Sorry about such a long wait. I've been reading more fan-fiction than writing it and I've recently discovered I have a serious addition to 'Bones'. Damn that impossibly good looking and incredibly funny David Boreanaz...Anyone else notice so many Angel references in that show?

Love Bites, Part 1

February 14, 2006

After another long and strenuous day, their 10 month old daughter and their week old son were finally sleeping.

"Apocalypses are easier." Buffy mumbled as she collapsed onto their bed.

Angel smirked, pondering if dealing with two babies really was worse than fighting the end of the world. As he changed into a clean pair of sweatpants he pulled a tissue box size wrapped gift from his underwear drawer.

He knew he had to act quickly before his wife succumbed to exhaustion.

He slipped into bed beside her and kissed her neck, gently rousing her from half-sleep.

"Umm…sleeping." She mumbled.

"But you haven't opened your present yet." He teased into her ear.

Her brow furrowed, "Present? For what?" She yawned and turned over to face him, unable to resist the lure of a gift.

He kissed her cheek, "Happy Valentines day my love." He whispered as he placed the box into her hands.

Her eyes widened in sudden realization. "Oh crap! Angel, I'm so sorry, I forgot!" She cried feeling horrible since she usually went all out for this special lover's day.

"You already gave me the perfect present." He suggested.

She looked back at his quizzically, as she fingered the gift in her hands.

"We called him Liam Patrick Summers." He clarified.

"Liam isn't a present, he's our son." She retorted.

"Like I said before, I'm not fussy. Now open it." He said with an impatient smile.

She quickly pulled the little red heart wrapping paper off the box and gasped in awe.

In her hands was an intricately carved dark wooden box, on the cover was a hand inscribed image of roses and hearts, written in Angel's fanciest script was 'You are my Forever.'

She looked at him, eyes watering.

"Open it." He repeated.

She looked back down at the artwork in her hand and unlocked the silver clasp to lift the lid. When it was open she realized it was a jewelry box, lined with red crushed velvet and complete with compartments for rings, bracelets and pendants.

"Its…I don't even have words to say how beautiful this is…how? When did you make this?" She asked, knowing it must have taken a lot of time and effort of his part.

"I have a lot of free time at work lately." He mused.

"Liar." She retorted, knowing they had been rather busy at Angel Investigations...she being on maternally leave the last few months left her supervising more that participating.

"For you…I always make time. Besides, I'm the boss…who's going to complain."

"Me." She countered, "We are co-bosses…so I can complain if you're slacking at work."

"So you're going to scold me right after I gave you a Valentine's Day gift, which you forgot about, by-the-way…" He countered with a hidden grin.

"Hey, I've been a little preoccupied with birthing your child mister." She stated with a finger to his chest.

"That was a week ago…" He pushed.

"Yeah, takes more than a week to raise a baby." She retorted, unsure he was playing or angry.

"Are we really going to start an argument right now? It's not exactly romantic." He asked, the hidden grin peaking out.

She smirked, "You think you're getting laid don't you?"

"Well you do owe me a present." He smirked, snaking a hand around her waist and puller her closer.

She pulled back, breaking his grip, "We discussed this, sex isn't a present."

"You're right, but by the guidelines of our marriage and the fact it's a holiday specifically designed for lovers, I deem sex is an entitlement tonight." He grinned lustfully and kissed at her neck.

"Excuse me?" she mocked, gently shoving him back, "Entitlement? I don't think so, Pal. I'm your wife, not a sex toy."

"You could be both." He suggested huskily.

She punched him not so gently in the arm.

"Wear that naughty nurse outfit I like so much?" He continued, moving closer.

She folded her arms across her chest, with a lock of mock outrage.

"Could give me a full body check up?" He finished by kissing the tip of her nose.

"You're such as asshole." She said shaking her head.

"Hand carving you a much needed jewelry box makes me an asshole?" He questioned, amused.

"No, demanding sex in exchange makes you an asshole." She clarified.

"Trust me, if I was demanding…you'd know." He grinned, pulling at her panties.

She swatted his hand away.

In return he gave her his best wounded puppy look, eyes as big and sad as possible.

Her heart caved in.

"Don't do that!" She whined, "You know I can't rest that."

"Exactly." He grinned as resumed kissing her neck.

She surrendered to his lips, letting him lower her down onto the soft mattress.

She hadn't actually planned to make him work for sex, but she had secretly enjoyed every second of it. She liked knowing she still held sway over him since his soul and demon merged.

