Ain't destiny's grand?: Chapter 41
by i_hate_mornings
Disclaimer: I own naught but the story and its twists and turns. All else is Joss' as you all well know...
Please note that I did update about a week or so ago, so if you missed it, read it.
Chapter 41
Buffy smiled gratefully as Willow set down a cup of coffee in front of the extremely tired Slayer. She grasped the cup as though it were her only lifeline. Breathing in, she inhaled the scent of coffee before she took a long sip, relishing in the feel of the hot beverage as it slid down her throat.
The self proclaimed Scooby Gang were all seated around the table, listening to Angel as he told them what he had found out. Apparently, his trip had been highly successful and he knew exactly what was happening in Sunnydale. Buffy had seen the look on his face when he’d turned up at her door stoop and she knew that things were going to get much, much worse from here on in.
‘You were saying, Angel?’ Giles prompted as Willow set down a cup in front of the vampire. Angel gave her a weary smile and put a hand around the cup.
‘I was able to only find out the bare bones of the happenings here, but even that was enough,’ he said with conviction. ‘It’s the First.’
‘First what?’ Buffy asked him, confused.
‘Evil. Absolute evil, older than man, than demons,’ Giles answered instead. ‘It is the thing the darkness fears. It could have had the power to everything that has happened as of late. The thing I am yet to understand is how the First took on Xander’s form, if that is indeed what it did. The First can only assume the form of someone who is dead or has died.’
‘Wait,’ Buffy leant forward and placed her hands flat on the table. ‘So the thing that was in my room was the First? How?’
Giles frowned and glanced at the boy in question. At once, they were all looking at him. Xander’s face flushed guiltily and Buffy knew he was thinking of that moment right now. Which brought her to the question: What had he neglected to tell them?
‘A few years ago, when we were still immature teens,’ Xander began, glancing at Willow as he spoke. ‘We went on a camping trip… without permission.’
‘We ran away,’ Willow explained, deadpan.
‘Yeah, we did,’ Xander grinned briefly. ‘Anyway, while we were gone, I really needed to pee so I went behind a tree. I didn’t go far; I could still hear Jesse and Willow talking.’
‘Jesse?’ Giles questioned.
‘He was a friend of ours,’ Willow said sadly. ‘He was killed by a vampire a few years ago.’
‘Ah,’ Giles nodded. ‘Continue.’
‘Anyway,’ Xander nodded and picked the story back up. ‘I was about to do my business when I heard this strange noise. It was a buzzing noise, slow and steady, only, very faint. I could only just hear it. I shrugged it off and continued. It was then that it happened.’ He looked at Willow who smiled comfortingly. ‘I peed and felt a great shock in my private area. It hurt like hell, made me feel like I was on fire.’ He shook his head.
Willow covered his hand with her own. ‘He peed on an electric fence,’ she explained. ‘We heard him scream and went to see what happened. When we got there, he was lying face down on the ground. He wasn’t breathing. I said to call an ambulance, but Jesse said no because he didn’t want to get into trouble. I administered CPR and Xander seemed fine after that. We never told anyone.’
‘Are you really that stupid, or is it all a show?’ Angel asked Xander critically.
‘Hey!’ the boy exclaimed, insulted.
Buffy cut in before a fight could erupt. ‘Is there any other form it could take? Like, it’s only dead people, right? Or people who have been dead? If so, Xander’s not the only form, it will take.’
‘What? Deadboy? Already thought of that,’ Xander waved her comment off.
‘No,’ Buffy shook her head. ‘Me, remember? And not only me. People you knew from school, Jesse, possibly old enemies, things you’ve already faced and defeated, right?’ she directed the last bit at Giles.
‘Quite right,’ Giles affirmed. ‘I never though of that, but Buffy is correct in assuming that it can take the form of past foes.’
‘How can we tell if it’s in front of us?’ Xander wanted to know.
‘Well, I would assume that you would realise that the person in front of you is someone you haven’t seen in a while. You know, like possibly a dead person,’ Angel looked at Xander like he was stupid.
‘Yeah, I got that, thanks, Deadboy,’ Xander sneered. ‘What I meant was, people die all the time, how are we going to know if it’s in front of us if it can take the form of anyone?’
‘That is a fair point, Xander,’ Angel conceded, looking to Giles for the answer. It was natural and they all did it.
The Watcher thought about it for a moment. ‘I’m going to have to research this,’ he said slowly.
