Chapter 24: Never Take Things For Granted
Brent stopped his pacing and looked at his ex-wife through narrowed eyes, "What
I'm planning to do? You're not really that dumb, are you. You can certainly
guess what's going through my head. I left my children with you because I thought they would prefer to live in their familiar surroundings, with their grandmother near by. But now," he shook his head and sat down on a loveseat, "honestly Buffy, you cannot be serious about this. Living with him, I mean."
"Believe me, I am perfectly serious," she hissed through gritted teeth,
desperately trying not to lose control at his annoying attitude, at times like
these the slayer was close to the surface. "What sort of person are you? You
don't even know Angel. How can you judge him?"
"I don't need to know him, the fact that he's a vampire is all I need to know,"
he replied.
"For the last time, he is no vampire. Or how do you think he would've managed to
drive in a convertible with the sun shining down on us? Besides there aren't any
vampires on this earth anymore. You may remember that little incident called
'closing the hellmouth forever'?!"
"Don't go all slayer on me," he hissed, "I know this attitude and I can't stand
it. This haughty 'I'm so much better than all you lower beings' isn't working
with me. I've had all of your attitudes I could take."
Buffy was speechless for a moment. "I never...," she began, but then decided this wasn't the subject she wanted to discuss, not with a man who wasn't even
important anymore. "You still haven't told me how you heard about Angel?"
"I had a business meeting last weekend and met an old byfriend of yours. You
might remember him, Riley Finn."
The former slayer gasped, "Riley!"
"Oh yeah, Riley. You can't imagine how surprised he was that you were my ex-wife. I showed him pictures of the children and then told him you were living with an old flame of yours." He settled back in the chair, "He immediately became suspicious and when I told him your lover's name he told me all about your dirty little secret. He was really shocked that I allowed my children to live under the same roof than a killer."
"And of course you believed a complete stranger, did you?"
"He had no reason to lie."
"Oh didn't he? How about the fact that he was always jealous of Angel? How about
his inferior complex and ... oh that might be of interest for you, how about the
fact that he paid vampire whores for sucking his blood?"
Brent did a double take, "He what?"
"Interesting piece of news, isn't it. And unexpected too, don't you think,"
Buffy's eyes glittered dangerously when she stepped closer, her gaze never
leaving her ex-husband's. "He was a demon hunter when I met him, working with
this paramilitary-group. They were catching vampires and experimenting with them. Ask Spike if you don't believe me, he had some first-hand experience with them. And those people indoctrinated him. If it comes to vampires Riley's the most narrow-minded person on this planet. And you call that source reliable?"
"I...," now it was Brent's turn to be speechless. The man he'd met the previous
weekend had looked perfectly normal to him. But the idea of letting vampires suck your blood and paying for it? Brent shuddered in disgust. Still, it didn't change the facts. "But I still don't want Ashlynn and David to live with him," he nodded pointedly towards the kitchen and frowned. What the hell were Danielle and that person - oh, no he wasn't really a person, or was he? - so long?
At that moment Angel entered the room, his eyes darting back and forth between
Buffy and her ex-husband when he placed the tray on the table. Danielle followed
him, seductively swaying her hips. "Tea anybody," he asked politely and realised
that Brent was avoiding his gaze. Ah, he thought inwardly and sighed. This wasn't something he wanted to deal with, but then ... and although he wasn't a vampire anymore he hadn't been able to avoid listening to the conversation in the living-room, they'd been loud enough.
"Hi honey," Danielle walked over to her boyfriend and sat down on the arm-rest
beside him, putting an arm around his neck.
Absentmindedly he flashed her a quick smile, "Do you understand?," he asked,
looking at Buffy. "Either he goes or I'm going to fight you in court for
custody."
"What?," the former slayer felt her heart constricting. "No," she shook her head
in shock. "You ... you can't do that. There's no reason, I already told you the
children love Angel and ..."
"Buffy," Angel put a gentle hand on her shoulder and when she looked up to him he gave her a smile. Then he sighed and turned towards Brent, "Maybe I should take over here."
"I really don't care what you have to say," the other man hissed, completely
forgetting about his girlfriend.
"Too bad," the former vampire replied, his voice almost annoyingly neutral and
polite, "but you will have to now. So you want to go to court and fight for
custody. How?"
"What do you mean how. I'm just taking a lawyer. I'm the father of these kids in
case you have forgotten," Brent said, his voice rising.
