Part Five
Her mate. The words were scary and wonderful. Especially when they
applied to Angel. Never in her wildest dreams had Willow ever thought
Angel would be her mate. It was strictly platonic, of course, no sex
allowed. Willow stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around
her hair and slipped into her robe. But the 'no sex' was only because
of the curse, that was what Angel had said. That meant if it wasn't
for the curse, than Angel would want to....Bad Willow! Willow shook
her head to rid herself of naughty thoughts. Angel was her best
friend's ex-boyfriend - the ultimate love of her life - he wasn't
supposed to be thought of that way. Besides, she liked girls. She
had a girlfriend. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask about nullifying the
clause to Angel's curse.
"It's not like I'd be asking for myself," Willow muttered as she
walked out of the bathroom that was connected to her room. Living in
an old hotel had perks. She rubbed at her wet hair with the towel.
"He deserves happiness."
"Why?" Angel's question startled Willow. She gave a little shriek and
dropped her towel. Angel bent down to pick up the damp cloth. "Why
would I deserve happiness after everything I've done." He couldn't
look at her, so he looked at the navy towel instead. It smelled like
her - raspberries and chocolate ice cream. His mate - sweet and tart.
Willow frowned at Angel. She stepped forward and touched his cheek to
make him look at her. "You're not still doing that, are you, Angel?
I thought you had let go of some of the guilt working here with
Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred."
"I can't ever let go of the guilt."
"Oh, Angel." Willow stepped even closer. She took the towel he was
twisting in his hands and tossed it into the corner. Her thumb
brushed along his jaw line as she brought her other hand to rest over
his inanimate heart. "You are the bravest, most unselfish person I
know. When you were given your soul, you could have let the guilt
drive you insane or to suicide, but you didn't. I'll admit that you
wallowed in it for a while." She smiled up at him. "But then you
chose to help people, Angel, to make a difference in the world."
"Whistler...." Angel started to protest. He almost smiled at the way
her eyes sparked when he spoke.
"Gave you an option, but you were the one who chose it," Willow
interrupted stubbornly. It was an argument he couldn't win, her
mutinous expression told him so, but he really didn't want to win it.
Angel liked who he was in Willow's eyes. He leaned forward, intending
to kiss the unyielding line of her lips into more pliable curves.
"Willow." Tara stood in the bedroom doorway.
A sense of smug satisfaction settled over Angel when Willow didn't pull
away from him. The corners of his mouth lifted in a languid smile.
"Oh, right. The reason I came into your room was to tell you that
Buffy and your...friend are here."
"Girlfriend," Tara corrected. She glared at Angel as she walked into
the room. "I thought you came upstairs to get a shirt."
"That too." Angel met Tara's glare with a bland look. It was actually
a good thing that they had been interrupted before he had kissed
Willow. He hadn't been thinking. Kissing Willow at that moment would
have been too perfect. It would have made him too happy. It probably
was a good idea to ask about getting rid of the clause, even
though he didn't really deserve it. Or Willow.
"I should get dressed." Willow stepped back from Angel, dropping her
hands from his face and chest. Belatedly, she blushed. And felt a
twinge of guilt, but not about Angel. She felt guilty about her
relationship with Tara. "You two should leave the room so I can do
that."
Neither Angel nor Tara made a move to comply with Willow's request.
Tara gaped at her girlfriend in open mouthed shock. "Willow, it's not
like I haven't seen you get dressed before."
"I know." Willow shuffled awkwardly. She knew from the growly
vibrations rumbling quietly from Angel that he would not leave while
Tara was still in the room. "Things are different now. I told you
that last night over the phone when I also said I needed some time
alone to think about what I'm going to do."
"You're not alone," Tara accused her sharply. If it was possible, her
glare intensified. "You're with him."
Willow sighed. "Please, Tara, go downstairs and wait with Buffy. I'll
get dressed and then we'll sit down and talk."
"I'll go put on that shirt." Angel walked to the door. He paused and
stood to the side, making a sweeping gesture with his hand. "After
you," he said firmly to Tara.
*****
It was lucky that Cordelia Chase had grown as a person, because if she
hadn't then Buffy would have found herself waiting in the walk-in
freezer of their industrial kitchen instead of the lobby. At first,
it had just been awkward trying to make small talk with Buffy and Tara.
