~~ Chapter Four ~~
Buffy and Spike entered the main room of the magic shop where everyone was sitting, discussing the current problem. Buffy was toweling dry her hair but Spike's was already dry. Angel kept his eyes glued to his book, not wanting to look at either of them.
"Anything new?" Buffy asked.
"Well, we know that it's not a Thorak Demon because it's about the same height as a three-year-old." Xander stated happily.
"Xander, that's not exactly a huge accomplishment compared to the number of demons there are on Earth." Cordelia said.
"Yeah and what have you found out?" he bit.
"You guys haven't changed a bit since high school, have you?" Spike said. "Too bad there aren't any closets here for you--"
He was cut off when Buffy glared at him. "Quiet Spike, don't start anything!" she whispered.
"Sorry, pet." he apologized. Angel cringed at the nickname and glanced up at Buffy. He noticed a fresh bite mark on her neck. *I'll kill that bastard.* He thought to himself and wondered if everybody else knew what was going on between them.
"Spike and I will go look for this--thing. Maybe we'll be lucky and see it." Buffy suggested.
"Okay, but be careful and come back as soon as you've got something or if you're in trouble." her ex-watcher said, removing his glasses to clean them.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the speech Giles," Buffy replied. She grabbed her jacket off the counter, which Anya was still standing behind. "Hey Ahn, why are you still at the register?" she asked the ex-demon.
She looked at her watch. "I still have five minutes left on my shift." she said.
"It's okay Anya, you can sit down now. Nobody comes around this late anymore, if they ever did." he sighed to himself.
"Oh good," she said with a deep sigh. She sat down beside Xander and flaunted herself to Angel. Cordelia rolled her eyes.
Buffy and Spike left the shop.
"I'll go with them too," Angel said quickly, not wanting them to go out together. "Just in case they can't fight him off by themselves."
*Could he be more desperate?* Cordelia thought, rolling her eyes. She too wondered if there was more to Spike and Buffy's 'friendship'. Angel quickly walked out of the store with his leather duster flowing behind him. Anya frowned. *He didn't even glance at me.* She thought.
Gunn looked at everyone and asked, "Was that the most bizarre love triangle you have ever heard of?"
"Yeah I can see it now: 'Next week on Jerry Springer. I am in love with my ex-boyfriend's childe's childe.' Now that's entertainment." Cordelia mocked.
"Well actually, Spike and Buffy aren't in love. They just like each other a lot. It's just a temporary arrangement." Willow explained.
"Yeah, they just have sex. They're relationship is completely physical." Anya said before anyone could stop her.
"Oh," Cordelia said, sitting back in her chair. "Please do tell. That way I won't have to find out about it from Angel."
"Angel knows already?" Xander asked, looking at Willow.
"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't say a thing!" she defended herself.
"Believe me, Angel can tell when someone has had sex and who they had it with." Cordelia stated matter-of-factly. Everybody looked at Cordelia with strange looks. "Well, he could with Wesley. It was gross, yet interesting."
"Too much information!" Giles interrupted her. "Let's try to cross a few more suspects off the list shall we?"
Oz strolled into the shop. He had just finished playing at The Bronze with his popular band. "Hey," he said quietly.
Willow looked up and smiled at him. "Hi Oz," she said. "You wanna help us find this demon?"
"Sure," he responded.
"Still as quiet as you used to be, Oz?" Cordelia asked smiling. Oz just shrugged his shoulders.
"Here's a book," Willow said handing him one book from the many piles cluttering up a small round table. "Right now, we're just eliminating the little guys, since we know this one isn't little."
Gunn leaned over to Cordelia's ear to whisper something. "It's gonna be a long night." Cordelia just smiled and nodded slightly. She knew what they were in for.
~~ Chapter Five ~~
Buffy and Spike walked hand in hand down the dimly lit street, unaware that Angel was hiding in the shadows.
"So how do we find this asshole?" Spike asked Buffy, peering down the alleyways that they passed.
"Well if he's actually following through with this threat, then he will find us." she sighed, leaning against his right shoulder.
They stopped walking in front of an alley. "Don't worry, Ducks, I won't let the bugger hurt you." he said leaning down to give her a kiss.
