The Night Remembers - Part 27
"I still can't believe you did that," Spike muttered while he was following
Faith through Restfield cemetery. Unconsciously his hand moved to his cheek
to rub the bruise that was showing there.
"You better shut up," she hissed, not bothering to turn and look at him. "Be
glad that one punch was all you got after the stunt you pulled on me."
"Stunt, my hell," he shot back. "I kissed you."
"Yeah, and I can still taste that undead-flavor on my lips," she replied,
scanning the area.
"Don't make me laugh," he said, "you enjoyed kissing me. You all but melted
in my arms. Not that I want to brag," he had to snicker at that, "don't get
me wrong, but I've got quite a reputation with kissing. So I say again. You
enjoyed it."
"Enjoyed?" she echoed, anger radiating from her in waves, "Dream on,
vamp-boy."
"Uh-huh," he grinned, enjoying this teasing-game. It was almost like post
foreplay between lovers, only that he and Faith hadn't had sex. Damn that
stupid fledgling. "If that vamp hadn't disturbed us, who knows what would've
happened."
"You should thank his pile of ashes. Without him you would be blowing in the
wind right now. Thanks to him you just got a small bruise."
Spike laughed out loud, "Yeah, sure." He reached into his pocket to grab a
cigarette. He still couldn't believe that she'd hit him after they'd dusted
the vamp. As he lit his cigarette, he saw her stop and did the same. "What?"
he asked.
"I hear a noise," she announced, her face crunched in concentration, "I
think it came from over there," she pointed at a large crypt.
"A noise?" Spike raised a brow. "Let's have a look."
They both approached the crypt, avoiding noises. When they were almost
there, the blonde vampire whispered, "There's a human in there. I hear a
heartbeat. That's really odd."
"Yeah," she whispered back. What would a human do in a crypt, in a
graveyard, at night? The moment she pushed the door open she had her answer.
Sprawled out on the ground and obviously naked under the duster that covered
them, barely, were Angel and Buffy, lying in each other's arms, her head
resting on his chest.
Spike stopped dead, the moon bathing the scene before them in a pale light.
The opening of the door had woken the couple on the ground, the slayer was
blinking her eyes sleepily, while the blond vampire could clearly hear an
annoyed growl coming from his grand-sire's chest.
The two slayers and vampires stared at each other for along moment, Angel
pulling the duster more protectively over his mate.
But after another minute the whole situation began to sink in and the lovers
began to laugh. Actually Buffy started to giggle, but Angel soon joined her.
Spike rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "Bloody Hell! What did I do to earn this?"
Faith only looked back an forth between the blond vampire and the couple on
the ground, then she joined the lovers in their laughter.
****
Willow's head snapped up when the book she'd just been holding suddenly met
the ground with a loud thump. She blinked rapidly in confusion only to
realize that she obviously fell asleep. Turning her head, she was met with
her lover and found Tara smiling at her, then reaching out a hand their
fingers touched and they shared a very private moment, that was suddenly
disturbed when Xander returned from the kitchen of the mansion carrying a
tray with coffee.
"Oh look, the little witch is back with us again," he joked, giving his
long-time friend a warm smile. "Here, the first cup's for you," he said,
offering her the hot, black drink, adding, "I made it. Not Cordy."
The former may queen gave him a nasty look, but he just grinned, and noticed
that he managed not to think about Anya for about five minutes. Maybe it was
a good sign, he thought, maybe it showed he was making progress, getting
over her betrayal. But somehow he doubted it. Willow's words made him think
and then there was the tiny little fact that he loved her. Coward or not, he
loved her. And this love, unlike the ones he believed to feel for Cordelia,
Buffy, even Willow, was real.
He had no idea if Anya was the one. He saw too many relationships break up,
too many hearts break than to easily believe in forever and always. Those
were words for certain vampires and slayers. He just knew he loved Anya and
that he was willing to make their relationship work and that he'd do
everything to keep her. They were both still very young, but it felt so
right to think about marrying her, so he decided to ask her and she said
yes.
Damn he loved her. Why had she left? Was Willow right? Had he been too hard
on her? Expected too much from a person that had joined the human race only
a couple of years ago, a girl who still struggled to find her place in life.
She hadn't run when Glory had threatened all of them. No, she had stayed and
told him she loved him, so why now? Why now when their wedding was only
weeks away where they would promise to love each other for better and worse?
But then she hadn't known Glory before while she'd... Uneasiness settled in
his stomach like lead. "How do we find out what masters might be in the
Demon's dimension?" he asked to avoid further thinking about the subject.
