Chapter 4 - Love is a Battlefield
"Ok, here's what we're gunna do." Buffy addressed her watcher, in full command mode, "Giles, keep looking into these assassin guys. I want weaknesses, past targets lists, description on how they work, their methods, who hires them, hell, what they eat for breakfast. I need to know what we're up against."
He nodded and picked up a large dusty tome from the pile.
She turned to Angel, his eyes lifted to meet hers.
'Go, leave and never come back.' Is what he heard her say in his mind.
"Stay, at least until we kill these guys. If…circumstances change, we'll re-evaluate the situation then. Deal?" She asked him, not pleading, but there was concern in her voice.
His heart leapt for joy in his chest, his mind told him to leave, keep her safe by keeping far away from her, but his heart had never so much as thought it. Keeping his face expressionless, he nodded. "Deal."
Giles stood, book in hand, he caught Buffy's eyes and gave her the 'I-don't-believe-you-are-thinking-rationally-about-this' face.
She sent him back an, 'I-don't-care, I'm-the-Slayer, I make-the-calls' face.
His mouth tightened into a grim line, he was disappointed, but he would do as she asked of him. He was her watcher afterall, he was duty bound, and not only by watcher law, but by the fatherly love he shared for this young, beautiful and often headstrong girl.
As much as his slayer drove him raving mad, he would not change her for the world. He opened his sack, pulled out a few more ancient volumes, and began to read.
Angel wasn't sure what to do; he would stay of course, he had promised and he would keep that promise, but what would happen now between him and Buffy? Thirty minutes ago they were feeding each other chocolate pudding after many hours of making love, now he stood awkwardly next to her, his mind horribly confused following the recent fight.
"I'll stay in the apartment upstairs." He said heading towards the front door.
She caught his arm, holding him back. "Don't" she said softly, "That's not necessary." She laced her fingers though his and pulled him into the bedroom; she shut the door behind her and turned to face him.
He quickly dropped his coat onto the chair beside the bureau and faced her.
"If this isn't going to last" she said walking up to him and placing her hand over his heart, "I don't want to waste the time we have left fighting."
His arms encircled her and drew her against his chest, hugger her tight he told her, "Me either." He placed a kiss on the crown of her head.
"We'll help research for a few hours, and then we're going to get some rest." She told him, "We start looking for these guys tomorrow; take them out before they can try an attack."
He nodded, "Alright."
She slowly pulled out of his embrace and headed back into the kitchen to research, he followed close behind.
... 10:45 ...
They had all been reading the dusty texts non-stop for four hours now, each of them growing tired and frustrated. Buffy was about to toss her book across the room and head to bed when Angel's voice broke the silence.
"Giles, you should take a look at this." He said as he handed the book over the table to the watcher.
"What?" Buffy asked him, hope creeping into her voice, "Something good?"
He shrugged, "Probably not." The former vampire replied blandly.
Giles internally read the passage in question, and then read it again. "Hmm…interesting." He said eyes still locked on the pages as he set the book on the table to free his hands to remove and clean the spotless lenses of his glasses.
"What!" Buffy asked loudly, not enjoying being ignored.
Giles looked up, "Hmm? What? Oh right. Yes. Well there is a rather sparse documentation of an assassination of a vampire by The Order of Phonoi. The assassins, The Phonoi, in Greek mythology, were spirits of murder. They specialized in non-battlefield killing and slaughter. This passage outlines the assassination process and the actual kill." He paused then continued as her 'hurry up' expression.
Angel looked away, not really thrilled to hear what he had read a few minutes ago.
"It seems this is not the first time they have used a type of poison to kill a vampire. The first recorded attempt here states it took a week from beginning to end. The Phonoi had a rather hard time tracking the vampire, but once he was 'humanized', he died within two days."
Buffy's hand found and gripped Angel's tightly, her ears almost wanted to water at the thought.
Giles continued without noticing, "It seems the injection virtually resurrects the body, thus neutralizing the demon spirit. However the text is unclear if it is a true resurrection, or rather a short term chemical reaction. Whichever it be, the body is then left without an essence; vampires usually being soulless, the now living being left behind, is just an empty shell. One that is then easily…dispatched…if not left to die of dehydration." Giles finished.
They all sat quietly for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts.
Giles looked to Angel, "However that is not the case with you. When your demon was destroyed, since your soul was still inside, it retook control of the body again."
Angel nodded, but still looked uncertain. "I don't understand, if my demon really is dead, why do I still have my abilities? Will they fade overtime? How long will my 'life' last? Will my heart stop again? If it does and my demon is gone…does that mean I'll just die?" He asked, not really to Giles specifically, but needing to vocalize his thoughts.
Buffy leaned against his shoulder, wrapping her hand around his waist, giving him some much needed emotional support; then looked across the table to Giles, hoping for answers to those questions too.
