When there was no answer on the Med-Ward line after she was disconnected with her sister, Dawn alerted security.
Even though she knew Buffy would kill her if she got herself killed investigating, Dawn stowed Katie and Liam with one of the slayers while she followed the security team down into the basement where the Medical Ward was located.
Xander met her in the hall, having been waiting in the containment area for the guards to return with Marcy. They they didn't show, he came back with a note of cautious curiosity.
The security members with tranquilizer guns entered though the Medical Ward doors and into the room first, after a few tense minutes they were given the all clear to follow.
'There was a massacre.' Was Dawn's first though as she gasped down at the bodies littering the floor.
"Tell me they aren't all dead." Xander muttered with a wide eye as he looked around in shock.
"They are not all dead." One of the security slayers answered.
He looked up at her with a mix of relief and distrust, "You're not just say that because I asked, right?"
Dawn immediately darted past the dark haired young man as she realized one of the people lying motionless was her sister. "Buffy!" She yelled as she ran across the room to kneel beside her older sister and her equally motionless brother-in-law. "Buffy? Can you hear me?" She called as she shook the slayer, trying to rouse her. The blond groaned a little but did not wake.
She turned her eyes to Angel then, and cringed when she noticed blood was staining the chest of his shirt. Cautiously she approached and called his name, but she got no response. Taking a risk, she nudged his shoulder as if she were nudging a coiled snake, ready to snatch her hand back and flee if his demon roused before his mind. A growl rumbled deep his his chest, followed by him mumbling his wife's name, then he fell silent again.
The younger Summers looked around frantically for help, then noticed Cassidy laying on the floor near the wall, her forehead seeping blood from a gash across her scalp. 'Uh oh, who's going to give medical attention to the medic?'
Quickly checking her sister's pulse, Dawn assured herself Buffy wasn't in immediate danger and moved over to Cassidy to see what she could do about the head wound while the security team detained a very pale and unconscious Marcy. Everyone involved did their best to ignore the twin holes in the young slayer's neck.
Meanwhile, Xander helped the two guards that had been dosed with the now inert laughing gas.
...
"So ah, what are we going to do with him?" Xander asked looking down at Angel after he and Dawn had tucked Buffy and Cass into two of the Med-ward cots. "Cause frankly, I don't feel any desire to get eaten when he decides to snap awake in berserker-mode." Xander knew well enough how touchy the living vampire could be upon waking after a fight, especially one where Buffy was in danger. Without his wife to keep him subdued, his demon tended to 'bite first - 'think about why' later.
The fact Angel was still in game face wasn't winning him any points.
"He's not that bad." Dawn defended her sister's husband, knowing it wasn't Angel's fault when his demon reacted automatically to a threat.
"Ok, you pick him up and put him on a cot then." The one-eyed boy invited, not willing to become a snack himself.
Dawn sent him a bland look, "He's too heavy."
After a moment of staring him down, she realized Xander wasn't going to change his mind.
With a huff, she walked over to Angel and squatted down beside him, trying to remember how Buffy picked him up and quickly realized without slayer strength that wasn't going to work. Re-positioning, she stuffed her hands under each shoulder and lifted...no no avail. She tried again, this time managing to get him into a sitting position.
The younger Summers almost dropped him in alarm when he growled in pain.
Seeing her struggling, Xander along with one of the slayer guards stepped in to help, the three easily, if not nervously, moved him onto a cot beside Buffy.
Basic battlefield medical training was taught by Cassidy to all the newbie slayers, but due to their natural healing abilities, the Med-Ward wasn't usually very busy. Of course at the moment there was an unconscious slayers, a stab victim and a slayer suffering from severe blood loss and of course the only person with hospital trauma levels of experience and knowledge was out cold with a head wound.
Dawn dug though the cabinets along the walls until she found bandages and disinfectant. Dividing the supplies, Xander took half and did what he could for Cassidy's head while Dawn worked on the bleeding hole in Angel's chest.
The nervous woman tapped lightly at the wound with a wad of gauze soaked in the disinfectant and quickly taped a square of clean, dry gauze over the wound, figuring it would be healed before he awoke anyways.
