Title: Devastating Past
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
25.
"I'm gonna change into dry clothes... I'll be back in a minute, make yourself at home." Jenny told Angel as she closed the door behind them. Angel nodded, inspecting silently his teacher's home. It had a very warm and friendly atmosphere that reflected Jenny's personality. Eventually he sat down, looking at a few pictures that were standing on the coffee table. There was a picture of Giles *Oh yeah, the old man's her boyfriend...weird choice.* He noticed various pictures of kids and grow-ups, some of them looking slightly like Miss Calendar, and Angel figured they were family. There was a few pictures hanging on a wall on the other side of the room, and he was about to stand up and go take a look at them, just when Jenny came back downstairs. Her arrival took his mind away from the pictures, and he didn't notice the picture of Jenny hugging happily an other woman in her late twenties with deep brown eyes and brown hair. He didn't notice either another picture of Jenny and this same woman, both laughing at a tall dark haired man in his late twenties too, who was standing between them with a little half smile.
"My god, take off your damn clothes! You're gonna get a cold!" Jenny exclaimed as she walked toward him with a towel, seeing that he was completely drenched and didn't do a thing about it.
"It's ok, I don't" He stopped there. *Damn! What can I say now? No thanks, I can't get sick?* "Right..." He then unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, then his shoes and socks, which were filled with water from the big puddles in the woods. He finally got rid of his pants that were hugging uncomfortably his legs, and kept only his boxers on. He grabbed the towel Jenny was handing him with a thanks and dried off his hair and face quickly. "Doesn't it hurt?" Jenny asked incredulously, pointing at the bleeding wound on Angel's stomach.
"It's just a scratch."
"You don't have to act all tough and manly around me you know. You're allowed to be in pain." She told him with a friendly smile.
"Well..." He started, trying to hide his grin. She was just too strange, he felt totally comfortable around her...and damn, he was standing in his boxers, she was his computer teacher!! That meant something. "I've known worse, but I wouldn't say no to some serious patching up." And it did hurt badly.
"Sit down." She instructed him and grabbed a first-aid kit in the bathroom. She sat on the couch next to him and started cleaning the wound carefully. "I was wondering...how did you make those guys run away?"
"When you lived in the streets for 6 years, you're used to that kind of situation. It's not the first time I fought with rapists or robbers." He answered truthfully.
"It must be tough. That kind of life style." She commented feeling sad for him.
"Yeah...I couldn't have survived for so long if it hadn't been for my baby sister and my friends." He felt a pang in his heart as he said that and tried not to think about Steven. Instead, he focused on Jenny, who was putting on his now clean wound a bandage. She was pretty close to him and with her hands touching his skin, he felt warm and safe. He didn't understand this attraction he had toward her, and a part of him enjoyed it even though the other part knew it was wrong, because he wasn't allowed to have that type of feelings for her when he already had them for somebody else. He looked into her deep brown eyes and almost got lost there, but her voice pulled him out of his reverie.
"Here you go. Now let's see your face." She looked briefly at the cuts he had on the corner of his lips and on his temple. She grabbed a piece of cotton and poured disinfectant on it, and was about to apply it on his face when she saw him chuckle. "What's funny?"
"The situation. I'm sitting half naked on a couch with my computer teacher sitting besides me and nursing me. But...the funny part is that it doesn't feel awkward." He answered truthfully, looking once more into her eyes. They started at each other for a moment silently.
"It's gonna sting a little." She warned him with a smile, and applied the piece of cotton on his brow and temple, wiping away the blood and cleaning the wound. She did the same for his lips and his neck, and as she pulled away to grab a band aid, he smiled, remembering moments like this a long time ago. As Jenny applied gently the band aid on his brow, then on the cuts on his neck, he couldn't help but make a remark with a smile.
"You feel just like when my mom used to-" He stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said. That's when it hit him. He looked into her eyes with confusion and saw the familiar gentle gaze of his mother when she was taking care of him as a kid. He saw his mother's face, her hair, amazed at how similar Jenny and his mom looked like.
"Your mom, huh? Well as much as I'd love having an 18 year old kid like you, I'm not sure I'm glad about the fact that I look that old" She said with a teasing grin. She was 33 and did not feel like a forty something with adult children yet.
"She'd be a couple of years younger than you if she was still alive." Angel stated, still deep in thoughts. In a way, it disturbed him that this feeling of comfort he had whenever Jenny was around was because she remembered him of his own mother. They had about the same age, same color of hair and eyes...the same personality.
"Oh wow. She had you very early."
"I know." He mumbled as he stood up and walked a few steps, away from Jenny.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't...I...I'm not supposed to feel like this." He murmured with a sigh. "She's not here anymore, I can't. I don't have a right to feel that!" Jenny was surprised to hear a beginning of anger in his voice. "Every time I share something with you about me or...when you touch me...it feels like you're my mom."
"Angel, where's the problem? It's alright to feel like that." She started as she crossed the living room.
"No!" he interrupted her angrily...angry at himself. "You're NOT her! She's gone and she'll NEVER come back, and I perfectly know that but I can't replace her! It's just wrong." He shook his head violently hoping to get rid of the little voice in his mind that kept whispering HE was wrong.
"Listen to me. You're NOT trying to replace her. Nobody can and nobody will ever take her place in your heart. But you're 18, you're just a kid. You lived without parents for the past 6 years, and it's not fair. You need a grown up to ask questions to, to share your problems with. Angel, there's something special about you that makes me want to help you, I can't describe it. You act like a tough guy, but it's obvious that you're hurting. Don't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens in your life."
Angel cast his eyes on the floor and stayed silent for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he broke the silence. "I miss my parents so much and I can't help thinking that it was my fault if they abandoned us. But they're both dead...and I can't make it up to them." It was barely above a whisper, and he talked slowly, but Jenny listened to him intently. "I'm so afraid that I'm disappointing them, I can't help it."
