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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank's for all the reviews. I don't tell you enough how much I love them. It's a great motivation to write knowing there's people out there waiting to know what's going to happen next. Thanks for being faithful to this story even though it's so long. It means a lot to me. The updates will be more regular from now on, promise.
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CHAPTER 45: Blissful oblivion

Trying her best to suppress her rage and failing miserably, Buffy snatched the car keys out of Angel's hand. They were standing on the lawn in front of his house, Darla and three or four other people watching them curiously from the front porch.

"Would you give me that already?! For Christ sake, you can barely stand, do you really think I'm gonna let you drive?"

"It's my goddamn car, isn't it? I should be the one driving... Where are we going again?"

Buffy glared at the drunk man towering over her, absolutely not intimidated by him. "Stop whining and get in. We're going to find my friend, I told you ten times already and I'm losing patience. So get in the car."

Sitting on the stairs, Darla was clearly enjoying the show. She snickered loudly. "See? That's my girl. She knows how to handle a man. And the funny thing is, I'm sure it's turning him on. Angel has a thing for bossy women. Don't you, my Angel?"

Angel glared at her. "I married you, didn't I?"

Darla burst out laughing. She looked up at Travis who was leaning against the railing. "He's got a point. I am a bossy bitch."

The people on the porch laughed, but it was all lost on Buffy. She was busy trying to get the useless lump that was Angel into his car so they could find Willow before it was too late and Riley did something to her.

According to Angel, Riley had a thing for rape drugs. It was his new hobby to spike women's drinks and take them somewhere where he could fuck the unsuspecting women without them complaining too much about it. If something happened to Willow, Oz would kill Riley, then kill her. If she didn't kill Darla's cousin herself first. Then Spike and she could write each other letters from their respective jail. The irony.

Buffy shook the thought away then started pushing Angel towards his monster of a car. They'd have to use his car because once they found Willow, the three of them wouldn't fit in her two seat car. In fact, Angel himself wouldn't fit in the car if he was alone in it. She opened the passenger door and gave him a “don't fuck with me” look. Starting to realize she meant business, he awkwardly climbed in the car.

She made her way around the front of the car and opened the driver’s side. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the pungent smell that came out of the piece of junk. This car should have been trashed decades ago. Even the Pimp My Ride team wouldn't be able to do anything to save it. Buffy cleared the driver's seat of all the garbage littering it, unceremoniously throwing McDonald's bags, candy wrappers and kid toys on the lawn before sitting behind the wheel and slamming the door shut. She completely lowered the window, afraid the smell alone could make her pass out.

"Damn. You're in a bad mood." Angel declared as if it was breaking news.

"Well, duh! My childhood friend counted on me to watch her back, and now she might get raped by some big ass smelly monkey who probably still needs his mama to pick out clothes for him. So no, I'm not in a good mood, Angel." She shoved the key in the ignition and after a few attempts, managed to start the engine. "Now, are you gonna help me find them or are you just going to sit there making stupid comments?"

"I'll help." He mumbled gruffly, looking down like a kid who knows he‘s in trouble. "You know..."

"Which way?" She interrupted him in her no nonsense voice.

Angel pointed to the left. "This way, then turn right on Main. Knowing the idiot, he took her where he takes all his 'dates'. The boy's got no imagination."

"Lucky for me." She whispered derisively.

He shook his head. "Would you believe this boy is a College student? Who ever said you need to be smart to go to College, I wonder. The kid is dumb as a post."

Buffy gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried her best to focus on the road. The shot of Tequila and the few sips of beer she'd drank weren't enough to make her drunk, but fear made it hard to keep her mind on what she was doing. It didn't take long for Angel to realize how bad a driver she really was, but he merely put a hand on the dashboard, scared to say anything.

"You know," Angel started, trying to make conversation while pointing out the direction to follow, "I always thought Riley was gay. I think he's just trying to prove something to himself, that's why he does shit like that. He wants to convince himself that he's not into boys."

"I don't really care what his excuse is. He could be into goats for all I care," she replied through clenched teeth.

Angel started laughing, then stopped abruptly. He groaned. "Oh God. Not the kind of mental picture I wanted."

In spite of herself, Buffy managed a tight smile. "Yeah, you might be right on this one."

They reached an intersection and she stopped at the red light. "Where to?"

"Keep going straight. See the little shopping center over there with the bank, Chinese restaurant and drug store?"

"Yeah?"

