Title: Moving In
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.
Distribution: If you want it just ask!
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!
**This chapter seemed a bit rushed to me but I wanted to update on what everyone was doing, even though much of what they were doing weren't of great importance but still important enough to the story to be mentioned, in my opinion. So I apologize in advance if it seems like I stuffed to much in here**
Chapter 10
Buffy stretched and yawned. She rolled over and opened her eyes, and saw an empty bed. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. "Angel?" There was no answer. Buffy felt sick to her stomach. She dropped to her knees and fished the stake out from under the bed.
Buffy tiptoed through the bedroom into the living room. She had the sheet wrapped around her body, one hand clutching it at her chest, the other hand holding a stake.
He caught her off guard and lifted her off her feet, sweeping her into his arms. "Mmm, I was going to make you scrambled eggs, but right now, the bedroom is looking to be a much nicer option."
"Angel?" Buffy searched his eyes.
He smiled at her and rubbed his nose against hers. "It's me, Buffy."
He was telling her the truth. Angel's soul shone through his eyes. "You can drop that." He indicated the stake she still held tightly in her grip.
She dropped it quickly, feigning innocence and then looking chagrined. "Sorry, when I woke up and you weren't in bed, I was afraid-"she trailed off.
He nodded. "And before you ask, last night, perfect happiness. In fact, right now, perfect happiness."
Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Take me back to bed and let's see if we can't find new definitions for perfect happiness."
* * *
Angel walked into his office the next morning later then usual and whistling. Wes dropped the priceless Vyselak urn he was holding.
"Morning, Wes." Angel grinned at him. "I hope you didn't actually need that." He looked pointedly down at the shattered pieces of pottery.
"Uhm, actually-are you feeling alright?" Wes asked.
"I'm great, I'm better then great." Angel responded.
"Yes, well," Wes begin backpedaling. He fumbled in his jacket pocket and came up with a cross. He thrust the cross toward Angel.
"Its okay, Wes. I'm not evil." Angel insisted.
Wes looked at him, obviously pondering whether to trust him or not. "You're quite sure then?"
"Willow's spell worked. My soul is anchored."
"You've-I mean, you and Buffy-"Wes stammered.
"Perfect happiness, soul intact." Angel confirmed.
"That's, well that's fantastic, Angel."
"It really is." Buffy said stepping into the office. She walked over to Angel and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you."
He laughed. Wes looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "I've been gone ten minutes, tops."
Buffy rested her chin on Angel's shoulder. "Yes but it was ten minutes apart. So I've decided that time you spent here? That was enough time apart."
He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "Too much." He blanched as soon as the words came out of his mouth.
-"That time you just spent in the kitchen? That was enough time apart."-
-"Too much."-
Buffy caught it. "Angel? Are you okay? Sit down. I'll get you some blood."
"I'm okay, just got a little dizzy I guess." Angel tried to cover.
Buffy poured a mug of blood from the minbar in the office. Wes picked up the larger pieces of the urn he'd dropped and excused himself. "Are you sure you're okay? It's been a lot to deal with at once." Buffy asked, sitting the mug in front of him.
"Buffy, I couldn't be better, really. Why don't we work on getting things ready for your slayers to move in here? The sooner I get you here on a permanent basis the better." Angel said.
Lorne walked in the office with a brief knock. He was wearing a chartreuse suit and chatting on a cell phone. He handed it to his assistant, who stepped out of the office as soon as he had.
"Stop the presses, Stop the presses! Someone's got their soul anchored. And, Angelcakes, I gotta say, it looks good on you."
"He's right, it looks very good." Buffy teased. She leaned over and kissed the top of Angel's head.
Angel chuckled and took Buffy's hand in his. "Thanks, Lorne. It feels pretty good too."
"And you two, I've got one word, Kyrumption." Lorne said with a whistle.
Buffy arched an eyebrow at him. "Ky-what?"
"Kyrumption. In the dimension I come from it's a word for when 2 heroes come together, very epic stuff." Lorne explained.