"That's why you feel guilty for everything." Jenny understood then how much this poor boy was hurting. How he had to bear the guilt to prove himself that his parents would be proud of him. "Angel. Look at me." She raised his chin with her fingers and saw the tears in his eyes that were threatening to fall. "If you were my son, I'd be extremely proud of you." She stated truthfully with an understanding smile.
"Thanks." He murmured, a little half-smile crawling on his lips.
"Oh come here big boy!" She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back gratefully.
*****
A few hours later, the storm had still not die out, and Jenny had asked Angel to stay until it'd be quiet enough to go out. Also, his clothes were still not dry, so she had insisted he stayed the evening. He had called Mr Schreiber, the owner of the magic shop, to tell him he'd come over on Sunday to talk about his job offer. It was completely dark outside now, and Angel was sitting in an armchair, reading one of the books he had bought at the magic shop and taking notes of what could be interesting to tell Spike, Gunn and co, while Jenny was taking a shower.
Suddenly, the bell rang, which made Angel look up from his book.
"Angel, could you get that?" He heard Jenny's voice from the bathroom.
"Sure." He told her as he was getting up. He went to open the door. "Mr Geeves, hi!" He greeted the shocked librarian as politely as he could. Of course it would have helped if he remembered his name and wasn't in boxers.
Giles stared at Angel...more at his half-naked body than at his smirking face...with his mouth slightly open and huge eyes. Seeing that Giles couldn't say a thing, Angel decided to help him out a little. "Wanna see Jenny?" No answer. "She's taking a shower...you wanna come in and wait for her?" Giles nodded silently, blinking to make sure he didn't have hallucinations, and entered his girlfriend's house. Angel closed the door behind him and went back to his book, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
After a minute, Giles was over the shock, and anger replaced the initial surprise. "What are you doing?"
Angel shrugged innocently without looking up and wrote a few notes of the notepad sitting on his lap. "Homework."
"Why here?"
Eventually the younger man looked up and looked at Giles as if he had asked the dumbest question in the world. "It's raining outside."
"I meant why here in Jenny's living room!" Giles clarified, his body tense.
"Oh. Er...She kinda invited me to stay. 'Cause it's raining and she didn't want me to go home all wet and get sick." He answered innocently, acting as if he didn't see why Giles would get jealous and mad finding an 18 year old guy in boxers staying with his girlfriend. "Why? Is there a problem sir?"
After a beat of processing what Angel had just told him, Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning the lenses with his handkerchief nervously. Jenny entered the living room at that moment, and noticed what her boyfriend was doing. She crossed the living room and stared at Angel, who tried his best to keep the smile from his face.
With a sigh, Jenny turned to face Giles. "Rupert, good evening." She greeted him with a big smile and a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't believe a word he told you."
"I don't think words are needed at that point." Giles replied, trying not to sound jealous but failing miserably.
"You're so sexy my stuffy old British man!" Jenny exclaimed, giving him a long kiss. When they pulled away, they looked over at Angel, who was making a disgusted face. "What are you doing here?" Jenny asked Giles, ignoring Angel.
"Erm...well Buffy was supposed to come at the library and erm..." He looked at Angel briefly "work, but she called to say that she didn't feel very well to...work, and that she'd be at the Bronze spending time with her friends. So I figured we could go have dinner somewhere...the two of us. Alone." He said that last part staring at Angel, who was smirking.
"I'll go get dressed." He reassured them, walking away to get his clothes.
*****
A little while later, it had stopped raining and Giles and Jenny had dropped Angel in front of the Bronze, before going to the restaurant. He entered the club and scanned the crowd in search of his girlfriend. He spotted her and Willow in a corner of the Bronze, the one where she always met her friends, with the couch and the armchairs. As he walked towards them, smiling as he watched her in deep conversation with her best friend. He just felt like wrapping his arms around her and never ever let go. She was so damn cute, making all those gestures to explain whatever she was talking about with the red-head.
"And then she was like, 'Oh Buffy, please don't be ridiculous!', which made me even more mad at her 'cause she acted like she knew everything and was totally logical, so then I told her she had never even met Angel and that if she talked to him she'd realize that that freakin' woman was wrong but she" Angel stopped Buffy's rambling as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her on the neck.
"Hi baby." He murmured in her ear with that deep sexy voice that made her knees weak. "Hey Willow." He smiled at the red-head who was grinning like an idiot. She just loved seeing those two together.
"Hey! What are you doing out here? I thought you didn't like this place." Buffy exclaimed, stroking Angel's arms and pressing her back against his chest.
"Heard you were here tonight." He mumbled simply and started nuzzling her shoulder and neck, dropping little kisses on her skin. "So you were talking about me?"
She turned around in his arms and bit her bottom lip nervously. That simple gesture was turning Angel on like hell, just seeing her soft lips and imagining them against his, on his chest, on his...*let's not go there*
"Yeah...kinda." He looked into her eyes and saw that she was bothered by something. Sitting on an armchair in front of Willow, Angel dragged Buffy on his lap and held her petite form tightly against his chest.
"Tell we what's wrong."
His voice was smooth and comforting, which helped her relax against his strong body. Buffy looked over at Willow who gave her a do-whatever-you- want shrug. *Thanks Will, really helpful!* "It's...well it's about my mom. She...heard from some woman that you weren't...I don't know...that you weren't a good person, but I totally don't think that, don't worry! You're a great person!" Buffy quickly amended because she was afraid that what she was about to tell her would hurt his feelings. She looked into his eyes but she couldn't read anything in them. "Anyway...She knows you're Kristin's brother, and she knows I'm Kristin's friend...so she told me just before I came here that she...erm...she hoped you wouldn't be there...and she was about to say more but I just got mad at her and..."
"She doesn't know we're going out, huh?"
"Not likely." Buffy told him sheepishly, making Angel chuckle.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it."
"I'm sorry"
"Don't be baby. A lot of people hate me, and I honestly don't give a damn shit about them." She shook her head from left to right slowly, as if she was mad at him for talking like that, but her smile gave her way..."You're just so damn cute" Angel whispered with a half smile, and Buffy leaned over. As soon as they made contact, their lips fused together in a passionate kiss, and neither of them heard Oz, Xander and Cordelia's arrival. Xander tried to get their attention, but at that moment it was hopeless.
