Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the buffyverse. Sometimes I steal them like I am doing now but I always return them as good as new. And I never make any money off them. (That would make me a pimp if I did wouldn't it?) They belong to the nice people at Fox, the WB and of course to Joss Whedon.]
The only thing I claim is Lily, who was hatched from my very own brain. Also thanks to my fabulous beta reader: Dare the Great :)
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Part Eight
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Buffy ran down the street with the speed born of panic. Her mom was going to kill her. How could she have been so stupid? Especially now, why was it that she always got grounded right when the world most needed saving? Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she cautiously opened the front door. She briefly considered sneaking up the stairs to her room and saying she'd been there the whole time. But even HER mom, the queen of cluelessness, wouldn't fall for that one. She decided the best thing to do at the moment was just to announce herself and face the consequences.
"Mom?" she called loudly.
"Buffy, is that you?" her mom answered. No, it's your other daughter, Buffy thought sarcastically. But she restrained herself from saying it out loud. She was in enough trouble without giving her mom an attitude. "I'm in the kitchen," continued her mother. So Buffy slowly trudged to the kitchen to meet her doom.
"Buffy, you do realize that when I said you were grounded I meant you weren't supposed to go out?" said her mother. "I almost called the police, but then I realized that you were probably just playing out your teenage rebelliousness. You had me woriied sick!"
"Oh Mom, I'm REALLY sorry. I swear I just totally forgot. As soon as I remembered I ran all the way home. It's just that there's a sort of crisis and it totally slipped my mind."
"What kind of crisis?"
"Um, I can't really tell you the details of it. It involves Xander and Willow though."
"Are they in trouble?" asked Buffy's mom, beginning to feel worried for her daughter's friends.
"No, no...mom that's not the point. The point is I'm sorry and it won't happen again." Buffy kissed her mom on the cheek and turned to go upstairs.
"You mean you're not going to argue?"
"It doesn't do any good," siad Buffy bitterly. "You don't listen to what I say. You think I'm too young to know what I'm talking about. So I'd rather not scream into a vacuum again tonight, if you don't mind. I'm too tired to fight." Buffy's mom began to feel the stirrings of guilt. She had doubted herself since the moment she lost her temper and grounded Buffy. She was being awfully quick to judge that poor boy. She had barely even met him.
"Buffy, wait" she finally said. "I know, it was kind of unfair of me to ground you, just because I don't like your boyfriend. But can't you find a boy your own age?"
"I could find a boy, but I wouldn't be in love with him like I am with Angel."
"I guess," her mom began," I guess I should really meet him before I decide whether I should forbid you to see him." Buffy kept her mouth from dropping by a supreme effort of will.
"Who are you and what have you done with my mother?" she asked teasingly. Then she rushed at her mother and squeezed her tight in a huge hug. "Thanks Mom. You'll really like him," she said enthusisticlly.
"So you'll bring him over tomorrow?" asked her mother.
"Umm, tomorrow's no good. But the next day I promise."
"Go to bed."
"Mom? Am I still grounded?"
"You're on probation, now get outta here." Buffy bounced up the stairs. She had no idea what had come over her mother, but if this worked out then things were looking up. Provided of course that they managed to kill the extremely strong, evil vampire, which was a big if.
* * *
Buffy woke early the next morning. This was it, the last day before the big showdown. Doubts began to pound against her skull, as she lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. There was so much that could go wrong. There were so many holes in their plan that she could barely believe that she had agreed to it. Angel was going to suck her blood, how much blood? Giles had neglected to mention that, and she had been too caught up in getting Angel to agree to the plan that she had forgotten to ask. What if he did lose control? What if the demon took over and she died in his arms? Well, there were a lot of worse ways to die, but she didn't want to die at all. And then say that the sucking part worked, what if it didn't give Angel enough of a boost and he lost the battle. She sat up and walked to the bathroom to throw cold water on her face.