Not to mention she was actually really looking forward to this, it wasn't this first time they'd made love since then, but it would be their first intimacy since Liam was born, so their first time without a basketball wedged between them.

She was curious to know how different he was sexually when he didn't have to be gentle with her belly.

It didn't take long for her to find out.

He was straddling her almost immediately, his tongue in a war with hers for dominance over her mouth.

She reached up and tangled her hands in the short dark spikes of his hair, pulling him closer. She felt his growing arousal pushing against the confines of his sweats and her moistening panties.

He was enjoying being atop her, these last few months her pregnancy had limited their lovemaking positions to a narrow few, but tonight he was determined to display a little dominance by staying on top.

Buffy untangled her right hand and slid her fingers down along his body, seeking to remove the offending material separating her from her lover.

Angel easily shrugged off the sweats and had no remorse for tearing the panties that blocked him.

"Hey! I liked those." Buffy scolded when she heard the telltale rip.

"They were in my way." He said quickly, still actively fighting to win the kissing battle.

Buffy wasn't a normally submissive person, in her everyday life she had to take control of the situation or else she ended up dead. However, in bed with her lover, she was finding being placed in a role of submission was wildly exciting her when it was Angel doing the dominating.

Part of her had been getting extremely frustrated with her husband over the past year of their marriage; his constant 'whatever you want' attitude had been wonderful at first but had rapidly grown stale. His taking charge and not waiting for permission was sending her arousal threw the roof.

Angel moved down Buffy's body, kissing a passionate trail as he went. He knew she was more than ready for the next step but he was finding making her wait to be extremely exciting. Instead of entering her as they both wanted, he pulled her bra down and slipped a nipple into his mouth, deciding to tease her a little longer.

"Angel." Buffy moaned, finding herself almost painfully aroused.

He simply moved to the other nipple, however he hadn't expected to it to seep milk. Not fazed in the slightest, he simply lapped at the dribble, enjoying the taste if her.

He chuckled and pulled back at her burst of embarrassment as she tugged the nursing bra back into place. "Those are off limits." She stated with bright red cheeks.

Instead of continuing with her chest, he simply moved back to her neck, which wasn't lactating.

Realizing Angel was purposefully teasing her senses and making her desire flair, she figured she could play that game too. Buffy traced her fingers down his chest to his exposed manhood and began to stroke him, slowly luring him where she wanted him.

She grinned when he groaned against her shoulder, a shutter of want rushing though him.

"Wait." He whispered against her ear.

"No, now." She demanded, trying to get him inside her.

He pulled his lower half away from her, and placed a slow and loving kiss on her forehead before he sat back and reached for something in his nightstand.

At this point, she was practically pulsing with desire.

She watched in relief when he grabbed the box of condoms from his drawer and snuggled back up to her, resuming his kisses.

"I'm glad on of us remembered…I sure didn't." She admitted as she stole one of the birth control devices from him and prepared to install it.

"Well you made yourself very clear a few months ago." He replied, his last words ending in more of a groan as she slipped the condom onto him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"If you ever get me pregnant with one still in diapers again…I've giving you an at home vasectomy." He repeated her words from the night they found out she was pregnant with Liam. "Not the kind of thing I'm likely to forget." He finished.

"I didn't say that!" She countered immediately, but after a look from him she relented, "Ok maybe I did…but you know I wouldn't…"

"Normally? No. While souped-up on raging pregnancy hormones? Not a theory I'm willing to test."

Soon after, their small talk dissolved away into something far more passionate.

…

Buffy slowly awoke feeling amazing, tired as hell, but still amazing.

Angel was still mostly atop her, something he'd rarely done before. He always used to roll off her immediately after, like he was afraid he'd crush her. As a slayer, she could chuck him across the room with little effort, so that concept was fairly impossible.

She thought back to a few hours ago, smiling to herself at the tingling feelings she could still feel.

He defiantly was different in the bedroom, and she found it was a positive change for sure. He had always been an amazing lover, conscious of her needs as much or more even than his, but it had seemed like he held back a lot of the time.

He didn't hold back anymore, that's for sure. His touch was more pronounced, his movements harder and deeper, as if he finally realized she wouldn't shatter beneath him.

She witnessed a side of him she'd never seen before, it was almost creepy how in tuned he was to her body. Almost as if he could read her mind.

It was strange, she never realized anything was missing from their love life until a few hours ago, now…she just felt complete.