Buffy shrugged. "Well, heroes and epic, that's got to be good, right?"
* * *
Giles and Willow had moved Watcher central to Wolfram and Hart's library. The resources were miles above any other place, including the former Watcher's Council, Giles said. He wanted to have a final Watcher's meeting before he started sending slayers to various posts. For the first time in history, there would be multiple active watchers and slayers. It was a huge undertaking.
Buffy and Angel were preparing Wolfram and Hart to be invaded by more then a dozen teenage girls within a week. Angel was having keycard locks installed in the elevators and in most of the areas of the office so that the girls couldn't go "exploring" and end up causing trouble, or getting into by being somewhere they shouldn't. Dawn was actively arguing to be given a suite on the slayer floor. Buffy was actively arguing against it. Faith, Robin, Xander, Willow and Andrew would all have apartments on the slayer floor. They would act as the "house mothers" for the floor.
Wesley was still working on the Book of the Guardian. He was making some progress, but not enough to help anyone.
* * *
Buffy and Angel drove the short distance to San Bernardino in Angel's Viper. They were going to tell the girls about the move to Los Angeles and start everyone packing. Buffy had already talked to the adults and everyone, except Xander, was excited about the move and the opportunities it opened.
"Buff, I don't know if I'm gonna move into the beautiful new Slayer School when it opens." Xander had confided to her over the phone one evening.
"Is it the whole thing with Angel?" Buffy asked.
"No. Well, okay it's not secret I'm not loving Dead Boy, but that's not it." Xander admitted.
"Willow anchored his soul. He can't lose it again, ever. There's no moment of pure happiness clause." Buffy said.
"That's was always just an excuse, Buff. I didn't like Angel in high school because you fell for him and not me. It just didn't help when he tried to eat me. Here's the deal. My place in the Scooby's and later in the Slayer Training Program, has always been joke boy, snack food boy and carpenter. With a fancy new building I highly doubt you'll need my carpentry skills."
"We still need snack food and jokes." Buffy said.
"I've been looking for apartments in LA I found one, not far from the evil lawyer building. It's rent controlled and very different from my apartment with Anya. I think I'm going to take it. I can get a job with a construction company. I've got plenty of experience. I don't have to tell them the only reason I made management at my last job was because all the other candidates got eaten." Xander said, in his typical Xander fashion.
"You are going to visit, especially if it's not far away." Buffy said in her sternest voice.
"Of course. My three best girls are all in the same place, one stop shopping."
Buffy thought about the conversation now. She was afraid Xander would pull away from them all now that they were in "Angel's building". She worried about him alone in the big city, living on his own. He was dealing with Anya's death reasonably well, but she worried a change like this would set him back. She snapped out of her thoughts when Angel pulled the Viper into the circle drive at the San Bernardino house. She saw a cluster of girls draw back the curtain in the living room. There seemed to be an excited flurry and then the window was left empty.
Within a matter of seconds, teenage girls poured out of the front door of the house. They clustered around Angel and the Viper, all talking at once. Kennedy stepped forward and held out her hand. Angel shook it.
"Hi, I'm Kennedy. Buffy didn't tell us you were gorgeous, so you have to excuse the gawking. And don't worry. I'm not hitting on you. I'm gay."
"Uhm, that's-that's nice." Angel stammered. If he'd had circulation he would have blushed. Buffy merely looked on in amusement.
"Oh! You're a vampire. The one with the soul, I mean besides Spike. There are a lot of Watcher's journals about you." Amanda paused and glanced at Buffy, who was giving her a stern look. "Not that I would know, because I would never do something like take, I mean borrow, borrow Giles' books." She stepped back into the throng of girls and slouched down, trying to disappear.
"You're the one who bit her! I mean Buffy, the scar she has. It was in the journals that Amanda didn't borrow and read to us." Vi said, excitedly.