Angel came around the corner and witnessed their share of affection. His heart nearly broke in two and he closed his eyes. *I'll find this creep, Buffy. Then you'll be mine again.* He turned around and headed off to find Willy the snitch. Spike and Buffy continued walking down the street and turned the next corner. If Angel had stayed a second longer, he would have seen the enormous figure step out from the alley and follow the couple around the corner.
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"OW!" Willy exclaimed after receiving a right hook from Angel. "I told you I don't know about any demons going after her!"
"You know, Willy, I believe you, but I don't think my fist does." Angel said raising his right fist while grabbing Willy with his left one.
"Wait! Okay, okay, I'll tell you. So there's this really big demon, and he's real sore about the Slayer killing his brother a while ago, some Toth guy. Anyway, he wants to kill her cause he was his only brother."
"Where can I find him?" Angel asked in a low growl, trying to keep the demon within him from surfacing.
"I don't know, he stays in an old warehouse by the city dump." Willy closed his eyes expecting another punch. But Angel just let him go and stalked out of the bar.
"Geez, just when I thought I'd gotten rid of that guy." Willy said watching him leave while holding his sore face.
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Angel burst through to doors of the magic shop. "I know where this thing lives!" he blurted out to everyone.
"Finally! One more book and I would have gone crazy!" Cordelia let out a relieved sigh. "Like I haven't seen enough of these books back in LA."
"Where Angel?" Giles asked, standing up.
"It's down by--" he started
"It's a Mohra demon!" Spike yelled, carrying a bruised and bloody Buffy through the doorway and around Angel's frozen stance. "Let's get some help here, people!" Spike shouted as everybody started at her quivering form. "I think she'll be okay, she just got knocked around a bit until I interfered." Spike said laying her down on the floor and wiping the blood off of her face with a handkerchief. He cradled her body close to his. It was then that everybody noticed Spike's bloody nose and bruised left eye.
"What happened?" Willow asked, almost at the point of crying.
"We were walking down the street when this big guy came out of nowhere. He slammed Buffy against a wall and she tried to defend herself, but she couldn't. I grabbed his sword and stabbed him in his side. Then he ran off." Spike stroked the side of her face then stood up, resting her head on his leather jacket. "There was blood everywhere! His mostly. I collected some and fed it to her. It will help her heal faster."
"He attacked you when you were sucking face, idiot." Angel mumbled under his breath, forgetting that Spike was able to hear him.
"You followed us? You hid in the shadows and fucking followed us?! And you didn't do anything to help her?!" Spike hollered at the top of his lungs.
"I left before it happened, Spike!" Angel yelled back.
"Calm down everybody," Giles said. "This won't help Buffy."
"Sod off, Angel. You don't belong here!" Spike said bitterly stalking towards Angel. They were standing face to face.
"Look! I went to find out what this thing was, how was I supposed to know--" Angel argued.
"Just go!" Spike said pointing to the door, barely containing his rage.
Defeated, Angel turned and left the store. He got into his car and drove off in search of the bastard that hurt his former lover.
"That was a bit harsh, Spike," Xander spoke up. "We may have needed his help to fight--"
"Help to fight, huh? Well I didn't see him helping when Buffy screamed his name, not mine," he said on the verge of tears. "Or when she collapsed on the floor after being beaten by that--that--THING! I was the one to fight it off; I was the one to save her life. Who needs him!" He paced around the room while a tear ran slowly down his cheek. "Dammit! I LOVE her! I CAN'T lose her. I'd go crazy without her!"
*Wow!* thought Willow. *He really does love her.*
~~ Chapter Six ~~
When Buffy awoke, she was lying on the magic shop floor. Everybody was sitting in chairs around the table and Spike was lying next to her, asleep. His right arm was holding her body close to his and he looked as if he'd been crying. She looked around again; everybody looked like they'd been crying. Willow was in Oz's lap with her arms around his neck and her head nestled on his chest. His arms were wrapped protectively around her waist.
Xander was sitting in a chair with his feet resting on the table. One of his hands was holding Cordelia's. She sat on his left and her head was resting on his shoulder. Anya sat on the other side of Xander with her head resting on her arms on top of a book. Giles was sitting in a chair with his hand holding his head, his elbow resting on the armrest. Gunn wasn't in the room but she heard him in the gym, working out and talking to the dummy as if were the demon.
She sat up suddenly, wondering where Angel was. Her head pounded and begged her to lay back down. She pressed her hand to her temple and felt some bandages wrapped around her head. Spike's arm slipped off her and she quietly made her way to the training area.
