Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing. You guys rock!
Lucky for everyone who likes this fic it has been too hot here to do anything active today (like shopping as was planned) so this is a nice long chapter, I probably should have broken it up into two but I liked it better as one.
I do have a bit of a problem though, some reviewers want lots of mushy B/A romance and smuttiness and others want more action and humor involving the whole team. I am trying hard to get the balance right so everyone will like it but I must admit that I am a better romance/smut writer than an action/humor writer. If you check the other two fics I have written besides 'The slayer and the sleuths' you will see that they are pretty much pure B/A mush. So please remember when things get too fluffy that first and foremost I do write about the B/A ship - not just Buffy stories in which Buffy happens to be dating Angel.
I will try to keep it at the same level as the last one though and I promise that this won't completely disintegrate into obscene levels of fluffiness!
*
*
*
*
"Ugh, what a stink." Mumbled Buffy as they picked their way back through the sewers.
"It is a sewer Buffy."
"No, I meant Merlin."
"Oh, him. I wonder where Lorne got him from."
"I don't care as long as he puts him back - and soon."
Angel chuckled, "Lorne knows his stuff, if he says Merlin can help us then he can."
"Yeah by sending us on a probable one way trip to someplace with a seriously funky name, what was it again?"
"Notretsehc. I think it was."
"See, now that's another thing I have a problem with. Why Notre-whatsit? What's wrong with a name like earth? And another thing; why is this stupid place connected to us? If it looked after itself I wouldn't have to be bothered." Ranted Buffy as she slithered along the sewer tunnel.
"You're just mad because shopping, snuggling and hanging out has been cancelled in favour of world save-age." Teased Angel as he caught up with her and wrapped an arm around her before sweeping her into his arms and carrying her over a particularly sludgy area.
"Hmmpff." Buffy wrinkled her nose at him and held on tight, a free trip through the sewers in Angel's arms wasn't a bad thing so she wasn't going to complain, although her rush this morning meant she hadn't exactly dressed for sewer trips and being carried and Angel's hand was now dangerously high up on her exposed thighs- and her thinking bad thoughts was not going to help anybody.
'But if his hand was two or three inches higher-' whispered the naughty little voice in her head. Buffy ordered it to be quiet but it didn't listen and his hair was soo nice and soft and she could just twiddle it very satisfyingly from where her hands were clasped around his neck and his ear was within reach too-, Buffy firmly clamped down on a strong desire to nibble.
"Are you alright?" murmured Angel with a note of concern in his rich voice. His girlfriend had been staring crazily into space and wriggling slightly from time to time. "Uh, Buffy?"
"Huh? Yeah! What?" she stared at Angel wide-eyed.
"I said, are you okay, you zoned out there for a minute."
Buffy gave a loud false squawk of laughter, which made him raise his eyebrows at her.
"Oh, look we're back at the Hyperion." Buffy chirped as Angel set her back on her feet shaking his head and reached up to swing the trapdoor open that led to the basement and boosted Buffy through. When he followed she pointed at the nearby drier and began to babble, "Hey, you have a laundry room. I didn't know there was a laundry room. You even have different fabric conditioners. I like the pink one, can I use that when I do my washing?"
"Sure, Buffy-"
"Oh and a mat for shoes!"
She tugged off her slightly sewer coated sandals and dropped them on the mat provided for the purpose by Cordelia the neat-freak. Angel followed suit, Cordelia had long ago got tired of sewer being tramped over nice carpets and polished floors and had given orders about removal or cleaning of sewer coated footwear that nobody dared to disobey. They both added their jackets to the pegs near the sewer exit as Buffy babbled, "I think it might be a good idea to keep a jacket here so we can grab one when we go out by sewer. Can I?"
"Of course you can, Buffy why are you acting so odd?"
Rats, there was no distracting Angel Buffy thought crossly, she'd only succeeded in acting like a giant freak.
"No reason, we should go upstairs now. Lorne and stinker should be here by now."
Angel smirked slightly as he closed the trap door, "Stinker." He muttered shaking his head, "You know he is a wizard, or more probably a warlock, he might be able to turn you into a slimy warty toad or something so I probably wouldn't introduce him like that to the others."
"But I've got my Willow the Wicca, if he turned me into a toad she'd be able to change me back again."