"This is sort of like meeting a celebrity. I mean there are pages and pages about Angelus. You are one of the most famous vampires ever. Think I can get your autograph before you go back to LA?" Another slayer asked.
Faith appeared in the doorway. "Yo, Slayerettes, get your butts in here and sit down. Buffy has something she wants to tell you."
The girls fell into line and assembled somewhat peacefully in the living room. Buffy walked over to Angel and tiptoed to kiss him. "You sure you still want to adopt all my girls?" she teased.
"Wow, they are like wild animals. They scent blood and they attack." Angel said, still in shock. "Teenage girls have changed a lot since my time."
"I thought I taught you that lesson."
"You, Buffy, you-you were never like that, Thank God."
Buffy laughed and led him into the house.
Buffy did the talking. Angel reclined against the door frame and watched her, something he never tired of doing. She really was wonderful the way she handled the girls. He could still see the spark and fire he'd been so drawn to the first time he saw her, but she had grown up into an amazing woman.
"Ok, I've got really good news for you all. I know we're kind of cramped in this house. Angel owns a very large law firm in a very big building in Los Angeles. He has invited me to move our training school there. He's given us an entire floor of suites, a huge, beautiful new training room, and a room for you all to do your schoolwork in. I've already talked to Faith and Robin about it, and everyone here will be moving there, as soon as possible."
Vi's hand shot up in the air and she begin speaking before Buffy actually said anything to her. "Ok, but if you and Angel do IT, won't he lose his soul and become evil again, because when he does, I'd really like to be here, instead of there."
Buffy blushed. "Willow did a spell. Angel can't lose his soul. He will not go evil. And furthermore, that's none of your business."
"I'm just saying." Vi said.
"Ok. Anymore questions?" Several hands shot up in the air. "That don't include Angel." Buffy said. The hands all went down.
"Alright then. Everyone go pack and then get some sleep. Faith and Robin are going to be waking you up early and putting you on the Sunnydale bus tomorrow morning."
The girls scattered, all chattering at each other as they went to their room to pack the few things they had.
"Are they always like this?" Angel asked.
Buffy shrugged. "When they get used to you they'll be better. They like the shock value of seeing if they can get to you. They are right about one thing though, you are gorgeous."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss unintentionally turned into a heated, passionate one.
"You know, if your gonna suck face like that, you really should pick a bedroom and lock the doors. You never know when one of the girls will walk in here." Faith said as she flopped onto the couch with a grin.
Buffy looked properly chagrined. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.
"Me, personally, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed for a week if I'd hadn't had sex in a century." Faith winked at Buffy.
"And on that note, need anything before we go?" Buffy asked.
"Nope. I think everything here is five by five. Robin and I should pull into LA around 10 tomorrow. We're going straight to the garage right?" Faith confirmed.
Angel nodded. "I've told them to expect a yellow school bus tomorrow morning and they are to let you by. When you get to the lobby talk to the front desk. There should be and ID card for you, Faith and keycards for all the girls' suites. They can have their ID cards made later in the week once they get settled. Buffy and I will meet you on the 43rd floor."
"We're cool here then. Have fun and we'll see you in the AM."
* * *
The Sunnydale school bus pulled into Wolfram and Hart's garage at exactly 10:15. 15 girls, Robin, Faith and Andrew filed off. Each girl had a duffel bag, every possession they owned, thrown over her shoulder. They all managed to get crammed into an elevator somehow and even more miraculously survived Andrew's whining about being claustrophobic on the way up to the lobby.
"Andrew, I swear to God, when I'm done with you, you won't need to worry about claustrophobia if you don't shut the hell up." Faith warned.
The elevator doors slid open. Vi was the first one to step out into the beautiful glass and marble entrance. "Holy God, I think we just won the lottery."
Feedback: Of course I want to know what you think otherwise I'd hide it in a folder on my computer! Kristi@allengames.com
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss. If they were mine I'd be nicer to them! At least most of the time.
Spoilers: Only if you have lived in a cave and not seen any of Angel or Buffy.
