1 Title: Vertigo
1.1 Author: Dawn
Summary: Angel feels something's off in Sunnydale. B/S
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon etc. Please don't sue me.
Spoilers: Everything up to "Gone". This takes place some time after that.
Feedback: Crave it like I crave Spike. Did I say that out loud?
Distribution: Anywhere if you want it, just let me know where.
Gotta say thanks to my beta, Donna. You're the best. So glad we share an obsession!
1.1.1 Vertigo
Angel sped down the highway between L.A. and Sunnydale sometimes running 90. Something was wrong. Something was off. He'd had this feeling for a while and it was only now that he'd been able to tear himself away from Connor. Cordy had finally had enough of his pacing and mumbling and kicked him out of the hotel swearing that she'd call if anything came up. So now, here he was, heading to Sunnydale because of a feeling. He knew for a fact that Buffy wasn't going to be happy to see him. They hadn't really parted well the last time they'd seen each other. In fact, most of the time they'd spent together had been arguing.
Well what did she expect when she'd pulled up on a motorcycle wearing Spike's duster and clutching a smirking Spike? The younger vampire had simply let her off, whispered something in her ear, which elicited a small smile from Buffy and a low growl from Angel. Spike had revved the engine and taken off down the deserted street. She was still wearing the coat. She looked so small in it. She had lost so much weight and was nothing but skin pulled over taught muscle. Her eyes were sunken and a little hollow, well at least they were now. When she'd been whispering with Spike a spark had been there but the minute he'd taken off it had dissipated.
They hadn't spoken for several minutes. Just standing there staring at each other. He had wanted his first question to be what the hell she was doing with Spike but he squelched it. After hugging her tightly and nearly biting through his tongue at the fact she reeked of Spike's scent, they had talked. And then he'd mentioned the whole Spike thing. She had immediately gone on the defensive. Regaling Angel of how Spike had helped her defeat Glory, how he'd taken care of Dawn while she was gone and her when she'd come back. How he was the only person who understood her anymore. Angel's chest had actually hurt at that last little admission. He couldn't stop himself from reminding her that only a short while ago Spike had been trying to kill her to which she responded that not so long ago so had he.
This was not how he'd envisioned their meeting. Her shoulders had finally slumped in defeat and she'd whispered that she hadn't come to fight. She had come to say that she was back and she was safe and pretty much she didn't need him anymore. It had only been about an hour when his sensitive hearing had picked up the engine of the motorcycle. Angel's heart broke a second time at the look on her face when Buffy realized Spike was coming back for her. He could see the light make its way back into her eyes and a small smile played at her lips. Spike pulled up and took in Buffy's red, swollen eyes and defeated posture. If looks could stake, Angel would have been dust. That's when Buffy had turned to him and told him that she would always love him but things were different now. She was different now. They hadn't really even said goodbye. She'd simply gone over to Spike, slid behind him and whispered in his ear that she was ready to go. Spike had nodded and then Angel was alone and more than a little confused.
He'd arrived back in L.A. to his co-workers making fun of him and then Darla had shown up and he'd thought little of his and Buffy's meeting after that. Then, when things had settled down, the feeling had returned stronger than before. So here he was, speeding towards Sunnydale because of a feeling.
He reached Revello Drive and pulled up in Buffy's driveway around 9:00 p.m. The house was completely dark except for the front porch light. He had no idea where to start looking for her so he went around back and let himself in with the spare key she kept hidden. He searched every room but found no clue as to where everyone had gone. He came to Buffy's room last. He pushed the door open and was immediately surrounded by her scent. He hadn't been in her room in years yet it looked much the same. That's when he noticed the heavy, dark blankets covering the windows and his sense of smell had detected something unfamiliar amidst Buffy's familiar scent. Cigarette smoke. It was very faint but it was there. Angel could feel a sense of foreboding welling up in his chest. He backed out of the room and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. He wrenched the refrigerator door open and scanned the shelves. In one of the drawers where fruits and vegetables were usually kept were packs of blood. He slammed the door and stepped back, grabbing on to the counter top for support. Unless Willow, Buffy, or Dawn had become vampires recently, Spike was living here. Or at the very least, was staying over quite a bit. Okay. Calm. Calm. It wasn't working.
