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TITLE: Chapter One ~ Out Of Balance SERIES:  The Reunions Series AUTHOR: LJSAngel EMAIL: LJSAngel@supanet.com DISCLAIMER:  Yeah right.  If I owned them, the world would be a happier place with an Angel that's human and kicks ass.  Also he would be locked in my house. TIMELINE: Past "Eternity" on AtS and Faith is still comatose so it's before "This Years Girl" SPOILERS: Up to the one metioned on BtVS and opposite on Angel. SYNOPSIS: Angel and the gang find an imbalance bringing them back to the Hellmouth, again.  Buffy has trouble telling Riley she loves him. AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my first major series.  Need feedback.  Lot of work.  Ectera. FEEDBACK: Does the word DUH mean anything to you? RATING: PG-13 aka 12 RELATIONSHIP (This part):  Buffy/Riley; Anya/Xander;  Hints of Buffy/Angel CONTENT: One occurence of swearing, little bit of violence.. yada yada yada DEDICATION: To fanfic!  May we live and prosper! The Reunions Series Chapter One ~ Out Of Balance "C'mon, wake up already," Buffy sighed.  She sat on the steps of the moseleum and spun her stake on the ground.  Buffy was waiting for a newly-sired vampire to rise out of the grave in front of her.  There were another few graves that were newly occupied with fresh flowers laid on top of them so Buffy watched them as well although their deaths didn't seem vampiry.  Giles had said something like a good slayer is a... something... something slayer.  She couldn't remember.  As usual, the cemetery was deserted.  Buffy was wearing her white vest top, her dark blue trousers with a dark jacket over it and a new pair of blue shoes that she got on sale at the Sunnydale mall.  She reached over and put her stake in her backpack.  Buffy looked at the books and folders in her bag.  She had a couple of assignments due tomorrow and she had to put the finishing touches to them.  OK that wasn't true.  She actually had to do them first. "Hi." Buffy jumped and turned round. "God, Riley !.  Don't sneak up on people in the graveyard, at night, when they're waiting for a bloodsucking fiend wake up.  You remind me of Ang.. " She broke off. "Who?" Riley asked. "No-one.  So why are you here?" Buffy stood up and dusted herself down.  "I thought you would be out stalking with your storm trooper pals." "I'd rather be stalking with you, " he replied in his manly, southern Iowa accent.  His boyish eyes shone with mischief through his semi-floppy blonde fringe.  He put his arms round her waist and stroked her hair with the back of his hand.  He glanced at the undisturbed grave to his right.  "Looks like he’s not coming out to play," he remarked. Riley grinned. "Too busy for a kiss?" Buffy smiled.  She moved towards him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the vampire or ' Sub T ' coming towards her and Riley. "Maybe later," she said.  She pushed him away and started pummelling the vampire.  "Get my stake!" She yelled. "What?" Riley yelled. Buffy punched the vampires head back continually. "Y’know, the sharp stick I poke vampires with so they explode into dust." "Yeah. OK. " Riley said hesitatingly as he looked about for it.  He tipped out Buffy's bag and raided through it.  Lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss, gum, purse, pointy wooden thing. " Here it is!" He shouted. Riley threw the stake to Buffy.  In one move Buffy caught the stake, kicked the vampires legs out from under him and drove the stake into his heart.   Unaware because of the swiftness of the attack, the vampire looked down at the piece of wood impaled in his chest and exploded into dust. “Wow.  Buffy.  That was amazing." Riley said in awe while helping her up from her knees.  "That flippy, kicky thing you did, was...incredible.  No matter how much I watch Xena, you always manage to amaze me.  I guess it's one of reasons why I love you." Buffy looked up at Riley half smiling in curiosity. "You .... love me?" She asked. "That just came out.  I guess I do love you," Riley said softly.  He drew Buffy closer and kissed her tenderly.  Buffy opened her eyes. "I..." She stopped because she was overcome with the strangest sense of deja vu. She saw herself and Angel in tears, declaring their love for each other.  She kissed him softly through her tears and told him to close his eyes.  She fought back the ever flowing tears.  After months of seeing the demon Angelus wear her lovers face, she finally had her Angel back.  