They had chatted about slaying, witchcraft, demons, visions, demons,
Cordy's acting career, and more demons. Then Gunn and Wesley had
shown up and Tara had slipped away upstairs. Poor Willow, she was
caught between an insanely jealous girlfriend and an insanely possessive
vampire. But Cordelia couldn't worry about Willow's troubles at the
moment. Buffy was flirting with Gunn!
"Wow. You organized your own vampire/demon hunting gang. That's
impressive, Gunn." Buffy smiled widely and actually batted her
eyelashes. Gunn smiled back and shrugged in that 'aw, shucks, I'm
just a guy' way males did when trying to be modest. Cordelia gritted
her teeth. She knew Buffy was doing it to get back at her for all
those times she had thrown herself at Angel in highschool and for the
fact that now she was closer to Angel than Buffy was. She also
knew that Buffy was hoping that Angel would catch her being
'interested' in another guy and get jealous. At least she would be
front row center for Buffy's reaction to the news that Willow was
Angel's mate.
Fortunately, Cordelia wouldn't have to wait long. She sat up
straighter as someone clomped down the stairs, but it was just Tara.
She slumped in a chair. "Willow is getting dressed. She'll be down
in a few minutes." Tara looked up at them briefly before returning to
stare morosely at her lap.
"Oh, that's okay." Buffy placed a hand on Gunn's arm. "I've been
talking with Gunn." She glanced at Cordelia, who gave her a tight
smile.
A few minutes. Cordelia could live through a few more minutes with
the slutty slayer and sulking wiccan. She looked up at the staircase.
What the hell was taking Willow and Angel so damn long?
*****
Madness. That was the only explanation for why he was standing in
front of Willow's bedroom door. Why he was knocking. Especially after
the close call with the kiss. Angel finished buttoning his dark green
shirt as he waited for Willow to answer. The words just kept running
through his head, 'it's not like I haven't seen you get dressed
before.' He kept hearing them and they kept bugging him. Willow was
his mate.
"Angel?" Willow peeked around her door. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Fine." Angel leaned against the door frame. He picked at the
flaking paint on the wood. "Something just occurred to me."
"Are you going to share?" Willow grinned playfully. Angel looked like
a little boy about to invite a girl into his secret fort.
"I've never seen you get dressed."
He didn't sound like a little boy. Angel's tone was low and sexy. It
sent tingling, shivery sensations throughout Willow's body. She should
slam the door in his face. Her girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend who
happened to be her best friend were downstairs. She opened the door
wider to let him into the room.
Seeing Willow in only her black underwear, it dawned on Angel what was
happening. He had been a fool to believe that he could make Willow
his platonic mate. He had always been drawn to her, even when he had
lived in Sunnydale. Then it had been her innocence and the purity that
radiated from her. He had wanted to protect that so badly and he had
failed because he couldn't protect her and be around Buffy at the same
time, so he had left. Now her purity was contaminated by the demon
inside her and he found her even more irresistible. As he admired the
ivory whiteness of Willow's skin, he felt an overwhelming compulsion
to complete the mating ritual. A compulsion he was going to resist.
Angel sat down on the edge of the bed.
She and Angel were going to have sex. Not at the moment, she was
getting dressed - not undressed - after all and there was that stupid
clause. But they were working up to it. Willow pulled on the hunter
green leather pants she and Cordelia had bought on their shopping
spree. She felt strangely calm, not her usual babbling bundle of
nerves. Next she slipped on the burnt orange tank top, pulling it
over her head and smoothing the silky material over her curves. She
concentrated on taking deep, even breaths. "All done." She turned a
bit to face Angel. His eyes were dark and Willow wanted nothing more
than to take her clothes off and jump him. She held out her hand
instead. "Let's go downstairs."
*****
Restless anticipation quivered through every nerve of Darla's body.
They had arrived in Los Angeles the night before and the waiting was
getting to her. She lounged in the loveseat of their expensive hotel
suite, thinking about what she was going to do when she was finally
reunited with her boy. Drusilla sat in front of the television
trying to snatch the actors from behind the glass. She would giggle
and growl like a kitten at her failure to capture them.