"Ok guys, maybe you should stop, it's getting embarrassing." Willow told them from where she was sitting on Oz's lap.
Cordelia rolled her eyes at the red-head. "Oh leave them alone, they're cute." At that moment, Angel discreetly slipped his hand inside Buffy's shirt and cupped one of her breasts, making her moan loudly. "I didn't say anything, it's gross, let's separate them!" Cordy rectified making a face at the noises of pleasure the slayer was making. Xander stood up with Cordelia and they grabbed Buffy by the arms, pulling her away from Angel and making her sit on the couch.
"Hey!" They both protested at the interruption.
"You have a choice guys! Either it's here and PG13, or home and NC-17!" Xander told them firmly and the rest of the gang nodded.
"Fine, you win." Buffy mumbled, crossing her arms against her chest.
Everyone remained silent for a moment, until Angel spoke up. "Ok, let's go home." He grabbed Buffy by the hand, trying to pull her towards the exit, but she just smiled at him and shook her head.
"Nah, I wanna stay for a little while" Defeated, Angel sat back on his armchair. He grabbed Buffy's legs and put them on his lap, caressing her skin gently as she started to talk with her friends. Angel didn't really bother paying attention to whatever they were talking about. He wasn't feeling all that comfortable around Buffy's friends, and he suspected he never would. They couldn't understand him, his decisions, his ideas, because they ignored what it was like to fight vampires and demons on a regular basis. It saddened him a bit to have only three persons he could really talk to in Sunnydale: Buffy, Kristin and Jenny. Although he could talk about absolutely everything only with his little sister. Who, by the way, was walking through the crowd towards them at that moment.
"Hey Kristin!" Buffy and her friends greeted Kristin with a smile.
"Hi guys." She smiled slightly at them, then turned to face Angel, looking pissed about something.
"What's up sis?" Angel asked, forgetting Buffy's legs for a moment. Frowning at his sudden lack of attention, the slayer moved a little her feet, silently asking him to resume what he had been doing.
"I need to go to LA. Can we go some day? Soon?" Kristin answered, sitting with everyone.
"Ok...erm...why?"
"I'm horny." Kristin sighed, and Angel burst in laughter while the others just looked at Kristin strangely.
"You didn't find a guy that suited you?" Angel asked her trying to hide his smile.
"Let's put it that way. Remember that condom you gave me weeks ago? Well it's still in my pocket." That made Angel laugh even harder. "Stop it! You jinxed it before you gave it to me, didn't you!" She accused him only half- seriously.
"No, I didn't. On the contrary, I think I took it from a box that has been very fruitful to me." He teased her, which got him a playful slap on the arm from his poor sister.
"I said stop it! I wanna go to LA!!" She pleaded her brother with puppy dog eyes.
"Just find a guy here, what's the diff?"
Kristin looked at Angel as if he had just insulted her. "Yeah, sure, do you see me screwing some 15 year old virgin for the fun of it? Please, I need someone who knows what he's doing!"
"I'm sure you can find non-virgin older experienced guys at school."
"Yeah but...you know, I'd actually have to look for them and hit on them. You never had to do that to get sex from girls, why should your little sister go through all that trouble?" She smiled at him sweetly.
"Hey, is it MY fault if nobody knows me in Sunnydale?"
"Why would it help Kristin that people know you?" Xander asked, frowning.
"Cause I'd get to have sex with lots of guys." Kristin answered innocently.
"Huh? I don't get it!"
Kristin rolled her eyes. "You know, I wouldn't be just SOME girl from school, I'd be the hot baby sister of the boss! They know Angel, so they know me!!"
"Yeah right, as if Angel could have that much power on anyone. It's a nice fantasy, but I wouldn't get my hopes up." Xander replied with a chuckle.
Just as Kristin was about to defend her brother, a group of 10 big guys entered the club. They were holding guns and weapons, drawing the attention on them.
"Everybody shut up!" One of the guys shouted as another one made the music stop.
"Now every one, you're gonna listen to what I have to tell you, got it?" A tall black guy exclaimed, everyone backing away as he stood in the middle of the dance floor. "You're gonna learn to recognize me and my little friends here, because we're moving in Sunnydale. From now on, I'm the boss around here. Anyone who doesn't like it...you better shut the fuck up or you'll regret it."
Listening to the guy's speech about his power over people, Angel was fuming. *Who does he think he is? You little motherfucker, I'm gonna show ya who's the boss* He exchanged a look with Kristin and stood up, ready to interrupt the guy's speech.
"Angel! What are you doing?" Hissed Cordelia, pulling at his sleeve.
"I've got a few things to tell the guy." Angel murmured innocently.
"Don't be stupid! They have weapons! Guns and everything!" Willow added quickly.
"Jeez, relax, I saw that!"
"Angel, stop it! You don't have to prove anything to Xander or anyone!" Buffy stood up as well, trying to make him change his mind. They all figured...except Kristin...that he was going because of the conversation they were having.
"Believe me, I'm not trying to prove anything." He told her and walked away from them, in the direction of the group of guys. Buffy and the others followed too, hoping nothing would happen. Buffy might be the slayer, but against guns, she couldn't really do anything. After all, she was human. Only Kristin stayed behind, sipping at her drink and sitting comfortably on the couch.
"Anyone has a question? Maybe someone wants to make a suggestion?" The black guy was still talking, quite proud of himself when he heard a complete silence. That is, until someone broke the silence.
"Yeah, I've got a suggestion. How 'bout you get the fuck outta here?" Angel exclaimed, making everyone look at him as if he was out of his mind. Buffy exchanged a very worried look with Willow. What did he thing he was doing???
"Who the fuck said that?" The guy shouted to the crowd, obviously seriously pissed that someone dared challenge him.
"Oh...I guess that would be me." Angel answered innocently, and everyone stepped away from him, afraid he'd get shot and a bullet would also hit them or something.
