A/N I would like to dedicate this chapter to Glenn Quinn. He made a
wonderful Doyle on Angel and he will be missed. R.I.P.
"Willow told me, but I didn't really let myself believe." Giles said.
"I take a little getting used to. I'm still getting used to me." Buffy said. She, Angel, and Giles were in a café near her and Angel's departing gate at the London Airport. Their flight left in less than thirty minutes. Giles had met them at the gate.
"It's, uh.. you're.."
"A miracle?" Angel asked, staring lovingly at Buffy.
"Yes. But then, I always thought so too." Giles sighed. "So.."
"I can start. How's England? How was.. life?" Buffy said.
"Uh, I'm not really sure how to answer that. Um, well, I arrived home, I, uh, met with the Council."
"Always a good time." Angel and Buffy said.
"Yes. Otherwise, there's, uh, nothing really to report. I, um, I keep a flat in Bath. I-I, uh, met with a few old friends. Almost made a new one, which I think is.. statistically impossible for a man of my age."
"And now you're going back." Buffy said.
"Yes."
"Wow. Giles, are you miserable about it, or just really British?"
"I can't lie to you, Buffy. Um.. leaving Sunnydale was, uh, was difficult. And, uh, going back is.."
"I'm guessing the word is 'inconvenient'?"
"No. Bewildering." Giles paused and looked around. "And how are you? Really? You look tired."
"Jet lag. Other than that.. Fine. I mean, yeah, you know, sleeping's hard, but.. just because of the whole waking up in a box thing. So maybe waking up's the problem. You know, but just for a second. I sleep okay. Great even. Except, you know, for the dreams.."
"Nightmares?" Giles asked.
"Waking up in your own coffin can give you those. Not to mention the clawing and the digging."
"You seem to be doing remarkably well under extreme circumstances. I'm proud of you."
"Angel's the one to thank. If it weren't for him.. I probably would have.."
"Well then, Angel, thank you."
Angel smiled. "Any time. She's my girl."
Giles smiled back. "This was a good idea for you Buffy. You need to just get away and stay away for a while. Get back on your feet."
"I bought a large log cabin a few miles out of Galway in the country. We have a rental car waiting for us at the airport in Galway. I never thought I'd say that." Angel said. "Galway used to be just a small village, now it's got an airport."
"Times change."
"Yeah. Of course it's got over 200 odd years in its belt."
"Now boarding flight 490: London to Galway, Ireland." The intercom said.
"That would be us." Angel said. "Are you ready?" Buffy nodded.
Giles walked them to their gate. Buffy and Angel waited in line. "When will I see you again?" Giles asked.
"I don't know. It all depends on when Buffy is ready to go back home." Angel looked down at her. Buffy was off in space staring out the large floor-to-ceiling window. "It could be a while."
"I'll be there when you get back." Giles looked at Buffy and put his hand to her cheek. "I'll miss you."
Buffy snapped out of it and looked up at Giles. "Huh?"
"Nothing."
"I'm sorry. I'm just.. it's all so distracting." Buffy smiled apologetically at him. "Take care of Dawn for me?"
"Of course. You're just.. I'm very happy to have you back Buffy." Giles stepped up and Buffy allowed him to hug her. She hugged back and forgot her strength. "Good to know you've retained your strength." Buffy let him go.
"Sorry."
"You need to go. You're next in line."
"We'll see you when we get back. I'll call when we get there. If he's there, I'll leave a message with Spike." Angel said.
"Good thinking." Giles waved as Angel handed the flight attendant his and Buffy's tickets. They boarded the plane with a wave at Giles.
The flight wasn't that long. They were in Galway in almost no time. Angel went and got the rental car and drove out to the house he and Buffy were staying in. It was a large log cabin out near the woods. Galway was miles away and the only sounds that could be heard were the birds chirping and the water running in the little stream in the back yard.