"Pretty people made of light. Make me hungry. Grrruuff." Dru snapped
her teeth together.
Darla suppressed the urge to smash the end table and stake the looney
bitch. She had never understood Angelus' amusement with his childe's
insanity. She did understand her usefulness though - Drusilla's
visions would keep them a step ahead of Angel - but she couldn't stand
the demented rambling and deranged behavior of the vampiress. "How
long are we going to be stuck in this room?"
"Patience, Grandmother Daughter." Dru emphasized the daughter part of
the title she had bestowed upon Darla. Her dark eyes slid over to the
blonde vampire. Darla didn't like the sly light in them. "We leave
when I say. Now I would like to take a lovely bath. Hot, with
bubbles."
At first, Darla didn't move. She was the elder, so what if she had
been dead for a few years and then alive with a soul for almost another
one? But it did matter. Drusilla was her Sire. Right after Darla
had been turned, Dru had automatically assumed her role as the childe,
but now she seemed to realize the power she held over Darla. And she
was using it. The loathed servile need to please her Sire pushed
Darla to her feet and into the bathroom to do as Dru asked. It was a
temporary response, eventually she would be able to overcome it. Even
Spike had finally torn himself from Dru's grasp, although falling in
love with the slayer was hardly a step up.
"Is it ready?" Dru asked, stepping into the bathroom.
"Almost." Darla poured some bubble bath under the running water. The
steam of the hot water intensified the pungent smell of lilacs. When
she did conquer the Sire/Child control, Dru would pay for this and
they would both enjoy it. That was one thing Angelus had always done
right - teaching his childer to enjoy pain.
Drusilla touched Darla's cheek. "Don't be angry, Grandmother Daughter.
Tonight we meet my new Mummy. The spiders told me we would when they
invited us to go dancing with them."
"Fine." Darla smiled. Finally, she would be seeing her boy again and
the mystery woman who had captured his dead heart. "What about the
spell? The one that enables Angel to father children?"
"There's a witch." Dru let her dress fall in a pool at her feet. She
stepped into the tub filled with flagrant bubbles. Her head lolled
back against the cool porcelain and she closed her eyes. "She hates
Daddy and thinks the spell will destroy him."
"Why doesn't it?" Darla trailed her fingers in the hot water.
"His soul." Dru smiled. "Jonathan for my brother and Isabelle for
my sister. I'll be a good big sister. I'll bring candy and dolls and
dead puppies for them to play with. I promise not to bite."
"I won't be making that promise." Darla stood up and walked out of
the bathroom. She would suffer the presence of Angel's new consort
until the birth of the first brat. Then it would be bye-bye Mommy
Dearest. Permanently.
*****
It wasn't going well. It didn't start well and it definitely was not
going to end well. Cordelia sat back and observed her friends, Buffy
and Tara. Wesley and Gunn were, for the most part, confused about the
undercurrents flowing dangerously through the room, so she didn't pay
too much attention to them.
Things had started badly when Willow and Angel had come downstairs
holding hands and got worse when Angel hadn't ripped Gunn's head off
in a jealous rage over Buffy's affections. The tension factor had been
upped when Tara had pulled Willow down to sit next to her, forcing
Angel to take the remaining seat next to Buffy. Given the fact that
Buffy was pouting over Angel's lack of reaction to her, Angel was
glowering over the fact that Willow was not at his side, Tara was
desperately trying to get Willow's attention, and Willow was studiously
ignoring Tara, it was a wonder that they had been able to begin
discussing Willow's situation civilly. It hadn't lasted long.
"I think you should come back to Sunnydale with us," Tara suggested.
"No!" Willow and Angel protested at the same time. Willow continued
with their objection, "I can't control the demon properly. Angel is
helping me do that and Wesley and the others are helping me research
ways to expel the demon - if we can."
"We can do that in Sunnydale and Spike can help you control the demon."
Buffy gave Angel a sidelong glance. "Spike will do anything for me."
She was obviously thrilled by Angel's low growl, not realizing that it
was prompted by the thought of Spike being near Willow, not her.