"*I'm* not the one forgetting about it," Angel sat down on the sofa and poured
himself some tea. His hands were steady and his features calm. "Did you even know that you're son barely remembers you and that Ashlynn avoids looking at pictures of you because she's so hurt by your neglecting? No, of course not. How should you. You're too busy with your job. And now tell me, how do you think you get your children fitting into your new life?"
"I will hire a baby-sitter or a nurse or whatever and there's Danielle too,"
Brent replied coolly, not noticing that his girlfriend's eyes widened in shock.
Angel on the other hand registered it immediately.
"I see," he said over the rim of his cup. "And you think that's an alternative
for living with their mother?"
"I don't have anything against them living with their mother," the other man
hissed again. "I don't want them living with you. If Buffy gets rid of you the
whole thing is off."
"Brent ...," Buffy began but was silenced by Angel's intense glance he sent her
way.
"That's not going to happen," the former vampire replied softly, but Brent
recognised the dangerous glimmer in his eyes, he'd already seen the first time.
"In fact Buffy and I are going to be married in three weeks," he informed the
ex-husband casually.
"M... marriage?," Brent almost choked on the word. "Are you mad?," he directed
the question at his ex-wife.
"Uh, honey," Danielle spoke for the first time.
"What?," her boyfriend asked impatiently.
"I just wanted to say that I have absolutely no idea how to deal with kids. I do
love you, you know that, but children were never part of the deal," she
pointedly looked at her manicured hands.
Brent didn't reply to that, just glared at her for a moment, then turned back to
his ex-wife's new lover. "Do you really want to risk Buffy losing the children
because of you?," he asked, his voice containing an open threat.
Oh God, the former slayer thought, oh God and her eyes flickered to Angel, the
man who'd sacrificed his life for her, the man who had wanted her to kill him so
his demon couldn't kill her friends. Would he leave her now? Would he do the
noble thing? No, she said, she wouldn't let him. Not this time. She held her
breath at his next words.
"No, I don't want that," Angel said simply. "But it won't happen." He leaned back and watched Brent's face, "Tell me what exactly you want to say to the judge? Buffy is there for her kids, every day. She holds them when they cry, she feeds them, she buys clothes for them, she loves them and most importantly they know it. So how do you intend to argue?"
Brent laughed, feeling utterly superior, "Do you really have to ask?"
Now it was Angel's turn to laugh, and it sounded genuinely amused. Buffy raised a brow in surprise. He wasn't backing out, no he actually seemed to enjoy the
situation. Try to understand men, she thought. No, rewind that, make that
ex-vampires and the confusion was perfect.
"Are you planning to use me? I want to see that, really I'm looking forward to
it. Brent," Angel smiled, thanking all the gods in the universe for his years of
experience of dealing with people like him, "you do not mind me calling you Brent, do you?" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "I'm going to marry your ex-wife in three weeks, I'm financially settled. I have several businesses running smoothly, I have friends who would gladly speak up for me." No need to tell him that these friends were former watchers, witches, werewolves or seers.
"And you think that would count the moment the judge knows what you are ... or
were?"
"Honey, what are you talking about?," Danielle asked confused. Not really liking
the subject she'd spent the time comparing her boyfriend with Buffy's future
husband and come to the conclusion that the other woman had made the better deal.
Angel flashed her a smile before he turned back to Brent, "And what do you think
will happen when you tell the judge about my past? What do you think he'll do
when you just tell him that your ex-wife's new husband was a vampire?"
"Vampire? Honey, did he just say vampire?"
"He will say the same thing as I. That you aren't fit to be with children," Brent insisted, ignoring his girlfriend.
"Oh, you think so," Angel smiled coolly, "I would rather get used to the idea that he's going to lock you up. Safely and for a long time. Or did you forget the fact that most people are ignorant and tend to deny the existence of supernatural things. These days anyway. Or how do plan to prove your accusations to be true?"
"Honey," Danielle whined, "I'm sure I heard him use the word vampire and ...,"
"Shut up," Brent hissed at her and his girlfriend's mouth closed with a loud
snap. He didn't want to deal with her right now. All he could do was glare at the other man and accept that he was right, as much as he hated to admit it. His eyes darted to this wife and he wanted to shout at the love and admiration shining from her eyes while they were watching her future husband.
"Danielle, would you like some tea now?," Angel offered ignoring Brent for a
moment, sensing what was going on inside the other man.
The dark-haired woman flashed him an open smile, "Yes, thank you so much, Angel." She left her spot at Brent's side and moved to a sofa opposite from the
ex-vampire. "Maybe he's still suffering from a minor jet-lag," she whispered,
"he's usually a nice guy."
Angel bit his cheek not to laugh out loud and handed Danielle her cup, while
Buffy watched in amusement how Brent's girlfriend was flirting with her fiancée.
