Chapter 20 House Guests

After depositing his things in Giles's room and checking in with Giles himself, Faith and Callum took Angel on an abbreviated tour of the castle. They showed him around all of the common areas, avoiding the rest of the bedrooms. The three of them ended the tour in the kitchen.

As Faith and Callum settled down to eat their sandwiches, Faith looked up at Angel who sat watching them. "You want something?"

"Blood if you got it."

"Fridge, bottom shelf."

Angel opened the door and whistled, "Wow," Angel exclaimed as he helped himself, "Mugs?"

"Over there," Faith pointed.

Angel nodded and continued preparing himself a mug of blood before sitting down with it at the table, "I'm surprised you have so much blood in there, thanks for stocking up," he said, drinking from the mug.

"You're not the only blood drinker staying in Casa El Slayer. Of course we have blood. Just don't drink the goat, it's for the baby."

"No problem there. I never really cared for goat, too gamy."

"Exactly what Spike said."

"Where is he anyway?"

"He'll be down, he's upstairs changing his clothes," Buffy said as she came into the kitchen.

Angel stood up straighter and stared at her, "Buffy…"

"Hey Angel… You look good," she gave him an awkward smile as she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"I— you too. You look— wow, you look amazing. Happy…" he trailed off.

"Thanks, I am. Thanks for coming. I wouldn't have asked, but Spike was worried he'd make things worse. I've had a couple of the girls scope out the tunnels just to see if they could pick up on anything. They haven't turned up much except for a few vamps here and there."

Angel snapped his attention back, "Yeah, ah, Faith filled me in. They are probably gathering together. They will likely have someone standing vigil. I should probably go check it out tonight, I'll see if I can find them and work on smoothing things over."

"You'll be taking the baby back tonight?"

"No, not tonight. I'm going to need to talk with the elders first. It will probably be another night or two before we can actually take him back again safely. Otherwise, by their laws the parents are well within their rights to seek retribution anyway they see fit for something like this."

Buffy nodded, "You mean they get to name their price."

"Yeah, the idea is to talk to the elders first, settle things out with them and then hopefully, we won't have to deal with the parents much at all. Faith said you bought supplies?"

"Yeah, we got a ton of stuff."

"I can use that for our case. They are really going to be looking at how well he was cared for while he was here. Since I have a little experience with that, I'm hoping I can bring them around."

"Should be good, he hasn't been left alone for more than ten minutes the whole time he's been here. The girls love him."

Angel nodded, avoiding eye contact with Buffy and staring at the toaster, "It's not easy having your kid ripped away from you. Although it does help a little to know they are healthy and loved," Angel said almost absentmindedly.

Callum leaned in towards Faith, "What—", Faith stopped him with a wave of her hand.

Buffy cleared her throat, "You should probably know that Wes sent Wil a bunch of files… on you."

Angel snapped his head up, "He— " he nodded and gave a tiny, almost manic laugh, "Figured he'd do something like that… and I guess Wil told you what was in them?"

"One or two things out of his journal. There was a lot about Fred in there. Last I knew that's as far as she got. Wil really liked Fred."

"We all did." He glanced down at his shoes and back up again, "And Spike, what does he know?"

"One or two things," she adjusted her arms in a more defensive manner across her chest, daring him to make a jab at Spike.

"Right… Buffy—"

"Do you remember that conversation we had outside the vineyard?

"Yeah of course I do. You're cookie dough."

"Not that part."

"The part about Spike."

"Yeah. Well I figured it out. It took awhile, but while he was gone, I figured it out."

"So what, suddenly Spike gets cookies?"

"Oh my God, why did I ever use that stupid analogy? Would you drop the cookie thing?"

"You started it…" he said moodily.

"Look, I really do love him. I know it's not what you want to hear."

"Obviously."

"I don't know. I quite like hearing it myself, Love," Spike said boldly as he came into the kitchen behind Buffy.

She turned towards him with the ghost of a smile playing on her lips, "Hey you," she casually wrapped an arm around his waist, "You took long enough, where were you?"

He put an arm around her, "Ran into Wendy and Sheena on my way down. Wendy wanted to know when we'd be getting the baby back to his folks. I told her it would probably be a few more days. Sheena wanted to play cards but I told her it wasn't a good time."

"We we're just talking about that a couple minutes ago. The baby thing, not the cards."

