“So where is she?” Xander asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Willow shook her head firmly. “She said she’d be here,” she said, then took another sip of her soda.
Xander glared slightly at her. “Yes, you said that. But where is she now? Or I guess the question is where has she been?” Willow didn’t answer. “You know Giles was looking for her.”
“I know,” Willow replied simply. She allowed herself a small, secretive smile.
“You’re not going to tell me where she is, are you?” Xander said, annoyed.
“Nope,” Willow agreed with a smile.
The old friends went back to sipping their drinks and watching the crowd of high school and college students. Xander’s eyes scanned the dance floor for any sign of Buffy. Willow watched the band, grinning and moving slightly to the music. Anya mostly just watched Xander.
It was Anya, then, who was facing in the right direction to see the action begin. Over Xander’s shoulder she saw the doorway, and in the doorway was Riley. “Oh,” she said, not entirely interested. “Riley’s here.”
“And where Riley goes, Buffy is soon to follow,” Xander stated with certainty. He turned to see Riley shuffle into the crowd alone, with a none-too-happy look on his face. “So, uh…where’s Buffy?” Xander asked no one in particular.
“She’s not with Riley,” Willow said softly.
“Well, that’s obvious.”
“No,” Willow said clearer. “She’s not with Riley…anymore. She dumped him.”
“What?” Xander asked in surprise. “Since when? I mean, they were like attached at the hip.”
“Uh…you really should ask Buffy. I shouldn’t say,” Willow deflected the question.
“Come on, Willow, we’re bestest buds! You can tell me!”
Willow shook her head.
“She dumped Riley for tall, dark and handsome,” Anya said with certainty.
Willow looked at her in surprise, while Xander practically spun around in circles trying to find what had caused her to make such a comment. Buffy’s apparent date was the last person Xander expected. Not so for Willow, obviously, who smiled and waved, announcing their presence.
“Haven’t I seen him before?” Anya asked briefly.
Xander sunk lower in his chair, dreading the next few minutes. Well, there went my pleasant evening.
It didn’t take Buffy and Angel long to cross the crowd to their table. Both were grinning from ear to ear. “Hey!” Buffy said brightly in greeting.
“Hey!” Willow called back. “Where were you? You’re late.”
Angel sat at one of the remaining chairs at the table. Buffy ignored the last empty seat to sit in his lap, still talking. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding at all apologetic. “We were having a picnic. We stayed to watch the sunset.” She smiled a bit more – if that was even possible – and tilted her head back to look at Angel. He held her tightly, both of them momentarily oblivious to the fact that they weren’t alone.
“See, told you,” Anya said after a moment.
Buffy looked at her as if surprised to see her there. Maybe she was. She’d seemed far too wrapped up in her undead ex-boyfriend. Or was it, judging by what she’d said, ex-undead boyfriend? “Told you what?” Buffy asked curiously.
“You dumped Riley because you found someone much better,” Anya explained. She looked at Angel appraisingly. “Nice choice,” she said.
Angel squirmed slightly under her gaze.
Buffy chuckled. “Angel, you remember Anya, ex-vengeance demon, recent addition to the human race and Xander’s girlfriend.” It wasn’t until that moment that she noticed Xander gaping at them both. She grinned at him. “Hey, Xander.”
Xander stared at them for a couple of moments before he managed to find any words. “Okay, I’m dreaming, right?” he muttered. “No, wait, this is a nightmare.”
The whole table looked at him tolerantly. “No, it’s not a nightmare,” Buffy said finally, her smile somewhat faded.
Xander looked really confused. “But I did hear you correctly, right? Angel’s really here, you’ve dumped soldier boy, and you and Dead Boy just went on a picnic. A daytime picnic.”
Buffy tried to glare at him for his use of nicknames but ended up smiling instead. “Yes, you heard right.”
He just blinked at her. “And this doesn’t strike anyone as odd?”
Willow shook her head and spoke up. “Actually, I already knew. I’m the only one who knew earlier. Oh, and Tara.” She looked at Buffy and Angel. “You haven’t told anyone else?”
Buffy shook her head, but Angel said quickly, “Actually, Cordelia and Wesley know.”
“How could they not,” Buffy muttered, and blushed slightly.
There was an odd moment where no one spoke. “Are you ever going to explain what’s going on?” Xander asked pleadingly.
“Maybe,” Buffy teased him back.
“Buffy…” Xander whined. “Come on, Angel, man, will you tell me what’s going on?”
“I-“ Angel began, but any explanation he might have had was cut off by an unexpected arrival.
Giles.
“Giles!” Buffy said brightly. “You’ve come to party with the kiddies?”
He stood, breathing heavy and did not smile in response. “I have been looking all over for you. Where have you been all day?”
“Hi Giles, it’s nice to see you too.”
“Yes, well…” He stopped, suddenly seeing who was serving as Buffy’s chair. “Angel…” he greeted a bit shakily.
