Summery: Spike tells Riley about Angel. Riley doesn't like it.
Spoilers: Takes place at the end of Doomed. (The awful B/R scene at the end doesn't happen! Yeh!)
Disclaimer: Joss owns everything Buffy, I own the plot.

Buffy and Riley walked out of the charred remains of the library, after stopping the Hellmouth from opening. Willow, Xander and Spike were waiting outside in the hall for Buffy.

"Well, hey," Riley said nervously, not expecting to see them there. "Willow. Xander, right?" he greeted them. "What are the chances, huh? Yeah, I was just passing by and thought I heard people inside."

Willow eyed his clothes and smirked. "You were just passing by in your G.I. Joe outfit?"

Riley looked down at his clothes, then up at Buffy.

"No offense, but you do look wicked conspicuous," Buffy smirked.

"I do? Uh," Everyone looked at him expectantly. "Paintball!" he blurted out. "Yeah, I was playing paintball. And the aftershock, I-"

"So," Xander interrupted, "your one of those commando guys, huh?"

Riley laughed. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Commandos, no. I, mean..." he trailed off when he saw Spike trying to hid behind Xander. "Don't I know you?"

"Me?" Spike asked, looking around.

"Yeah, you look..." Riley paused as he remembered where he'd seen him before. "Your hostile 17! The escapee."

Riley took a step toward Spike but Buffy put her hand on his chest. "Hold it, John Wayne. As much as I hate to say to say this, Spike's on our side now." Buffy shrugged. "'Sides, he can't hurt a fly."

"The implants worked?" Riley mumbled.

"Hey, I resent that!" Spike protested. "Just so happens, I killed a fly yesterday. Damn thing was buzzing 'round my head... And I can kill demons," Spike boasted. "Didn't you see me beatin' that guy. Man, I really kicked his ass."

"Are you done yet?" Buffy asked in a bored tone.

"Let's get out of here," Xander said walking toward the exit. Everyone followed but Buffy. "Aren't you coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute. You guys go a head." she told them.

"What's the matter, Slayer?" Spike asked. "Does this place bring back some memories of your old beau, Angelus?"

"Spike," Buffy warned.

"Angelus?" Riley asked. "As in 'Scourge of Eruope' Angelus? You went out with him?"

"Yeah, him and the Slayer were hot and heavy for about two years. So, you've heard of him?" Spike guessed.

"Who hasn't. He's a monster." Riley turned to Buffy. "Is this true? You dated a vampire?"

"Shagged him, too" Spiked added and Riley's eyes widened.

Buffy closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you, Spike," she snapped sarcastically. "Look, Riley, it's true. I did go out with Angel. But he's different then he was centuries ago. About 100 years ago he was cursed with a soul. He feels horrible for what he did and makes amends. Besides," she added, "we're not together anymore. He's in LA."

"Did you sleep with him?" Riley asked.

Buffy looked down at her feet. She took a deep breath and answered, "Yes."

"That is... it's sick!" Riley said in disgust. "You had sex with someone who's been dead for centuries."

Buffy eyes flashed with anger. "Listen here, you pansy-assed-Iowa-bred-loser. I will have sex with whomever I want to have it with. Got it?"

"I guess that explains Parker then, doesn't it?" Riley yelled.

Almost as if by reflex Buffy's fist shot out and hit the boy squarely in the nose. He flew back into Xander and Xander pushed him away. "Get away from me, Fish Boy."

"I suggest you get as far away from her as you can before she blows," Willow advised.

Riley pulled himself to his feet and ran out of the highschool, holding his bloody nose.

When he was about one and a half blocks away from the school, he stopped and pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Forest, you there? It's agent Finn."

There was a lot of static then a fuzzy voice was heard. "Right here Finn. What's happening?"

"Get Gram. Meet me at my dorm. We're going to LA."

Angel had known for sometime that there was three guys dressed in army gear following him down the side the sidewalk. He ducked into a alley and hid behind a dumpster.

"Where'd he go?" asked Army Guy #2, when they came into the alley and found no one there.

"He has to be here some where. It's a dead end." Army Guy #3 said. They walked into the alley a little further.

"Lookin' for me?" Angel asked stepping out of his hiding place.

"Grab him!" Army Guy #1 ordered as he took a weapon out of his pack.

The second guy charged Angel and he easily blocked him and sent him flying into a wall. The other one came at Angel a threw a punch, Angel blocked it. As they were struggling Army Guy #2 picked up a piece of lead pipe off the ground and swung at Angel's head. Angel fell to his knees, stunned. The two guys held his arms behind is back and the first guy aim a tranquilizer gun at him and pulled the trigger.

