Summary: 'I Will Remember You' AU. She came, she saw, she conquered - and she had his shirt to prove it. B/A.
Author's Note: I have been informed by certain associates that "Good In My Shirt" by Keith Urban is NOT a Buffy/Angel song. Supposedly. Of course, when has this ever stopped me from getting ideas before?
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy, Angel and all related characters and situations... I know I don't, I wouldn't have had things go the way they did at various different points throughout either series... anyway, I merely use them for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit. Please don't sic Wolfram and Hart on me, Joss...
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"Looking Good In His Shirt"
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'
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"Veni, vidi, vici."
'I came, I saw, I conquered.'
- Julius Caesar.
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She was thankful that her underwear had survived the night, she wasn't sure how she would have felt without anything to put back on. Besides that, his shirt was pulled on over her and buttoned just enough to cover up what she didn't want anyone but the two of them seeing, her own shirt was laying in a torn heap on the floor and she loved it. It was a sign that she had came, seen and definitely conquered, despite all opposition from her target. It reminded her of something she had read once; 'Your picture in your high school trophy case, the US flag on the moon, your shirt on her back the next morning- nothing in this world looks better than the proof of your conquest.'
Oh, she had definitely conquered, and she had the aches in certain parts of her body to prove it. She'd never actually enjoyed being sore more, she'd have to send the Oracles a 'thank you' gift for helping them change the timeline. Even if the glowing blue duo hadn't actually been fond of the idea, they still deserved some kind of thanks. Maybe a novelty mailbox or one of those static electricity balls that could make someone's hair stand on end, she wasn't sure what to send.
Carefully, so as not to wake her lover, she made her way out of the bedroom and to the kitchen, smirking at the sight of the broken dining table where the night had started on her way to the fridge to find something for breakfast. It was only upon opening the door and seeing the current contents that she remembered that her lover had, until recently, little use for food.
"Guess this means we're going to have to hit a store for more than just ice cream," she muttered, "Actual eat it for a meal food, I mean, not just kinky things."
With a frown of mixed gratefulness and frustration, she took out the carton of orange juice - Donald Duck brand, she noted idly - from the refrigerator and sat it on the counter as she began opening cabinets in search of a glass. Her search had not progressed far when she felt a presence behind her and before she could turn around a pair of hands came to rest on her shoulders.
A shiver went down her spine both from the hands' touch and their owner speaking lowly in her ear, "Guess who?"
"Spike? God, I need bleach to get that image out of my brain now... Not Oz, he's all Willow's... Xander, what have I told you about sneaking up behind me?"
"I'm not sure I shouldn't be insulted that I can be mistaken for Xander that easily," Angel commented with a hurt-puppy expression that, combined with his current barefoot and shirtless - as she was wearing it at the moment - attire did things to her insides.
Buffy Summers turned around and looked at her lover with a grin, "By the way, curiousity answering, I told him that if he ever did it again, I'd let you snack on him."
"I can't."
"Yeah, but he doesn't know that," Buffy retorted, inwardly pleased by the proof that the sensation she got when Angel was near had nothing to do with her 'Slayer Sense' for vamps.
"No, Buffy, even before yesterday I couldn't," Angel answered, "I couldn't drink from any of your friends with you calling yourselves the 'Scooby Gang'. It would just have had to happen one time and word would get out, the 'Scooby snacks' jokes would start and we'd have ended up having to slay a lot of demons and vampires for it to stop. We'd never have a moment's peace, we'd be so busy. It wouldn't have been worth it."
"Even if I had some kind of brain-bleach," Buffy snickered, "I'm never going to be able to forget that, you realize..."
"Just think, it would make me Scooby-Doo," Angel pointed out.
"Willow would make a good Velma," Buffy countered, "I bet I can even get her to wear a Velma costume if Oz will dress up as Shaggy from 'Reluctant Werewolf'."
"I remember everything Angelus ever did and I've never been more scared than I am by the idea that you've actually thought about this, Buffy."