Angel raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, even if she turned me back I don't think I'd enjoy the wait sitting around eating flies and actually yeah, she'd probably just blow me up into itty bitty toady pieces. Point taken. Merlin it is." She marched towards the door with Angel close behind her.
She reached for the handle and yanked on it but the door didn't budge and she found herself carried backwards by the force of her tug, slammed into Angel and both of them flailed around for a moment before they crashed to the floor in a tangled heap. Buffy propped herself up on her elbow and examined the door handle that dangled uselessly from her fingertips, "I think the door must be bolted." She said lamely as she turned her head to squint at Angel sprawled on the floor beneath her.
His chest shook as he struggled not to laugh, "I guess we're stuck in the basement then!"
Buffy grinned at him, "What if the world ended because we got locked in a basement!"
Angel's face suddenly got serious.
"Angel I was kidding!" giggled Buffy, "we do have the trapdoor if we had to go the long way round and they do know we're here after all, they'll show up to let us out and poke fun at us in a minute unless we break out first."
"I guess, but we can't get out that door, its pretty much demon proof, it looks innocent but is actually reinforced to keep unwelcome demons out of the Hyperion unless they walk in the front doors where we can see them."
"Very smart." Buffy approved. "However, we do now have to sit on our butts and wait to be mocked or start hiking for the next sewer entry now."
Angel shrugged, "I seem to already be on my butt."
Buffy mock-glared at him before she curled herself up into his lap, "works for me."
As Buffy comfortably arranged herself Angel spoke up in a rather strangled voice, "Do you think maybe we should go check for the nearest sewer access, I mean, they might start to worry about us and not think to check the door."
Buffy shrugged and nestled closer against his chest, pillowing her face on the nearest broad shoulder. "I have faith that they will figure things out, or possibly we should give them a few minutes and then go walkabout."
Angel nodded stiffly and wrapped his arms around her; if she stayed still he could handle this just fine. But being Buffy she promptly twisted round, raising her face for a kiss, and as far as Angel was concerned Buffy was irresistible.
Moments later the gentle, tender kiss Angel had intended had veered out of control. Buffy had scrambled around to wrap her legs around his waist as he sat on the floor his legs stretched out in front of him. She had kissed his mouth, his jaw and throat and then her blunt little teeth nipped his earlobe, her hot breath puffing in his ear. This combined with the heat of her exposed skin and the thundering of her heart was an unbearable turn-on.
He lifted her slightly so her weight was on her knees and not his lap and pressed her closer to his chest. She went where he pulled her and made no attempt to sit back down - something for which Angel was grateful.
Buffy was in heaven, even though she was kneeling on a hard, cold floor she had Angel right where she wanted him and to judge by the stifled groan he had made when she nipped his ear he was liking it as much as she was. Gaining courage she tugged on a few buttons of his shirt exposing the top of his chest, she stroked her fingers over the smooth skin as she returned to kissing his mouth.
She'd seen the whole of his chest before and touched it too but on that occasion she'd been too busy trying to kick his very nice butt to pay that much attention in that way and somehow Angel half-naked and kicking her ass wasn't as sexy as almost fully clothed Angel with just a triangle of his lovely chest exposed and right under her exploring fingertips.
Buffy swirled her tongue down Angel's neck and felt him shiver.
His didn't loosen his death grip on her and he didn't stop kissing her shoulder for more than a second but he managed to mumble, "Uh, Buffy, maybe we should, ah."
Buffy licked lower until she found his nipple, for a second she hesitated and then she licked that too, and unless Cosmo was lying-
Angel gasped and his fingers clenched in her hair holding her where she was before he loosened his grip a second later and mumbled an apology.
Buffy ignored him with a small grin to herself and moved back to his lips to silence any further argument.
Angel was caught between Heaven and Hell, he was loving everything Buffy was doing but it was a sweet torture that he couldn't really do anything back without worrying that he was overstepping some invisible boundary. He didn't know how much would be too much, or would nothing be too much? A little devil asked. Angel felt sure that voice would be best ignored! Though maybe she wanted more? Angel sighed inwardly; a little communication before they got into a position like this again might be a very good idea. He was so out of touch with normal dating that he was probably missing signals all over the place.
He glanced down as Buffy moved back to kissing his jaw and ear, after all how many girls who definitely didn't want more than kissing straddled your lap wearing a very small skirt?