"If I know him as well as I think I do, he probably parked his car in the alley right behind it. Mommy and daddy bought Riley boy a brand new black Explorer for getting passing grades in all his classes last semester. It's nice and roomy and he's putting it to good use. You can do all kind of nasty stuff in there without feeling too claustrophobic," he explained, a knowing smirk on his face.

Buffy groaned. "I don't want details, Angel. Thanks."

She slowed down and maneuvered the huge boat of a car into the deserted parking lot. She drove the car around the building and into the alley. Just like Angel had predicted, there was a car parked there. It was too dark to tell what kind of car, but it was definitely a SUV. Next to her, Angel shouted victoriously, a smug look on his face.

"What did I say, uh? Predictable as hell. What a loser."

Buffy stepped on the gas, making the car jump forward. Angel almost hit his head on the dashboard.

"Whoa, sweetheart, careful there. I love this car, don't destroy it... And I love me too."

*Understatement of the century* Buffy thought sourly before slamming on the brakes when she was close enough to the parked car. There was a loud screech of tires and she jumped out and ran to the SUV. She vaguely heard Angel yell at her to stop and let him handle it, but she couldn't care less. Buffy wrenched the back door of the SUV open. She saw red.

She didn't say a word. She grabbed a leg and pulled with strength fueled by rage. Riley tumbled out of the car with a yelp of surprise. He looked around, disoriented, before focusing his eyes on the petite blonde in front of him. He stood up quickly, then opened his mouth to speak, but never had a chance to get the words out. Almost in slow motion, a small fist connected painfully with his jaw. The surprising force of the impact made him trip over his own feet and fall on his ass. He remained sprawled ungracefully on the ground, a stunned look on his face. Buffy took two quick steps towards him. Now standing between his wide spread legs, she put one foot on his groin and slowly applied pressure. Riley shouted in pain.

Buffy noticed that although his belt and zipper were undone, he was still covered. She could have cried with relief.

"Get anywhere NEAR her again, and I'll kill you. Get me?"

Riley was wheezing and trying weakly to push her foot away from his genitals.

"Did you say something?” Buffy asked sarcastically. “I didn't get that?"

"Get off me you psycho bitch!" Riley yelled, panic obvious in his voice.

"Oh I will. But only when I'm sure you get what I'm saying. You don't go near her, don't talk to her, don't look at her... As a matter of fact, this also applies to every girl and woman in Sunnydale. If I hear that you tried that little stunt on anybody ever again, you're in for the beating of a lifetime. Maybe I'm not very threatening, but I do know people, Riley. So watch your back and think twice before trying to hurt another woman."

She took her foot off his manly parts and he rolled on his side, holding his crotch protectively.

"You make me sick. Get out of my sight."

While Riley attempted to get to his feet, Buffy went back to the SUV where Willow was still lying unconscious. Her top was torn down the middle and her skirt was up around her hips, but she still had her underwear on. Buffy lowered her friend's skirt and turned around briefly to ask Angel to help her. That's when she noticed he had been standing there the entire time, staring in shock with his mouth opened.

Buffy frowned. "Angel?"

"... wow." He mumbled, his eyes still wide with shock. "I mean... holy fuck."

She rolled her eyes. "Can you please help me get her to the car?"

"Oh." He finally snapped out of his trance. "Yeah, sure."

He hurried to her side and told her to move out of the way. He picked Willow up effortlessly and carried her to his car. Walking by Riley who was holding himself up using the hood of his car, Angel let out a snort, incapable of hiding his hilarity.

Angel put Willow down on the back seat, and in a rare show of sensitivity, he used his jacket to cover her. Then both he and Buffy got in the car. She turned the key in the ignition, hoping he wouldn't notice how badly her hand was shaking. Now that the adrenaline had left her system, her nerves were letting her down.

"Thanks, Angel." She managed to say. A part of her didn't want to say thank you. After all, what was such a small act of kindness compared to taking someone's life and putting an innocent man in prison? But if he hadn't shown her where to find Willow, her friend would have gotten hurt. All this because of her. She should have never brought Willow into this. But she didn't want her thoughts to go in this direction. Not now. Not with Angel MacAllister sitting right next to her. No matter what happened tonight, she still wanted him to think she was tough. If she started crying now, she'd ruin the image she’d so carefully built for his benefit.

In a way, tonight's event had helped build that image. She hadn't acted with the intention of impressing him; her only motivation had been to protect her friend. But the result was just the same. The entire ride back to his place, Angel hadn't stopped gushing about how fucking impressive she was, and how she'd kicked Riley's ass, and the look on his face, and... Her exploit had turned the normally taciturn man into a real motor mouth.