"Yeah well, that can wait a bit can't it? I came down to get some blood. I'm feeling rather peckish," he squeezed Buffy's hand gently before breaking for the refrigerator. "What ya got there Peaches? The pig, cow, or sheep?"

"Ehh…" Angel was a bit surprised by Spike's casual tone. One look from Buffy told him he'd better play nice, "It's been a while since I had any sheep, thought I'd give it a try. It's not bad."

"Yeah it's a nice change sometimes. Not my favorite but it's good for some variety. You try adding Berber-weed?"

"What's that like?"

"Adds a spicy kick, kinda nice…" Spike continued rummaging in the fridge, "Sheep actually sounds pretty good, leave any for me?"

"There's plenty left. Looks like the girls were prepping for a regular blood feast."

"Those were the days, all we could eat…"

"If you don't think about the body count."

"Can't shake that."

"You got to admit, this is a lot more convenient," Angel tipped his mug of blood towards Spike.

"I'll drink to that," Spike responded with a large container of blood in his hand, "once it's warm that is," He poured some into a large mug and popped it into the microwave. All the while Buffy, Faith, and Callum stood watching the two vampires during this oddly civil exchange like they were at a tennis match. Spike turned back towards Angel while he waited for the blood to warm up.

"Did you ever notice some of the vampires at the office drinking blood over ice?" Spike asked.

"Don't get me started on those morons. Iced blood… yuck… that doesn't even sound good."

Spike made a disgusted face, "Nasty if you ask me. I might like to experiment with the texture or flavour a bit, but ice? Now that's just wrong. Do miss the otter though, otter is good."

"Nice to know we can still agree on a few things."

"How's the Blue-Meanie?"

"Alright, she's finding her place. Gunn is with her."

"That's good. How's he doin'?"

"It was rough going for a while there. He's alright now."

"Good, good man, Gunn."

"How are we going to handle this, William?"

Spike tipped his head, "Up to you really. I plan to be all civil like."

They both drank from their mugs watching each other intently. Each of them daring the other to make the first move. Faith suddenly stood up, "Civil is good. Right B?"

"I'm a big fan of civil."

Spike broke his gaze first, turning to Buffy, "Civil. Of course, Pet. Wouldn't dream of starting a ruckus with your old flame."

"Whipped," Angel taunted.

Spike cooly turned to Buffy, "Nah, not really our sort of thing is it, Love? Although if you really wanted, I'd definitely be open to it," he grinned.

"Now that's just—" Angel started.

Buffy smirked at Spike, "I haven't heard any complaints from you."

"Not a one. Well there was that time you—"

"I don't think Faith and Callum want to hear about that…" Buffy said drawing near him again.

Faith and Callum glanced at each other and shrugged, "Don't think you're going to phase either of us," Faith said casually.

"Probably not," Callum agreed.

Angel looked from one couple to the other, he rolled his eyes and drank his blood quietly. This was going to be a long trip.

He drank the last of his blood and cleared his throat, "I think I'm just going to go lay down, it was kind of a rough trip and this has just been… really weird and depressing."

"What happened to your sweet little werewolf? The art student," Spike asked.

"I— we sort of…" he cast a glance at Buffy, who to his surprise, didn't seem bothered at all to hear he had recently had a girlfriend. Angel sighed, "I sent her away before the battle for LA."

"Ahh huh, that's what I thought. You need to go track her down and get back in it man. She was real cute, for a werewolf," Spike added.

"Could do you some good," Buffy nodded.

Angel looked at her, crestfallen, "I'm going upstairs, thanks for the concern."

Once Angel left the room Callum spoke up, "Is it always like that with that guy?"

"Yes," Spike, Buffy, and Faith said in unison.

Buffy held up a finger, "No, not exactly. That was actually way better. He beat the crap out of my last boyfriend and he was human. These two are usually worse. They normally both act like a couple of jealous twelve year olds when they get together."

"That's not fair, Love. We can play nice when we need to. Have for over a century, hence the reason we didn't both lay into the Immortal in Rome."

"Oh well yeah, but he was hardly a boyfriend."

"Ah huhh, not the way you described it."

"I just mean it wasn't like I was in love with the guy. Sort of like you and Harmony."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Now there you go talking about mistakes in life. That was a rebound and you know it."

