Chapter 7: Demon Issues and Destiny
A few days had passed since the Angel Investigations team had arrived in Sunnydale. Not much happened since then. Basically, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, and Xander went on with their daily activities, while Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, and Fred sat around doing research. It was a major relief to have them around, since the resident Sunnydale-ers were busy with... life.
Buffy hadn't gone patrolling since they arrived. She spent most of her time playing the amicable hostess. She cleaned the house, cooked meals, and such, but the dreams were still coming through loud and clear to her every night. Each girl was being killed in the same manner. They were chased then stabbed. It was a troubling sight, and she always woke up in a cold sweat. Every night she'd wake up and go downstairs to the kitchen, where she'd discuss things with Angel. No one really caught on, of course, but it wasn't like it was a secret either.
Tonight Buffy decided to start patrolling again. Besides, it was about time to get out of the house of a thousand people. There was also the chance that she might actually bump into some information. And then there was Spike... she needed to check up on him.
"I'm going patrolling," she announced to the crowd gathered at her house that night. "I'm going to see if there's anything going on or if I can get some info."
"I'll go with you," Angel immediately said.
"No, it's fine," Buffy said quickly, grabbing her jacket. She was already headed toward the door.
Angel followed her outside. "Buffy, I'm coming with you," he told her outside on the porch. "Don't even try and argue with me."
She let out an exasperated sigh and let him tag along. *So much for visiting Spike tonight,* she thought.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Some things don't change," Xander commented after Buffy and Angel shut the door.
"Was Angel making puppy-eyes at Buffy? I think Angel was making puppy- eyes," Dawn said, a smile playing on her lips.
Cordelia was less than amused at Dawn's comment. Back in Sunnydale, and back with Buffy. It's like she was the most important thing in the world in this town. Of course, she was the Slayer and all, but she was definitely not the center of the universe.
Xander wasn't at all happy at Dawn's comment either. Not another vampire going all soft with Buffy. What was it with the undead and the Slayer? Were those the only men that that girl could attract? He shook his head, remembering that the love of his life was a Vengeance Demon.
"Buffy's a nice girl," Fred said. It was completely obvious that she was innocent to the drama that was Buffy and Angel.
"So where were we with the research?" Cordelia asked, trying to change the subject.
Dawn was sitting at her laptop, pulling up passages with no luck. She shrugged and said, "Nada. It's all the same history of the Hellmouth. These are the times I wish Giles were here."
"You and me both, Dawnie," Willow said. Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, has anyone looked up anything that has to do with Prophecies?"
"That's a good idea," Gunn said, seconding Willow's question.
"Well, let's see..." Dawn said, typing some phrases into her computer.
Connor walked up behind her. She was a very pretty girl, and smart too. She seemed to know her demonology pretty well. He was still new to this dimension, so he didn't know too much about these... computers. So he asked her, "What do these machines do? Are they like books?"
Dawn laughed. He was cute. When Buffy explained to her *how* Connor was Angel's son, she was confused, and very, very curious. He was quite a good looking guy, and well, he did need someone to help him out. Dawn was more than willing to, though Buffy objected to it, because of his "not-quite- human-ness". She told him, "They're kind of like books, just a whole bunch of them. You can get anything you want from the 'net. It's faster than digging though a whole bunch of big books, especially if your town is being overrun by a big bad demon."
Willow smiled at her little protege. Dawn was turning into a little computer specialist. Soon, Willow wouldn't be needed to do that stuff anymore.
"Oh..." was Connor's response, still confused.
"It's like little puppy love," Gunn muttered to Fred.
"Like you guys should talk," Cordelia said to them, obviously hearing Gunn's comment.
There was a knock on the door just then.
"Wonder who that could be," Willow said.
Xander got up and opened the door. Much to his dismay, he found Anya standing there, a worried look on her face. "Anya," he said, surprised.
"I want to help," she said. "I want to help you do your research thing."
"And under what revelation did you decide this?" he asked.
"I... Can I just come in?"
"Sure, if you promise not to go vengeance-y on us," Xander told her, opening the door to let her though. She gave him a disgusted look and breezed passed him into the living room. He looked up to the sky, hoping nothing bad would come out of this. "Dear God, do not let her cause mayhem," he said quietly.