He was sound asleep, his soft, warm breaths tickling the left side of her neck as he exhaled.

She brushed her right hand threw his dark locks and caressed down his neck to rest over his shoulder blade. His tattoo was slightly out of reach on his opposite shoulder, so she settled for caressing his left. His right arm was lost someplace under her pillow but his left hand was resting on her right shoulder.

She knew from past experience that he wouldn't wake unless she wanted him too, she could roll him over if she desired and he would naturally adjust his position to her as he slept on. She laughed silently at the thought; she'd felt him sleep through her constant repositioning against him when she was heavily pregnant, but also watched him instantly awake if so much as a whimper came from the bassinet.

If any other person tried to touch him as he slept, she knew they would end up with a broken nose at the least.

She loved the feel of his warm smooth skin under her fingertips, his solid but lean muscular form folded into her arms. After a few minutes of light, loving caressing she settled and prepared to fall back to sleep.

Right before she did she scratched an itch on her neck, but as she did, her eyes squinted in confusion when she realized it was a healing itch. Moving her fingers over the area she felt a sudden dread.

'He bit me?' She wondered in shock, feeling the twin wounds he unwillingly inflicted on her graduation day were now re-healing from a very recent opening.

Her eyes fell down to his sleeping features, a sudden nervousness swelling in her as she realized his mouth was resting against her neck on the opposite side. She felt her heart speed up, a mix of anger and confusion warring at her emotions. Her nearly 18 month (nine month per baby) suppressed Slayer instincts flaring at the offense.

Angel stirred, he lifted his head and opened his sleepy eyes when he heard Buffy's heart rate suddenly change.

"Buffy? Everything ok?" He asked, looking around, hearing and seeing nothing out of the ordinary. After a second he looked down at his wife and saw the hurt and anger on her face, his night vision giving him an advantage over her.

Without a word she shoved him off her, a little harder than she intended and since he was still only half-awake he didn't quite recover in time and tumbled off the bed and none-to-gently collided with the floor.

The thump of his body impacting the hardwood sent a bolt of regret though her, but she quickly turned on the light and looked down at him rubbing his head.

"What the hell Buff!" He snipped, finding being thrown out of bed an instant mood killer.

A whimper came from the nearby bassinet, but Liam didn't wake.

The nickname sent a wave of horror threw her, only Angelus ever called her that and she found hearing that name from his mouth caused the same feelings of anger and distrust the demon had always inflicted. Her 'Slay' impulse screaming.

"You bit me." She accused, holding her hand to the already closed wounds.

"So you chuck me out of bed?" He demanded, standing up and wrapping the sheet that fell with him around his waist.

"You drank from me." She repeated, feeling violated, her slayer blood racing for action.

"I've drank for you before." He countered, not seeing any problem with his actions.

"To save your life!" She clarified as she slid out of bed and pulled the sheet into a sort of toga to cover herself.

"So I'm limited to my deathbed before I can drink from you?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"You want to? You said you didn't crave blood…you lied to me!" she retorted, anger still spinning in her mind. 'He didn't ask, he's making no signs of remorse, he doesn't have a problem taking my blood? If he will take mine, what about the kids? Would he take theirs too?'

Her motherly instincts kicked in as she stood between him and the bassinet holding their sleeping son.

Her moving in front of Liam's crib didn't go unnoticed to his eye. "I didn't lie. I thought you understood Buff, my demon side is as strong in me as my human side. Occasionally both need to be satisfied. You offered you're blood to me before, I had no reason to think it would bother you." He stated, angry and confused as to why she was so offensive about this.

"It does!" she snapped, feeling her body want to fight.

"I barely took any…" He countered.

"I don't care how much you took! You ate me!" She shot back.

"I didn't drink from hunger, I was reclaiming my mark!" He admitted a moment later.

"Reclaiming?" She demanded, outraged. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm a vampire Buff. You think I can't tell another vamp fed from my bite? That I can't sense Dracula sank his fangs into you. That you allowed it…" He countered, feeling both angry and betrayed.

She gasped at him, "Angel that was years ago! And for the record I didn't let him, he used his creepy mind control mojo…which I broke, by the way, and staked him repeatedly."

"It didn't matter; he bit you, it was still his mark. So I made you mine again, it wasn't planned, it just happened."

She fumed at that, "I'm not yours!" She spat, enraged he was treating her like a piece of property.