"We can't," came Giles' answer. "There's no way to find out."
"But how can we fight something if we don't even know what it is?" Dawn
asked, stifling a yawn. It was already well after midnight. Part of her
enjoyed the fact that nobody had bothered to send her to bed, but the other
part knew why and didn't like it one bit.
"Well, tomorrow we'll know," Cordelia said sarcastically, shutting her
laptop. The images were already blurry and her eyes hurt like hell. She was
sure she was getting wrinkles from all the frowning. Maybe by this time
tomorrow the Gate of Hell would be opened and wrinkles would be her least
problem. And then, maybe not. Smoothing the skin of her forehead with her
fingers, she sighed, "And we have two slayers and two vampires. That has to
count for something."
"Don't forget two witches," Willow piped, feeling the caffeine working in
her bloodstream.
"That is most certainly a relief," Wesley agreed. "We do have some
supernatural power amongst us. Still, we might be facing up to ten master
vampires," he sadly shook his head, "I have no idea how to handle them."
"I doubt they're immune to teaser guns," Riley offered from his spot beside
Kate, eager to point out the power of his squad. They exchanged a short
glance and the police officer gave him a short smile.
"I'm afraid they are," Giles replied, pulling his glasses off again. God, he
was getting old. He could hardly see the words on the pages. He was dead
tired, but he couldn't sleep either. "You see a master vampire is unlike
others. You never encountered such a creature. It's..."
"Frightening," came Angel's voice from the doorway. "A master's more
powerful than anything you could imagine. It's not the power of his body,
although his strength is unique, but first and foremost he overwhelms you
mentally. Masters can invade your mind, force you to act like their slave."
He walked into the hall, his clothes rumpled, Buffy's hand again firmly
clutched in his, her clothes not any better. Behind them Spike and Faith
appeared, their faces wearing similar, amused, expressions.
"But even with all that a master vampire is still a vampire, right?" Riley
asked, standing up, pacing the hall. He couldn't sit still for another
second. He'd seen Buffy often enough after they having sex, so he knew the
signs. Her face all but glowing and she looked like a woman thoroughly
loved. There was no mistaking what they did during patrol.
Damn it, he thought, damn him, damn her, damn the situation, damn fate. He still
loved her, but the expression in her eyes made perfectly clear that there was
only one man in her life, the only one she'd ever truly loved. It had hurt to
admit it to himself all those months ago, but to see them together was
tearing all the barely healed wounds open again.
"You're asking if a master can be killed by a stake through the heart,
right?" Angel replied, "Then the answer is yes. The problem is getting the
stake there."
"I wouldn't like to be the one trying," Spike said from behind him, walking
into the light, and the bruise on his cheek shining in the light. "The
master, Darla's sire, could kill you by just looking at you. And I've seen
some more of them during our time in Europe. Really not the kind of fellow
you'd like to meet. But why this talk about masters? I thought we don't even
know what we're going to face."
"We don't," Wesley agreed, "but Cordelia just had a thought and
unfortunately it sounds rather likely." He looked at the two slayers and the
two vampires and explained the theory they'd been talking about before. When
he ended Angel nodded.
"Yes, it sounds possible," he gazed at Buffy.
"Don't ask me," she threw her hands in the air, "I remember the master, but
only bits and pieces. But I know I killed him," she frowned suddenly, then
tilted her hand, looked at Angel and asked, "Twice?"
"Sort off," he replied. "You killed him once. The second time you just
smashed his bones to make sure he stayed dead."
"Which was, thinking about the things we're going to face, a very smart
thing," Xander said approvingly, reclaiming his seat again. "At least that
one's not coming back."
"Why doesn't that make me feel better?" Cordelia stood and walked over to
the table to get a cup of coffee. "Are you alright now?" she asked Buffy,
surprising the others with her concern.
"Getting there," the blond slayer replied, sharing a private smile with her
boyfriend, who if he hadn't been a vampire, would've blushed. Not something
he wanted to do in front of Riley. Sometimes being a vampire came in handy.
"Good," Willow gave her friend a warm smile. "We really need our four
fighters in best shape." She tilted her head, "That reminds me, what
happened to you Spike?"
His sidelong glance at Faith held a warning, before he answered, "We met a
couple of really nasty vamps out there."
"Oh," the redhead said. "Not as stupid as the others?"
Faith's grin was very wide when she replied, "No, not stupid at all."