"Angel stop it!" The vampire hunter heard his girlfriend's scared voice, but he didn't acknowledge her presence not far behind him. He was staring deeply at the black guy in front of him.
As soon as Angel was in clear view for all of the bad guys, there was a heavy silence and tension in the club.
"What? You don't have anything more to say?" Angel taunted the guy with a mocking smile. "Please, I'd just love to hear all that crap about your big power once more."
"Stop walking. Just one more step and you're a dead man." The guy threatened Angel, pointing his gun at Angel's chest.
"One more step huh? One more step and what? You're gonna shoot me? Kill me? Well, let's see that." Slowly, Angel took a step towards the guy, and everyone gasped at his gesture. Nothing happened. Angel faked being confused. "Damn...something didn't work here...I'm still alive! Maybe with a few more steps." He resumed walking, only stopping a meter away from the guy's gun.
"Jackson, man! Do something!" One of the guys yelled at his leader, who was staring at Angel.
"Yeah Jackson. Do something!" Yelled Kristin with a big smile from where she was now standing in the crowd.
"Shoot me. Come on, shoot." Angel murmured, but loud enough so that everyone could hear him. He grabbed the top of the gun with one hand an pressed it against his chest. "What are you waiting for? I'm at your mercy here! Just pull the DAMN trigger!"
"You fucking bastard!" Jackson yelled as he stepped away from Angel, who was smiling devilishly at him.
"You have to understand something my boy. I'm the boss." Angel said, matter- of-factly. "I'm the boss, and you're one big fucking loser."
"Who the hell are you?" A tall blonde twenty-something guy asked Angel, pointing his gun at him.
"Oh god, I'm so rude, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. I didn't know Jacky had made new friends. I'm Angel." Hearing his name, all the guys who hadn't already met Angel looked paralyzed. "Good. I guess now you know who the boss is around here. James, come over here I wanna talk to you." Seeing that no one moved, Angel started yelling, getting more and more pissed. He had to do that every time he saw Jackson. "You know you don't wanna piss me off right now!" A second later, a little brown haired guy walked over to where Angel was standing in the middle of the club.
"Man, I swear I didn't know he was gonna do that." Angel just stared deep in his eyes, his face unreadable. "I-I...we weren't going to shoot anyone, we'd never..." Still Angel kept staring in silence. "Jackson told us we'd...he...I...But we didn't mean....I'm sorry."
"That's a start, but you forgot something."
"I promise I'll never team up with Jackson again."
Eventually, Angel seemed a little more friendly. "Where do you guys live?"
"Disaffected factory, 7th avenue."
"All right. I want you and the others out of Sunnydale as soon as tomorrow morning. You go to LA, talk to Gunn, explain everything. Behave yourself, if I ever hear about you making troubles again, you won't be as lucky as tonight."
"Got it." James nodded. "What do you want me to-" He was interrupted by Angel who started yelling again.
"I'm FAR from being done with you! You stay where you are, you little piece of shit!" He had sensed that Jackson, who had been standing behind him, had started moving, hoping to run away. When Angel felt Jackson was staying still, he nodded to James.
"What do you want me to do with the weapons?"
"Give them to Gunn. And tell him to call me before he makes any decision. Got it?"
"Yeah. I...Thanks man."
Angel gestured for him to go, and James took off quickly with the others. Then, Angel turned around to look at Jackson.
"I thought I had made myself clear years ago. But you didn't stop. I thought the second and the third time I had a little chat with you, I had been clear. Obviously not. I thought Spike had made himself clear. And yet, here we are all over again. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What do you think?" Jackson snapped at him angrily, but he made no move to either use his gun or run away. He knew better than that. He was human, and he knew Angel wasn't.
"You're jealous." Kristin stated, standing now next to her brother. "I don't know why you're jealous of Angel, and frankly I'm starting to get bored of pitying you. One day Angel won't be so nice with you."
"You don't know why I'm fucking jealous of that creep? Are you stupid? He's got everything I should have! I should be the one in control of New York, not him! What does HE have that I don't?"
"I don't threaten people to get them to trust me. I don't beat up the ones who don't agree with me. I try to make things right when you only cause more trouble. I am sane." Angel explained seriously, glaring at Jackson.
"Yeah, you're one fucking sane guy. At least I manage to keep my friends from getting killed. Should I remind you of a few of them, say...Julie and Steven?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Angel had grabbed him by the throat and was squeezing just enough to allow him to breathe.
"Give me ONE reason not to kill you with my bare hands." He growled at him.
"You don't murder humans." Jackson murmured quietly. Angel then released him, stepping away from him to keep control of his emotions and not slip into his vampire face.
"Leave Sunnydale. Don't you dare go to Los Angeles or New York. If I EVER see you again, I WILL kill you." A few seconds later, Jackson was on his way out of town.
"Very smooth." Kristin commented as everyone more or less went back to whatever they were doing before, or started talking about what just happened. The gang joined Kristin and Angel, amazed by what Angel just did.
"Yeah...god I hate this guy." Angel murmured absently.
"Well Xand...I guess you were right. Angel REALLY doesn't have power over people!" Kristin exclaimed sarcastically.
"H-how did you?" Willow stammered with wide eyes.
"Jackson's an old acquaintance from New York. He's always making troubles and I gotta clean up his mess. We tried to get him to stay away from the city..." Angel trailed off with a sigh.
"You big jerk!" Buffy groaned, hugging Angel tightly. "Couldn't you at least tell us you knew that guy? I was so worried!"
"Sorry baby. I...I always forget you haven't been with me for the past 5 years. I feel like I've known you forever." He whispered in her ear, kissing her shoulder and stroking her back.
"You're sweet."
"How about we go back to my apartment?" He suggested, resting his hand on her butt to clarify what exactly he had in mind.
"I'd love that."
*********
Author: Valerie
E-mail: funbreath@msn.com
Disclaimer: they don't belong to me
Summary: AU Angel is new at Sunnydale High. He meets Buffy and the gang. They think he's just a regular kid. Not likely.
Timeline: during season 2 of BTVS...sorta. Let's just say that Buffy and the gang are in their Junior year in Sunnydale High.
