Disclaimer: I don’t own anything to do with Buffy, Angel, Serenity or Charlie and the chocolate factory. Not mine so don’t sue.
Chapter 26
Buffy walked downstairs, hidden behind Angel’s back. She’d never been more embarrassed in her life. She didn’t know how she was going to face Willow. The redhead had walked in on her and Angel… God, she couldn’t even think it. Her face was redder than a tomato and her heart was thumping painfully against her ribcage.
Angel was still chuckling as they slowly descended the stairs. She wanted to reach out and punch him for laughing at her, but at the present time, she was trying to remain as inconspicuous as she could.
Angel led her into the living area- though it would fit almost all of Buffy’s old house in just that room, so it was hardly a living room- and the others were already there, waiting. Buffy ducked her head and glanced at the faces of the people in the room. No one, bar Willow, was looking at her funny. Willow wasn’t looking at her at all. The redhead had her red face buried in Xander’s back.
Giles stepped forward. ‘Ah, good, you found her then,’ he said with relief. He noticed Buffy’s embarrassment. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Fine,’ she blushed and covered her face. Willow made a choking sound which made Angel laugh again. Oh, he is so going to regret that. ‘Angel got there just in time,’ she said in an attempt to take control of the situation.
‘Really?’ Giles asked interestedly. ‘What happened?’
‘My plan worked great,’ she said smugly, a look that she couldn’t quite pull of with her flushed face. ‘Spike came, with plenty of backup I might add, and I sicked Oz on him. He took down, like, thirty vamps. It was awesome.’
Giles listened attentively while she recounted what had happened during the night but Buffy could see him glance in Willow’s direction periodically. Her face was still as red as when she’d left the Slayer’s room and she’d yet to make eye contact with Buffy or Angel. Now that the shock was over, Buffy was starting to see the funny side of it. Poor Willow.
When she came to the deal, Giles shook his head. ‘Do we know if he was being truthful?’ he asked both Buffy and Angel.
Angel nodded. ‘He wasn’t lying,’ the vampire confirmed seriously. ‘I thought he was but he seemed to genuinely want to help Buffy.’
‘Help me?’ Buffy asked them both incredulously. ‘You did her the part about doing so, so he could have his chance at me, right?’
They both turned to her. ‘No,’ Angel said dangerously. ‘Spike failed to mention that part.’
‘Oh,’ Buffy sat up and shook the hair from her eyes. ‘Well the deal was, if he helped me get rid of the other two teams of Slayerfest, then he and I would fight, a fair fight. If I won, he and skanky would leave town. If he won, he got me.’
‘Forget it,’ Giles said instantly. ‘I forbid it. You are to tell Spike no deal.’
‘But-’
‘No buts, Buffy,’ Giles shook his head. ‘You are not going to fight him. He’ll kill you.’
She looked to Angel for support but he was lost in thought. She stood and faced Giles. ‘So, what, Giles? You’d rather have me fighting for my life against more Slayerfest contestants. Remember what happened the last time? If you guys had been even thirty seconds later I would have died… once again. Want that to happen again?’
‘Of course not-’ Giles began to deny.
‘By dismissing Spike, you are forcing me to fight these people. If we join with him, we can find out who they are and how to stop them. He can help us.’
‘Buffy,’ Giles wearily rubbed his forehead. ‘Spike is-’
‘I know what Spike is,’ she almost spat in disgust. She wasn’t saying she wanted to be best friends with the vamp, she didn’t feel like dying so soon after a near miss. ‘You think I like him? That I want to work with him? No, I really don’t. But he is willing to call a truce, to work with us, not against us. I don’t like him,’ she repeated. ‘and I sure as hell don’t trust him but at the moment, I’ll take the lesser of the two evils.’
Giles made to argue again but Buffy waylaid him. ‘Giles… I don’t want to die,‘ she said quietly. Even to her, her voice sounded like a frightened child’s.
The Watcher nodded, resigned and was quiet for a moment. ‘I think it’s time everyone retired. Xander, you and Willow will remain here for the night. Call your parents. In the morning we will go and release Oz,’ with that, he turned around and walked stiffly out the room.
Buffy watched him go, wondering if there was more under that argument that she first thought. He had seemed to crumble when she’d said she didn’t want to die. Kendra, she thought sadly. The girl had had more of an impact on the Watcher that even he knew.