"Same with The Immortal. You were dead, I was torn up; end of story."

Spike went over to her and took her hand, "And I'm sorry I put you through that, Pet."

"Yeah well we've already been over all this so I'm not too worried. I think maybe we should just focus on Angel being here now."

"Too right you are. On that note you know I won't be letting my guard down, he might still come at me. Always liked his mind games."

"I haven't ruled it out. I also know you love to gloat."

Spike inclined his head to the side, pursing his lips, "You're right, Pet. I do. It's just so much fun making him squirm. Like a fish on a hook. Payback for all the years he messed with me and Dru… I finally got something he wants."

"And there it is," Buffy sighed.

"No, no. That is just stating fact. Let's be honest here, the best way I can mess with the wanker now is by making you as happy as I possibly can. He's always laid claim to anyone or anything that could or should have been mine. Especially Drusilla. I'm not about to just lay down and let him do it again, not ever, and he knows it. Not you, not that bleeding prophecy, not— well anything else," he finished lamely.

"Prophecy?" Buffy looked at him curiously.

"Should be in that file of Wes's you mentioned the other night, Pet. Not important now. Remind me some other time and I'll tell you what little I know about it."

"Ehh, sure… Right around the time I finally remember to ask you about Woodstock," she said as she got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water.

Spike laughed, "Right, Pet."

Buffy sipped her water and looked at the clock, "We should probably go with him tonight. You got things here Faith?"

"You really gotta ask?"

Buffy shrugged, "Didn't really know what you had planned today," she gestured towards Callum before pulling out a loaf of bread and a butter knife.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here out of curiosity at this point. I have to work at my folks place tomorrow so I'll probably be heading out before long. Although I was thinking, I got some clear plastic in the boot, leftover from another job. Might be a good idea to seal up those broken windows until they get fixed."

"Sure! If you don't mind."

"Nah, I got this thing about staying idle too long," he turned to Faith, "Nothing against you, Lass."

Faith shrugged, "Oh I get it, I was thinking about hitting the mats upstairs."

"Wouldn't pass that up either," he grinned.

"Yeah well until we can keep the riff-raff out I think it's best you have a Slayer in there with you, preferably me," Faith retorted.

"I don't mind the company."

"Get your stuff and we'll head over now."

Buffy nodded her head as she finished making a sandwich, "See you two later then. We'll probably just poke around here."

Spike looked doubtful, "Speak for yourself, Love, I'm catching some z's while I can get them, so should you."

It was nearly an hour and a half later before Buffy decided to just head back to her room with the intent to email Willow and her sister. The girls had figured out an effective baby care schedule and had everything under control with little Alun. She had spent some time in the training room with a few of the younger girls.

Unfortunately, they really only wanted to ask questions about Alun and Angel's involvement in his return. Then they started asking questions about Angel and how Buffy knew him. She certainly did not feel like sharing their entire relationship history; she needed to get out of there.

When she opened the door to her room she was surprised to find Spike still awake. He was sitting up in bed in a pair of black boxers with his eyes closed, listening to music on his MP3 player and playing air drums on his stomach again. Buffy smiled to herself as she watched him hit an imaginary cymbal. She shook her head as she pulled off the towel she had around her neck and walked closer to the bed.

Spike looked up at her lazily, removing his earbuds, "Hey there, Pet. Wasn't expecting you back in here."

"Oh shit! I totally meant to go to Giles's room. I was looking for the other totally hot vampire," she said, in a valley-girl imitation.

He tilted his head coolly, "So soon, Love. I didn't expect you back so soon."

She plopped herself down on the bed next to him with a huff, "Yeah well… Girls, questions, head explody," she added, making an explosive gesture around her head.

"I can tell, you got this weird buzzing thing going on. So is this the part where you come to me for a little cold comfort?"

"Running theme of our relationship isn't it?"

"As long as it's mutual."

Buffy moved closer to him, "I actually thought you'd be asleep, I was just going to shoot an email to Rome."

"Probably not a bad idea."

"Sleep or the email?"

"Both," he wrapped the cord of his headphones around the MP3 player and set it on the table beside him and rolled on his side still facing her, "Don't suppose you fancy a kip?"

Buffy considered that, "Email first."

"Fair enough. Send the munchkin my best."

"She's not much of a munchkin anymore. She even had a boyfriend for a while there."

"Serious?"