The inside of the house was luscious. The sunken living room was huge. A fireplace took up half a wall. The furniture was all overstuffed and quite large. The carpet was white shag. The kitchen was huge compared to the one at their house in Sunnydale. It led off into a dining room with a table for four. There were two bedrooms. The master bedroom was huge. It was probably the size of Buffy's dining room, bedroom, and living room all mushed into one. A large canopy bed stood out against the wall parallel to the door and a fireplace took up the wall opposite that. The carpet in the bedroom was the same white shag as the living room. The bathroom was huge. The bathtub was a Jacuzzi and deeper than regular bathtubs. A separate glass shower was in a corner of the bathroom lined in gold trimming.
"Are you for real?" Buffy asked. "All this for me?"
"I told you, you deserve the world Buffy. And this is just the beginning." Angel said, holding her tightly to him. "I love you more than life itself."
"Angel.. How can you be so good to me?"
"How can I not?" Angel sighed. "It's going to be dark soon. Do you want to go into town and get something to eat?"
"I'm not that hungry. But I would like to go into town though." Buffy smiled at him.
"Go change into something dressy. I'll take you to a restaurant I hear is good around here."
"What about you?"
"I'm coming too." Angel took her hand and they walked into the bedroom to change.
"You know, I didn't really ask to patrol with you." Lita said. "Why did they stick me with you?"
"Like I bloody know!" Spike said. "This isn't sunshine and a bed of roses for me either."
"Because I'm not Buffy." Spike stared at her incredulously. "Yeah.. That's right. Her friends told me all about your little obsession with her."
"That's over. It was a phase. All over with now."
"Yeah sure."
"What's your soddin' problem!?"
"You're a vampire. I don't understand why Buffy's never dusted you."
"Because I'm her right hand man."
"More like her right leg lap dog."
"I resent that! I've helped save the world before."
"Once."
"I still helped. You haven't even had your first apocalypse yet! Hell, by the looks of you, you probably haven't had a boyfriend yet!"
"I totally have! We broke up before I moved here."
"What was his name?"
"Brian."
"How old was he?"
"18."
"How long did you go out?"
"What are you? A telemarketer?" Lita stopped in front of Spike. "I should just stake you now you know."
"Oh, rookie wants a go with Big Bad. Think you can take me?"
"In a heartbeat!"
"Buffy couldn't take me back when I didn't have this chip. What makes you think you can? You're brand new at this. Buffy had been at it three years when she first met me."
"Probably caught her on a bad day. Like parent teacher night or something."
"Hey. How'd you know?"
"I didn't. It's just that being a Slayer impairs your social life and doesn't do much for your grades. My grades really dropped when I started school the beginning of this month. Dad is ready to kill me. He says Slaying should be a secondary thing to school."
"Wait! You're dad knows?"
"Yeah. He's a Watcher. Not my Watcher. My Watcher lives in Santa Fe. She said that I could come visit her anytime I wanted. She said I was better off with my dad helping me out. He's a big shot at the Council HQ in London. I learned all about Buffy and Mr. Giles through him. Dad says that Buffy's been the best Slayer since Lucy Hanover."
"The Slayer during the Civil War."
"How'd you know?"
"Me and Dru had a couple of run-ins with her while visiting the good old US of A."
"Oh yeah. Lucy's Watcher wrote something about Lucy having some pretty good and nasty fights with William the Bloody and his vamp chick Drusilla. Hey, didn't Angel make her?"
"Yeah, he did. But he wasn't Angel. He was Angelus. You need to learn to distinguish the two if you're going to hang with Buffy and her little Scoobies. Slayer'll kick your ass if you insult Peaches."
"Peaches?"
"That's what I call the Angel with a soul. He's just Angelus without one. Or maybe the Big Poof. I'm not sure which."
"You're an interesting person."
"Now you're gettin' it."
"Getting what?"
"Why Buffy's never staked me."
"She feels pity for you. That's all."
"Right. Because of my chip. Did the though ever hit that air soaked head of yours that Buffy sees me as a strong ally? A friend? She's been tellin' me secrets that only a few people know. I don't even think you know."
"Why would she tell me anything? I barely know her."
"You're a Slayer too. You two, you share a common bond. It's a mystical thing. The Powers That Don't Really Care About You made it that way. You share blood kiddo. Mystically powerful blood."