As she opened the door she saw Gunn, beating the dummy to a pulp. "Stupid demon! Hurt my friends, will you? Take this!" he said kicking the dummy's stomach.
She cleared her throat to alert him of her presence. She always hated being sneaked up on and thought it was the decent thing to do.
Gunn spun around and relaxed his stance when he saw her frail figure leaning against the doorframe. He felt his face grow hot from embarrassment.
"Hey, you're awake. They all fell asleep waiting for you to get up but I decided to tune up my skills. If these things can kick a Slayer and a vampire's ass, what chance do I have?" he joked.
"I know Spike's fine but was Cass badly hurt?" she asked concerned.
"No I mean when you and Angel fought one in LA, last time you were--oh shit." he cut himself off after realizing Buffy didn't remember Angel's day as a human.
But he was wrong. Buffy had remembered their whole day together. It came back to her one night in a dream. "It's okay Gunn, I remember everything. But who told you?" she asked.
"Cordelia...who else? She's told me a lot of stuff I don't really need to hear about Angel." he smirked.
"Sounds just like her. Speaking of the demon, do you know where he is?" she asked looking around the gym. "I need to talk to him."
"Um, well he took off. Spike kicked him out." Gunn said, removing his boxing tape. "You should probably go tell everyone that you're awake, they were pretty worried about you."
"Yeah, thanks." she said distractedly. *Why would Spike kick him out? He's probably just jealous. That little liar.* She thought. "There's a shower in the back if you want to get cleaned up after your workout." she said turning back to the magic shop's main room.
"Thanks," he called after her.
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Angel sped through the city in his convertible, following the scent of the Mohra demon's blood. *I'm so close, I can feel it.* He thought as he drove nearer and nearer to the city dump. Without realizing it, he passed by an old, condemned warehouse. He screeched to a stop in the middle of the road, U-turned, and drove into the warehouse parking lot. He shut off the engine and grabbed a long sword out of the backseat. The smell of the demon's blood was incredibly strong now; he had to be inside. Angel took a deep, unneeded breath and prepared himself to go fight the demon. *I killed one before; and I can do it again.* he thought.
Buffy and Spike entered the main room of the magic shop where everyone was sitting, discussing the current problem. Buffy was toweling dry her hair but Spike's was already dry. Angel kept his eyes glued to his book, not wanting to look at either of them.
"Anything new?" Buffy asked.
"Well, we know that it's not a Thorak Demon because it's about the same height as a three-year-old." Xander stated happily.
"Xander, that's not exactly a huge accomplishment compared to the number of demons there are on Earth." Cordelia said.
"Yeah and what have you found out?" he bit.
"You guys haven't changed a bit since high school, have you?" Spike said. "Too bad there aren't any closets here for you--"
He was cut off when Buffy glared at him. "Quiet Spike, don't start anything!" she whispered.
"Sorry, pet." he apologized. Angel cringed at the nickname and glanced up at Buffy. He noticed a fresh bite mark on her neck. *I'll kill that bastard.* He thought to himself and wondered if everybody else knew what was going on between them.
"Spike and I will go look for this--thing. Maybe we'll be lucky and see it." Buffy suggested.
"Okay, but be careful and come back as soon as you've got something or if you're in trouble." her ex-watcher said, removing his glasses to clean them.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the speech Giles," Buffy replied. She grabbed her jacket off the counter, which Anya was still standing behind. "Hey Ahn, why are you still at the register?" she asked the ex-demon.
She looked at her watch. "I still have five minutes left on my shift." she said.
"It's okay Anya, you can sit down now. Nobody comes around this late anymore, if they ever did." he sighed to himself.
"Oh good," she said with a deep sigh. She sat down beside Xander and flaunted herself to Angel. Cordelia rolled her eyes.
Buffy and Spike left the shop.
"I'll go with them too," Angel said quickly, not wanting them to go out together. "Just in case they can't fight him off by themselves."
*Could he be more desperate?* Cordelia thought, rolling her eyes. She too wondered if there was more to Spike and Buffy's 'friendship'. Angel quickly walked out of the store with his leather duster flowing behind him. Anya frowned. *He didn't even glance at me.* She thought.
Gunn looked at everyone and asked, "Was that the most bizarre love triangle you have ever heard of?"