Spoilers: as far as alternate universe goes...almost nothing. References on demons from BTVS and Angel from time to time, but that's about it
Rating: R
Distribution: You can take it but ask me first please.
Feedback: That's a big big big yes!!!!! It's my first fic, so please?
*********
25.
"I'm gonna change into dry clothes... I'll be back in a minute, make yourself at home." Jenny told Angel as she closed the door behind them. Angel nodded, inspecting silently his teacher's home. It had a very warm and friendly atmosphere that reflected Jenny's personality. Eventually he sat down, looking at a few pictures that were standing on the coffee table. There was a picture of Giles *Oh yeah, the old man's her boyfriend...weird choice.* He noticed various pictures of kids and grow-ups, some of them looking slightly like Miss Calendar, and Angel figured they were family. There was a few pictures hanging on a wall on the other side of the room, and he was about to stand up and go take a look at them, just when Jenny came back downstairs. Her arrival took his mind away from the pictures, and he didn't notice the picture of Jenny hugging happily an other woman in her late twenties with deep brown eyes and brown hair. He didn't notice either another picture of Jenny and this same woman, both laughing at a tall dark haired man in his late twenties too, who was standing between them with a little half smile.
"My god, take off your damn clothes! You're gonna get a cold!" Jenny exclaimed as she walked toward him with a towel, seeing that he was completely drenched and didn't do a thing about it.
"It's ok, I don't" He stopped there. *Damn! What can I say now? No thanks, I can't get sick?* "Right..." He then unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, then his shoes and socks, which were filled with water from the big puddles in the woods. He finally got rid of his pants that were hugging uncomfortably his legs, and kept only his boxers on. He grabbed the towel Jenny was handing him with a thanks and dried off his hair and face quickly. "Doesn't it hurt?" Jenny asked incredulously, pointing at the bleeding wound on Angel's stomach.
"It's just a scratch."
"You don't have to act all tough and manly around me you know. You're allowed to be in pain." She told him with a friendly smile.
"Well..." He started, trying to hide his grin. She was just too strange, he felt totally comfortable around her...and damn, he was standing in his boxers, she was his computer teacher!! That meant something. "I've known worse, but I wouldn't say no to some serious patching up." And it did hurt badly.
"Sit down." She instructed him and grabbed a first-aid kit in the bathroom. She sat on the couch next to him and started cleaning the wound carefully. "I was wondering...how did you make those guys run away?"
"When you lived in the streets for 6 years, you're used to that kind of situation. It's not the first time I fought with rapists or robbers." He answered truthfully.
"It must be tough. That kind of life style." She commented feeling sad for him.
"Yeah...I couldn't have survived for so long if it hadn't been for my baby sister and my friends." He felt a pang in his heart as he said that and tried not to think about Steven. Instead, he focused on Jenny, who was putting on his now clean wound a bandage. She was pretty close to him and with her hands touching his skin, he felt warm and safe. He didn't understand this attraction he had toward her, and a part of him enjoyed it even though the other part knew it was wrong, because he wasn't allowed to have that type of feelings for her when he already had them for somebody else. He looked into her deep brown eyes and almost got lost there, but her voice pulled him out of his reverie.
"Here you go. Now let's see your face." She looked briefly at the cuts he had on the corner of his lips and on his temple. She grabbed a piece of cotton and poured disinfectant on it, and was about to apply it on his face when she saw him chuckle. "What's funny?"
"The situation. I'm sitting half naked on a couch with my computer teacher sitting besides me and nursing me. But...the funny part is that it doesn't feel awkward." He answered truthfully, looking once more into her eyes. They started at each other for a moment silently.
"It's gonna sting a little." She warned him with a smile, and applied the piece of cotton on his brow and temple, wiping away the blood and cleaning the wound. She did the same for his lips and his neck, and as she pulled away to grab a band aid, he smiled, remembering moments like this a long time ago. As Jenny applied gently the band aid on his brow, then on the cuts on his neck, he couldn't help but make a remark with a smile.
"You feel just like when my mom used to-" He stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what he had just said. That's when it hit him. He looked into her eyes with confusion and saw the familiar gentle gaze of his mother when she was taking care of him as a kid. He saw his mother's face, her hair, amazed at how similar Jenny and his mom looked like.
"Your mom, huh? Well as much as I'd love having an 18 year old kid like you, I'm not sure I'm glad about the fact that I look that old" She said with a teasing grin. She was 33 and did not feel like a forty something with adult children yet.
"She'd be a couple of years younger than you if she was still alive." Angel stated, still deep in thoughts. In a way, it disturbed him that this feeling of comfort he had whenever Jenny was around was because she remembered him of his own mother. They had about the same age, same color of hair and eyes...the same personality.
"Oh wow. She had you very early."
"I know." He mumbled as he stood up and walked a few steps, away from Jenny.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't...I...I'm not supposed to feel like this." He murmured with a sigh. "She's not here anymore, I can't. I don't have a right to feel that!" Jenny was surprised to hear a beginning of anger in his voice. "Every time I share something with you about me or...when you touch me...it feels like you're my mom."
"Angel, where's the problem? It's alright to feel like that." She started as she crossed the living room.
"No!" he interrupted her angrily...angry at himself. "You're NOT her! She's gone and she'll NEVER come back, and I perfectly know that but I can't replace her! It's just wrong." He shook his head violently hoping to get rid of the little voice in his mind that kept whispering HE was wrong.
"Listen to me. You're NOT trying to replace her. Nobody can and nobody will ever take her place in your heart. But you're 18, you're just a kid. You lived without parents for the past 6 years, and it's not fair. You need a grown up to ask questions to, to share your problems with. Angel, there's something special about you that makes me want to help you, I can't describe it. You act like a tough guy, but it's obvious that you're hurting. Don't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens in your life."
Angel cast his eyes on the floor and stayed silent for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he broke the silence. "I miss my parents so much and I can't help thinking that it was my fault if they abandoned us. But they're both dead...and I can't make it up to them." It was barely above a whisper, and he talked slowly, but Jenny listened to him intently. "I'm so afraid that I'm disappointing them, I can't help it."