‘Ooh! Research!’ Willow bounced in her seat. Buffy, Angel and Xander eyed her with amusement. ‘Not that I’m happy about that,’ she mumbled as she shrank into her seat.
Buffy laughed her first real laugh in a while and pushed herself away from the table. ‘On that note, I’m heading out to do a quick patrol. I wanna see if there’s anything stirring.’
‘Good, good,’ Giles pulled of his glasses wearily. ‘As for the rest of us, I believe it’s time for us to retire. We can continue in the morning.’ Everyone with the exception of Giles turned to look at the sky outside. No one had realized just how dark it had gotten. Angel had turned up at sunset. They’d been sitting there for a long while.
‘I’ll walk you home,’ Xander said to Willow as he pushed his chair in. Willow nodded and the two left quickly. Buffy knew Willow’s parents had been hard on her when she was still in high school. Their treatment had followed the poor girl through the following years and Buffy knew Willow still subconsciously followed many of their rules. They’d trained her well.
Giles bade them goodnight as well and headed up the stairs. Buffy turned to Angel once she’d heard the door click. ‘Why?’
‘I had to,’ he answered immediately and Buffy was grateful that he didn’t pretend to not understand. ‘We needed information and I knew where to get it. If I hadn’t, we’d have had no idea what you would be facing. I couldn’t let anything happen to you, not now, not ever.’
Buffy smiled slightly and picked up her coffee cup, taking it into the kitchen. Her lower lip quivered before her eyes filled with tears. Angel came up behind her and put his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. She clutched him tightly, afraid to let him go now that she had him back. It seemed as though every time he came near her, he was off again to somewhere else that wasn’t there. With her.
‘Buffy?’
She pulled away and turned to look into his eyes. He reached out and wiped a hair from her face and she smiled even as she pressed into the contact. She’d missed his touch; it had been forever… He drew her slowly towards him and Buffy’s heart kicked up a notch. No matter what had happened in her life, no matter all that she had been through, all that she had seen; no matter how old and “wise” she had become, Angel, from the first moment they had met, had always managed to make her feel like a school girl again. Untried and innocent. Two things she no longer was.
‘Whoa, check out the lust bunnies,’ Faith stood in the doorway, huge smirk on her face. Speaking of innocence lost. Yet another person to walk into my house without me knowing.
‘Faith,’ Angel greeted stonily. ‘What are you up to?’
‘A hell of lot less than you are, Fang,’ she sauntered further into the room and closed the door behind her. ‘B.’
‘Faith,’ Buffy refused to move from the comforting circle of Angel’s arms. ‘How long have you been standing there?’
‘Not long,’ she shrugged. ‘Just saw the two of you making googly eyes. It was long enough.’
‘I’m getting a bell for that door,’ Buffy said firmly. It unnerved her that on three separate occasions, people had entered her house undetected. She was a Slayer, damn it! No one should be able to step foot on her property without her knowing!
‘You do that,’ Faith dismissed Buffy and turned her full concentration on Angel. ‘So, Angel… How ya been?’
Oh, she is so not! Buffy gritted her teeth as Faith began to flirt with Angel. What the hell?!? This needed to be nipped in the bud, quickly. ‘Don’t even try it, Faith,’ Buffy warned her sister Slayer. ‘You will start something you don’t want to start.’
‘Who says I don’t want to?’ the other Slayer smiled. ‘Come on B. I’ll wrestle you for him.’ She wasn’t kidding.
Buffy raised a sardonic eyebrow and shook her head. The girl was completely unhinged, she realized slowly. There was definitely something off about her; they’d all sensed it when she’d first come to Sunnydale. Maybe now she was beginning to show her true colours. Who would they find behind the mask Faith wore so convincingly? The little girl… or the evil whore? She couldn’t be both. She was too unbalanced; anyone could see that. One was bound to dominate the other. It was only a matter of time.
‘Gee,’ Buffy pretended to consider it. ‘How ‘bout no? Hello, psycho much? He’s my boyfriend. I’m not going to share him. Least of all with you.’
‘You think you’re so good, don’t you B,’ Faith sneered as she swaggered closer to the two warriors. ‘Always the perfect one, never screws up. You’re a princess, here, locked in you tower, awaiting your White Night. Well, I got news for you, princess,’ Faith was invading her personal space now and Buffy could smell the faintest trace of scotch on the younger girls breath. ‘Your tower? It’s a Hellmouth. Your White Night? He’s a vampire, and a vicious one at that. Look around you B. You’re surrounded by monsters. Nothing here is perfect. Nothing here is right. It’s everyman for himself and a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.’