The Watcher sighed heavily, one hand removing his glasses, the other rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Honesty? I don't know. What I can surmise, however useless…is you are an exception to the norm. Your soul interferes with the natural process of how this poison operates. As to if your mortality or how long your supernatural powers will last …that I cannot even begin to phathom."
Angel closed his eyes a moment, lost in silent torment. He listened intently to his heartbeat, loving the feel of his blood actually flowing through his veins, the warmth of it, the life of it.
'Can I go back to being what I was? Dead. After all this time spent with Buffy, after I gave all this up for her once before…could I survive losing her again? Physically…sure, emotionally…I think I'd go insane.' He felt her hand tighten over his; he opened his eyes and looked over at her.
Buffy could easily read the tormented and anguished look in his chocolate brown eyes; she knew her eyes mirrored his at the moment. 'I can't lose him again…I just can't.'
Her other arm tightened around his waist, "Hey, lets not play the funeral march just yet, we know what the book says…and well…what does it matter? What was that thing written back in the roman era? Who's to say the details are even relevant to the here and now? Big plus, your body is alive….why wouldn't it stay that way? And as for your powers, does it matter is they stay or go away? I mean, yeah it would be nice to have them still, I know first hand what it's like to go from 'Super Hero' to 'Average Joe' is one injection flat."
She cringed slightly as she remembered years ago when the Watchers Council had Giles inject her with a Slayer suppressing drug that left her just plain old human strength Buffy, it wasn't a happy memory.
She looked at Angel and noticed his slight frown at the 'Average Joe' idea. She quickly corrected, "Not that there is anything wrong with being average, it might be nice to have someone actually 'normal' hanging around. I mean you don't need super powers to do good, look at Xander, he's never had a power, and…and he saved the world just last year, all by himself, just being normal, powerless Xander Harris."
"Telling me I can be just like Xander…Yeah, that's not really helping." Angel said adding a tired sigh afterwards.
Buffy glanced over at Giles, and saw him eagerly scanning the books again. "Ok guys, It's late, we should get some rest. Tomorrow, at first light, we'll restart the research. Until then, we need to save the lanterns batteries. With these Phony guys…"
"Phonoi" Giles automatically corrected.
Buffy sent him a quick, 'Don't-interrupt-me-when-I'm-giving-orders' face, then finished, "With these assassin guys lurking about, it's only a matter of time before they find us. It isn't safe to go out day or night anymore. So we need to conserve the food, water, and resources we have until we can bring these guys down."
While she spoke, Giles lit two candles, keeping one for himself and handing one to Buffy.
"Right, well I'll resume researching as soon as it is light enough for me to do so. Goodnight Buffy." The Englishman said as he shut off the electric lantern he brought back from his looting.
Angel turned and retreated into the bedroom, his eyes still very well adjusted to seeing in the darkness, he didn't need to wait for Buffy with the candle.
Once inside, he began to rummage through the drawers for the pair of sweatpants he 'borrowed' from his little 'shopping' spree the other day. Once found he walked into the bathroom to change.
A few minutes later he walked out wearing the sweats and holding his neatly folded clothes. His eyes spotted Buffy, as she changed into the nightgown he 'bought' for her the day before.
He quickly averted his gaze, "Sorry" he said turning around to give her some privacy, his cheeks flashing red.
A second later he felt her hand enclose over his arm. "You're acting like we haven't been having wild conscious-free sex over the past day, that said, you've defiantly seen me naked."
He met her eyes. "I know, I umm…I mean…I'm not sure how I'm supposed to be acting right now. Things are…weird. Maybe we shouldn't be intimate right now." He confessed.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, "If something bad was going to happen, don't you think I would have by now? Anyways, I meant it when I said we should sleep. We haven't really done much of that lately." She said with a grin.
He grinned to, it was only for a second, but Buffy counted it as a small victory. "Come on, the sooner we get to sleep, the sooner we can wake up, kick some assassin ass then get back to the regularly scheduled demon fighting apocalypse averting chaos that passes as our daily lives." She said as she pulled him towards the bed.
Angel laid down, still smelling the scent of their lovemaking form hours before.
Buffy curled up against him, using his chest as her new favorite pillow.
His arms snaked around her back, holding her and gently rubbing the tense muscles.
"Mmm" She breathed against his chest, "Can everyday end like this?" She asked while shutting her eyes and snuggling into him.
She didn't see his brooding brow as it emerged in overdrive. 'Will I even get another day? Will my heart still beat tomorrow? Will I wake up at all?' He shut his eyes, not because he was tired physically, but emotionally he was an exhausted wreck.
"We can try." He said, not sure he believed the words, but needed to give her some hope. He didn't want to spend his possible last night with Buffy by crushing her dreams…again.
He listened to her soft gentle breathing for a while, his mind too wired to allow for sleep. As he gazed down at her, a grin spread across his lips as he watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful, so carefree.
