( Chapter 4 )
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended, all characters belong solely to the creator, Joss Whedon. On the other hand, this idea belongs to someone I met on aol but forgot to get his name before he changed his SN. So, I won't take credit for the idea of Angel turning human the way he did, but from here on in, whatever I type is from my own imagination. We didn't really take our RP to this point so I'm more or less on my own now. If you wanna use it, ask me first please. ^_^
Note 1: My last three chapters seemed to be flops, for some odd reason more people read my second chapter than my first and third chapter. I've only gotten 4 reviews for the first and second chapters, and 1 review for the third...I must suck pretty bad. If I don't get more than 6 reviews for this chapter, I'll just go on and quit while I'm ahead.
Note 2: This is also the last chapter in this series, I'll start a continuing series after this one. ( if my reviews give me that chance )
Pronunciation and Reference:
Chratylia: ( pronounced Shruh-teel-yuh )
Chratyl: ( pronounced Shruh-teel, he is the demon who guards the gates of hell )
Lyrics: "Leap of Faith" by Inside Scarlet. ( in italics )
His Return...
The feeling of overwhelming shock penetrated the air around them, she felt as if this was all one big joke intended to be at her expense. She stood there, frozen in fear of possibly another unwanted surprise. She didn't know what to think, what to feel, or even what to say, she went blank. It was definitely him, but there was something about his appearance that didn't quite fit.
"Bu........Buffy...." came his anguished whisper.
"Angel...what," Buffy started, almost choking on her own sentence, "...what happened to you?" Angel didn't reply, the only sound she heard out of him was an occasional pain-filled moan. After a few minutes of debating her alternatives, she forced herself to move closer to him to examine his condition. He was turned away from her, curled into a fetal position atop a granite pedestal next to a coffin and shaking almost violently. Buffy looked him over carefully, he still had his clothes, although they were almost torn to shreds. He appeared to be cold and soaking wet, when she gently placed her hands on his arm to make him face her, her jaw dropped so fast she could almost hear it hit the floor. Among the many abrasions, bruises, and pieces of torn material on his body, he had a large gash across his chest that was leaking a red substance. "Blood...you're..." she whispered to herself slowly without hesitation. Deciding against letting her mind trick her once again, she softly touched her fingertips to the red liquid to find that it wasn't cold...but warm.
"Buffy..." he whispered once again. She gasped when she felt his arms slip around her waist and pull her closer, he was definitely cold. She was shocked at how cold he was, he felt like pure ice. She had to get him out of there before he got any worse, if that was possible.
"Angel, I'm going to get you out of here," Buffy said quietly.
"I...need..." he had already begun using resistance with her.
"Warmth. I know. A hospital bed can give you that," she interrupted, finishing his sentence for him.
"No..." he argued again, obviously not realizing that he wasn't in any position to do so. Completely ignoring his refusals, she lifted him to a sitting position as her eyes immediately met his in a serious stare.
"Listen to me, you've willingly gone to Hell to save my life, for that I had no choice," she began, "...but don't think for a second that I'm going to let you die now that you've been given back to me for a second chance, Angel." Hearing her words, they pulled at his heart just as fiercely as they always had. Now he realized he was in no place to fight her. Although his body was still shaking and in enormous amounts of pain, he allowed her move him. She delicately placed one arm around his waist, and guided his other arm around her shoulders while he got down from the pedestal. Slowly heading toward the small door of the mausoleum, she kicked it down with one swift thrust. Easing themselves out of the little marble house, she noticed that hardly anything had changed in the graveyard. It barely looked as if it had been disturbed a few moments ago, she quietly looked into Angel's eyes, which were so glassy she wouldn't stand a chance of finding out what he was feeling. She released a low sigh as she began walking at a slow pace toward the cemetary entrance.
"Buffy, I can't...I can't go to a ho..hospital," he mumbled in and out of anguished waves of pain. "Buffy...slow down..." he whispered in a warning voice, but her mind was going slower than her feet apparently; she would have ran directly into a tree if Angel hadn't pulled her off to the side quick enough.
