Within fifteen minutes Buffy had determined that there was nothing to do in Angel's apartment. He had no tv, no radio, only an old record player and records by people she'd never heard of. And, books, lots of books, most of which were in languages Buffy didn't recognize.
And several in French, which Buffy quickly discovered that, even after three years of high school language classes, she couldn't read.
She'd come to L.A. to see him. She hadn't been able to keep away from any longer. But, he'd been busy--in the middle of a messy case. She'd volunteered to help, but she could tell from his attitude that he had it under control, just the way he liked it, and that she'd be in the way. He'd never say that, of course, but she could tell.
So, Buffy had told him she'd stay at his place and wait for him, which was what she had been doing for nearly two hours. She was reduced to picking at her fingernails and pondering gloomily over Angel's rather quiet reaction to her appearance.
The sound of the elevator brought her out of her bored moping. Jumping to her feet, a smile on her face, she ran to meet it.
A blonde woman stepped out, holding a bulky package. They both stared at each other with suspicion, and asked simultaneously, "Who are you?"
Buffy stepped back warily, letting the woman take another step forward. They sized each other up for a moment, then the other woman spoke first. "I'm Kate Lockley, a friend of Angel's."
"Buffy Summers...ditto."
"Angel asked me to get this for him," She motioned to the package with her chin, continuing, "and meet him here."
"He's not here."
Kate set the package down on a table. "I'll wait."
"I can tell him you dropped it off." Buffy wanted her gone. She was...She didn't know what she was and she didn't want to know. All her senses were screaming that Angel had moved on to another woman, an older, more mature, gorgeous woman.
"I need to explain it to him. I"ll wait." Kate sat down on the couch. Buffy tried not to glare at her as she took a seat across from her.
"So...how do you know Angel?" Kate asked, trying to make conversation.
"From Sunnydale. You?"
"I'm a police detective. We've worked together on some cases."
Buffy drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair, staring at her feet.
"So, are you just down for a visit?"
"I don't know why I'm here," Buffy finally sighed, not liking the feelings this woman was invoking in her, and the way her stomach was clenching. "Are you sleeping with him?" she asked baldly.
Kate gaped at the younger woman, who was now staring at her from stormy eyes. "I don't think that's any of your business," she stuttered.
"I mean, why wouldn't you be? He's free, single, handsome, alone," Buffy babbled on darkly. "You're his type."
"I've never noticed that he has a type," Kate replied cooly.
"Strong, independent, blonde women." Buffy jumped to her feet. "I gotta get out of here. It was stupid to come." She made it to the elevator, then stopped, not really wanting to leave. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath.
Kate rose and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm going to get a beer. Would you like one?"
Buffy's shoulders slumped, but she nodded. "Okay." Dragging her feet, she returned to her chair, slouching into it and sighing deeply. Her life was totally fucked up.
Kate returned with two beer bottles, handing her one. Buffy took a swig, then another, wanting to relax as quickly as possible. Kate sat back down and took a sip of her own beer, watching the younger woman. "Do you love him?" she finally asked quietly, breaking the silence.
"With everything I am," Buffy answered back honestly, then finished her beer before looking at the detective. "He's never mentioned me to you, has he."
Kate shook her head. "But, I really don't know anything about his personal life."
"Typical," Buffy snorted.
"For a while I thought he and Cordelia..."
Buffy snorted again and shook her head. "Totally *not* his type." She rose and padded into the kitchen, returning with the rest of the six pack. Setting it on the coffee table, she took another bottle and opened it, before settling back in her seat. "I should have expected it, you know. He never swore eternal fidelity to me as he was pushing me out of his life," she muttered, then took another large gulp of beer. She glanced at Kate over the lip of the bottle. "But you kind of hope..."
Kate sighed and reached for a second bottle. "Buffy, Angel and I are just friends. He's never...well, he's never seemed to want more." She chuckled to herself. "Anyway, I think I'm older than he is by a few years."