Suddenly he noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. Without a second thought to Buffy's privacy, he walked over to the hutch and hit the Play button. Xander's voice filled the kitchen.
"Hey Buff. Look, Anya's got to run by the shop first and I know you're doing the whole patrolling thing so we'll just meet you at the Bronze, ok? See you guys then. Bye."
The machine clicked off. The Bronze. They were all meeting there tonight. Angel turned off the light, locked the door and jumped in his car.
He made it to the club in record time and ditched his car in a side alley. He could feel the ground shaking from the loud, pulsating music coming from the bar. He pulled the door open and his senses were assaulted by the smell of human sweat, blood and a thousand different perfumes. He was more than a little surprised to find that the club had been remolded. He scanned the dark room quickly looking for a familiar face. He knew he would be able to see better if he vamped out but he didn't think the patrons would appreciate it too much.
He finally spotted Willow's flaming red hair at a table near the wall. He pushed his way through the throng of people and touched her on the shoulder. She'd jumped and turned towards him. Her eyes widened and she started to stammer as she always did when she was nervous.
"Angel. Wh..Wh..What are you doing here? You are Angel right? The good one, I mean. All soul intact and everything?" She moved a little away from him as Xander and his girlfriend approached the table. Xander could feel Willow's fear and looked behind her to see Angel hovering over her.
"Hey, Deadboy. What's up? Why are you here? Did Cordy have another vision?" Angel could see the distrust and dislike in Xander's eyes and hear it in his tone of voice.
"Yes, Willow it's me and no Cordy didn't have a vision."
"Then why are you here?" Xanger asked candidly. Anya must be rubbing off on him, Willow was thinking.
"I had a feeling something was wrong with Buffy. Where is she?" He could tell that two of them were really nervous and kept glancing towards the dance floor but Angel couldn't see what they were looking at for all the people.
"Buffy? Well I'm sure she's here somewhere. You know her. Loves to dance. Probably out there dancing now with some guy, you know, some human guy that likes to dance." Xander was sweating now.
"Ok, guys. What's going on? Where is she?" Angel was getting fed up with the obvious fact that they were trying to keep him from seeing where Buffy was. That was when Xander's girlfriend spoke up. She was looking at Willow and Xander as if they were crazy.
"She's over there dancing with Spike. We just left them. Over in the corner where it's dark." Xander's eyes slid shut and his jaw clenched as he tried to squelch the urge to tell his fiancée' to shut up. Willow just swallowed hard and looked down as if the tabletop were the most interesting thing in the world.
Angel could feel the anger welling up inside of him almost to the point he didn't think he could control it. Suddenly a hand was laid on his arm. He looked down to see it was connected to Xander.
"Angel. She doesn't belong to you anymore. You have no say in what she does just like the rest of us. It's her life. We pulled her out of Heaven. We have to let her do what's gonna give her happiness while she has to endure being in what is hell to her." Xander's brown eyes were pleading with Angel not to make a scene but he was past caring. He shoved Xander's hand away and charged through the mass of people to the corner Anya and pointed to. He stopped dead in his tracks behind a pole when he saw them. They were almost alone in the back of club where it was darkest. They stood so close that no light shown between them. He couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. They moved slowly to the sensual beat of the music. Buffy's hands were linked behind Spike's head and her head rested on his chest. His arms were draped around her waist pulling her as close to him as physically possible while they still had clothes on. He was whispering in her ear and Angel could see her shiver. What the hell was he saying to her? Buffy looked up into Spike's face and smiled seductively. Then she pulled his head down and started kissing him.