"I-I'm sorry," she whispered. Regaining her composure, she began moving at a slower pace, remembering to keep her mind on where she was going. His smaller wounds were nothing compared to that large gash in his chest, she had to get him out of there, but where if not the hospital? She tightened her grip around his waist as she carefully led him past the gates, out of the cemetary and toward the sidewalk. His body felt like it was growing colder by the minute as she led him onto the sidewalk, she proceeded to carry him toward a nearby police station when Angel held back.
"T-Too dangerous Buffy, they'll ask questions...h-how about your place..." came his suggestion as she watched him wince at his growing pain. Sighing deeply she realized that there really was no other place to go, she had all she needed at home to doctor him up and besides, he was right about the hospital and the police station. Noticing that he was slipping slightly, she gently hoisted him back up into position and began walking down the sidewalk toward her house only a few blocks away.
"I have to fix that cut, Angel. It's too deep..." as she trailed off she couldn't help but be happy that he was back. Among the many thoughts in her head, two stood out. Was this a chance for them to have another try at a relationship? Or was this just a chance for Angel to have a real life, the chains of his curse finally broken? They were now only a block from her house, which she could now almost see from where they were. Buffy turned their direction diagonally, Angel followed her lead as if they were dancing, although this was nothing close to what either of them had remembered dancing to be like. His occasional sounds of suffering had only made her pace quicken as she wanted to get him to a safe place. As they crossed to the other side of the street, Buffy suddenly lost her footing and went tumbling forward. She was surprised when she didn't feel her body crash into the building ahead of her. She was against Angel's chest as his back hit the hard brick wall, she heard him cry out in complete agony. His body was in enough physical pain, and he risked being hurt even more to protect her? Pulling back, she stared at him for a moment and everything came back to her.
"Buffy, I..." he started to say something but she made a motion for him not to say it.
"It's okay Angel, let's get you to a safer place and we can talk there," she
said quietly. Her arm slowly slid back behind his waist, and she placed his arm
back around her shoulders as she nodded for them to go forward. Only one
question now burned in her mind, if this was a second chance, who was it for and
why?
The Summers Residence
As the two slowly came up to the front steps, Buffy very carefully released Angel and directed him to use the wall for temporary support while she fumbled for the house keys in her jacket pocket. When she finally found them a moment later, she put the key into the lock but remembered one detail and turned to face Angel.
"Since it's been awhile, you know...with you going to L.A. and all, my invitation for you to come in has probably worn off so..." she stopped in mid-sentence as she saw his head move back and forth slightly.
"Buffy, y-you don't have to do that anymore..." he whispered, adjusting his body a little so that it would ease it's pain on his chest. She stared at him for what seemed like several minutes before turning around to unlock the door. Now unlocked, she pushed the door open and returned back to Angel's side, once again placing her arms around him to guide him through the door. Luckily Joyce and Dawn were sleeping, she'd hate to have to explain her situation to the both of them.
"Do you think you can make it up there?" she asked, indicating the staircase with a nod before reaching behind her to quietly shut the front door.
"Do I have a choice?" he answered back, leaving Buffy to wonder whether he meant that sarcastically or truthfully. As she headed up the stairs one at a time, Angel followed her with each step until they made it to the top.
"That took us..." Buffy whispered, rolling her wrist around to look at her watch, "...ten minutes and fifteen seconds." She heard Angel's mild chuckle as he motioned for her to start moving again. Buffy began slowly walking down the hall to her room, taking extra caution not to make the slightest noise that would wake Joyce or Dawn. As Buffy's mind began to wander once again, Angel pulled back before they passed the door to her room.
"Right here..." he whispered, turning her back toward her own bedroom door.
"Oh...sorry," she replied, placing her hand on the doorknob. She twisted it once and pushed the door open, leading him into her room. She turned to shut the door quietly behind her, once again making sure not to wake the whole house up. Guiding him over to her bed, she gently released him onto his back as he hit the plushy comforter below. "Here...." she said quietly as she placed a pillow underneath his head for support.
"I know...wait here while you go get the supplies..." he said mockingly, reading her expression.
"Don't move or make a sound," she added before turning to leave.