... to be continued
"I still can't believe you did that," Spike muttered while he was following
Faith through Restfield cemetery. Unconsciously his hand moved to his cheek
to rub the bruise that was showing there.
"You better shut up," she hissed, not bothering to turn and look at him. "Be
glad that one punch was all you got after the stunt you pulled on me."
"Stunt, my hell," he shot back. "I kissed you."
"Yeah, and I can still taste that undead-flavor on my lips," she replied,
scanning the area.
"Don't make me laugh," he said, "you enjoyed kissing me. You all but melted
in my arms. Not that I want to brag," he had to snicker at that, "don't get
me wrong, but I've got quite a reputation with kissing. So I say again. You
enjoyed it."
"Enjoyed?" she echoed, anger radiating from her in waves, "Dream on,
vamp-boy."
"Uh-huh," he grinned, enjoying this teasing-game. It was almost like post
foreplay between lovers, only that he and Faith hadn't had sex. Damn that
stupid fledgling. "If that vamp hadn't disturbed us, who knows what would've
happened."
"You should thank his pile of ashes. Without him you would be blowing in the
wind right now. Thanks to him you just got a small bruise."
Spike laughed out loud, "Yeah, sure." He reached into his pocket to grab a
cigarette. He still couldn't believe that she'd hit him after they'd dusted
the vamp. As he lit his cigarette, he saw her stop and did the same. "What?"
he asked.
"I hear a noise," she announced, her face crunched in concentration, "I
think it came from over there," she pointed at a large crypt.
"A noise?" Spike raised a brow. "Let's have a look."
They both approached the crypt, avoiding noises. When they were almost
there, the blonde vampire whispered, "There's a human in there. I hear a
heartbeat. That's really odd."
"Yeah," she whispered back. What would a human do in a crypt, in a
graveyard, at night? The moment she pushed the door open she had her answer.
Sprawled out on the ground and obviously naked under the duster that covered
them, barely, were Angel and Buffy, lying in each other's arms, her head
resting on his chest.
Spike stopped dead, the moon bathing the scene before them in a pale light.
The opening of the door had woken the couple on the ground, the slayer was
blinking her eyes sleepily, while the blond vampire could clearly hear an
annoyed growl coming from his grand-sire's chest.
The two slayers and vampires stared at each other for along moment, Angel
pulling the duster more protectively over his mate.
But after another minute the whole situation began to sink in and the lovers
began to laugh. Actually Buffy started to giggle, but Angel soon joined her.
Spike rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "Bloody Hell! What did I do to earn this?"
Faith only looked back an forth between the blond vampire and the couple on
the ground, then she joined the lovers in their laughter.
****
Willow's head snapped up when the book she'd just been holding suddenly met
the ground with a loud thump. She blinked rapidly in confusion only to
realize that she obviously fell asleep. Turning her head, she was met with
her lover and found Tara smiling at her, then reaching out a hand their
fingers touched and they shared a very private moment, that was suddenly
disturbed when Xander returned from the kitchen of the mansion carrying a
tray with coffee.
"Oh look, the little witch is back with us again," he joked, giving his
long-time friend a warm smile. "Here, the first cup's for you," he said,
offering her the hot, black drink, adding, "I made it. Not Cordy."
The former may queen gave him a nasty look, but he just grinned, and noticed
that he managed not to think about Anya for about five minutes. Maybe it was
a good sign, he thought, maybe it showed he was making progress, getting
over her betrayal. But somehow he doubted it. Willow's words made him think
and then there was the tiny little fact that he loved her. Coward or not, he
loved her. And this love, unlike the ones he believed to feel for Cordelia,
Buffy, even Willow, was real.
He had no idea if Anya was the one. He saw too many relationships break up,
too many hearts break than to easily believe in forever and always. Those
were words for certain vampires and slayers. He just knew he loved Anya and
that he was willing to make their relationship work and that he'd do
everything to keep her. They were both still very young, but it felt so
right to think about marrying her, so he decided to ask her and she said
yes.
Damn he loved her. Why had she left? Was Willow right? Had he been too hard
on her? Expected too much from a person that had joined the human race only
a couple of years ago, a girl who still struggled to find her place in life.
She hadn't run when Glory had threatened all of them. No, she had stayed and
told him she loved him, so why now? Why now when their wedding was only
weeks away where they would promise to love each other for better and worse?
But then she hadn't known Glory before while she'd... Uneasiness settled in
his stomach like lead. "How do we find out what masters might be in the
Demon's dimension?" he asked to avoid further thinking about the subject.