Buffy caught her breath as she felt Angel's hands leave her waist and neck where they had so firmly been clamped, he slid his hands over her upper back, lightly stroking the expanse of skin exposed by her strappy top, then his hands followed the contours of her body, sliding down her sides, his thumbs a mere inch from her breasts. Buffy whimpered at that and restrained the very unladylike impulse to drag his hands back up and to tell him exactly where to put them.
Then his hands dropped to her bared knees and smoothed their way up her thighs, actually making darts under the material of her skirt, which had bunched up to almost nothing and was almost showing her panties, or not.
Buffy froze, in the panic of getting dressed so fast she had not only not dressed suitably for a sewer jaunt, she was also underwear less! The top was double-lined and designed to be worn without a bra but a smallish denim skirt really wasn't something you wanted to wear without panties, not with your legs spread wide across your boyfriends lap as you sprawled on his basement floor anyway!
Angel felt Buffy freeze and promptly stilled his hands with a sigh, it seemed that the invisible barrier had inadvertently been pushed a little too hard.
"I'm sorry Buffy, I didn't want to push you or anything."
Buffy shook her head quickly, she couldn't have him thinking he'd done something wrong or he'd retreat into his shell for days.
"What then? Sweetheart, tell me."
She gulped and then began to giggle, it was pretty funny really now she thought about it and didn't have to worry that he was going to rumple her skirt up to the point of real embarrassment.
"Buffy?"
Buffy managed to control herself and recalled that girls in magazines she had read sometimes deliberately left their underwear at home when they wanted to seduce. Managing not to smirk she raised her twinkling hazel eyes to Angel's worried brown ones. "Well, you kind of had your hands here," she demonstrated, taking the opportunity to tug her skirt down an inch or two, "and I kind of forgot to put my panties on when I was in such a rush to get ready earlier and I figured that if you moved another inch you'd find that out for yourself!"
Angel just stared at her, which prompted Buffy to return to being embarrassed about the whole thing.
"I just, I mean, well this isn't exactly the perfect place and I don't really um, well I wasn't trying to make you do something, I uh-" she gave up trying to explain and buried her glowing face against his chest and plopped down into his lap, scrunching herself against him so he couldn't see her face.
It was Angel's turn to freeze as Buffy slowly sat up and looked at him.
"Well, now you know why you were kneeling up." He managed with a faint grin, as she stared at him, "I'm sorry but it's not like I have a lot of control over that part of me."
Buffy smiled back, "even before I told you I was minus a vital item of clothing huh?"
Angel grinned a little lopsidedly, "I'm trying not to even think about that as it leads to other thoughts that you probably don't want to know about."
Buffy wriggled against him, "Yes I do, tell me."
"Can't this wait until we're somewhere else and you're wearing underwear?" Angel begged as Buffy smiled wickedly at him.
Buffy was about to reply but at that moment they heard the rasp of one of three bolts being drawn back and they both rocketed to their feet. Angel tried to pretend he hadn't seen up Buffy's skirt and Buffy tried to pretend she hadn't seen the bulge in Angel's pants but the speed and abandon with which they got to their feet in an attempt to look innocent for their friends had revealed what each had tried to hide.
Wesley swung the door open and looked suspiciously from one to the other.
Buffy and Angel both braced themselves for an inquisition on their state of dishevelment and lateness but it didn't come.
"Why on earth did you come through the tunnels? There's no daylight to fry you at the moment Angel." Demanded Wes.
"Well, I felt that Merlin smelt worse than the sewers so we came this way instead of being trapped in his car." Buffy hastily told him.
"Yeah Buffy told him we were still worried that the sun might re-appear by itself and kill me so we could get away."
"Ah, I see. Yes, he really does smell rather appalling doesn't he?"
"I quite agree Wes, now lets get to business." Angel said determinedly as he strode to the door pushing Buffy along in front of him.
When the three of them entered the library a minute later Merlin was already ensconced in a comfortable chair with the inevitable bottle of beer clutched in his hand. The rest of the occupants of the room milled around at a safe distance.
"No Doyle or Cordelia yet?" asked Angel.
"Nada." Gunn responded, "I called them a couple more times but they still aint answering. Probably still humping like-" he glanced at Anya.
"Crazy monkeys." Supplied Xander quickly, grateful that Gunn hadn't mentioned Bunnies. "Yeah, what the dude said." Agreed Gunn with a nod.
