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Chapter 6
Buffy was slumped at the kitchen table, her head propped in her rapidly numbing hand. There had been no visit from Angelus last night, something which had rattled her immensely. What was he planning? The sun shone brightly outside, Dawn had cheerily gone to school, and all of it seemed to mocking Buffy, teasing her, taunting her with its brightness when her world felt so dark.
She couldn’t enjoy the day, not now. Angelus hadn’t made a move, Buffy knew he was planning something huge or he would have taken the opportunity to torment her during her anyway sleepless night. She’d lain awake all of last night, expecting some sort of attack, taunt and it had never come. He was already messing with her.
Her head slipped off her hand and landed hard on the polished wood of the table. It didn’t even occur to her to lift the heavy extremity or even to feel pain. She closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.
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Willow got out of the car in front of Buffy’s place, still gawking at the human Angel. Human. Human. Buffy was gonna freak. Angel went from being Angelus to being human Angel in a matter of hours and Buffy was completely unaware. Angel and Xander also piled out of the car, eying each other distastefully. Willow frowned. This had to stop before they faced Buffy.
‘Listen here, you two,’ she rounded on them, finger jabbing in their general direction. ‘You are going to play nice, you are going to act like friends and you are going to like it. Buffy is stressed out enough as it is and if either of you adds to that then, so help me, I-I-I’ll turn you both into some sort of amphibian!’
Xander’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Good threat,’ he acknowledged.
‘Really?’ Willow perked up. ‘You think?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Angel agreed. ‘Very intimidating.’
Willow smiled satisfactorily. ‘Cool. I mean it though.’
‘We know,’ Xander nodded. ‘We’ll be good.’
‘Okay then. Good. Uh, let’s go in now,’ Willow marched up to the front door determinedly. She raised her hand to knock but thought better of it and opened the unlocked door.
She noticed instantly how silent the house was. Willow knew from experience that it was never quiet in the Summers household. Where is Buffy? She exchanged a brief glace with the boys then ran upstairs looking for Buffy. If she wasn’t home, then why was the door open? Buffy was never that careless.
She searched every room with no sign of Buffy. The beds were still unmade, clothes were strewn across the floor in all rooms- they were females after all- and Buffy’s jewellery box was opened up, a certain piece of jewelry missing from its usual place.
She ran back down stairs. ‘No sign.’ The other two began to look worried. ‘You go that way,’ the redhead pointed to the lounge. ‘I’ll go this way,’ she pointed to the dining room. Both routes lead to the kitchen. They nodded, but Willow saw the unhappy looks. So they didn’t like being paired up. Well, boo hoo.
Willow got to the kitchen first and stopped dead at the sight that greeted her. The guys walked in seconds later. Buffy sat, fast asleep, at the kitchen bench, head resting on the surface. Even in rest, Willow could tell her friend was miserable and why wouldn’t she be? She’d been expecting an attack from Angelus last night but it had obviously not come since Angel had been locked up on the other side of town.
Willow crept forward, not wanting to wake the sleeping Slayer. Buffy stirred as Willow got closer and the girl stopped. She looked to Angel for help. He walked over to Buffy and picked her up. By some miracle, she didn’t wake, just snuggled further into his embrace.
Angel took her upstairs to her room and placed her in her bed, pulling the covers over her snugly. He closed the blinds and turned off the light, making the room as dark as possible all without disturbing the sleeping Slayer. Joining the other two in the hall, they all headed down to the kitchen to talk about what had happened.
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‘Okay, Deadboy,’ Xander took the seat Buffy had been vacated from. ‘Tell us how you managed to become locked in a cage, because I’m sure it’s something I want to hear and remember and treasure forever and then… oh, yeah, you can explain how you became HUMAN of all things.’
Angel collapsed into one of the other chairs and hung his head, sighing heavily. He ran a large hand through his tousled hair and shook his head to clear it. ‘Where do you want me to start?’
‘Well, the obvious and clichéd place would be, oh, lets see… the beginning,’ Xander scowled. He hated that Angel was here, and human to top it all off. Why was he the only one who could see that Angel was no good for his friend? Willow was glaring at him but he refused to look in her direction. Angel deserved everything he got and more.
‘Okay. I’ll start with when I was in L.A. I was searching for something for Cordelia. She needed something from a stall in a market in the lower end of L.A and she wasn’t able to go herself so I offered to make the trip.’ Willow scoffed and looked shocked with herself.
‘Before I could get to the market, a demon came out of no where, I didn’t even get a good look at him. The next thing I know, I’m lying against a wall in the alley with the biggest headache I can remember having- ever- and I’m human.’
‘That’s it? You turned human, just like that? Damn, there’s justice for you. He commits millions of murders spanning a century and after a couple of years fighting crime and playing errand boy for Cordy, he achieves redemption. Wow, the system works. Go Powers That Be! You the man!’ Xander said sarcastically.
Willow tended to agree with him. ‘He’s right, Angel. You’ve done too much bad for it to be absolved so easily. Something else must have happened in the alley, while you were asleep, maybe.’
Angel nodded, knowing they were right. That didn’t make it any easier to hear, especially from Xander.
‘And there’s the whole Angelus thing,’ Willow observed. ‘The poopie-head.’
‘Yeah,’ Xander nodded. ‘It doesn’t add up. Angelus attacked us yesterday yet Deadboy reckons he only got here yesterday afternoon. But Evil Deadboy didn’t attack last night and Deadboy was locked in a cage all night. So, my thinking is; either someone’s lying or there are two Deadboys. And we both know which scenario is impossible. How could there be two?’
‘Of course!’ Willow shot up from her chair and grabbed Xander hugging him tightly. ‘Xander you’re a genius. I’ll be back soon. I need to check something out.’
Xander sat dazed as Willow flew from the room. ‘What did I say?’
She appeared back in the doorway to glare at the former vampire. ‘If you hurt her, I swear-’
‘Yeah, yeah, amphibians of some sort,’ Xander waved a hand lazily. ‘Got it.’
She disappeared again as quickly as she had reappeared, leaving an umcomfortble silence behind her.
Xander looked askance at his long time enemy. ‘Wanna play Grand Theft Auto III?’
I have edited and fixed this chap somewhat and, although I don’t think it’s that good, it’s a hell of a lot better than it was. Just like the last chapter of ADG. Maybe I’m having an off week ‘cause the new chap of ADG is sounding worse than the last one. Suggestions would be so damn helpful right now; on either story.
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