He recoiled from that, his heart feeling crushed by her words. 'I'm not yours.' His mind raced, she'd indeed said to him she was his, he remembered the words clearly, but apparently she had changed her mind.

"And don't call me Buff." She snipped in anger, hating the nickname from him.

His hands tightened into fists, his anger demanding action.

He stepped forward, towards her.

Sensing his apparent hostility, she stepped back, away from him and away from the potential of a fight. Her body nearly aching with repressed slayage.

Anger flushed through him at her retreat and his demon features surfaced, "So that's all it takes huh Buff? One bite and you turn on me too." He demanded, an intense feeling of rejection flaring inside him.

Her eyes widened and she moved further back from him, shocked at his anger and the flash of madness in his eyes.

A flash of Angelus in the raw.

Her whole body was fighting her slay instinct at his demon surfaced. "I'm not something to claim Angel, I'm a person! What about the kids, do you plan to claim them? Going to leave your mark on them like a possession too!" She vented.

He backed away, his demon side reeling back in at her accusations. "I'd never hurt them, you know that!" He snapped, even more hurt that she'd even suggest it.

"Do I? I thought I knew you, apparently I don't." She stated hotly.

He turned, grabbed a handful of his clothes and walked out.

Realization flooded threw her and she called back, "Where are you going?"

"You don't want me here. I'm gone." He snapped, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

A cry shot from the bassinet beside the bed as the loud noises roused the sleeping baby lying within.

A few seconds later she heard the front door slam, then she couldn't feel him anymore; he was out of range of her senses.

On auto pilot she walked to the crib and lifted her week old son into her arms. "Shh, it's ok Liam." She soothed as she rocked him back to sleep and laid him back in the crib.

The fight replayed over and over in her head; the bitter words, the angry accusations, she was still raving mad at him.

'I'm gone.' His last words echoed in her head.

'What the hell did he mean by that! Did he...leave me?'

Needing answers she picked up her phone and dialed Giles number.

On the fifth ring a sleepy British voice answered. Buffy felt a pang of guilt over the ungodly hour, but her questions needed addressing.

"Giles, sorry about the time, but I need to know everything about vampires marking their victims." She demanded.

The phone was silent a moment, the watcher still shaking off sleep.

"Buffy, vampires don't mark their victims…they kill them. Some have been know to mark their mates as a form of commitment. The bite signifying possession and offering protection from other vampires..." After a momentary pause, "Has something happened between you and Angel?" He asked, figuring with the lateness of the hour it was highly likely.

She digested his words a moment but remained silent. 'Possession and protection?'

"He bit you didn't he?" The watcher probed.

"Yeah." She replied, thankful she didn't have to say it.

"Not to be crass Buffy, but he had bitten you before. You carry his mark already, do you not?" He asked, confused why she would be asking about something that happen on her graduation from high school.

"I have a scar, yeah but he threw this whole, I'm his, crap at me. I'm not a possession! He made it sound like Dracula biting me was this whole betrayal or something."

"Oh." Giles commented, "And what happened?"

"He left" She said quietly. "He bite me, we argued, he left."

Giles rubbed his eyes, his glasses being on his bedside table, he chose to forgo cleaning them.

"He brought up Dracula by name?" Giles questioned.

"Yeah, which is absurd since it happened how many years ago?" She complained.

"Before tonight, when has Angel last…bitten you?" Giles inquired.

"Graduation day." She stated blankly.

"I think I understand…Buffy when Dracula reopened your scar, he re-marked you as his." Giles tried.

"That what Angel said…which is stupid! Some fang pokes don't determine who I belong to." She interrupted.

"Not for humans, no, but to vampires…it does. Tell me, how did Angel react to the scar before the merger?
"He avoided it like the plague…" She spoke, the light dawning. "So why all of a sudden the 'reclaiming' crap, why didn't he just do it before?"

"Buffy, Angel is not the same man you married. When his soul and demon merged, we all knew it would cause changes in him. One of those changed is a stronger tie to his demon heritage. I assume he would have 'reclaimed' his mark sooner, but he refrained because you were with child."

"Oh." Buffy sighed, her mind whirling with the new info.

"May I ask, what did you say to him before he left?"

She gave her watcher the cliff notes version of their earlier fight.

She heard Giles sigh heavily into the phone. "Oh dear."

"What?" she demanded.

"Well I understand why he left. Buffy, when he remarked you and you denied him…it's the vampire equivalent to throwing your wedding ring in the trash."

"What! But I didn't, I'm wearing it! He didn't take his off!" She panicked.