"I can out-scare the 'Scourge of Europe'; yay, me," Buffy quipped.
"I don't think that's something to be proud of," Angel frowned.
"Yeah, but I have so few achievements I can share with people," Buffy shrugged, the motion and what it did to his shirt more than slightly distracting to Angel. "Actually, I wouldn't get to share that one either, so I guess it's a never mind too..."
"Do you have to do that?"
"Do what?" Buffy shrugged yet again, the expression on her face plainly saying that she knew exactly what she was doing and what effect it had on him.
Angel reached out and put his hands on her shoulders as though he thought it would keep her from moving them, "That."
Buffy braced her rear end against the counter and reached out with a bare leg, running the inside arch of her foot up and down one of her lover's own legs, "I could do this instead..."
This action had an even more noticeable effect on Angel, causing his eyes to widen and his nostrils to flare as his body reacted - whether he wanted it to or not - to what she was doing. He gulped lightly in an attempt to both catch his breath and clear his mind, but it failed on both counts.
"Don't do that either," however he might have intended it, demand or request, it came out as pleading.
The look in Buffy's eyes turned from seductive to frustrated and there was a slight stomp to it as she put her foot back on the floor, "That's definitely not in the category of things you were saying a few hours ago, you know."
"We lost control a few hours ago," Angel admitted. "We let ourselves get overwhelmed by the thought not having to worry about a repeat of what happened on your birthday. This might be a second chance for the two of us, but so much has happened; not just Angelus, but everything over the last couple of years. It may not be the best idea for us to rush back into a relationship, even if we do want to be together still..."
"I'm not rushing back into anything; I never left!" Buffy snapped at him as frustration faded and anger at rejection started to take its place, "You took off out of Sunnydale and left me there with my heart in my hands and tears in my eyes, Angel, and now you're trying to push me away again even as a human..."
Human. It was a short word, only five letter, but it had the impact of a freight train. It had enough of an impact that it made Angel stop before he could interrupt the blonde in front of him. That one word was a poignant reminder that he was no longer a vampire, no longer was his soul at risk of being lost, there was no longer any threat of Angelus being loosed on the world again. The realisation slammed into him with the full force of Buffy's words while she kept ranting...
"Now I'm not saying that we've solved overnight everything that went wrong, but what I'm seeing I'd sure love seeing every morning from now on," Buffy rambled, the words sounding almost musical to the Irishman's once-more-human ears. "I mean, you said 'if we want to be together still'... So you might not want an 'us' again and I'm what? A bit of fun? A way to make sure there's no more Angelus surprises before moving on to someone else?"
"Not what I meant," Angel informed her, lying slightly; he had been trying to push her away partly out of habit and partly because he didn't want her to think that they had to renew their relationship because of their past, he wanted her to have the chance to move on to someone else; someone closer to her culture of teen movies and fast food, someone without all the baggage he carried. "We don't need to rush into a relationship, constantly worrying about what the night will bring, we can take our time and discover each other right this time."
"With what? Dinners together, long walks in the sunlight, everything you always said before that you couldn't give me?" The blonde asked, tenatively reaching out to put a hand on his arm.
"Everything that I always thought I'd never be able to give you," Angel corrected, putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning his head forward until their foreheads met.
Fortunately for the counter behind Buffy, it was saved from the fate of the table the night before as the couple were prevented from going any further in their discussion or actions by the sound of a noise from outside the kitchen. As they turned to face the entrance, their arms seemed to instinctively move so that they were then holding each other as they waited to see what or who was coming.
"Is it wrong that I hope its something I can slay for interrupting?" Buffy muttered, not at all happy.
Unfortunately for the blond, despite their problems over the years, Cordelia Chase had never managed to work herself into any slayable category, even when she was walking into the room like she was walking onto a movie set.
"Is there a reason no one's in the office yet? Wake up, blood-boy! I'm here, I'm beautiful and I'm ready to start... oh... my... God..." Cordelia trailed off as she saw Buffy and Angel standing next to each other, arms around each other, looking like they were back with each other, looking like they had done things with each other. The former prom queen's face paled and she finished nervously, "Ready to start running for my life..."