This was not a good attitude, she decided. She'd just have to believe that everything would turn out all right. She'd just have to have a little faith. It would have been easier if she had been the one going into the fight. Then she would've known what to do. She might have lost the fight, but at least it was something she was slightly in control of. Waiting for someone else to fight and letting them suck her blood, that wasn't her style. She needed the pumping of adrenaline, the use of her own strength to beat back the evils of the world. But this time someone else would be using her strength. She shivered a little. She never would have guessed that she would one day willingly let a vampire suck her blood. Her very nature screamed against it. But then she never would've guessed she'd fall in love with a vampire either.
She hopped into the shower and then dressed herself in a pale green dress. It shimmered in the dim morning light of her bedroom, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to let him bite her. She quickly blinked the tears away and grabbed the leather jacket. She pressed it to her face, letting the rich smell of the leather calm her. She would do it because she had to. If it didn't work they were all dead anyway. So it had to work, it would work. Angel loved her, he wouldn't hurt her. She had to believe that.
* * *
Angel felt the dawn under his skin as the sun rose. He was safely hidden from the sun's rays but he could still feel them as they fell against the blinds in his apartment. When they were ready Giles would call. Until then, he would wait. The waiting was the worst, the doubts became more and more real as each minute passed. He had promised to do it, he had to do it. Buffy's face invaded his mind and he closed his eyes tightly, thinking of her. She had asked him to do it, and he would. He would do it for her.
But his soul screamed against it, even as the hunger beat in his veins. His mind knew that if he didn't try they would both die. His soul refused to respond to the logic. She trusted him, but she didn't know how close to the edge he could get. Only he knew how dangerous this was. Only he knew how loudly the demon roared in the locked vault of his mind. He was alone. And never alone. His demon had him trapped and he knew it would take everything he had not to kill her.
He put on the tiny gold cross that he sometimes wore to tame the urges, and to remind him of what he was. He would need all the help he could get. Faith and love, he had both; and he knew that she had faith in him too. They all did. He could feel the urges calm as the cross touched his chest. The pain was nothing, she was everything. He would fight to save her. It wasn't Lily he worried about. If they got that far, he thought he could win. It was himself that he feared more than anything.
* * *
Buffy, Xander and Willow were all gathered at Giles' house again. It was beginning to be their new center of operations. They talked softly, the mood subdued as the day wore on. Giles had explained more of the details of the blood transfer. All that was really needed was a taste. Less than the pint that they took from you in the bloodmobile. She would feel weak, he explained. But her regenerative powers made it a relatively riskless procedure. Relatively riskless until you factored in Angel's demon. If all went acording to plan, she would be fine within half an hour. If Angel lost control she would probably die.
Finally the sun began to sink below in the afternoon sky. Giles called Angel. They were ready. He would meet them at the old mauseleum in the graveyard. He could reach it without facing sunlight by using the sewers. Most likely the rest of the vampires would be resting or readying themselves for the confrontation tonight. No doubt Colin and Lily would bring a large number of the other vampires with them to meet Angel in case he failed to deliver Buffy's body. It seemed so long ago that Daniel and Lily had delivered the warning to him. Could it really be only three days?
The little group was already there when he finally reached the mauseleum. Their faces were as grim as he felt. Xander and WIllow stood a little apart. They weren't part of this. But they each had a stake hidden in their pockets. If things got out of hand there might not be much they could do, but they would try. Giles stood next to Buffy his hand on her shoulder. His face was a stoic mask, hiding the fear that this might not work. That his plan would be the death of both Buffy and Angel. He sighed, they had to try.
Buffy looked up as Angel entered the mauseleum. He was so beautiful, she felt a rush of love and trust. She walked over to him and whispered the words "I love you." Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and exposed the side of her neck to him. He stared at the flesh, feeling his hunger take control. He felt the vampire face emerge and he didn't fight it.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and kissed the top of Buffy's head. This was it, no stalling, no waiting. Just him and her, and her warm blood. He bent his face to her neck, kissed it lightly and sunk his fangs into her vein.
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