"You don't have time to go and get them either Honey bun." Lorne chipped in from his seat beside Giles, to whom he seemed to have taken a shine. "Besides, it's just you and Goldilocks here that are compulsory to this prophecy, the rest of these charmers would just be a bonus."
"Well, I like my bonuses," Buffy said with a grin, "If they're willing to come then they can."
"Count me in." Xander said quickly as Anya nodded in agreement.
Gunn, Giles and Wesley also nodded in agreement. "Me too." Added Fred shyly.
"Uh guys, I think maybe Oz and I should stay what with it being wolfie time and all."
"Of course," Buffy agreed instantly.
"Well Merlin, when do we go and how do we go?"
"I will need a few moments to prepare so I suggest that you gather together any clothing, weapons or other belongings that you wish to take along."
There was a hasty burst of activity, especially from Buffy who raced to her room in a blur looking for her trusty leather trousers.
Ten minutes later almost everyone was re-assembled, suitably attired and clutching provisions and weaponry
Merlin shuffled to his feet and picked up a thin and badly stained ordinary looking leather volume. "I need everyone within close proximity of each other, not necessarily touching but close. Then I say a few words from this book, the gateways open and you all pass through. All those who don't wish to go along step right back out of the way."
Willow, Oz and Lorne made some hasty goodbyes and promptly moved themselves back against the bookcases several yards from everyone else.
Merlin seemed satisfied with this arrangement and began scrabbling through the junk in his pockets, before he pulled out what looked like a very dirty handkerchief, "Right then, one of you needs to carry this talisman at all times, I'm giving you five days to sort everything out and then I will do a locating spell and perform the spell to bring you all back here. This means the one carrying the talisman must ensure that exactly five days from now you are all grouped together as you are now so I can bring you all home. Anyone too far away will not be brought back. Is that clear?"
"Scarily so." Moaned Xander under his breath, "What if we get stuck there and they don't have cable?"
"I elect Giles as talisman man," Buffy spoke up suddenly, "He's responsible, can take care of himself and isn't likely to lose it."
"But surely you or Angel would be the better choice?" asked Willow from her safe distance. "I mean, you could protect it better, no offense Giles."
"None taken." He murmured.
"Yeah, but all it takes is for one of us to be carrying it and to get slammed around one too many times and drop it or something." Buffy protested, "I lose lots of important stuff, I mean I lost my favourite hairclip for ages, Willow had to find it in the end!"
"Yeah, but that's because you used it to bookmark your chemistry book Buff." Xander put in.
Buffy's response was to poke her tongue out, "I still vote Giles," she said stubbornly.
Giles stepped forward and accepted the bundle with distaste and tucked it carefully into his pocket and buttoned it up. "I'll take it for now at least."
"Okay then, ready people?" Merlin asked with a marked lack of enthusiasm.
Heads nodded, couples held hands, friends leaned on friends and Merlin began to chant.
Bright bluish white light swirled around the room and concentrated near the trio standing back out of the way.
"Uh-oh" muttered Xander as the lights turned purplish and intensified.
Then it was too late to do anything and the world began to spin.
They landed with a thud in a pitch black and damp place that smelled strongly of damp earth.
"Hey, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," squeaked Gunn in a mock feminine voice.
"Hey that's my line," grumbled Xander. "And if it wasn't for Anya I'd retort with a very excellent impersonation of Alice in wonderland."
"I have my ears covered," Anya said cheerfully, "Speak and regain your superiority."
Which was all the encouragement Xander needed for a fully-fledged impression of Alice disappearing down the rabbit hole.
"Do you mind?" grumbled Giles from nearby.
"The enemy could be all around us," hissed Wes, poking Xander with an unloaded crossbow bolt, succeeding in making him jump violently.
"Are we all here?" Angel demanded authoritatively as he tightly clutched Buffy's hand. The darkness was so intense that he could barely see Buffy let alone those further away."
"Everybody is here." Oz said softly as he and Willow stumbled through the darkness to clutch Buffy's elbow.
"I'm here too," added Lorne as he grabbed Angel's arm, "What a revolting dank place this is, eh?"
Buffy sniffed suddenly, "Uh, Merlin?"
"Yeah, I'm here too."
*
*
*
Yes, I know they were just a little bit out of character at certain times - but it was fun!
