What really happened behind the Wings.

(My re-write of 'Waiting in the Wings" And…then some. :)

Pairing: Buffy/Angel

A fic by: Angel's blue eyed girl

Rating: Do I really need to answer that?? ;)

Disclaimer: Joss and Co. own them all and I'm just borrowing them to suit my inner demons!

Thank you to Red, who still loves me enough to beta for me—even if she does murder my children!! lol! :)

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The Ahmanson Theatre: Los Angeles

Buffy's eyes wandered as her Dad's business partners went into another diatribe about the Dow Jones and the struggling economy. It was beyond boring, and she was sick of listening to talk of stocks and bonds. She wished the intermission would end because she was actually enjoying the ballet Hank had taken her to for her birthday. It was 'Giselle' and Buffy understood the lead character's pain. She just wanted to have her happily ever after with the man she loved—Buffy could so relate.

She sighed and gazed around the room again, searching for an excuse to get away from her father's group. Just then a shiver ran up her spine and her eyes darted around the room, on alert for a vampire. She scanned the crowd, but the feeling passed and she blew it off as nerves. She took a deep breath to calm the churning in her tummy. Truth was, she wanted to get out of L.A. as soon as possible. This town brought out emotions and memories that she didn't want to face or acknowledge. This was Angel's city and she didn't belong here—not anymore.

She stifled a yawn. Buffy tapped her father on the shoulder. "Dad, I'll be right back, "she said. He nodded and she rolled her eyes. He returned to his conversation before she'd even taken a step.

"Same old Dad—different year," she sighed, pushing her way through the throng of people crowding the lobby. "It'll never change. Why do I even bother? Look at how he treats Dawn…" Buffy grumbled as she made her way towards the ladies room. She was almost there when a certain tingling in her belly caused her to freeze and her mind went catatonic. Someone bumped into her and Buffy stumbled and clutched her purse tighter. Only Slayer coordination saved her from ending up on her face. But making a fool out of herself was the last thing on her mind as she turned and searched the crowd for a certain broad shouldered physique.

She KNEW that tingle—Angel was close by. No matter how much time passed, it never changed. The connection— even when she couldn't see him—she felt him, and though it scared her, the thought of not seeing him scared her even more. She scanned the room until her eyes landed on his familiar bulk. She swallowed hard, her eyes travelling over his well muscled body. He was even more handsome than she wanted to remember. He looked a bit more buff and her knees wobbled when he grinned at a member of his group. No one should be that sinfully gorgeous—it should be illegal.

"Angel," she breathed, clenching her fists as the oh-so-familiar knot began to form in her stomach. She tried to look away, but couldn't. Still so beautiful…she wanted to hate him. Why couldn't he have developed a huge blood belly or something?! And who was the brunette clinging to his arm?

She looked down at her hands. They were wrenching her small beaded purse into a twisted mess. "God, get a grip, Buffy. He doesn't even see you…" she muttered as she turned and headed away from him,. She was so desperate to put some distance between her ex-honey and the feelings he inspired, she failed to notice the dark eyes that followed her as she disappeared into the restroom.

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Across the room:

"Well, it's a puzzler," Cordelia said, turning Angel and putting his back to the lobby before he saw the tiny blond. Cordy couldn't believe Buffy was here. She was furious. It figures—the ONE night she was shining, 'Little Miss Slays-A-Lot' would have to show up and rain on her parade. "Are there snacks?" she asked, batting her lashes at the dark vampire.

Angel noticed Cordy seemed to be more unfeeling than normal, but he didn't respond to it. His stomach was doing flip-flops and he wasn't sure why. He glanced over his shoulder—the feeling was coming from the lobby, but maybe it was because the troupe was supernatural. His belly clenched again… it was somehow familiar and it finally dawned on him …he pulled away from Cordelia and his eyes moved over the crowd in the lobby until he caught sight of a tiny blond figure in a light pink gown coming out of the ladies room.

"Buffy," he murmured as his eyes followed her across the lobby.

Cordy could have kicked him. "Buffy isn't here, Angel," she told him, gripping his arm and turning him to face her again. She flashed him her best smile, certain he'd obey her. "And if you're going to hallucinate…can you imagine something better, like maybe a full concession stand with a Starbucks attached?"

That might have worked had Wes not spotted the Slayer too. "No, he's right. That is Buffy." Wesley raised his hand. "Buffy," he called. Cordy's wrath-filled gaze was the first hint that he should have kept his mouth shut, but it wasn't until Buffy froze and turned wearing the identical 'deer in the headlight' look Angel was sporting that he realized how awkward this meeting might be.

