There was a heavy pall of smoke in the Bronze. Because smoking was prohibited, Buffy Summers was quite curious to know from whence the smoke originated. 'From whence? Ugh, Giles must be rubbing off on me'.
Following some of the more opaque wisps, the Slayer found herself at the rear service entrance of the club. Curious, she pushed through the door, leaving the pulsing music behind. The night air was almost absurdly balmy - just another reason to question the shiver that ran down her arms. The sky was hazy with gray - doubtless originating from a fire - probably a brush fire in a canyon outside of town. The brick alley in front of her was empty - devoid of life or un-death. She thought of her friends back in the Bronze - Willow and Xander. She'd left them at a table together in the center of the room, the heavy beat of the music a storm around them. Oh well, at the very least, her absence might result in them dancing. Maybe. Another shiver seized her, goosebumps racing down her forearms. She spun quickly, barely blocking the initial attack of a slavering demon. It's yellow eyes burned her harshly as it hissed obscenities at her.
"Oh please. Sweet-talking will get you nothing," she quipped, throwing her body to the side, braving the tumble into the wall as opposed to taking the hit from the vampire's slashing claws.
"I'll kill you, Slayer... then I'll gut your friends and impale your Watcher... then I'll burn that faithless dog of yours to a cinder."
Flipping to her feet, ignoring the ache in her shoulder from the impact with the wall, Buffy paused. "Uh - you might want to review your research, there, vamp-boy. I don't have a d..."
"Angelus."
Her love's name on the demon's lips was vile. In an instant, Buffy's light-hearted banter was gone without a trace. She offered the vampire a chilling smile as she pulled an evilly sharp stake from her sleeve. "Die."
"Too late - I already did." The creature stalked her, circling with her, fangs glistening with it's eager anticipation of the Slayer's blood.
"It's never too late to do it again," Buffy grunted, throwing herself into the demon, catching it by surprise. They both tumbled to the ground, and Buffy thrust the stake at the thing's breast quickly, ruthlessly. When one of the beast's flailing limbs hit the side of her head, she was stunned enough to miss. Shaking her head to stop the ringing in her ears, she couldn't quite prevent the creature from throwing her off, and pinning her to the dusty concrete.
"Time to die, Slayer."
A low growl from a darker shadow surprised the demon. "What...?"
Angel didn't give the younger vampire a chance to strike. Moving frighteningly quickly, he grabbed the vampire, tossing him away from Buffy and against a brick wall. While the beast was still in the air, Angel struck brutally with a stake of his own, shattering his erstwhile ally into innocent flakes of ash. Turning back to Buffy, who was already on her feet, he allowed the corner of his mouth to kick up in half a smirk, revealing the barest hint of a razor fang. "This guy bothering you, Miss?"
A little surprised that he'd made a joke, Buffy just stared at him for a moment. His warm, golden eyes glowed at her from his ridged countenance, then - quite suddenly - he looked human again. Smiling back at him, chuckling, she replied, "No, not really. He was a little frisky, but..."
Letting a full smile creep across his face, Angel moved towards the Slayer. "So..." he seemed to pause, apparently searching for something to say.
Raising her palm in the air to halt his words, Buffy grinned. "Trying to find the ultimate pickup line?"
"You wanna dance?"
"Ooooh, lethal. The vampire shoots, he scores!" Buffy cheered, miming a swishing basketball shot.
Angel shrugged. "It suddenly occurred to me that every time I see you, the first thing out of my mouth is something having to do with danger. Seeing as how we already dealt successfully with it - why talk about it?" The smile warmed significantly, his eyes searching her face. "So... do you?"
She raised her hand to trace his lips. "Always."
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Xander was staring into his Coca Cola. It wasn't doing anything particularly interesting at the moment, but it was infinitely more pleasing to the eye than what was on the dance floor. Or, more specifically, who was on the dance floor. He pushed at the glass a little, feeling the container slip a bit in the pool of condensation on the table. Ah - a new distraction. He dragged his fingertip through the ring of moisture, drawing intricate patterns across the polished wood.
"Hey Xander, why the long face?" Buffy's cheery voice dragged him back to precisely the place he did not want to be. The Bronze.
Looking up, he saw Buffy standing next to the table, Angel standing slightly behind her. "Oh, hey, Buffy. That didn't take long. Kill anything?"
"Nope. Angel did."
"Hey man," Xander acknowledged the vampire's presence with a reasonably comradely nod. Angel nodded back.
Buffy looked back and forth between the two of them. "Guy communication. Weird." Shaking her head over the unexplainable, she slid onto the barstool across from Xander. The third chair having been snagged by partygoers at another table, Angel stood behind her, casually wrapping his arms around her waist. As she subtly curved her body against her boyfriend, Buffy studied her Xander-friend with concern. "Where's Willow?"
