I'll Wait For You

Author: Nitrowugs

Rating: T

Pairings: B/Aus

Feedback: Please. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with BtVS and AtS. Characters, plots and dialogue from the shows are borrowed with no infringement intent whatsoever.

Distribution: Please ask and let me know where it's going.

Written: 03/04/2015

Summary: Angelus is free; he knows that Angel's soul is gone and can never be returned. He heads for Sunnydale on a mission of retribution and reclamation. Things seldom go as planned.

A/N1: BTVS happened up to 'The Gift' in season 5 except that Joyce is still alive and Buffy had a brief affair with Spike.

A/N2: AtS happened up to 'Soulless' in season 4 except that Doyle is still alive and Cordelia is not evil.

The story goes AU from here.

A/N3: Chapters rated PG will be clearly labeled. Thoughts are in single quotes (' ')

Chapter 1 - Best Laid Plans

This chapter is rated PG for off-color words.

Part 1

Even though he was currently trapped, confined in a cage in the basement of the Hyperion Hotel, in his mind Angelus was in no way a prisoner, because he knew that sooner or later, preferably sooner, the soul's little band of misfits would be coming back to again ask, no beg, for his help, help that only he could provide. The beast was free, stalking around Los Angeles as if it was his own personal hunting ground, and the Fang Gang had no clue as to how to defeat it, so yes, Angelus knew for certain that they would be coming to him for help.

In the meantime, he had plans to make, plans that included William, his errant grand-childe, and the slayer, his unfaithful mate. They would both pay dearly for their betrayal, especially William; he would be lucky if he survived the punishment that was in store for him. And then the slayer, his mate, who had pledged her love for him, had risked her life for him, well for the soul actually, if truth be told, but she knew it was not the soul that she forced to feed from her when he was poisoned - she knew. She knew that the soul was too weak, that is why she brought him forward and forced him to drink. And then, to betray him as she had - it was unforgivable.

'If I didn't love her so much I would not forgive her ... NO damn it, I don't love her; she is mine, that is all; there is no love for her in me.'

Angelus sat down on the cold floor of the cell and leaned back against the wall; he had to get out of here or he would drive himself mad. He had barely finished the thought when he heard the door at the top of the stairs open. 'Bingo!' he thought as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

He didn't move an inch as Wesley, Cordelia, Doyle and Gunn came around the corner to face him. The first three looked defeated, chagrined, but the look on Gunn's face was openly hostile. 'What a fine childe he would make...'

"Okay, you win. The Svea Priestesses were all dead and we were not successful in breaking Faith out of prison. You are our last hope in stopping the beast." Wesley sounded regretful, but resigned, as he asked for Angelus' help. "What do you want in return?"

Angelus was completely relaxed as he restated his previous demands. "I already told you - after I kill the beast, I want you to wait twenty-four hours before you restore the soul; you'll know when the task has been completed because the sun will return, and, because you have wasted so much time, I want the keys to my car."

"Why would you want Angel's car ... " It dawned on Wesley then what Angelus was planning. "NO! You stay away from her!"

Gunn didn't understand. "Stay away from who? What's going on?"

"He's going after the slayer. He's going to kill her."

Angelus sat up straight and looked directly at Wesley, trying hard not to believe what he had just heard from the ex-watcher. "Is that what you think? I don't want the slayer dead."

"Ohmygod!" Cordelia realized the direction of his thoughts. "You're in love with her, too."

"Pfft. Of course I'm not in love with her. She. Is. Mine. That is all." He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes indicating he was through with the subject.

"We'll just call and give her a heads up that you are coming to Sunnydale." Wesley told him.

"You do that and it won't be people in Sunnydale who die; it will be you. You are mistaken if you think my demands are open for negotiations."

If they hadn't heard his voice, they would not've known that he had spoken. He did so without opening his eyes, without moving a muscle and his words were half growled/half spoken. When he again opened his eyes, they were left with no doubt that he meant every word.

Part 2

Taking care of the beast took almost no effort after Angelus discovered the weapon that was the key to destroying it. "Idiot," he accused the beast; "you create a weapon that's the key to your destruction and you leave it in plain sight. Did you really think I wouldn't put two and two together?" Angelus mocked just before slamming the knife up to the hilt into the beast's back. The demon's body quickly cracked apart like old cement and, just as quickly, the sun started to reappear.

"Crap!" Angelus yelled as he dove for cover to avoid the sunlight. "Good planning there. Now who's the idiot?" He scolded himself.

The incidence with the beast was immediately forgotten as his mind turned to Buffy. He knew that he couldn't trust the soul's friends to keep their word; he knew that they would be preparing the soul restoration spell as soon as they saw the sun. Angelus had to get back to the Hyperion Hotel right away. He didn't want to miss the opportunity for one of his greatest performances.