Buffy groaned softly. They were all looking at her and when she realized who the brunette was, she felt sick. Was Angel on a date with Cordelia?! She closed her eyes and prayed a large hole would suddenly open and swallow her up. This was at best an extremely uncomfortable situation, at worst it could be another heartbreaking, gut-wrenching moment for her to shove deep into that place in her heart labeled, 'Buffy/Angel Baggage'.

But no hole opened and she was forced to acknowledge their presence. She gave a timid wave and walked over to Angel, Cordy and company. "Um…hey, Wes, how are you?" she asked, trying desperately not to go all school-girl and punch Cordelia in the eye, before kicking Angel in the shin. Her eyes wandered over her ex. Or maybe she'd just drool all over him. He did look gorgeous in his tux and Buffy was having a hard time not ogling him. She'd only seen him dressed up like this once before. He looked as nummy now as he did in the well-worn memory of her prom.

Angel felt his stomach tighten with every step she took. Amazed that he'd forgotten how incredibly beautiful she was, his lower regions stirred and he discreetly adjusted his pants in an effort to ease his sudden discomfort.

Buffy looked at everyone else before her hazel eyes finally settled on him. "Angel…" she said in that breathless, questioning kind of way that always made him swallow hard. "How are you?"

He knew he was wearing what Cordy had called again and again his 'Buffy face', but he couldn't seem to do anything more than gape at her. "I-I'm…" he stuttered and cleared his throat, but Cordy interrupted him.

"He's fine," the Seer broke in, linking her arm through Angel's. His eyes flew to her face, then down to their joined arms, before scurrying back to Buffy. "What do you really want, Buffy?" Cordy asked with a brow raised and a catty look. "I mean, it's not like we've been burning up the phone lines, you know?"

Buffy's eyes widened at the possessive 'we' and took a step back at the venom in Cordelia's tone. "Want…?" She shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want anything. You called me over here, remember?"

Cordy's dark eyes landed on Wesley. "I didn't, but some dumbass, who will remain unnamed, obviously forgot the trauma that is you and Angel and couldn't keep his mouth shut."

Wes looked down, torn between fury and humiliation, and Buffy felt her face blaze with color as the tall black guy and the slender girl at his side studied her like she was a bug under a microscope.

"Now, that's the one who died last year, right? The one he went off to mourn for?" Fred whispered out the side of her mouth to Gunn.

He nodded imperceptibly. "Yeah, I'm guessin' that's the Slayer and I can see why he mourned. Damned she's—" He saw Fred's face fall a bit and he smiled widely, "Beautiful, but not half as pretty as you are."

Fred blushed and ducked her head, but she grinned as she raised her sparkling brown eyes to meet his. "Oh, now come on—you're just sayin' that." Her eyes roamed Buffy, noticing the way the pink strapless dress hugged her curvy body. "She's…wow. I can see why Angel still loves her. She has—" Fred noticed the look of open longing on both Angel and his Slayer's face for a second as their eyes met for a heartbeat, before looking away. "Kyrumption," she whispered.

"Huh?" Gunn asked.

In that moment, Fred realized how wrong she and Lorne had been about Cordelia and Angel. That look that he'd just shared with Buffy… Fred realized she'd never seen Angel look at anyone like that. "Nothing," she said quietly. "I just realized sometimes things look one way when they're really another, is all."

Gunn gave her a puzzled frown, but didn't push for an explanation. Fred was still a mystery to him sometimes—one he was eager to solve. "Well, I'm thinkin' this might look like a cat-fight—I'm hopin' you're sayin' I'm wrong."

Cordy was winding up for another diatribe when Angel pulled his arm out of her grasp and stepped forward "It's good to see you…" he said to the Slayer. "And actually…um…right on time too." He took her elbow. "This is my crew. That's Gunn and this is Fred," he said.

Buffy smiled. "Nice to meet you. Any friends of Angel's…"

"Is a friend of yours?" Gunn said with a wink.

Buffy liked him immediately. She laughed huskily. "Not always, but in this case—something like that."

"I heard about you." He gave Angel a wink. "Heard you kicked his ass back in the day too. Is that true?"

Buffy smiled nervously. THAT was something she really didn't want to talk about. It still gave her nightmares. "Kind of…" She shrugged. "But it was a long time ago and…complicated," she said, looking at Angel and wondering what else he'd divulged about their past to his crew.