"Regardless, the symbolism stands. By denying his mark you basically told him his demon side wasn't welcome, that you don't accept who he is." The older man explained.

She absently rubbed the healed wound. "But…but that's not true! I do...I just don't accept being an object!"

"He wasn't marking you as his object; he was marking you as his mate." He clarified.

"Mate? That sounds like something animals do in the zoo." She dismissed.

"Mate, wife, spouse, partner, companion…it's all the same. Vampires typically lack souls, so soulmate shortens to just mate." The watcher explained.

"I…I told him I didn't want to be his wife?" She asked, horrified.

"Essentially…yes." Giles agreed.

"I have to go." She whispered and hung up.

Numbness rushed though her and she felt the hard wood of their bedroom floor impact her knees as her legs gave way. "Oh god, what have I done?" She whispered to her empty bedroom, her eyes stinging with hot tears, and her right hand covering her mouth to keep the cries inside. Her left hand tightly clenching around her wedding ring. "What have I done?"

…

Angel had dropped the sheet in the hall as he passed threw the house, pulling on his clothes with super sonic speed.

Angelus worthy rage coursing throughout his entire body. He wanted to hit something, repeatedly.

'She denied me. She doesn't want to be with me. Is this it? Are we over?' His mind raced as he slammed the door and walked out into the cold, dark night.

…

The bed felt far too big and cold with just her in it, after hours of restless staring at the clock she decided sleep wasn't going to happen.

She felt sick over the fight between her and Angel only hours ago. She had wanted to go out and find him immediately, but she couldn't leave the kids alone and it was too late to call anyone else.

Plus she knew if Angel didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.

Sluggishly she got up and as her feet glided across the floor towards the bathroom her big toe impacted something. "Ow, what the…" She looked down and picked up the offending object.

A fresh stab of guilt sliced into her heart.

In her hands was the jewelry box Angel had given her earlier that night. The words 'You are my forever' were mocking her as she looked down at it.

Pushing away the tears, she set the beloved object down delicately on her bureau and smoother her hand over the letters.

With a lump in her gut she turned back to the bathroom, decided she needed a shower at wash off the shame.

A cry from the bedroom caught her attention as she washed her hair.

"Damn it." She cursed and rushed out of the shower, realizing there was no one else to answer the cry.

A few minutes later she stood in a wet towel with her week old son in her arms, trying to sooth the babe.

After a moment she realized it was hunger that fueled the outburst of cries. However after almost an hour of trying she found herself in the same boat as Liam's first night home. He wouldn't eat.

Remembering how the problem was rectified before, she sat on the bed and leaned back, trying to release all the tension from her body, clear her mind and just relax.

No matter how hard she tried, the lump of guilt and worry over Angel wouldn't go away, but her body relaxed enough for Liam to finally latch onto her nipple and feed.

Once Liam was settled again, Buffy went to check on Katie.

As she walked into the hall she nearly tripped over the discarded sheet Angel had worn as he stormed out. With a heavy heart, she folded it and placed it back on the bed where it belonged, wishing the former occupant would do the same.

She checked on Katie, finding the tot to be sleeping soundly and oblivious to the earlier shouts. 'This kid sleeps deeper than most teenagers.' Buffy pondered as she swept a dark curl from her daughters face. She bent and placed a kiss upon her brow, feeling drawn to the little face the so reflected her father's.

Satisfied her two children were sound asleep, she quickly finished showering the conditioner from her hair and got dressed.

Figuring she might as well start the day, she carried the bassinet with Liam sleeping inside and headed downstairs towards the kitchen in desperate need for a coffee.

She put the little crib against the living room wall so her newborn son was close enough to watch, but outside the kitchen so the lights and sounds wouldn't rouse him.

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen she nearly jumped out of her skin when she walked into someone.

Buffy swallowed a scream as she looked up into the darkness and Angel's scowling face.

Her heart skipped a few beats, "What are you doing here?" She blurted, not expecting to see him home so soon and surprised she hadn't felt him return.

"Last time I checked, I lived here." He stonewalled as he maneuvered past her.

She winced, realizing what she said a moment too late.

"I didn't mean it like that." She tried, but he was already up the stairs and ducking into the bedroom.

She sighed, but figuring he was at home was a good sign, she went for the coffee pot.

A few minutes later she was listening to the drip of future coffee pooling into the pot.