"That's why you feel guilty for everything." Jenny understood then how much this poor boy was hurting. How he had to bear the guilt to prove himself that his parents would be proud of him. "Angel. Look at me." She raised his chin with her fingers and saw the tears in his eyes that were threatening to fall. "If you were my son, I'd be extremely proud of you." She stated truthfully with an understanding smile.
"Thanks." He murmured, a little half-smile crawling on his lips.
"Oh come here big boy!" She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back gratefully.
*****
A few hours later, the storm had still not die out, and Jenny had asked Angel to stay until it'd be quiet enough to go out. Also, his clothes were still not dry, so she had insisted he stayed the evening. He had called Mr Schreiber, the owner of the magic shop, to tell him he'd come over on Sunday to talk about his job offer. It was completely dark outside now, and Angel was sitting in an armchair, reading one of the books he had bought at the magic shop and taking notes of what could be interesting to tell Spike, Gunn and co, while Jenny was taking a shower.
Suddenly, the bell rang, which made Angel look up from his book.
"Angel, could you get that?" He heard Jenny's voice from the bathroom.
"Sure." He told her as he was getting up. He went to open the door. "Mr Geeves, hi!" He greeted the shocked librarian as politely as he could. Of course it would have helped if he remembered his name and wasn't in boxers.
Giles stared at Angel...more at his half-naked body than at his smirking face...with his mouth slightly open and huge eyes. Seeing that Giles couldn't say a thing, Angel decided to help him out a little. "Wanna see Jenny?" No answer. "She's taking a shower...you wanna come in and wait for her?" Giles nodded silently, blinking to make sure he didn't have hallucinations, and entered his girlfriend's house. Angel closed the door behind him and went back to his book, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
After a minute, Giles was over the shock, and anger replaced the initial surprise. "What are you doing?"
Angel shrugged innocently without looking up and wrote a few notes of the notepad sitting on his lap. "Homework."
"Why here?"
Eventually the younger man looked up and looked at Giles as if he had asked the dumbest question in the world. "It's raining outside."
"I meant why here in Jenny's living room!" Giles clarified, his body tense.
"Oh. Er...She kinda invited me to stay. 'Cause it's raining and she didn't want me to go home all wet and get sick." He answered innocently, acting as if he didn't see why Giles would get jealous and mad finding an 18 year old guy in boxers staying with his girlfriend. "Why? Is there a problem sir?"
After a beat of processing what Angel had just told him, Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning the lenses with his handkerchief nervously. Jenny entered the living room at that moment, and noticed what her boyfriend was doing. She crossed the living room and stared at Angel, who tried his best to keep the smile from his face.
With a sigh, Jenny turned to face Giles. "Rupert, good evening." She greeted him with a big smile and a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't believe a word he told you."
"I don't think words are needed at that point." Giles replied, trying not to sound jealous but failing miserably.
"You're so sexy my stuffy old British man!" Jenny exclaimed, giving him a long kiss. When they pulled away, they looked over at Angel, who was making a disgusted face. "What are you doing here?" Jenny asked Giles, ignoring Angel.
"Erm...well Buffy was supposed to come at the library and erm..." He looked at Angel briefly "work, but she called to say that she didn't feel very well to...work, and that she'd be at the Bronze spending time with her friends. So I figured we could go have dinner somewhere...the two of us. Alone." He said that last part staring at Angel, who was smirking.
"I'll go get dressed." He reassured them, walking away to get his clothes.
*****
A little while later, it had stopped raining and Giles and Jenny had dropped Angel in front of the Bronze, before going to the restaurant. He entered the club and scanned the crowd in search of his girlfriend. He spotted her and Willow in a corner of the Bronze, the one where she always met her friends, with the couch and the armchairs. As he walked towards them, smiling as he watched her in deep conversation with her best friend. He just felt like wrapping his arms around her and never ever let go. She was so damn cute, making all those gestures to explain whatever she was talking about with the red-head.
"And then she was like, 'Oh Buffy, please don't be ridiculous!', which made me even more mad at her 'cause she acted like she knew everything and was totally logical, so then I told her she had never even met Angel and that if she talked to him she'd realize that that freakin' woman was wrong but she" Angel stopped Buffy's rambling as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her on the neck.
"Hi baby." He murmured in her ear with that deep sexy voice that made her knees weak. "Hey Willow." He smiled at the red-head who was grinning like an idiot. She just loved seeing those two together.
"Hey! What are you doing out here? I thought you didn't like this place." Buffy exclaimed, stroking Angel's arms and pressing her back against his chest.
"Heard you were here tonight." He mumbled simply and started nuzzling her shoulder and neck, dropping little kisses on her skin. "So you were talking about me?"
She turned around in his arms and bit her bottom lip nervously. That simple gesture was turning Angel on like hell, just seeing her soft lips and imagining them against his, on his chest, on his...*let's not go there*
"Yeah...kinda." He looked into her eyes and saw that she was bothered by something. Sitting on an armchair in front of Willow, Angel dragged Buffy on his lap and held her petite form tightly against his chest.
"Tell we what's wrong."
His voice was smooth and comforting, which helped her relax against his strong body. Buffy looked over at Willow who gave her a do-whatever-you- want shrug. *Thanks Will, really helpful!* "It's...well it's about my mom. She...heard from some woman that you weren't...I don't know...that you weren't a good person, but I totally don't think that, don't worry! You're a great person!" Buffy quickly amended because she was afraid that what she was about to tell her would hurt his feelings. She looked into his eyes but she couldn't read anything in them. "Anyway...She knows you're Kristin's brother, and she knows I'm Kristin's friend...so she told me just before I came here that she...erm...she hoped you wouldn't be there...and she was about to say more but I just got mad at her and..."
"She doesn't know we're going out, huh?"
"Not likely." Buffy told him sheepishly, making Angel chuckle.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it."