"And you would know all about that. Only.. You don't. Not anymore. When's the last time you fed on human blood? Three, four years ago?"
"This Joan Allen 'tude of yours is gettin' you nowhere fast little girl. You're too sassy. Buffy would set you straight."
"Like she did Faith?"
"Way I hear it, Faith's in jail. She turned herself in. I guess playin' Buffy for a while made her see the error of her ways. Buffy's got that affect on people. It even got to me."
"So you admit it?"
"Admit what?"
"That you still love her?"
"I'm always going to love her. I just know what's reality and what's not. And the reality of the situation is that Peaches has got her heart wrapped in a silk shirt and tight black pants, usually leather, and ain't nobody is gonna be able to touch that. Why do you think she clung to him and not to any of her friends or me when you lot were attacking her not an hour after you found out she was back for real? I know when I'm licked. Usually I can't or won't admit to it, but I love Buffy so much that I CAN admit it. And that, little Slayer, is why I'm a better man because of her. Try all you want to patronize me for loving someone I know I can never have, but you'll never get to me. Because Buffy won't let you." Spike walked off leaving Lita to stare after him in amazement.
Buffy and Angel sat in a little outdoor restaurant near the oldest part of town. Buffy was staring off into space after taking a few bites off her plate.
"Buffy?" Angel asked. "You in there?"
Buffy blinked and stared at Angel. "Huh?"
"You've been sitting there for the past ten minutes off in space."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, fine. I'm just.. distracted. Every little thing makes me.. It's all so new, but it's not. I wish I could feel something.. anything.. about all of this. But I can't because I don't know how. I don't know if it's because I can't remember or if I never knew how. It's like.. Like my heart has been iced over and all I can feel is the cold. And then there's you. You come in on your white horse and you sweep me away to Ireland to save me from my big bad friends. How am I supposed to feel about that? Happy? Sad? Distraught? I always knew you would be there and I always knew that you understood life better than me and I always knew that you would do what your heart told you to do when it came to me. But you ignored what you heart wanted and left me in my grave because you knew where I was and you knew to respect that. My friends.. They never had a clue. But they never bothered to think twice about anything but seeing me drop into a portal that opened all the dimensions and me possibly ending up in hell. They brought me back from a place where I knew what it was like to be completely happy without finding it in your arms. And I don't even know if that exists anymore because you're so worried about me that you're scared to touch me. You're afraid that it will damage me."
"Is that what you want? For me to touch you?"
"You act like I'm untouchable because I'm so traumatized. But I'm right here, right in front of you. I'm completely touchable. I want to be touched."
"Come on." Angel stood up and took Buffy's hand.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where you can feel happy a warm again."
Angel laid money on the table and walked away from the restaurant into the old part of town. The place he used to remember. He led her to the edge of town and into the woods. A little path was there. It had been covered with grasses and weeds over the years, but Angel knew it all to well. The last time he had traveled this road was in 1897. Two years before he went back to Darla. Three years before the Boxer Rebellion and Spike's first Slayer. A crumbling stone gate stood up ahead.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked.
Angel didn't answer. He kept pulling her along deeper into the woods and through the gate. Trees had sprung up everywhere in the old yard that used to be huge and barren. Finally, after making his way through brambles and think branches, Angel and Buffy reached a doorway. He reached out and grasped the knob. Turning it, he slipped in with Buffy behind him.
"What is this place?" Buffy asked. They stood in a huge foyer. A huge staircase was to their right and left. The top story looked like an indoor balcony. The place smelled of dust and mold. "Ew. When was the last time anyone was here? Cause the maid must've took one look and said to hell with it."
"1897." Angel replied.
"Excuse me?"
"That's the last time anyone's been in here."
"And you would know this how?"
"Because I was the last one in it."
"This is.."
"My old house."
"Geez, it's way out here, isn't it?" Buffy took a step forward and then paused. "There aren't any.. You know.. rotted skeletons in here, are there?"
"No. They've all been buried."
"Has anyone lived here since.."
"No. The place was abandoned. The town was scared of it after.. Ghost stories and old wives tales surround this place still."
"And we're the only ones brave enough to step foot into it."