As Buffy walked out of her Physcology class Monday morning she heard Riley call her name. Groaning, she reluctantly turned around. "What?" she asked coldly.

He walked over to her. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About last night. I shouldn't have said those things."

"Your right, you shouldn't have." Buffy agreed. "I love Angel, Riley. And I know that he still loves me. I'll never regret any of the time I spend with him. The only reason we're not together now is because he thinks I deserve better."

"I know and I understand," Riley said sincerely. "I really am sorry about last night, too. I was just freaked to hear that a slayer loves a vampire. I know it's not an excuse for the way I acted, but can you ever forgive me?"

Buffy sighed and let out a small smile. After all he seem so sincere. "Friends?" She stuck out her hand.

"Friends," he said with a big smile and reached out to shake her hand.

Buffy walked into Giles' apartment that day, after talking to Riley. Shutting the door, she walked into the living room where the rest of the gang, including Spike, were flipping through old dusty books.

"Tell me again why we're spending the day cooped in Giles' stuffy apartment researching?" Buffy sulked, flopping onto the couch next to Willow, who smiled at her.

"My apartment is not stuffy," Giles said in an annoyed tone. "And we're researching to make sure there are no more prophecy's concerning the Hellmouth."

"Oh, well then I guess it's okay." Buffy replied.

"So, Buff, did you see Fish Boy in class today?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"What did he say?" Xander pressed leaning forward in his chair.

"He apologized for being an ass."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did you tell him off?" Xander asked. "Hit him, beat him up, anything that would cause him bodily harm?"

"Ah, no. I sorta forgave him and told him we could still be friends." Everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at her. "What?" she demanded. What!"

"And you believed the poof?' Spike demanded.

"Oh, shut up Spike." Buffy snapped. "He wouldn't have even found out about Angel if you hadn't opened you big mouth. Besides," she added, "why shouldn't I believe him? It's not he's going to go after Angel or anything." Buffy laughed.

Just then the phone rang. Buffy being the closest to it picked it up. "Hello?"

"Buffy? It's Cordelia."

"Cor, what's up? You sound worried." Buffy asked in concern.

"It's Angel."

"Oh my god! What happened? Is he okay?" Buffy rushed.

"He's missing." Cordelia told her. "He went for a walk last night. He never came back."

"Maybe he just lost track of time and had to go underground." Buffy said hopefully.

"That's what I thought at first, but then Doyle had a vision."

"What did he see?"

"He saw Angel being attacked by three guys in army gear."

"Guys in army gear. Of course." Buffy muttered to herself. "Cor, I think I know what's happened to him. How fast can you and Doyle get here?" she asked.

"Probably two hours. Why? What's going on Buffy?"

"I'll explain when you get here. Just hurry." Buffy hung up the phone. "Damn." Turning to her friends she said, "Guys, we have a problem."

"What's happened?" Giles asked.

"Angel missing. Cordelia said Doyle had a vision about him being attacked by guys in army gear."

"It's not like he's going to go after Angel or anything." Spike mimicked her. "Your so bloody gullible."

"Spike, shut up before I take a stake and ram it through your heart."

"Good. You'd be doin' me a bloody favor." he shot back.

Buffy ignored him that time. "God I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I actually believe his stupid apology."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Willow said. "You didn't know he had gone after Angel."

"Your right. We have to figure out a way to get Angel out of there."

"Riley doesn't know that you know, so maybe you can trick him into showing you around the Initiative," Willow suggested.

"Oh, I'll trick him alright." Buffy grumbled and grabbed her jacket. "I'm going to find Riley."

"Buffy," Giles warned. "If you get in and find Angel, don't try to rescue him yourself. You will be out numbered."

"I know, and I won't. I'll come back here and we'll figure out a plan." Buffy head to the door.

"Be careful and good luck," Willow called.

"The blood!" Spike shouted suddenly. "Tell him not to drink any blood they give him. It's drugged."

"Got it," Buffy said, "and thanks." With that she walked out the door.

Riley looked up nervously from the papers he was grading for Prof. Walsh when he heard a knock at his door. He walked over and puled it open to find a incredibly pissed out Buffy.

"Buffy, hi," he greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't play innocent with me Riley Finn!" Buffy stalked into the room. "You know why I'm here. Where is he?" she demanded.

"Where is who?" Riley asked pretending to be confused. "I don't know what your talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," she snapped. "But let me refresh your memory. You and your boys took off to LA last night, captured Angel, and now you have him locked up somewhere. Sound familiar?"

"I'm sorry, I-"

Buffy cut him off by grabbing him by the throat and backing him into the wall. "Where is he?"

Gasping for breath Riley managed to choke out, "I'll take you to him."

"Good," Buffy smiled. "I knew you would see things my way."

