SECOND CHANCES
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.
CHAPTER 9-Greetings, Salutations and Tough Talk
It was a few seconds after Buffy and Angel disappeared into the office before anyone in the lobby found the strength to say anything. Fred and Lorne just stood and stared at the small group of strangers in front of them and for their part the Scooby's pretty much emulated them. Willow took the point after Xander shrugged his shoulders and stepped back to stand nervously beside Anya and protectively in front of Dawn. Spike meanwhile had sauntered over to the stairs and sat down on the bottom step, holding his head between his hands and sadly mumbling something softly.
"Uh.h-hi.Fred.right," Willow stammered out nervously as she walked up to Fred and slowly extended her hand. Fred shuffled her clipboard around and slowly extended her hand as Gunn began to slowly wake up.
"Right.and of course there's Lorne.and Gunn," Fred said with an embarrassed and overwhelmed smile on her face as she turned first to Lorne, as he stepped up beside her, and then to Gunn who sleepily stood up.
"Somebody say my name," Gunn said through a yawn as he scratched the back of his neck and stumbled over next to Willow, who smiled at him meekly.
"Charles.we have guests.Angel's friends from Sunnydale, you remember Willow," Fred said with a hopeful look on her face as Gunn and Willow then exchanged pleasantries. Willow then started to introduce the rest of them but was interrupted by an enthusiastic Lorne, who seemed to act like the introductions were a game.
"Let me do it Winifred, now let me see.the brooding mental patient on the steps is Spike that's easy enough," Lorne started to say with a smile on his face before his expression became serious as he looked Spike's way. At the sound of his name Spike raised his head slightly before dropping it again and mumbled something to soft for anyone to hear. "Now the tough guy's Xander.and then it's.Anya.and Dawn.right," he said with once again a smile on his face as he pointed first at Xander and then to Anya and Dawn as he said their names. Xander and Anya smiled sheepishly while Dawn seemed more concerned with what Spike was doing as she turned her head and locked her gaze onto him.
"So that's the famous.or should I same infamous Spike.Angel's old friend," Gunn said with a small sigh as he crossed his arms and eyed Spike with disdain and non surprise.
"I wouldn't call us old friends.I sired the vampire that sired him.and.taught him almost everything he knows," a voice from behind them said as everyone turned around to see a visibly angry Angel and an upset Buffy step out of the office.
"I'm sensing some hostilities here.say Angel babe.if you're going to make with the pummeling maybe you could do it downstairs.," Lorne said with a hopeful and fearful look on his face as he looked back and forth between Angel and Fred. Angel rolled his eyes and looked back and Buffy, who gave him a stern look before her look softened as she turned her gaze to Spike, who by now was standing at the base of the steps looking like a scared child.
"Good idea Lorne.Spike.downstairs.now," Angel said almost in a growl as he glared first at Spike and then turned towards the stairs and headed downstairs. At first Spike seemed to be almost afraid to move as he looked pleadingly to Buffy who smiled and nodded her head. That seemed to tell him all he needed to know as Spike slowly sauntered off to the stairs before trudging down and out of sight.
* * * * * * * * *
By the time they had gotten their shopping done the sun was already well on its descent across the sky. He had picked up the items he needed and packed them all into two small bags, and thus was shocked when he saw Faith walking towards him, her arms full of bags that were overflowing. He eyed her and the bags with a concerned look on his face for a moment before posing the question.
"Did you buy the whole bloody mall," he said with an impatient scowl on his face as he shifted his bags from one in each hand to both in one hand.
"I've been in prison remember.I just got what I needed," she shot back with a playful look on her face as she began to hand him packages, but was careful to keep two large bags in her possession. He reluctantly took the bags but kept looking at her with a disapproving look on his face. "You can lighten up Wes.it's not going to kill you," she said with a smirk on her face as she gave him an odd look before she moved in closer and began to slowly lean in for a kiss.
His first instinct was to pull away but that was quickly overshadowed by the decision that he had made much earlier to try and trust her, so taking the lead he leaned down and met her halfway. The kiss was again a brief one but it was long enough for her to get in a little slip of the tongue, something that Lilah liked to do to annoyance levels. At the end she took a step back before nodding her head slightly and winking at him.