Satisfied he'd be ok, she sat down beside her sister. "I wish I knew what happened." Dawn muttered to her sleeping sibling as she ran her hand over the blond's brow, wanting to know how to wake her.
"Marcy body-napped her and went nuts-o on Angel." Xander answered from behind her.
The former key spun to look at him, "What?"
The young man took a few minutes to update Dawn on the spell he'd located in Marcy's room and about the attacks on Buffy and Angel right before the body-switch to give credence to her actions. He didn't have much to tell after Willow switched the slayers back or about this last fight except for what little the two guards remembered. Unfortunately those that knew what happened, were all unconscious.
"Wow" The brunette said shaking her head, "That's more crazy than I needed to know existed right now."
"And I have a feeling it's going to get worse."
"Worse?" The younger Summers asked, "How much worse could this get?"
Xander shook his head, "I think Marcy might have killed Jessica."
"What!" Dawn snapped, horrified. She'd been good friends with the late slayer and had been devastated when she'd learned of her death.
The former class clown had nothing funny to say at the moment, "Yeah, that's what we thought too. But seeing how bizarre Marcy had been acting recently, I had one of the lab techs pull security film from the mall, and guess who was the last person seen with Jessica on the night she died?"
"That doesn't prove anything." Dawn began to say.
"No, not alone." Xander agreed, "But when you factor in the Wet Seal bag Jessica was last seen carrying from the mall, containing a teal coat, was then found in Marcy's room."
"How did you know to look for it there?" The young woman asked confused.
"When I mentioned the Wet Seal bag to Marie, she remembered seeing the coat when she spoke to Marcy that night." Xander explained, not meaning to flaunt his investigator skills.
"Do we know why she did it? I mean it wasn't for the coat was it?" Dawn questioned.
Xander shook his dark head and looked sadly down at the floor, "That Dawnie, is the one question I can't answer."
...
Slowly the world began to re-form around her, feelings were the first to return, bringing with it a pounding on her chin.
"Ow." Buffy moaned as she stirred, her hand coming up to rub the spot Marcy had hit her earlier. Upon remembering the fight, the slayer shot up and looked around quickly, trying to figure out what happened.
"Buffy! You're awake!" Dawn observed happily and she came over to hug her sister.
"Dawn? What happened? Where's Marcy?" The blond asked confused, trying to remember. She turned then saw Angel lying motionless in the cot beside her, his shirt unbuttoned down the middle and a square of blood soaked bandage on his upper right chest.
Forgetting her questioned, Buffy leapt off her bed and took the two steps to her husband, "Angel?" The nervous wife called, very uncomfortable with his pale features. As she rested her hand on his face, she noted his cool, clammy skin and fever warmed cheeks and brow. 'He has a fever? He never has a fever.' She worried to herself as she noticed he was still in game face. "How long has he been vamped?" The slayer directed the question to her nearby sister without taking her hazel-green eyes off her unconscious husband.
The younger Summers shifted uncomfortably as she spoke, "Uhh, well since we got here a few hours ago. We weren't really sure what to do to help him."
"We?" Buffy questioned, finally pulling her eyes off the bloody bandage on Angel's chest to look up at her sibling.
"Me." Xander supplied as he came to stand beside his best blond friend. "Glad you're up, Buff. Was kinda getting worried there for a minute."
The one eyed young man filled Buffy in on what had happened while she was sleeping, letting her know Marcy was under lock and key and although her vitals seemed stable, Cassidy had not yet awakened from her sudden forced nap.
Dawn explained they'd gotten Angel into a cot and unbuttoned his shirt, but were too nervous of a negative reaction from him to do much further medically. "I put a bandage over his wound figuring it would heal within a few minutes...except it didn't. He hadn't stopped bleeding at all, and he looks like he's getting sick."
"He's been unconscious and bleeding the whole time?" Buffy gasped, now extremely worried why one small wound wasn't already healed. She quickly pulled the wet bandage off and probed the hot reddened skin around the wound.
Angel growled and turned his head.
Seeing any reaction from him as a positive one, Buffy ran her fingers and thumb along his cheek and called his name to try and rouse him.
