After the Beast

Angelusslayer

Angel turned from the dead boy, shaking off the wild urge to attack.

*What's going on?*

Slowly, shaking his head, he turned . . . and saw her.. *Dear God. Buffy?* He began to walk towards her, his face shifting back to it's human facade.

She stood watching him, he came so close that he could have reached out and touched her. Angel stared, a pained, confused, and frightened expression etched into his face.

Buffy stared unable to move. *Oh please, dear God, don't make me hurt him again. Let him remember*

His eyes locked with hers, and there was a flash of recognition in his eyes. Angel watched her, oblivious to her fear and shock, and spoike for the first time since he returned from Hell.

"Buffy." It came out a hoarse, agonized whisper. Everything that had happend, his time in Hell, the memories of everything Angelus had done, and her face as she sent him to Hell, came crashing down on him. Angel fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her legs and wept, like a small child.

Indeed in that moment, he was a child. Focussing on her, as he repeated her name over and over; "Buffy." His body was wracked with horrible tremors as he held on to the only lifeline he coul. His Slayer.

Buffy froze in shock as he fell to his knees, embracing her. She looked to the ceiling as the tears rolled down her face. *Oh, God thank-you. Thank-you so much* She stood for an eternity and finally wrapped her arms around his shoulders and knelt in front of him.

"Oh, Angel. Sshh. It's okay, I'm here, I'm here." She stroked his hair and held on just, just allowing herself the simple joy of being able to touch him again.

Angel rested his head on her shoulder and allowed the tears to come. He cried for himself, for her, for all the pain he was in and all the pain he had inflicted as Angelus. Slowly he quieted and fell into an exhausted slumber.

Buffy held him for what seemed like an eternity as he slept. Moving carefully, she glanced at her watch. *Three a.m. I had better get him somewhere safe.* She looked down at the sleeping vampire. "Angel?" she whispered gently. "Angel you have to wake up."

Angel stirred and slowly raised his eyes to hers. "Buffy?"

"Yes, it's me, Angel. We need to get you out of here okay?"

Angel studied her for a long moment and finally nodded.

She stood slowly, and extended her hand. After a moment he took it and she helped him to his feet. She found that he could not stand on his own, so she put her arm and around his waist and allowed him to lean on her. *Okay, so where do we go? The Mansion!*

"Come on, Angel. Lets get you somewhere safe." They began their walk to the mansion, they had to stop frenquently, however, to allow Angel to rest. He was extremely weak and tired easily. Every time a shadowed moved, Angel would go game face, until Buffy would manage to convince him that there was nothing to worry about. Finally they reached the mansion and Buffy took Angel inside. When they approached the room where he had been chained, he hesitated and back away.

Buffy felt a pang of regret and spoke softly, in reassureing tones. "No, Angel . . . I'm not going to chain you again. I only did that for your own good. It's okay. I'm not going to let anything hurt you. Trust me."

His retreat stopped, but he didn't come any closer. He slumped down agains the wall and cowered. "Buffy . . ." He shuddered violently as if he was having a seizure.

Buffy went to him, and slowly reached down to touch his shoulder. This time he did not pull away, or growl, but looked up at her hopefully. "Angel, you have to trust me. I'm all you've got." She held out her hand, and again he took that leap of faith and took it. She led him away from the corner and towards the bedrooms. When she tried to pull him across the threshold he started violently and pulled away. *Okay, so he won't go in there.* "Okay, calm down, Angel. You don't have to go in there. You can sleep in the main room." She took his hand and led him out into the room where everything had changed. This is where she had sent him to hell, and hopefully, this would be where she reclaimed him. *What am I going to do now? How do I explain this to everyone?*

Angel's mind was far away. He looked about the mansion, and his world tilted. He saw the sword fight, felt the return of his soul. He saw in his mind, how Buffy's eyes were full of love as she told him to close his eyes, and felt the sword pierce his chest, impaling him. Then came Hell. *No . . .no, please. Not again!* He screamed and fell to the floor. He felt the demons claws tear into his skin, and heard their laughter. He saw Buffy, and heard her tell him that she hated him, that he was nothing but a monster. He relived every moment of pain, every feeling of betrayal, all in the space of seconds. Slowly he became aware of someone shaking him, and when his sight cleared, he saw Buffy's face, and the concern in her eyes. Once again he threw himself into her arms, and sobbed. Once again, she held him, rocking him in her arms. Slowly he began to drift off to sleep, but jerked himself awake.

"Angel, it's okay, you need to sleep."

"No . . . I can't . . . the dreams . . . please I don't want to . . . be alone."

She hugged him. "Don't worry. I'm not going any where just sleep. Everything will be all right. I promise. Nothing is going to hurt you, and you're going to get to get better. I'll make sure of that."

Again, he took her word as gospel and allowed himself to drift off to sleep. Several times he awoke, screaming in terror, and she was always there to hold, comfort and reassure him. Finally he slept in peace. Buffy sat against the wall watching him. *This is so hard. What do I do? How do I help him? It's going to be a long, hard road. But I owe it to him. It's my fault that all this happened.*

Buffy watched as he would stir, he was dreaming, but the nightmares were mild. She would always be there when he needed him. She would help him get better.

The Slayer sat watching her vampire love as the the morning dawned.

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