"No, Spike wouldn't understand what Willow is going through. He
doesn't have a soul." Angel looked at Wesley. He hadn't voiced his
thoughts from the night before to anyone and Wesley would probably be
the best person to understand it. Well, Willow would understand, but
he couldn't look at her while she was sitting beside her...friend.
"When Willow performed the restoration ritual, it restored the demon
of her doppleganger inside her like it restored my soul to my body.
It's the curse that ties my soul to me....."
Wesley nodded with enthusiasm and cut in, "And it's the curse that ties
the demon to Willow."
"Then the solution is simple," Tara announced. She looked triumphant
and satisfied. "Willow told me there was a clause to your curse, that
complete happiness took your soul away." At everyone's nod and Buffy's
slightly guilty look, Tara beamed. She turned to face Willow, her
hand moving to rest intimately on her lover's thigh. "Complete
happiness should take the demon away. It's worth a shot for us to try
it."
White, blinding rage engulfed Angel. His ridges sprang across his
face and his demon eyesight brought the hand on Willow's thigh into
sharp focus. She was touching his mate! The violation was made even
more abhorrent by the fact that he had not yet claimed Willow in that
way. Angel snarled and jumped up.
"Angel!" Willow bolted to her feet as well. She met him in the middle
of their ring of friends. "Angel, it's okay."
"She touched you," Angel growled, glaring at Tara from over Willow's
shoulder. "Mine."
"Yes, I'm yours. It's not going to happen again." Willow tugged on
Angel's arm. "I'm hungry, let's go into the kitchen. Now, Angel."
Willow forcefully dragged Angel out of the room.
"I wouldn't follow them," Cordelia cautioned Tara and Buffy when they
started to rise. "They drink blood when they're hungry." Buffy sat
down hastily. Tara was a bit more reluctant until Cordelia added, "I
think Angel is itching to taste yours."
"What was that about?" Buffy looked suspiciously at Cordelia, like
she had been responsible for Angel ignoring her in favor of her best
friend.
Oh, Goody. She didn't get to just watch, she got to tell. Cordelia
shrugged casually, but watched Buffy like a hawk. "I guess Angel is
just possessive. It's one of those mating issues that they will have
to work out." She had been wrong. This did end well.
To be continued.....
Her mate. The words were scary and wonderful. Especially when they
applied to Angel. Never in her wildest dreams had Willow ever thought
Angel would be her mate. It was strictly platonic, of course, no sex
allowed. Willow stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around
her hair and slipped into her robe. But the 'no sex' was only because
of the curse, that was what Angel had said. That meant if it wasn't
for the curse, than Angel would want to....Bad Willow! Willow shook
her head to rid herself of naughty thoughts. Angel was her best
friend's ex-boyfriend - the ultimate love of her life - he wasn't
supposed to be thought of that way. Besides, she liked girls. She
had a girlfriend. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask about nullifying the
clause to Angel's curse.
"It's not like I'd be asking for myself," Willow muttered as she
walked out of the bathroom that was connected to her room. Living in
an old hotel had perks. She rubbed at her wet hair with the towel.
"He deserves happiness."
"Why?" Angel's question startled Willow. She gave a little shriek and
dropped her towel. Angel bent down to pick up the damp cloth. "Why
would I deserve happiness after everything I've done." He couldn't
look at her, so he looked at the navy towel instead. It smelled like
her - raspberries and chocolate ice cream. His mate - sweet and tart.
Willow frowned at Angel. She stepped forward and touched his cheek to
make him look at her. "You're not still doing that, are you, Angel?
I thought you had let go of some of the guilt working here with
Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred."
"I can't ever let go of the guilt."
"Oh, Angel." Willow stepped even closer. She took the towel he was
twisting in his hands and tossed it into the corner. Her thumb
brushed along his jaw line as she brought her other hand to rest over
his inanimate heart. "You are the bravest, most unselfish person I
know. When you were given your soul, you could have let the guilt
drive you insane or to suicide, but you didn't. I'll admit that you
wallowed in it for a while." She smiled up at him. "But then you
chose to help people, Angel, to make a difference in the world."
"Whistler...." Angel started to protest. He almost smiled at the way
her eyes sparked when he spoke.
"Gave you an option, but you were the one who chose it," Willow
interrupted stubbornly. It was an argument he couldn't win, her
mutinous expression told him so, but he really didn't want to win it.
