The Night Remembers - Part 13
By Jill
"And?" Cordelia looked expectantly at the vampire who was walking beside her
towards the mansion. Angel hadn't taken the car and Xander picked up the
brunette. Besides, Angel wanted to have some fresh air after the meeting at
Giles' and Cordelia wasn't about to leave him brooding again. She had a plan
and this plan was to break him down and convince him that Willow's discovery
was his chance to finally be happy. Even if it was with Buffy.
"And what?" He didn't look at her, just stared straight ahead.
"Duh," she shook her head at him and glared when she caught his gaze, "Did
you talk to Buffy, about what Willow told us?"
She saw him frown. "I take that as a no," she said with a sigh. "Well,
that's just so typical of you. Why, on earth don't you talk to her? It was
obvious that she ate you up with her eyes. I don't think she would mind
breaking the curse with you."
"What," he stopped and slowly focused his eyes on her, "are you talking
about?"
"I'm talking about Buffy and the way she's looking at you. 'Angel, do you
think Wesley is right for me? Okay then, if you think he's okay, I'm fine
with Wesley'," she mocked, trying to copy the slayer's voice. "Humor me for
a moment, Angel. Did you kiss her already?" she asked studying his face.
A muscle in his cheek twitched and her eyes lit up triumphantly, "HA!" she
cried. "I knew it. You kissed her. When? Today?"
Angel narrowed his eyes and contemplated for a moment, if eternal torment in
hell wasn't looking to bad if he'd kill her right now. "I. Don't. Want. To.
Talk. About. It." he hissed slowly through clenched teeth. "I thought I made
myself clear already." With this, he began to walk again.
"You can't get rid of me that way," she ran after him, "and besides, you
wouldn't want me to get accidentally attacked and hurt by some vampire.
Remember, their numbers are increasing."
"Actually it sounds tempting," he muttered under his breath, but said, "No,
of course I wouldn't want that. But I don't want to talk about Buffy. Or the
curse. Or Willow. So keep your opinion to yourself, I'm not interested."
"Angel," she sighed slightly, "It's not that I want to annoy you. I care
about you. I just want you to be happy."
He stopped, closed his eyes, then took a deep breath, and finally looked at
her, "Cordy, I know that. I know you just want to help. But I don't want
talk about it right now. I need to think about it-"
"You mean you want to brood," she grinned and he involuntarily had to smile.
"Think. Brood. Call it what you want. But this is too serious to just decide
it in a flash. Don't think I'm not tempted. Because I am. But after all..."
he stopped for a moment, took another deep breath and then continued, "Buffy
and I... It's always been difficult. The curse was one reason I left her,
but it wasn't the whole story. And I..." He ran a hand through his hair,
searching for the right words, a way to explain, "Maybe I'm just a coward, I
don't know but experience has made me careful to hope. Do you understand?"
"Oh Angel," she reached out and touched his arm, tears welling up in her
eyes, "Damn, now you made me cry," she angrily wiped a tear away. "I know
you're afraid. Did you forget, I've been there, I've seen what happened to
you - when you lost hope, but," she drew a shaky breath, "I know I was never
very fond of Buffy, but it seems she's the one. And you are such a wonderful
person, so if she's the one, then she might not be too bad either. And that
leads me to the most important question. Don't you think she's worth the
risk?
****
It was one of those rare nights when Anya couldn't sleep because usually she
had no problems with it. She had seen almost everything in her times as a
vengeance demon and so life didn't hold an awful lot of surprises for her.
That was the reason she looked bored so often although she tried hard not
to. It just wasn't normal human nature to wear the same expression all the
time, and she wanted to be normal, more than anything.
She had cursed her fate, her human body, her - in her eyes - miserable
existence as a student at Sunnydale High, but then one of those rare
surprises had entered her life. She propped herself up on one elbow and
looked at the man soundly sleeping beside her. He was lying on his stomach,
one hand under the pillow, his hair tousled, his face turned to the wall.
Anya had punished unfaithful men for more than 1100 years, she had listened
to plead of thousands of scorned women, but she had never really understood
why they even bothered going through such trouble to have vengeance done.
But now she could.
She didn't think it was possible for a person as old as she was, but Anya
was head over heals in love with Xander Harris. If she'd been able to choose
a mate for herself, it would've hardly been someone like him, but if she
learned a thing or two, then it was that fate dealt you the cards and you
had to play with them.
Not that she didn't like what she'd been dealt with. Again her eyes swept
over his dark-haired head and a loving smile crept across her lips. Yes, she
thought, she loved him. And the idea of him leaving her or touching another
woman sent such waves of fury through her body that she sometimes shivered
with the mere thought.
Like that girl she met in the 15th century. The one that had fallen in love
with a noble man, but he was out of reach for her, a farmer's daughter. Yet,
he promised her everything and broke that promise. And Anya had been
summoned to take revenge. It had been one of her best masterpieces fore she
got him into a dark alley where she knew some vampires were usually hanging
out at night. It had been that time in London when...
Immediately she sat upright in bed. "Xander," she whispered.
Of course he didn't move. Xander was a sound sleeper and noises didn't
usually bother him. Reaching out she touched his shoulder, said his name
again. For a moment, she thought about waiting until tomorrow. No, this was
too important and besides with her thoughts running wild she would never be
able to sleep. And after talking to Xander, when he was still awake...
"Xander," she said loudly and shook him.
"Mmph," came from him while he tried to pull the pillow over his head.