Lucky for everyone who likes this fic it has been too hot here to do anything active today (like shopping as was planned) so this is a nice long chapter, I probably should have broken it up into two but I liked it better as one.
I do have a bit of a problem though, some reviewers want lots of mushy B/A romance and smuttiness and others want more action and humor involving the whole team. I am trying hard to get the balance right so everyone will like it but I must admit that I am a better romance/smut writer than an action/humor writer. If you check the other two fics I have written besides 'The slayer and the sleuths' you will see that they are pretty much pure B/A mush. So please remember when things get too fluffy that first and foremost I do write about the B/A ship - not just Buffy stories in which Buffy happens to be dating Angel.
I will try to keep it at the same level as the last one though and I promise that this won't completely disintegrate into obscene levels of fluffiness!
*
*
*
*
"Ugh, what a stink." Mumbled Buffy as they picked their way back through the sewers.
"It is a sewer Buffy."
"No, I meant Merlin."
"Oh, him. I wonder where Lorne got him from."
"I don't care as long as he puts him back - and soon."
Angel chuckled, "Lorne knows his stuff, if he says Merlin can help us then he can."
"Yeah by sending us on a probable one way trip to someplace with a seriously funky name, what was it again?"
"Notretsehc. I think it was."
"See, now that's another thing I have a problem with. Why Notre-whatsit? What's wrong with a name like earth? And another thing; why is this stupid place connected to us? If it looked after itself I wouldn't have to be bothered." Ranted Buffy as she slithered along the sewer tunnel.
"You're just mad because shopping, snuggling and hanging out has been cancelled in favour of world save-age." Teased Angel as he caught up with her and wrapped an arm around her before sweeping her into his arms and carrying her over a particularly sludgy area.
"Hmmpff." Buffy wrinkled her nose at him and held on tight, a free trip through the sewers in Angel's arms wasn't a bad thing so she wasn't going to complain, although her rush this morning meant she hadn't exactly dressed for sewer trips and being carried and Angel's hand was now dangerously high up on her exposed thighs- and her thinking bad thoughts was not going to help anybody.
'But if his hand was two or three inches higher-' whispered the naughty little voice in her head. Buffy ordered it to be quiet but it didn't listen and his hair was soo nice and soft and she could just twiddle it very satisfyingly from where her hands were clasped around his neck and his ear was within reach too-, Buffy firmly clamped down on a strong desire to nibble.
"Are you alright?" murmured Angel with a note of concern in his rich voice. His girlfriend had been staring crazily into space and wriggling slightly from time to time. "Uh, Buffy?"
"Huh? Yeah! What?" she stared at Angel wide-eyed.
"I said, are you okay, you zoned out there for a minute."
Buffy gave a loud false squawk of laughter, which made him raise his eyebrows at her.
"Oh, look we're back at the Hyperion." Buffy chirped as Angel set her back on her feet shaking his head and reached up to swing the trapdoor open that led to the basement and boosted Buffy through. When he followed she pointed at the nearby drier and began to babble, "Hey, you have a laundry room. I didn't know there was a laundry room. You even have different fabric conditioners. I like the pink one, can I use that when I do my washing?"
"Sure, Buffy-"
"Oh and a mat for shoes!"
She tugged off her slightly sewer coated sandals and dropped them on the mat provided for the purpose by Cordelia the neat-freak. Angel followed suit, Cordelia had long ago got tired of sewer being tramped over nice carpets and polished floors and had given orders about removal or cleaning of sewer coated footwear that nobody dared to disobey. They both added their jackets to the pegs near the sewer exit as Buffy babbled, "I think it might be a good idea to keep a jacket here so we can grab one when we go out by sewer. Can I?"
"Of course you can, Buffy why are you acting so odd?"
Rats, there was no distracting Angel Buffy thought crossly, she'd only succeeded in acting like a giant freak.
"No reason, we should go upstairs now. Lorne and stinker should be here by now."
Angel smirked slightly as he closed the trap door, "Stinker." He muttered shaking his head, "You know he is a wizard, or more probably a warlock, he might be able to turn you into a slimy warty toad or something so I probably wouldn't introduce him like that to the others."
"But I've got my Willow the Wicca, if he turned me into a toad she'd be able to change me back again."