"Yeah I can see it now: 'Next week on Jerry Springer. I am in love with my ex-boyfriend's childe's childe.' Now that's entertainment." Cordelia mocked.
"Well actually, Spike and Buffy aren't in love. They just like each other a lot. It's just a temporary arrangement." Willow explained.
"Yeah, they just have sex. They're relationship is completely physical." Anya said before anyone could stop her.
"Oh," Cordelia said, sitting back in her chair. "Please do tell. That way I won't have to find out about it from Angel."
"Angel knows already?" Xander asked, looking at Willow.
"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't say a thing!" she defended herself.
"Believe me, Angel can tell when someone has had sex and who they had it with." Cordelia stated matter-of-factly. Everybody looked at Cordelia with strange looks. "Well, he could with Wesley. It was gross, yet interesting."
"Too much information!" Giles interrupted her. "Let's try to cross a few more suspects off the list shall we?"
Oz strolled into the shop. He had just finished playing at The Bronze with his popular band. "Hey," he said quietly.
Willow looked up and smiled at him. "Hi Oz," she said. "You wanna help us find this demon?"
"Sure," he responded.
"Still as quiet as you used to be, Oz?" Cordelia asked smiling. Oz just shrugged his shoulders.
"Here's a book," Willow said handing him one book from the many piles cluttering up a small round table. "Right now, we're just eliminating the little guys, since we know this one isn't little."
Gunn leaned over to Cordelia's ear to whisper something. "It's gonna be a long night." Cordelia just smiled and nodded slightly. She knew what they were in for.
~~ Chapter Five ~~
Buffy and Spike walked hand in hand down the dimly lit street, unaware that Angel was hiding in the shadows.
"So how do we find this asshole?" Spike asked Buffy, peering down the alleyways that they passed.
"Well if he's actually following through with this threat, then he will find us." she sighed, leaning against his right shoulder.
They stopped walking in front of an alley. "Don't worry, Ducks, I won't let the bugger hurt you." he said leaning down to give her a kiss.
Angel came around the corner and witnessed their share of affection. His heart nearly broke in two and he closed his eyes. *I'll find this creep, Buffy. Then you'll be mine again.* He turned around and headed off to find Willy the snitch. Spike and Buffy continued walking down the street and turned the next corner. If Angel had stayed a second longer, he would have seen the enormous figure step out from the alley and follow the couple around the corner.
************************************************************************
"OW!" Willy exclaimed after receiving a right hook from Angel. "I told you I don't know about any demons going after her!"
"You know, Willy, I believe you, but I don't think my fist does." Angel said raising his right fist while grabbing Willy with his left one.
"Wait! Okay, okay, I'll tell you. So there's this really big demon, and he's real sore about the Slayer killing his brother a while ago, some Toth guy. Anyway, he wants to kill her cause he was his only brother."
"Where can I find him?" Angel asked in a low growl, trying to keep the demon within him from surfacing.
"I don't know, he stays in an old warehouse by the city dump." Willy closed his eyes expecting another punch. But Angel just let him go and stalked out of the bar.
"Geez, just when I thought I'd gotten rid of that guy." Willy said watching him leave while holding his sore face.
************************************************************************
Angel burst through to doors of the magic shop. "I know where this thing lives!" he blurted out to everyone.
"Finally! One more book and I would have gone crazy!" Cordelia let out a relieved sigh. "Like I haven't seen enough of these books back in LA."
"Where Angel?" Giles asked, standing up.
"It's down by--" he started
"It's a Mohra demon!" Spike yelled, carrying a bruised and bloody Buffy through the doorway and around Angel's frozen stance. "Let's get some help here, people!" Spike shouted as everybody started at her quivering form. "I think she'll be okay, she just got knocked around a bit until I interfered." Spike said laying her down on the floor and wiping the blood off of her face with a handkerchief. He cradled her body close to his. It was then that everybody noticed Spike's bloody nose and bruised left eye.
"What happened?" Willow asked, almost at the point of crying.
"We were walking down the street when this big guy came out of nowhere. He slammed Buffy against a wall and she tried to defend herself, but she couldn't. I grabbed his sword and stabbed him in his side. Then he ran off." Spike stroked the side of her face then stood up, resting her head on his leather jacket. "There was blood everywhere! His mostly. I collected some and fed it to her. It will help her heal faster."