"Good morning, Cordelia," Angel said at the same time as Buffy gave a little finger wave and said, "Fine morning, isn't it?"
"What did you two do last night?" Cordelia demanded in horror.
"Better question, Cordy," Buffy grinned, "What didn't we do last night?"
"Please don't say that," Cordelia grimaced, "I'm too pretty to die, I haven't even met any big movie stars yet and you're unleashing Angelus on us again. Really, Buffy, what's that saying about insanity is repeating something and expecting it to go different?"
"Did you know that the blood of a Mohra demon and a Slayer combined can turn a vampire into a very strong human?" Buffy smirked as she asked.
"Did you know I still have Xander's number and if Angelus kills me he'll hunt you both down just on principle?" Cordelia countered.
Angel frowned, bothered by something he had just heard, "Why do you still have Xander's number if you broke up over a year ago, if I've heard correctly?"
"That's beside the point," Cordelia huffed. "The point is that he hates you enough because of the whole Darla connection that even if we've got problems, he'd still come dust you for me! And as for you, Ms. Necrophilia Poster-Girl; I don't know what you think, but you're not exactly on his nice list either. Don't think I don't know that he's already warned you what he'll do if anything happens to people he likes because of you!"
Before Buffy could unleash her retort involving asking if Xander actually included the brunette in that since she had dumped him Senior Year, the half-Bracken demon named Francis Doyle walked into the room and looked around.
"Cordy didn't come back up to the office yet, thought I'd see if everything was okay. If I just walked in on a catfight, anyone mind waiting to start back up for a few minutes so I can take my leave?" Doyle asked cautiously.
"They slept together," Cordelia informed him sharply.
"She's not listening to me tell her that Angel's human now," the blonde added just as sharply.
"Like I'm going to believe the girl who couldn't stake Angelus last time she let him out because of her necrophilia," Cordelia directed the retort at the Slayer herself.
Before the two women could start arguing again, Doyle whistled so hard that he actually popped into demon face for a moment before managing to school his features back to human, "Okay, like they say in professional boxing, fighters to your corners, ladies. Angel, I don't know your friend there, but I'd be willing to put twenty down on Cordy kicking her ass just on general principles; I've been slapped by her enough... and Cordy? Hate to tell you this, but they're telling the truth; demon senses, Angel smells almost completely human, no vampire there..."
"Which is why if you'll excuse us, we've got human lives to plan together, just as soon as I finish fixing this lack of food thing," Buffy added smugly, mentally smirking at her further thoughts on the subject that she didn't say out loud. "We're going to the grocery store; no, you can't come."
"Take the day off," the fact that Angel was smiling would be declared by Cordelia as 'the creepiest thing she would ever see'. "Enjoy yourselves in the sun... I know we will."
"Oh, God," Cordelia groaned, "I think I liked him better when he was all broody and redemption-obsessed Vamp... Now he's going to be so busy with her that we're never going to get anything done and that means we're never going to get paid - I'm never going to get paid, I'll have to get a nametag job for the bills, and..."
Doyle rolled his eyes as the former prom queen continued her rant, even while Buffy and Angel were leaving the room; hopefully to get fully dressed, but he wouldn't be surprised if he started hearing things. If Cordelia did have her old boyfriend's number stuck away some place, maybe he could call the guy for advice on how to handle her when she got like this... or even to come deal with her himself; what was the name she'd said, 'Xander'?
Unfortunately for the half-Bracken Irishman, he had no idea where that idea would eventually lead...
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Author's Note: Out of curiousity, did it seem to anyone else like the whole thing with Buffy focusing on power and pushing 'normal' people out of the Slay-age didn't so much start with her coming back in season six (as is commonly accepted), more like back in season three when Angel (ably aided/led by Joyce) seperated from her for most of the same reasons she uses against Xander, Dawn, et. al. - embrace a normal life, living without everything being about vampires and demons, etc?