"What was that for," he said with a slightly confused look on his face as he fought back the part of him that wanted to kiss her again, but this time let the other mall denizens be damned as he didn't care if they stare then or not. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as she started to smile before she glanced down at her watch and gasped.
"Do I always have to have a reason to kiss you.thought you liked it to," she said with a feigned hurt look on her face as she leaned back a little and crossed her arms before continuing. "But we don't have time to talk, we have to get home and get ready for the party.there's to much to do to just rush through it," she exclaimed with a hurried look on her face before she turned and began to walk off towards the parking lot, with Wesley close behind.
The ride back to his apartment didn't take very long and much of the way his attention was captured by one of the bags that she had stuffed into the seat behind him. It reeked strongly of leather and many other exotic scents that he had to rack his brain to even come close to coming up with what was making the smell. One, while they were waiting at a red light, he had started to turn around and get a quick look she had punched him in the shoulder and scolded him, telling him to stay out of that bag and that if everything went as planned then he'd find out what was in the bag later that night.
After helping Faith carry all of the bags up to his apartment Wesley returned to the SUV and took off for the offices of Wolfram and Hart, intent on getting the rest of the supplies that he'd need if he was to carry out the plan that he was still coming up with in his head. It didn't take him to long to get up to Lilah's office though he did receive a good number of glares, from envious people, on the way up. He found Lilah at her desk, on the phone and looking very busy, and none to happy at being interrupted for anything.
"What do you want," Lilah said with a slight sneer in her voice as she gaze him an icy stare and hung up the phone.
"Nice to see you to," Wesley shot back angrily with a scowl on his face as he scratched his chin before continuing. "Do you have time to talk," he said a little softer than before as he plopped down into one of the chairs opposite Lilah. All he received from her in response was a glare before she shook her head and pointed out the door and added.
"Not right now.maybe later.I'm right in the middle of something, see the boys downstairs.they'll get you what you need," she said without looking up once as she began to sift through the large pile of papers on her desk.
"Of course.thank you," he said as he stood up and did a slight bow before he turned and left the room just as the phone rang again.
After Wesley had left Faith had started to unpack a few things before her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to do some snooping around. At first she didn't find anything and was about to give up when she uncovered his journal at the bottom of one of his drawers. It was about the size of a large notebook and had a well worn leather cover on it. She flipped open the cover and began reading the first few pages as she took a few steps back and then sat on his bed, pulling her legs up under her and sitting Indian style. The first thing that she noted was his almost perfect penmanship. Most of the first few pages were boring run of the mill days where it appeared that nothing much happened. But she noticed that as she went on not only did his penmanship start to degrade but also the content as well, with the passages sounding darker and darker. The passages that caught her eye most now were the ones that looked like a child had written them, well a child with a death wish. The passages followed a blank space that after reading a few lines of the chicken scratches she realized that those empty pages must have been the time that he spent in the hospital recovering from the attack.
Hesitantly she continued to read on, noting that at first there was very little written, but then slowly more and more words spread across the page. Within those few pages she concluded that Wesley was trying to work out exactly what had happened and put into words, if he could, the immense sense of guilt and loss that he felt at that moment. Her human part wept at the raw emotions that were written down in front of her. She wasn't shocked or alarmed when she felt the first few tears slide down her cheeks. What got more tears flowing was when she flipped a couple of pages and read how he compared and coupled the whole debacle with Conner and getting his throat slit with his failure at being her Watcher. Those words hit her especially hard and right then and there she made a vocal resolution to make sure that he never felt like that ever again.