Buffy knew what she had to do but she didn't know if she had the strength to do it.  She drew a breath and impaled the man she loved and sent him to hell.  Angel looked down, overcome with pain and disbelief.  Buffy looked in his eyes and saw the love and pain.  He held out his hand and whispered her name, as Acathla drew him in.... "Buffy, Buffy?" Riley's voice brought her back to the present.  Buffy forgot where she was.  She pulled away from Riley's embrace. "Buffy, what's wrong?" Riley asked softly. "I...I have to go," she turned away so she could hide the tears in her eyes.  Buffy started to walk away and it broke into a run. “Buffy, wait!" Riley called to the darkness.  He was left alone in the cemetery. Buffy tried to dry her eyes as she walked down the Stevenson Halls corridor on the way to her and Willow's room.  She opened the door quietly and looked around to see if Willow was in.  Then she remembered that she was at the Bronze with Xander and Anya.  Buffy braced herself on her bed.  She tried to calm down and clear her head.  Buffy took Mr. Gordo off her pillow and hugged the stuffed pig.  She remembered when she was coming back from patrolling through her window and she saw Angel waiting for her, holding Mr. Gordo. Buffy ordered herself to snap out of it.  God!  What was wrong with her!  She had just started college, she was dating someone who really cared about her and between the slaying and risking her life daily, everything was going well.  Why was she still thinking about Angel?  She knew the answer.  Inside her a tiny voice that she had been trying to repress throughout last summer was screaming ' Because you still love him!'  As much as Buffy fought it, she knew it was true.  When she let this tiny voice take over her, it hurt more than she could bear.  Loving someone she could never have was the worst pain she had ever experienced.  Buffy, overwhelmed with emotion, curled up on her bed and cried herself quietly to sleep. It was a scorching hot day and Buffy was walking down a place strangely familiar to her.  She knew she was in LA but everything else was a blur.  She felt a tingly feeling inside.  Buffy turned round and saw someone coming out from under a mass of trees in the public garden.  Buffys heart skipped a beat as she saw that the man was Angel.  She was confused as he paused briefly to look at her then he strode out into the light.   Angel walked up to her and they became submerged in the most incredibly kiss.  Angel took her hand and something was different. The warmth she felt in his arms was real.  Blood was pumping through his veins and his heart was beating-Angel was alive.   Buffy woke up, with her heart racing.  It was just a dream but it felt so real.  Buffy was sure that she had felt Angels heartbeat, it all felt so real..... C'mon Buffy, get it together, she willed herself. “Morning Buffy,” Willow said while yawning.  She had just come in from the bathroom.  “Busy night with slayage or close encounters of the Riley kind?" Buffy looked down.  She had fell asleep in her clothes. “None of them,” Buffy conceded.  She so badly wanted to tell Willow everything.  Willow could tell something was up. “Buffy, I know that look.  It's a 'I want to tell you something about my ever complicated love-life but I'm not sure if I should ' face.  What's up?” Buffy was glad Willow knew her so well.  She began to tell her everything. “Something's up with Buffy, Forrest,” Riley said.  “I told her I loved her last night and she went all distant for a while, then freaked out and ran away.  I don't know what's wrong." “You just have that effect on women,” Forrest replied, concentrating on throwing the foam ball into Riley's mini basketball hoop. “I'm serious,” Riley said. “OK then maybe it's slayer issues.” Forrest cocked his head to the left and shot the hoop.  He scored. “Forrest's Men 4- Riley's Iowa Boys..." “Maybe I'm rushing her.” Riley cut off. “I never meant to tell her I love her, it slipped out.  Should I call her... or leave her alone to figure stuff out... or go and see her....or talk to Willow ? " “You know what I think ?  I think Buffy's got commitment stuff going on.  You can tell she likes you man but she can't express it.” Riley was kind of surprised. “Where did you get that ?" “What, you think I don't know this about women and stuff?" “No Forrest.  No matter how hot the girl, you always screw it up." “Fine then, Jerry Springer.” He confessed.  