"Come on." Angel pulled Buffy towards the stairs.
"Where're we going now?"
"Up." Angel led Buffy up the stairs and to a door right in the middle of the wall. He opened the door and walked in. The room was huge. A king size feather bed was sitting in the middle of the room. The sheets were dusty as well as the rest of the room. "Welcome to my room."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Big, I know."
"Girls must've loved it in here."
"I didn't.. I never brought girls up here."
"Dad wouldn't allow it huh?"
"I wouldn't allow it. It was my private getaway place. No one disturbed me in here. Technically, you're the first girl in here that I've slept with.. That I still plan to sleep with." Buffy started to laugh. "What?"
"You've never had a girl up here and I'm the first one in almost 300 hundred years?"
"Yeah." Angel pulled her to him a little roughly. "And the only one I plan to ever let in.."
Buffy cut him off by kissing him roughly. Angel kissed her back fiercely. He shoved her back against the bedpost and she jumped up. Angel caught her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They continued to kiss as Angel put his hand against the post for support. His legs were getting weak from kissing her and being so near to her again and knowing where they were headed. He heard a zipper and looked down at Buffy's hands reaching into his pants to pull out his erection. She lifted up her skirt and moved her underwear aside. Angel stared into her eyes as he drove into her hard and fast.
Buffy gasped and slammed her head back onto the post. She put her hand up behind her and used the post as leverage as she started to pump. Angel kissed her chest and neck and nipped at her shoulders. Buffy writhed on him as he moved inside her. He slammed her against the post again as the first waves of their orgasms filled him. As he came inside her, Angel lost his balance and they both went toppling to the bed. Dust flew up around them, but it didn't seem to affect them or touch them.
Angel continued right through their orgasms and kept pumping into her almost desperately. Buffy flipped him and ended up on top. She pushed just as hard as Angel had, picking up speed. With a burst of strength, Angel shot up and lifted Buffy's sweater over her head. Her hair fell out of its clip in the process and her long golden locks spilled down her shoulders and onto her back as she threw her head back. Buffy looked down at him as she rode him and undid the buttons on his shirt. She ripped it down his arms and tossed it away onto the floor. With a yelp, they came again. Once they had calmed down, Buffy rolled off Angel and lay next to him on the bed panting.
"I.. didn't think.. we'd ever.. do that again." Angel panted.
"Me.. either." Buffy panted back. "Let's not.. stop there."
Buffy moved off the bed and stripped herself of everything. Angel watched as she helped him to stand and then yanked his pants down. He stepped out of them and stared at her. She walked around him and went to the bed. Angel turned and watched as she made a show of laying down on the bed and stretching out. His instincts took over and he was on top of her again, pumping away feverishly.
"I wonder if she misses us." Dawn said to Spike. Spike was at the house watching TV with Dawn after his little "chat" with Lita. He couldn't stop thinking about how she had gotten under his skin with her little taunts. Ah, but Big Bad had come through in the end and won out.
"Who?" Spike asked.
"Buffy! Geez, where have you been the past fifteen minutes? I've been talking about Buffy the whole time."
"She's probably not even thinking about you lot to tell you the truth. Your sister needs time with Angel to get better. He's the only one of us who can get her even half way back to the Buffy we once knew."
"I'm sure she's thought about us."
"I'm sure she hasn't. I'm positive that they're shagging like bunnies because they're out there all by themselves and she was gone for three months. Angel thought he would never get to see his girl again and now that she's back.. Let's just say that if they could, triplets would probably come out of the Slayer."
"What?"
"Neither of them can have kids. They're probably shagging so crazy like that three babies would come out of the love fest if they could."
"Gross Spike!"
"What!? I'm just telling the truth!"
"And in that lies the gross factor. Let's just watch the talking cat."
Buffy and Angel lay curled in each other's arms under the sheets of the feather bed. The dust was gone from them and onto the floor. With each orgasm Buffy had felt closer to heaven than she had since being back. And now, lying peacefully in Angel's arms, she was back in heaven. She was warm and loved and she knew that she and Angel were going to be all right. Everything was perfect as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep with no horrible dreams of clawing out of coffins and never making it to the surface.