Riley led Buffy through a long white corridor. He stopped at a set of doors, took out a card and swiped it through the little box next to the doors. The doors opened and they walked into a room lined with built-in cages. The cages were filled vampires, demons, and monsters.

"He's over here." Riley led her towards one of the cages.

Angel, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, stood when he saw them coming. "Buffy?"

"Angel." Buffy ran up to his cage and reached out to touch the glass door.

"Don't touch that!" Riley shouted. "It's-"

But it was too late. Buffy jumped back as a shock rushed through her body.

"- electric," Riley finished.

"So, I noticed." Buffy shook her head to get rid off the tingling.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Angel asked.

"I'm fine. What about you? Did the hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Really. I-"

"Alright, you came, you saw, now your leaving." Riley grabbed Buffy's arm and tried to pull her away.

Buffy eyes flashed and she whirled around. "We'll go when I say we go, got it? And don't ever grab me again."

Riley sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine." he agreed, not wanting to fight her because he knew she would kick his ass.

"Good. Now give me ten minutes. Go wait by the doors for me."

"I'm not gonna- "

"Riley, don't test me."

"Alright, I'm going. But don't try anything. This place is loaded with security." He turned and walked over to the doors.

"I'm going to get you out of here." Buffy talked softly incase Riley could still hear.

"How?"

"I don't know yet. Cordelia and Doyle are their way to Giles' now. We'll come up with something."

"Buffy, what are these people? What do they want with me?" Angel asked.

"All I know is that they capture vampires and demons and stuff like that, they call them sub-terrestrial-hostiles, and do freaky tests on them, " Buffy saw the look in eyes when she said test. "Don't worry," she reassured him, "you won't be here long enough for that to happen. As for why they went after you, you can blame Spike for that one. Riley and I were almost sorta dating and last night Spike told him about us."

"What about us?"

"Oh, pretty much everything." Buffy sighed. "Anyway, Riley said some things I didn't like and I told him off. I guess he decided to get back at me by capturing you."

"Alright, Buffy, your ten minutes are up," Riley called. "We have to get you out of here before Prof. Walsh gets back, or she'll have my head."

"Just a minute." Buffy turned back to Angel and rolled her eyes. "Don't drink any blood they give you. No matter how hungry you get," she warned. "It's drugged." She backed away from his cage. "I-I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," he whispered back with out hesitating.

She smiled and mouthed, " I'll be back."

When Buffy enter Giles' apartment half an hour later she could hear Cordelia complaining in the living room. "She's the one who asked us to come all the way here. She could at least show up."

Buffy walked into the living to find Giles' sitting at his desk rolling his eyes. Doyle was sitting on the couch next to Cordelia reading a magazine and Willow was on the phone talking to Xander. She saw Buffy come in and said, "She's back. I gotta go, Xand."

"Where's Xander?" Buffy asked.

"Anya was starting to get rude, so he took her home." Willow rolled her eyes. "Did you find him?"

"Yeah, considering this is all your fault," Cordelia added.

"Delia," Doyle said in a warning voice.

"My fault! How is this my fault?" Buffy demanded. "Spike's the one who opened his big mouth."

"Ignore her. She's already bitched at Spike. Notice he's not here," Doyle said. "So, did you find him?"

"Yes, I found him. Riley's got him locked up in the Initiative." Buffy told them.

"How do we get him out?" Doyle asked.

Buffy smiled sheepishly and pulled  what looked like a credit card out of her pocket. "I picked his pocket."

"How's a stolen credit card going to help us get Angel back?" Cordelia asked annoyed.

"That's not a credit card." Willow walked over to Buffy and took the card form her. "It's his entrance card thingy."

"So, what's your plan?" Giles asked, speaking up for the first time. "You do realize that they'll be waiting for you once Riley realizes his card his missing."

"I know," Buffy admitted. "That's why I'm taking it back with me. Tomorrow night Me, Willow, and Doyle will sneak in using his card, get Angel, and sneak back out."

"Uh, not that I don't want to help, but why me?" Willow asked.

"I want you to do that fog spell of yours. Make it harder for them to see us."

"Why tomorrow night?" Cordelia asked. "Why not bust in there now?"

"Because if we go right at sunset tomorrow most of the commandoes will be out patroling the town."

"Sounds good."

*****

"How could you let this happen Agent Finn?" Prof. Walsh demanded when she learned that Buffy had been in the lab and that she had stole his card. "What were you doing bringing a Slayer into the lab?"

"She would have killed me. I didn't have much of a choice." Riley rubbed his neck where a bruise was starting to form.

"She's the Slayer. She's supposed to be strong."

"She'll be back," Riley told her. "She wants Angelus."