"We can't," came Giles' answer. "There's no way to find out."
"But how can we fight something if we don't even know what it is?" Dawn
asked, stifling a yawn. It was already well after midnight. Part of her
enjoyed the fact that nobody had bothered to send her to bed, but the other
part knew why and didn't like it one bit.
"Well, tomorrow we'll know," Cordelia said sarcastically, shutting her
laptop. The images were already blurry and her eyes hurt like hell. She was
sure she was getting wrinkles from all the frowning. Maybe by this time
tomorrow the Gate of Hell would be opened and wrinkles would be her least
problem. And then, maybe not. Smoothing the skin of her forehead with her
fingers, she sighed, "And we have two slayers and two vampires. That has to
count for something."
"Don't forget two witches," Willow piped, feeling the caffeine working in
her bloodstream.
"That is most certainly a relief," Wesley agreed. "We do have some
supernatural power amongst us. Still, we might be facing up to ten master
vampires," he sadly shook his head, "I have no idea how to handle them."
"I doubt they're immune to teaser guns," Riley offered from his spot beside
Kate, eager to point out the power of his squad. They exchanged a short
glance and the police officer gave him a short smile.
"I'm afraid they are," Giles replied, pulling his glasses off again. God, he
was getting old. He could hardly see the words on the pages. He was dead
tired, but he couldn't sleep either. "You see a master vampire is unlike
others. You never encountered such a creature. It's..."
"Frightening," came Angel's voice from the doorway. "A master's more
powerful than anything you could imagine. It's not the power of his body,
although his strength is unique, but first and foremost he overwhelms you
mentally. Masters can invade your mind, force you to act like their slave."
He walked into the hall, his clothes rumpled, Buffy's hand again firmly
clutched in his, her clothes not any better. Behind them Spike and Faith
appeared, their faces wearing similar, amused, expressions.
"But even with all that a master vampire is still a vampire, right?" Riley
asked, standing up, pacing the hall. He couldn't sit still for another
second. He'd seen Buffy often enough after they having sex, so he knew the
signs. Her face all but glowing and she looked like a woman thoroughly
loved. There was no mistaking what they did during patrol.
Damn it, he thought, damn him, damn her, damn the situation, damn fate. He still
loved her, but the expression in her eyes made perfectly clear that there was
only one man in her life, the only one she'd ever truly loved. It had hurt to
admit it to himself all those months ago, but to see them together was
tearing all the barely healed wounds open again.
"You're asking if a master can be killed by a stake through the heart,
right?" Angel replied, "Then the answer is yes. The problem is getting the
stake there."
"I wouldn't like to be the one trying," Spike said from behind him, walking
into the light, and the bruise on his cheek shining in the light. "The
master, Darla's sire, could kill you by just looking at you. And I've seen
some more of them during our time in Europe. Really not the kind of fellow
you'd like to meet. But why this talk about masters? I thought we don't even
know what we're going to face."
"We don't," Wesley agreed, "but Cordelia just had a thought and
unfortunately it sounds rather likely." He looked at the two slayers and the
two vampires and explained the theory they'd been talking about before. When
he ended Angel nodded.
"Yes, it sounds possible," he gazed at Buffy.
"Don't ask me," she threw her hands in the air, "I remember the master, but
only bits and pieces. But I know I killed him," she frowned suddenly, then
tilted her hand, looked at Angel and asked, "Twice?"
"Sort off," he replied. "You killed him once. The second time you just
smashed his bones to make sure he stayed dead."
"Which was, thinking about the things we're going to face, a very smart
thing," Xander said approvingly, reclaiming his seat again. "At least that
one's not coming back."
"Why doesn't that make me feel better?" Cordelia stood and walked over to
the table to get a cup of coffee. "Are you alright now?" she asked Buffy,
surprising the others with her concern.
"Getting there," the blond slayer replied, sharing a private smile with her
boyfriend, who if he hadn't been a vampire, would've blushed. Not something
he wanted to do in front of Riley. Sometimes being a vampire came in handy.
"Good," Willow gave her friend a warm smile. "We really need our four
fighters in best shape." She tilted her head, "That reminds me, what
happened to you Spike?"
His sidelong glance at Faith held a warning, before he answered, "We met a
couple of really nasty vamps out there."
"Oh," the redhead said. "Not as stupid as the others?"
Faith's grin was very wide when she replied, "No, not stupid at all."
... to be continued