She tried to read on but then came the passages about his time spent with Lilah and how at first he had actually liked their relationship, even if he couldn't call it that. But then his attitude changed to one in which he viewed Lilah as little else than a way to relieve stress and tension. She crawled off the edge of the bed and was about to close the journal when she noticed her name in one of them. One in particular caught her attention:
*Went out drinking.again. It was a regular night except for fighting a small cluster of vampires and seeing her again.can I ever truly get away from her? Faith, she was there, the slayer that has haunted my dreams and fantasies ever since she was sent away to prison for her crimes. A part of me wanted to walk over and rip her head off.but the other half was struck by how much she had.grown up.for lack of a better word. She had always been beautiful but the years in prison had done her well. Whereas back in Sunnydale I found her beautiful but immature now.I'm not sure what to make of her, only that her level of beauty had definitely increased and possibly her level of maturity, although I don't know how good at gauging maturity I am. I thought I knew everything when I arrived in Sunnydale, but I knew nothing.nothing at all.and I paid for my folly.dearly. I'm torn as to whether or not I should look for her, even after the hell she put me through I am her Watcher.even if the Council did kick me out I won't leave her alone in this world.I won't.I'll do right by her this time.if she'll let me.*
She closed the journal and put it back in its place in his drawer before she sniffled and wiped away a tear. She hid the bag that Wesley had been so curious about earlier under his bed, with a fervent hope that she was right about what she was feeling about him and what she hoped his feelings were for her. She was about to shove some more bags underneath the bed when she heard his front door open. She gave the bags one last big shove before she straightened up and calmly walked back into the living room. "So where'd you go," she said trying to sound as innocent as possible as she sat down on the couch. The odd look on his face told her that he was sure that she had done something but he wasn't sure what it was just yet.
"Our costumes for tonight.," he said with a calm look on his face that hid the smile beneath as he tossed her a small bag. By the time she opened her bag he was already sitting on the couch beside him. He almost died with laughter as he watched her expression change from one of excitement to one of confusion, and then to one of revulsion.
"A clown.a fucking clown.Wesley.what.," she stammered out angrily as she reached a hand into the bag and pulled out a clown nose perched on top of her finger. She glared at her former Watcher who couldn't keep from laughing.
"You're beautiful when you're angry.you know that," he forced out through the laughs before his side began to hurt. She smiled slightly but kept her trademark glare aimed right at him.
"Flattery will get you everywhere handsome.but.a clown.," she started to say angrily before a small laugh forced itself through her stern exterior. She quickly subdued the laugh and reassumed her angry look, her gaze flickering back and forth between the clown costume in her hands and the face of a man that she was growing to love.
"Calm down Faith.these are just our costumes to get us into the party, after we get into the Hyperion we'll put our real costumes on.just in time to spoil Wolfram and Hart's little bonfire," Wesley said with an ever increasing smile on his face before he stood up and walked towards his bedroom. She sat still in her seat for a few seconds mulling over his words in her head before she set the costume on the table and carried the clown nose into the bedroom.
"All right.you wanna be funny.I'll show you funny Wes," she said with an odd smirk on her face as she firmly placed the clown nose overtop of her own and wrapped her arms around him before drawing him into a very passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened and they slowly made their way towards the bed, although neither one was sure who was leading the charge, they ended up on his bed with Faith on top, still wearing the clown nose. When Faith sat up and slipped her shirt off Wesley rummaged around in his costume bag until he found his own clown nose and slipped it on before he pulled Faith close and gave her a passionate kiss of his own, all the while slipping his own shirt off in the process.
* * * * * * * * *
Spike had barely made it downstairs before Angel had his hands around the newly souled vampire's neck, squeezing so hard that had Spike been human he would have suffocated. At first Spike offered no resistance, only showing some when Angel slammed him against one of the walls. A kick to the stomach finally got Angel to back away. Angel recovered from the sudden kick and was about to charge Spike again when the younger vampire with a soul spoke up. "Nice to see you to Peaches.love what you've done with the place," Spike said slowly as he kept a watchful eye on Angel's reaction.
"I should stake you here and now.after what you did.it's what you deserve.you son of a.," Angel exclaimed angrily as he took a forceful step forward before being interrupted by a grinning Spike.
"Not gonna happen and you bloody well know it.and you're no saint Angelus.or have you conveniently forgotten," Spike said with a smirk, taking a fair amount of pleasure at how well he was pushing Angel's buttons.