"I'm sorry"
"Don't be baby. A lot of people hate me, and I honestly don't give a damn shit about them." She shook her head from left to right slowly, as if she was mad at him for talking like that, but her smile gave her way..."You're just so damn cute" Angel whispered with a half smile, and Buffy leaned over. As soon as they made contact, their lips fused together in a passionate kiss, and neither of them heard Oz, Xander and Cordelia's arrival. Xander tried to get their attention, but at that moment it was hopeless.
"Ok guys, maybe you should stop, it's getting embarrassing." Willow told them from where she was sitting on Oz's lap.
Cordelia rolled her eyes at the red-head. "Oh leave them alone, they're cute." At that moment, Angel discreetly slipped his hand inside Buffy's shirt and cupped one of her breasts, making her moan loudly. "I didn't say anything, it's gross, let's separate them!" Cordy rectified making a face at the noises of pleasure the slayer was making. Xander stood up with Cordelia and they grabbed Buffy by the arms, pulling her away from Angel and making her sit on the couch.
"Hey!" They both protested at the interruption.
"You have a choice guys! Either it's here and PG13, or home and NC-17!" Xander told them firmly and the rest of the gang nodded.
"Fine, you win." Buffy mumbled, crossing her arms against her chest.
Everyone remained silent for a moment, until Angel spoke up. "Ok, let's go home." He grabbed Buffy by the hand, trying to pull her towards the exit, but she just smiled at him and shook her head.
"Nah, I wanna stay for a little while" Defeated, Angel sat back on his armchair. He grabbed Buffy's legs and put them on his lap, caressing her skin gently as she started to talk with her friends. Angel didn't really bother paying attention to whatever they were talking about. He wasn't feeling all that comfortable around Buffy's friends, and he suspected he never would. They couldn't understand him, his decisions, his ideas, because they ignored what it was like to fight vampires and demons on a regular basis. It saddened him a bit to have only three persons he could really talk to in Sunnydale: Buffy, Kristin and Jenny. Although he could talk about absolutely everything only with his little sister. Who, by the way, was walking through the crowd towards them at that moment.
"Hey Kristin!" Buffy and her friends greeted Kristin with a smile.
"Hi guys." She smiled slightly at them, then turned to face Angel, looking pissed about something.
"What's up sis?" Angel asked, forgetting Buffy's legs for a moment. Frowning at his sudden lack of attention, the slayer moved a little her feet, silently asking him to resume what he had been doing.
"I need to go to LA. Can we go some day? Soon?" Kristin answered, sitting with everyone.
"Ok...erm...why?"
"I'm horny." Kristin sighed, and Angel burst in laughter while the others just looked at Kristin strangely.
"You didn't find a guy that suited you?" Angel asked her trying to hide his smile.
"Let's put it that way. Remember that condom you gave me weeks ago? Well it's still in my pocket." That made Angel laugh even harder. "Stop it! You jinxed it before you gave it to me, didn't you!" She accused him only half- seriously.
"No, I didn't. On the contrary, I think I took it from a box that has been very fruitful to me." He teased her, which got him a playful slap on the arm from his poor sister.
"I said stop it! I wanna go to LA!!" She pleaded her brother with puppy dog eyes.
"Just find a guy here, what's the diff?"
Kristin looked at Angel as if he had just insulted her. "Yeah, sure, do you see me screwing some 15 year old virgin for the fun of it? Please, I need someone who knows what he's doing!"
"I'm sure you can find non-virgin older experienced guys at school."
"Yeah but...you know, I'd actually have to look for them and hit on them. You never had to do that to get sex from girls, why should your little sister go through all that trouble?" She smiled at him sweetly.
"Hey, is it MY fault if nobody knows me in Sunnydale?"
"Why would it help Kristin that people know you?" Xander asked, frowning.
"Cause I'd get to have sex with lots of guys." Kristin answered innocently.
"Huh? I don't get it!"
Kristin rolled her eyes. "You know, I wouldn't be just SOME girl from school, I'd be the hot baby sister of the boss! They know Angel, so they know me!!"
"Yeah right, as if Angel could have that much power on anyone. It's a nice fantasy, but I wouldn't get my hopes up." Xander replied with a chuckle.
Just as Kristin was about to defend her brother, a group of 10 big guys entered the club. They were holding guns and weapons, drawing the attention on them.
"Everybody shut up!" One of the guys shouted as another one made the music stop.
"Now every one, you're gonna listen to what I have to tell you, got it?" A tall black guy exclaimed, everyone backing away as he stood in the middle of the dance floor. "You're gonna learn to recognize me and my little friends here, because we're moving in Sunnydale. From now on, I'm the boss around here. Anyone who doesn't like it...you better shut the fuck up or you'll regret it."
Listening to the guy's speech about his power over people, Angel was fuming. *Who does he think he is? You little motherfucker, I'm gonna show ya who's the boss* He exchanged a look with Kristin and stood up, ready to interrupt the guy's speech.
"Angel! What are you doing?" Hissed Cordelia, pulling at his sleeve.
"I've got a few things to tell the guy." Angel murmured innocently.
"Don't be stupid! They have weapons! Guns and everything!" Willow added quickly.
"Jeez, relax, I saw that!"
"Angel, stop it! You don't have to prove anything to Xander or anyone!" Buffy stood up as well, trying to make him change his mind. They all figured...except Kristin...that he was going because of the conversation they were having.
"Believe me, I'm not trying to prove anything." He told her and walked away from them, in the direction of the group of guys. Buffy and the others followed too, hoping nothing would happen. Buffy might be the slayer, but against guns, she couldn't really do anything. After all, she was human. Only Kristin stayed behind, sipping at her drink and sitting comfortably on the couch.
"Anyone has a question? Maybe someone wants to make a suggestion?" The black guy was still talking, quite proud of himself when he heard a complete silence. That is, until someone broke the silence.
"Yeah, I've got a suggestion. How 'bout you get the fuck outta here?" Angel exclaimed, making everyone look at him as if he was out of his mind. Buffy exchanged a very worried look with Willow. What did he thing he was doing???