In the meantime Wesley had already retrieved Wo-Pang, the mystic he had gotten to remove Angel's soul earlier. He wanted to be ready; although he had made a deal with Angelus to wait twenty-four hours after the sun came back before restoring the soul, he had no intentions of living up to that deal. He wasn't taking any chances with Angelus getting to Buffy.

"Don't worry about Buffy, she's the slayer; she can defend herself," Cordelia had reminded Wesley. "She kicked his ass and sent him to hell years ago; she can do it again."

Wesley was firm in his decision because he was sure that he was doing the right thing. Buffy and Faith may not be his slayers anymore, but he still felt some responsibility toward them.

"He might not return here after he defeats the beast and he has Angel's car; I'm not taking any chances on letting him get to Buffy. She already has a lot on her hands right now."

Just as Angelus ran into the hotel with his leather coat over his head, he heard Wo-Pang utter the last words of the spell to re-curse him. 'That's my cue,' he thought to himself as he fell to his knees pretending to be in great pain. He kept his head down so that no one could see his eyes.

"My work here is finished; do not call on me again," Wo-Pang told Wesley as he cast a brief glance at the vampire on the floor and walked out the door that Angelus had just entered.

Angel's friends rushed to him (actually to Angelus) to see if he was all right.

"Angel are you okay?" a concerned Cordelia asked as he struggled to get to his feet.

Angelus brought his hand to his temple pretending to be groggy from the spell. "I'll be okay. I just hope I don't have to go through that again."

"You seem weak; why don't you lie down for a while? You'll feel better. Do you want something to eat?" Cordelia offered as she helped him stand.

"That might be a good idea." He grimaced with his eyes closed as he touched his temple again.

She helped him up the stairs and to his bedroom. Angelus fell heavily onto the bed and covered his forehead with his arm. Just as she was about to leave the room she heard -

"Cordy, please ask Doyle to come up. I need to speak with him."

"Okay, let us know if there is anything else that you need."

A few minutes later Doyle knocked on Angel's bedroom door. When he entered he was not surprised to see Angelus packing a suitcase. He leaned back against the closed door without coming farther into the room.

"You wanted to see me, Angelus?"

The vampire was not surprised at Doyle's casual attitude and without turning around he asked, "You already know that the soul restoration didn't work and that the soul is lost for good, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything downstairs to alert the others?"

"Earlier today I had a vision of you and the slayer helping us here in LA; this told me that was the way the Powers wanted it. The others didn't need to know."

"Thank you, Doyle. I have to leave; I have a feeling that my mate is in trouble and I have to go to her. Wesley, Gunn and Connor should be able to handle things here."

"All right, if I get any visions that you need to know about, I will contact you."

With that Doyle left the room and headed back downstairs.

'That Doyle is a good egg; I wonder if he is too goody-goody to be one of my childer... ahhh, what the hell is the matter with me? First Gunn and now Doyle? What am I doing, planning to make childer again? My priority above all else right now is getting to Sunnydale.'

It was still a couple of hours before sundown when Angelus came down the stairs carrying a suitcase; he went directly to the weapons cabinet and retrieved his broad sword. Without glancing at anyone in the room, he threw his coat over his head and ran toward his car as he heard Cordelia yell -

"Angel, where are you going?"

"He feels that Buffy is in trouble and he needs to get to Sunnydale right away," Doyle told her.

"Great, we restore his soul and the first thing on his mind after he recovers is the slayer," Cordy huffed.

Doyle just looked at her. He really loved Cordelia, but sometimes he just didn't understand her at all.

Part 3

Angelus pushed the car toward one-hundred miles per hour as he headed up the highway toward Sunnydale. He realized that he should slow down because, with the sun this high in the sky, he could ill afford getting stopped by the CHP (California Highway Patrol) for speeding. He slowed the car down to seventy-five. 'At this rate I'll never get there. I just hope I can get there in time,' he thought as he pushed the accelerator a little harder.

He didn't know what was going on in Sunnydale, he just had a very bad feeling about Buffy. It never occurred to him to just pick up the phone and call her before he left the hotel, but then he, that is, the soul, had been accused on more than one occasion of not thinking clearly when it came to Buffy.

To other motorists on the highway there was nothing extraordinary about an automobile that all of a sudden started to rise from the road and disappear, either that or they didn't notice it at all. Angelus had never been one to panic over the least little mishap or odd occurrence, but when the car he was driving started to rise from the surface of the ground and float up into the clouds, he found it to be more than cause for concern and he did what any sensible vampire would do - he started to panic, then he started to hyperventilate even though he didn't actually need to breathe, finally he passed out.

End of Chapter 1