"I haven't forgotten anything Spike.how could you.," Angel said now with fire in his eyes as he took another step forwards and ended up mere inches away from Spike, staring his grandchild straight in the eye. Without flinching Spike stared at the ground for a second before he lifted his head back up and responded.
"Still trying to figure that out.but I'm coming up empty," Spike muttered with more a sad look on his face than one of fear or anger. "You.ever.even think about touching Buffy again and I'll.," Angel said now furious as he reached a hand up and grabbed Spike's collar.
"You'll what.we're in the same boat here.you can't kill me and I can't kill you.instead we sit and brood over the woman that means more to the both of us than life itself, even more than the blood that we need to survive," Spike said with a deadly serious look on his face before he liberated his collar from Angel's fist. Angel desperately wanted to beat Spike within an inch of his un-life but he remembered Buffy's words and took a few nervous steps back before he laid out the rules.
"I'm only going to ask you this once Spike.so tell me the truth and no snide remarks.do you love her.I mean truly love her," Angel said slowly and cautiously, almost having to manually move his own lips to utter the words.
"Yes.," Spike uttered with a conflicted look on his face as he took a step forward and leaned on one of the support beams after jamming his hands into his pockets. The pain and anguish caused by this revelation was readily apparent on Angel's usually stoic face. It took him a few seconds to recover before asking his next question.
"How Spike.how did you get your soul back.in Africa," Angel said finally as he pulled up a chair and took a seat.
"You know about Africa then.should of seen that one coming.," Spike muttered softly under his breath in his usual droll tone before he picked his head up slightly and continued. "I went to see a demon about a girl.," Spike started to say with the faintest hints of a smile on his face before up above in the lobby Buffy sat by herself in the office with the doors closed along with the blinds, tears trickling down her cheeks.
END OF CHAPTER 9
P.S.-I now have what Wesley, Faith, Fred, Gunn, Lorne and Spike will be wearing to the party, still needing for the others though, especially Giles, but for him I'd want a costume that none of the Scooby's or Fang Gang would know what it was, like some obscure British author or poet that Giles likes but every one else has never heard of the guy.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.
CHAPTER 9-Greetings, Salutations and Tough Talk
It was a few seconds after Buffy and Angel disappeared into the office before anyone in the lobby found the strength to say anything. Fred and Lorne just stood and stared at the small group of strangers in front of them and for their part the Scooby's pretty much emulated them. Willow took the point after Xander shrugged his shoulders and stepped back to stand nervously beside Anya and protectively in front of Dawn. Spike meanwhile had sauntered over to the stairs and sat down on the bottom step, holding his head between his hands and sadly mumbling something softly.
"Uh.h-hi.Fred.right," Willow stammered out nervously as she walked up to Fred and slowly extended her hand. Fred shuffled her clipboard around and slowly extended her hand as Gunn began to slowly wake up.
"Right.and of course there's Lorne.and Gunn," Fred said with an embarrassed and overwhelmed smile on her face as she turned first to Lorne, as he stepped up beside her, and then to Gunn who sleepily stood up.
"Somebody say my name," Gunn said through a yawn as he scratched the back of his neck and stumbled over next to Willow, who smiled at him meekly.
"Charles.we have guests.Angel's friends from Sunnydale, you remember Willow," Fred said with a hopeful look on her face as Gunn and Willow then exchanged pleasantries. Willow then started to introduce the rest of them but was interrupted by an enthusiastic Lorne, who seemed to act like the introductions were a game.
"Let me do it Winifred, now let me see.the brooding mental patient on the steps is Spike that's easy enough," Lorne started to say with a smile on his face before his expression became serious as he looked Spike's way. At the sound of his name Spike raised his head slightly before dropping it again and mumbled something to soft for anyone to hear. "Now the tough guy's Xander.and then it's.Anya.and Dawn.right," he said with once again a smile on his face as he pointed first at Xander and then to Anya and Dawn as he said their names. Xander and Anya smiled sheepishly while Dawn seemed more concerned with what Spike was doing as she turned her head and locked her gaze onto him.
