I keep forgetting to mention this, Degager is part of a series 'Set Free', which has some resemblance to the actually Buffy timeline, but not a lot. So some if not all of the Angel characters will come into this. But not till way into the series. Oh yeah and I'm sort of writing this on a rewriting episode's basis, except I imagine it will be very difficult to tell which episode I've messed around with!
Good reading
Weasy
Part Four
~ At times you were simply disingenuous and I leave the first to reconcile ~
Buffy smiled in her sleep and flattened her palm against the soft warm pillow she was sleeping on. Confusion registered on her sleep-addled brain. Forcing her muscles to co-operate she lifted herself from her comfy position she lifted her heavy eye-lids to work out what she was sleeping on, Angel's chocolate brown eyes met hers and the night before came back to her in a sudden rush.
"Morning." He whispered, pulling her up his body for a kiss.
"Hi." She replied, and winced as she tried to move. "I'm kinda sore."
"I think that goes away." He looked concerned, and sitting up pulled her onto his lap, and swiftly started applying soft butterfly kisses to her neck. "I love you."
She moaned, trying not to think about his hangs gliding over her skin. "You have to go home, before mom says us." She whispered, the meaning of her words barely registering in her ears.
"Okay." He replied and continued nipping and licking a path along her collarbone. Gently Buffy pushed him away.
"I love you." She whispered before capturing his lips in one final kiss. Silently they dressed each other and Angel left through the window. Noticing her blood stained sheets, Buffy quickly stripped her bed, and choosing an outfit for the day, headed to the shower.
When Buffy entered her kitchen that morning she was met by her mother doing the dishes, the breakfast bar had a huge stack of pancakes on it.
"Sit down." Her mother ordered, still facing the sink. Buffy obeyed silently. Putting the last dish away Joyce sat opposite her at the table, uncertain what her mother was upset about Buffy stared blankly at her. "Weren't you going to invite Liam to breakfast?" Uh-oh… Her mother has seen her with Angel. Buffy remained silent. "Buffy you are only just eighteen, and you have known him for two days. What do you think you are doing?"
"I love him." Buffy whispered, but Joyce didn't hear, or if she did she couldn't comprehend what she had said.
"I mean where you safe?"
"Yes." No. Oops.
"Christ Buffy – How could you be so stupid!" Joyce had turned an interesting shade of purple, and Buffy disinterested watched her facial muscles twitch in exasperation. She just couldn't care, she had Angel and they were together and happy and it didn't matter what her mother said. "What part of 'you can never see him again' did you not understand?" Joyce was interrupted mid-tirade by the house phone's shrill ring. Buffy moved to answer it and Joyce fixed her with her cold gaze. "Leave it." Buffy ignored her.
"Hello?… Giles!… what?… No, he just left… Okay. I'll be right over." Hanging up without saying goodbye Buffy jumped down from the kitchen stool and picking up her coat from the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Her mother demanded, following her into the hallway.
"I have to find Angel, Apoch is going to kill him."
"Buffy, if you walk out now - Don't even think about coming back." The words hit Buffy like a tonne of bricks.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered horrified. "I have to go." She ran out, and the door swung shut behind her.
Xander, Willow, Oz and Cordelia sat in oppressive silence at the library table. Giles had told them Angel had just left Buffy's house and she was going to find him before coming to the library.
"What was he doing at Buffy's. It's seven in the morning." He scowled.
"They were probably screwing." Cordelia replied tactless as ever, and the entire table turned to stare at her shocked by her blunt accusation.
"Buffy wouldn't do that." Xander snarled, anger coursing through his veins.
"Please, have you seen the way they've been hanging off each there last few days? It was never going to be long before they took the next step." Fishing a nail file out of her bag, she carefully started inspecting her left hand. The shock in the air was palatable. "What?" She replied finally looking up at them.
"I can't believe you just said that!" Willow replied.
"I know they've hardly been from each other's sides since they met. But Buffy's not a slut!" Xander shot, Cordelia just rolled her eyes, and the groups settled into another bout of uncomfortable silence, each persons thoughts roaming at a hundred miles an hour.