Angel raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, even if she turned me back I don't think I'd enjoy the wait sitting around eating flies and actually yeah, she'd probably just blow me up into itty bitty toady pieces. Point taken. Merlin it is." She marched towards the door with Angel close behind her.
She reached for the handle and yanked on it but the door didn't budge and she found herself carried backwards by the force of her tug, slammed into Angel and both of them flailed around for a moment before they crashed to the floor in a tangled heap. Buffy propped herself up on her elbow and examined the door handle that dangled uselessly from her fingertips, "I think the door must be bolted." She said lamely as she turned her head to squint at Angel sprawled on the floor beneath her.
His chest shook as he struggled not to laugh, "I guess we're stuck in the basement then!"
Buffy grinned at him, "What if the world ended because we got locked in a basement!"
Angel's face suddenly got serious.
"Angel I was kidding!" giggled Buffy, "we do have the trapdoor if we had to go the long way round and they do know we're here after all, they'll show up to let us out and poke fun at us in a minute unless we break out first."
"I guess, but we can't get out that door, its pretty much demon proof, it looks innocent but is actually reinforced to keep unwelcome demons out of the Hyperion unless they walk in the front doors where we can see them."
"Very smart." Buffy approved. "However, we do now have to sit on our butts and wait to be mocked or start hiking for the next sewer entry now."
Angel shrugged, "I seem to already be on my butt."
Buffy mock-glared at him before she curled herself up into his lap, "works for me."
As Buffy comfortably arranged herself Angel spoke up in a rather strangled voice, "Do you think maybe we should go check for the nearest sewer access, I mean, they might start to worry about us and not think to check the door."
Buffy shrugged and nestled closer against his chest, pillowing her face on the nearest broad shoulder. "I have faith that they will figure things out, or possibly we should give them a few minutes and then go walkabout."
Angel nodded stiffly and wrapped his arms around her; if she stayed still he could handle this just fine. But being Buffy she promptly twisted round, raising her face for a kiss, and as far as Angel was concerned Buffy was irresistible.
Moments later the gentle, tender kiss Angel had intended had veered out of control. Buffy had scrambled around to wrap her legs around his waist as he sat on the floor his legs stretched out in front of him. She had kissed his mouth, his jaw and throat and then her blunt little teeth nipped his earlobe, her hot breath puffing in his ear. This combined with the heat of her exposed skin and the thundering of her heart was an unbearable turn-on.
He lifted her slightly so her weight was on her knees and not his lap and pressed her closer to his chest. She went where he pulled her and made no attempt to sit back down - something for which Angel was grateful.
Buffy was in heaven, even though she was kneeling on a hard, cold floor she had Angel right where she wanted him and to judge by the stifled groan he had made when she nipped his ear he was liking it as much as she was. Gaining courage she tugged on a few buttons of his shirt exposing the top of his chest, she stroked her fingers over the smooth skin as she returned to kissing his mouth.
She'd seen the whole of his chest before and touched it too but on that occasion she'd been too busy trying to kick his very nice butt to pay that much attention in that way and somehow Angel half-naked and kicking her ass wasn't as sexy as almost fully clothed Angel with just a triangle of his lovely chest exposed and right under her exploring fingertips.
Buffy swirled her tongue down Angel's neck and felt him shiver.
His didn't loosen his death grip on her and he didn't stop kissing her shoulder for more than a second but he managed to mumble, "Uh, Buffy, maybe we should, ah."
Buffy licked lower until she found his nipple, for a second she hesitated and then she licked that too, and unless Cosmo was lying-
Angel gasped and his fingers clenched in her hair holding her where she was before he loosened his grip a second later and mumbled an apology.
Buffy ignored him with a small grin to herself and moved back to his lips to silence any further argument.
Angel was caught between Heaven and Hell, he was loving everything Buffy was doing but it was a sweet torture that he couldn't really do anything back without worrying that he was overstepping some invisible boundary. He didn't know how much would be too much, or would nothing be too much? A little devil asked. Angel felt sure that voice would be best ignored! Though maybe she wanted more? Angel sighed inwardly; a little communication before they got into a position like this again might be a very good idea. He was so out of touch with normal dating that he was probably missing signals all over the place.
He glanced down as Buffy moved back to kissing his jaw and ear, after all how many girls who definitely didn't want more than kissing straddled your lap wearing a very small skirt?