"Anya?" Willow asked, standing up. "What are you doing here?" She noticed the worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"I'm in the same rut you guys are in," she explained quickly. "This thing that's coming, I know you can feel it Willow. I want to help you find it, and kill it."
It was Xander's turn to jump in. "Okay, so why are we going to listen to the Vengeance Demon?"
Anya shot him a dirty look, and then continued to explain to Willow. "Whatever it is, it's not good for demon-kind either."
"Anya?" Cordelia said, looking at a familiar face she hadn't seen in a long time.
Anya looked at Cordelia, noticing her and the rest of the people in the living room for the first time. "Cordelia? Wow! Long time no see!"
"Vengeance Demon?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah..." That's when Anya had a good look into Cordelia's eyes. "You're not... Hey, what happened to *you*?"
"Demon. Well, half. I have visions of people in trouble," she explained.
"Oh. Interesting."
"Okay. Now that we've cleared up that my two exes are demons, can we please continue the, 'Why the hell are you here' conversation?" Xander asked, not liking this reunion one bit.
Anya sighed. "Demons, humans, everyone is in trouble. It's power, pure power."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy sat on top of a gravestone in the cemetery. She was playing around with the stake in her hand. "Mr. Pointy's not getting any action tonight," she commented, apparently bored.
"If this is what Sunnydale's been like since I left, I'm glad I haven't been back," Angel joked. "Not even a vamp, this is strange."
"You're telling me. I know I should be happy, but jeez. This is ridiculous."
There was a moment of silence. So many thoughts about Buffy ran through his mind. Every night they talked. It almost felt like old times, but there was a barrier there. Buffy was hiding something from him. It was almost obvious that it had to do a lot about his soul. She asked too many questions about him, and it. Tonight was a perfect time to discuss things. "So, what's up Buffy?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You keep asking me about my soul. You haven't been so inquisitive about it since... Well, never. And for the past couple nights, that's all you seem to be stuck on," he told her, taking a seat next to her.
Buffy observed him for a moment and then said, "You know, you're so much less broody. I think LA has done wonders for you."
"Don't change the subject," he said seriously.
"It's nothing. Can't I be curious?" she asked defensively. "You look into things too much."
Angel was not buying it. "Can I see the new school?" he asked. "I mean, I think we should check it out, since it's Hellmouth-central..."
Buffy was definitely against that idea. "It's just... I'm there all day, and there's nothing there."
"Night? Demons like the night?" Angel proposed.
She looked at him sternly. "I don't think there's anything to be seen there. It's... been quiet since the school was built. Well maybe except for the demons in the basement..." she trailed off, remembering she had already told Angel that. "But other than that, it's fine there, nothing demon-y. Don't you think we should go back to the house now? They might have uncovered something important." She got up and started walking back.
"You're hiding something from me," he said to her, still sitting on the gravestone. "Why are you so afraid to tell me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered over her shoulder and kept walking.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"...There's the one about Connor," Gunn explained to the crowd in the living room. "The baby born to two vampires, and then was supposed to be killed by Angel."
Prophecies. That was their discussion. Dawn was at her computer in the dining room, with Connor, looking up passages on her computer. In the living room, everyone else was discussing all the prophecies that were fulfilled... or needed to be fulfilled.
"Not so loud!" Cordelia whispered, looking in the direction of the dining room.
"Well there was the one about Dawn, and Glory, and an apocalypse, but that's over and done with," Willow said.
"Buff already died against the Master..." Xander said.
"We graduated..." Willow added.
"So this puts us in... Nowhere-land," Gunn stated, standing up.
A thought sprung to Cordelia's mind at that moment. She remembered the Prophecies of Aberjian, the one Wesley translated a long time ago. It mentioned something about Angel, and apocalypses, and demons. Maybe this was why they were here? Was this the time Angel has been waiting for?
"No, wait, I just thought of something," Cordelia said. Everyone's attention was on her. "Back before we met you, Gunn and Fred, Wesley had translated this scroll. It was the Prophecies of Aberjian. It said something about the vampire with a soul, Angel, of course, how he would turn human after surviving the apocalypse, coming darkness, stuff like that. Maybe this has something to do with it?"