'You're an idiot' his own voice said to him. 'This girl loves you so much…and all you do is keep giving her reasons not knows everything there is to know about your past, and she still loves you. She lived with every horror you or Angelus ever did to her, and she still loves you. She faced a life with you under harsh curse restrictions, and she still loved you. And Mr. Know-it-all-former-vamp-with-a-soul, what did you do? You walked out on her…never gave her a chance to fight it, never even said goodbye. And you know what… she still loves you.'
He thought his whole life over; the days spent as a human drunken degenerate, his monstrous rampage as the Scourge of Europe, nearly a century of brooding over his soul in America, then finally meeting Buffy and deciding to 'be someone'.
'I've spent over 350 years (including Hell) either being evil or miserable. I can continue with that until I die…however soon that is…or I can pull my head of out of my ass and finally 'be someone.' I can be someone…with her. I can be the kind of man she deserves, even if only for a short while. Not to mention I did promise that I would experience the life my friends paid the ultimate price for me, even if it only lasts a few days…'
At that moment in time, he knew he would never walk away from her again, not ever…for any reason.
Buffy shifted in her sleep, her arms wrapping tighter around him.
He grinned and hugged her closer too. 'One year, if I'm still alive…I'm asking her to marry me.' He silently vowed to himself.
A few minutes later, he finally let himself fall asleep.
May 23, 2004 – 2:30am
Angel's senses alarmed.
His eyes opened and instantly adjusted to the darkness. A shadowed figure crept along the perimeter of the room. A moment later, he head the tell tale click of a crossbow being pulled back, ready to fire.
Angel rolled off the bed, dragging a suddenly-awake-and-unhappy-about-if Buffy along with him. He felt the bolt breeze by his back and plunk into the mattress as soon as his body cleared it. He felt another arrow pierce him, but he didn't have time to check the damage.
"Angel! What the…" She yelled as they slammed into the bedroom floor and he shoved her under the bed.
"Assassins" he said quickly.
Buffy understood they were under attack, and was pissed she didn't sense it. 'That's what I get for being warm and snugly, a relaxed danger alarm.'
He grabbed the edge of the bed and lifted it up, dragging it back against the wall, shielding them and using it as a barrier between them and their enemies.
"Ok, now what?" he asked, unsure how to turn the defensive into offensive.
Buffy grabbed a few supports from under the bed, breaking them into stakes. "Weapons help." She said as she worked.
"Buffy, they aren't vampires." He said noticing the stakes.
She turned to him, barely able to see him in the darkness of the room. "Yeah, so no convenient dust piles…but I'm sure they still die if you stick a piece of wood in their chest. Besides, I don't see any swords or axes lying around…do you?" she snipped, angry these guys were ruining her well thought-out plans.
'Touché' he thought irritated but the whole mess.
Angel saw an assassin trying to angle his crossbow behind the mattress; with a snarl he grabbed the weapon, crushed the mercenary's hand and punched the guy back.
Buffy suddenly kicked the bed, the powerful blow sent in sliding across the room, toppling the would-be assassins. "There, defense turned offense." She stated, starting to attack those getting to their feet, the only ones she could see in the darkness.
Angel grinned and started firing the crossbow, taking out those he knew were invisible to her.
After a few minutes, ten Order of Phonoi lay dead in the bedroom.
"Giles!" The Slayer suddenly thought and ran to check on her watcher, preying the assassins ignored him. When she ran into the kitchen she almost ran over the subject in question. "Giles!" she said when she realized it was him, she hugged him quickly then let go.
"Umm, yes. I see you're alright too then." The watcher said awkwardly.
"Yeah, we're fine, those assasins learned not to mess with a 'Slayer without her morning coffee'." She answered back.
"Yes, well I wouldn't dismiss them just yet, they are known to move in waves. If one unit fails to return, another is dispatched until the job is finished." He urged to her.
She frowned, "Ya know, just once, I'd like to hear you say 'Yay, we won.' And leave it at that."
"Buffy?" Angel's voice called from the bedroom. "Could you come in here a second…bring the light."
Buffy didn't like the strain she heard in his voice. She looked to her watcher, he nodded he was done talking and she grabbed the light and walked into the bedroom.
"Shut the door." He asked and she did.
"Angel? What's up?" she asked with concern.
"We still have a first-aid kit in here?" He replied looking around beneath scattered bodies.
Her eyes widened, "Oh God, were you hit? Where?" she asked as she rushed over to him, the light shining brightly as her eyes searched his body for injury.
"I'll live." He confessed. He turned, reluctintly, and she saw the arrow.
A second later a stifled laugh escaped her lips.
"It's not funny." He grumbled.
She looked up at him, trying to hide her amusement, "You got shot in the butt." She giggled, then had to laugh again.
...