Buffy's Room
Saw you lookin' my way,
And I came by the other day,
As the door slowly closed shut behind her, Angel's mind began racing. What was he doing back here? How did he get back here? Why was Buffy being as kind as she was, what with all she's been through in only two days? Normally if she was hurt or in pain she would show it, she wasn't doing that this time. Her room had changed since he last saw it, her bed had moved from one side to the other, posters had changed from the younger teen idols to the more adult and sophisticated ones. His beloved Buffy had definitely grown up since he last saw her, she'd changed more than he could have ever imagined yet, he still knew her. Her smell was everywhere in the room, it was on everything. He felt something on his nose, as his hand slowly moved to find what was there, his fingers hit something wet and sticky. He raised his fingers to eye level, blood, he had no idea his nose was bleeding. At that moment he realized his vampiric sense of smell was gone.
Maybe it's just me,
Somethin' I wouldn't see,
"I don't know what use I am to you now Buffy..." he said to himself as his
eyes found their way over to her bookcase. Mr. Gordo, he remembered the first
time he ever saw that stuffed pig. He discovered what it was like to be scared
like he had scared Buffy all those time before. There was no telling how he was
going to get out of this mess, he wasn't a vampire anymore, he was mortal, a
human. He had no way of helping anyone anymore, at least not the way he could
have helped them when he was immortal. Sighing, he closed his eyes and tried to
relax his body while his mind continued running at full speed.
The Kitchen
So I took a leap of faith,
And I stumbled,
"There, let's see um...bandaids, alcohol, surgical tape, neosporin, and ah...I'm missing something I know it," Buffy said to herself as she went rumaging through the medicine cabinet after checking her supply list. "Gauze! That's it, um....come on, where are you," she whispered impatiently, "...ah-ha...there we go. Now to get all this stuff upstairs," she finished, finding the gauze behind a bottle of antiseptic. Searching the kitchen quickly, she found a large plastic bowl that her mother had used to hold the soups she made for her potlucks at the gallery. She grabbed it, tossed all her supplies into it and made her way back toward her room. Why had she been acting as if the past two days hadn't happened? This all felt so strange to her, like Angel was someone she had never known before tonight. She had no idea of how much pain he was in, or what he did after that hole had swallowed him up. She remembered hearing his screams of torture as the hole was closing up, she was so sure he was dead. Was he mortal now? Or was he still a vampire and trying to hide it from her? Dawn had never met Angel, she'd have to sooner or later now that he was back in Sunnydale for awhile. How would she explain this to her mom?
So here I am,
And I don't know what to call this,
"I'm definitely going to need your help in that department, Angel..." she
whispered to no one in particular as she came to the beginning of the stairway.
Holding the bowl over her head, she began making her way back up to her room.
Step by step, all the way up her heart was still heavy with the pain she'd found
over the past couple days. Amidst the pain in her heart, she felt a secure
calmness that she had never felt before. Her legs were still shaking a little
from the astonishment of finding Angel in the mausoleum, but she felt completely
still. Finally making it to her bedroom door, she gently twisted the knob and
peeped her head in.
Buffy's Room
"Angel?" she whispered to him.
"Hm?" he replied just as quietly.
'Cause I want you,
I don't care what the cost is,
And I want to,
Find time to make you mine,
And I want you,
Yes, I want you,
"Just checking," she concluded, stepping into her room and closing the door behind her again.
"Do you have everything?" he asked. To her surprise he hadn't stuttered or mummbled his words once.
"Yeah, are you still cold?" she asked back.
Try to stand up straight,
Somethin'...it radiates,
"Thankfully, no...for a few hours there I thought I would freeze to death," he replied.
"Mom left the heater on, I think that helped," she said, as she sat down on the side of the bed next to Angel. Setting the bowl on her nightstand, she reached in and retrieved a small rag and the alcohol.
"I-Is that what I think it is, Buffy?" Angel's voice had a reflection of fear in it.
I hear you callin' my name,
Wanting, it all sounds the same,
"What? This?" she replied, holding up the bottle of alcohol, "or this?" she said, holding up the rag sarcastically.
"You know what I meant, Buffy, that bottle," he answered as if he hadn't recognized her sarcasm.
