The One With The Angelic Face.
Title:- see above
Rating:-PG13
Distribution:- ask first.
Ownership:- I'm not Joss (lucky sod) Whedon and I don't own the characters from BtVs.
Feedback:- or may your bed swallow you in your sleep!.
Author's Notes:- don't 4get Buffy and the Scooby Gang still think Spike is Angel otherwise you'll get very confused.
Angel past the *Now entering Sunnydale* sign and his car packed in. If he could breath, he would have sighed, but respiration wasn't an option. He climbed out and kicked the car tyre hard. She was near, he could sense her, but then he could also sense the rest of them. He didn't want a repeatition of last time. No thankyou. Slamming the door shut, he continued his journey on foot. Resisting the tempation to mutilate every human who past him. Angel looked at the stars, and blocking the demon out of his mind, focussed on finding the Slayer before Harvest. He stopped at the graveyard , and on seeing the Slayer at work, slunk into the shadows behind the mausoleum. She ducked, dodged and whirled, ramming the stake home and reducing the offending vamps to the contents of an ashtray. This was going to be fun.
Straightening her clothes, Buffy shook the ash from her hair, and carried on walking as if nothing had happened. Following his instincts, Angel went after her, adopting her pace and the sound of her footsteps, watching her body-language for signs of stopping. She rounded a corner, and Angel followed to find she'd disappeared.
"You're my second stalker in two nights. Am I a magnet or something?"
He looked up, she was balanced on the phone line above,
"You should come down before you hurt yourself."
Angel liked her instantly, her reflexes, her character and attitude were typical of previous Slayers but she was different.
"What is it with me? Why are stalkers suddenly concerned about my welfare?"
"Who said I was? I'm simply stating a fact."
She stood up, balancing on the wire, then leapt landing directly infront of him. Unfortunately for Angel, she recognised him from Spike's description. Saying nothing, she turned and left, walking briskly towards the Bronze. Angel followed,
"Hey, wait up."
"No thanks, I don't need your help with the Harvest or anything else Slayer-like."
"Uh, what?"
"You heard me. Scram."
He went to grab her by the arm, but she dodged him and turned to face him, brandishing the stake,
"Leave me alone."
The vampire thought it best to do as she said, so he did and when she turned around again, he'd vanished.
"Is it just me or is my life full of Houdini's? Dad, Angel, then him. It must be me."
She carried on towards the Bronze, obeying "Angel's" Instructions.
Willow sat at a table in the Bronze in a dark corner, she was soon joined by Buffy,
"Any sign of him yet?"
Will shook her head,
"Nuh-uh. No show."
"Hold your horses. You gotta give me a chance, Pet."
They turned to look at the peroxide blonde vampire and he smiled amiably. Buffy returned his hospitality,
"Angel, take a seat."
"Will do."
He sat on the opposite side of the table from the two girls, so he could see them both but still see the entrance. Wouldn't want some dim-witted demon blowing his cover. Willow, rested her head in her hands,
"So now what do we do?"
Spike took a pocket-size spell book from the inside of his jacket and pushed it across the table top towards them. Buffy took it and examined the cover.
"What's this?"
"A book on how to give Spike his soul back."
"You can do that."
"Yeah. It's happened before but some bright spark undid it. Namely the Master."
"What's this got to do with the Harvest?"
"You give Spike back his soul, then he reeks vengeance on the Master. It's been prophecised that they'll destroy eachother. Bingo, you get rid of Master and Peaches all in one."
Willow frowned,
"But why do we want to kill Spike if he has a soul?"
Buffy filled her in,
"So he can't get bad again. Am I right?"
Spike nodded loving every minute of it,
"100%. But you'll need my help with the incantations. They're written in the ancient language of the Romanii. That and you need one of Spike's belongings, which I already have."
He held up an old, silver pocket watch. The one Angelus had dropped just before he was sentenced to an eternity at a soulful, footkissing demon hunter. Willow took the book from Buffy and noted the delicate intricacy of the carvings on the spine. It depicted two places, one appeared to be Heaven, the other Hell. Or the mouth of Hell to be exact. Hellmouth. It was Hell mouth and The Valley Of The Sun. Sunnydale. She dismissed it as irrelevant and flicked through the pages,
"How soon can this be done?"
Spike shrugged,
"We can do it now if you know anywhere, where we can't be disturbed."
Buffy brightened up,
"I do. The library."
Willow looked doubtful,
"What about Giles?"
"He's gone to some council meeting in the next town. He'll be back tomorrow. Meanwhile, we can do the spell, stop Harvest and prove that I don't need to have a permanent tag on me."
Willow handed the book back to Spike and he tucked it back into his jacket.
They left, Buffy leading the way clearing their path of vampires. The blonde vampire smiled to himself. Bye-bye Slayer. Bye-bye Peaches. Hello the psychopathic vampire who Spike knew as his Sire. Walking around in Angel's boots wasn't so bad.
Angel hung outside the mausoleum, looking for any trace of the others. The others being Druscilla, Darla or Spike. The Slayer had mentioned two stalkers, one was himself. Who was the other? She obviously recognised him from somewhere. Had Buffy seen Angel while he tracked her in LA? no. Impossible. Angel tensed and backed into the shadows of the trees as he saw Darla drain every drop of blood from her latest victim. The body slumped to the floor and she wiped the remains of her dinner from her mouth. Angel stood stock still as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She knew someone was there, no doubt she knew it was him, but he wasn't going to give himself up. He looked up at the sky a it began to rain. Oh great. He looked back to where Darla had stood, she was gone.
"You know I don't like Hide and Seek, Angel."
Her voice was soft and whispery behind him. Turning , he scowled at her and she looked hurt,
"Is it really so bad to see me after all this time?"
"Yes. Leave me alone."
"What's the matter? Things with the Slayer not going as you planned?"
He glared at her,
"What do you know about it?"
"Oh nothing. Just that your pain will be short-lived, my love."
"Oh? You think so? At the moment I can think of no greater painkiller than a stake in your heart. Go away."
She smiled sweetly,
"As you wish." She began to walk away, "I'll see you kneel at the Master's feet before this decade is over."
She disappeared and Angel was left shouting at the surrounding headstones,
"Don't count on it!"