Xander flinched perceptibly. "Dancing," he mumbled.
If Buffy hadn't had excellent hearing, she would never have heard him over the droning of the slow song that was lapping over the room. "Wha..?" Whipping her head around, nearly blinding Angel with her hair, Buffy frantically searched the dance floor. Willow's bright auburn hair was clearly visible in the center of the crush - as was the face of the guy with whom she was dancing. "Hey, that's Owen!"
Startled, Angel followed her gaze. He remembered the first time jealously had bitten him - back when he'd been nothing to Buffy but a mysterious ally. He'd come to the Bronze to warn her about a prophecy - the prophecy of the Anointed One. She'd been standing alone near the stairs, and he'd felt a rush of the same unnamed emotion that had begun to seize him whenever he was near her. He'd warned her of the danger, only to discover that she was at the Bronze on a date with a boy. Owen.
Vampire eyes searching the dance floor, Angel saw the blond- haired young man dancing with Willow. He was smiling down at her, and Angel's gut clenched at the memory of Buffy standing on her tiptoes to kiss Owen lightly before running off to rescue Giles. She'd told Angel later that it had been the first... and last... date with Owen, and Angel had been viciously glad. She was his - even then - and his possessiveness knew no bounds. His arms tightened a bit, pressing the Slayer firmly against his chest.
"Huh," Buffy mused, finally throwing an amused glance over her shoulder at Angel, who shrugged casually, not deceiving her in the slightest. She looked back at Xander, who was again creating modern, evaporable art on the table. "So..."
The song ended, and another started up. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Willow break away from Owen gently and move back towards the table. Owen followed her, a friendly smile lighting his eyes as he saw Buffy. "Hi Buffy," he said cheerily, his eyes darting around the group.
Buffy realized abruptly that it was the identical group that had been together in the Bronze that night so long ago. She and Owen had been on a date - Angel had shown up to warn her about the prophecy - and Willow and Xander had come to warn her that Giles was in trouble. "Hey there," she said with a smile, wondering how Owen and Willow had come to be dancing together. She couldn't imagine Willow asking him to dance, so Owen must have approached her. Judging from Xander's mopey attitude, the situation wasn't to his liking. Interesting.
Willow dragged two more barstools over, then cocked her head inquiringly at Angel. He shook his head negatively - he would continue to stand. Owen greeted the other two males in the group, neither of whom seemed particularly friendly. In fact, they were downright hostile-looking. He knew Xander from school, of course, though he'd never seen the guy looking so depressed and angry. He remembered Angel from his own one date with Buffy, but he'd seen the two of them at the Bronze since then, dancing together, or just being together. It was clear that they were in an intense relationship. That was fine with him - Buffy was pretty, and exciting... but her lifestyle was a little strange to him. Now Willow on the other hand...
"So..." Buffy started, deciding that it was up to her to stimulate the conversation. She was more than a little amused by the male behavior patterns being displayed around the table. Owen was clearly interested in Willow. Xander was obviously bugged by that fact - something which Buffy wished Willow could see as clearly. Meanwhile, without even seeing his face she could tell that Angel was being menacing. She leaned back against his chest, feeling the strong bands of his forearms loosen slightly across her stomach, becoming more like an embrace. Reassured that he had himself under control, she continued. "We haven't really seen you around lately, Owen. What's up?"
Owen seemed grateful for the question. Buffy didn't blame him. Xander wouldn't look at him, and Angel was undoubtedly glaring. Willow was busy casting questioning glances at Xander, smiling benevolently at Angel and Buffy, and looking interested in what Owen had to say.
"Well, I've been reading a lot... no surprise there," he said depreciatingly.
Buffy and Willow made vaguely encouraging sounds.
"Other than school, I got a part-time job to pay for a car, that kind of thing."
Willow and Buffy looked dutifully impressed.
Fidgeting under Angel's menacing stare, and catching a few hostile glances from Xander, Owen rushed on. "So, what are you guys up to?"
"Nothing much," Buffy replied, speaking for herself. "You know, school... wishing I wasn't there... etceteras. Nothing exciting, certainly," she rushed out, remembering Owen's bizarre interest in living dangerously.
Willow was shaking her head. "What about..." Buffy gave her friend a wide-eyed glare, which seemed to stimulate Willow's memory. "... uh... that gardening thing... that we did," she ended lamely. Owen, mysteriously, looked interested in this.
"Gardening? Is that a hobby of yours, Willow?" he asked, focusing fully on the redhead's face.