After a moment, he groaned, his eyes slowly fluttering open.
Buffy's worry was not appeased by the bright feverish glaze in his golden pained eyes.
"Buffy." He breathed out once his eyes focused on her face.
"Shh, try not to talk." She scolded him, not wanting him to speak at the moment.
Leaning down, she brushed her lips over his, both to judge his strength and see if her touch would settle his demon.
From the lack of response from his mouth, she realized how weak he was at the moment, which gave her more anxiety. He shouldn't have been this faded and disorientated over such a small wound.
As she pulled back and looked down at his face again, she could clearly see his demon features were still present, indicating his demon was still working overtime.
Pain lased across his face a second before his eyes slipped shut again.
"Angel!" Buffy called, trying to rouse him again. She turned to her sister as she suddenly remembered something, "Please tell me you guys didn't leave the scalpel in him."
"Scalpel?" Dawn asked, "What scalpel?" Xander added, both looking confused.
Buffy's eyes widened as she realized his wound had never been treated, which was why he was still bleeding and vamped. His demon couldn't heal him as long as the scalpel was lodged in his chest.
"Shit." The slayer cursed and she noticed Cassidy's unconscious form a few cots down, the MD was in no condition to stand, let alone perform surgery to remove the knife from Angel.
"Marcy threw a scalpel at me, Angel block it with his body." Buffy informed Dawn and Xander as she began looking around the messy Medical Ward for the tools she'd need to pry the item from her husband's chest. Grabbing some tweezers, bandages and a bottle of antiseptic, she moved back over to her lover's side.
"What are you doing?" Xander asked, looking at the items skeptically.
"If I don't get the blade out, he's not going to heal, he'll bleed to death." She absently explained as she opened the antiseptic and poured a little over the wound.
Angel flinched and growled, turning away as the pain worked down though his unconscious mind.
"Shh, I know it hurts, I'm sorry, but I have to Angel. I need to get the scalpel out so you'll heal." She spoke quietly to her lover, kissing his forehead and trying to keep him as comfortable as the situation would allow.
"Can you give him something for the pain?" Dawn asked, looking over at the medical supply closet with hope.
The blond shook her head, "I really wish I could, but I don't know the dosage and he's already weak from blood loss, I can't risk lowering his heart rate any further."
Taking a cloth, she dabbed at the torn flesh, trying to soak up the blood to see into the wound and locate the offending object within. A glint of metal reflected innocently from deep within Angel's upper chest, almost like the scalpel was mocking her.
Taking the tweezers, she poked at the tiny bit of hilt that was viable and quickly concluded the tweezers were absolutely useless. "Damn, I'm going to need something with a heck of a lot more gripping power."
"I'll see what I can find." Xander offered from beside her, willing to help in any way that wasn't directly touching the living vampire. He enjoyed helping from anyplace that didn't result in getting eaten by his best friend's husband.
While Xander pulled open draws and rummaged for something suitable, Dawn was gathering more bandages and cloths along with warm water to help clean blood from the wound.
Buffy, as gentle as possible, slipped her fingers into the ragged hole in her husband' supper chest and tried to push the tear open a little further to get better access to the scalpel.
She jumped as Angel's right hand latched onto her wrist and pulled her fingers away from the injury.
His grip was tight, bruising tight, but she knew it wasn't intentional. His eyes opened slightly, but they were clouded and unfocused.
Prying her hand from his, she bent and placed a calming kiss on his temple. "I'm sorry, I know this hurts. I hate it too."
Biting her lip, Buffy knew this wasn't going to work without restraining him. The idea made her sick, knowing the restraints would be both uncomfortable for him, and cause extra anxiety.
Getting up from his side, Buffy looked over to Dawn to get her attention, moving away so even half unconscious Angel wouldn't hear, Buffy explained to her sister what she needed.
With a grin, Xander excitedly displayed the instruments he'd found on his search, several sizes and shapes of pliers.
The blond took the items as Dawn grasped Xander's arm and led him to the containment rooms down the hall from the Med-Ward to get the chains they needed, both giving the cell holding a still out-cold Marcy a wide birth.
