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Reprise Revised	By : Maren Category: Angel the Series > Het - Male/Female Views: 4248 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: The Series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Email: marenfic@yahoo.com

Spoiler Warning: Angel Season 5

Disclaimer: I don�t own any of these characters, or any song lyrics.

Pairing: B/A

Feedback: This is my first fic, so I�d appreciate feedback.

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Buffy stood barefoot
in the sand, Angel�s arms wrapped around her from behind, his chin resting on
top of her head as they stared out over the water at the setting sun. She could feel his heart beating against her
back and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world.

She turned and looked
up into his face, and he smiled at her.
She closed her eyes and felt his lips brush gently against hers.

Buffy stiffened as her
slayer senses began tingling, and she frowned in confusion. They were in daylight- how was she sensing a
vampire? Buffy opened her eyes, turned
and stared in horror as Angel began to burst into flame before her very eyes.

lasslass=MsoNormal>

�He takes everything,�
Angel whispered, and then he was gone in a pile of dust- a victim of the
setting sun.

�Noooooo,� she yelled
in anguish and knelt down next to his ashes.
She was startled and horrified to see a hand emerge from the mixture of
Angel�s dust and the sand, pushing up through the ground next to her. She stumbled backward as a naked man clawed
his way from underneath Angel�s remains, and when he turned to face her, she
gasped.

�Spike?�

Spike crawled to where
she knelt on the sand, taking her hand and kissing her fingers before placing
them on his chest.

That�s when she felt
his beating heart.

Buffy sat up, and swiped at the tears that were streaming
down her face. She knew without a doubt
that Spike was alive, and she had a good idea of where to find him.

***********************************************************************

Two days later Buffy stepped off a plane in L.A. She was tired. Getting her trip planned, arranging things
with Giles and putting Dawn on a plane to London,
and her inability to sleep since the prophetic dream combined with her fragile
emotional state to produce an exhausted slayer.
Giles had been astounded when she told him about her dream and her
certainty that it meant Spike was still alive.

�Are you sure, Buffy?
If this is true, the implications are worrisome,� Giles had said to her
on the phone.

�State the obvious, much?� she had snapped back at him,
before sighing and apologizing. �I�m
sorry, Giles. I�m just really worried
and confused. I don�t know how I know
it, but Spike is alive and he�s with Angel.
Considering the way those two feel about each other, it can�t be of the
good.�

�Just be careful,� Giles had warned her with a touch of the
old fatherly tone that she missed so much in his voice. �Wolfram & Hart was the source of the
amulet that killed Spike. If he is
alive, they are most certainly involved.
The havoc they could wreak with a soulless, chipless Spike. . .�

�I think. . . well, I know this is going to sound like Glory
has been sucking on my brain. . . but Giles, I think he might be human.� Buffy�s voice had neared a whisper at the
end.

Giles had been silent for a long moment, and then had
instructed her to send Dawn to stay with him for a few days while she took the
trip to L.A. Buffy had promised to call with news on Spike�s
condition as soon as she was able and they agreed to keep the information
secret from the others until they knew more.

Convincing Dawn to go to London
instead of coming with her to L.A.
had been nearly impossible and Buffy had to play the �pretty much your mom now�
card to get her in the cab to the airport.
She was relieved when Dawn called her safely from London,
excited to be with Giles and the Slayers and Watchers who were training there
with him.

Now that she was back in California,
Buffy felt like she was on an emotional roller-coaster. She was tense and nervous being back in a
place that held so many bad memories, but on the other hand it was exhilarating
to be home. She looked at her watch, and
decided that she had time to check intr hor hotel and freshen up before she
paid a surprise visit to the Wolfram & Hart offices�and Angel.

***********************************************************************

It was late afternoon when Buffy stepped off of the elevator
into the lobby of Wolfram & Hart.
She stared at the vast, sophisticated space, getting her bearings and
mentally cataloguing potential escape routes.
This scan-and-plan action came naturally to her in dangerous situations
as a slayer and she didn�t consider why she felt the need to do this in a place
where Angel was the CEO.

Her attention was drawn away from the expansive interior by
a gratingly familiar voice chirping to her right.

�The boss is in a meeting, can I take a message?� Harmony
said into the handless phone set attached to her head. Her face shifted in disgust and annoyance. �No, I won�t make sure to write the message
in �bodily fluids�. I do not get paid enough for that,� she
huffed as she disconnected the call with one well-manicured finger.