Buffy couldn't help but notice that Owen was by and large ignoring her. Good. After all, any guy pursuing Buffy these days could look forward to not only a chilling set down by her, but the prospect of facing her obviously dangerous steady boyfriend. Owen seemed to be fascinated by Willow, though. Xander was clearly upset by this, and Buffy mused silently that it might be beneficial for Xander to have some competition for Willow. After all, he had her undivided attention a lot of the time - maybe having another guy try to take his share would alert him to how important Willow was to him. Then again, based on Xander's track record for observation...
As Owen and Willow chatted, Buffy felt Angel's grip change perceptibly. The vampire seemed to sense Owen's friendly ambivalence towards Buffy, and was backing off slightly. Buffy grinned. Angel was SO prone to jealousy. After dwelling happily on that thought for many moments, she forced her attention to turn to Xander... who was looking more miserable by the second. Buffy was uncertain what to do. If she...
"Look, I'm gonna bail, okay?" Xander muttered, not looking at anyone in the group. He slid out of his seat and started walking away.
Buffy opened her mouth to stop him at the same time that Willow said, "Xander?"
The boy's footsteps faltered, then he simply hunched his shoulders, shoving his hands into pockets, and walked on.
Willow looked shattered. Owen looked confused. Buffy looked over her shoulder. "I'll go talk to him," Angel murmured to her, his arms falling away from her waist. She barely had time to nod before he was just... gone.
"Is Angel...?" Willow couldn't seem to get a complete sentence out.
"Uh huh. Don't worry Will." Buffy hopped off the barstool. "You stay here. It was nice seeing you again, Owen," she said the last brightly, waving to the boy. He was still staring, eyes wide, at the spot behind her where Angel had been standing.
"Uh... how did he..."
Willow quickly distracted him with more talk of shrubbery.
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Once outside the Bronze, Xander decided to take a quick jaunt past the cemetery just to see what was going on... if anything was going on. He felt like beating up on something - and he'd gotten quite proficient with a stake over the past year. He reached into his jacket for it now - feeling the rough wood against his fingertips - feeling, too, the smooth, polished wood of the cross he kept in his pocket as well.
Measured, heavy footsteps on the sidewalk behind him caught his attention. He spun around, his hand clenching on the stake, still concealed inside his jacket.
Letting out the breath he'd been holding, he let go of it. "Angel."
The vampire with a conscience stood a few yards away, eyeing Xander with what to the casual observer would look like sympathy. Xander didn't quite know what to make of that. Ever since Angel and Buffy had seemed to cement their relationship, Xander and Angel had been fighting side by side more often - as opposed to against each other - leaving the male Slayerette sometimes wondering where the original animosity had gone.
Now that he'd made his presence known, Angel didn't appear to know quite what to say. "Are you okay?" he finally decided on.
"Okay? No," Xander laughed bitterly. He eyed the vampire critically, trying to find some of the old feelings of resentment - of jealously that the beautiful Slayer should choose this man, and not Xander, to love. Nothing. He just felt empty. "Did you see that back there? That Owen guy?"
A definite look of distaste crossed the vampire's face. "I saw."
So deep was his despair that Xander almost didn't realize the reason for the look. "I mean, it was bad enough when he went out with... oh."
Angel flinched, then reminded himself that he was actually able to tolerate Xander's presence now.
"So you know how I feel," Xander seemed to conclude.
Angel wasn't completely sure he'd followed the entire conversation - sparse as it was. "And that's...?"
"Y'know. Pissed off at Owen. I mean, why did he have to..."
"What?"
It was with some relief that Angel heard the distinctive clicking of the Slayer's heels behind him. His communication level with Xander was increasing as both learned to get over their earlier jealousies, but he felt completely inadequate talking to the boy about something that was obviously bothering him so deeply. He'd just let Buffy take care of things. Fighting back a relieved sigh, he turned towards her, gesturing towards Xander mutely.
"No, that's okay, go on, I'm sure you're doing great," she whispered to him, then grinned at him when his eyes widened desperately. "Oh, okay, you big baby," she murmured, careful to make certain that Xander didn't hear her. She walked past Angel towards Xander, feeling Angel fall into step behind her, trying to be supportive.
"Xander? You wanna talk about it?"
Xander, she noticed, still looked upset. "What's there to talk about?"
"Ah, belligerence. That's more like the Xander I know. The guy who fights."
"Fights?"
Buffy waved her hand vaguely. "Y'know - vampires, demons, preying mantis's the size of a horse, big scaly, squiggly thingies... you're a good fighter, Xander."
This praise seemed to gratify him, but then he slumped again, picking moodily at the moss on the cemetery wall. It occurred to him that they were standing very near the spot where he'd almost kissed Willow at the beginning of the school year. He winced. He'd acted like a colossal jerk more than once since then...
"Hey, still with me?" Buffy pressed, moving closer to her friend. He glanced at her, then looked away. "Look Xander, I think I know what's going on here, but you've gotta play the game with me."