Angel liked who he was in Willow's eyes. He leaned forward, intending
to kiss the unyielding line of her lips into more pliable curves.
"Willow." Tara stood in the bedroom doorway.
A sense of smug satisfaction settled over Angel when Willow didn't pull
away from him. The corners of his mouth lifted in a languid smile.
"Oh, right. The reason I came into your room was to tell you that
Buffy and your...friend are here."
"Girlfriend," Tara corrected. She glared at Angel as she walked into
the room. "I thought you came upstairs to get a shirt."
"That too." Angel met Tara's glare with a bland look. It was actually
a good thing that they had been interrupted before he had kissed
Willow. He hadn't been thinking. Kissing Willow at that moment would
have been too perfect. It would have made him too happy. It probably
was a good idea to ask about getting rid of the clause, even
though he didn't really deserve it. Or Willow.
"I should get dressed." Willow stepped back from Angel, dropping her
hands from his face and chest. Belatedly, she blushed. And felt a
twinge of guilt, but not about Angel. She felt guilty about her
relationship with Tara. "You two should leave the room so I can do
that."
Neither Angel nor Tara made a move to comply with Willow's request.
Tara gaped at her girlfriend in open mouthed shock. "Willow, it's not
like I haven't seen you get dressed before."
"I know." Willow shuffled awkwardly. She knew from the growly
vibrations rumbling quietly from Angel that he would not leave while
Tara was still in the room. "Things are different now. I told you
that last night over the phone when I also said I needed some time
alone to think about what I'm going to do."
"You're not alone," Tara accused her sharply. If it was possible, her
glare intensified. "You're with him."
Willow sighed. "Please, Tara, go downstairs and wait with Buffy. I'll
get dressed and then we'll sit down and talk."
"I'll go put on that shirt." Angel walked to the door. He paused and
stood to the side, making a sweeping gesture with his hand. "After
you," he said firmly to Tara.
*****
It was lucky that Cordelia Chase had grown as a person, because if she
hadn't then Buffy would have found herself waiting in the walk-in
freezer of their industrial kitchen instead of the lobby. At first,
it had just been awkward trying to make small talk with Buffy and Tara.
They had chatted about slaying, witchcraft, demons, visions, demons,
Cordy's acting career, and more demons. Then Gunn and Wesley had
shown up and Tara had slipped away upstairs. Poor Willow, she was
caught between an insanely jealous girlfriend and an insanely possessive
vampire. But Cordelia couldn't worry about Willow's troubles at the
moment. Buffy was flirting with Gunn!
"Wow. You organized your own vampire/demon hunting gang. That's
impressive, Gunn." Buffy smiled widely and actually batted her
eyelashes. Gunn smiled back and shrugged in that 'aw, shucks, I'm
just a guy' way males did when trying to be modest. Cordelia gritted
her teeth. She knew Buffy was doing it to get back at her for all
those times she had thrown herself at Angel in highschool and for the
fact that now she was closer to Angel than Buffy was. She also
knew that Buffy was hoping that Angel would catch her being
'interested' in another guy and get jealous. At least she would be
front row center for Buffy's reaction to the news that Willow was
Angel's mate.
Fortunately, Cordelia wouldn't have to wait long. She sat up
straighter as someone clomped down the stairs, but it was just Tara.
She slumped in a chair. "Willow is getting dressed. She'll be down
in a few minutes." Tara looked up at them briefly before returning to
stare morosely at her lap.
"Oh, that's okay." Buffy placed a hand on Gunn's arm. "I've been
talking with Gunn." She glanced at Cordelia, who gave her a tight
smile.
A few minutes. Cordelia could live through a few more minutes with
the slutty slayer and sulking wiccan. She looked up at the staircase.
What the hell was taking Willow and Angel so damn long?
*****
Madness. That was the only explanation for why he was standing in
front of Willow's bedroom door. Why he was knocking. Especially after
the close call with the kiss. Angel finished buttoning his dark green
shirt as he waited for Willow to answer. The words just kept running
through his head, 'it's not like I haven't seen you get dressed
before.' He kept hearing them and they kept bugging him. Willow was
his mate.