The thought led her to thoughts of Merrick and she wondered how much of an affect she’d had on his life. He died to save her from Lothos, so he must have at least liked her, right? Or was it every Watcher’s job to die for his Slayer? One dies, another is called.
She instinctively knew Merrick had gone against his training, his beliefs, the Council rules, when he’d taken the stake for her. Watcher’s were there to do just that, watch, and train but no more. They were not supposed to sacrifice themselves to save their Slayers. That’s where being disposable was supposed to come in.
She felt Angel arms sliding around her waist and she leaned back into him with a sigh. Willow and Xander were gone when she looked up and it was just her and Angel in the dimly lit room. ‘I have to go back to L.A,’ he said softly into her hair.
She turned to look him in the eyes. ‘I know. Thank you,’ she reached up and caressed the side of his face lovingly. She still hadn’t told him she loved him yet. She wasn’t sure of what his reaction would be so she held off.
He kissed her goodbye then left. She didn’t feel like sleeping yet so she wondered the halls on the way back to her room. Willow’s light was on as she walked past but she didn’t stop. She may have recovered but she still wasn’t quite ready to face her friend.
Sleep consumed her almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
***************************************
The next two days passed in a blur. Buffy noticed Willow and Oz getting closer so she invited them and Xander to go to the movies. Oz and Xander wanted to see the new movie, Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon. Xander loved his work, Oz said the guy was a genius but Buffy and Willow didn’t like the way he treated some of his characters in his T.V shows so they skipped it. Instead they went to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Xander and Oz got into a debate over which version had the better Oompa Loompa’s, while Buffy and Willow rated the hotness of Johnny Depp.
They’d been home for almost an hour when someone knocked on the door. Buffy bounced up to answer it. A wide smile on her face.
Buffy opened the door to find a dark haired woman waiting patiently on the doorstep. She seemed a little nervous and Buffy almost sniggered, wondering if the woman knew what she was walking into. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked.
‘I’m looking for, um, well… are you the Slayer?’ she asked hopefully.
Buffy froze. ‘Who wants to know?’ she said suspiciously. Recognition hit her. This was one of the new teachers from Sunnydale High. Why would a teacher from school come looking for a Slayer?
‘My name is Jenny Calender and I have some information for you and your Watcher. May I come in?’
‘Okay,‘ Buffy said slowly as she stepped back, admitting the woman.
She eyed the brunette with distrust. The woman wasn’t giving the Slayer any bad vibes but she’d keep a close watch just in case. If anything happened Buffy could just kick her ass anyway.
‘Giles,’ she yelled up the stairs as she led Jenny into the large living room. The others looked up curiously but Buffy took no notice. The two women stood silently, waiting for the Watcher to appear.
He did so, slightly huffing from the exertion of running to the lounge in a matter of seconds. Buffy stood and indicated Ms Calender. ‘Jenny Calender. Wants to talk to us. Not evil,’ Buffy explained, bringing him up to speed quickly.
‘Quite,’ he moved into the room. ‘What can we do for you, Miss Calender?’ he asked politely.
‘We’ve never met but there is something I need to tell you and your Slayer,’ she began hesitantly. ‘I have worked at Sunnydale high as a computer teacher for going on three months now, Mr Giles but that is not what I really do,’ Giles sent Buffy a meaningful glance and the Slayer moved closer to the teacher.
‘My name is not really Jenny Calender. It is Janna of the Kalderash,’ she announced and Buffy saw Giles’ eyes widened in recognition.
‘What’s a Colder rash?’ Buffy asked a silent Giles. She could tell it was something big.
‘They are the Gypsies that cursed Angel with a soul,’ he answered distractedly and Buffy gasped. Her eyes narrowed at the Gypsy.
‘Yes, it was my ancestors that cursed him, you are right. Ever since then, our family has been cursed along with him. For generations my family has watched over him, making sure he suffers for his sins. All that changed about two months ago.’
‘When he met Buffy,’ Giles said in wonder. Buffy watched quietly. She was getting more information by letting the grownups speak so she kept her mouth shut.
‘Yes,’ she confirmed his deduction. ‘My family was outraged, none more so than my Uncle Enyos. He demanded action, I was sent here, to keep the Slayer and her Vampire apart. My Uncle knew long ago that this would happen. How, I don’t know. He never told me,’ she said bitterly.