Fred smiled at her with genuine warmth. "So, what'cha doin' here? Are you working on a case? Are there vampires here? I mean…besides Angel?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, I'm not actually on duty—just here with my dad for my—"

"Birthday," Angel supplied and Buffy's eyes flew to his.

"Yeah, for that," she said, surprised he remembered.

"What happened to the Ice Capades?" he asked, shocking her even further.

Buffy swallowed. "The ballet seemed…more mature, I guess."

Angel nodded and Buffy knew she had to get out of there. Her feelings for him were still too deep, raw and confusing. "Well, at least there's no end of the world kind of thing this time, so maybe we'll get to see the end of 'Giselle', huh?" she quipped, but when Angel looked away, her stomach dropped and she sighed. "Or is there?"

Angel shrugged. "Not end of the world, just a supernatural thing…"

Fred interrupted. "Yeah, it seems Angel's seen this show before and by before, I mean like way-way before…like in 1890 when he was, I guess, this evil guy, Angelus, and you know, since you're the one who defeated Angelus, right? It's kind of amazing to see you here when we have a thing, don't you think?" Fred didn't wait for an answer and kept rambling, and Cordelia practically blew smoke out of her ears, she was so furious. Fred smiled at Buffy again. "I've heard a lot about you and I'm glad to see you're back from the—well, wherever you were and…" She frowned when noticed everyone staring at her open mouthed. "I think I'll just be quiet now, but it was nice to meet'cha."

Buffy tried not to cringe during Fred's monologue, but she knew by the look in Angel's eyes she'd failed. She hated that worried look he wore now as much as she hated how wrong she'd felt since she'd been back. "Yeah, I'm…uh…happy to meet you too."

"So you're the love of his life AND the Slayer, huh?" Gunn asked. Cordy rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. Buffy flushed and admitted she was indeed the Slayer—the 'love of his life' comment she avoided like the plague.

Gunn looked her up and down. "You look tight, but I thought you'd be bigger."

For the first time, Buffy laughed easily. "I get that a lot," she said and before she could help it, her eyes met Angel's and they both remembered that first meeting in an alley in Sunnydale.

Buffy clenched her fists and looked away. "I'm stronger than I look," she said finally.

A genuine smile came to Angel's face too as he agreed. "Definitely," he said and all eyes turned to him. "What? She is. She kicked my ass to hell," he said and could have kicked himself when Buffy clutched her purse so tightly, he thought she might tear it apart. "But then she brought me back," he said, giving Buffy a tiny grin. "You did, you know," he added, gently.

His words melted some of the ice around her heart and Buffy couldn't help but return his look with a grin of her own, but Cordy's derisive snort dimmed their smiles drastically. To their embarrassment the seer proceeded to give everyone the rundown on how Buffy sent Angel to hell once.

Wes coughed. "Not to break up this trip down memory lane, but we still have the problem of just who or what is dancing in this performance, remember?"

Angel and Buffy turned to him, obviously relieved to NOT be talking about Angelus and Sunnydale anymore.

"Wes is right," Angel said.

"So what are we thinking…vampires?" Gunn said.

Buffy frowned. "Can't be vampires, I'd feel it."

Angel agreed. "She's right. They're not vampires. I'd sense it too."

"Well, they're not a deeply tanned bunch—maybe your feelers are off," Cordelia sneered, her eyes raking Buffy.

Gunn smiled. "Well, if they were, it would explain the precision and athleticism. I mean some of them jumps were…"He trailed off as everyone stared at him. "You know, I was cool before I met you all."

Buffy giggled. "You're still cool. I was shocked that I liked it too, and I'm the Slayer—with a title like that…I have to be cool, right?" she whispered.

Gunn immediately decided he liked her and Angel wished he'd brought Buffy to the ballet instead of Cordy, who'd drooled on his jacket and snored throughout the entire performance.

Cordelia didn't like the look Angel was giving the tiny blond and grabbed his arm. "Okay, so we have dancing demons or something supernatural here—who's not scared? I say we go check it out." She clutched Angel tighter, digging her nails into his jacket.

"Maybe after the show we should head backstage?" Fred said, looking from Cordy to Buffy, who looked like she wanted to throw up watching her ex-honey being man-handled by her ex-nemesis.

Wes nodded. "Yes, we should, but I was thinking now would be better." He turned to Angel. "Maybe we should split into teams?"