Giles was curious as to what was going on in the bedroom, he walked over prepared to help if need be, but his hand froze an inch from the doorknob when he heard their voices.
"Buffy, I can't take my pants off. The shaft is caught in them."
"Well, let me just…"
"Ow! Don't pull it!"
"Don't be such a baby."
"I'm not being a baby, it hurts when you do that!"
"Angel, I have to pull it, that's the only way to get it out."
"Fine…but use two hands and hold it as the base of the shaft."
Giles visibly paled and backed away from the door. "Scared for life." He mumbled as he walked back into his bedroom, stepping over the would-be assassin he killed earlier, and firmly shut the door.
A few minutes later he heard a knock at his bedroom room, then Buffy's concerned voice, "Giles? Are you ok?" He stood and opened the door, thankful for the dimness the candle provided, he didn't want her to see the intense red of his cheeks.
Buffy oblivious to his discomfort asked, "Do we have another first-aid kit? This one's out of gauze."
He looked at her concerned, "Gauze? Are you injured?" he asked automatically.
She shook her head, "Angel, nothing serious." After a beat, "Unless he wanted to sit down this week." She said grinning.
He sent her a confused look as he rose from the bed to get the requested item.
She shrugged, "Arrow."
"Good Heaven, he was shot? Where?" he asked.
She smiled, "Butt."
Realizing, with great relief, that what he thought he heard through the closed door wasn't what he had suspected. Giles looked at her, "Oh, well…yes…umm…here." He stammered, handing her the kit.
"Thanks." She said as she heading back into her bedroom to patch up her boyfriend.
...
Angel was lying on his stomach, arms crossed under his chin, a scowl on his lips.
"Giles said these guys will keep coming. Wave after wave." She spoke to Angel as she taped up the wound.
He winced as she worked; very aware she wasn't being exactly gentle.
Once she finished she gave his injured cheek a light slap, "There, good as new."
He swallowed a yelp when she did.
She pulled his sweats up to cover the wound, shuttering at the blood on them.
She laid on the mattress next to him, it was in rough shape, the frame and box spring were ruined, but the mattress itself was sleepable. The flickering candle she had lit showed the paleness of his face.
"It's not that bad." She said to him.
He looked over at her, "Say that after you have five inches of barb tipped arrow ripped out of your ass." He grumbled.
She grinned and shifted position, lying on her side perpendicular to him, resting her head on his back. She began to trace his tattoo. She felt his shoulder twitch beneath her hand.
"Hmm…tickles." He mumbled.
She smiled, "Really? I thought you weren't ticklish?" She asked.
He awkwardly shrugged. "I wasn't."
She lay there a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. She wasn't sure if she should let Angel rest, and recover from his injury first, or set out right now to find the Phonoi before they strike again. She sat up and glanced over at him and noticed his eyes were shut. 'Rest it is then.'
She got up and checked the windows, making sure they were shut and locked tight. She then checked the rest of the house, making sure no more assassins could sneak in.
Angel had tossed the bodies out the window earlier; none of them wanted corpses lying around at their feet. Plus it acted as a great intimidation factor, 'You wanna kill us? Well look what we did to the last to try.'
As Buffy was shutting the blinds in the living room, she spotted a figure lurking in the dark. 'Great, if I can grab one, we can find out where the others are hiding.' She snuck out of the house and heading towards the shadow.
She rounded the corner, the figure passed directly in front of her, acting quickly she grabbed its neck and slammed it against the wall. "Ok pal, you've got 2 seconds…" her words died in her throat when she recognized the guy she was uselessly strangling.
"Buffy?" He asked voice full of shock and hoarse from her crushing grip on his larynx.
Her eyes widened, "S-Spike." she stammered, remembering Angel told her he was alive, but somehow not really believing him until just now.
"Umm…Hi?" He said uncomfortably. He had spent months thinking about what he would say to her when he saw her next. All of his careful, thought-out scenarios magically vanished from his mind the second he saw her. 'Bugger.'
"Hi" she replied lamely back. Seeing him had completely taken her by surprise.
"So um..." he wheezed, pointing to her hand still clutching his throat.
"What? Oh! Sorry!" she winced and let go. A Forced laugh, "Force of habit…"
"It's alright, wasn't breathen anyways." He admitted.
After an awkward silence both of them spoke at once. "How are you?"
She blushed, he couldn't.
"You first pet." He said.
"I'm…I'm good." She self-consciously brushed her heir behind her ears, 'Oh! I didn't even look in the mirror! Please don't have bedhead, please don't have bedhead.' "Been busy. Had a lot of work finding and training the new slayers after…after you umm…died." She whispered the last word.
He grinned, "Yeah, so I guess you heard about the roasted and ghosted trip huh? Always could count on the big ponce for rainin' on my parade."
"Yeah, let me guess. You smell him on me?" She asked, still grossed out by the fact they could smell her and know far more than they should be able. 'That's just one giant invasion of privacy.'
