- "Something I Should Know" Sean McCann

Buffy Summers sighed as she paced the darkened cemetery. She was hunting

vampires but her mind was racing, focused on anything but the task at hand.

Well, not really anything, mostly Angel. It had been four long months since

Angel had left Sunnydale and Buffy could only guess where the vampire had

gone now. Maybe he was fighting vampires in some brightly lit city with casinos

along every street. It just always came to her mind of Angel fighting alongside

others in the beautifully lit streets of Las Vegas. Or maybe he had flown to

Canada, or another continent all together. In her mind, he was gone forever.

Four months since the ascension, four months since they had killed the

mayor, four months since her heart had been broken.

She shook her head and pushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her eyes.

"I have to stop thinking about him." She murmured, "I have Mark."

Mark, the name brought a smile to Buffy's lips but she only seemed to

appreciate him when she thought of Angel. He was a year older than she was, she met

him at the college and he had begun to pursue her the first few weeks of school.

Reluctantly and afraid, Buffy had given in to his requests for a date and

had fallen quickly. Although she knew no one would ever make her feel the way

she felt about Angel, this was pretty close.

She felt weird dating again and feeling this way when Angel was so far

away. *Or so close, you never know.* She thought.

The possibility that he really hadn't left Sunnydale had occurred to her so

many times that she had begun to believe it. He could be anywhere in the world

and the chance that he had stayed in Sunnydale where slim, but she clung to

that last shred of hope like a drowning man clung to a broken piece of the ship.

She laughed quietly. "Literature sure is taking it's toll on my brain." She

was majoring in the law field, hoping to become a police officer as her

aptitude test had suggested, but she was taking a literature class on the side. Mark

had convinced her to take it so she could fully appreciate a writer's ability.

Buffy had scoffed at this suggestion, since the only books she ever read were

about demons and vampires. But now that she was in the class she was really

enjoying it and she had begun to understand the difficulty involved in creating a

believable and interesting story.

She glanced at her watch to realize she'd been in the cemetery for over an

hour now and decided it was time to leave. She wasn't up for an all nighter so

if the vampires wanted a fight, they could come find her.

As she strolled home she took a detour by the high school to see how the

rebuilding was doing. The library was nearly reconstructed and Buffy was

sure Giles would begin to move his books in as soon as possible. It was scary to

think how much of this town's life the ascension had affected. The school

had been nearly demolished, leaving the students to be home schooled or to take

the small classes being offered at the community club. She felt guilty from

time to time, but it was better than being dead and feeling guilty because she

wasn't able to stop him. In fact, it was much better.

***

Angel sighed as he stared into the drink that sat on the bar table. It was

nearly empty and he wanted another one but he had promised himself that he

would not become a drunk like Spike had when he lost Drusilla. There was a

difference between his situation and Spike's. Spike hadn't willingly left Drusilla,

she had run away from him but Angel knew what he was doing and he had been the one

to leave Sunnydale and Buffy behind.

He now sat in a dingy bar in western Nevada, as far away as he felt he

could get from Buffy without going completely insane. This way he knew if he felt she

was in trouble he could be there in a day, if not less.

He had promised himself that he would wait at least half a year before

going back to check on her and how she was doing, but his anticipation grew more

and more every day and now he was struggling just to make it past the four

month mark. Something inside was telling him that she was fine but Angel wanted

to see for himself. For all he knew, she was dead.

He chuckled. "That's unlikely."

Angel just wanted to see how she was doing and see if she had moved on,

because he had. Well, almost. If he had really moved on, then maybe the nagging at

the back of his brain would have stopped and that heart wrenching feeling would

go away every time he saw someone that he thought was Buffy Summers.

Her name was Natalie, beautiful Natalie. She was a vampire with a soul,

just like he was so he knew that she would never wither and grow old and die,

like he feared Buffy would. She would always be by his side, no matter what

happened all he had to do was make sure she was never staked, but Natalie knew how to

take care of herself. She was nearly one hundred years old. She would be meeting

him there in ten minutes, then they would go hunting, find a butcher shop and

pawn blood like they always did. It was a nightly tradition and nearly every

time they went back to the same place. It seemed to the butcher in that store

believed in the weird things that went on in the world, he even told them

that he had seen vampires. Reluctantly, Angel and Natalie had told him of their

situation and without the smallest question he handed blood out to them

freely. His simple explanation was 'as long as it keeps you from eating people, I'm

willing to give whatever I have'. It was strange, but Angel felt a sense of knowing the butcher from somewhere and had soon

figured out it was the man's worry some nature that reminded him of Giles.

"Angel." A soft female voice spoke from behind him and he looked up at her.

He smiled. "Hi Natalie."

"Are you ready?"

He nodded, then stood up beside her and went to the door. As they walked,

he studied the way her soft blonde hair reminded him of Buffy's and the shape

of

her face and her frame were that of the slayer.