A few minutes later, the two came back with the slayer/vampire strength restraints and Buffy silently bound her husband to the cot, both for his own safety and theirs.
"Ok, I don't think I'll ever actually be ready to do this, but I'm going to start now." Buffy addressed, she turned to her sister and Xander, "You don't need to say, this might get..." She didn't finish her sentence, she didn't want to think about how she was going to be effectively torturing her spouse in a few seconds.
"I'm going to check on Cass." Xander excused himself to the other side of the room.
Dawn shook her head when Buffy waved her hand in dismissal. "I'll help."
Nodding, Buffy thanked her with a weak smile and turn her attention back to her grim task.
The slayer quickly removed the blood stained remains of Angel's shirt, wiping the area with a damn cloth to clear the trickle of blood that had escaped since she'd last wiped it. Taking the pliers in her hand and focusing on not letting her nerves reflex into a shaking of her fingers, she pushed the cold metal into the hole in Angel's skin and tried to grasp the handle of the scalpel.
With her eyes focused on her task, she hadn't noticed Angel's eyes opening again.
Pushing deeper, Buffy worked the pliers further into the wound when suddenly Angel jerked his arms, trying to grab the item causing his pain but the restrains caught his wrists and halted them immediately.
Buffy looked up quickly as she pulled the pliers out, his pained growl hitting her like a fist to the gut.
"I'm sorry baby, I know this hurts, I'm so sorry." She soothed as his eyes darted around large and wild as he fought the restraints. "Angel, I need you to be still, this has to come out."
He growled and yanked at the chains around his wrists again in a futile attempt to free himself.
"Angel please don't fight, I need you to calm down." She repeated, running her fingers along his cheek and trying to get his attention back to her eyes.
After a few moments, he did calm, but she could still see the pain burning in his feral yellow eyes.
"Just a few more minutes, I promise" She pledged to her spouse, then it would be over.
His cloudy eyes squeezed shut as his fogged brain tried to prepare for the coming pain.
"Here." Dawn offered tentatively as she handed her sister a piece of plastic wrapped in leather. "For him to bite on."
Accepting the offered guard, she cajoled it into her lover's mouth and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she went back to her grim task.
Taking a deep breath, Buffy moved as fast as she dared, pushing the pliers into the wound and gripping the tip of the scalpel, which was slippery with blood. She gave it a good yank, but the metal teeth on the tool slid off the smooth knife handle, leaving Angel yelping in pain as his wound was jarred.
"Shit." Buffy cursed, feeling horrible for hurting him and having nothing accomplished.
A small part of her was relieved he passed out from the pain.
Being more careful, Buffy attempted several move times to grasp the scalpel handle with the pliers, and each time the tool would slip free once she tried to pry the knife out of her lover's body.
"Damn it!" The slayer fumed, growing more anxious as time went by. She wasn't making any progress and the longer the wound remained open and unhealed, the weaker Angel's body and demon were becoming.
"Try this." Dawn offered, handing Buffy what looked like two tiny condoms.
When the blond raised her eyebrow Dawn explained, "I cut the fingers off a latex glove, pull them over the pliers jaws, the added friction might help grip the scalpel handle better."
Willing to try anything, Buffy slipped the two small pieces of rubber over the jaws of the pliers and tried again to grip the slick metal handle of the object buried in her husband's chest.
This time when she pulled, she felt the blade pull upward. The pliers lost grip again, but this time she'd managed to pry the implement at least an inch out of Angel's body, which was better than any of her previous attempts.
The living vampire groaned as he stirred, the feeling of the blade being pulled out snagging him back from the peaceful darkness. His golden irises drifted towards Buffy, heavily lidded but watching idly.
"Almost done." She told him, giving him the best smile she could muster.
Now that it wasn't buried beneath his skin, Buffy was able to grip the pliers more fully around the scalpel handle. With one quick but steady tug, the metal blade was pulled clean out.
Buffy's joy over having removed the offending object was shattered by Angel's cry of pain then a frighteningly plentiful rush of blood from the wound.
Startled, Buffy grabbed a pile of bandages and shoved them into the gushing hole, pressing down hard to try and stem the bleeding.