In was then she noticed how banged up he was. "Hey, what happened? Are you alright?"
He shrugged looking down at his shredded clothes and various mostly healed injuries, "What? This? It's nothing. Ya'know just risking my life for the greater good an all. Captain Forehead didn't tell you the details? Figures. Rides off into the sky with his new best dragon pal, leaves us to finished his fight. Some hero."
He suddenly noticiced something and inhaled deeply, looking down at her hands, "Hey, is that his blood on your hands?" His eyes filled with hope, "You didn't by chance, kill him, did ya?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him, not smiling. "No, I didn't kill him. He was wounded…I patched him up. And what details are you talking about?"
"Wolfram & Hart, epic battle to the death…or to hell… whichever happened first. He takes off and leaves me and Blue to clean up his mess." Spike pulled a newly stolen pack of cigarettes from his tatters of a leather coat and fished his lighter out of his jean pocket without a hole in it.
"Yeah, well…the fight with the dragon left him…kinda incapacitated for a while. I'm sure he would have come back if he had been able to." She defended.
He could smell sex all over her, and his grand-sires nauseating scent, and he knew the blood he smelt was Angel's blood but it was human blood. 'So that bastard went and pulled a Shanshu, that son-of-a-bitch.'
"Yeah, right. Bet the sod was hoping my dust was swirling away into the gutter by now. Where is the git anyways? Me and him have some words to exchange." Spike said as he lit the cigarette.
"He's busy at the moment" she half-lied. To be honest with herself, she didn't want either of them face-to-face right now, especially if Angel was human. The chances of a fight were high, and with Angel mortal and injured, the odds were far from fair.
Spike nodded, "Want me all to yourself then, huh pet?" she said with a smirk.
She sighed, "Spike" she warned.
He raised him palms in surrendered, "Ok, ok, no need to get your panties in a bunch." He dropped the stub of his cigarette to the wet pavement and ground it to dust with his boot. "I know when to take a hint; need to find some cover and a decent meal anyhow. Been life-threatenin as always, luv." He turned to go, to lick his physical and mental wounds.
Buffy didn't like how the meeting was ending, she cared for Spike, maybe she didn't love him, like like he wanted her to, but he was there for her when she needed someone, and she would always remember that.
"Spike?" She called out and jogged to catch-up to him, he turned, a confused and hopeful expression of him face, "Forget something, pet?"
She looked up at him, "Spike listen, there are these assassin guys lurking around, there looking for Angel."
Dejected he looked away, "And you want me to help kill them." He finished.
She grabbed his arm; he turned to look back at her. "No, I want you to keep away. These guys specialize in killing vampires. I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire." She admitted.
"Really? Why's that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
She shifted then sighed heavily, knowing they needed to clear the air between them. "Spike, I know what the last words I said to you were, and in a way it was true. I do love you…I'm just not in love with you."
He nodded, expecting the words. He had known at the Hellmouth she didn't love him, and he had said it to her, but it still hurt. "Yeah, figured."
She did something either of them expected, she pulled him into a tight hug.
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
He knew she meant the Hellmouth and his being there for her over the years, he hugged her back. "No, Thank you." He said.
She pulled back to look up at him, he replied to her confused stare, "For giving me a chance, for not givin' up on me, and lettin' me be a hero" he clarified.
She smiled, "Well thanks for not letting me down."
After a moment they separated, both letting go a burden they didn't know they were carrying.
"It's not safe here. Please, just stay hidden for awhile. There's a butcher shop two blocks away between 23rd and 24th, the refrigerator is powered by a generator…the blood should still be good." She told him.
He nodded, looking forward to a decent meal, all he had come across lately were inedible demons and spoiled blood. "Right, I'll look into that. But you're out-of-your-head if you think I'm hidin' from a fight. I'll be back tomorrow night, and I'll be looking to forward to a little rough and tumble, the patrolin kind." He added in the end so she wouldn't get the wrong idea.
She frowned at him, and then shook her head in defeat, she knew him, and she knew he wasn't going to hide. "Ok, we could use another set of hands, but be careful." She warned.
He nodded and began to wander off towards the butcher shop, "Careful's my middle name, pet."He flashed a smile.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right."
He grinned as he was about to turned around the corner, "It's a date then." He called out as he disappeared into the night.
She shook her head, a smile on her face.
A moment later her mind wandered back to the reason she came out to begin with. 'Well, I'm out, might as well go a quick patrol in the area and see if I find anything Stab-wothy.'
...
An hour of wasted time later, she opened the door to the apartment and slipped inside. It would be light in a few hours; she figured she could get in a short nap before the assassin hunt began. She was about to fumble her way into the bedroom when she walked into something solid.
'So much for sneaking in unnoticed'
"Angel?" she asked when a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders to keep her from bouncing off said object and falling backwards.