Distribution: If you want it just ask!
Author's notes: The centered offset quotes are quotes pulled from the shows. I didn't write them, I didn't think of them. Also I wanted to thank everyone who sent me feedback! This is my first fanfic and it's very inspiring! If you'd like to see more of this story let me know!
**This chapter seemed a bit rushed to me but I wanted to update on what everyone was doing, even though much of what they were doing weren't of great importance but still important enough to the story to be mentioned, in my opinion. So I apologize in advance if it seems like I stuffed to much in here**
Chapter 10
Buffy stretched and yawned. She rolled over and opened her eyes, and saw an empty bed. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. "Angel?" There was no answer. Buffy felt sick to her stomach. She dropped to her knees and fished the stake out from under the bed.
Buffy tiptoed through the bedroom into the living room. She had the sheet wrapped around her body, one hand clutching it at her chest, the other hand holding a stake.
He caught her off guard and lifted her off her feet, sweeping her into his arms. "Mmm, I was going to make you scrambled eggs, but right now, the bedroom is looking to be a much nicer option."
"Angel?" Buffy searched his eyes.
He smiled at her and rubbed his nose against hers. "It's me, Buffy."
He was telling her the truth. Angel's soul shone through his eyes. "You can drop that." He indicated the stake she still held tightly in her grip.
She dropped it quickly, feigning innocence and then looking chagrined. "Sorry, when I woke up and you weren't in bed, I was afraid-"she trailed off.
He nodded. "And before you ask, last night, perfect happiness. In fact, right now, perfect happiness."
Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Take me back to bed and let's see if we can't find new definitions for perfect happiness."
* * *
Angel walked into his office the next morning later then usual and whistling. Wes dropped the priceless Vyselak urn he was holding.
"Morning, Wes." Angel grinned at him. "I hope you didn't actually need that." He looked pointedly down at the shattered pieces of pottery.
"Uhm, actually-are you feeling alright?" Wes asked.
"I'm great, I'm better then great." Angel responded.
"Yes, well," Wes begin backpedaling. He fumbled in his jacket pocket and came up with a cross. He thrust the cross toward Angel.
"Its okay, Wes. I'm not evil." Angel insisted.
Wes looked at him, obviously pondering whether to trust him or not. "You're quite sure then?"
"Willow's spell worked. My soul is anchored."
"You've-I mean, you and Buffy-"Wes stammered.
"Perfect happiness, soul intact." Angel confirmed.
"That's, well that's fantastic, Angel."
"It really is." Buffy said stepping into the office. She walked over to Angel and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you."
He laughed. Wes looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "I've been gone ten minutes, tops."
Buffy rested her chin on Angel's shoulder. "Yes but it was ten minutes apart. So I've decided that time you spent here? That was enough time apart."
He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head. "Too much." He blanched as soon as the words came out of his mouth.
-"That time you just spent in the kitchen? That was enough time apart."-
-"Too much."-
Buffy caught it. "Angel? Are you okay? Sit down. I'll get you some blood."
"I'm okay, just got a little dizzy I guess." Angel tried to cover.
Buffy poured a mug of blood from the minbar in the office. Wes picked up the larger pieces of the urn he'd dropped and excused himself. "Are you sure you're okay? It's been a lot to deal with at once." Buffy asked, sitting the mug in front of him.
"Buffy, I couldn't be better, really. Why don't we work on getting things ready for your slayers to move in here? The sooner I get you here on a permanent basis the better." Angel said.
Lorne walked in the office with a brief knock. He was wearing a chartreuse suit and chatting on a cell phone. He handed it to his assistant, who stepped out of the office as soon as he had.
"Stop the presses, Stop the presses! Someone's got their soul anchored. And, Angelcakes, I gotta say, it looks good on you."
"He's right, it looks very good." Buffy teased. She leaned over and kissed the top of Angel's head.
Angel chuckled and took Buffy's hand in his. "Thanks, Lorne. It feels pretty good too."