Riley looked at him.  “What?  I was watching it for the fights!  You know you can do alot of damage wit' one of those chairs." "...It felt so real Will.  It's been half a year already.  I should be over this.  I don't think I could ever have that kind of love and passion with Riley.  I love Riley but I don't love him like Angel.  What if Angel was the only one for me and I let that go?  Am I being unfair to Riley-doing this to him when I am still in love with Angel?  What if..." “Buffy, breathe.” Willow suggested. “Yeah, breathing is good.  So what do you think?" “I think that what you have with Angel was the way it was because of the irony thing.  Angel didn't leave because he stopped loving you.  He left because he thought it was best for you.  Apart from the Slayer thing, he wanted you to have the normal life that he could never give you.  Kids, a husband and regular daytime stuff.  He didn't do it to hurt you because that's the last thing he wanted.” “What about my dream last night?  It was like one of my prophecy dreams.  Angel, human and us together is all I ever could have wanted but if it does happen then what about Riley?  I don't want to hurt him.” “Buffy, as much as you and Angel should be together, Angel could never be human.  He's dead and you can't bring back the dead.” Willow reasoned gently. “But what about Daryl Epps ?  He was dead and the Chris brought him back to life and now he's dead again... That's not the point.  It could happen, couldn't it ?” Buffy said in desperation. “You know that's different.  Daryl was a corpse and demon-free.  Angel...isn't." “I know.  The dream was so real.” She sighed.  "That's all it will be, a dream. “ Buffy was silent for a while.  “Thanks Will." “What are best friends for ?” Willow smiled and hugged Buffy.  "So we bronzing it tonight ?  Cibo Matto are playing and you what happened the last time they came to everybody's favourite Hellmouth.” Willow said taunting Buffy. “The sexy dance with Xander,” Buffy groaned. “The sexy dance with Xander,” Willow confirmed. “The sexy dance that made Angel jealous......” Buffy said wistfully. “Buffy,” Willow started in a concerned tone. “I know,” she said with a sad smile, waving a hand.  "Full Riley non-demon mode.  Promise." Giles bit into a cookie and started to read a book that he had just recently bought from a Spanish merchant at a magic conference.  It was called ' Ella Quien Matar La Muerto' which roughly translated into English means ' She who slays the dead.'  It was about the Slayer and even though he was no longer the Watcher, he still felt that it is his duty to protect Buffy.  Giles flicked to the section on the  'Boca Del Infierno' which means 'Mouth Of Hell' which was referring to Sunnydale. “Here is an interesting bit,” he murmured to himself.  “It says...” “Touchdown !“ Xander shouted with glee.  He kissed Anya, who was watching the game as well, although she didn't understand it, or care about it but she knew men liked sports and if she watched games with Xander it meant they spent time together.  Also, if he was happy he would kiss her-bonus. The Los Angeles Rams were playing against San Fransciso and the Rams were winning. “Why is it that you're watching this game of padded rugby in my house and not your own, eh, basement ?” Giles asked, annoyed at being put off by the celebrations. “Three reasons,“ Xander replied munching the cheesy chips in front of him.  “One, your house is closer to work than my basement. Two, you have munchies.  And three, my Uncle Roary is still asleep in my bed.  He had a little to much of the beer last night." “What work ?  Are you digging again ?“ Anya added mischievously.  “I liked it when you dug." “Apart from the small pock and syphilis part,” he reminded her.  “No I'm not with the digging.  Too villiage people don'tcha think ?  I've moved up the chain of command now.  Remember Ethan's place ?  Well, this guy Harry is setting up a book shop there and I'm the assistant guy.  Picture this - ‘Harry and Xander’s Books.’ Pretty cool, huh ? " “You own it already ?” Anya asked.  "Does this mean you can buy me an anniversary present ?" “No, not yet.  But I will.  This will be the start of the Harris empire.  What anniversary?  When ?“  Giles looked up.  “You got a job, with books ?”  His voice sounded a mixture of envy, surprise and disbelief.  This from the boy who said “To read makes our speaking English good “! “You jealous Giles ?” Xander taunted. “Jealous !” Giles laughed.  “No, what gave you that idea.  Why would I be jealous ?”Giles asked trying to hide his envy. “Cause you live for books.  You the ex-librarian, ex-watcher and now unemployed.  They all involve books G-Man.  Your jealous because I, who can hardly read one language never mind five, got a book job and you didn't !”  Xander savoured the moment.  It wasn't often people were jealous of him. “You just walked in and asked for a job ?”  Giles asked inquisitively. “Well no, my dad owed a big favour to some friends.  If I help this guy set up his shop and work there plus wage, my dad will knock $15 off the rent.” Xander admitted.  He looked at his watch. "I gotta go.” He lent over and kissed Anya.  “Pick you up at seven ?” “To go where ?”  Anya asked. “The Bronze." She nodded.  "You never take me anyplace new," she grumbled. "Well I will on our phantom anniversary An.  Promise."  Xander put on his jacket and headed towards the door.  “Bye G-Man.” “Goodbye, and don't ever call me that.” Giles called after him. Giles and Anya were sitting in silence.  Giles looked over at Anya. “Are you, doing something this afternoon which requires you to be, eh , away ?  From here ?”  He asked. “No.  I'll stay here.  You've got munchies and I think I like this game.  Men hitting each other in protective clothing, playing with a strange shaped ball.  It reminds me of this man I cursed for his wife about half a century ago. " “He was a rug..eh football player ?”  Giles asked. “No, he played with strange shaped balls.” She replied casually.  Giles raised an eyebrow. In LA, Angel Investigations. “Hey Mr Grouchy.  Couple of calls for you.” Cordelia flicked through some scraps of paper. “Somebody named Steven and Mary Ford called to thank you for getting rid of the gambling minions from hell that had set up a poker table in their garage.  Joey Cook called to say thanks for taking care of the Zoric demon that was trying to assassinate him.  I reminded them about paying, obviously, and both of them said the check was in the mail.” Cordelia scoffed.  “Like I’ve never heard that before.  Oh, and Wesley called, like, thirty times to ask if the world was in danger and needed saving.  Other than that, slow morning." Angel pulled out the empty coffee pot and then looked around to see if there was any coffee beans about. “Cordelia, we're out of coffee.  Weren't you supposed to get some ?”  Angel asked still half-asleep. “I thought you were,” she replied leafing through a stack of files on her desk. “Right.  Get more coffee.  That was on my list of things to do today.  Right before 'Burst into flames.' “  Angel said sarcastically. “Wow, didn't we get up on the wrong side of the coffin, I mean, bed this morning." “Coffin," Angel sighed.  "Cordelia vampires don't sleep in a coffin, “Angel started, annoyed. “Whoa, Angel.  Hello?  Hellmouth High graduate?  I was kidding.  I know how to push your buttons but this button, I didn't push.  What's up ?" Angel sighed or imitated sighing since vampires don't have any breath.  “I just had a dream.  It was kind of strange. I was ..." “You wanna talk strange dreams ?  Having a direct link to the P.T.B doesn't only give you mind-numbing, head splitting visions.  I get weird, gross dreams, like my own horror marathon.  Once I had this dream where ....” Cordelia looked up and saw Angel, patiently waiting for her to finish.  “You had dream.” She conceded. Angel was about to start telling Cordelia about his dream when Wesley came in the door. “Hello Angel, Cordelia.  Just came round to check if you needed my help to combat the forces of darkness, slay the latest threat to humanity or do the filing,” he finished meekly in his English accent. “No, Wesley.  Since you called 1/2 an hour ago, no evil has risen, no serial killing demon has been let loose in LA and we've had no new cases to file,” Cordelia said.  "Unlucky for y..” Cordelia’s head slammed against the table. “Cordelia,” Angel said, turning his attention to her. She was having a vision.  The pain was so intense it was like a man with a hammer was in her head crushing all of her nerves.  Through the pain she could see blurry images of people running from an ugly, horned, gilled, grey/green fish demon.  Then she saw boats and cargo ships.  All of a sudden the vision stopped although the pain didn't. “Cordelia,” Angel repeated.  "What did you see ?" Cordelia's focus returned to Angel and Wesley's faces, both looking at her anxiously.  