The sun was just rising as she sat at the table with her sadly decaffeinated but still better than nothing coffee. 'Why can caffeine be transmitted through breast milk? Shouldn't evolution have fixed that problem? Tired moms need caffeine!'

She was contemplating going upstairs to confront Angel when he walked into the kitchen, Katie in his arms. She noticed he'd showered and changed, wearing the leather trench coat that he usually wore when patrolling.

"She's hungry." He stated, placing the 10 month old into her highchair.

"Daddy" The tot repeated a few times, her current favorite word. She looked over to Buffy and cried "Mamee!" obviously oblivious to the tension between her parents.

"I was just going to make breakfast" Buffy mentioned quietly, "Are you staying?" she asked uncertain after a moment.

"No." He looked at the coffeepot then seemed to decide against it, instead he pulled a box of cheerios off the counter and dropped a handful in front of Katie, who instantly began scooping them up, eating some, playing with the others. It would at least hold her over until Buffy prepared a real breakfast.

"Where are you going?" She asked, afraid he was leaving for good.

"Work." He replied, grabbing a package of pop-tarts from the cabinet then vanishing from the room.

Buffy mentally kicked herself for not cornering him and went to follow, but he was already out the door. 'Damn, his demonic speed is really annoying this morning...'

Her shoulders sagged when she heard his Plymouth GTX roar to life and speed away.

'At least he didn't have a suitcase.' She added positively. 'Although he did have his favorite leather coat…' Her mind added destructively.

She went back into the kitchen, forcing a smile for Katie and asking what she wanted for breakfast.

"Daddy!" Was her reply.

"Me too, Katie. Me too." Buffy mumbled as she prepared for the morning routine, minus her husband.

…

Angel sat back in his office chair, arms folded across his chest, a brooding grimace set across his lips.

He hated the way it felt, for that last few months he figured the 'tortured soul' routine was dead…apparently he was wrong.

'Even Buffy doesn't trust you.'

That thought buzzed around in his mind like a noisy fly, seeming so tiny and insignificant, but impossible to ignore.

'She hates you. She doesn't want you. She wanted a human husband and she got stuck with you!'

He lashed out at the items on his desk, sweeping the desk calendar, ceramic coffee mug, pencil holder and phone onto the floor in a clatter. He stood up and ran his hands through his hair, trying in vein to cool his temper.

"I was never this touchy." He grumbled, knowing his mean streak came from his demon side and also knowing there wasn't much he could do about it.

In the past, it took a long time to get the normally cool Angelus worked into a rage, but once there, he stayed a while or until the object of his anger was very dead.

Since he knew there was absolutely no way he was harming Buffy, he knew he needed to figure out how to control his anger in a realistic way.

He didn't bother cleaning up the mess on the floor and headed towards the elevator, intending to hit the gym/training center and knock the punching bag around for awhile, maybe spar with some of the tougher slayers to ease his frustrations and think clearly.

If he wasn't fighting with Buffy at the moment, he would have gone to her to talk. She more than likely would have told him that despite his dual demonic/human nature he was still only human when it came to his emotions.

His own deepest insecurities about his darker side had been surfaced by the one he had been closest too, Buffy's reaction to him had hurt worst than any knife and he could still feel the blade lodged in his chest.

Every breath seemed to push it in a little deeper. 'She denied you, she doesn't want to be with you.'

Because his Angelus side was now merged to his soul, instead of retreating from things that bothered him, he felt compelled to face them.

Of course he soon discovered Buffy was the one person he couldn't bring himself to contend with, not in a physically hitting sense anyways.

Thus he suppressed his anger and brooded instead, leaving the soul to bear the burden.

Upon entering the gym, his attention was diverted by a huge beast materializing out of nowhere. "What the…" was as far as his thoughts went before his mind switch to 'Kill it' mode.

The creature screamed as Angel drove a handy sword threw its leg, and the later widely missed a swipe of revenge.

The living vampire was holding his own when a few of the slayers joined.

Everything would have been fine if one of them didn't make a near fatal mistake.

A young slayer in training named Melody went in for a disembowelment, Angel recognized the mistake it would be for trying to slice open this particular demon's gut with a much too dull training sword.

Without thinking he rushed forwards, pushing the girl back.

His attention diverted to the young girl, he failed to notice the demon rear back its huge arm, nor did he see it swing at him.

He would have felt it, but the force of him flying into the air was cut short by the two glass windows he smashed threw and ended abruptly as he impacted a solid concrete wall.

He fell to the ground in a bone heap.

...

TBC...