As the seconds passed, she felt her hands growing wet and hot from the blood as Angel's heart rate and breathing deteriorated. Feeling sick, Buffy realized the scalpel must been acting as a plug for the injury, but now that the hole was empty, the unhealed wound was freely allowing blood to flow right out of the living vampire's body.
His golden demon eyes drifted towards her face before they blurred and lost focus. A moment later, they slipped shut and his body went lax.
"Angel!" Buffy panicked as he went limp beneath her, his face having gotten far paler that she was comfortable with.
"Here." Dawn hurried over from where she'd been rummaging through medical supplies, having found a small supply of blood bags in a refrigerated cabinet.
Grateful, Buffy snatched one of the bags, tossed the leather biter aside and stuffed the bag between her husband's fangs, pushing the plastic against his sharp teeth to rupture it and allow the healing liquid to coax his demon into feeding.
To the slayer, it feel like hours before he began to suckle weakly at the bag.
The demon was terribly weak after spending hours trying to heal a wound that couldn't close and from steady then sudden blood loss. Buffy was beginning to fear her husband was losing blood too fast for his demon to counteract and he was going to die of exsanguination.
Buffy's brow creased as she looked down at her husband's far too pale features. 'He's not healing quick enough, his demon is too weak, he's going to bleed to death.'
Knowing what she had to do, Buffy removed the empty plastic bag from his lax mouth and adjusted to better position for what was to come.
Dawn watched her nervously, she'd seen Buffy give Angel blood more times already that she ever needed to, but it still gave her a major wiggins to watch her sister feed herself to a demon, even if that demon was her brother-in-law.
Angel's breathing was labored and dangerously slow as Buffy pulled him up and held him against her, letting his mouth fall over the scar on her neck. Running her hand thought his hair she spoke to him, "Drink Angel, drink and heal."
For almost a solid minute, she held him against her in anticipation, but he never bit.
'No, he's too weak.' Buffy shifted him slightly so she could grab the scalpel off the table beside the bed and quickly pressed the tip against her scar, just deep enough to open the skin to make it bleed and to entice his demon to feed.
She let his mouth fall over the droplets and began to run her hand along the back of his neck again. "Please Angel, drink for me."
Buffy could feel hot salted tears streaming down her cheeks, her lover felt so cold and limp and lifeless in her arms.
Fear was gaining momentum in her heart, fear that his demon was too far gone to drink, but then she felt his fang slide into her flesh.
The initial prick of pain faded immediately as that numbing sensation washed over her, bring a wave of pleasure on its wake . She tightened her grip on him and held him as close as she dared.
"Buffy!" She thought she heard her sister calling her name somewhere in the distance, but right now all she could think was, 'Heal Angel, please heal.'
Dawn watched terrified as Buffy's eyes closed and she sagged, since neither was supporting the other, both her and Angel collapsed down like a couple of corpses, mercifully onto the cot and not down onto the floor.
They'd fallen over together, still tangled, with Angel on the bottom and Buffy laying over him.
When the former key approached, Angel's face was still against his wife's neck, but his fangs were no longer buried in her throat. Checking Buffy's pulse, she found it much faster than normal, but not racing fast enough to signal a need for hospitalization.
He hadn't taken more from Buffy than her own natural healing could counter-act.
Dawn carefully checked his pulse and breathing as well, neither were ideal, but far more desirable that what they'd been a few minutes ago. The younger Summers debated about moving Buffy to her own bed, but decided to let her lay with Angel, despite the fact her weight atop his wasn't great for his current condition, she figured they were better off together than separate.
...
Buffy breathed in deeply and snuggled closer to her lover. She could feel him beneath her, her ear resting over his heart picking up on the slow and steady beats. Her eyes slid open as she noticed it was rather light out, she'd been wondering if they'd overslept when she realize they were not in their bedroom, but the Med-Ward.
Memory flooded back and she quickly jumped down off the cot, afraid she'd hurt her injured husband by laying on him.
Angel groaned at the loss of body heat but remained asleep.