Everyone looked at her. Anya was the first person to speak up. "Are you sure it was talking about Angel?" she asked.
"Last time we checked, Angel is the only vampire walking around this earth with a soul," Gunn said.
"Of course..." Anya said, looking away. She knew different. Spike had a soul, and apparently, nobody else knew. Then something creeped into her memory. The Prophecies of Aberjian, she knew about. "I know that scroll. I don't know what it says exactly, but I have heard about it. It does say something about a vampire with a soul. It says he'll reach... Oh, what was that word again? Sh... Sh..."
"Shanshu," Cordelia finished. "How do you know about them?"
"Demon. Been around for thousands of years. I've seen and I remember a lot of things," Anya answered.
At that moment, Buffy and Angel walked in.
"Any new developments?" Buffy asked, setting her coat down on the couch. She noticed Anya sitting with the group when she looked up. "Oh, hey Anya. What are you doing here? You haven't gone vengeance-y did you?"
"No, I'm here to help. There's a big bad thing coming, and it's not good for demons either," she explained. "I kind of want to stay alive."
"Oh..."
Willow spoke up by saying, "Well, I think we've come up with something though. Cordelia just mentioned this whole new prophecy. It has something to do with an apocalypse and Angel turning human." She smiled.
"I think this deserves a big... '*HUH*'?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Back when I first was in LA," Angel said, still standing behind Buffy, "I found this scroll. It turned out to be the Prophecies of Aberjian. Wesley translated some of it. It said that I would reach Shanshu, meaning I would turn human, after surviving an apocalypse, fighting a couple demons..."
"It doesn't say Angel exactly," Anya said, ruining the hopeful mood of the rest of the room, "It says the vampire with a soul."
"And that's Angel," Fred said. "He's the only vampire running around with a soul... Right?"
"Right," Buffy said quickly, but not disregarding Anya's comment.
Cordelia had a smile on her face. "So back to my theory. I think that's why we're here. Maybe this is what the Prophecies were talking about. Maybe this is Angel's chance to turn human."
"Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked, finally noticing the absence of her sister.
The question sparked Angel's attention as well. He noticed Connor wasn't in the room either. "Where's Connor?"
"Oh, they're in the dining room. They're doing some research on Dawn's computer. We should let them in on what's going on," Willow said, standing up and starting to make her way to the dining room, followed by everyone else but Buffy and Anya.
"You knew, that's why he tried to make you shut up," Buffy said to Anya quietly.
"Of course I knew. It's not hard, being a demon and all," Anya told her. "You can see it. It's in his eyes. They're not empty anymore."
"Neither is his mind," Buffy mumbled. "What does this mean?"
Anya shook her head. "It means, that prophecy, the one that says the souled vampire will become human... Let's just say that Angel's got some competition. And that competition just happens to be Spike." The she realized that Buffy knew too. How did she find out? "How did you figure it out?"
"I saw him after... When I left you and Xander there. He ran into a church, and in a mess of ramblings and riddles, he said he got his soul back. I don't know how, he didn't tell me," Buffy explained in a daze.
"Stupid," Anya said quietly. "You know, I didn't mean to... It wasn't... We were..." It was her hopeless attempt at apologizing for what had happened between herself and Spike.
Buffy's expression hardened just then. "Don't apologize."
Anya nodded and took her leave into the dining room.
Buffy just continued to sit in a daze. She had to do something. The only thing that was running through her mind was, *See Spike. Need to see Spike. Now.*
She grabbed her coat and rushed outside.
In the dining room, Angel heard the front door open and then close. Buffy. She left, with no word to anyone. He looked at Anya, who was still on the "are you sure it's Angel" kick. She knew something. Buffy knew something, and she was going to get to that something.
He left the house with a quickness, following Buffy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Okay, you guys have got it all wrong! The whole Buffy and Angel having a destiny together? I didn't mean it *that* why, oh gosh no. I meant that their paths are intertwined, you know.
Thank you for not shunning me, Tigerwolf. *haha* Yeah, I'm in the same gray spot you are, being a B/S, B/A, A/C shipper, and I agree, B/A is goodness when it's in the past.