"I didn't let her have sleepovers or anything but you know how kids her age are…"

"You don't think she would have told you something like that?"

"Well, yeah… I think she would," she said a little tensely.

The buzzing feeling Spike had been picking up from her suddenly changed to mild anxiety. "Everything alright between you and the Nibblet?"

"I— I think so… Do you think that's the real reason she's been so cool about me being gone? She's keeping something from me?"

"What do I know, Pet? I'm not a sibling or a parent. It's just, something hasn't sat quite right with me since she convinced you to fly off with me."

"Are you sure it's not you who's feeling guilty?"

"No way, not about this. Spending time with you, making you happy. Besides, coming here, this bit was your idea… or hers I guess."

Buffy sighed dramatically, then went over to the sitting area pulling her laptop over to her and settling in on the loveseat. "Maybe Wil can shed some light on the Dawn situation."

"She's been a bit squirrely too hasn't she?"

Buffy huffed, "Are you trying to freak me out?" she asked as she opened her email.

"No course not. Sorry, Pet."

"No, you're right. Something has been a little off… but every time I've talked to them, everything seems fine—" she clicked open an email from Willow and read it quickly. "See, just like this. Willow is just talking about work at the library. Planning lessons for the girls in the fall. She finally got someone to come look at the drain in the kitchen… nothing weird yet… Which is really weird right?"

"We have really weird lives. Xander back yet?"

"Ehhh…" Buffy skimmed the rest of the email, "She's giving me an update on the Rome girls. Kennedy got banged up a few nights ago, she's taking a few nights off. Humm… Looks like he should be in tomorrow. He's going to crash on the couch."

"Can't be anything too serious if he's still coming into town."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"You about done?"

"Just a few more minutes, I'll be there," she yawned as she typed back a response to Willow's email.

"You don't fool me, I know you're running on about three hours here."

Buffy pouted, "I will."

He grunted and shoved a pillow over his face grumbling something about sleep.

Buffy took a few moments longer to email Dawn too. By the time she had finished, the spotty sleep she had been getting really started to catch up to her. She settled in bed, as close to Spike as she could. Without waking up he moved his arm around her pulling her closer as she relaxed into him. Buffy took several deep breaths as she settled in deeper. She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Giles fumbled with his crutches as he pulled a clean white T-shirt out of his drawer and dropped a crutch with a loud clatter on the floor. He had been trying to be as quiet as possible. With great difficulty he had managed to get a shower and even got pajama bottoms on over his cast without waking Angel.

Angel woke with a start, sitting bolt upright as the crutch hit the floor, "What was—"

"Terribly sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Angel fell back onto the couch, "It's alright. What time is it anyway?"

"A little before nine I believe. Are you alright?" Giles asked with some concern as he watched him.

Angel sat up and put his feet on the floor. Resting his elbows on his thighs, he tried to wake himself up. His journey there hadn't been a particularly easy one.

"I'll be fine. It's about time I get up anyway. Think I'll hit the kitchen before heading out."

Giles pulled on the T-shirt he'd been getting out when he dropped his crutch, "You're not going alone are you?"

"Nah, it's been over a hundred years since I've been here, a lot can change in that amount of time. I'll have to take Buffy or Spike with me."

"Both likely; they've been nearly inseparable."

Angel groaned, "Maybe I'll just take Faith."

"I'm afraid Faith wasn't in the tunnels at the time, she wouldn't be much help on this."

"So I'm stuck as the third wheel with the happy couple."

"To be fair. As much as I know you love her, you know it can never be. It simply isn't possible. Surely you realize it too."

"I know that, I do. I just…" he turned to look at Giles properly.

"I always thought her happiness was worth more to you than anything so petty."

"Of course it is… I— I guess she does seem happier than I've ever seen her. Even when we were together. I know she deserves that… it still doesn't help. I still wish it could be me."

"But it can't. As much as I didn't want to admit it myself at first. The fact of the matter is that he does make her happy. He is good for her in ways I could have never imagined. I know it sounds absurd, but I've seen it."

Angel hung his head a moment then stood up suddenly, "I'm gonna get out of here. I'll try not to wake you when I get back."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure… just around… find Buffy and Spike eventually I guess."

"Please consider what I've said."