"So that's the famous.or should I same infamous Spike.Angel's old friend," Gunn said with a small sigh as he crossed his arms and eyed Spike with disdain and non surprise.
"I wouldn't call us old friends.I sired the vampire that sired him.and.taught him almost everything he knows," a voice from behind them said as everyone turned around to see a visibly angry Angel and an upset Buffy step out of the office.
"I'm sensing some hostilities here.say Angel babe.if you're going to make with the pummeling maybe you could do it downstairs.," Lorne said with a hopeful and fearful look on his face as he looked back and forth between Angel and Fred. Angel rolled his eyes and looked back and Buffy, who gave him a stern look before her look softened as she turned her gaze to Spike, who by now was standing at the base of the steps looking like a scared child.
"Good idea Lorne.Spike.downstairs.now," Angel said almost in a growl as he glared first at Spike and then turned towards the stairs and headed downstairs. At first Spike seemed to be almost afraid to move as he looked pleadingly to Buffy who smiled and nodded her head. That seemed to tell him all he needed to know as Spike slowly sauntered off to the stairs before trudging down and out of sight.
* * * * * * * * *
By the time they had gotten their shopping done the sun was already well on its descent across the sky. He had picked up the items he needed and packed them all into two small bags, and thus was shocked when he saw Faith walking towards him, her arms full of bags that were overflowing. He eyed her and the bags with a concerned look on his face for a moment before posing the question.
"Did you buy the whole bloody mall," he said with an impatient scowl on his face as he shifted his bags from one in each hand to both in one hand.
"I've been in prison remember.I just got what I needed," she shot back with a playful look on her face as she began to hand him packages, but was careful to keep two large bags in her possession. He reluctantly took the bags but kept looking at her with a disapproving look on his face. "You can lighten up Wes.it's not going to kill you," she said with a smirk on her face as she gave him an odd look before she moved in closer and began to slowly lean in for a kiss.
His first instinct was to pull away but that was quickly overshadowed by the decision that he had made much earlier to try and trust her, so taking the lead he leaned down and met her halfway. The kiss was again a brief one but it was long enough for her to get in a little slip of the tongue, something that Lilah liked to do to annoyance levels. At the end she took a step back before nodding her head slightly and winking at him.
"What was that for," he said with a slightly confused look on his face as he fought back the part of him that wanted to kiss her again, but this time let the other mall denizens be damned as he didn't care if they stare then or not. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as she started to smile before she glanced down at her watch and gasped.
"Do I always have to have a reason to kiss you.thought you liked it to," she said with a feigned hurt look on her face as she leaned back a little and crossed her arms before continuing. "But we don't have time to talk, we have to get home and get ready for the party.there's to much to do to just rush through it," she exclaimed with a hurried look on her face before she turned and began to walk off towards the parking lot, with Wesley close behind.
The ride back to his apartment didn't take very long and much of the way his attention was captured by one of the bags that she had stuffed into the seat behind him. It reeked strongly of leather and many other exotic scents that he had to rack his brain to even come close to coming up with what was making the smell. One, while they were waiting at a red light, he had started to turn around and get a quick look she had punched him in the shoulder and scolded him, telling him to stay out of that bag and that if everything went as planned then he'd find out what was in the bag later that night.
After helping Faith carry all of the bags up to his apartment Wesley returned to the SUV and took off for the offices of Wolfram and Hart, intent on getting the rest of the supplies that he'd need if he was to carry out the plan that he was still coming up with in his head. It didn't take him to long to get up to Lilah's office though he did receive a good number of glares, from envious people, on the way up. He found Lilah at her desk, on the phone and looking very busy, and none to happy at being interrupted for anything.
"What do you want," Lilah said with a slight sneer in her voice as she gaze him an icy stare and hung up the phone.
"Nice to see you to," Wesley shot back angrily with a scowl on his face as he scratched his chin before continuing. "Do you have time to talk," he said a little softer than before as he plopped down into one of the chairs opposite Lilah. All he received from her in response was a glare before she shook her head and pointed out the door and added.
"Not right now.maybe later.I'm right in the middle of something, see the boys downstairs.they'll get you what you need," she said without looking up once as she began to sift through the large pile of papers on her desk.