Buffy got the feeling that Faith no longer knew exactly what she was saying. The girl had lost the thread of conversation and had taken off on a tangent which Buffy was unable to follow. ‘Faith?’
‘I hate this place,’ the brunette commented idly before she turned and headed out the door, slamming it behind her. The lovers watched her leave, identical frowns on their faces.
‘What just happened?’ Buffy tried to make sense of something the girl had said. It was a futile task.
‘I’m not entirely sure,’ Angel seemed to be having problems of his own in trying to understand. ‘Something’s up with her. I don’t trust her, not now.’
Buffy held her head in her hands and sighed. ‘Why now? Why couldn’t she have freaked out after the First is kaput?’
‘I don’t know, but,’ Angel was still staring at the spot where Faith had been. ‘She’s a loose cannon. She’s unpredictable. Watch your back.’
Buffy loved that he was always caring for her and looking out for her. ‘She’s gotten worse lately. She keeps disappearing. No one knows where she goes. Later, she turns up at the oddest times.’
‘Hmmm,’ Angel sounded creepily like Giles in that moment. ‘I’m going to keep an eye on her. I don’t trust her,’ he repeated, eyes still on the door.
‘You aren’t the only one,’ Buffy patted his cheek softly. ‘Angel?’
‘Yes?’ he smoothed her hair with one hand, while keeping a tight hold on her waist with the other.
‘Don’t leave me,’ she whispered.
‘Never again,’ he promised softly. She stared into his chocolate coloured eyes, unable to see if he really meant it. The deep pools, long ago scarred with pains she could never erase, looked openly back at her. She saw the truth then. The truth that nothing, not even death, would keep them apart.
‘Good,’ she snuggled into his embrace again and his arms wrapped around her once more, hugging her tightly to him. She smiled against his chest and turned her head slightly to place a kiss in the center.
His hand came up to cradle her head and they remained that was for a while, content to bask in each others presence. Eventually, though, they had to make a move. Buffy was almost dead on her feet. So much for patrolling. She yawned loudly and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes began to water and tingle as the tiredness of the past few days caught up with her.
‘Come on,’ Angel said gently as he picked her up. ‘It’s time for bed. A tired Slayer is a messy Slayer.’
He took her upstairs and put her into bed. Buffy snuggled under the covers as Angel made sure the windows were closed and she was safe from harm. She panicked when it looked like he was about to leave. ‘Angel?’ she called out tentatively. He turned to her and she patted the bed beside her. ‘Stay with me?’
Buffy could see his hesitation; see him thinking it through in his mind, unsure of what to do next. She made his mind up for him. Pulling back the covers, she scooted back on the bed and looked up at him with wide eyes. ‘Please?’
He gave in and walked over to the bed. He removed his shirt and shoes then slid into the covers gracefully. The moment he was comfy, Buffy slid closer and rested her head on his torso. He wrapped his arms around her and they continued to lie like that until Buffy could stand it no more. Held in his arms like that, sleep would continue to be elusive, she knew.
‘Angel?’
‘Yes, Ioniun?’
She giggled. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It is Gaelic. It means beloved,’ he answered simply and Buffy yet again felt her heart skip a beat. He was so sweet. He was like no guy she’d ever met before; vampireness aside.
She arched up and placed a kiss on his neck, right where the shoulder met the column. He groaned and Buffy smiled. Moving up, she repeated the kiss on the other side, grinning when she got the same reaction. Angel growled lightly and grabbed her by the waist, rolling her over and perching above her, a fake frown on his face. He smirked playfully as he took both of her wrists in one of his own, effectively immobilizing her. She could throw him off easily and she knew he knew that, but she also knew that with him on top of her like that, she didn’t want to.
He dipped his head quickly and planted a brief kiss on her lips. She moaned in frustration. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she reached up and hooked a hand behind his head. She pulled his head back down to meet hers and captured his lips in a fiery kiss. It felt so right, like something she’d been missing for a long time. They hadn’t been able to share a moment like this in what seemed like forever because something kept getting in the way. The story of their relationship, she supposed. Something was always getting in the way. Not this time.
Buffy felt Angel’s hands slip under the hem of her shirt to rest on her belly and she smiled against his lips. She felt him return the smile and she knew that the rest of the night was gonna be all about them and their love. Nothing could break them apart now.
.......
Sorry for not writing the love scene, but I have decided that I'm not entirley comfortable writing it. Plus, I don't think I'd write it particularly well....
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