Giles looked up sharply and took a menacing step forward. Jenny hastily tried to explain herself.
‘I never agreed with what they were doing,’ she said hurriedly. ‘As soon as I arrived here, I did everything in my power to find a way to fix everything. By pure chance I found something. When the Elder’s cursed him, they attached to Angel’s soul a curse. If he should ever have one moment of happiness, his soul would be violently stripped away from him and he would become the demon once again.
‘I knew as soon as I saw the two of them together that it would happen. The Slayer and her pet vampire were very much in love. They already seemed happy and I was torn. My Uncle was leaning on me to part them, I knew that it was only a matter of time before the demon returned and I knew I had to do something.
‘I found what I was looking for. In my family's files, files I thought long lost was a spell, the spell used to first ensoul Angelus. I took it without my Uncle's knowledge and changed it. Two nights ago, I performed it.’
‘What are you saying,’ Buffy leant forward in her chair.
‘I’m saying that, before two nights ago, had you and Angel been together, he would have lost his soul and reverted to the demon he was, the demon that wreaked havoc for over a hundred years. Now, because of the spell I did, his soul and the rest of us, are safe.’
Buffy froze in shock. Two nights ago, she and Angel had almost made love. She lifted her stunned gaze and met Willow’s sympathetic one. Buffy laughed hollowly. ‘Thank God for Willow,’ she said without thinking.
‘What?’ Giles said sharply and Buffy winced. Her Watcher didn’t look happy.
‘Two nights ago, when we came back from confronting Spike, Angel and I almost… you know,’ she blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘Willow walked in before we could do... anything.’
Buffy sank her face into her hands, mortified beyond belief. There were some things you just didn’t share with your Watcher. One quick look at Giles confirmed he was thinking the same thing.
‘Oh,’ Xander said in understanding. ‘So that’s why Wills was all hide-behind-the-Xan-man. Buffy, shame on you,’ Xander started to get angry as it sank in. ‘What were you thinking Buffy? He’s dead.’
Willow slapped him hard on the arm. ‘If you start this again I will… well, I can’t think of anything right now but it’s bad and I will do it,’ she warned him. ‘See my resolve face. Keep it to yourself.’
Xander opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it and closed it with a snap. The Slayer grinned. Thank God for Willow.
**************************************
Jenny left after a couple of hours. Giles had taken her into his office to speak with her privately about the spell and her clan. Buffy’s thoughts were on Angel. She had to call him. Jenny had said he hadn’t even known about the curse. What if they had slept together and Angel had gotten his one moment of pure happiness? Was it even possible, in this day and age, to get “perfect happiness“?
Xander had quickly lost interest in the talk about Angel, so he’d distracted Oz and the boys were now debating the best special effects used in a movie. Willow sat by Buffy, holding her hand comfortingly.
‘How scary is that, Will?’ Buffy said gloomily. ‘I could have killed Angel.’
‘You wouldn’t have killed Angel, Buffy,’ Willow said reasonably.
‘Effectively, that’s exactly what I would have done. The demon would have taken over and he wouldn’t have been Angel anymore. He would have tried to kill us all. You heard the things Angel told us.‘
‘Yes, but to be fair, Buffy, that was only from Angel’s point of view. He might have made it sound much worse than it actually was,’ Buffy couldn’t argue with Willow’s reasoning.
‘I wish there was a way to know for sure.’
‘There is,’ Willow said as though the thought had just struck her.
Buffy saw the redhead’s gaze directed at the table of books. She looked at the girl in confusion, then admiration as realisation set in. ‘We really shouldn’t,’ she said slowly, even as she was inching towards the books.
‘Yeah,’ Willow agreed, also moving towards the packed table. ‘It would be wrong, very wrong.’
‘We could get into trouble,’ Buffy stopped in front of the table.
She realised the books they were looking for wouldn’t be amongst those in the lounge. Angel would most likely be written about in the Watcher’s diaries, which were kept in Giles’ office.
Getting to them would not be easy.
As I said in the last chapter, this is only being updated ‘cause I had a sudden flash of inspiration and these two chaps came out.
Angels Shadow asking about the curse gave me the idea for this part. I realised I hadn’t even thought about it and got to work.
See ya’s soon.
Don't forget to review.
*shouts to the heavens* Inspire me, people!!
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