"Willow told me, but I didn't really let myself believe." Giles said.
"I take a little getting used to. I'm still getting used to me." Buffy said. She, Angel, and Giles were in a café near her and Angel's departing gate at the London Airport. Their flight left in less than thirty minutes. Giles had met them at the gate.
"It's, uh.. you're.."
"A miracle?" Angel asked, staring lovingly at Buffy.
"Yes. But then, I always thought so too." Giles sighed. "So.."
"I can start. How's England? How was.. life?" Buffy said.
"Uh, I'm not really sure how to answer that. Um, well, I arrived home, I, uh, met with the Council."
"Always a good time." Angel and Buffy said.
"Yes. Otherwise, there's, uh, nothing really to report. I, um, I keep a flat in Bath. I-I, uh, met with a few old friends. Almost made a new one, which I think is.. statistically impossible for a man of my age."
"And now you're going back." Buffy said.
"Yes."
"Wow. Giles, are you miserable about it, or just really British?"
"I can't lie to you, Buffy. Um.. leaving Sunnydale was, uh, was difficult. And, uh, going back is.."
"I'm guessing the word is 'inconvenient'?"
"No. Bewildering." Giles paused and looked around. "And how are you? Really? You look tired."
"Jet lag. Other than that.. Fine. I mean, yeah, you know, sleeping's hard, but.. just because of the whole waking up in a box thing. So maybe waking up's the problem. You know, but just for a second. I sleep okay. Great even. Except, you know, for the dreams.."
"Nightmares?" Giles asked.
"Waking up in your own coffin can give you those. Not to mention the clawing and the digging."
"You seem to be doing remarkably well under extreme circumstances. I'm proud of you."
"Angel's the one to thank. If it weren't for him.. I probably would have.."
"Well then, Angel, thank you."
Angel smiled. "Any time. She's my girl."
Giles smiled back. "This was a good idea for you Buffy. You need to just get away and stay away for a while. Get back on your feet."
"I bought a large log cabin a few miles out of Galway in the country. We have a rental car waiting for us at the airport in Galway. I never thought I'd say that." Angel said. "Galway used to be just a small village, now it's got an airport."
"Times change."
"Yeah. Of course it's got over 200 odd years in its belt."
"Now boarding flight 490: London to Galway, Ireland." The intercom said.
"That would be us." Angel said. "Are you ready?" Buffy nodded.
Giles walked them to their gate. Buffy and Angel waited in line. "When will I see you again?" Giles asked.
"I don't know. It all depends on when Buffy is ready to go back home." Angel looked down at her. Buffy was off in space staring out the large floor-to-ceiling window. "It could be a while."
"I'll be there when you get back." Giles looked at Buffy and put his hand to her cheek. "I'll miss you."
Buffy snapped out of it and looked up at Giles. "Huh?"
"Nothing."
"I'm sorry. I'm just.. it's all so distracting." Buffy smiled apologetically at him. "Take care of Dawn for me?"
"Of course. You're just.. I'm very happy to have you back Buffy." Giles stepped up and Buffy allowed him to hug her. She hugged back and forgot her strength. "Good to know you've retained your strength." Buffy let him go.
"Sorry."
"You need to go. You're next in line."
"We'll see you when we get back. I'll call when we get there. If he's there, I'll leave a message with Spike." Angel said.
"Good thinking." Giles waved as Angel handed the flight attendant his and Buffy's tickets. They boarded the plane with a wave at Giles.
The flight wasn't that long. They were in Galway in almost no time. Angel went and got the rental car and drove out to the house he and Buffy were staying in. It was a large log cabin out near the woods. Galway was miles away and the only sounds that could be heard were the birds chirping and the water running in the little stream in the back yard.
The inside of the house was luscious. The sunken living room was huge. A fireplace took up half a wall. The furniture was all overstuffed and quite large. The carpet was white shag. The kitchen was huge compared to the one at their house in Sunnydale. It led off into a dining room with a table for four. There were two bedrooms. The master bedroom was huge. It was probably the size of Buffy's dining room, bedroom, and living room all mushed into one. A large canopy bed stood out against the wall parallel to the door and a fireplace took up the wall opposite that. The carpet in the bedroom was the same white shag as the living room. The bathroom was huge. The bathtub was a Jacuzzi and deeper than regular bathtubs. A separate glass shower was in a corner of the bathroom lined in gold trimming.