After she parked the car on the front lawn and he got out, Angel was all smiles. He told Darla and the few guests left how 90 lb Anne had broken Riley's face and almost knocked him unconscious.

At first, Darla frowned and Buffy worried that the blonde wouldn't forgive the act of violence against her fucked up cousin. But then, Darla giggled and put her arm around Buffy.

"Honey, I'm usually very over protective of my baby cousin, but this is too hilarious for words. And if he can't stand on his own with a tiny woman like you, then he deserves the ass kicking. Too bad I missed it though."

Buffy chuckled. "I have a feeling you'll hear so much about it that it will be as if you were there too." She pointed at Angel. "This one hasn't stopped yapping about that punch the entire way home."

"What? I was impressed, can you blame me?" Angel commented from where he was talking two other guys.

She smiled and wink playfully at him before turning back to Darla. "I'm sorry but I have to go. I'm gonna take Lili back to my place. I have a feeling she'll wake up with the mother of all hangovers tomorrow morning."

Darla nodded. "Of course. I'll call you sometime this week. We'll make plans."

Buffy agreed, then quickly walked to her car where Willow was already fast asleep in the passenger seat. She just couldn't wait to get away from this place.

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Willow opened her eyes groggily, blinking against the harsh morning light. She nearly screamed in surprise at seeing her friend's face right above her. "Oh God! You scared the hell out of me. What are you trying to do?.. Give me a heart attack?"

Willow winced in pain and reached up to hold her throbbing head.

"I'm sorry Willow..." Buffy started to say.

"Is my brain leaking out of my ears? Cause it feels like it is." Then Willow noticed the tears streaming down Buffy's face and sat up. Too quickly. She grabbed Buffy's arm in an attempt at making the room stop spinning. "What's going on? I make a joke and you start crying. This isn't usually a good sign. Did I do something?"

After handing Willow the cup of chamomile tea she'd made for her before coming to wake her up, Buffy told her friend what happened the night before. Willow sat back against the pillows and sipped her tea while listening to Buffy. When her friend reached the point of the story where they got back home, Willow calmly took another sip, then spoke up, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Well--that would explain why I don't remember anything after talking to that Riley guy." She shook her head lightly. "And to think that I was trying to be nice to the boring loser. That will teach me."

Buffy gave her an incredulous look, her face red from all the crying she'd done while telling Willow what happened the night before. "That's IT? That's all you have to say? You almost got raped by that creep, Will. A few minutes later and..."

"And nothing. You found me in time to stop him. Thanks by the way. Too bad I was unconscious and missed that part where you kicked his sorry ass." She tried to smile, but Buffy was still staring at her. "Don't get me wrong, I am freaked out. But it didn't happen. What am I gonna do? Mope around and try to imagine 'what if'? No point in that. I'm still me, he didn't do anything to me, you got there in time to stop it."

"But..."

Willow raised her hand to indicate that she wasn't done talking. "AND, it's no one's fault--except Riley’s, of course. You couldn't have known this would happen. I should have been more careful with my drink. It's something that could have happened to me in a bar somewhere too, it's not because I went with you to this party. So get it out of your head right now that you're responsible for my safety, Buffy Anne Summers. I know you. You'll try blaming yourself for this because you asked me to go with you."

Buffy looked down, ashamed that she was so predictable.

"I'm 27 years old, Buffy. I'm a grown woman and I can take care of myself. Well... Obviously, I can't--as I so clearly proved last night--but if I screw up and get myself in trouble, it's nobody's fault but mine. All right?"

Buffy nodded through her renewed tears, obviously not convinced, but she didn't resist when her friend pulled her into a hug. She hid her face against Willow's shoulder and let out a sob. Willow rubbed her back soothingly until Buffy stopped crying. Then she pulled away and gave her one of her warm Willow smiles.

"If it makes it better... I don't remember a thing. Makes it all easier to forget about it, don't you think? And right now... I'm more bothered by the hangover than I am by what you told me happened last night."

On cue, Dawn walked in with a bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water. The girl tried her best to look innocent, but failed.

Buffy welcomed the distraction. "Were you eavesdropping?"

Dawn's blue eyes got impossibly large. "Who... me?"

Willow couldn't help laughing. Then...

"Owww! My heeeead! I think there's something wrong with it. Should it really be hurting that much? You think there‘s something wrong?"

Buffy gave her a sympathetic look. "Yes, there is. It's called a hangover honey."

"But luckily..." Dawn jumped on the bed and started bouncing happily, ignoring Willow's groans of pain. "You got nurse Dawn and nurse Buffy to take care of you."

Willow closed her eyes. "Great."

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