"And you two, I've got one word, Kyrumption." Lorne said with a whistle.
Buffy arched an eyebrow at him. "Ky-what?"
"Kyrumption. In the dimension I come from it's a word for when 2 heroes come together, very epic stuff." Lorne explained.
Buffy shrugged. "Well, heroes and epic, that's got to be good, right?"
* * *
Giles and Willow had moved Watcher central to Wolfram and Hart's library. The resources were miles above any other place, including the former Watcher's Council, Giles said. He wanted to have a final Watcher's meeting before he started sending slayers to various posts. For the first time in history, there would be multiple active watchers and slayers. It was a huge undertaking.
Buffy and Angel were preparing Wolfram and Hart to be invaded by more then a dozen teenage girls within a week. Angel was having keycard locks installed in the elevators and in most of the areas of the office so that the girls couldn't go "exploring" and end up causing trouble, or getting into by being somewhere they shouldn't. Dawn was actively arguing to be given a suite on the slayer floor. Buffy was actively arguing against it. Faith, Robin, Xander, Willow and Andrew would all have apartments on the slayer floor. They would act as the "house mothers" for the floor.
Wesley was still working on the Book of the Guardian. He was making some progress, but not enough to help anyone.
* * *
Buffy and Angel drove the short distance to San Bernardino in Angel's Viper. They were going to tell the girls about the move to Los Angeles and start everyone packing. Buffy had already talked to the adults and everyone, except Xander, was excited about the move and the opportunities it opened.
"Buff, I don't know if I'm gonna move into the beautiful new Slayer School when it opens." Xander had confided to her over the phone one evening.
"Is it the whole thing with Angel?" Buffy asked.
"No. Well, okay it's not secret I'm not loving Dead Boy, but that's not it." Xander admitted.
"Willow anchored his soul. He can't lose it again, ever. There's no moment of pure happiness clause." Buffy said.
"That's was always just an excuse, Buff. I didn't like Angel in high school because you fell for him and not me. It just didn't help when he tried to eat me. Here's the deal. My place in the Scooby's and later in the Slayer Training Program, has always been joke boy, snack food boy and carpenter. With a fancy new building I highly doubt you'll need my carpentry skills."
"We still need snack food and jokes." Buffy said.
"I've been looking for apartments in LA I found one, not far from the evil lawyer building. It's rent controlled and very different from my apartment with Anya. I think I'm going to take it. I can get a job with a construction company. I've got plenty of experience. I don't have to tell them the only reason I made management at my last job was because all the other candidates got eaten." Xander said, in his typical Xander fashion.
"You are going to visit, especially if it's not far away." Buffy said in her sternest voice.
"Of course. My three best girls are all in the same place, one stop shopping."
Buffy thought about the conversation now. She was afraid Xander would pull away from them all now that they were in "Angel's building". She worried about him alone in the big city, living on his own. He was dealing with Anya's death reasonably well, but she worried a change like this would set him back. She snapped out of her thoughts when Angel pulled the Viper into the circle drive at the San Bernardino house. She saw a cluster of girls draw back the curtain in the living room. There seemed to be an excited flurry and then the window was left empty.
Within a matter of seconds, teenage girls poured out of the front door of the house. They clustered around Angel and the Viper, all talking at once. Kennedy stepped forward and held out her hand. Angel shook it.
"Hi, I'm Kennedy. Buffy didn't tell us you were gorgeous, so you have to excuse the gawking. And don't worry. I'm not hitting on you. I'm gay."
"Uhm, that's-that's nice." Angel stammered. If he'd had circulation he would have blushed. Buffy merely looked on in amusement.
"Oh! You're a vampire. The one with the soul, I mean besides Spike. There are a lot of Watcher's journals about you." Amanda paused and glanced at Buffy, who was giving her a stern look. "Not that I would know, because I would never do something like take, I mean borrow, borrow Giles' books." She stepped back into the throng of girls and slouched down, trying to disappear.