"Are you for real?" Buffy asked. "All this for me?"
"I told you, you deserve the world Buffy. And this is just the beginning." Angel said, holding her tightly to him. "I love you more than life itself."
"Angel.. How can you be so good to me?"
"How can I not?" Angel sighed. "It's going to be dark soon. Do you want to go into town and get something to eat?"
"I'm not that hungry. But I would like to go into town though." Buffy smiled at him.
"Go change into something dressy. I'll take you to a restaurant I hear is good around here."
"What about you?"
"I'm coming too." Angel took her hand and they walked into the bedroom to change.
"You know, I didn't really ask to patrol with you." Lita said. "Why did they stick me with you?"
"Like I bloody know!" Spike said. "This isn't sunshine and a bed of roses for me either."
"Because I'm not Buffy." Spike stared at her incredulously. "Yeah.. That's right. Her friends told me all about your little obsession with her."
"That's over. It was a phase. All over with now."
"Yeah sure."
"What's your soddin' problem!?"
"You're a vampire. I don't understand why Buffy's never dusted you."
"Because I'm her right hand man."
"More like her right leg lap dog."
"I resent that! I've helped save the world before."
"Once."
"I still helped. You haven't even had your first apocalypse yet! Hell, by the looks of you, you probably haven't had a boyfriend yet!"
"I totally have! We broke up before I moved here."
"What was his name?"
"Brian."
"How old was he?"
"18."
"How long did you go out?"
"What are you? A telemarketer?" Lita stopped in front of Spike. "I should just stake you now you know."
"Oh, rookie wants a go with Big Bad. Think you can take me?"
"In a heartbeat!"
"Buffy couldn't take me back when I didn't have this chip. What makes you think you can? You're brand new at this. Buffy had been at it three years when she first met me."
"Probably caught her on a bad day. Like parent teacher night or something."
"Hey. How'd you know?"
"I didn't. It's just that being a Slayer impairs your social life and doesn't do much for your grades. My grades really dropped when I started school the beginning of this month. Dad is ready to kill me. He says Slaying should be a secondary thing to school."
"Wait! You're dad knows?"
"Yeah. He's a Watcher. Not my Watcher. My Watcher lives in Santa Fe. She said that I could come visit her anytime I wanted. She said I was better off with my dad helping me out. He's a big shot at the Council HQ in London. I learned all about Buffy and Mr. Giles through him. Dad says that Buffy's been the best Slayer since Lucy Hanover."
"The Slayer during the Civil War."
"How'd you know?"
"Me and Dru had a couple of run-ins with her while visiting the good old US of A."
"Oh yeah. Lucy's Watcher wrote something about Lucy having some pretty good and nasty fights with William the Bloody and his vamp chick Drusilla. Hey, didn't Angel make her?"
"Yeah, he did. But he wasn't Angel. He was Angelus. You need to learn to distinguish the two if you're going to hang with Buffy and her little Scoobies. Slayer'll kick your ass if you insult Peaches."
"Peaches?"
"That's what I call the Angel with a soul. He's just Angelus without one. Or maybe the Big Poof. I'm not sure which."
"You're an interesting person."
"Now you're gettin' it."
"Getting what?"
"Why Buffy's never staked me."
"She feels pity for you. That's all."
"Right. Because of my chip. Did the though ever hit that air soaked head of yours that Buffy sees me as a strong ally? A friend? She's been tellin' me secrets that only a few people know. I don't even think you know."
"Why would she tell me anything? I barely know her."
"You're a Slayer too. You two, you share a common bond. It's a mystical thing. The Powers That Don't Really Care About You made it that way. You share blood kiddo. Mystically powerful blood."
"And you would know all about that. Only.. You don't. Not anymore. When's the last time you fed on human blood? Three, four years ago?"