"Game?"
Buffy heard a low, inquiring sound behind her, and she knew that Angel was wondering where she was going with this. Of course, she didn't know herself - she was winging it. She could tell that Xander was interested in what she had to say - all she had to do was keep him interested... and the rest would take care of itself.
"Yeah. You know... the you-give-me-a-hint-and-I-guess-what's- bothering-you Game. I can't just _guess_."
Xander's jaw tightened, and Buffy knew she was dancing the thin line between drawing him out and pissing him off. He studied the shadowed headstones in the cemetery a while longer. Buffy shifted her weight, wondering if the gamble was going to pay off. Behind her, Angel was completely motionless... waiting.
Slowly, Xander turned to face them. "You said you think you know what's bothering me," he said quietly. Buffy nodded encouragingly. "I don't like Owen." Xander finally blurted out, turning back towards the cemetery, leaning his forearms on the brick wall. Buffy moved to stand next to him, adopting the same posture. She could sense Angel staying where he was, ever vigilant to their surroundings. They were, after all, standing next to a cemetery, late at night in Sunnydale.
"Tell me why," she said urgently to Xander, tilting her head to look at his profile. "Is it because he's Owen-y, or is it because of who he danced with?"
Xander whipped his head around to face her, surprised. "You..."
"Xander... I know jealousy when I see it. And believe me, I see it often," she said with a significant glance behind them. You were totally miserable because Will was dancing with Owen, admit it."
Xander brought his fists down heavily onto the bricks. "God! What's wrong with me? She's my best friend!"
Buffy put one hand on his shoulder, calming him. "I know. But..." she chewed her lower lip a bit... this would have to be done very carefully. "Just because she's your best friend doesn't mean that you can't..."
Exhaling noisily, Xander turned his back to the wall, propping his elbows up on the rough brick surface. "I don't know. I just don't know how to..."
Buffy briefly considering betraying Willow's secret love for Xander, then discarded the idea. She didn't have to give everything away... this was a salvageable situation without playing that trump card. "Why don't you ask her?" she suggested gently.
"Ask her what?" Xander said self-depreciatingly.
"Ask her if she likes you, ask her out, ask her for chocolate... just ask."
Xander's mouth quirked up at the mention of chocolate. "I used to do that, you know," he mused quietly. "When we were kids, I mean. Her mom would make these homemade peanut-butter cups, and my mom..." he just laughed a touch bitterly. "Anyway, they'd always have a container of them in the fridge, and I'd come over and just wheedle constantly for one."
"Did you ever get it?" Buffy asked, smiling.
"Oh yeah... but she used to purposefully parcel them out, so I wouldn't get sick. Funny - I haven't thought about that in a long time." Xander was grinning... the expression slowly turning to one of puzzlement. "Uh, where's Angel?"
Buffy spun around quickly, her eyes darting up and down the street. "Huh... I don't know. I wonder..."
"Hey guys," Angel's voice said behind them. When they both whirled around in shock, he walked out of the shadows of a tall headstone, dusting his hands together, then brushing off his jacket. "Sorry about that," he muttered as he saw their surprised expressions. "Uh... what?"
"Where..." Buffy managed.
"Uh, I had to take care of something... a vampire," he elaborated at her blank look.
"Oh. Thanks," Buffy smiled at him, her equilibrium restored. Beside her, Xander was still clutching at his heart.
"Man! You and Giles! You two are sneaky bastards..." Xander grumbled, but Buffy could see him grinning in the sparse light. He turned back to Buffy after a moment. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Buff. But you helped me sort some stuff out. Thanks."
"No problem. So... you headed home?" she asked him a touch anxiously as he turned to walk away.
He paused. "Yeah... no. I think I'll head back to the Bronze... check and see if Will needs a walk home."
Buffy smiled at his back. "Good idea." She watched the boy walk back along the street towards the club, his step noticeably lighter. When he disappeared around the corner, she turned her attention back to the vampire standing in the graveyard. "So... you did good back there."
He laughed a little. "What, the slaying? Or trying to get along with Xander?"
She vaulted over the wall easily, moving towards him, into his arms. "Both, actually," she murmured, her cheek pressed against his shirt. "I know it was a tough situation for you." She felt him sigh heavily, then reposition her so she was tucked against his side. They began to walk in the general direction of her house, though by his pace and the meandering route they were taking, he was by no means hurrying to take her home. They strolled along in silence for awhile, Buffy admiring the soft starlight shining down on them. She finally turned her attention to her boyfriend, who's expression was a curious mix of smugness, calm, and a faint touch of irritation. "What?" she asked softly, seeing his face ease as he looked into her eyes. After a moment, he looked away, clearing his throat.
"Yeah, well, Xander's not so bad... I still don't like that Owen guy, though."
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