Carefully, she checked his vitals and the wound, happily finding both were much improved compared to when she'd last checked and the trace of fever seemed to have vanished.
She bent and kissed his cheek, relieved the color was returning to his once again human features, but she wouldn't be fully rid of the knot in her gut until Angel's brown eyes were open and pain free.
Her neck itched a little as the twin fang holes healed, but the irritant was nothing to knowing her blood gave her husband's demon enough of an energy boost to pull him back from the very near edge of death. Much longer without treatment, and he would have succumbed to both the loss of blood and his immune system as the demon weakened.
Taking the quiet moment, she wet a cloth and cleaned him up as best she could, removing the dried blood and re-bandaging the wound to keep it fresh and clean.
A short time after she finished, little smile tugged at her lips when his hand slipped around hers.
He shivered and turned his face towards her, with eyes still shut he muttered, "Cold."
"I'll get you a blanket." She replied but his hand tightened on her wrist when she moved to do so.
"No." He mumbled tiredly, "You."
"Ok, you'll get me and a blanket, just one sec." She promised, slipping her wrist from his weak grasp just long enough to grab one of the blankets off an adjacent cot.
"Back." She told him as she slipped onto the cot on his left, shaking the blanket out over them.
His eyes slowly slid open and he studied her face a moment, like he was trying to remember something or find something hidden.
"What?" She asked nervously, "Angel? Is everything alright?" His eyes were open, and brown, but not completely pain free, she guessed two out of three wasn't bad.
He didn't reply, but she felt his left hand slide against her face, his thumb rubbing her lower lip. When she felt his finger pull at the back of her neck, she obliged and leaned down to press her lips to his.
She knew he was weak, his kiss was a dead give-away, but she had to give him credit for being determined and willing.
"Mmm." She exhaled against his lips, "What was that for?" She asked, although she never needed a reason to kiss her husband's yummy mouth.
"Just checking." He muttered out, still more asleep than awake.
'Oh, he wanted to make sure the body swap worked.' She assumed, realizing he must still be foggy over what happened.
"It's me." She agreed, kissing him again for good measure, however she could tell he was fading fast.
The arm on his uninjured side slipped around her waist and draw her closer.
"Sleep." She told him, pressing her lips to his temple, "I'll still be me when you wake."
He nodded and nuzzled against her, already back asleep.
...
Once he was out cold again, Buffy looked at the clock on the wall across the room, it was well past midnight. 'Damn, we missed putting the kids to bed.' She thought sadly, always looking forward to those few precious hours between the kids going to sleep and her and Angel actually going to sleep.
As much as she wanted to stay beside him and rest her own weary head, she wanted to at least go kiss the kids goodnight.
Finding Cassidy was still slumbering away, she made sure Angel was indeed asleep before she slipped into the hall and headed to the elevator.
Upon reaching the top floor, she immediately noticed the light was on in Angel's office. Knowing for certain he wasn't in it, she quietly made her way over and stood just out of sight while listening in to the conversation happening within.
Buffy immediately recognized Giles, Faith, Spike and Xander's voices, and a second later knew Marie's as well.
"Are you absolutely certain about this Xander? Murder is a serious charge, not one to be accused lightly." Giles was asking.
"100%" Xander replied, "The lab techs matched Jessica's finger prints to the tags on the coat we pulled out of Marcy's room. We also got mall footage of the two speaking right before...before Jessica died."
"You mean before Marcy whacked her with a lead pipe and cut her throat?" Faith added bluntly with her arms folder over her chest.
Spike laid his hand over his wife's shoulder, "Easy luv, we're just gettin the facts before we start jumpin to conclusions and lightin torches."
"I spoke to Marcy that night, I saw her with the coat you see Jessica buying at Wet Seal in the security footage." Marie added. "She claimed she bought it at the mall herself, and just saw Jessica in passing."
Xander continued, "Let's not forget Marcy also attacked Buffy in the training class and tried to steal her body just to get in Angel's pants. Tell me that isn't proof enough alone she's crazy?"
"Yeah." Marie chimed in again, "I heard a lot of gossip going around about how often Marcy would practically undress Angel with her eyes during his training sessions. She was getting to the point of being a distraction to the whole class."