"This Joan Allen 'tude of yours is gettin' you nowhere fast little girl. You're too sassy. Buffy would set you straight."
"Like she did Faith?"
"Way I hear it, Faith's in jail. She turned herself in. I guess playin' Buffy for a while made her see the error of her ways. Buffy's got that affect on people. It even got to me."
"So you admit it?"
"Admit what?"
"That you still love her?"
"I'm always going to love her. I just know what's reality and what's not. And the reality of the situation is that Peaches has got her heart wrapped in a silk shirt and tight black pants, usually leather, and ain't nobody is gonna be able to touch that. Why do you think she clung to him and not to any of her friends or me when you lot were attacking her not an hour after you found out she was back for real? I know when I'm licked. Usually I can't or won't admit to it, but I love Buffy so much that I CAN admit it. And that, little Slayer, is why I'm a better man because of her. Try all you want to patronize me for loving someone I know I can never have, but you'll never get to me. Because Buffy won't let you." Spike walked off leaving Lita to stare after him in amazement.
Buffy and Angel sat in a little outdoor restaurant near the oldest part of town. Buffy was staring off into space after taking a few bites off her plate.
"Buffy?" Angel asked. "You in there?"
Buffy blinked and stared at Angel. "Huh?"
"You've been sitting there for the past ten minutes off in space."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, fine. I'm just.. distracted. Every little thing makes me.. It's all so new, but it's not. I wish I could feel something.. anything.. about all of this. But I can't because I don't know how. I don't know if it's because I can't remember or if I never knew how. It's like.. Like my heart has been iced over and all I can feel is the cold. And then there's you. You come in on your white horse and you sweep me away to Ireland to save me from my big bad friends. How am I supposed to feel about that? Happy? Sad? Distraught? I always knew you would be there and I always knew that you understood life better than me and I always knew that you would do what your heart told you to do when it came to me. But you ignored what you heart wanted and left me in my grave because you knew where I was and you knew to respect that. My friends.. They never had a clue. But they never bothered to think twice about anything but seeing me drop into a portal that opened all the dimensions and me possibly ending up in hell. They brought me back from a place where I knew what it was like to be completely happy without finding it in your arms. And I don't even know if that exists anymore because you're so worried about me that you're scared to touch me. You're afraid that it will damage me."
"Is that what you want? For me to touch you?"
"You act like I'm untouchable because I'm so traumatized. But I'm right here, right in front of you. I'm completely touchable. I want to be touched."
"Come on." Angel stood up and took Buffy's hand.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere where you can feel happy a warm again."
Angel laid money on the table and walked away from the restaurant into the old part of town. The place he used to remember. He led her to the edge of town and into the woods. A little path was there. It had been covered with grasses and weeds over the years, but Angel knew it all to well. The last time he had traveled this road was in 1897. Two years before he went back to Darla. Three years before the Boxer Rebellion and Spike's first Slayer. A crumbling stone gate stood up ahead.
"Angel, where are we going?" Buffy asked.
Angel didn't answer. He kept pulling her along deeper into the woods and through the gate. Trees had sprung up everywhere in the old yard that used to be huge and barren. Finally, after making his way through brambles and think branches, Angel and Buffy reached a doorway. He reached out and grasped the knob. Turning it, he slipped in with Buffy behind him.
"What is this place?" Buffy asked. They stood in a huge foyer. A huge staircase was to their right and left. The top story looked like an indoor balcony. The place smelled of dust and mold. "Ew. When was the last time anyone was here? Cause the maid must've took one look and said to hell with it."
"1897." Angel replied.
"Excuse me?"
"That's the last time anyone's been in here."
"And you would know this how?"
"Because I was the last one in it."
"This is.."
"My old house."
"Geez, it's way out here, isn't it?" Buffy took a step forward and then paused. "There aren't any.. You know.. rotted skeletons in here, are there?"
"No. They've all been buried."
"Has anyone lived here since.."
"No. The place was abandoned. The town was scared of it after.. Ghost stories and old wives tales surround this place still."
"And we're the only ones brave enough to step foot into it."
"Come on." Angel pulled Buffy towards the stairs.