"Who the fuck said that?" The guy shouted to the crowd, obviously seriously pissed that someone dared challenge him.
"Oh...I guess that would be me." Angel answered innocently, and everyone stepped away from him, afraid he'd get shot and a bullet would also hit them or something.
"Angel stop it!" The vampire hunter heard his girlfriend's scared voice, but he didn't acknowledge her presence not far behind him. He was staring deeply at the black guy in front of him.
As soon as Angel was in clear view for all of the bad guys, there was a heavy silence and tension in the club.
"What? You don't have anything more to say?" Angel taunted the guy with a mocking smile. "Please, I'd just love to hear all that crap about your big power once more."
"Stop walking. Just one more step and you're a dead man." The guy threatened Angel, pointing his gun at Angel's chest.
"One more step huh? One more step and what? You're gonna shoot me? Kill me? Well, let's see that." Slowly, Angel took a step towards the guy, and everyone gasped at his gesture. Nothing happened. Angel faked being confused. "Damn...something didn't work here...I'm still alive! Maybe with a few more steps." He resumed walking, only stopping a meter away from the guy's gun.
"Jackson, man! Do something!" One of the guys yelled at his leader, who was staring at Angel.
"Yeah Jackson. Do something!" Yelled Kristin with a big smile from where she was now standing in the crowd.
"Shoot me. Come on, shoot." Angel murmured, but loud enough so that everyone could hear him. He grabbed the top of the gun with one hand an pressed it against his chest. "What are you waiting for? I'm at your mercy here! Just pull the DAMN trigger!"
"You fucking bastard!" Jackson yelled as he stepped away from Angel, who was smiling devilishly at him.
"You have to understand something my boy. I'm the boss." Angel said, matter- of-factly. "I'm the boss, and you're one big fucking loser."
"Who the hell are you?" A tall blonde twenty-something guy asked Angel, pointing his gun at him.
"Oh god, I'm so rude, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. I didn't know Jacky had made new friends. I'm Angel." Hearing his name, all the guys who hadn't already met Angel looked paralyzed. "Good. I guess now you know who the boss is around here. James, come over here I wanna talk to you." Seeing that no one moved, Angel started yelling, getting more and more pissed. He had to do that every time he saw Jackson. "You know you don't wanna piss me off right now!" A second later, a little brown haired guy walked over to where Angel was standing in the middle of the club.
"Man, I swear I didn't know he was gonna do that." Angel just stared deep in his eyes, his face unreadable. "I-I...we weren't going to shoot anyone, we'd never..." Still Angel kept staring in silence. "Jackson told us we'd...he...I...But we didn't mean....I'm sorry."
"That's a start, but you forgot something."
"I promise I'll never team up with Jackson again."
Eventually, Angel seemed a little more friendly. "Where do you guys live?"
"Disaffected factory, 7th avenue."
"All right. I want you and the others out of Sunnydale as soon as tomorrow morning. You go to LA, talk to Gunn, explain everything. Behave yourself, if I ever hear about you making troubles again, you won't be as lucky as tonight."
"Got it." James nodded. "What do you want me to-" He was interrupted by Angel who started yelling again.
"I'm FAR from being done with you! You stay where you are, you little piece of shit!" He had sensed that Jackson, who had been standing behind him, had started moving, hoping to run away. When Angel felt Jackson was staying still, he nodded to James.
"What do you want me to do with the weapons?"
"Give them to Gunn. And tell him to call me before he makes any decision. Got it?"
"Yeah. I...Thanks man."
Angel gestured for him to go, and James took off quickly with the others. Then, Angel turned around to look at Jackson.
"I thought I had made myself clear years ago. But you didn't stop. I thought the second and the third time I had a little chat with you, I had been clear. Obviously not. I thought Spike had made himself clear. And yet, here we are all over again. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What do you think?" Jackson snapped at him angrily, but he made no move to either use his gun or run away. He knew better than that. He was human, and he knew Angel wasn't.
"You're jealous." Kristin stated, standing now next to her brother. "I don't know why you're jealous of Angel, and frankly I'm starting to get bored of pitying you. One day Angel won't be so nice with you."
"You don't know why I'm fucking jealous of that creep? Are you stupid? He's got everything I should have! I should be the one in control of New York, not him! What does HE have that I don't?"
"I don't threaten people to get them to trust me. I don't beat up the ones who don't agree with me. I try to make things right when you only cause more trouble. I am sane." Angel explained seriously, glaring at Jackson.
"Yeah, you're one fucking sane guy. At least I manage to keep my friends from getting killed. Should I remind you of a few of them, say...Julie and Steven?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Angel had grabbed him by the throat and was squeezing just enough to allow him to breathe.
"Give me ONE reason not to kill you with my bare hands." He growled at him.
"You don't murder humans." Jackson murmured quietly. Angel then released him, stepping away from him to keep control of his emotions and not slip into his vampire face.
"Leave Sunnydale. Don't you dare go to Los Angeles or New York. If I EVER see you again, I WILL kill you." A few seconds later, Jackson was on his way out of town.
"Very smooth." Kristin commented as everyone more or less went back to whatever they were doing before, or started talking about what just happened. The gang joined Kristin and Angel, amazed by what Angel just did.
"Yeah...god I hate this guy." Angel murmured absently.
"Well Xand...I guess you were right. Angel REALLY doesn't have power over people!" Kristin exclaimed sarcastically.
"H-how did you?" Willow stammered with wide eyes.
"Jackson's an old acquaintance from New York. He's always making troubles and I gotta clean up his mess. We tried to get him to stay away from the city..." Angel trailed off with a sigh.
"You big jerk!" Buffy groaned, hugging Angel tightly. "Couldn't you at least tell us you knew that guy? I was so worried!"
"Sorry baby. I...I always forget you haven't been with me for the past 5 years. I feel like I've known you forever." He whispered in her ear, kissing her shoulder and stroking her back.
"You're sweet."
"How about we go back to my apartment?" He suggested, resting his hand on her butt to clarify what exactly he had in mind.
"I'd love that."
*********