They were interrupted from their thoughts by a loud click from the back of the stacks. A second later Buffy was revealed coming out from the darkness in the stacks, Liam's hand in hers. The group stared at them as they traversed the room, Buffy motioned for Angel to sit in her usual seat at the head of the table, and then curled up in his lap his arms instantly holding her in place. Their hands where pilled together on her lap, their fingers entwined together. Matching silver rings adorned the middle finger on each of their right hands. And each member of the Scooby Gang thought exactly the same thing: they hadn't really slept together had they?
"What's up guys?" Buffy prompted, and Giles appeared from his office, a book in one hand.
"Oh good morning Buffy, Liam." Angel's nose wrinkled a little at the name Liam, Giles didn't notice. Sitting down at the head of the table Giles opened up the book and turning it so the whole table could see he pointed to an illustration of a man and a woman, they both wore dark clothes, and had dark features. The woman had pronounced features and large soulful eyes, while the man had old callused skin, that announced many years spent working in the sun. Buffy gasped.
"Those are the people I was dreaming about!" She exclaimed.
"Yes. This is Dega and Aead." Spinning the book back around to face him he skim-read the text. "Hundreds of years ago they were a powerful pair of magi's. They were very much in love, but they were also rather. W-well. Evil." Buffy looked shocked at this announcement, with everything she had felt and thought she had always seen the magi as the victims not the criminals in the picture. "They killed hundreds of people. The council decided the only way to stop them was to have them killed."
"But they were human." Willow interrupted shock registering on her face. Giles looked anxiously over at Buffy.
"They made me do the curcamvitae tests. I'm not doubting their ability to kill humans. Plus they sacked Giles." Buffy reassured him.
"Yes lets bring that up as often as possible." He sighed before returning to the text in front of him. "Eventually they summoned the demon Apoch to kill them."
"But before he killed them they did a spell-" Buffy followed her dreams through, "what did the spell do?"
"It bound their souls together, so that whenever they where reincarnated they would be able to find each other again."
"So Apoch just killed them every time they met again." Buffy sighed, and Angel pulled her closer whispering soothing words in her ear, he knew all about her dreams - because he'd been having them too. Angel looked up solemnly.
"So how do we get him to realise that we're not Dega and Aead?" Giles looked him in the eye sorrow written all over his face.
"But you are." Oz told them, his poker face had slipped to an honest sympathy.
"B-but we can stop Apoch right? Giles?" Willow stuttered, panic clear in her voice.
"Yes. I think we can. If we can somehow bind his body to this plain, he won't be able to teleport himself, and Buffy should be able to fight him." Buffy nodded in agreement, lost for words. "Well if Willow and Oz could come with me to the majick shop for supplies we should be able to do this tonight." Willow and Oz stiffly followed Giles out the room, Willow had hugged Buffy before she left mumbling something incomprehensible into her ear. And then there were just four of them left in the library, Xander had been shooting Angel death glances until Cordelia sighed loudly grabbed her stuff and left without a word of goodbye. Xander ran out after her.
Dimly Buffy realised she had started crying into Angel's shirt and he was running his hands through her hair trying to soothe her. "What's wrong, baby?" He whispered to her.
"How do I know you really love me, or if it's just this person from before that's messing with my feelings." She replied burying herself deeper into his shirt. Shocked at the statement Angel pulled her up to face him, and gently pressed his lips against hers, her sobs stopped instantly and his warm lips and tongue sent shivers of pleasure through her body.
"I love you. I have waited my entire life to find you, and it has nothing to do with residual past life feelings. They could never be as strong as the feelings I have for you." Buffy smiled at his words, and suddenly felt really stupid for crying all over his shirt.
"I know what you mean." She breathed, then quickly changed tack, "I guess you think I'm just some girlie wuss now, huh?" She indicated his damp shirt. He laughed at her sudden change in attitude and she revelled at the sound of it. Planting a soft kiss on the ring on his finger she inspected it carefully. "Where did you get these rings from?"
"My grandmother gave them to me, last time I visited her in Ireland. She gave me these rings and said I should give them to the woman I loved. They're called Claddagh rings, the hands stand for friendship, the crown for loyalty and the heart for love." He told Buffy pointing out each part of the ring as he talked. And she listened in rapt adoration, even though he'd told her the story all ready. "They're the ones my Grandfather gave her." Buffy smiled and listened as he told her about his family in Ireland and their voyage to America. She'd worry about her mother's proclamation later.