"I will, thanks. Oh, and thanks for letting me stay here with you. I know our history isn't exactly—"

"For you I can happily be a grateful host; Angelus I would stake in a heartbeat given the chance; do not be confused."

"Got it. Alright then. Do you need anything before I go?"

Giles layed back on his bed and picked up a book from the nightstand, "No, no, I'm quite alright," he said as he reached for another pillow."

Angel grabbed it, "Where do you want it, leg or back?"

"The leg, please."

Angel nodded and helped Giles prop his leg up, "How'd you manage this anyway?"

"Oh, I humm slipped."

"Ahh huhh… like in the shower?"

"No, vampire ash on a smooth surface can be rather treacherous as it turns out."

"You're kidding?"

"No I'm not. Now if you don't mind, I'll likely just finish my book and go to bed."

"You're right, I'll get out of your hair."

Angel made his way down the stairs to the training room. He lingered in the library for a few minutes before heading down the stairs. Faith was coming up the stairs and they met on the landing.

"Hey man, I kinda thought you'd sleep a little longer after your trip."

"Nah, I'm alright," he lied.

"So what's up?"

"Looking for signs of life. I thought there were supposed to be a bunch of Slayerettes around here."

"They're around. I sent half of them out on patrol, the rest of them are taking turns on baby duty and some household chores Buffy assigned them."

"Guess that explains how the place is so clean."

"Gotta pull their weight. Builds character."

He nodded, "You got time to talk?"

"I was heading into the classroom here to check on a few things and make sure the girls cleaned up in the training room. I'll just be like five minutes if you just want to wait for me in my room, I'll be up."

"Your boyfriend in there?"

"Callum had to go home. Just have a seat. I'll be up," she repeated dismissively as she headed into the classroom and tapped the mouse on one of the computers.

Angel puffed out his cheeks a little and headed upstairs. He hadn't been in this part of the castle yet and Faith had failed to mention which room was hers. He picked one at random and opened the door to find Buffy wrapped up securely in Spike's arms fast asleep. He stood there much longer than he should have, before he backed out of the room and closed the door. He turned around to try the other door and came face to face with Faith.

She stood there with her arms crossed, "Dude, get a freaking grip would you?" She opened the door to her room and went inside shaking her head, "Look, if you just want to talk about those two, you can forget it. I said my piece, I'm done."

Angel followed her inside and had a seat on the edge of the bed while she sat on the little bench in front of the vanity.

They stared at each other for a moment, "That's what it was wasn't it? You're looking for someone to back you up and say you're the right guy for her. Is that it? I said I'm done and now you're pouting."

"No! I'm not pouting!"

"Dude, you're pouting."

Angel shook his head, "No it's not like that. I get it… I don't get the girl. I've known that for years; this is… it's just hard seeing them together that's all. I know Buffy; the fastest way I could drive her out of my life for good would be to make a big deal out of this. I just never imagined a relationship between them could ever be… serious. It's Spike, he's not exactly Mr. Serious."

"Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do. Seems pretty damn serious to me. Just because he has a sense of humor and doesn't walk around with a stick up his ass doesn't mean he isn't serious when it counts. You wouldn't be here right now if he wasn't."

Angel stood up and looked at Faith's alarm clock, "Should probably get moving."

"You good?"

"As good as I can be," he said as he exited the room. This time he knocked on the door and waited a moment until Buffy opened it.

She eyed him blearily, "Angel?" She stifled a yawn, "Is it that time already?"

"Yeah, we should get going. The Bleached-Wonder up yet?"

Spike came around the edge of the door making a show of buckling his belt. He locked eyes with Angel as he placed a hand lightly on Buffy's hip, "How's it hanging, Peaches?"

"Are you ready to go?"

"I just need to grab my jacket. Buffy?"

"I'm going to be a couple of minutes, I want to change into something a little more subterranean," she rolled her eyes when both men gave her curious looks.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, "Some of us still have to maintain a core body temperature. It gets cold down there," she said, gesturing towards the tank top and yoga capris she still had on from earlier in the day.

"Ooh right, Love."

"Yeah of course. Take your time."

She rolled her eyes again, "Wow guys… just wow."

Spike grabbed his long leather jacket and threw it on, "We'll wait downstairs, Pet."

"No fighting; unless there's oil… or maybe jell-o. Jell-o could be fun too."

"Best behavior," he replied.

A/N: To be continued... Please Read and Review!