Buffy caught her breath as she felt Angel's hands leave her waist and neck where they had so firmly been clamped, he slid his hands over her upper back, lightly stroking the expanse of skin exposed by her strappy top, then his hands followed the contours of her body, sliding down her sides, his thumbs a mere inch from her breasts. Buffy whimpered at that and restrained the very unladylike impulse to drag his hands back up and to tell him exactly where to put them.
Then his hands dropped to her bared knees and smoothed their way up her thighs, actually making darts under the material of her skirt, which had bunched up to almost nothing and was almost showing her panties, or not.
Buffy froze, in the panic of getting dressed so fast she had not only not dressed suitably for a sewer jaunt, she was also underwear less! The top was double-lined and designed to be worn without a bra but a smallish denim skirt really wasn't something you wanted to wear without panties, not with your legs spread wide across your boyfriends lap as you sprawled on his basement floor anyway!
Angel felt Buffy freeze and promptly stilled his hands with a sigh, it seemed that the invisible barrier had inadvertently been pushed a little too hard.
"I'm sorry Buffy, I didn't want to push you or anything."
Buffy shook her head quickly, she couldn't have him thinking he'd done something wrong or he'd retreat into his shell for days.
"What then? Sweetheart, tell me."
She gulped and then began to giggle, it was pretty funny really now she thought about it and didn't have to worry that he was going to rumple her skirt up to the point of real embarrassment.
"Buffy?"
Buffy managed to control herself and recalled that girls in magazines she had read sometimes deliberately left their underwear at home when they wanted to seduce. Managing not to smirk she raised her twinkling hazel eyes to Angel's worried brown ones. "Well, you kind of had your hands here," she demonstrated, taking the opportunity to tug her skirt down an inch or two, "and I kind of forgot to put my panties on when I was in such a rush to get ready earlier and I figured that if you moved another inch you'd find that out for yourself!"
Angel just stared at her, which prompted Buffy to return to being embarrassed about the whole thing.
"I just, I mean, well this isn't exactly the perfect place and I don't really um, well I wasn't trying to make you do something, I uh-" she gave up trying to explain and buried her glowing face against his chest and plopped down into his lap, scrunching herself against him so he couldn't see her face.
It was Angel's turn to freeze as Buffy slowly sat up and looked at him.
"Well, now you know why you were kneeling up." He managed with a faint grin, as she stared at him, "I'm sorry but it's not like I have a lot of control over that part of me."
Buffy smiled back, "even before I told you I was minus a vital item of clothing huh?"
Angel grinned a little lopsidedly, "I'm trying not to even think about that as it leads to other thoughts that you probably don't want to know about."
Buffy wriggled against him, "Yes I do, tell me."
"Can't this wait until we're somewhere else and you're wearing underwear?" Angel begged as Buffy smiled wickedly at him.
Buffy was about to reply but at that moment they heard the rasp of one of three bolts being drawn back and they both rocketed to their feet. Angel tried to pretend he hadn't seen up Buffy's skirt and Buffy tried to pretend she hadn't seen the bulge in Angel's pants but the speed and abandon with which they got to their feet in an attempt to look innocent for their friends had revealed what each had tried to hide.
Wesley swung the door open and looked suspiciously from one to the other.
Buffy and Angel both braced themselves for an inquisition on their state of dishevelment and lateness but it didn't come.
"Why on earth did you come through the tunnels? There's no daylight to fry you at the moment Angel." Demanded Wes.
"Well, I felt that Merlin smelt worse than the sewers so we came this way instead of being trapped in his car." Buffy hastily told him.
"Yeah Buffy told him we were still worried that the sun might re-appear by itself and kill me so we could get away."
"Ah, I see. Yes, he really does smell rather appalling doesn't he?"
"I quite agree Wes, now lets get to business." Angel said determinedly as he strode to the door pushing Buffy along in front of him.
When the three of them entered the library a minute later Merlin was already ensconced in a comfortable chair with the inevitable bottle of beer clutched in his hand. The rest of the occupants of the room milled around at a safe distance.
"No Doyle or Cordelia yet?" asked Angel.
"Nada." Gunn responded, "I called them a couple more times but they still aint answering. Probably still humping like-" he glanced at Anya.
"Crazy monkeys." Supplied Xander quickly, grateful that Gunn hadn't mentioned Bunnies. "Yeah, what the dude said." Agreed Gunn with a nod.