"Where're we going now?"
"Up." Angel led Buffy up the stairs and to a door right in the middle of the wall. He opened the door and walked in. The room was huge. A king size feather bed was sitting in the middle of the room. The sheets were dusty as well as the rest of the room. "Welcome to my room."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Big, I know."
"Girls must've loved it in here."
"I didn't.. I never brought girls up here."
"Dad wouldn't allow it huh?"
"I wouldn't allow it. It was my private getaway place. No one disturbed me in here. Technically, you're the first girl in here that I've slept with.. That I still plan to sleep with." Buffy started to laugh. "What?"
"You've never had a girl up here and I'm the first one in almost 300 hundred years?"
"Yeah." Angel pulled her to him a little roughly. "And the only one I plan to ever let in.."
Buffy cut him off by kissing him roughly. Angel kissed her back fiercely. He shoved her back against the bedpost and she jumped up. Angel caught her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They continued to kiss as Angel put his hand against the post for support. His legs were getting weak from kissing her and being so near to her again and knowing where they were headed. He heard a zipper and looked down at Buffy's hands reaching into his pants to pull out his erection. She lifted up her skirt and moved her underwear aside. Angel stared into her eyes as he drove into her hard and fast.
Buffy gasped and slammed her head back onto the post. She put her hand up behind her and used the post as leverage as she started to pump. Angel kissed her chest and neck and nipped at her shoulders. Buffy writhed on him as he moved inside her. He slammed her against the post again as the first waves of their orgasms filled him. As he came inside her, Angel lost his balance and they both went toppling to the bed. Dust flew up around them, but it didn't seem to affect them or touch them.
Angel continued right through their orgasms and kept pumping into her almost desperately. Buffy flipped him and ended up on top. She pushed just as hard as Angel had, picking up speed. With a burst of strength, Angel shot up and lifted Buffy's sweater over her head. Her hair fell out of its clip in the process and her long golden locks spilled down her shoulders and onto her back as she threw her head back. Buffy looked down at him as she rode him and undid the buttons on his shirt. She ripped it down his arms and tossed it away onto the floor. With a yelp, they came again. Once they had calmed down, Buffy rolled off Angel and lay next to him on the bed panting.
"I.. didn't think.. we'd ever.. do that again." Angel panted.
"Me.. either." Buffy panted back. "Let's not.. stop there."
Buffy moved off the bed and stripped herself of everything. Angel watched as she helped him to stand and then yanked his pants down. He stepped out of them and stared at her. She walked around him and went to the bed. Angel turned and watched as she made a show of laying down on the bed and stretching out. His instincts took over and he was on top of her again, pumping away feverishly.
"I wonder if she misses us." Dawn said to Spike. Spike was at the house watching TV with Dawn after his little "chat" with Lita. He couldn't stop thinking about how she had gotten under his skin with her little taunts. Ah, but Big Bad had come through in the end and won out.
"Who?" Spike asked.
"Buffy! Geez, where have you been the past fifteen minutes? I've been talking about Buffy the whole time."
"She's probably not even thinking about you lot to tell you the truth. Your sister needs time with Angel to get better. He's the only one of us who can get her even half way back to the Buffy we once knew."
"I'm sure she's thought about us."
"I'm sure she hasn't. I'm positive that they're shagging like bunnies because they're out there all by themselves and she was gone for three months. Angel thought he would never get to see his girl again and now that she's back.. Let's just say that if they could, triplets would probably come out of the Slayer."
"What?"
"Neither of them can have kids. They're probably shagging so crazy like that three babies would come out of the love fest if they could."
"Gross Spike!"
"What!? I'm just telling the truth!"
"And in that lies the gross factor. Let's just watch the talking cat."
Buffy and Angel lay curled in each other's arms under the sheets of the feather bed. The dust was gone from them and onto the floor. With each orgasm Buffy had felt closer to heaven than she had since being back. And now, lying peacefully in Angel's arms, she was back in heaven. She was warm and loved and she knew that she and Angel were going to be all right. Everything was perfect as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep with no horrible dreams of clawing out of coffins and never making it to the surface.