She held her head and Angel handed her an icepack that he had produced from the fridge's freezer compartment. “It was a big, ugly, grey/green fish." “A fish, “ Wesley said slowly. “A fish, on legs, with horns and I got the feeling it knew something we didn't." “Where is it ?” Angel asked. “It's at the docks,” Cordelia said grimacing with the pain.  “I think I recognised the place.  It's where Doyle, y'know.  Where he, uh, y'know." Angel nodded.  He thought deeply. “It's daylight and the docks are an open space.  Wesley, go and find out what this fish demon is and what it wants.  I'll find a map of the docks.  See if there's any warehouses we could lure it into.  Cordelia.  Rest." A while later Wesley came back through holding a book. “Aha ! “Wesley said, pleased with himself. “Got something ? “Angel asked. “I had trouble finding the fish in Cordelia's vision because it's an unpopular mythical creature dating back to Roman times.  As there had only been several sightings, each a considerable length apart, the legend was disregarded.  It's called the homo-vertebrata, or more commonly manfish, which is extremely strong but usually tries not to draw attention to itself.  They're also very cunning.   It comes out of a kind of hibernation every thousand years to complete the ritual of Humana.  To do this it has to drink the blood of 50 humans before the new moon, which is tonight.  It must have woken up late and it is so desperate to complete the ritual that it has forgotten about being it's usual, stealthy approach.  It is almost impossible to kill except from being stabbed through the heart with a silver spear.“  Wesley looked at Angel.  “A bit like a vampire in some respects.  Have you got a plan ?" “Yeah, I'll tell you on the way.  You're driving.” Angel said.  He grabbed his coat and turned to Cordelia.  “Are you OK ?  If you're up to it, the plan sort of involves you.  Only if you're up to it.” He added. Cordelia nodded.  “Shouldn't be too hard.  Let me guess, I'm bait." The man-fish wandered about on deck of the ‘Marie-Lou’, looking for more humans.  The man-fish had just finished off the crew of the boat.  The captain was especially crunchy. He looked at the sky.  Although it was a fairly overcast day, he could make out that the sun was high in sky which meant he had seven hours or so left until the new moon.  He would need to work quickly.  The reason he had woken up late was that there was a change in the atmosphere.  Everything was unbalanced and something big was coming.  He could feel it. “Yo fish-boy !" The man-fish turned around and saw a young female trying to attract his attention. “Foolish” he murmured.  Forgetting to look around him he strode towards his lunch. “This is a bad plan,” Cordelia murmured.  She looked at the creature, who looked even more hideous than it appeared in her vision.   It was 8 feet tall and had webbed feet and big, webbed hands.  It's body was a slimy green/grey colour and its shadow was looming over her. “A really bad plan. Boy, am I gonna kick Angel's ass if I die.” She swallowed.  She had to get him closer. “Hey fish-boy, I'm talking to you !  You big ugly, gross, slimy, green, pathetic excuse for a demon !”  Cordelia shouted.  The man-fish's mouth was full of sharp, thin teeth like stalagmites and stalactites in a cave.  As it reached towards her she edged back. “Wesley, NOW !“ Cordelia ordered, throwing herself to the ground. Wesley swung the crane's loading hook from the drivers seat and hit the man-fish in the stomach, throwing it back, through the open doors of a warehouse where Angel was waiting.  He had a fishing spear gun in his hands loading with a silver spear.  He took aim and fired.  The man-fish rolled aside and the spear pierced the wooden wall of the warehouse behind it.  The man-fish strode over to Angel and tried to punch him but Angel ducked and twisted the man-fish's arm behind him and shoved him into the wall.  Wesley and Cordelia closed the warehouse door so daylight couldn't get in and incinerate their boss.   The man-fish reached behind him with his free arm and grabbed Angel's neck.  He turned round and threw Angel face-down on the ground.  Angel stood up in full vamp face, snarling. “Now you made him pissed off,” Cordelia said, with no sympathy for the man-fish. Angel lunged at the man-fish and started pummelling it's stomach.  Angel punched it's head and kicked it back with force.  The kick threw it back onto the wall and impaled it on the silver spear.  