Angel waited for Cordelia as she tried on yet another dress. This woman loved clothes more than . . . well, more than almost anything.

He considered her fondly as she burst from the dressing room, spinning and smiling.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's very nice."

"Nice?" Cordy pouted. "I was hoping for stunning, brilliant, absolutely yummy." She looked at him suspiciously. "You're NOT brooding again. 'Cause if you are, you can just stop it right now, Mister! I'll have none of that on my shopping trip."

Angel smiled wanly.

"You ARE brooding again! OK. That's it. There will be no brooding. There will only be fun and shopping and you buying me things on your credit card." Cordy shot him a coy look. "What's your credit limit again?"

Angel couldn't help but smile. He smiled so rarely these days. Not that he'd ever been much for smiling, but since . . .

Right. No brooding. He smiled even wider, almost too wide.

"OK, Angel. That's enough with the smiling. It's getting kinda creepy."

Angel's trenchcoat began to ring.

"Angel, your cell phone. When will you learn to use that thing?" Cordy rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as she returned to the dressing room.

"Hello?"

"Angel?"

"B-B-Buffy?"

"Yes."

The phone slid from his hands.

***

Darkest Magick. The witches weren't exactly subtle with the labeling! But there was some really cool stuff here. It didn't seem all that dark. More fuzzy gray really. Like this! Oooh. Nifty protection spell. Follows the protectee around like an invisible shield. And if any big nasty tries to break through . . . zap! They're dead. Of course if anyone else tries to touch the protectee they're kinda dead too, but maybe the spell can be modified? Worth a try. It would help keep Dawnie safe when Buffy was busy with other stuff.

Buffy.

It was still weird having her back. Tara wasn't exactly pleased with the tampering with nature thing. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do! No new Slayer had been called and the Hellmouth was really getting out of control. And so what if Buffy isn't exactly the same Buffy? She's stronger, right? She can kick even more demon ass!

Why does that not make it feel OK?

Because Tara doesn't think it's OK.

Tara's wrong!

Cookies sound really good all of a sudden.

But first, I'll just write down the ingredients for this . . .

What the? Hey now! Stop that flipping! I'm not doing that!

The Hand of Thanatos.

Hmmm. What's this? The caster can suck the life force from any creature within a 20-yard radius. Now that could come in handy! No pun intended!

Willow laughed and scribbled down the ingredients for the spell. She didn't see the small man with black eyes peering through her dorm room window. He smiled approvingly at the witch. "That girl has real potential."

***

"Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit."

Anya stared, transfixed by the cartoon on television. This was the most horrible thing she'd ever seen, but at least that little bald man had enough sense to know the enemy. "Yes, you should kill him! He's a horrible and disgusting creature with an annoyingly nasal voice."

Xander checked his hair in the mirror and picked up his toolbelt. "Talking to the cartoons again? What did I tell you about that Anya?" He chuckled and kissed her affectionately.

"You said it was strange but endearing."

"And indeed it is." He kissed her again, this time more passionately. Maybe he could be a little late for work . . .

His pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Don't answer it, Xander." Anya turned off Elmer and Bugs and took the toolbelt from him. "We didn't have sex last night, so just ignore the door."

Reluctantly Xander pulled away. "As tempting as it is honey, I should really get that."

Anya pouted. "Very well. But don't expect me to just fall into your arms later. I may not be in the mood."

"Only in some weird alternate non-sex-having universe." Xander smirked and opened the door.

A tall woman with dark hair and dark eyes looked at him expectantly.
"Are you Xander Harris?"

"Yes."

"I heard you might be able to help me."

"With what?" Xander considered her suspiciously. What was she selling?

"With William the Bloody. With Spike."

***

"Buffy, I . . . I." Angel stammered into the phone and then stated the obvious. "You were dead."

Buffy laughed softly. "Yeah, I know, but I'm feeling much better now, thanks to Will and Dawnie and . . . Spike."

"Spike? What does he have to do with it?" Angel's face twisted with hatred at the sound of the blonde vampire's name. Last time he'd seen him, torture had been involved. To say he loathed Spike was an understatement. And Angel was sure the feeling was mutual.

