"Who's mate? And what the hell am I doing here?!"
Angel turned his body to look at the bed that was holding the most precious person in the world. To him at least. His eyes rested on the now open and alert eyes of his love. The hazel eyes that he was peering into were not glazed with fatigue but bright, and full of what he thought was anger. The anger confused him, until he thought that she might be mad that he drank her to the point that she needed the hospital. Seeing the anger in her eyes made all the doubts, fears and insecurities that he normally felt come racing back. He felt his shoulders tense and he looked down in shame of what he had done. In a dark recess of his mind, he felt his true vampire self sneer at his actions of weakness. He didn't do or say anything while he felt her eyes on him. His mind full of doubts and second thoughts about how he had acted towards everyone. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the others crowd around Buffy asking her how she felt and if she was alright.
'What the hell was I thinking? I drank from her! Why shouldn't she be pissed at me? It doesn't matter that she's the one that hit me until I changed. I should have been able to resist her. I should have stopped myself after the first gulp. What the hell am I thinking? There shouldn't have been a gulp to begin with! What am I going to--' Angel's thought's were cut short when he felt a blow land on his cheek bone, forcing his head to snap back. Before he could even think about what he was doing he felt his arm snap out and grabbed the fist that had just struck him. He gripped the wrist and tugged while forcing the arm connected to twist into an almost unnatural position. He was able to stop himself when he heard not only the hiss of pain coming from the body attached to the arm, but also the exclamations of alarm coming from the group that was staring at him in fear. Finally getting a hold of himself, he found that the one face that he couldn't see in the group is the face of his beloved. With a growing sense of fear and nausea, he looked down at the body he held immobile and saw that it was indeed Buffy.
Shocked, he released her and immediately opened his mouth to begin apologizing when Buffy launched herself at him. Bracing himself for more blows that would be coming from the Slayer, he was again shocked when he felt lips on his parted ones. He froze, his eyes getting bigger and bigger by the second as Buffy continued to kiss him. Slowly his eyes fell closed as he felt the tiny nips that she was bestowing on his lower lip give way to an almost teasing kiss. He felt himself sigh and gather her close, trying to fight the urge to take control of the teasing kisses that she was bestowing. Finally, it became too much and he snapped. He moved one hand to the small of her back and the other shoved itself into her hair as he angled her head for his kiss. He growled low in his chest and began the kiss in earnest. He let his tongue trace her lips, giving quick kisses to both corners of her lips before he pulled her lower lip between his teeth and gave a gentle bite. When her mouth opened to release a small moan, he took advantage and invited himself in. His tongue began to explore her teeth, spending time on her own dull canines that seemed sharper than they had been the last time that he had kissed her. Getting tired of her teeth, he moved the kiss back into his own mouth and when her tongue came calling he gently closed his teeth on it and sucked will a slow and gentle pressure. Knowing that she needed to breathe soon, he left her mouth to trail kisses down her neck and when he found the marks that were just beginning to heal, he was unable to keep himself from letting his mouth anchor there and suck. He lost himself for what felt like an eternity in just his gentle ministrations on her neck.
He was jerked out of his silent worship when a throat was cleared very pointedly in the silence that had enveloped the room when Buffy first attacked her lover. His eyes wandered from where they were placed on her neck and raised them to where the noise came from, finding the eyes of the Scooby Gang on them. Xander, Willow, and even stoic Oz were grinning at the obviously happy reunion that they were witnessing. Giles, on the other hand, was looking at the two love struck fools with parental exasperation. Angel couldn't help himself, even though he knew he was far older than anyone in the room, and ducked his head in embarrassment.
"Sorry." This came out in his normal, soulful voice that everyone noticed.
"What the hell happened when I passed out, and why the hell are you calling Willow and Oz mates?" Buffy's voice did not sound like she had just woke up from a deep sleep. Her voice was full, hard and there. It sounded just like she did when a problem popped-up, which seemed to happen more and more often lately. She stayed within the circle of Angel's arms, looking small and frail in contrast to her lover, but everyone in the room know that she held the real power.
No one spoke, instead they all looked to each other trying to figure out who was going to answer her question. The silence seemed to stretch into eternity before it was broken. The shock however didn't end.
"Xander, what happened after I made Angel drink from me?" Buffy's voice was full of curiosity and steel, letting the others know that she expected Xander and only Xander to answer to answer her questions.
