Title: Power Play
Author: Edel
Email: no1buffyangelfanhotmail.com
Summary: see other chapters...
Distribution: my group
Spoilers: Girl In Question, Power Play
Chapter 4
"Omigod! Was Angel the father?" As soon as the words slipped from her mouth, Nina gasped, and covered a hand over her mouth. Angel whipped his head to look at Buffy, who was staring at Nina, who held her gaze."Omigod, I'm so sorry," Nina began.
"Nina, get out," Angel interrupted.
"I didn't mean to," she continued, her eyes pleading with Buffy.
"Nina." Angel rose his voice a little louder.
"I swear," Nina rambled on, unaware of the rage in Angel's eyes. "I didn't-
"Nina!" Angel tore his eyes from Buffy as he roared at Nina. "Get. Out." He spat the last two words out. Nina seemed to cower under his murderous gaze. She slowly nodded, and backed out of the room, and closed the doors softly. Angel's gaze landed again on Buffy, who was inspecting her nails. He took a deep breath.
"What did she mean, was I the father?" he asked quietly. When she didn't answer, his temper rose, as did his voice. "What did she mean?!" Buffy suddenly rose from the sofa and stood below him.
"Don't you dare raise your voice to me," she hissed. "You have no right." She turned around, but he roughly caught her arm, and swung her into his embrace.
"I have every right," he whispered in her ear.
"Let go of me!" She struggled to get out of his arms.
"Not until you tell me what she meant!" He tightened his grip on her. Suddenly, she relaxed.
"Fine," she replied in a tired voice. Immediately, he loosened his hold on her. She walked over to the window, and pressed her face to the cool glass. "How does this stuff work again?" she asked. He remained silent, and sat on the arm of the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest. She sighed, seeing he wouldn't let this go.
"It was six years ago," she began in a soft, faraway voice. "I'm not sure how, but somehow on my 17th birthday, it happened." She took a deep, shaky breath, and continued. "At first, when I noticed my stomach getting bigger, I thought I was just putting on weight, because I had been eating a lot of comfort food. It didn't really bother me, because I figured that I'd shed the pounds by slaying. I was actually surprised that Angelus didn't notice or hear the baby's heartbeat. Though, the time I was ill, I think for a split second, he may have heard the heartbeat. But then Will, Xander and Cordy came, so I'd say he thought it was one of theirs. The weeks went by, and I gained more weight. When I came to LA..." she paused.
"When I came to LA, I took a pregnancy test. It came back positive." She was silent for a moment, looking out onto the city, and the warm, sunny day. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I didn't even consider having an abortion, even though it was too late to have one by that time. I loved that baby so much." She choked back a sob.
"One night, I was out walking back to my apartment, after getting some Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip ice-cream, which was my main craving. I was walking back to my apartment, when I came across this vamp attacking this girl. I got the girl to run, but the vamp took me by surprise, and he..." she stopped, as tears flowed freely and silently down her cheeks, "he kicked me in the stomach. All I could feel was pain. But all I could think about was is the baby alright? God, I was so afraid. Then, the next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed. And I was told that they had operated, but... but they couldn't save our baby." She cried openly as Angel stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She turned and buried her head in his chest. He soothingly rubbed her back, while his eyes hardened. He vowed to himself there and then that he would hunt down the vicious creature that murdered his child. Buffy pulled back, her eyes puffy and her cheeks wet. She smiled sadly. He smiled back, and wiped a tear from her eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath and stepped out of his embrace.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" he asked quietly. She shook her head. Just then, Spike burst into the room. He stopped when he saw the scene before him.
"Angel, mate," he began nervously, "Harmony told me that Buffy was telling you about what I did, and I just want to say that I didn't mean it, and that was before I got my soul-"
"You!" Angel marched over to him, his eyes full of rage. "You killed my child?"
"What?" Spike asked, surprised. "What are you on about? I'm talking about what happened between me and Buffy when-"He stopped suddenly when he noticed Buffy madly shaking her head. "You know what? That doesn't matter." He began backing out of the room, and when he was out of sight of Angel, began to run. Angel swung around to face Buffy.
"What was he talking about?" he asked. Buffy looked at her hands. "Look at me!" he shouted. Her head rose, and she met his gaze, her eyes showing her fear. And suddenly he knew what Spike had done, and his eyes took on a murderous glint. He turned on his heel and ran after Spike. "SPIKE!" he roared, as he closed in on the bleached blonde vampire, who continued to run. Angel jumped on him, and began to beat him to a bloody pulp.
"How dare you lay a finger on her!" he yelled, punctuating each word with a punch to Spike's face and stomach. Buffy rushed up, and tried to pull Angel off Spike.
"Angel!" she pleaded. He snarled, and swung around and hit her and she flew to the nearest pillar and slumped to the ground. He stopped, watching her in horror.
"Buffy," he whispered, as he rushed to her. She cautiously got up, backing away from him.
"Get away from me," she whispered, hurt and shock evident in her voice. He reached for her again, but she backed away, and ran to the elevator. He ran after her, but was too late. He watched as she disappeared behind the doors, holding her unwavering gaze. The doors closed, and she slipped to the elevator floor, tears silently escaping from her eyes. Then, Angel slumped to the ground, and cried softly.
TBC...