Keep reading! More to come! Don't forget to R&R! =)
A few days had passed since the Angel Investigations team had arrived in Sunnydale. Not much happened since then. Basically, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, and Xander went on with their daily activities, while Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, and Fred sat around doing research. It was a major relief to have them around, since the resident Sunnydale-ers were busy with... life.
Buffy hadn't gone patrolling since they arrived. She spent most of her time playing the amicable hostess. She cleaned the house, cooked meals, and such, but the dreams were still coming through loud and clear to her every night. Each girl was being killed in the same manner. They were chased then stabbed. It was a troubling sight, and she always woke up in a cold sweat. Every night she'd wake up and go downstairs to the kitchen, where she'd discuss things with Angel. No one really caught on, of course, but it wasn't like it was a secret either.
Tonight Buffy decided to start patrolling again. Besides, it was about time to get out of the house of a thousand people. There was also the chance that she might actually bump into some information. And then there was Spike... she needed to check up on him.
"I'm going patrolling," she announced to the crowd gathered at her house that night. "I'm going to see if there's anything going on or if I can get some info."
"I'll go with you," Angel immediately said.
"No, it's fine," Buffy said quickly, grabbing her jacket. She was already headed toward the door.
Angel followed her outside. "Buffy, I'm coming with you," he told her outside on the porch. "Don't even try and argue with me."
She let out an exasperated sigh and let him tag along. *So much for visiting Spike tonight,* she thought.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Some things don't change," Xander commented after Buffy and Angel shut the door.
"Was Angel making puppy-eyes at Buffy? I think Angel was making puppy- eyes," Dawn said, a smile playing on her lips.
Cordelia was less than amused at Dawn's comment. Back in Sunnydale, and back with Buffy. It's like she was the most important thing in the world in this town. Of course, she was the Slayer and all, but she was definitely not the center of the universe.
Xander wasn't at all happy at Dawn's comment either. Not another vampire going all soft with Buffy. What was it with the undead and the Slayer? Were those the only men that that girl could attract? He shook his head, remembering that the love of his life was a Vengeance Demon.
"Buffy's a nice girl," Fred said. It was completely obvious that she was innocent to the drama that was Buffy and Angel.
"So where were we with the research?" Cordelia asked, trying to change the subject.
Dawn was sitting at her laptop, pulling up passages with no luck. She shrugged and said, "Nada. It's all the same history of the Hellmouth. These are the times I wish Giles were here."
"You and me both, Dawnie," Willow said. Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, has anyone looked up anything that has to do with Prophecies?"
"That's a good idea," Gunn said, seconding Willow's question.
"Well, let's see..." Dawn said, typing some phrases into her computer.
Connor walked up behind her. She was a very pretty girl, and smart too. She seemed to know her demonology pretty well. He was still new to this dimension, so he didn't know too much about these... computers. So he asked her, "What do these machines do? Are they like books?"
Dawn laughed. He was cute. When Buffy explained to her *how* Connor was Angel's son, she was confused, and very, very curious. He was quite a good looking guy, and well, he did need someone to help him out. Dawn was more than willing to, though Buffy objected to it, because of his "not-quite- human-ness". She told him, "They're kind of like books, just a whole bunch of them. You can get anything you want from the 'net. It's faster than digging though a whole bunch of big books, especially if your town is being overrun by a big bad demon."
Willow smiled at her little protege. Dawn was turning into a little computer specialist. Soon, Willow wouldn't be needed to do that stuff anymore.
"Oh..." was Connor's response, still confused.
"It's like little puppy love," Gunn muttered to Fred.
"Like you guys should talk," Cordelia said to them, obviously hearing Gunn's comment.
There was a knock on the door just then.
"Wonder who that could be," Willow said.
Xander got up and opened the door. Much to his dismay, he found Anya standing there, a worried look on her face. "Anya," he said, surprised.
"I want to help," she said. "I want to help you do your research thing."
"And under what revelation did you decide this?" he asked.
"I... Can I just come in?"
"Sure, if you promise not to go vengeance-y on us," Xander told her, opening the door to let her though. She gave him a disgusted look and breezed passed him into the living room. He looked up to the sky, hoping nothing bad would come out of this. "Dear God, do not let her cause mayhem," he said quietly.