"Um, uh, well, G-man, Will and I came to the mansion, you know, to be there for you when Dead- uh I mean Angel… passed. We came in and you were there in his arms and there was blood in his lips and your neck was bleeding and you weren't conscious and then, well he bit us too. And then he brought us here to the hospital and then the Mayor tried to smother you and then you woke up. And here we are. Buff, are you sure that you should be up out of bed so soon. He kinda took a lot from you."
Buffy just stared at Xander with a lost look. She let her gaze travel from Xander to the rest of the Scooby's, then up to her fallen angel. She saw embarrassment, and what looked like a shadow of regret, but nothing to dispute what Xander had just told her. She looked back at her friends and gently disengaged herself from her loves arm's. She walked forward without looking back at Angel's face. As she reached Xander she stood on the tips of her toes and peered at his neck. Even then, she was too short to see anything other than the collar of his t-shirt. She looked him in the eyes and continued to stare at him until her patience gave out.
"Want to help me out here Xand and bend over a little?" Her tone let him know that it was not a request.
Xander seemed to jump at her voice and nodded quickly. He stooped slightly and pulled the neck of his shirt down revealing the twin puncture marks that proved what he had just said. He froze in panic when he saw Buffy raise her hand to gently caress the wounds that her lover had made. As her hands took in the feel of the bite, he saw a quick flash of confusion pass over he face. The thought was lost though when she took her hand away.
The room remained almost deathly still as she continued on through the rest of the gang. One by one she looked and touched the marks that the ensouled vampire had made. But as she finished her inspection of the wounds the look of confusion was firmly planted in place. Quietly, she moved back to Xander and reached up once again to touch his mark. Her fingers were gentle and almost timid in their second exploration. The confusion grew as she maintained the contact to Xander, while turning to look once more at Angel.
"Xander's mark is different. It's deeper, and looks to be more painful. Why?" Though the question was delivered in a tone that held nothing more than curiosity, Angel reacted as if she had screamed the question. His eyes widened and then dropped to the floor in guilt. His shoulders tensed and he answered in a low tone, almost as if the words were being ripped from his throat.
"I… I bit him in punishment. It was meant to be painful, to serve as a reminder."
Giles noted that when Angel spoke about punishment, Buffy's shoulders tensed, and did not relax when Angel finished his short and succinct explanation. Giles was so focused on Buffy that he saw that the hand not touching Xander had started to shake. Just as he was about to speak, to hopefully calm the young woman that he loved like a daughter, Buffy spoke once again.
"I see. And what was he being punished for?" Her voice was like ice and did not only chill everyone in the room, but put Xander and Angel on edge.
"Buff, hey it's ok. What's done is-" Xander tried to speak but was drowned out with a quiet whisper from the Slayer.
"Quiet. Angel, what was his crime?"
Angel shuddered at her tone and began to wonder if he was given a reprieve from death only to be finished by the hands of the woman he loved. But death looming nearer of not he answered.
"He looked me in the eye and refused to drop his gaze"
Giles continued to watch Buffy, not noticing that Willow had joined him in silently observing the small woman. They both saw that her brow quirked with Angel's explanation and that the tense way she carried herself had yet to be relaxed. Giles began to seriously wonder if his slayer was going to try to pummel her love.
"Never again Angel. Don't ever harm him over some stupid macho guy trip. You may have the instincts of a vampire, and I may too, but that doesn't mean that they do, or that they understand why they are being punished. They are human, purely human, and I refuse to let anyone or anything hurt them. That includes you, mate or not. If you have issue with anyone, find a different way to settle it." The voice coming from Buffy was like nothing anyone had ever heard from before. The definitive tone made both Ripper and Angelus think twice in the far reaches of the minds that they were held prisoner in. Just as Giles thought that Buffy was done, she moved once more.
She stepped forward to stand toe to toe with Angel, and looked him in the eye, never letting his gaze fall from her own. As the room watched with bated breath the interaction between the two, Willow was the first one to catch what Buffy had said to Angel. As she felt her eyes grow wide as she tried to figure out why Buffy said that she had Vampiric instincts. Her thoughts were halted when Buffy spoke, her voice not loud, but not a whisper either.
"It's time to tell you all the truth about what happened on the night of my seventeenth birthday. Things are going to happened and you need to know why. I know that you're going to have questions, but just wait till I'm done till you ask them ok?"
AN: I know that it's been forever and a day since I've updated, and you will never know how sorry I am about that, but life happens and this is the soonest I could get a chapter out. Also, I have a brand new, and fast beta reader, so please everyone who reads my chapters here on out, give a hand to Queen of Loopholes. She is the one that is going to keep me from repeating the same stupid mistakes that I made in the first few chapters. So, until my muse visits, wishe me luck!