"Brent, you too?," the former vampire asked.
"No, thank you," the other man's voice sounded exactly the way Angel had expected it. Angry, disappointed, defeated. He had admitted to himself that this was a no win situation. Shooting his ex-wife and her fiancée hateful glances he stood and grabbed his girlfriend's arm, "Danielle, we're going."
"But, Brent, Angel just got me that nice cup of tea...," she protested.
"We're going," he hissed at her again and pulled her with him. "You'll hear from me," he promised while walking towards the door. "Tell the children I'll be in contact with them."
"Sure," Buffy replied but he'd already slammed the door shut. She turned and
looked at Angel with open amazement.
He smiled, stood up and came over to her. Stroking her cheek with the tip of his
forefinger, he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"
"I ... I can't believe that really happened," a laugh escaped her mouth and she
leaned her forehead against his chest, slowly encircling his waist. "I was
expecting you to do the noble thing and let me go for the children's sake." He
could feel a shiver running through her body.
"No way," he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, "I'm not leaving you. Never again," he whispered and pulled her close.
"You almost seemed to enjoy this," she she said in wonder and looked deeply into
his eyes.
"No, I didn't. But Brent didn't know that and that's what's important if you deal with people like him. He had to think we were extremely self-confident about this."
"Is this all demon experience?," she asked curiously.
"Only partly," he told her, kissing the tip of her nose. "Most of it comes from
dealing with trash during my time in L.A. He's not the first husband threatening
to take the kids away, you know."
"I guess," she sighed and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "We probably should
go and get the kids from mom," she said, not wanting to leave his arms, where she felt safe and protected.
"We could call her," he suggested and a slight grin crossed his features. "She
certainly won't mind having them for the night."
Buffy had to grin as well, "You're a bad man, you know," she scolded playfully.
"I know," he sighed dramatically, and she laughed out loud.
"I'll call her."
"And maybe you should tell her not to let the kids go with Brent today. I don't
see him as the kidnapping-type, but he's really angry right now..."
"Good idea," she agreed and went for the phone. When she returned five minutes
later, she told him, "Mom knows about Brent and she's happy to keep the kids with her." She grinned mischievously, "And now, maybe I could show you how much I appreciate what you did today."
End Chapter 24.
Brent stopped his pacing and looked at his ex-wife through narrowed eyes, "What
I'm planning to do? You're not really that dumb, are you. You can certainly
guess what's going through my head. I left my children with you because I thought they would prefer to live in their familiar surroundings, with their grandmother near by. But now," he shook his head and sat down on a loveseat, "honestly Buffy, you cannot be serious about this. Living with him, I mean."
"Believe me, I am perfectly serious," she hissed through gritted teeth,
desperately trying not to lose control at his annoying attitude, at times like
these the slayer was close to the surface. "What sort of person are you? You
don't even know Angel. How can you judge him?"
"I don't need to know him, the fact that he's a vampire is all I need to know,"
he replied.
"For the last time, he is no vampire. Or how do you think he would've managed to
drive in a convertible with the sun shining down on us? Besides there aren't any
vampires on this earth anymore. You may remember that little incident called
'closing the hellmouth forever'?!"
"Don't go all slayer on me," he hissed, "I know this attitude and I can't stand
it. This haughty 'I'm so much better than all you lower beings' isn't working
with me. I've had all of your attitudes I could take."
Buffy was speechless for a moment. "I never...," she began, but then decided this wasn't the subject she wanted to discuss, not with a man who wasn't even
important anymore. "You still haven't told me how you heard about Angel?"
"I had a business meeting last weekend and met an old byfriend of yours. You
might remember him, Riley Finn."
The former slayer gasped, "Riley!"
"Oh yeah, Riley. You can't imagine how surprised he was that you were my ex-wife. I showed him pictures of the children and then told him you were living with an old flame of yours." He settled back in the chair, "He immediately became suspicious and when I told him your lover's name he told me all about your dirty little secret. He was really shocked that I allowed my children to live under the same roof than a killer."
"And of course you believed a complete stranger, did you?"
"He had no reason to lie."
"Oh didn't he? How about the fact that he was always jealous of Angel? How about
his inferior complex and ... oh that might be of interest for you, how about the
fact that he paid vampire whores for sucking his blood?"
Brent did a double take, "He what?"