�Harmony, you work
for Angel? I guess I don�t have to
wonder if Wolfram & Hart is still evil, although I do have to wonder if
they have any standards,� smirked Buffy as she
approached the receptionist�s desk.

�Buffy! How not nice to see you.
You know, you�d think if you were going to come seen Angel again you�d
have paid more attention to your appearance,� Harmony replied, with a touch of
the old-school Cordette that even the demon-in-residence couldn�t squelch.

�Ah, I see Cordy has been giving you lessons on how to be a
vapid bitch,� Buffy sniped back, and even though she thought she looked good
enough, she smoothed a hand over her hair.
The look on Harmony�s face stopped her short, though, and Buffy was
shocked to hear what Harmony had to say next through the well of tears that had
sprung to her eyes.

�Cordy just died. I can�t
believe you�re calling her names,� Harmony sniffled, her lower lip quivering,

�Cordy. . . is dead?� Buffy questioned weakly. She felt like the wind had been knocked out
of her and her thoughts immediately turned to all of the people in her life
that she had lost to death. . . her mother, Kendra, Tara, Anya, Spike. . . and
now Cordy? She felt a deep sadness for
Cordy, a woman who had treated her pretty badly at times in the past but who
had also stuck with them in the fights against evil in high school, and who had
been by Angel�s side here in L.A. for years.
Angel. He must be devastated,
thought Buffy, and she addressed Harmony in a much gentler tone.

�I�m so sorry Harmony.
Look, I need to see Angel�it�s important. Which one is his office?�

Harmony sniffled a few more times, and then glared at
Buffy. �He�s in a meeting. Angel says I�m not supposed to disturb him
when he�s in a meeting unless someone is about to die.�

Buffy reached across the desk and lifted Harmony off her
chair by the throat.

�No problem then!� she said brightly. �If I don�t get to see Angel right now, something is going to die!�

***********************************************************************

�If we can get the Sambunji demon to return the Chok�tai�s
mate�s entrails, then the Cock�tai will let the hostages go. Just a little wheelin� and dealin� and we
save the humans and a powerful
client,� Gunn posited as he by the windows in Angel�s office.

�That Chok�tai has been giving us trouble for months- it
kidnaps humans every time someone sneezes in the wrong direction. We should send in a team of assassins and
eliminate the problem once and for all,� argued Wesley.

Angel sat stonily in his chair, staring at the two men
arguing. He had a sense of d�j� vu, and
it was no wonder considering Wesley and Gunn had been having this same argument
for months now. The only thing that
changed was the evil thing that Gunn argued to protect and Wes argued to
destroy. Angel found it hard to drum up
any real interest in the merits of either man�s case. What did it really matter, anyway? They had sold themselves to the Senior
Partners to run this firm. Scratch that,
Angel thought, I sold us to the Senior Partners for Connor.

He felt trapped and helpless to change things, afraid that
any major move against Wolfram & Hart�s most evil clients would result in
something bad happening to his son.

�Angel?� Wesley was
looking at him with a concerned expression.
�Have you heard anything we�ve said?
We need you to make a decision here on the latest Chok�tai situation.�

Angel sighed, stood up, and walked to the window.

�Boss-man, what�s your call?� asked Gunn after a few moments
of silence from Angel.

�Let�s get the Chok�tai his mate�s entrails, but tell him if
he touches another human being again we�ll use his entrails to decorate the staff lounge,� Angel snapped. He saw the satisfied gleam in Gunn�s eye, and
the questioning look in Wes�s before the door burst open and Harmony stumbled
in, landing on the floor.

�Uh, you�ve got a visitor boss,� Harmony mumbled as she
picked herself up.

The three men tensed up in anticipation of an attack by an
angry client or former client.

�Don�t just stand in the hall, you ugly-ass demon,� taunted
Gunn, who despite loving his newly acquired academic skills, still appreciated
a good fight.

Angel was astonished when she walked through the door. He had only gotten a few scribbled post-cards
from her since she had closed the Sunnydale Hellmouth for good, and he had
somewhat bitterly assumed she wouldn�t be making any appearances in his life
for quite some time if ever. Between her
cookies and her reported distrust of him now that he worked for the enemy,
Angel had painfully decided that he would likely never be the man she would
choose to spend her life with even if he was willing to let her make that
sacrifice.

He wished that she didn�t look so good. She was wearing a long, straight denim skirt
with a black, collared, wrap-around shirt and high-heeled black boots. He could see that she had filled out since
the last time he had seen her battling for the world against Caleb and The
First. Her curves were enticing and in
all the right places, and he could see a glimpse of her taut stomach between
the hem of her shirt and the waist of her skirt.