"You're the one who bit her! I mean Buffy, the scar she has. It was in the journals that Amanda didn't borrow and read to us." Vi said, excitedly.
"This is sort of like meeting a celebrity. I mean there are pages and pages about Angelus. You are one of the most famous vampires ever. Think I can get your autograph before you go back to LA?" Another slayer asked.
Faith appeared in the doorway. "Yo, Slayerettes, get your butts in here and sit down. Buffy has something she wants to tell you."
The girls fell into line and assembled somewhat peacefully in the living room. Buffy walked over to Angel and tiptoed to kiss him. "You sure you still want to adopt all my girls?" she teased.
"Wow, they are like wild animals. They scent blood and they attack." Angel said, still in shock. "Teenage girls have changed a lot since my time."
"I thought I taught you that lesson."
"You, Buffy, you-you were never like that, Thank God."
Buffy laughed and led him into the house.
Buffy did the talking. Angel reclined against the door frame and watched her, something he never tired of doing. She really was wonderful the way she handled the girls. He could still see the spark and fire he'd been so drawn to the first time he saw her, but she had grown up into an amazing woman.
"Ok, I've got really good news for you all. I know we're kind of cramped in this house. Angel owns a very large law firm in a very big building in Los Angeles. He has invited me to move our training school there. He's given us an entire floor of suites, a huge, beautiful new training room, and a room for you all to do your schoolwork in. I've already talked to Faith and Robin about it, and everyone here will be moving there, as soon as possible."
Vi's hand shot up in the air and she begin speaking before Buffy actually said anything to her. "Ok, but if you and Angel do IT, won't he lose his soul and become evil again, because when he does, I'd really like to be here, instead of there."
Buffy blushed. "Willow did a spell. Angel can't lose his soul. He will not go evil. And furthermore, that's none of your business."
"I'm just saying." Vi said.
"Ok. Anymore questions?" Several hands shot up in the air. "That don't include Angel." Buffy said. The hands all went down.
"Alright then. Everyone go pack and then get some sleep. Faith and Robin are going to be waking you up early and putting you on the Sunnydale bus tomorrow morning."
The girls scattered, all chattering at each other as they went to their room to pack the few things they had.
"Are they always like this?" Angel asked.
Buffy shrugged. "When they get used to you they'll be better. They like the shock value of seeing if they can get to you. They are right about one thing though, you are gorgeous."
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss unintentionally turned into a heated, passionate one.
"You know, if your gonna suck face like that, you really should pick a bedroom and lock the doors. You never know when one of the girls will walk in here." Faith said as she flopped onto the couch with a grin.
Buffy looked properly chagrined. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.
"Me, personally, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed for a week if I'd hadn't had sex in a century." Faith winked at Buffy.
"And on that note, need anything before we go?" Buffy asked.
"Nope. I think everything here is five by five. Robin and I should pull into LA around 10 tomorrow. We're going straight to the garage right?" Faith confirmed.
Angel nodded. "I've told them to expect a yellow school bus tomorrow morning and they are to let you by. When you get to the lobby talk to the front desk. There should be and ID card for you, Faith and keycards for all the girls' suites. They can have their ID cards made later in the week once they get settled. Buffy and I will meet you on the 43rd floor."
"We're cool here then. Have fun and we'll see you in the AM."
* * *
The Sunnydale school bus pulled into Wolfram and Hart's garage at exactly 10:15. 15 girls, Robin, Faith and Andrew filed off. Each girl had a duffel bag, every possession they owned, thrown over her shoulder. They all managed to get crammed into an elevator somehow and even more miraculously survived Andrew's whining about being claustrophobic on the way up to the lobby.
"Andrew, I swear to God, when I'm done with you, you won't need to worry about claustrophobia if you don't shut the hell up." Faith warned.
The elevator doors slid open. Vi was the first one to step out into the beautiful glass and marble entrance. "Holy God, I think we just won the lottery."