Angel had seen enough. With a low roar he had plunged forward and ripped Spike away from her. The two were so startled they didn't even react at first. That's how Angel got in the first punch, landing it squarely across Spike's jaw, throwing him into the wall behind him. He landed in a heap on the floor. Buffy's eyes flew to Angel's face and it was at that moment he knew he'd regret what he'd just done. She was on him before he could even get his hands up. She landed a solid punch to his gut and followed it up with a roundhouse kick to his chest. He'd stumbled backwards in to the stairs. Bouncers were already making there way towards them as Buffy ran to Spike's side to see if he was all right. He was nursing his jaw and picking himself up when she reached him.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, taking his face in her hands and looking him over.
"I'm all right, luv. Just surprised me that's all. What's Peaches doing here?"
"I don't know but I'm about to find out." She marched over to Angel who had already been cornered by the bouncers who were asking him to leave.
"Angel. Outside. Now." That was all it took. Buffy brushed past him with Spike in tow. When she passed the table where her friends were sitting they told her they had tried to stop him. She'd assured them quickly that it wasn't there fault and then proceeded to pull Spike outside in the alley to wait for Angel.
He finally appeared, rubbing his sore chest. He looked up into the eyes of a very brassed off Slayer. She was standing with her arms folded across her chest, her head cocked to the side, ready to take him down if he made one wrong move.
"All right, Angel. You've got 2 minutes or less to explain what the hell just happened in there. And then you've got less than that to get in your car and leave." Angel looked around and finally saw Spike leaning against the brick wall smoking a cigarette. He was calm and not even looking up to see what would happen between them. Angel felt the anger well up in him again. He pointed at the blonde vamp, his hands shaking.
"What did you do to her? What do you have over her to make her…?" He couldn't even finish. Images of them, limbs entangled, mouths fused in a passionate kiss, kept flashing through his head. He didn't even realize he was growling again. That's when he looked up and saw what he had missed in the darkness of the club. Buffy was wearing a tank top that sported spaghetti straps. Near the nape of her neck where shoulder and collar bone met was a newly healed bite mark. A red haze covered his dark brown eyes and met Spike's suddenly frightened blue ones.
"You marked her. You knew she was mine and you marked her!" He was yelling now and moving slowly towards the younger vampire. Spike held up his hands to ward him off but Angel already had the lapels of his duster bunched in his hands and had lifted him off the ground to shove him against the wall.
"Angel! Put him down right now! I mean it, Angel!" Buffy had her hands on his arms pulling as hard as possible but rage had made Angel strong. She couldn't budge him.
"You know the penalty for taking what's mine, don't you Spike? You're still enough of a vampire to remember that little bit, right?"
"Angel, what are you talking about? Penalty? Spike, what is he babbling about?" She looked up at her lover's face and was surprised to see fear there.
"Tell her Spike. Tell her the punishment." Angel breathed through clenched teeth. Spike's gaze went to Buffy's and she could see that he was shaking slightly.
"Death." He whispered. Buffy's eyes went wide and she frantically grabbed at Angel again, crying now.
"Angel, please tell me what's going on! I don't understand. Please don't hurt him! Please, tell me!" It finally registered in his fury filled mind that Buffy was crying. She was crying over Spike. His anger abated somewhat and her lowered the shivering vampire to the asphalt.
Spike shook Angel's hands off him and adjusted his wrinkled leather coat. He finally drew himself up but he was still inches shorter than the other vamp. He lifted his chin defiantly. He'd never cowered before Angel before, and he wasn't about to start now. Especially in front of Buffy. Buffy was glancing worriedly between the two of them and for long minutes nothing was said.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She begged softly.
"I jumped his claim, luv." Spike's voice was low and edged with violence. Buffy just looked confused.
"You did what?"
"When a vampire drinks from you and doesn't kill you they lay claim to you. They mark you. You belong to them. No other vamp is allowed near that person or vampire on penalty of death. When you let Angel drink from you he marked you, whether he meant to or not. When I drank from you, I breached his claim on you, ducks." Spike hadn't taken his eyes off Angel as he spoke.
"But Angel wasn't the first to drink from me." She stated flatly.
"The Master killed you Buffy. He made no attempt to keep you alive, plus you killed him." Angel pointed out.