"It isn't Holy Water, Angel. It's alcohol, you're two-hundered and forty something. If you passed history you would know that people used whiskey on their wounds to kill bacteria, this is similar, just without the added ingredients," she stated proudly, realizing that History 101 did serve some purpose in her life.
"Will it hurt?" he asked.
'Cause I want you,
I don't care what the cost is,
And I want to,
Find time to make you mine,
'Cause I want you,
Yes, I want you,
"Alcohol doesn't come pain free, if you drink it or not, of course it's going to hurt. Just imagine this as nothing compared to fighting all those demons in L.A.," she replied, as she opened the bottle and leaned over Angel's chest to pour the liquid over the open gash.
"Those demons in L.A. didn't pour alcohol on my wounds," Angel retaliated. He winced at the stinging sensation he felt as the alcohol penetrated his open wound.
"Would you like a pillow to bite on?" she asked again in sarcasm. His look of 'you have to be joking' told her all she need to know. "I'm sorry Angel, that was much harsh," she apologized.
I don't know,
Where I keep my better side,
"It doesn't matter Buffy, as long as I can heal, I'm sure I'll live," he replied, smiling lightly. She patted the wound dry and cleaned any access dry blood from around the wound. Grabbing the gauze from the bowl, she quickly made a long, thick patch with it. She then grabbed the neosporin from the bowl and undid the cap, squeezing a little on the bottom of the tube to make sure she had enough. "O-Okay...what is that?" he asked suspiciously.
I thought I had my pride,
"It won't hurt, it's a healing medication...it works pretty good too. The scar probably won't be as big if you use this stuff," she replied matter-of-factly. She gently pointed the tip of the tube over the cut and squeezed almost the entire amount into it. She tossed the almost empty tube back into the bowl and retrieved her gauze strip. She sat up a little and eased the strip over the wound, patted it down and then went digging for the surgical tape.
But I see you standin' there,
"I'm going to smell like a medicine cabinet aren't I?" he asked.
And I'll never be the same,
"Probably, but better that than death," she replied truthfully. Finding the tape, she tore off two long pieces and two short pieces for each side of the gauze patch. She placed the long pieces on the longer sides first, following up with the smaller pieces on the shorter sides. "All finished, now for the minor cuts," she said, looking over her work proudly. She didn't see any cuts below his chest, just many minor bruises and a few scratches.
'Cause I took a leap of faith,
And I stumbled,
"I can't believe this...Buffy I'm actually tired," he said surprisingly.
"You've been tired before, and you slept too," she replied.
So here I am,
And I don't know what to call this,
"No, I mean...this isn't from fighting demons or vampires, this is from real need to sleep," he added assuringly, also correcting her.
"Then you sleep, and I'll clean the rest of these cuts off," she said, as he closed his eyes with an accepting nod. It only took her a few minutes to dab at the smaller cuts on his neck, face, arms, and chest. She applied the alcohol and carefully covered each cut with small or medium bandaids. One more remained that she had left for last, it was a pretty bad cut on his lower lip. She wet the rag one last time, and gently pressed it to his lower lip. Luckily he was a hard sleeper, because he had already fallen into a deep sleep and the sting didn't wake him. A feeling came over her at that moment, it felt like the perfect moment between a couple. Watching him sleep, it hadn't occured to her that he was human, she had been so used to the vampire she knew him to be. He looked so peaceful and serene, she knew that was what he had always wanted, to be with her in complete peace. They had both always wanted a normal life together, but that was when they loved each other and they believed it was forever. Riley had won her heart when Angel left for L.A., it all seemed so fast and then it was gone. She'd lost Riley, another great love in her life, and tonight she thought she had lost Angel for the final time, but she was wrong.
All I know is I want you,
I don't care what the cost is,
And I
want to,
Find time to make you mine,
And I want you,
Yes I'm waitin'
for you,
'Cause I want you...
"Sleep good Angel, you've earned it. We'll talk about everything tomorrow...we'll sort it all out," she whispered, lightly caressing the side of his face with the tips of her fingers. It wasn't long before she softly rested her head on the unwounded side of his chest and closed her eyes. The last thing that went through her mind before falling asleep was that they both were finally at complete and total peace, for once.
Oh, I love you...