"Angel?" Willow peeked around her door. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Fine." Angel leaned against the door frame. He picked at the
flaking paint on the wood. "Something just occurred to me."
"Are you going to share?" Willow grinned playfully. Angel looked like
a little boy about to invite a girl into his secret fort.
"I've never seen you get dressed."
He didn't sound like a little boy. Angel's tone was low and sexy. It
sent tingling, shivery sensations throughout Willow's body. She should
slam the door in his face. Her girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend who
happened to be her best friend were downstairs. She opened the door
wider to let him into the room.
Seeing Willow in only her black underwear, it dawned on Angel what was
happening. He had been a fool to believe that he could make Willow
his platonic mate. He had always been drawn to her, even when he had
lived in Sunnydale. Then it had been her innocence and the purity that
radiated from her. He had wanted to protect that so badly and he had
failed because he couldn't protect her and be around Buffy at the same
time, so he had left. Now her purity was contaminated by the demon
inside her and he found her even more irresistible. As he admired the
ivory whiteness of Willow's skin, he felt an overwhelming compulsion
to complete the mating ritual. A compulsion he was going to resist.
Angel sat down on the edge of the bed.
She and Angel were going to have sex. Not at the moment, she was
getting dressed - not undressed - after all and there was that stupid
clause. But they were working up to it. Willow pulled on the hunter
green leather pants she and Cordelia had bought on their shopping
spree. She felt strangely calm, not her usual babbling bundle of
nerves. Next she slipped on the burnt orange tank top, pulling it
over her head and smoothing the silky material over her curves. She
concentrated on taking deep, even breaths. "All done." She turned a
bit to face Angel. His eyes were dark and Willow wanted nothing more
than to take her clothes off and jump him. She held out her hand
instead. "Let's go downstairs."
*****
Restless anticipation quivered through every nerve of Darla's body.
They had arrived in Los Angeles the night before and the waiting was
getting to her. She lounged in the loveseat of their expensive hotel
suite, thinking about what she was going to do when she was finally
reunited with her boy. Drusilla sat in front of the television
trying to snatch the actors from behind the glass. She would giggle
and growl like a kitten at her failure to capture them.
"Pretty people made of light. Make me hungry. Grrruuff." Dru snapped
her teeth together.
Darla suppressed the urge to smash the end table and stake the looney
bitch. She had never understood Angelus' amusement with his childe's
insanity. She did understand her usefulness though - Drusilla's
visions would keep them a step ahead of Angel - but she couldn't stand
the demented rambling and deranged behavior of the vampiress. "How
long are we going to be stuck in this room?"
"Patience, Grandmother Daughter." Dru emphasized the daughter part of
the title she had bestowed upon Darla. Her dark eyes slid over to the
blonde vampire. Darla didn't like the sly light in them. "We leave
when I say. Now I would like to take a lovely bath. Hot, with
bubbles."
At first, Darla didn't move. She was the elder, so what if she had
been dead for a few years and then alive with a soul for almost another
one? But it did matter. Drusilla was her Sire. Right after Darla
had been turned, Dru had automatically assumed her role as the childe,
but now she seemed to realize the power she held over Darla. And she
was using it. The loathed servile need to please her Sire pushed
Darla to her feet and into the bathroom to do as Dru asked. It was a
temporary response, eventually she would be able to overcome it. Even
Spike had finally torn himself from Dru's grasp, although falling in
love with the slayer was hardly a step up.
"Is it ready?" Dru asked, stepping into the bathroom.
"Almost." Darla poured some bubble bath under the running water. The
steam of the hot water intensified the pungent smell of lilacs. When
she did conquer the Sire/Child control, Dru would pay for this and
they would both enjoy it. That was one thing Angelus had always done
right - teaching his childer to enjoy pain.
Drusilla touched Darla's cheek. "Don't be angry, Grandmother Daughter.
Tonight we meet my new Mummy. The spiders told me we would when they
invited us to go dancing with them."
"Fine." Darla smiled. Finally, she would be seeing her boy again and
the mystery woman who had captured his dead heart. "What about the
spell? The one that enables Angel to father children?"
"There's a witch." Dru let her dress fall in a pool at her feet. She
stepped into the tub filled with flagrant bubbles. Her head lolled
back against the cool porcelain and she closed her eyes. "She hates
Daddy and thinks the spell will destroy him."