"Spike brought me back. It's kind of complicated to explain, but it needed to be him because he's undead and soulless. And there was the blood thing."

"OK, hold on a minute," Angel's voice raised in anger, causing the other patrons in the store to look at him with derision. Quickly he walked towards the exit. "Spike," he hissed, trying to keep his temper in check. "Spike, who hired a pedophilic vampire to torture me? Spike, who tried to kill you more times than I can count? Is this the Spike you're talking about?"

"Well, not exactly. He's changed, Angel."

"Buffy, he can't be trusted."

"Yes, he can. And I do. Trust him I mean." For a moment, Buffy considered telling Angel everything. How she had Spike's memories, why she knew she could trust him. No, that would just make things worse. "Look, the purpose of this call wasn't to fight about Spike. It was to let you know that I'm back. I thought you should know."

"When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago."

"And you only now thought to call me?"

"No. I thought about calling you every day. But I didn't know what to say. I was just so tired, Angel. It took me a while to recover. To get my head on straight."

Angel swallowed hard. Since she'd died the pain had been excruciating. He'd felt as if his purpose for existing was gone. Everything he'd done had been for her, so someday MAYBE they might be together. After she died, it didn't seem worth it. The only thing that kept him sane was Cordy's teasing. And now Buffy was just casually calling him to tell him she's back? He could hear it in her voice.

He was losing her.

He couldn't blame her. She’d been so young when they'd met. Just a kid really. Hadn’t known anything about the world.

And now she did. She knew how precious her time was. She could be gone tomorrow. Just like that. If he was careful and avoided stakes and sunlight, he had all of eternity before him. Could he really expect her to put her life on hold, to wait patiently for his Shanshu? He didn't even know when that would be. Prophecies didn't run on a strict timetable.

"Angel? Are you still there?"

"Yeah. I'm still here. Buffy, you know I'll always be here."

"I know."

"I'm glad you called me."

"Angel, I had to tell you. I . . . You know how much you mean to me."

"I do." He could hear her holding back tears.

"Well, I should go now. Dawnie's going to be home from school soon."

"It was nice to hear your voice again. But Buffy, before you hang up, promise me one thing."

"What's that Angel?"

"Stay away from Spike."

"Angel . . ."

"No, just listen to me. Hear me out. When Willow came to tell me you'd . . . died . . . she told me about Spike and the chip. She told me what he'd done for you and Dawn." Angel sighed heavily. "She told me that he says he loves you. But believe me when I tell you that he can't be trusted. I've known Spike a long time and one thing about him is pretty consistent: he's a killer. He may think he loves you, but soulless demons don't really know what love is. I've seen his brand of love. I saw him with Drusilla. It was pretty twisted, Buffy."

"You're not being entirely truthful, and you know it, Angel." Buffy's voice was eerily calm.

"OK, so maybe he did love Drusilla, genuinely love her, but that doesn't make him good. How can you reconcile being a Slayer and being friends with a demon who has slaughtered thousands of people?"

"I was more than friends with you, and you did everything Spike did and worse."

"But I'm trying to make amends."

"And you have help; you have a soul. Spike has nothing but his desire to be a better man. I'd rather help him be good than just let him crash land in Evilsville again. Besides," she laughed, trying to lighten the mood, "he was a pest when he was trying to be bad."

"And why does he suddenly want to be this 'better man', Buffy? It's just to get into your pants." Angel was furious. This really was beyond belief. Buffy was defending the little bastard.

To his shock, he heard more laughter.

"Yeah, at first that was why he was doing it. But now? Angel, Spike would die for me. He's proved that more than once. And if he's dust he couldn't really get much action, could he? He'd die for Dawn too. He loves her. And I can guarantee he doesn't want her."

"OK, don't believe me. But don't bother to call me when it all goes to hell, when that chip comes out. Because eventually it won't work anymore. Then you'll really see what a great guy Spike is. Consider yourself warned." Angel clicked the green button on his cell. Why wasn't it hanging up? Oh, it's the goddamn RED button.

Buffy's mouth gaped as she heard the dial tone on the other end. Angrily, she wiped a tear from her eye. "That bastard can still make me cry."

End Part 14

Continue to Part 15

Back to Authors S-Z