"Anya?" Willow asked, standing up. "What are you doing here?" She noticed the worried look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"I'm in the same rut you guys are in," she explained quickly. "This thing that's coming, I know you can feel it Willow. I want to help you find it, and kill it."
It was Xander's turn to jump in. "Okay, so why are we going to listen to the Vengeance Demon?"
Anya shot him a dirty look, and then continued to explain to Willow. "Whatever it is, it's not good for demon-kind either."
"Anya?" Cordelia said, looking at a familiar face she hadn't seen in a long time.
Anya looked at Cordelia, noticing her and the rest of the people in the living room for the first time. "Cordelia? Wow! Long time no see!"
"Vengeance Demon?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah..." That's when Anya had a good look into Cordelia's eyes. "You're not... Hey, what happened to *you*?"
"Demon. Well, half. I have visions of people in trouble," she explained.
"Oh. Interesting."
"Okay. Now that we've cleared up that my two exes are demons, can we please continue the, 'Why the hell are you here' conversation?" Xander asked, not liking this reunion one bit.
Anya sighed. "Demons, humans, everyone is in trouble. It's power, pure power."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buffy sat on top of a gravestone in the cemetery. She was playing around with the stake in her hand. "Mr. Pointy's not getting any action tonight," she commented, apparently bored.
"If this is what Sunnydale's been like since I left, I'm glad I haven't been back," Angel joked. "Not even a vamp, this is strange."
"You're telling me. I know I should be happy, but jeez. This is ridiculous."
There was a moment of silence. So many thoughts about Buffy ran through his mind. Every night they talked. It almost felt like old times, but there was a barrier there. Buffy was hiding something from him. It was almost obvious that it had to do a lot about his soul. She asked too many questions about him, and it. Tonight was a perfect time to discuss things. "So, what's up Buffy?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You keep asking me about my soul. You haven't been so inquisitive about it since... Well, never. And for the past couple nights, that's all you seem to be stuck on," he told her, taking a seat next to her.
Buffy observed him for a moment and then said, "You know, you're so much less broody. I think LA has done wonders for you."
"Don't change the subject," he said seriously.
"It's nothing. Can't I be curious?" she asked defensively. "You look into things too much."
Angel was not buying it. "Can I see the new school?" he asked. "I mean, I think we should check it out, since it's Hellmouth-central..."
Buffy was definitely against that idea. "It's just... I'm there all day, and there's nothing there."
"Night? Demons like the night?" Angel proposed.
She looked at him sternly. "I don't think there's anything to be seen there. It's... been quiet since the school was built. Well maybe except for the demons in the basement..." she trailed off, remembering she had already told Angel that. "But other than that, it's fine there, nothing demon-y. Don't you think we should go back to the house now? They might have uncovered something important." She got up and started walking back.
"You're hiding something from me," he said to her, still sitting on the gravestone. "Why are you so afraid to tell me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered over her shoulder and kept walking.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"...There's the one about Connor," Gunn explained to the crowd in the living room. "The baby born to two vampires, and then was supposed to be killed by Angel."
Prophecies. That was their discussion. Dawn was at her computer in the dining room, with Connor, looking up passages on her computer. In the living room, everyone else was discussing all the prophecies that were fulfilled... or needed to be fulfilled.
"Not so loud!" Cordelia whispered, looking in the direction of the dining room.
"Well there was the one about Dawn, and Glory, and an apocalypse, but that's over and done with," Willow said.
"Buff already died against the Master..." Xander said.
"We graduated..." Willow added.
"So this puts us in... Nowhere-land," Gunn stated, standing up.
A thought sprung to Cordelia's mind at that moment. She remembered the Prophecies of Aberjian, the one Wesley translated a long time ago. It mentioned something about Angel, and apocalypses, and demons. Maybe this was why they were here? Was this the time Angel has been waiting for?
"No, wait, I just thought of something," Cordelia said. Everyone's attention was on her. "Back before we met you, Gunn and Fred, Wesley had translated this scroll. It was the Prophecies of Aberjian. It said something about the vampire with a soul, Angel, of course, how he would turn human after surviving the apocalypse, coming darkness, stuff like that. Maybe this has something to do with it?"