Cordelia and Wesley ran over to where Angel was.  By the time they got there, Angel had morphed back into his human face and there was green liquid oozing out of the man-fish. “He's not dead.  What's up with that ?” Cordelia asked.  “With vampires you know where you are 'cause they dust, but with fish-boy here, he's still breathing. “The man-fish dies when you pull out the silver spear, Cordelia.  It’s the only thing keeping him alive by stabilising his molecular structure.  He can't pull it out himself because it burns him,“ Wesley explained. “Oh.  Well good.  You remember that feeling I got in the vision.  He knows something.  We could ask him som...." Before she finished Angel was leaning heavily on the dying demon who was slumped on the floor, pinned up by the spear. “I'll make you a deal, fish-boy.  If you tell us what my friend thinks you know I'll pull out the spear and you'll die quickly.  If not, I'll stay here and put you through more pain than you thought was demonly possible.  Your choice.” “Screw you vampire,” he spat.  As soon as he said the words, he knew he shouldn’t have.  Angel growled pushed the spear in a bit more.  The demon yelled with pain. “Yeah, OK.  The air is different,” it gasped with pain.  “Something's coming, something big.  Can't tell what." “Is that your final answer?”  Angel asked with a threatening tone in his voice. The man-fish squirmed in agony. “Yeah, do you wanna phone a friend ?”  Cordelia growled. Angel and Wesley looked at her, puzzled. “Phone a friend ?  C’mon, you’ve seen it right ?  You try to win a million and you can call people for the answer?” Cordelia flung her hands up in the air in exasperation.  “I swear, you two have to watch something on TV other than programmes about gross, disturbing murders.” “I watch the news Cordelia,” Angel said. “Exactly,” she pointed out triumphantly.  Angel turned to the limp figure of the once fierce man-fish. “Is it ?” He persisted, going back to his original question. “Yes.  It's the truth.” The man-fish was struggling to speak. Angel pulled out the spear and the man-fish dissolved into a puddle of green liquid.  He dropped it on the concrete floor.  Angel turned to Wesley. “Any of that ring a bell ?  Is a prophecy due or something ?” Angel asked. “Not really,” Wesley replied.  “I'll check my books and...." “Angel,” Cordelia whimpered.  Angel turned to her as she collapsed. “Cordelia !“ Wesley exclaimed. Angel caught her.  She was having another vision. Cordelia saw flashes of an army of demons and monsters fighting a group of people and at the front was a girl.  Cordelia saw her face more clearly.  It was Buffy. “Cordelia, are you OK? What did you see?”  Angel asked her. Cordelia tried to re-focus and clear her head.  “Here we go again." “What?”  Angel asked. “My vision.  I saw the scooby gang and they were fighting against a whole army of demons.” She paused.  “It was more like a war.” Cordelia struggled to stand up with Angel's and Wesley's help. “Scooby gang?” Wesley asked. “Wesley, the scooby gang?  You know, the slayerettes?” Wesley looked even more confused.  Cordelia sighed. “The Chosen One and her own.  Willow, Xander, Giles, Oz before he left and, of course..." “Buffy,” Angel finished.  His face was wrought with concern. “You remember the last time you showed up in Sunnydale.  She followed you back, you became human, you got together, you erased a day then you went into brooding over-drive.  How do you want to play it this time?” Cordelia said, still in agony from the vision. “You were human?” Wesley said with disbelief. Angel thought deeply. “This time, you should probably let her know you're stalking her.  Otherwise, things could get weird,“ Cordelia suggested. “I should,” Angel was silent, thinking. “The man-fish said something big was coming and Cordelia seen a war in her vision.  We should go with you to Sunnydale.  We're useless here,” Wesley said logically. “You're right, but we should leave tonight after sunset,” Angel replied.  “Cordelia, you don't have to come." “Angel, you're not leaving me here while you two go and save humanity. I'm not totally useless, I might have another vision,“ Cordelia said.  “And, anyway, I want to see what they've done with the school."   **END OF CHAPTER ONE**     Go to Chapter Two   "I'm a bloodsucking fiend!  Look at my outfit!" Blood sucking fiends want feedback too y'know   Back to LJSAngel Fiction

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