"Well then where was the hero bit when Dracula bit me?" She asked scathingly.
"You killed him too, luv. Angel would have a felt a twinge of something but nothing lasting. You and I have been together long enough for Angel to be able to home in on where the feeling of betrayal was coming from. Only since it was you, he thought something must be wrong. He thought you were in danger." Spike explained to her.
"She is in danger. If she's even contemplating any sort of a relationship with you then she's in more than she realizes." Angel spat out. Buffy had had enough.
"All right, that's it. First of all, Angel, you don't own me. I don't belong to you. Secondly, you have no right to tell me who I can be with."
"Buffy, he bit you. He drank your blood." Angel tried to make her see how evil Spike could be.
"I asked him to." That stopped him cold. He felt a rushing in his ears. It was loud enough to block out all other sounds. Everything began to swim before his eyes and for a brief moment he feared he might actually pass out. She had willingly bared her neck to Spike and asked him to drink from her. She had known the implications. She had known what a bonding it would be. She had to know what it would mean to Spike and she had done it anyway.
"And I drank from him." Angel reeled back in shock. Oh, God. Did she know what that meant in vampire terms. His eyes found Spike's. Spike knew exactly what it had meant.
"Buffy do you know what you've done? Do you know what that means?" He hoped to God she didn't. Hoped she was ignorant of their ways. Hoped she would look at him in confusion. She didn't.
"I'm his and he's mine. That's what it means." Spike had broken the claim Angel had on her by the mixing of their blood. He had bound Buffy to him forever or until one of them died. He grabbed Spike by the throat and squeezed. He knew it wouldn't kill him but it would hurt like hell.
"How could you do that to her?" Angel asked sadly. Spike's jaw was clenched against the pain and he pushed Angel off of him.
"She asked me to do that too, mate. I would never have done that to her if she hadn't asked. I love her too much." Angel just stared at them. He wanted to say that all this surprised him. He wanted to say that he was shocked. But he would be lying. He had known this was going to happen. Back a few months ago when he and Buffy had met, when she'd shown up with Spike, he had known it then. But even before that. Years ago, when Spike had first come to Sunnydale, Angel had felt the fire between them. Anytime they got near each other you could power the whole town with the electricity. When Spike had come back for the love spell for Dru, Angel might as well have been invisible when the two of them got in the same room. The rest of the world had always fallen away with them. It had always been about the two of them.
Angel backed away from Spike slowly and ran his hands through his gel-crisp hair. He sighed out of habit. He was too late. And shouldn't he feel worse about it? Somehow it didn't hurt as bad as he thought it would. Somehow, losing the dream that was Buffy didn't have the bite he had feared. It hurt, but the pain was dulled by the fact that waiting for him back in L.A. was a sweet little boy and a beautiful woman whom he called friend. Suddenly he was laughing. Spike and Buffy just looked at each other like he'd gone mad.
He laughed until his sides hurt and then he'd finally stood up straight and faced his best dream and his worst nightmare.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I'm sorry I came here thinking I could tell you what to do and who to love. I'm sorry I left you all those years ago. I know I hurt you more than you'll say. I'm just glad you finally found the guy that got you over it. Spike, sorry about the rage. Just lost my head for a second. You'd have done the same in my place I'm sure. Only you'll never leave her so you won't have to." Buffy had taken Spike's hand it hers and pulled him to her side. He casually draped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him.
"Spike, make her happy. If you hurt her I'll still come back and tear you to bits. Buffy, let him in. Let him help you. He's strong enough to carry some of the load. You don't have to do it alone anymore." She was crying again. She let go of Spike long enough to hug him tightly to her and then she went back to his side.
"I got to get home. I have people who are probably worried about me. See you around, guys." Angel turned, found his car and drove out of Sunnydale.
He arrived in L.A. a few hours later and peeked in Connor's room. Cordelia was lying on the twin bed, curled up with a magazine under her hand. Connor was sleeping peacefully in his crib. Angel's eyes misted over as he looked down on the two people he loved most in this world. This was home. This was where he belonged.