"Yeah." He said quietly.
She pushed on him, indicating he lead her into the bedroom; she couldn't see anything in the pitch dark without the help of the moon outside.
After a moment she felt the edge of the bed behind her legs, she sat as he moved away.
A second later a flicker of light sprouted from the candle he lit.
"Thanks" she said, glad for the ability to see again.
He didn't reply, he just slipped back into bed, pulled the covers up and rolled onto his side, facing away from her.
'He's brooding…he must be able to smell Spike on me or something…great just what I needed tonight, more jealous vampire crap.'
"Angel?" she called, hoping to clear the air with him.
He didn't respond.
She sighed heavily, "Ok, listen. Spike and I just hugged, there's no need…"
"Spike?" he cut her off, the look of surprise on his face when he rolled over made it plain to see he hadn't even know about that until she opened her big mouth.
'Shit. Note to self, keep flapping mouth shut!'
"What does Spike have to do with anything?" he demanded as he sat up.
"Ahh, well I was out…and I ran into him... Hey wait, if not about Spike, why are you mad?" she countered.
He sighed, looking both annoyed and hurt, "I was mad because you took off in the middle of the night without saying a word. So excuse me for being a little more than worried." He shot.
"Oh" she said, looking down. "Yeah, about that…I can explain…" she tried.
He held up a hand to silence her, "Please don't." He lay back down and rubbed his hand over his eyes, "Let's just get some sleep for now. Whatever you were doing with Spike is none of my business." He said as he rolled over.
'Ok now he's really brooding.'
"Angel…" she tired again.
"Not right now, Buffy. Please?" he asked as he pulled the blanket up.
She sighed, "Fine." She said slipping into bed.
'Something tells me he isn't going to want to cuddle….'
...
Buffy yawned as she stretched, morning light streaming in, the closed binds not deterring it in the least.
It took her all of one second to realize she was alone in the bed.
'Angel must still be pissed.' She thought dejectedly as she got up and grabbed some clothes to change into. She went into the bathroom to do her best to clean-up with no power or hot water.
Once she was presentable she walking into the kitchen to find Giles and Angel reading though yet another pile of books.
'Gees, did those things multiply overnight?' she wondered.
Her attention was immediately pulled in by the smell of coffee. Both men had a mug of the steaming dark liquid. She cast a glance at the coffeemaker, it was off…just like the power. She would have remembered seeing instant coffee if it had been in the cabinets.
"Hey, when did the coffee fairy come by?" she asked Giles, still unsure whether she should talk to Angel or if he was still mad.
It was Angel who stood; he waked over to the stove, picked up a pan and a strainer, and poured the contents of the pan through the strainer and into the mug. He replaced the pan of hot water on the stove and put the strainer in the sink. He handed her the cup and nodded to the bag of sugar on the counter. "No milk" was the first thing he said.
He sat back down, took a sip of his own cup, and resumed reading.
'Yup, still mad.'
Buffy took a hesitant sip, but was mildly surprised it was drinkable. She wouldn't have spent money for the taste, but it was hot and caffeinated…so it was perfect.
"So, anything new?" she asked them, wondering if they uncovered anything worth mentioning.
"Hmm? Oh, good morning Buffy. I didn't hear you come in." Giles said as he came up for air from the ancient volume he had been so engrossed in.
"Yeah, noticed." Buffy mumbled.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Anything new?" she said to cover.
Giles removed his glasses, but just held them while he rubbed his eyes with his hand. "No, I'm afraid not." He said dejectedly.
A second later Angle slammed the book he had been reading down hard on the table.
They both turned to look at him.
"Damn it!" he said as he got up and walked into the living room to sit heavily on the couch, head in his hands.
After a moment of indecision, Buffy put the mug down and cautiously came up beside him.
"Angel?" she called, wondering if he would snap at her or not.
"I can't do this." He said defeated, leaning back against the couch, "I'm not research guy…I'm go out and kill something guy." He said frustrated.
Buffy nodded, "I get the feeling." She said quietly.
She slid down onto the couch, leaving a small space between them. After a pause, "We'll figure this out, in fact why don't we go out now…find these guys like we planned…and make them all kinds of dead. Well maybe not all kinds, we don't want them undead…then we'd have to kill them again…which would be double the effort."
"Buffy, you're babbling." Angel said aloud.
She turned to look at him but he had his eyes shut, "Oh, right…sorry. Nerves." She said sheepishly.
Angel laid his head against the back of the couch, opening his eyes looking up at nothing.
She could feel the tension between them; it felt as tangible as the couch under her butt.
'This can't go on much longer.'
She didn't think about it, her body just moved closer to his, her head resting down on his shoulder.
"I love Spike." She hadn't even noticed she had spoken aloud until she felt Angel stiffen beneath her ear.
She looked up at him, his expression unreadable; eyes were blank as his face.