As they walked, they didn't say much. Natalie soon learned that the night

wasn't Angel's favourite time to talk and to hear about him she would only need to

bother him during the day. They quickened their pace to the butcher shop,

trying to get there before it closed. There were very few people out on the street

at night, a homeless person in an alley, a vampire prowling the street and

they sometimes came in contact with the makeshift slayers of the town. They were

both young men that had close calls with vampire and now devoted their nights to

hunting them down and killing them. Angel had tried to warn them the

dangers of messing with vampire but they ignored his warnings and had run off into the

night, searching for the bloodsuckers.

Angel walked quickly in silence, thoughts of Buffy still troubled his mind

when he felt a pang of terror stab at his heart. He stopped short and Natalie

glanced at him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Angel just shook his head. "I don't know. Something's happening."

Then a sharp piercing feeling of pain drove through his stomach and he

collapsed to his knees to the ground.

"Angel, what is it?"

Again, he couldn't answer her because something was eating away at his

insides. Something was making him feel like this.

"Angel?"

He calmed himself slowly forcing his rapid breathing to return to normal,

then slowly got to his feet.

"I have to get to her."

"Who?"

"Buffy."

Natalie cocked her head. "Is something happening to her?"

Angel shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I know I need to get to her."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Again he shook his head. "I don't want you getting hurt. Get the blood for

tonight and ask for some extra, then go back to the apartment and stay

there until I call. I will call."

Natalie nodded and began to jog in the direction of the meat shop while

Angel turned and walked swiftly the other way.

***

Buffy was nearing her home when a sense of worry came to her mind and she

stopped short. When the feeling left, she shook her head and continued

walking until it came back.

*Something's wrong.* She thought. *Something's wrong with Angel.* She

stopped and sighed.

"I can't keep doing this." She muttered to herself. "I have to stop

thinking about him."

Convincing herself that nothing was wrong, she continued toward her house

and opened the front door. The house was dark and she locked the door behind

her, then started up the stairs to her bedroom. She knew her mother was already

asleep, but looked in her room anyway.

"Goodnight mom." She called softly then retreated to her own room and tried

to fall asleep, unsuspecting that Angel was on his way to her at that very

moment.

***

Angel drove through California in the dark colored car he had rented in

Nevada. Getting over the border had been hell but he finally managed to convince

the

guards that stood there. Although he hated taking advantage of the demon

that lived inside him, that face had scared the guards into letting him through

and probably any other person that looked remotely like him.

When he glanced at the digital clock in the car, he figured that he only

had to drive for about three more hours before he would reach Sunnydale and by

that time, the sun would be setting again. Angel hated driving in the daylight,

but it was the only way to get to Buffy and see what was wrong.

*Admit it.* He thought to himself. *You don't even know if anything is wrong.*

In all truth, Angel just wanted to see her and had used that stinging

feeling in his stomach as an excuse to go. He reminded himself to call Natalie that

night, he must have scared her good and he didn't want her spending the next week

in the apartment because of it.

"Just a few more hours." He mused. "Just a few more."

***

Buffy strolled between the headstones in the cemetery and read a few under

the gleaming moon. It was full that night, Oz was locked up in Giles' house

because they no longer had the book cage at the library to do so.

"Buffy?" Someone spoke from behind her and she whirled around with her

stake poised. It clattered to the ground when she saw who stood there.

"I'm sorry." Angel smiled. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Buffy smiled back, but to Angel it looked like it hurt her to do so.

He bent down and picked up the stake then handed it to her. "Are you okay?"

She finally felt her vocal chords begin to work again and she opened her

mouth to speak. "I'm fine, other than being a little surprised."

Angel nodded. "I should have called before I came, but I was scared that I

would never get the nerve."

Buffy stared at him for a moment longer. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were. I felt like something was wrong."

She shrugged. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine, in fact I've never been better."

"How's college?" He asked.

"Good." She paused, debating whether or not to tell him about Mark. "I've

met someone."

"Really?" His voice faltered. "So have I."

"What's her name?"

"Natalie."

Buffy smiled. "That's a nice name."

Angel nodded. "What's his name?"

"It's Mark. I met him at the college, he's really nice."

"I'm glad."

"So am I . . . for you I mean."

"I know."

Buffy drew in a deep breath. "I've missed having you around."

"I've missed being around."

"You're not making this very easy."

Angel looked startled. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind."

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.

It was Buffy's turn to look surprised. "What?"

"Do you want me to stay? Here, I mean."

"Why would you do that?"

Angel shrugged, looking suddenly uncertain. "I don't know. To help you with

the vampires. I could bring Natalie back and we could,"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't think that would be a good idea Angel. It's

too soon. You were right, we need to be apart."

He nodded. "If that's what you think is best."

"I do. I think it's better that you're not around."

He nodded slowly. "I'll miss you. Good bye."

Angel turned and walked into the darkness, disappearing from her sight.

Buffy smiled painfully. "Bye." She whispered, then turned and made her way slowly home.

"Well, I'm tired of these little games you play.
Are you here to stay?
Is there something I should know?"

- "Something I Should Know"

Sean McCann

The End