"Why doesn't it?" Darla trailed her fingers in the hot water.
"His soul." Dru smiled. "Jonathan for my brother and Isabelle for
my sister. I'll be a good big sister. I'll bring candy and dolls and
dead puppies for them to play with. I promise not to bite."
"I won't be making that promise." Darla stood up and walked out of
the bathroom. She would suffer the presence of Angel's new consort
until the birth of the first brat. Then it would be bye-bye Mommy
Dearest. Permanently.
*****
It wasn't going well. It didn't start well and it definitely was not
going to end well. Cordelia sat back and observed her friends, Buffy
and Tara. Wesley and Gunn were, for the most part, confused about the
undercurrents flowing dangerously through the room, so she didn't pay
too much attention to them.
Things had started badly when Willow and Angel had come downstairs
holding hands and got worse when Angel hadn't ripped Gunn's head off
in a jealous rage over Buffy's affections. The tension factor had been
upped when Tara had pulled Willow down to sit next to her, forcing
Angel to take the remaining seat next to Buffy. Given the fact that
Buffy was pouting over Angel's lack of reaction to her, Angel was
glowering over the fact that Willow was not at his side, Tara was
desperately trying to get Willow's attention, and Willow was studiously
ignoring Tara, it was a wonder that they had been able to begin
discussing Willow's situation civilly. It hadn't lasted long.
"I think you should come back to Sunnydale with us," Tara suggested.
"No!" Willow and Angel protested at the same time. Willow continued
with their objection, "I can't control the demon properly. Angel is
helping me do that and Wesley and the others are helping me research
ways to expel the demon - if we can."
"We can do that in Sunnydale and Spike can help you control the demon."
Buffy gave Angel a sidelong glance. "Spike will do anything for me."
She was obviously thrilled by Angel's low growl, not realizing that it
was prompted by the thought of Spike being near Willow, not her.
"No, Spike wouldn't understand what Willow is going through. He
doesn't have a soul." Angel looked at Wesley. He hadn't voiced his
thoughts from the night before to anyone and Wesley would probably be
the best person to understand it. Well, Willow would understand, but
he couldn't look at her while she was sitting beside her...friend.
"When Willow performed the restoration ritual, it restored the demon
of her doppleganger inside her like it restored my soul to my body.
It's the curse that ties my soul to me....."
Wesley nodded with enthusiasm and cut in, "And it's the curse that ties
the demon to Willow."
"Then the solution is simple," Tara announced. She looked triumphant
and satisfied. "Willow told me there was a clause to your curse, that
complete happiness took your soul away." At everyone's nod and Buffy's
slightly guilty look, Tara beamed. She turned to face Willow, her
hand moving to rest intimately on her lover's thigh. "Complete
happiness should take the demon away. It's worth a shot for us to try
it."
White, blinding rage engulfed Angel. His ridges sprang across his
face and his demon eyesight brought the hand on Willow's thigh into
sharp focus. She was touching his mate! The violation was made even
more abhorrent by the fact that he had not yet claimed Willow in that
way. Angel snarled and jumped up.
"Angel!" Willow bolted to her feet as well. She met him in the middle
of their ring of friends. "Angel, it's okay."
"She touched you," Angel growled, glaring at Tara from over Willow's
shoulder. "Mine."
"Yes, I'm yours. It's not going to happen again." Willow tugged on
Angel's arm. "I'm hungry, let's go into the kitchen. Now, Angel."
Willow forcefully dragged Angel out of the room.
"I wouldn't follow them," Cordelia cautioned Tara and Buffy when they
started to rise. "They drink blood when they're hungry." Buffy sat
down hastily. Tara was a bit more reluctant until Cordelia added, "I
think Angel is itching to taste yours."
"What was that about?" Buffy looked suspiciously at Cordelia, like
she had been responsible for Angel ignoring her in favor of her best
friend.
Oh, Goody. She didn't get to just watch, she got to tell. Cordelia
shrugged casually, but watched Buffy like a hawk. "I guess Angel is
just possessive. It's one of those mating issues that they will have
to work out." She had been wrong. This did end well.
To be continued.....