"Of course.thank you," he said as he stood up and did a slight bow before he turned and left the room just as the phone rang again.
After Wesley had left Faith had started to unpack a few things before her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to do some snooping around. At first she didn't find anything and was about to give up when she uncovered his journal at the bottom of one of his drawers. It was about the size of a large notebook and had a well worn leather cover on it. She flipped open the cover and began reading the first few pages as she took a few steps back and then sat on his bed, pulling her legs up under her and sitting Indian style. The first thing that she noted was his almost perfect penmanship. Most of the first few pages were boring run of the mill days where it appeared that nothing much happened. But she noticed that as she went on not only did his penmanship start to degrade but also the content as well, with the passages sounding darker and darker. The passages that caught her eye most now were the ones that looked like a child had written them, well a child with a death wish. The passages followed a blank space that after reading a few lines of the chicken scratches she realized that those empty pages must have been the time that he spent in the hospital recovering from the attack.
Hesitantly she continued to read on, noting that at first there was very little written, but then slowly more and more words spread across the page. Within those few pages she concluded that Wesley was trying to work out exactly what had happened and put into words, if he could, the immense sense of guilt and loss that he felt at that moment. Her human part wept at the raw emotions that were written down in front of her. She wasn't shocked or alarmed when she felt the first few tears slide down her cheeks. What got more tears flowing was when she flipped a couple of pages and read how he compared and coupled the whole debacle with Conner and getting his throat slit with his failure at being her Watcher. Those words hit her especially hard and right then and there she made a vocal resolution to make sure that he never felt like that ever again.
She tried to read on but then came the passages about his time spent with Lilah and how at first he had actually liked their relationship, even if he couldn't call it that. But then his attitude changed to one in which he viewed Lilah as little else than a way to relieve stress and tension. She crawled off the edge of the bed and was about to close the journal when she noticed her name in one of them. One in particular caught her attention:
*Went out drinking.again. It was a regular night except for fighting a small cluster of vampires and seeing her again.can I ever truly get away from her? Faith, she was there, the slayer that has haunted my dreams and fantasies ever since she was sent away to prison for her crimes. A part of me wanted to walk over and rip her head off.but the other half was struck by how much she had.grown up.for lack of a better word. She had always been beautiful but the years in prison had done her well. Whereas back in Sunnydale I found her beautiful but immature now.I'm not sure what to make of her, only that her level of beauty had definitely increased and possibly her level of maturity, although I don't know how good at gauging maturity I am. I thought I knew everything when I arrived in Sunnydale, but I knew nothing.nothing at all.and I paid for my folly.dearly. I'm torn as to whether or not I should look for her, even after the hell she put me through I am her Watcher.even if the Council did kick me out I won't leave her alone in this world.I won't.I'll do right by her this time.if she'll let me.*
She closed the journal and put it back in its place in his drawer before she sniffled and wiped away a tear. She hid the bag that Wesley had been so curious about earlier under his bed, with a fervent hope that she was right about what she was feeling about him and what she hoped his feelings were for her. She was about to shove some more bags underneath the bed when she heard his front door open. She gave the bags one last big shove before she straightened up and calmly walked back into the living room. "So where'd you go," she said trying to sound as innocent as possible as she sat down on the couch. The odd look on his face told her that he was sure that she had done something but he wasn't sure what it was just yet.
"Our costumes for tonight.," he said with a calm look on his face that hid the smile beneath as he tossed her a small bag. By the time she opened her bag he was already sitting on the couch beside him. He almost died with laughter as he watched her expression change from one of excitement to one of confusion, and then to one of revulsion.
"A clown.a fucking clown.Wesley.what.," she stammered out angrily as she reached a hand into the bag and pulled out a clown nose perched on top of her finger. She glared at her former Watcher who couldn't keep from laughing.
"You're beautiful when you're angry.you know that," he forced out through the laughs before his side began to hurt. She smiled slightly but kept her trademark glare aimed right at him.
