her cover story she stopped by the twenty-four hour market and grabbed some things. When she arrived back she was relieved to find the house in darkness, this meant there wouldn't be any uncomfortable questions before the morning. Trying to sneak in quietly she came in the back door and was scared witless when she bumped into Spike.

"Jeez!" she said trying to get back her equilibrium, "Why are you sneaking around in the dark?"

"Well, Fluffy… I'm a vampire. We don't need a light to see in the dark," Spike answered sarcastically. Buffy glared at him, but he continued, "What did yer buy me?"

"Nothing," Buffy said handing him the shopping bag.

She moved past him and headed off to bed. Spike watched her go and was secretly happy. It was extremely obvious that she and Peaches had, had a fight… a bad one since the great poof hadn't even followed her home. Maybe this meant that she was finally over Peaches and ready to start anew… with him.

Angel was sitting in the courtyard of the mansion, berating himself for his monumental stupidity. What had he expected her to do… throw open her arms and say all is forgiven? He was so lost in his brooding that he didn't hear Cordy approach.

"Hey!" she said starling him.

"What are you doing up?" he asked her concerned. He hoped that she wasn't in labour and that he'd have to deliver the baby… not again.

"Couldn't sleep… same as last time. It's uncomfortable," Cordy told him. At the look on his face she added, "Don't worry. I intend to have this one in a hospital."

"Good," Angel mumbled.

"What about Doyle?" he asked her. "He can sleep through an earthquake… in fact he has done that" Cordy replied. They sat in silence for a moment, until Cordy asked, "How was the *marketing*?"

"Fine," he grumbled reluctantly.

"Angel?" she pushed.

Angel gave in, "Nothing happened. We didn't even… *market*… together."

Cordy looked at her best friend's glum face. "What did she do?" she demanded.

"Nothing" Angel answered. At Cordy's glare he added, "She just told me that I broke her… when I left."

"Maybe you did," Cordy said sympathetically, "But you did what you thought was best."

"Was it? Was keeping the fact that I lived two hours away best? Was keeping my shanshu from her best? Was not being there for her and Dawn when their mom died best?"

"Angel… don't beat yourself up," Cordy told him, "You can't change the past." Angel looked at her with those damn puppy dog eyes and she sighed. She didn't want to have to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Buffy, but if he wanted her… "You really want to go through this again?"

Angel gave her look that said, "Duh".

"Be there," was all she said.

"That's your big advice… Be there," Angel replied.

"Well, if every time she turns around you're in her face…"

Angel smiled, "She'll have to deal with me."

"Yep!" Cordy said. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep. You should too."

"Goodnight Cor."

"Goodnight Angel."

Angel watched her waddle away and then stared up at the sky for a moment. For the first time since this whole mess with Hank started he felt hopeful… like everything would work out. He'd save Hank and then if his luck held out… he'd get the girl.

The house on Revello Drive was quiet, but Greltar could still feel the presence of the bodies sleeping within it. She crept around the outside of the house; familiarising herself with the layout and then let herself into the house, walking in brazenly and heading up the stairs. She entered the bedroom Hank was using and stood there watching over his still form. It would be so easy to kill him now… but it wouldn't be any fun. Greltar's greatest joy came from the torment, the fear that she put her victims through before the kill. She leaned over him and placed a note she'd written next to his head on the other pillow and left as silently as she'd entered.

The next morning both Buffy and Dawn were awoken by Hank's terrified scream and went rushing into his room. Buffy rushed to comfort him as she attempted to find out what was wrong, while Dawn simply stood in the doorway.

"Damn, he's still breathing," Dawn stated turning around and leaving again.

Hank momentarily forgot to think about himself as he watched Dawn walk away. "She really hates me, doesn't she?" he asked Buffy.

"Dawnie and mom were really close. She took it hard when mom died and since you weren't around…"

"She blamed me..." Hank finished. Suddenly remembering that his own butt was in jeopardy he changed the subject and showed Buffy the note he'd found.

"Where did you get this?" Buffy asked after reading the chilling note, which explained exactly how Hank was going to die… and how anyone who got in the way would also meet their demise.

"It was on my pillow next to me when I woke up," Hank told her, "What should I do?"

Buffy freaked over the intrusion into her own home and though she hated to say it, but she did, "Call Angel.”

Hank looked at her in surprise and with a slightly sheepish grin said, "I'd forgotten about him."

Buffy simply rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, leaving Hank to make his phone call.

Angel arrived just as Buffy was in the middle of making breakfast. Hank let him in and told him where Buffy was and scurried off. Angel walked into the kitchen and just stood there watching her cook… it drove her nuts. Buffy couldn't concentrate under his scrutiny… with him so close to her, all she could think about was him and she didn't want to think about that.

"Could you back off?" she asked a moment later.

"Back off where? I'm standing across the room from you," was his reply.

Buffy groaned silently, "Can't you go bother someone else? Like Hank."

Angel moved to behind her, "No thanks. I like Hank and all, but I don't want to shower with him." He grabbed Buffy's hand before she could move away and pulled her around to look at him, "There's only one Summers' that I'd be tempted to join in there."

Buffy's eyes widened in shock and she pulled her hand out of his grip. She couldn't believe that Angel had just made such a pass at her; he'd never done that… even when they were together. "I prefer baths," she told him turning back to breakfast.

"I can do baths," Angel whispered in her ear.

Before Buffy had a chance to stab Angel with the fork she was holding, Dawn entered. "Morning Angel," Dawn greeted him happily. Then she looked at how close Buffy and Angel were standing, "Am I interrupting something?"

"No!" Buffy said stiffly.

Angel smiled at the younger girl, "No, but five more minutes…"

"And nothing," Buffy said cutting him off, "There's nothing going on between us."

Dawn looked at Angel shaking his head and tried not to laugh. She decided to change the topic, "Where's the thing?"

"According to Angel, dad's in the shower," Buffy told her.

"Ooh!" Dawn said visibly shaking, "Scary visual place."

"What's scary?" Hank said walking in.

"The scarring mental image of you naked," Dawn told him.

"Someone saw me naked? Who?" Hank asked.

"Angel," Dawn said.

Angel looked horrified; "I didn't…"

"You saw me naked?" Hank asked Angel, wondering if this was the reason that Buffy and he had broken up.

"No," Angel denied again, "I didn't."

Buffy was giggling at Angel being uncomfortable. "Dawnie," she said a second later, "Leave them alone."

"But they're so much fun to torture," Dawn whined good-naturedly.

Buffy just picked up the breakfast dishes and said, "We can discuss Hank's reason for calling over breakfast."

Before she even took a step, Angel took them for her arms and walked towards the dining room, leaving Buffy to wonder what the heck was going on.