1.1 Author: Dawn
Summary: Angel feels something's off in Sunnydale. B/S
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon etc. Please don't sue me.
Spoilers: Everything up to "Gone". This takes place some time after that.
Feedback: Crave it like I crave Spike. Did I say that out loud?
Distribution: Anywhere if you want it, just let me know where.
Gotta say thanks to my beta, Donna. You're the best. So glad we share an obsession!
1.1.1 Vertigo
Angel sped down the highway between L.A. and Sunnydale sometimes running 90. Something was wrong. Something was off. He'd had this feeling for a while and it was only now that he'd been able to tear himself away from Connor. Cordy had finally had enough of his pacing and mumbling and kicked him out of the hotel swearing that she'd call if anything came up. So now, here he was, heading to Sunnydale because of a feeling. He knew for a fact that Buffy wasn't going to be happy to see him. They hadn't really parted well the last time they'd seen each other. In fact, most of the time they'd spent together had been arguing.
Well what did she expect when she'd pulled up on a motorcycle wearing Spike's duster and clutching a smirking Spike? The younger vampire had simply let her off, whispered something in her ear, which elicited a small smile from Buffy and a low growl from Angel. Spike had revved the engine and taken off down the deserted street. She was still wearing the coat. She looked so small in it. She had lost so much weight and was nothing but skin pulled over taught muscle. Her eyes were sunken and a little hollow, well at least they were now. When she'd been whispering with Spike a spark had been there but the minute he'd taken off it had dissipated.
They hadn't spoken for several minutes. Just standing there staring at each other. He had wanted his first question to be what the hell she was doing with Spike but he squelched it. After hugging her tightly and nearly biting through his tongue at the fact she reeked of Spike's scent, they had talked. And then he'd mentioned the whole Spike thing. She had immediately gone on the defensive. Regaling Angel of how Spike had helped her defeat Glory, how he'd taken care of Dawn while she was gone and her when she'd come back. How he was the only person who understood her anymore. Angel's chest had actually hurt at that last little admission. He couldn't stop himself from reminding her that only a short while ago Spike had been trying to kill her to which she responded that not so long ago so had he.
This was not how he'd envisioned their meeting. Her shoulders had finally slumped in defeat and she'd whispered that she hadn't come to fight. She had come to say that she was back and she was safe and pretty much she didn't need him anymore. It had only been about an hour when his sensitive hearing had picked up the engine of the motorcycle. Angel's heart broke a second time at the look on her face when Buffy realized Spike was coming back for her. He could see the light make its way back into her eyes and a small smile played at her lips. Spike pulled up and took in Buffy's red, swollen eyes and defeated posture. If looks could stake, Angel would have been dust. That's when Buffy had turned to him and told him that she would always love him but things were different now. She was different now. They hadn't really even said goodbye. She'd simply gone over to Spike, slid behind him and whispered in his ear that she was ready to go. Spike had nodded and then Angel was alone and more than a little confused.
He'd arrived back in L.A. to his co-workers making fun of him and then Darla had shown up and he'd thought little of his and Buffy's meeting after that. Then, when things had settled down, the feeling had returned stronger than before. So here he was, speeding towards Sunnydale because of a feeling.
He reached Revello Drive and pulled up in Buffy's driveway around 9:00 p.m. The house was completely dark except for the front porch light. He had no idea where to start looking for her so he went around back and let himself in with the spare key she kept hidden. He searched every room but found no clue as to where everyone had gone. He came to Buffy's room last. He pushed the door open and was immediately surrounded by her scent. He hadn't been in her room in years yet it looked much the same. That's when he noticed the heavy, dark blankets covering the windows and his sense of smell had detected something unfamiliar amidst Buffy's familiar scent. Cigarette smoke. It was very faint but it was there. Angel could feel a sense of foreboding welling up in his chest. He backed out of the room and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. He wrenched the refrigerator door open and scanned the shelves. In one of the drawers where fruits and vegetables were usually kept were packs of blood. He slammed the door and stepped back, grabbing on to the counter top for support. Unless Willow, Buffy, or Dawn had become vampires recently, Spike was living here. Or at the very least, was staying over quite a bit. Okay. Calm. Calm. It wasn't working.