Everyone looked at her. Anya was the first person to speak up. "Are you sure it was talking about Angel?" she asked.
"Last time we checked, Angel is the only vampire walking around this earth with a soul," Gunn said.
"Of course..." Anya said, looking away. She knew different. Spike had a soul, and apparently, nobody else knew. Then something creeped into her memory. The Prophecies of Aberjian, she knew about. "I know that scroll. I don't know what it says exactly, but I have heard about it. It does say something about a vampire with a soul. It says he'll reach... Oh, what was that word again? Sh... Sh..."
"Shanshu," Cordelia finished. "How do you know about them?"
"Demon. Been around for thousands of years. I've seen and I remember a lot of things," Anya answered.
At that moment, Buffy and Angel walked in.
"Any new developments?" Buffy asked, setting her coat down on the couch. She noticed Anya sitting with the group when she looked up. "Oh, hey Anya. What are you doing here? You haven't gone vengeance-y did you?"
"No, I'm here to help. There's a big bad thing coming, and it's not good for demons either," she explained. "I kind of want to stay alive."
"Oh..."
Willow spoke up by saying, "Well, I think we've come up with something though. Cordelia just mentioned this whole new prophecy. It has something to do with an apocalypse and Angel turning human." She smiled.
"I think this deserves a big... '*HUH*'?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Back when I first was in LA," Angel said, still standing behind Buffy, "I found this scroll. It turned out to be the Prophecies of Aberjian. Wesley translated some of it. It said that I would reach Shanshu, meaning I would turn human, after surviving an apocalypse, fighting a couple demons..."
"It doesn't say Angel exactly," Anya said, ruining the hopeful mood of the rest of the room, "It says the vampire with a soul."
"And that's Angel," Fred said. "He's the only vampire running around with a soul... Right?"
"Right," Buffy said quickly, but not disregarding Anya's comment.
Cordelia had a smile on her face. "So back to my theory. I think that's why we're here. Maybe this is what the Prophecies were talking about. Maybe this is Angel's chance to turn human."
"Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked, finally noticing the absence of her sister.
The question sparked Angel's attention as well. He noticed Connor wasn't in the room either. "Where's Connor?"
"Oh, they're in the dining room. They're doing some research on Dawn's computer. We should let them in on what's going on," Willow said, standing up and starting to make her way to the dining room, followed by everyone else but Buffy and Anya.
"You knew, that's why he tried to make you shut up," Buffy said to Anya quietly.
"Of course I knew. It's not hard, being a demon and all," Anya told her. "You can see it. It's in his eyes. They're not empty anymore."
"Neither is his mind," Buffy mumbled. "What does this mean?"
Anya shook her head. "It means, that prophecy, the one that says the souled vampire will become human... Let's just say that Angel's got some competition. And that competition just happens to be Spike." The she realized that Buffy knew too. How did she find out? "How did you figure it out?"
"I saw him after... When I left you and Xander there. He ran into a church, and in a mess of ramblings and riddles, he said he got his soul back. I don't know how, he didn't tell me," Buffy explained in a daze.
"Stupid," Anya said quietly. "You know, I didn't mean to... It wasn't... We were..." It was her hopeless attempt at apologizing for what had happened between herself and Spike.
Buffy's expression hardened just then. "Don't apologize."
Anya nodded and took her leave into the dining room.
Buffy just continued to sit in a daze. She had to do something. The only thing that was running through her mind was, *See Spike. Need to see Spike. Now.*
She grabbed her coat and rushed outside.
In the dining room, Angel heard the front door open and then close. Buffy. She left, with no word to anyone. He looked at Anya, who was still on the "are you sure it's Angel" kick. She knew something. Buffy knew something, and she was going to get to that something.
He left the house with a quickness, following Buffy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To be continued...
Okay, you guys have got it all wrong! The whole Buffy and Angel having a destiny together? I didn't mean it *that* why, oh gosh no. I meant that their paths are intertwined, you know.
Thank you for not shunning me, Tigerwolf. *haha* Yeah, I'm in the same gray spot you are, being a B/S, B/A, A/C shipper, and I agree, B/A is goodness when it's in the past.
Keep reading! More to come! Don't forget to R&R! =)