"He attacked you when you were sucking face, idiot." Angel mumbled under his breath, forgetting that Spike was able to hear him.
"You followed us? You hid in the shadows and fucking followed us?! And you didn't do anything to help her?!" Spike hollered at the top of his lungs.
"I left before it happened, Spike!" Angel yelled back.
"Calm down everybody," Giles said. "This won't help Buffy."
"Sod off, Angel. You don't belong here!" Spike said bitterly stalking towards Angel. They were standing face to face.
"Look! I went to find out what this thing was, how was I supposed to know--" Angel argued.
"Just go!" Spike said pointing to the door, barely containing his rage.
Defeated, Angel turned and left the store. He got into his car and drove off in search of the bastard that hurt his former lover.
"That was a bit harsh, Spike," Xander spoke up. "We may have needed his help to fight--"
"Help to fight, huh? Well I didn't see him helping when Buffy screamed his name, not mine," he said on the verge of tears. "Or when she collapsed on the floor after being beaten by that--that--THING! I was the one to fight it off; I was the one to save her life. Who needs him!" He paced around the room while a tear ran slowly down his cheek. "Dammit! I LOVE her! I CAN'T lose her. I'd go crazy without her!"
*Wow!* thought Willow. *He really does love her.*
~~ Chapter Six ~~
When Buffy awoke, she was lying on the magic shop floor. Everybody was sitting in chairs around the table and Spike was lying next to her, asleep. His right arm was holding her body close to his and he looked as if he'd been crying. She looked around again; everybody looked like they'd been crying. Willow was in Oz's lap with her arms around his neck and her head nestled on his chest. His arms were wrapped protectively around her waist.
Xander was sitting in a chair with his feet resting on the table. One of his hands was holding Cordelia's. She sat on his left and her head was resting on his shoulder. Anya sat on the other side of Xander with her head resting on her arms on top of a book. Giles was sitting in a chair with his hand holding his head, his elbow resting on the armrest. Gunn wasn't in the room but she heard him in the gym, working out and talking to the dummy as if were the demon.
She sat up suddenly, wondering where Angel was. Her head pounded and begged her to lay back down. She pressed her hand to her temple and felt some bandages wrapped around her head. Spike's arm slipped off her and she quietly made her way to the training area.
As she opened the door she saw Gunn, beating the dummy to a pulp. "Stupid demon! Hurt my friends, will you? Take this!" he said kicking the dummy's stomach.
She cleared her throat to alert him of her presence. She always hated being sneaked up on and thought it was the decent thing to do.
Gunn spun around and relaxed his stance when he saw her frail figure leaning against the doorframe. He felt his face grow hot from embarrassment.
"Hey, you're awake. They all fell asleep waiting for you to get up but I decided to tune up my skills. If these things can kick a Slayer and a vampire's ass, what chance do I have?" he joked.
"I know Spike's fine but was Cass badly hurt?" she asked concerned.
"No I mean when you and Angel fought one in LA, last time you were--oh shit." he cut himself off after realizing Buffy didn't remember Angel's day as a human.
But he was wrong. Buffy had remembered their whole day together. It came back to her one night in a dream. "It's okay Gunn, I remember everything. But who told you?" she asked.
"Cordelia...who else? She's told me a lot of stuff I don't really need to hear about Angel." he smirked.
"Sounds just like her. Speaking of the demon, do you know where he is?" she asked looking around the gym. "I need to talk to him."
"Um, well he took off. Spike kicked him out." Gunn said, removing his boxing tape. "You should probably go tell everyone that you're awake, they were pretty worried about you."
"Yeah, thanks." she said distractedly. *Why would Spike kick him out? He's probably just jealous. That little liar.* She thought. "There's a shower in the back if you want to get cleaned up after your workout." she said turning back to the magic shop's main room.
"Thanks," he called after her.
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Angel sped through the city in his convertible, following the scent of the Mohra demon's blood. *I'm so close, I can feel it.* He thought as he drove nearer and nearer to the city dump. Without realizing it, he passed by an old, condemned warehouse. He screeched to a stop in the middle of the road, U-turned, and drove into the warehouse parking lot. He shut off the engine and grabbed a long sword out of the backseat. The smell of the demon's blood was incredibly strong now; he had to be inside. Angel took a deep, unneeded breath and prepared himself to go fight the demon. *I killed one before; and I can do it again.* he thought.