Suddenly he noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. Without a second thought to Buffy's privacy, he walked over to the hutch and hit the Play button. Xander's voice filled the kitchen.
"Hey Buff. Look, Anya's got to run by the shop first and I know you're doing the whole patrolling thing so we'll just meet you at the Bronze, ok? See you guys then. Bye."
The machine clicked off. The Bronze. They were all meeting there tonight. Angel turned off the light, locked the door and jumped in his car.
He made it to the club in record time and ditched his car in a side alley. He could feel the ground shaking from the loud, pulsating music coming from the bar. He pulled the door open and his senses were assaulted by the smell of human sweat, blood and a thousand different perfumes. He was more than a little surprised to find that the club had been remolded. He scanned the dark room quickly looking for a familiar face. He knew he would be able to see better if he vamped out but he didn't think the patrons would appreciate it too much.
He finally spotted Willow's flaming red hair at a table near the wall. He pushed his way through the throng of people and touched her on the shoulder. She'd jumped and turned towards him. Her eyes widened and she started to stammer as she always did when she was nervous.
"Angel. Wh..Wh..What are you doing here? You are Angel right? The good one, I mean. All soul intact and everything?" She moved a little away from him as Xander and his girlfriend approached the table. Xander could feel Willow's fear and looked behind her to see Angel hovering over her.
"Hey, Deadboy. What's up? Why are you here? Did Cordy have another vision?" Angel could see the distrust and dislike in Xander's eyes and hear it in his tone of voice.
"Yes, Willow it's me and no Cordy didn't have a vision."
"Then why are you here?" Xanger asked candidly. Anya must be rubbing off on him, Willow was thinking.
"I had a feeling something was wrong with Buffy. Where is she?" He could tell that two of them were really nervous and kept glancing towards the dance floor but Angel couldn't see what they were looking at for all the people.
"Buffy? Well I'm sure she's here somewhere. You know her. Loves to dance. Probably out there dancing now with some guy, you know, some human guy that likes to dance." Xander was sweating now.
"Ok, guys. What's going on? Where is she?" Angel was getting fed up with the obvious fact that they were trying to keep him from seeing where Buffy was. That was when Xander's girlfriend spoke up. She was looking at Willow and Xander as if they were crazy.
"She's over there dancing with Spike. We just left them. Over in the corner where it's dark." Xander's eyes slid shut and his jaw clenched as he tried to squelch the urge to tell his fiancée' to shut up. Willow just swallowed hard and looked down as if the tabletop were the most interesting thing in the world.
Angel could feel the anger welling up inside of him almost to the point he didn't think he could control it. Suddenly a hand was laid on his arm. He looked down to see it was connected to Xander.
"Angel. She doesn't belong to you anymore. You have no say in what she does just like the rest of us. It's her life. We pulled her out of Heaven. We have to let her do what's gonna give her happiness while she has to endure being in what is hell to her." Xander's brown eyes were pleading with Angel not to make a scene but he was past caring. He shoved Xander's hand away and charged through the mass of people to the corner Anya and pointed to. He stopped dead in his tracks behind a pole when he saw them. They were almost alone in the back of club where it was darkest. They stood so close that no light shown between them. He couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. They moved slowly to the sensual beat of the music. Buffy's hands were linked behind Spike's head and her head rested on his chest. His arms were draped around her waist pulling her as close to him as physically possible while they still had clothes on. He was whispering in her ear and Angel could see her shiver. What the hell was he saying to her? Buffy looked up into Spike's face and smiled seductively. Then she pulled his head down and started kissing him.