"Flattery will get you everywhere handsome.but.a clown.," she started to say angrily before a small laugh forced itself through her stern exterior. She quickly subdued the laugh and reassumed her angry look, her gaze flickering back and forth between the clown costume in her hands and the face of a man that she was growing to love.
"Calm down Faith.these are just our costumes to get us into the party, after we get into the Hyperion we'll put our real costumes on.just in time to spoil Wolfram and Hart's little bonfire," Wesley said with an ever increasing smile on his face before he stood up and walked towards his bedroom. She sat still in her seat for a few seconds mulling over his words in her head before she set the costume on the table and carried the clown nose into the bedroom.
"All right.you wanna be funny.I'll show you funny Wes," she said with an odd smirk on her face as she firmly placed the clown nose overtop of her own and wrapped her arms around him before drawing him into a very passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened and they slowly made their way towards the bed, although neither one was sure who was leading the charge, they ended up on his bed with Faith on top, still wearing the clown nose. When Faith sat up and slipped her shirt off Wesley rummaged around in his costume bag until he found his own clown nose and slipped it on before he pulled Faith close and gave her a passionate kiss of his own, all the while slipping his own shirt off in the process.
* * * * * * * * *
Spike had barely made it downstairs before Angel had his hands around the newly souled vampire's neck, squeezing so hard that had Spike been human he would have suffocated. At first Spike offered no resistance, only showing some when Angel slammed him against one of the walls. A kick to the stomach finally got Angel to back away. Angel recovered from the sudden kick and was about to charge Spike again when the younger vampire with a soul spoke up. "Nice to see you to Peaches.love what you've done with the place," Spike said slowly as he kept a watchful eye on Angel's reaction.
"I should stake you here and now.after what you did.it's what you deserve.you son of a.," Angel exclaimed angrily as he took a forceful step forward before being interrupted by a grinning Spike.
"Not gonna happen and you bloody well know it.and you're no saint Angelus.or have you conveniently forgotten," Spike said with a smirk, taking a fair amount of pleasure at how well he was pushing Angel's buttons.
"I haven't forgotten anything Spike.how could you.," Angel said now with fire in his eyes as he took another step forwards and ended up mere inches away from Spike, staring his grandchild straight in the eye. Without flinching Spike stared at the ground for a second before he lifted his head back up and responded.
"Still trying to figure that out.but I'm coming up empty," Spike muttered with more a sad look on his face than one of fear or anger. "You.ever.even think about touching Buffy again and I'll.," Angel said now furious as he reached a hand up and grabbed Spike's collar.
"You'll what.we're in the same boat here.you can't kill me and I can't kill you.instead we sit and brood over the woman that means more to the both of us than life itself, even more than the blood that we need to survive," Spike said with a deadly serious look on his face before he liberated his collar from Angel's fist. Angel desperately wanted to beat Spike within an inch of his un-life but he remembered Buffy's words and took a few nervous steps back before he laid out the rules.
"I'm only going to ask you this once Spike.so tell me the truth and no snide remarks.do you love her.I mean truly love her," Angel said slowly and cautiously, almost having to manually move his own lips to utter the words.
"Yes.," Spike uttered with a conflicted look on his face as he took a step forward and leaned on one of the support beams after jamming his hands into his pockets. The pain and anguish caused by this revelation was readily apparent on Angel's usually stoic face. It took him a few seconds to recover before asking his next question.
"How Spike.how did you get your soul back.in Africa," Angel said finally as he pulled up a chair and took a seat.
"You know about Africa then.should of seen that one coming.," Spike muttered softly under his breath in his usual droll tone before he picked his head up slightly and continued. "I went to see a demon about a girl.," Spike started to say with the faintest hints of a smile on his face before up above in the lobby Buffy sat by herself in the office with the doors closed along with the blinds, tears trickling down her cheeks.
END OF CHAPTER 9
P.S.-I now have what Wesley, Faith, Fred, Gunn, Lorne and Spike will be wearing to the party, still needing for the others though, especially Giles, but for him I'd want a costume that none of the Scooby's or Fang Gang would know what it was, like some obscure British author or poet that Giles likes but every one else has never heard of the guy.