Angel quietly extricated himself from Cordy's grasp. "Good idea, Wes. Buffy and I'll go snoop around the dressing rooms while you guys see if you can find out anything backstage."

Cordy gritted her teeth. "You really think that's a good plan?" She crossed her arms and gave Angel a withering stare that usually backed him down. "The two of you…? Going off alone together?" She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that's going to end well!"

Buffy wanted to smack the smirk right off Cordy's face. The woman's possessiveness was a blatant reminder that she, Buffy, was no longer a part of his life. It also brought home how important the brunette had become to him. Buffy looked away and wished again that the floor might open up and swallow her whole.

Angel was furious at his friend. Usually he could handle her barbed words and catty remarks, but this time they were hurting Buffy and that he couldn't—wouldn't—take. "Yeah, it's a good plan," he told the brunette, shrugging her off. "If these things are demons, then we're the best ones to handle them." He raised a brow. "What would you do? Vision them to death?"

Everyone gaped. Angel usually let Cordy have her way, so this sudden aggressive attitude was a shock.

It took Cordy a minute to recover but she came out swinging. "No, but what if you and Miss Saves-the –World' decide to get groiny? Then who'll save us from you?" She tapped her foot and gave Angel the full force of her disapproving glare. "I can fight, Angel. You taught me, remember?" When he just stared, she nodded as if the argument was over. "So you and me will go together and Buffy can go with—"

"No," Angel growled. "Buffy goes with me."

Cordy looked like she was going to scream—or worse. Wes, Fred and Gunn stared open-jawed at Angel.

Buffy spoke up, trying to diffuse the brewing fight. "Cordelia, it's not an insult to you. I mean, really…even if he spent the last three years training you, you'll never be able to fight like me. I'm the Slayer—you're not." She didn't say it as an insult. Her voice was matter-of-fact, like she was stating the weather, and much to Cordy's displeasure, no one disputed her statement. Buffy waited, hoping Angel wouldn't change his mind and side with Cordy now, but even if he did, Buffy had the ex-cheerleader beat hands down. No one could slay like she could, so her and Angel as a team really was the logical choice. She tried to convince herself she didn't care, but breathed a sigh of relief when Angel didn't just agree, he insisted.

"She's right. She's the Slayer and it's been a while, but Buffy and I fight well together." Angel glanced at Wes. "We'll take backstage." Cordelia started to say something, but he held up his hand. "Cordy, I'm not going to argue with you anymore...let it go, will you?"

Wes wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation, and while he saw Cordelia's point, he had to agree with Buffy and Angel. If these things were evil, they stood the best chance of defeating them.

Decision made, he squared his shoulders. "Cordy, you and Gunn will take the right side—" He shook his head when the Seer's mouth opened wide to refute that order. "Cordelia, please…let's not bring past jealousy into this discussion. Buffy and Angel are preternatural…you are not!"

The brunette's mouth closed with a snap, and she glared at Wesley. "Fine, but don't blame me if they get 'happy' and the world as we know it turns to crap!" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

Wesley ran a hand over his face. "Very well, I won't..." He glanced at Angel and Buffy. "Can you get to the dressing rooms?" Angel nodded, but Wes was skeptical. "Getting backstage and getting to the dressing rooms of the performers are two entirely different things, Angel."

Angel looked at Buffy. As if drawn by an invisible string, they moved closer together. "We'll manage," Buffy said and Wes nodded, confident if anyone could, they would, even if it meant a trail of unconscious bodies. "Fine, then Fred and I will explore the left side of the stage."

Buffy raised a brow at Wes' new attitude, but didn't comment. The Wesley she remembered was a total moron who tended to cry like a girl when the shit hit the fan, but it looked like he'd changed for the better while working with Angel. She nodded and gave him the respect he'd earned. "Okay, so let's meet back here in say, an hour?"

Cordy glared, but Buffy ignored her. She focused on Wes, since he seemed to be in charge—WHY still puzzled her, considering this was 'Angel Investigations', but she hadn't been a part of Angel's life in a long time. She would ask him about it later.

"Very good," Wes agreed. "One hour and we meet back here."

Angel tried to ignore the tightening in his belly as he and Buffy headed away from the group to be alone together for the first time since she'd came back from the dead….

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Okay guys, with all the Angelus fics I am and have been doing…I really needed some Angel-ness and since musie won't cooperate and give me anything for Wish and SC's—we had a meeting of the minds and came up with this. Hope you like it. Click the button and tell me what you think, kay?