"Xander, I need to talk to you. NOW!"
"Anya?" his head slowly came around and then he blinked because she'd
switched the bed light on.
"I just remembered something," she informed him exited.
He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "You...
remembered something... at three o'clock in the night?"
"Yes," she bobbed her head up and down.
"Uh..." he yawned and rose his upper body. "That's... uh... interesting. But
actually people sleep at that time of the night."
"I know that," she replied angrily, "I'm human for a while now. But it's
important."
He yawned again. "Well, then... for God's sake, tell me."
"I was just remembering about an unfaithful husband and-"
"Do you have a point here?" he asked annoyed not really believing that he
was having this sort of conversation in the middle of the night.
"It has," she replied haughtily. "Alright. So to punish him, I made him go
into an alley where vampires were usually hanging around. And I was thinking
about it and then I remembered."
"Remembered? What?"
"That it happened then too," she said.
As soon as Xander realized she wasn't about to explain, he rolled his eyes.
"And what happened?" What was this? Twenty questions?
"It was exactly 550 years ago, or at least that's what I think, I could be
wrong about a year or two, but-" She heard him groan and waved her hand.
"Okay. Okay. The point is-"
"So this actually does have a point?"
She rolled her eyes again, "Why do I even bother. If my experience isn't
needed..." she trailed off, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Honey, please," he reached out and touched her arm, "you woke me up in the
middle of the night for this. So please tell me why!"
She sighed loudly, "All I wanted to tell you was that it was that year when
there was an enormous increasing of the vampire population in London. London
had a hell mouth then, before it was closed - I even think that happened the
same year."
He looked at her for a long time, and then narrowed his eyes, "And why
didn't you say that earlier?"
Anya leaped up from the bed and threw her arms in the air. "I didn't
remember it then. Sorry that after living 1100 years things sometimes slip
your mind. I've seen so many battles, wars and even apocalyptic things
happen... I wouldn't even have remembered it until now. I was looking at
you, and then I thought about a husband being faithful and-"
Xander held up a hand, "No, don't bother telling me. I don't need to know. I
don't even want to." He got up from the bed and was about to leave the
bedroom.
"Where are you going?" Anya wanted to know.
"The bathroom. Then the kitchen. I have a feeling that's quite a story
you're going to tell me and without coffee I'm not sure I can stay awake."
****
"Yes, Wesley, everything's alright so far," Angel told his friend at the
other end of the line. "Giles told us about the Council and his plans to
join it."
"I hope you don't mind my agreeing to take over as Buffy's watcher, maybe I
should've-"
"No, that's alright," the vampire assured him. "You are your own man,
Wesley, you don't need to ask me and actually I'm glad it's you taking over.
I trust you completely and there is nobody else I'd rather see Buffy with."
The former watcher felt his throat closing up at Angel's words and he had to
clear it before he could speak again, yet his voice sounded quite strange,
"I'm glad to hear you say that. Cordelia also told me about Willow's
discovery," he said then, changing the subject.
He heard the vampire sigh deeply, "So you know already. It seems Cordelia is
quite obsessed with this. I've told her repeatedly that it's out of question
to even think about as long as Buffy hasn't regained her memories in full."
"Yes I understand the... er... problem. The... process... of lifting the
course needs her full cooperation and she should know what she's getting
into and I also understand that this procedure bears certain risks," Wesley
replied. "But on the other side, I can't forget the advantages of it. You
could rest far more easily and wouldn't need to fear threats like Wolfram &
Hart. Speaking of them," he changed the subject again. "Gunn had a really
interesting encounter tonight and he came by to tell me."
Angel was instantly alert. Wolfram & Hart never meant anything good. "What
exactly?"
"Gunn came across a Brachen demon tonight. And he had interesting things to
tell. It seems that Wolfram & Hart are in possession of another ancient
prophecy regarding the hell mouth in Sunnydale. Unfortunately, the Brachen
didn't know much more than that, but he said that the prophecy is saying
something about a 'gate'. I've already tried to find more information but
have only run into dead ends so far." Wesley pulled his glasses off and
rubbed his red-rimmed eyes.
"The 'gate' means nothing to me," the vampire thought aloud. "I never came
across that word. Well, of course I did, but never regarding a prophecy. Was
there anything else?"
"Unfortunately not," the former watcher sighed, "I know it's not very much.
But maybe we'll find something. I'm going to inform Mr. Giles as well.
Besides that, the Brachen demon confirmed our observation that the vampires
seem to be leaving L.A. So I think it's a good guess that Sunnydale is their
destination. Together with the information about Wolfram & Hart, I have to
say I have a very bad feeling."
Angel nodded, and then realized that his friend wasn't able to see him,
"Yes, I agree. And I think Giles shares our concerns. Something is going to
happen, and it's going to happen soon. And it doesn't make me feel any
better that we have absolutely no idea what."
"Well," Wesley put his glasses back on. "I'm off researching a bit more.
Give my regards to Buffy. I'm going to come to Sunnydale soon, so that we
can meet. And I also think that a combined search might be more helpful."
"Yes, yes, of course. Do that," the vampire agreed quickly, "But please be
careful around Buffy. I don't want her to know about... you know."
"Of course. That's entirely your decision to make. I will see you soon
then."
"Yes. Good Bye, Wesley."
Angel ended the connection, but stood still for a moment. This didn't bode
well, Giles was right. And with a slayer lacking a large part of her memory
the situation was even more dangerous.
... to be continued