Angel had seen enough. With a low roar he had plunged forward and ripped Spike away from her. The two were so startled they didn't even react at first. That's how Angel got in the first punch, landing it squarely across Spike's jaw, throwing him into the wall behind him. He landed in a heap on the floor. Buffy's eyes flew to Angel's face and it was at that moment he knew he'd regret what he'd just done. She was on him before he could even get his hands up. She landed a solid punch to his gut and followed it up with a roundhouse kick to his chest. He'd stumbled backwards in to the stairs. Bouncers were already making there way towards them as Buffy ran to Spike's side to see if he was all right. He was nursing his jaw and picking himself up when she reached him.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, taking his face in her hands and looking him over.
"I'm all right, luv. Just surprised me that's all. What's Peaches doing here?"
"I don't know but I'm about to find out." She marched over to Angel who had already been cornered by the bouncers who were asking him to leave.
"Angel. Outside. Now." That was all it took. Buffy brushed past him with Spike in tow. When she passed the table where her friends were sitting they told her they had tried to stop him. She'd assured them quickly that it wasn't there fault and then proceeded to pull Spike outside in the alley to wait for Angel.
He finally appeared, rubbing his sore chest. He looked up into the eyes of a very brassed off Slayer. She was standing with her arms folded across her chest, her head cocked to the side, ready to take him down if he made one wrong move.
"All right, Angel. You've got 2 minutes or less to explain what the hell just happened in there. And then you've got less than that to get in your car and leave." Angel looked around and finally saw Spike leaning against the brick wall smoking a cigarette. He was calm and not even looking up to see what would happen between them. Angel felt the anger well up in him again. He pointed at the blonde vamp, his hands shaking.
"What did you do to her? What do you have over her to make her…?" He couldn't even finish. Images of them, limbs entangled, mouths fused in a passionate kiss, kept flashing through his head. He didn't even realize he was growling again. That's when he looked up and saw what he had missed in the darkness of the club. Buffy was wearing a tank top that sported spaghetti straps. Near the nape of her neck where shoulder and collar bone met was a newly healed bite mark. A red haze covered his dark brown eyes and met Spike's suddenly frightened blue ones.
"You marked her. You knew she was mine and you marked her!" He was yelling now and moving slowly towards the younger vampire. Spike held up his hands to ward him off but Angel already had the lapels of his duster bunched in his hands and had lifted him off the ground to shove him against the wall.
"Angel! Put him down right now! I mean it, Angel!" Buffy had her hands on his arms pulling as hard as possible but rage had made Angel strong. She couldn't budge him.
"You know the penalty for taking what's mine, don't you Spike? You're still enough of a vampire to remember that little bit, right?"
"Angel, what are you talking about? Penalty? Spike, what is he babbling about?" She looked up at her lover's face and was surprised to see fear there.
"Tell her Spike. Tell her the punishment." Angel breathed through clenched teeth. Spike's gaze went to Buffy's and she could see that he was shaking slightly.
"Death." He whispered. Buffy's eyes went wide and she frantically grabbed at Angel again, crying now.
"Angel, please tell me what's going on! I don't understand. Please don't hurt him! Please, tell me!" It finally registered in his fury filled mind that Buffy was crying. She was crying over Spike. His anger abated somewhat and her lowered the shivering vampire to the asphalt.
Spike shook Angel's hands off him and adjusted his wrinkled leather coat. He finally drew himself up but he was still inches shorter than the other vamp. He lifted his chin defiantly. He'd never cowered before Angel before, and he wasn't about to start now. Especially in front of Buffy. Buffy was glancing worriedly between the two of them and for long minutes nothing was said.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She begged softly.
"I jumped his claim, luv." Spike's voice was low and edged with violence. Buffy just looked confused.
"You did what?"
"When a vampire drinks from you and doesn't kill you they lay claim to you. They mark you. You belong to them. No other vamp is allowed near that person or vampire on penalty of death. When you let Angel drink from you he marked you, whether he meant to or not. When I drank from you, I breached his claim on you, ducks." Spike hadn't taken his eyes off Angel as he spoke.
"But Angel wasn't the first to drink from me." She stated flatly.
"The Master killed you Buffy. He made no attempt to keep you alive, plus you killed him." Angel pointed out.