Angel wasn�t the only one to notice that the creature who
had walked in the door was neither a demon, nor ugly.

Gunn let out a low whistle and grinned at Buffy,
�Sorry. We don�t get many beautiful
women barging through these doors. I�m
Charles Gunn. And you are. . .�

�Buffy.� The single
word that emanated from Angel�s mouth sent a novel�s worth of messages, one of
which was a possessive warning to Gunn.

�Ah, the legendary slayer from Sunnydale,� Gunn continued, pouring on just a little less
charm than before.

Buffy hadn�t taken her eyes off of Angel since the second
she had followed Harmony through the door, and she had to tear them away to
glance at the man addressing her.

�Nice to meet you,� she said distractedly. God, he looks even better than I remember, she
thought to herself. She had only seen
him in a suit once before, and looking at him now, she thought they looked good
on him. Fabulous,
really.

�Well, I�m assuming you have business to discuss here, so I
think we�ll go take care of this client issow,�ow,� hemmed Wes, grabbing Gunn
by the elbow to guide him from the
room. �Nice to see you
again, Buffy. You look well.�

The two men left the room and took a protesting Harmony with
them. There were a few seconds of
silence in the room as the vampire and the slayer just looked at each
other.

She broke the silence before he could find his voice.

�Angel,� she said in that half-questioning way that she
always said his name.

�This is a surprise,� he answered. He moved closer until only a few feet separated
them. �Is something wrong?�

He could see the deep breathe that she took before
answering, �I don�t know, Angel, you tell me.
Is Spike alive?�

Angel hadn�t expected this, although why that was he didn�t
know. Of course she had come to L.A.
for the first time in over 3 years for Spike, not him. He felt a physical pain in his gut at the
realization and his tempter flared. His
answer was short, and he steeled himself against her reaction.

�Yes, if you want to call it that.�

Buffy let out the breath she had been holding as she waited
for the answer. She had known the answer
before she asked, but to hear it verified by Angel was. . . intense. Her emotions were out of control, and she
struggled to hide her confusion from her ex-lover. She was happy that Spike was alive, but
afraid of the complications in her life at the same time. Once she had let the confirmation seep in,
though, it was a deep feeling of hurt that hit her hardest. Angel hadn�t seen fit to tell her about it,
hadn�t thought her important enough to know that Spike was here.

�How long?� she asked tersely.

�About 6 months,� Angel answered neutrally. He was struggling to maintain the cool fa�ade
that he had plastered on his face. He
couldn�t let her know how painful it was that she was here for that
bastard.

�Why didn�t anybody call me?
Why didn�t you call me? I have a
right to know,� she said angrily.

�Buffy, I�ve been dealing with a lot of stuff since I saw
you last. In case you�ve forgotten I�ve
got my hands full with my life here. Not
everything is about you. Besides, I
figured Spike wouldn�t waste a second letting you know he was alive,� Angel
snapped at her, losing control of his temper for at least the second time that
day. It was generally becoming harder
for him to control it, and he could think of little else that infuriated him
more than the thought of Buffy and Spike together.

When he saw the hurt flicker across her beautiful face, his
anger faltered momentarily. He took a
half-step toward her and stopped when she retreated with her arms hugging her
waist, his anger flaring again. He
sighed, raked his hand through his hair, and put his hands in his pockets.

�Spike is working with Wesley on something right now. He may be in Wes�s office if you�d like to
see him,� he spit out.

Buffy continued to look at him for a moment, before she
slowly turned toward the door. �Thank
you, Angel.� She glanced over her
shoulder one more time as she opened the door.
�Oh, and I�m so sorry to hear about Cordy.�

Then she was gone. He
was stunned to hear Cordy�s name come out of Buffy�s mouth, and he appreciated
the sincere sympathy that had laced her voice.
He didn�t know what was wrong with him, why he had to keep hurting the
people he loved, why he kept having to hurt Buffy in
particular. He crossed the office and
swept in the hall to go after her, to apologize for his behavior and for not
telling her about Spike. When he got to
Wes�s office he looked through the open blinds lining the inside window�s of
the space. What he saw made something
fragile and vulnerable inside him snap, and the rage that had been bubbling
just under the surface for weeks now broke through.

There was Buffy, smiling and laughing in Spike�s arms. And then, Spike lowered his head and captured
Buffy�s lips in an intimate kiss.

Angel growled low in his throat, spun around, and raced out
of the offices, leaving several stunned staffers staring in his wake.
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Reprise Revised