"Him? Why? He's a monster."

"He's different. He's cursed with a human soul. She says she loves him."

"A soul? He could be very valuable to our experiment." Prof. Walsh said. "Put extra men on guard. We can't let her get him."

The next night Buffy and Willow met the rest of the gang at Giles' apartment.

"Are you guy's ready?" Buffy asked Willow and Doyle.

"Yep." Willow held up her bag of herbs and her hand, which had the spell written on it.

"Alright then, let's go."

"Be careful," Giles called after them. "If you run into any trouble call us."

"He should be right through these doors." Buffy turned to face Willow. "Start doing the spell. When it's finished stay here. I don't want you getting hurt."

Willow nodded and sat on the floor. She took the bag of herbs out of her pocket and started the spell.

Doyle put his hand on Buffy's shoulder and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yep. I'll get Angel, you stay here and help Willow. If I need help I'll call you." Buffy sled her card through the machine next to the door.

The doors opened and she walked into the room. It was empty except for the caged demons. Buffy walked to Angel's cage. She smiled at him and opened the door to the cage with the card.

"Okay, that was just a little too easy," Buffy noted.

"Defiantly." Angel agreed.

As he said that loud sirens went off in the building. The doors at the opposite end of the room opened. Riley and bunch of other commandos stepped out.

"We've been expecting you," he said flatly.

"Sorry, if I kept you waiting," Buffy snapped.

"I don't get it," Riley shook his head and walked closer. "How could you have let a monster like him touch you or kiss you after all the people he's killed with those hands and that mouth."

"You mean like this?" Buffy grabbed Angel and pulled him into a fiery kiss. "It's real simple Riley. You have to learn to separate the demon from the person. Now, if you don't mind, we'll be leaving now."

"You don't really think we're just going to let you walk out of here, do you?" Riley asked.

"No, I really don't" Buffy replied as the room filled with the thick fog from Willow's spell.

"Get them," Riley ordered his men as Buffy and Angel turned and ran towards the doors were Doyle was waiting with Willow.

"Come on. We have to get out of here before they catch up," Buffy grabbed Willow's arm and pulled.

"No worries, Buff," Willow smiled. "I slipped a little something extra in there. They'll be sleeping like babies for days."

"Oh, your bad," Buffy teased.

"I know," Willow said with a smirk.

On the way back to Giles' Doyle and Willow walked a few feet in front of Buffy and Angel, leaving them behind to talk.

"Are you sure they never hurt you?" Buffy asked again. "They didn't do any freaky tests on you did they?"

"I'm fine," Angel assured her. "No tests."

There was an awkward silence. Angel shoved his hands in his pocket and Buffy fiddled with the necklace around her neck.

"I'm sorry I kissed you like that," Buffy said after awhile.

"You are?"

"Okay, I'm not sorry I did it, but I really shouldn't have," she paused, "for the sake of my sanity. It's going to drive me crazy now."

"Buffy, I-"

"Oh, look, we're here." Buffy ran up to join Willow and Doyle, who were waiting for them outside Giles' door.

Willow smiled at her and pushed opened the door. "Giles, we're back," she called.

"Angel, your okay." Cordelia gave him a small hug. "Good. I'm not out of a job."

"Why would-" Giles shook his head. "Never mind."

"The sun will be coming in a few hours," Doyle said looking at his watch. "We need to leave soon."

"Okay." Angel looked over at Buffy. "Thank you."

"No problem." Buffy gave him a small hug and slipped a small envelope in his coat pocket. "Read it later," she whispered in his ear.

He looked at her curiously but nodded in agreement before turning and following Doyle and Cordy out to their cars.

"Why is my car here too?" he asked.

"Because I know how you feel about Delia's driving," Doyle answered with a smirk.

"Hey!" Cordelia cried, insulted and smacked Doyle on the arm.

Angel chuckled as he climbed into his car.

He was about half way to LA before he remembered the letter Buffy had slipped into his pocket. Angel pulled the car over to the side of the rode and pulled out the envelope. Opening it gently he pulled out the paper and read the three little words wrote on it:

I'll never forget.

He slide the paper back into the envelope and set it in the seat next to him. With a moments hesitation he turned the car around a drove back to Sunnydale.

Buffy lay on her stomach, stretched out on her bed with her books in front of her, trying to study for and upcoming test. After a few minutes she gave up and slammed the books shut, with a huge sigh, just as someone knocked on the door.

"Just a minute," she called getting up off the bed and walking over to the door.

"Angel," she said with a smile as she pulled the door open. "Come in. What are-"

Angel cut her off by pulling her into a passionate kiss. Buffy's smile grew and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back knowing he'd finally came back to her.

The End.