"I love him…but I'm not in love with him." She stressed.
He looked down at her when her fingers physically moved his chin. "I'm in love with you, have been since I was sixteen."She admited, voice full of raw emotion.
When he still didn't say anything she moved her hand over his warm chest, "You don't need to feel threatened by anyone Angel, I'm yours."
He looked away a moment, his eyes still blank, but she could see tears in them. When he turned back to her he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
She felt his lips kiss the top of her head. "I know, you've told me in so many ways. I'm just too dense to see it sometimes."
She nodded and grinned, "Yeah, it's a fault carried on the Y chromosome."she half-joked.
He looked annoyed a moment, then a grin spread across his lips, "Yeah, I guess I can't argue with that."
They sat quiet a moment, then he spoke, "I'm sorry for being a jerk." He whispered to her, "It's just…I love you so much it hurts."
She looked up at him, "Me too. Sorry I snuck out. Honestly, I didn't plan on it. I was closing the blinds when I saw a shadow outside. I thought it was one of them, figured we could find out where the others are hiding. Turned out to be Spike...lurking."
He nodded, "You don't need to explain, I trust you."
She smiled sweetly at him, "Thank you." She laid her head back down against his chest, listening to the unfamiliar but wonderful rhythm while his hand ran fingers through her blond locks.
"Still want to go kill something?" he asked a few minutes later. "Yes please" was her response.
They slowly pulled apart and stood, their lovers quarrel behind them, they focused on the issue at hand, the Order of Phonoi.
Giles looked up when the couple walked back over to the table.
'That was quick' he thought. He was amazed at how the two warriors interacted with each other; such passion went into each action, whether positive or negative. They let their true selves out, naked and raw emotions. They loved without a safety net, so when they fell, they fell hard.
"We're going to kill something." Buffy announced. "Any ideas where to look?" she asked a second later.
Giles looked at the text in hand a moment, as if the pages would magically supply an answer. They didn't. "I'm afraid not." He admitted. "These assassins keep themselves well hidden in the literature. With the exception of the one passage we discussed earlier, they do not seem to exist beyond a name in these books."
Angel nodded, "Well then I guess we do it the old fashion way." He stated.
Buffy looked at him, "How's that?"
He shrugged, "Bait the hook. Wait for a bite."
Buffy shook her head, "We're not using you as bait. There has to be a better way."
Angel stared down at her, "Buffy we don't have time for looking under every rock, this is L.A. They could be anywhere. They know where we are, we're not safe here, especially at night when they can hide easier. We either take them out today, or we spend every minute looking over our backs."
Giles nodded, "I agree. Luring them out may be our only option."
Buffy looked down a moment, and then realized they were right. "Fine. We'll give Angel a big 'Here I am, come stab me' sign and parade downtown. But we're making a pit stop first."
...
Thirty minutes later, Giles, Buffy and Angel were walking through the streets of L.A., empty save for the rays of sunlight dancing on the pavement. They talked loudly and openly, inviting their voices to alert the enemy of their whereabouts.
Angel had refused the 'Here I am, come stab me' sign.
It wasn't long until the three felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise with prying eyes following them from the shadows.
Ten minutes of following the scurried glances in the shadows, they came to an old warehouse. Inside they found the base for the Order of Phonoi. Within seconds, a full scale war broke out. Two dozen of the soldiers were attacking them, the odds weren't great, but they had faced worse.
Buffy's mind switched into full battle mode, the human in her, Buffy Summers, seemed to drain away as The Slayer took control, her body reacting to the fighting almost on its own accord. After facing a hoard of uber-vamps inside the Hellmouth, this fight really just didn't seem that impressive.
Giles fought with excellent deadly force. Anyone who mistook the English librarian for a pushover got a life ending surprise. The watcher had no trouble with wielding his sword against the assassins. True he did have a history of being knocked unconscious, however most of those incidences occurred from hidden enemies using the element of surprise, when aware of his targets, Giles was far from vulnerable.
Angel fought like a blur, the strength and power he thought lost when his heart began to beat was racing thought his veins. With a powerful punch, the Phonoi he had been facing was thrown back, colliding into a few of his brethren, the three landing in a pile of limbs. He slipped his sword from the scabbard and jumped into the melee.
The leader broke free of the chaos and zeroed in on Angel. His back was turned, facing another opponent, and Kurgan of the Phonoi took full advantage. He lunged forward and thrust his sword tip at Angel's exposed back.
He didn't connect.
An enraged Slayer caught his blade with her own. "Didn't your mother ever tell you, it's rude to point." she quipped as she kicked the sharp sword out of his hands.
After a second of anger he lunged at the bitch who dared to interrupt his assassination attempt. "I've never lost, I refuse to be destroyed by a..." He never finished.
Angel's sword disconnected the man's head before he could.
"Oops, was he still talking? I guess that was rude...oh well. I'm over it." He sent her a grin before they jumped back into the melee.