“Hey, Giles,” the not quite vampire replied with a grin, shifting Buffy on his lap. She looked at him oddly at the sudden movement. “My legs are falling asleep,” he explained.
“Oh, sorry,” Buffy said and reluctantly moved from his lap. Finally sitting in the last chair at the table she looked at Giles once again. “So, what’s the dire?”
To his credit, Giles collected himself quickly, then told them the situation in hushed tones. “A group of teenagers were attacked last night at the beach. It seems there is something dwelling in the caves again. We need to find out what it is. And kill it if possible, of course.”
“Now?” Buffy whined.
“Actually, this morning,” Giles said sternly, “but you were no where to be found.”
Buffy sunk slightly in her chair.
“What about the Initiative?” Willow asked. “I mean, if it’s been a day already, wouldn’t they have taken care of it?”
Buffy shook her head. “They’re going nuts right now just with the demons in the middle of town. I doubt they’re worried about an unpopulated area like the beach.” She stood abruptly. “I’ll gather weapons and patrol.” She looked at Giles again. “We don’t know anything more about this demon thing? It is a demon thing, right?”
“No, we don’t know any more,” Giles said reluctantly. “And yes, it is a demon thing. Under other circumstances I wouldn’t want you going alone, but…”
“I’m going with her,” Angel said quickly, taking her hand as both of them walked from the Bronze.
Anya laughed into the silence left by their departure. “Like a lot of demons are going to be found on that patrol.” Everyone just looked at her. “What? You don’t think they’ll go to the beach and have sex?” She looked at Xander for a moment. “How come we’ve never had sex on the beach?”
Xander cringed. Choosing to ignore his girlfriend’s later comment, he said instead, “No, Buffy and Angel would not do that.”
Willow seemed to sink a bit in her chair. “Well, actually, they…um…could,” she said.
No one said anything for a long moment. Looking at Giles, Xander found a completely dumbfounded expression on the ex-Watcher’s face. Sure that their faces matched, he chuckled. “Well, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one out of the loop for once.”
Buffy smiled, alert more to the man beside her than any demons in the area. In one hand she held a stake. The other hand was entwined with his, delightfully warm in her own. She sighed.
“What?” Angel asked softly.
“I missed this,” Buffy explained lightly. “Patrolling with you, having someone to watch my back, to fight demons with…” An equal…that’s what she had been missing. A love.
“What about Riley?” Angel asked after a moment.
Buffy laughed at that. “When he first found out that I’m the Slayer he informed me…and quite proudly, I might add…that he had killed ‘seventeen hostiles.’”
“Ah.”
She turned to him then, making him face her with barely any space in between. “Besides, I don’t love him,” she explained. “So it could never have been the same.”
Angel smiled sweetly, and then they were kissing again, tender and sweet. It only lasted a moment, then they simply stayed where they were, as close as they could be, their foreheads touching. “Nothing could be the same,” he agreed in a whisper.
Buffy knew she was in danger of becoming lost in his gaze, in his embrace. She wouldn’t have cared in the slightest except that they weren’t out here alone. Somewhere, a demon lurked. She pulled away reluctantly. “We have work to do,” she said in a whisper. “Let’s get it over with.”
They pulled away only as far as their entwined hands would allow them and continued towards the beach. They were silent; nothing to say, no words needed at all. Buffy couldn’t help but think of other starlit nights, patrolling near the beach with Angel at her side. She’d missed this feeling of partnership and safety far more than she’d realized.
It didn’t take them much longer to reach the caves. They finally had to break hands, fully focusing on the dangers ahead. They said nothing, climbing into the caves side by side, mirroring each other’s movements. They were alert for anything ahead or behind them in the cave. Buffy held the flashlight to scan the darkness ahead of them, while Angel’s gaze was intent as he opened every sense to the creature they were searching for.
They had been walking for quite a while when Buffy finally stopped. No longer able to hear the ocean, she turned to no longer see the opening of the cave. She turned back around to see Angel looking at her.
“What is it?” he asked.
Buffy shook her head. “Shouldn’t we have found it already? I mean, if it’s attacking people on the beach I’d think it would be living closer to the water.”
“Maybe it’s living deeper in the caves to be safe. To avoid people like us.”
“Or maybe we missed a side cave,” Buffy protested. At Angel’s continued hesitance, she gave him a pleading look, knowing that he could see it in the dark. “It couldn’t hurt to check, right? And I don’t like knowing what we’re up against. Come on, let’s go back, watch for side caves, and if we don’t find anything report to Giles.” She smiled slightly. “This is not how I wanted to spend this evening.”
Angel smiled. “Alright. We’ll go back.”
No sooner had they turned around, though, than a rumble shook the cave. Buffy had barely the time to register that this wasn’t an earthquake when the sound became deafening. She dropped her flashlight in shock, it’s clatter inaudible under the sound of falling rocks. It broke on impact, and that combined with the cave-in plunged the cavern into darkness.
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