"You don't have time to go and get them either Honey bun." Lorne chipped in from his seat beside Giles, to whom he seemed to have taken a shine. "Besides, it's just you and Goldilocks here that are compulsory to this prophecy, the rest of these charmers would just be a bonus."
"Well, I like my bonuses," Buffy said with a grin, "If they're willing to come then they can."
"Count me in." Xander said quickly as Anya nodded in agreement.
Gunn, Giles and Wesley also nodded in agreement. "Me too." Added Fred shyly.
"Uh guys, I think maybe Oz and I should stay what with it being wolfie time and all."
"Of course," Buffy agreed instantly.
"Well Merlin, when do we go and how do we go?"
"I will need a few moments to prepare so I suggest that you gather together any clothing, weapons or other belongings that you wish to take along."
There was a hasty burst of activity, especially from Buffy who raced to her room in a blur looking for her trusty leather trousers.
Ten minutes later almost everyone was re-assembled, suitably attired and clutching provisions and weaponry
Merlin shuffled to his feet and picked up a thin and badly stained ordinary looking leather volume. "I need everyone within close proximity of each other, not necessarily touching but close. Then I say a few words from this book, the gateways open and you all pass through. All those who don't wish to go along step right back out of the way."
Willow, Oz and Lorne made some hasty goodbyes and promptly moved themselves back against the bookcases several yards from everyone else.
Merlin seemed satisfied with this arrangement and began scrabbling through the junk in his pockets, before he pulled out what looked like a very dirty handkerchief, "Right then, one of you needs to carry this talisman at all times, I'm giving you five days to sort everything out and then I will do a locating spell and perform the spell to bring you all back here. This means the one carrying the talisman must ensure that exactly five days from now you are all grouped together as you are now so I can bring you all home. Anyone too far away will not be brought back. Is that clear?"
"Scarily so." Moaned Xander under his breath, "What if we get stuck there and they don't have cable?"
"I elect Giles as talisman man," Buffy spoke up suddenly, "He's responsible, can take care of himself and isn't likely to lose it."
"But surely you or Angel would be the better choice?" asked Willow from her safe distance. "I mean, you could protect it better, no offense Giles."
"None taken." He murmured.
"Yeah, but all it takes is for one of us to be carrying it and to get slammed around one too many times and drop it or something." Buffy protested, "I lose lots of important stuff, I mean I lost my favourite hairclip for ages, Willow had to find it in the end!"
"Yeah, but that's because you used it to bookmark your chemistry book Buff." Xander put in.
Buffy's response was to poke her tongue out, "I still vote Giles," she said stubbornly.
Giles stepped forward and accepted the bundle with distaste and tucked it carefully into his pocket and buttoned it up. "I'll take it for now at least."
"Okay then, ready people?" Merlin asked with a marked lack of enthusiasm.
Heads nodded, couples held hands, friends leaned on friends and Merlin began to chant.
Bright bluish white light swirled around the room and concentrated near the trio standing back out of the way.
"Uh-oh" muttered Xander as the lights turned purplish and intensified.
Then it was too late to do anything and the world began to spin.
They landed with a thud in a pitch black and damp place that smelled strongly of damp earth.
"Hey, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," squeaked Gunn in a mock feminine voice.
"Hey that's my line," grumbled Xander. "And if it wasn't for Anya I'd retort with a very excellent impersonation of Alice in wonderland."
"I have my ears covered," Anya said cheerfully, "Speak and regain your superiority."
Which was all the encouragement Xander needed for a fully-fledged impression of Alice disappearing down the rabbit hole.
"Do you mind?" grumbled Giles from nearby.
"The enemy could be all around us," hissed Wes, poking Xander with an unloaded crossbow bolt, succeeding in making him jump violently.
"Are we all here?" Angel demanded authoritatively as he tightly clutched Buffy's hand. The darkness was so intense that he could barely see Buffy let alone those further away."
"Everybody is here." Oz said softly as he and Willow stumbled through the darkness to clutch Buffy's elbow.
"I'm here too," added Lorne as he grabbed Angel's arm, "What a revolting dank place this is, eh?"
Buffy sniffed suddenly, "Uh, Merlin?"
"Yeah, I'm here too."
*
*
*
Yes, I know they were just a little bit out of character at certain times - but it was fun!