"Interesting piece of news, isn't it. And unexpected too, don't you think,"
Buffy's eyes glittered dangerously when she stepped closer, her gaze never
leaving her ex-husband's. "He was a demon hunter when I met him, working with
this paramilitary-group. They were catching vampires and experimenting with them. Ask Spike if you don't believe me, he had some first-hand experience with them. And those people indoctrinated him. If it comes to vampires Riley's the most narrow-minded person on this planet. And you call that source reliable?"
"I...," now it was Brent's turn to be speechless. The man he'd met the previous
weekend had looked perfectly normal to him. But the idea of letting vampires suck your blood and paying for it? Brent shuddered in disgust. Still, it didn't change the facts. "But I still don't want Ashlynn and David to live with him," he nodded pointedly towards the kitchen and frowned. What the hell were Danielle and that person - oh, no he wasn't really a person, or was he? - so long?
At that moment Angel entered the room, his eyes darting back and forth between
Buffy and her ex-husband when he placed the tray on the table. Danielle followed
him, seductively swaying her hips. "Tea anybody," he asked politely and realised
that Brent was avoiding his gaze. Ah, he thought inwardly and sighed. This wasn't something he wanted to deal with, but then ... and although he wasn't a vampire anymore he hadn't been able to avoid listening to the conversation in the living-room, they'd been loud enough.
"Hi honey," Danielle walked over to her boyfriend and sat down on the arm-rest
beside him, putting an arm around his neck.
Absentmindedly he flashed her a quick smile, "Do you understand?," he asked,
looking at Buffy. "Either he goes or I'm going to fight you in court for
custody."
"What?," the former slayer felt her heart constricting. "No," she shook her head
in shock. "You ... you can't do that. There's no reason, I already told you the
children love Angel and ..."
"Buffy," Angel put a gentle hand on her shoulder and when she looked up to him he gave her a smile. Then he sighed and turned towards Brent, "Maybe I should take over here."
"I really don't care what you have to say," the other man hissed, completely
forgetting about his girlfriend.
"Too bad," the former vampire replied, his voice almost annoyingly neutral and
polite, "but you will have to now. So you want to go to court and fight for
custody. How?"
"What do you mean how. I'm just taking a lawyer. I'm the father of these kids in
case you have forgotten," Brent said, his voice rising.
"*I'm* not the one forgetting about it," Angel sat down on the sofa and poured
himself some tea. His hands were steady and his features calm. "Did you even know that you're son barely remembers you and that Ashlynn avoids looking at pictures of you because she's so hurt by your neglecting? No, of course not. How should you. You're too busy with your job. And now tell me, how do you think you get your children fitting into your new life?"
"I will hire a baby-sitter or a nurse or whatever and there's Danielle too,"
Brent replied coolly, not noticing that his girlfriend's eyes widened in shock.
Angel on the other hand registered it immediately.
"I see," he said over the rim of his cup. "And you think that's an alternative
for living with their mother?"
"I don't have anything against them living with their mother," the other man
hissed again. "I don't want them living with you. If Buffy gets rid of you the
whole thing is off."
"Brent ...," Buffy began but was silenced by Angel's intense glance he sent her
way.
"That's not going to happen," the former vampire replied softly, but Brent
recognised the dangerous glimmer in his eyes, he'd already seen the first time.
"In fact Buffy and I are going to be married in three weeks," he informed the
ex-husband casually.
"M... marriage?," Brent almost choked on the word. "Are you mad?," he directed
the question at his ex-wife.
"Uh, honey," Danielle spoke for the first time.
"What?," her boyfriend asked impatiently.
"I just wanted to say that I have absolutely no idea how to deal with kids. I do
love you, you know that, but children were never part of the deal," she
pointedly looked at her manicured hands.
Brent didn't reply to that, just glared at her for a moment, then turned back to
his ex-wife's new lover. "Do you really want to risk Buffy losing the children
because of you?," he asked, his voice containing an open threat.
Oh God, the former slayer thought, oh God and her eyes flickered to Angel, the
man who'd sacrificed his life for her, the man who had wanted her to kill him so
his demon couldn't kill her friends. Would he leave her now? Would he do the
noble thing? No, she said, she wouldn't let him. Not this time. She held her
breath at his next words.
"No, I don't want that," Angel said simply. "But it won't happen." He leaned back and watched Brent's face, "Tell me what exactly you want to say to the judge? Buffy is there for her kids, every day. She holds them when they cry, she feeds them, she buys clothes for them, she loves them and most importantly they know it. So how do you intend to argue?"
Brent laughed, feeling utterly superior, "Do you really have to ask?"
Now it was Angel's turn to laugh, and it sounded genuinely amused. Buffy raised a brow in surprise. He wasn't backing out, no he actually seemed to enjoy the
situation. Try to understand men, she thought. No, rewind that, make that
ex-vampires and the confusion was perfect.
