Yet another Buffy/Angel S1 canon-insert, written for the 2017 IWRY Marathon. This one's set after the depressing conversation Buffy, Willow, and Xander have at the end of "I Robot, You Jane." Buffy decides not to leave everything up to fate, so she goes looking for Angel.

It had been two and a half weeks since the kiss at the post-fumigation party, and Buffy had seen no sign of Angel anywhere. Sure, they'd said that nothing could happen between them, but then they'd kissed, and he hadn't specifically denied that she would see him around. She'd been semi-willing to let him show up again on his own terms, but that was before the not-so-funny conversation she, Willow, and Xander had had in the courtyard about their doomed romantic lives. She didn't want to be doomed.

That was why she'd decided to track Angel down herself, and she'd even broken out her investigator outfit again. She spent the first hour or so of the evening aimlessly wandering the streets and alleys nearest the Bronze with no luck, but then it occurred to her that a vampire who didn't feed on living humans still needed to get blood somewhere. She popped into the Bronze long enough to copy down the addresses she needed from the phonebook, then set off to see if anyone at any of those places had seen a tall, dark, and absurdly handsome man recently.

She went to the butcher shop first, but nobody there remembered selling animal blood after dark to anyone fitting Angel's description. A guy at the meat-packing plant did, but said he hadn't seen Angel in over a week and didn't know an address for him anyway. By the time she reached the hospital, she was feeling rather discouraged and annoyed. The receptionist at the front desk looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Hi," said Buffy, "I was just wondering who I should talk to about donating blood?"

The receptionist frowned. "We don't run blood drives out of the hospital, but are you sure you're old enough to donate? You have to be at least seventeen. Sixteen, with your parent's signature."

"Oh, um...I'm not looking to donate right now," said Buffy. "I'm on the Student Council at Sunnydale High, and we wanted to set up a blood drive for the upperclassmen students. Who should I talk to about that?"

The frown deepened. "Well, the phlebotomy team usually leaves at five, but a shipment from the Red Cross was delayed today, so the assistant who takes deliveries was stuck waiting for it. He might still be here."

"Can I see him?"

"You're really keen on your extracurriculars, aren't you?"

Buffy's fake smile was starting to make her cheeks ache. "Yes, ma'am!"

The woman rolled her eyes and jerked her thumb at a pair of doors. "Down that hall, second right, and all the way to the end. If he's not in the lab, he'll be at the loading dock around the corner from it. Greg Danes."

Buffy followed her directions to the lab, which was empty, but when she approached the loading dock, she heard two male voices, one of which set her heart racing. She'd found him.

"You haven't had any other trouble with deliveries?"

"Not since you saved my ass. I've been trying to have everything come during the day, but delays happen. Thanks for making sure it went smooth this time, even though there wasn't any trouble."

"Of course. It should be going to the patients."

"Do you want your cut now, or—"

"I didn't come here because I expected a cut."

"Well you're getting one anyway. A few of the bags were damaged in transit. They're not sterile enough to use on patients. Either they're going to you or they're going in a biomedical waste bin."

"Seems like a few of the bags always get damaged in transit."

"What can I say? Delivery people ignore the caution signs on the coolers."

"I'll come back for them later. Don't get reckless, Greg. I don't need it to be human blood. The people here do."

Buffy darted back up the corridor until she found another exit, then crept around the outside of the building to the side with the loading dock, just in time to see Angel walking off into the night.

She followed him at a distance, which gave her a perverse sense of enjoyment, considering the way they'd met. He headed back in the direction of the Bronze, which likely meant he was going home. She picked up her pace a little, trying to imagine what his place was like.

He passed through the light of the next streetlamp, then seemed to disappear as soon as he reached the shadows beyond it. Frowning in indignation, Buffy jogged towards the spot and stared around. There was no sign of Angel, but then someone tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped around.

"Angel!" she said, attempting to compose herself. "Hi."

"What...," said Angel, his lips twitching and nostrils flaring. "What are you doing?"

"Well," said Buffy, "turnabout being fair play and all..." She stood up straighter. "I'm following you."

"You're wearing sunglasses at night," he observed. "And a brown suede trench coat."

"I'll have you know I've done very effective tailing in this trench coat," said Buffy loftily, though she quickly removed the sunglasses and stuffed them in her pocket. They were going in the first garbage can she could find, and if he had any decency at all, he would never mention them again.

"Really."

"Is it that hard to believe I can tail someone? I found you, didn't I?"

"I've known you were there since the hospital."

Buffy glowered at him. This wasn't fair at all.

"Why were you following me?" he said, smirking. He clearly found the role reversal amusing, which annoyed her even more. She folded her arms.

"Because this is the longest you've gone without dropping by with cryptic information since we met, and I was concerned." And because those were the two most amazing kisses of my life, so can you blame me for wanting to see you a little more often going forward?

"Things have been quiet."

"They haven't, actually. A demon got scanned into the internet, built a robot body for himself, and tried to destroy the world and make Willow his queen. Giles and the computer teacher did a ritual to trap him and I tricked him into electrocuting himself."

Angel only stared at her.

She shrugged and scrunched up her nose. "Yeah, I'd probably have the same reaction if I hadn't lived through it."

"I don't have a lot of experience with computers. I'm not sure I'd have been any help."

That made her chuckle. "You and Giles would get along."

"Well, things have been quiet where the Master's concerned, anyway."

"Then...why did you let me catch you?"

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. HA. She had him.

"Which is it?" she said sweetly. "Did I sneak up on you because I'm actually good at tailing people and you're not as good at hiding in the shadows as you think, or did you let me catch you because—" She broke off abruptly.

"Because what?" said Angel, fixing her with one of those soul-piercing stares of his.

Buffy bit her lip. "Because you missed me as much as I missed you?" she finished, all the teasing confidence gone from her voice.

To her intense relief, she saw a hint of the same naked vulnerability she felt flickering in his eyes. He stepped closer and brushed his knuckles along her jaw, never breaking eye contact. "You're not that good at tailing people."

S1 Buffy/Angel is so much fun to write. They're such adorable idiots about their feelings. I love them.