At that, Buffy laughed out loud, nearly spraying beer everywhere. "He's a lot older than he looks," she finally gasped out, grinning inanely, the beer finally having taken effect.
"And you're obviously young. I probably shouldn't have offered you that beer." Kate frowned.
"Young in years, ancient in soul," Buffy quipped. Bottle number three found its way into her hand. "Doesn't matter. Live hard, die young, leave a messy corpse. It's kind of my destiny."
"That's rather cynical."
"You're a cop; you know how it is."
"And you're what? A college student?"
Buffy examined the foreign label on the beer. "Never thought I'd make it that far," she replied, then changed the subject. "I didn't realize Angel liked Japanese beer.
"They're mine. He drinks wine."
"Red, right?" Buffy grinned again, but Kate could see the deep sorrow in her eyes. The younger blonde rose, beer bottle dangling from her fingers and wandered over to the wall of weapons. Buffy hadn't really paid attention to them before, so used to weapons of this ilk that they didn't really interest her unless she was using them. But, now her eyes were drawn to the sword. She lifted her free hand to it, running one finger down the blade.
"Pretty wicked collection, isn't it?" Kate asked from behind her.
"I never knew he kept this," Buffy murmured to herself.
"What he does with this stuff I have no clue, but most of the collection's well-used. If he carries a gun, it's unregistered."
"He'd never use a gun."
Taking that in stride, Kate took another sip of her beer and moved to stand next to Buffy. "So, what's with the sword?"
"...Once upon a time, I stabbed him through the stomach with it."
Abruptly Buffy turned and walked back to the sofa, weaving only slightly as her head spun. Her heart was pounding and memories of losing Angel were swamping her. The loss of him this time was almost worse. This time, he was still in the world.
But he wasn't hers.
Kate frowned at the sword and the other woman's words, then turned to see her sitting on the sofa, tears sliding slowly down her pale, almost gaunt cheeks. She let the stabbing comment drop.
"You love him so much?" Moving quickly the detective crouched before the other woman
Buffy was still stuck on the sword. "To stab him?"
Kate smiled gently and took the empty beer bottle from the younger woman, setting hers down as well. "As a cop I'm going to pretend you didn't say anything about stabbing him. Also, since he's very much alive and well..." She was interrupted by a loud snort.
"Are you sure you know him?" Buffy reached for another beer.
Arching an eyebrow, Kate intercepted her. "I think you've had enough, don't you?"
"Beer and Buffy are unmixy things." There was an uncomfortable pause, and then Buffy whispered, "And so are Angel and Buffy. Even in six months we've grown too far apart."
Taking in the heartbroken expression on the younger woman's face, Kate felt her own natural compassion rise, and she took Buffy's hands. "Sometimes that happens."
Giving her a wavering smile, Buffy squeezed her hands back. "It wasn't supposed to happen to us. Only death was supposed to separate us, but destiny got in the way." She pulled away from Kate, and both women rose to their feet, Buffy muttering, "Stupid destiny," under her breath as she reached for her jacket. "It was a mistake to come here. Maybe it was too soon or something. Could you just tell Angel...I don't know, make something up."
"Are you sure you want to leave without talking this through with him?"
Buffy shook her head, but she knew she had to leave. "We've had this talk too many times. I thought I was up for it again, but..." She headed for the elevator, determined this time to make it out of the building. As she opened the gate, she turned to flash Kate a smile. "It was nice to meet you. I'm...glad Angel has friends."
"It was nice to meet you, too. It explains a lot of the brooding," the detective replied with a soft smile, hoping to lighten the mood.
Buffy chuckled, only partially in a self-deprecating manner, and nodded as she stepped into the elevator and closed the gate. As the elevator began to rise, she heard Kate say something about not driving in her condition, and it triggered a memory.
A bit of warmth flowed through Buffy as she recalled Riley's promise to help her practice driving.
Angel wanted her to move on with her life. Maybe Riley could help her.
And maybe Kate could help Angel.
But, only as a friend. Definitely only as a friend.
End