"Are you planning to use me? I want to see that, really I'm looking forward to
it. Brent," Angel smiled, thanking all the gods in the universe for his years of
experience of dealing with people like him, "you do not mind me calling you Brent, do you?" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "I'm going to marry your ex-wife in three weeks, I'm financially settled. I have several businesses running smoothly, I have friends who would gladly speak up for me." No need to tell him that these friends were former watchers, witches, werewolves or seers.
"And you think that would count the moment the judge knows what you are ... or
were?"
"Honey, what are you talking about?," Danielle asked confused. Not really liking
the subject she'd spent the time comparing her boyfriend with Buffy's future
husband and come to the conclusion that the other woman had made the better deal.
Angel flashed her a smile before he turned back to Brent, "And what do you think
will happen when you tell the judge about my past? What do you think he'll do
when you just tell him that your ex-wife's new husband was a vampire?"
"Vampire? Honey, did he just say vampire?"
"He will say the same thing as I. That you aren't fit to be with children," Brent insisted, ignoring his girlfriend.
"Oh, you think so," Angel smiled coolly, "I would rather get used to the idea that he's going to lock you up. Safely and for a long time. Or did you forget the fact that most people are ignorant and tend to deny the existence of supernatural things. These days anyway. Or how do plan to prove your accusations to be true?"
"Honey," Danielle whined, "I'm sure I heard him use the word vampire and ...,"
"Shut up," Brent hissed at her and his girlfriend's mouth closed with a loud
snap. He didn't want to deal with her right now. All he could do was glare at the other man and accept that he was right, as much as he hated to admit it. His eyes darted to this wife and he wanted to shout at the love and admiration shining from her eyes while they were watching her future husband.
"Danielle, would you like some tea now?," Angel offered ignoring Brent for a
moment, sensing what was going on inside the other man.
The dark-haired woman flashed him an open smile, "Yes, thank you so much, Angel." She left her spot at Brent's side and moved to a sofa opposite from the
ex-vampire. "Maybe he's still suffering from a minor jet-lag," she whispered,
"he's usually a nice guy."
Angel bit his cheek not to laugh out loud and handed Danielle her cup, while
Buffy watched in amusement how Brent's girlfriend was flirting with her fiancée.
"Brent, you too?," the former vampire asked.
"No, thank you," the other man's voice sounded exactly the way Angel had expected it. Angry, disappointed, defeated. He had admitted to himself that this was a no win situation. Shooting his ex-wife and her fiancée hateful glances he stood and grabbed his girlfriend's arm, "Danielle, we're going."
"But, Brent, Angel just got me that nice cup of tea...," she protested.
"We're going," he hissed at her again and pulled her with him. "You'll hear from me," he promised while walking towards the door. "Tell the children I'll be in contact with them."
"Sure," Buffy replied but he'd already slammed the door shut. She turned and
looked at Angel with open amazement.
He smiled, stood up and came over to her. Stroking her cheek with the tip of his
forefinger, he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"
"I ... I can't believe that really happened," a laugh escaped her mouth and she
leaned her forehead against his chest, slowly encircling his waist. "I was
expecting you to do the noble thing and let me go for the children's sake." He
could feel a shiver running through her body.
"No way," he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, "I'm not leaving you. Never again," he whispered and pulled her close.
"You almost seemed to enjoy this," she she said in wonder and looked deeply into
his eyes.
"No, I didn't. But Brent didn't know that and that's what's important if you deal with people like him. He had to think we were extremely self-confident about this."
"Is this all demon experience?," she asked curiously.
"Only partly," he told her, kissing the tip of her nose. "Most of it comes from
dealing with trash during my time in L.A. He's not the first husband threatening
to take the kids away, you know."
"I guess," she sighed and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "We probably should
go and get the kids from mom," she said, not wanting to leave his arms, where she felt safe and protected.
"We could call her," he suggested and a slight grin crossed his features. "She
certainly won't mind having them for the night."
Buffy had to grin as well, "You're a bad man, you know," she scolded playfully.
"I know," he sighed dramatically, and she laughed out loud.
"I'll call her."
"And maybe you should tell her not to let the kids go with Brent today. I don't
see him as the kidnapping-type, but he's really angry right now..."
"Good idea," she agreed and went for the phone. When she returned five minutes
later, she told him, "Mom knows about Brent and she's happy to keep the kids with her." She grinned mischievously, "And now, maybe I could show you how much I appreciate what you did today."
End Chapter 24.