"Well then where was the hero bit when Dracula bit me?" She asked scathingly.
"You killed him too, luv. Angel would have a felt a twinge of something but nothing lasting. You and I have been together long enough for Angel to be able to home in on where the feeling of betrayal was coming from. Only since it was you, he thought something must be wrong. He thought you were in danger." Spike explained to her.
"She is in danger. If she's even contemplating any sort of a relationship with you then she's in more than she realizes." Angel spat out. Buffy had had enough.
"All right, that's it. First of all, Angel, you don't own me. I don't belong to you. Secondly, you have no right to tell me who I can be with."
"Buffy, he bit you. He drank your blood." Angel tried to make her see how evil Spike could be.
"I asked him to." That stopped him cold. He felt a rushing in his ears. It was loud enough to block out all other sounds. Everything began to swim before his eyes and for a brief moment he feared he might actually pass out. She had willingly bared her neck to Spike and asked him to drink from her. She had known the implications. She had known what a bonding it would be. She had to know what it would mean to Spike and she had done it anyway.
"And I drank from him." Angel reeled back in shock. Oh, God. Did she know what that meant in vampire terms. His eyes found Spike's. Spike knew exactly what it had meant.
"Buffy do you know what you've done? Do you know what that means?" He hoped to God she didn't. Hoped she was ignorant of their ways. Hoped she would look at him in confusion. She didn't.
"I'm his and he's mine. That's what it means." Spike had broken the claim Angel had on her by the mixing of their blood. He had bound Buffy to him forever or until one of them died. He grabbed Spike by the throat and squeezed. He knew it wouldn't kill him but it would hurt like hell.
"How could you do that to her?" Angel asked sadly. Spike's jaw was clenched against the pain and he pushed Angel off of him.
"She asked me to do that too, mate. I would never have done that to her if she hadn't asked. I love her too much." Angel just stared at them. He wanted to say that all this surprised him. He wanted to say that he was shocked. But he would be lying. He had known this was going to happen. Back a few months ago when he and Buffy had met, when she'd shown up with Spike, he had known it then. But even before that. Years ago, when Spike had first come to Sunnydale, Angel had felt the fire between them. Anytime they got near each other you could power the whole town with the electricity. When Spike had come back for the love spell for Dru, Angel might as well have been invisible when the two of them got in the same room. The rest of the world had always fallen away with them. It had always been about the two of them.
Angel backed away from Spike slowly and ran his hands through his gel-crisp hair. He sighed out of habit. He was too late. And shouldn't he feel worse about it? Somehow it didn't hurt as bad as he thought it would. Somehow, losing the dream that was Buffy didn't have the bite he had feared. It hurt, but the pain was dulled by the fact that waiting for him back in L.A. was a sweet little boy and a beautiful woman whom he called friend. Suddenly he was laughing. Spike and Buffy just looked at each other like he'd gone mad.
He laughed until his sides hurt and then he'd finally stood up straight and faced his best dream and his worst nightmare.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. I'm sorry I came here thinking I could tell you what to do and who to love. I'm sorry I left you all those years ago. I know I hurt you more than you'll say. I'm just glad you finally found the guy that got you over it. Spike, sorry about the rage. Just lost my head for a second. You'd have done the same in my place I'm sure. Only you'll never leave her so you won't have to." Buffy had taken Spike's hand it hers and pulled him to her side. He casually draped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him.
"Spike, make her happy. If you hurt her I'll still come back and tear you to bits. Buffy, let him in. Let him help you. He's strong enough to carry some of the load. You don't have to do it alone anymore." She was crying again. She let go of Spike long enough to hug him tightly to her and then she went back to his side.
"I got to get home. I have people who are probably worried about me. See you around, guys." Angel turned, found his car and drove out of Sunnydale.
He arrived in L.A. a few hours later and peeked in Connor's room. Cordelia was lying on the twin bed, curled up with a magazine under her hand. Connor was sleeping peacefully in his crib. Angel's eyes misted over as he looked down on the two people he loved most in this world. This was home. This was where he belonged.