Chapter twelve.
Angel.
A few days later, and we're still recouping. Giles has been on the phone constantly to London and the Watcher's Council. No other news has surfaced about the why's and wherefore's of the vamp couple I had encountered. Their names had come up a few times in the diary's, but they had mostly been described as 'non-entities' or 'mostly harmless'. Which I understand upon first meeting; however, I have learned over the years to never disregard the crazy ones. Turn your back on them for a second and you have apocalypse central. Witness Drusilla.
Here's hoping that Buffy won't have to deal with her or Spike again.
The night after the chaos, Buffy had knocked softly on my apartment door.
"Come in," I shouted, and winced, my throat still bothering me from all the incense and ash I had inhaled.
"Hey," she said, and entered the living room, closing the door behind her. The moon shown brightly that night, but all I saw was her. It was a surprising pleasure to see that she was wearing the old leather jacket I had given her last year. I hadn't known she had kept it.
"How are you?" she asked, and lifted my wrist in her hand, examing the almost totally healed cut there. "Looks lots better."
"It is. Nothing happened to me that won't heal. How are you doing?" I had tilted her chin up with my fingers, and instantly became angry at the still evident bruises there from the Master's talons. She shrugged.
"Nothing that won't heal," she replied, and walked away, retreiving a paper bag that I hadn't noticed she had brought in with her.
"I brought you some things," she said, digging in the bag. "Sage, comfrey, lavender. And some kind of stinky gooey junk Willow said was good for healing cuts and bruises. Arnie? Something like that?"
I laughed gently and took the bottle out of her hands. "Arnica. Works really well, actually. It's made from a plant…Buffy, what is it?"
She had turned away from me then, and I had noticed her shoulders shaking. I put down the bottle and went to her, pulling her against my chest as she sobbed. She buried her face in my chest and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing hard. I think I might have felt a rib or two crack, but I hadn't cared. She was in pain, and I would do whatever I could to ease it.
"What is it? Buffy, are you hurt?"
She shook her head against me, and then hesitated. "No…and yes," she had muttered, and I turned her face to mine.
"You had to face him again."
She only nodded.
"But you beat him, Buffy. You beat him hands down. And he won't be coming back from wherever he is anytime soon, trust me. That spell of Willow's was quite powerful. I'm impressed she pulled it off."
"That's the same thing Giles said. But Angel, that's what I thought last time. And with the dreams we had…not everything we saw manifested, you know? Like, what happens tomorrow? I wake up and a castle's in my front yard? The next time I see you you're a pile of ash inside a tin suit? I don't want to deal with this anymore," she spouted, and I shushed her, kissing her forehead.
"I won't let anything happen. To you or to me. I promise," I whispered, my eyes boring into hers. "Not like you really needed my help anyway, Buffy. You rescued me, remember?"
She had smiled then, and I grinned back at her. "Don't you forget it, buddy. And hey, don't I get some kind of reward? Like a plaque, or a medal, or a pony-"
I had cut her off midsentence with my lips on hers. I pressed her up against the front door, and kissed her with abandon. She sighed against me, and had wound her fingers in my short hair. I growled softly at her, and wrapped one hand around her hair and the other about her waist.
She murmured my name, and that was all it took. I slanted my head, deepening the kiss, and she complied eagerly, her lips opening, my tounge playing with hers.
Her hands dropped to the front of my chest, and moved there of their own accord, molding my shirt to my body, as if trying to memorize it.
I lifted her leg, and wrapped it around my waist. She lifted the other herself, and I had carried her over to my bed before I realized what we were doing.
"God, you feel," she started, and smiled shyly at me, eyes half closed and mouth swollen from our kisses.
Slow down she's so young.
"Whoa," I replied, and backed away.
"What is it? Angel, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly. She sat up and had begun to chew her lower lip.
I knelt on the floor, my face almost even with hers.
"I said it before, Buffy, and I meant it. I'm not going anywhere. We have all the time we want. I want to savour it," I said, and touched her face lightly with my fingertips. She had shuddered slightly, and closed her eyes.
Did she know how beautiful she was to me? Right then, the first moment I saw her, yesterday, tomorrow?