...
Ten minutes of fighting left three people on their feet. The three warriors were bruised and each sported a few bloody wounds, but nothing crippling. They each just stood breathing a few minutes, each acknowledging they were fine and grateful they all survived.
Angel's eyes scanned the vast room and fell upon a book.
It was dark leather, ancient looking but far from fragile. Some of the pages, those in the front of the book were yellowed and frayed with age, however those pages at the back were white clean and crisp. He was drawn to it, and upon opening it he discovered why.
He looked down upon the contract, the contract out on his life. The lettering wasn't in ink, but glowed an eerie incandescent red, magically generated for sure. He reached down and tore the document from the open book; he scanned it a moment, reading the words with a mix of both disgust and strangely enough pride.
It was no surprise Wolfram & Hart's logo appeared in the client space.
With a satisfying sound, the paper was torn to shreds; a small flick of light escaped as the contract's power was broken, thus ending the commission on his life.
He turned and looked over at Buffy, who was helping wrap a bandage around Giles arm, his first genuine smile in a long time.
"It's over." He said when she was finished and was walking over towards him.
She smiled too, for the first time in a long time, seeing a chance at a real future, a future with the man she has loved for nearly a decade.
Neither noticed one of the assassins was not as dead as he first appeared. He looked around and saw his family and friends slain, the whole life he knew was gone. Anger and rage flooded the fallen soldier, this was no longer about honor or contracts, the vampire was going to die…if it was the last thing he did.
Jordan was a young man, raised by the Order, but he was also one of the few to let in the knowledge of the modern world. Especially the knowledge of the modern weapon. Unbeknownst to his family, he carried such a technological masterpiece. He trained with it in his spare time, he knew how to use it. It would be now, those many hours of practice would be spent to avenge his brethren.
Buffy was almost to Angel when the shots screamed from the gun. Angel's smile vanished as his body jerked with each blast, he wavered a moment, then his eyes rolled back into his head.
He dropped lifeless to the ground.
Giles had seen the gunman as he fired the shots, the man never got to number four.
Buffy stared at the assassin a moment, seeing Giles kill the man freed her from the task.
Immediately her thought returned to the man who had been shot. 'Angel!'
Angel lay sprawled where he had fallen, face pale and body still.
Buffy fell to her knees beside him, "Angel?" she called.
He didn't answer.
Nearly insane with fear, she reached down and ripped his shirt open. She almost expected to see his chest in ribbons, blood and bone mixed together in a horrifying fun-house of gore.
It wasn't.
What she saw was the Kevlar vest she had forced him to wear after they made the stop at the police station before acting as bait.
The bullets were caught in the metal platting, never getting the chance to enter his body.
The Kevlar might reduce the likelihood of a bullet tearing into the body, but the projectiles energy is still absorbed by the wearer, and thus can still cause damage. She quickly unfastened the vest and looked down at his chest. Where the bullets hit the vest, right above his heart, there were painful looking bruises already forming.
Buffy gently prodded the area, hoping no bones were broken.
"How is he?" Giles asked as he stood beside her.
Buffy looked up at him, "Alive. Vest worked, nothing seems broken, just bruised."
Angel gasped as he suddenly snapped back to consciousness; he screamed a colorful collection of curses, mostly in Gaelic, as he tried to sit up and clutched his throbbing chest.
Buffy quickly pulled him against her chest, holding him as he raged in pain. "Shh, it's ok. You're ok."
After a minute, the red haze faded and Angel felt Buffy's strong arms holding him. He relaxed into her grip, letting her voice chase the rage away.
He felt her hand brush through his hair and down his cheek. "Angel? Can you hear me?" she asked, worried when she felt him sag against her.
He looked up at her, green eyes flashing with worry. He gave her the best smile he could through the pain, "Yeah…I'm…I'll be ok." He pulled back and sat up, pain clear on his features. "Man, that f*cking hurts." He mumbled rubbing the tender spot on his chest.
She slid next to him, "Bet not as bad as if the bullets went in."She countered, giving him an 'I-told-you-so' smirk.
He looked at her, "Is that your version of I told you so?" he asked amused.
She smiled, "Maybe."
He shook his head, "Actually it would hurt less if he did shoot me….I've be pleasantly dead."
She punched him in the arm, "Don't say that! I've put way too much time and energy into keeping you alive for talk like that."
He grinned, Buffy acting as a natural pain relief. "Ok, ok. You win…just don't add anymore bruises ok?" he added rubbing the spot she punched him.
She shook her head, "Big baby" she teased.
"Am not." he mumbled before their lips met.
Giles quietly turned and walked away as the two lovers kissed their pains away.
The End (Of the first story in this ridiculously long arc anyways.) No promises when those will be published.
...
P.S. I'm sure Spike will be miffed he missed out on seeing Angel shot down.