"No worries tonight, okay? This is about just you, and me. Just us. No Master, no vamps, no Giles, no nothing. Me and you. Together."
She had opened her eyes, and touched one small fingertip to my lips, and had traced their shape.
"Savouring."
God, yes, please.
I sit at the water's edge, in the spot we had met a few weeks before. When I hadn't been so sure as to where I wanted to go with this, or with her.
After this past week, and the dreams we shared, I know one thing.
I love her. And god help us both, I thinks she cares for me too.
What could I have done to be so lucky? And what could she have done to deserve me? What kind of happiness can I bring her? She's the slayer. A young woman just forming her life.
And I'm a 240 and change year old monster. Who's caused his share of heartache already. I would die if I hurt her. And I really already have. She could have died fighting the Master. And yet she still came, to save me. With no regard for her own safety.
What if? What if things hadn't gone the way they had? What if Willow had done the spell wrong? What if Giles hadn't been able to get the information?
And what if all this isn't really over?
She had been right when she had been worried that not all of the parts of our shared dreams had manifested themselves. I really don't want to wake up on the Irish coast tomorrow, and see her chained to a stone wall. The blood rain and grumpy old Master vampire had been bad enough.
Giles is still working on finding out what the rest of the dream had meant. And if it had anything to do with the Master and what we had experienced. Hopefully something will turn up soon; Willow's got the net search going too.
It's been so long since I've been a part of any type of clan. Of any type of family.
My original family I had systematically taken down in the course of one blood filled, vengeful night.
My surrogate family and I had cut a swath through Europe and Asia; until I killed the wrong girl.
And now…is it happening again? Am I to be accepted into this little group, and then destroy them too?
I will go to hell first if the possibility of me hurting them is ever even a spark at the edge of my consciousness.
"Hey, watcha doing? Need a date?"
I chuckle lightly, and answer, still gazing at the water.
"Nah, I'm waiting for my girlfriend to show up. Better move along, she can kick some serious ass."
Buffy plops in the sand next to me, and slides her arm through mine. "Damn straight she can."
"How are you feeling? Any news from the Watchers?"
She bobs her head. "Yeah. Giles says something else might be brewing. I've been sent to retrieve you for a war council meeting."
Inwardly my worries of hurting her blossom, but I hide it well. Almost a hundred years of being alone can teach you how to cover things easily.
I sigh, and stand, pulling her along with me. "Knights and castles?"
She nods. "Knights and castles."
We begin the walk back toward the street, and the long trek to the school.
"Oh!" she states. "I almost forgot. I have something for you."
I stop and wait as she pulls a paper wrapped lump out of her bag. She hands it to me. "Open it."
I smile and comply.
Nestled inside the paper is a tiny stone gargoyle, like the ones on top of Notre Dame or the ones all over my home town of Galway. It's a good likeness, and I'm speechless as memories of going to church, and to the ancient even for the 18th century ruins by the shore with my sister Kathy, rush over me in a wave. I blink back sudden tears.
"Oh, I knew it was ugly. Here, lemme have it back," she sputters, clearly not understanding my reaction.
"No, Buffy, I love it. It's perfect," I tell her, and she stills.
"You know what these are for, right?"
I nod. "Protection of house and family."
She beams, delighted I knew. My mother had secreted a few about the house, not wanting my father to see them. He was a devout Catholic and had no use for such 'pagan idolitry' in his house.
"I figured you could use some help. I may not always be able to come running to rescue you, you know," she says, and blushes, smiling a little.
"Thank you," I tell her. "It's perfect."
She tucks a strand of gold hair behind her ear, and turns her head to the road, looking in the direction of the school.
"Giles is probably having kittens right about now cause I said I would be right back with you. We should go."
I nod and follow her onto the concrete embankment that divides the beach club area from the street.
As she leads the way, I think about the events of the past few weeks, and my relationship with this remarkable girl and her friends.
And am truly surprised at how much they mean to me.
I may not be a fairy tale knight, but I know for sure now that I'm not just a monster either.
~The end.
Author's note: thanks to everybody for reviewing this piece. I have really enjoyed writing it. Please keep up the feedback; you guys have helped me so much in developing my writing skills.
Many thanks to my b/a buddy Kristi; I couldn't have finished this without your help. *big hugs*