"And Angel never addressed the issue?" Giles asked, wondering why the living vampire had never spoken up about it.
Spike snorted, "The idiot likely never even noticed. He's always been dense when it came to woman. This one time in Prague, Darla was...Offh."
Faith elbowing him hard in the side ended the story before it began. "We talked about this Billy, no digging up what's dead and buried."
"So neither Angel or Buffy know about Marcy then?" Giles questioned to Xander and Marie.
"Angel knows a slayer killed Jessica, we just hadn't known which one yet." Marie told the group. "He asked me not to say anything so we wouldn't start a panic and specifically not to tell Buffy."
"Yeah, we've been checking in with him every few hours to let him know what we found, but with Buffy there he couldn't talk much."
"And please inform me why Buffy was kept out of the loop on this?" The watcher spoke.
Buffy thought that was a great time to make her presence known, "Yes, I'd love to know the answer to that too." She said as she stepped into the office and angrily eyed the five looking shocked back at her.
Spike smirked, "Angel's a dead man."
...
His wife's heartbeat was slow and steady, her breathing deep and rhythmic, letting Angel know she was still sound asleep as he woke.
If his head wasn't pounding and his stomach angrily demanding sustenance, he may have just shut his eyes and re-joined her, but than wasn't the case. With a silent groan, he slipped out from under the blanket beside her and stood on shaky legs, trying to keep the world from spinning as his recovering body adjusted to being vertical again.
He knew he should have woken her, and she'd be mad at him for not doing so later, but he couldn't bear to ruin her peaceful expression.
Thankful he was still wearing pants and not naked or wearing a catheter, he slipped from the main room into the bathroom across the hall, his bladder and bowels demanding attention stronger than either aching head or empty belly.
Afterwards, he looked at himself in the mirror, cringing a little at the bags under his eyes and the drained expression on his face. He hoped splashing some cold water on his skin from the sink would have helped, but it hadn't. Sighing, he gave himself a quick 'sponge' bath with a paper towel and figured it would have to do.
Exiting the bathroom, he found a more angry than worried pair of hazel-green eyes watching him from the Med-Ward doorway, his wife's arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her lips. "Where do you think you're going?"
'Crap, she's pissed.' He cringed inwardly to himself at her aggressive posture. Not showing his apprehension he replied, "Cafe." Figuring the growl that had issued from his stomach was loud enough for her to hear and a more detailed explanation would be unnecessary.
"No, you should be resting." Buffy immediately responded, "You're not recovered enough yet to be sneaking off alone."
"Then sneak off with me." He offered slyly, hoping she'd just go with him and not fight with him about it in the hall.
"I know." Buffy stated bluntly, not in the mood for him playing games, especially when he was still weak and she wanted to throttle him.
He looked like he was going to ask 'You know what?' But realization flowed into his head as what little color on his cheeks flowed out. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh." She repeated, stalking closer. "I also know which slayer it was."
"Who?" He asked quickly, keeping his eyes on his wife as she stood a few feet from him with her arms still tightly crossed over her chest.
"I'll give you one guess." She told him dryly.
Angel shut his eyes, "Son of a... it's Marcy."
"Got it in one." The blond slayer agreed, watching his face carefully.
When he opened his eyes he met her sharp gaze, he really knew she was fuming at him. "So is this where you punch me and get angry for not telling you what I knew?" He asked bluntly, figuring he might as well jump in. His head already ached and he figured why wait until he felt better?
She stood motionless as she watched him, toying with doing just that. "It could be."
He raise an eyebrow, as if to say, 'Well here I am.'
"Why?" She questioned, "Why didn't you trust me to know?"
Angel took a step closer, "Trust has nothing to do with it Buffy, you know I trust you with my life."
"But not with Marcy's?" She questioned back at him.
Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hand over his tired eyes, "After everything that happen with Faith, I didn't want you getting involved with dealing with another dark slayer." Looking at her he continued, "I know how much you care about these girls Buffy, and that you feel responsible for all of them, but I also know how badly you've been hurt in the past when a slayer goes bad. Mostly, I knew you were already hurting from Jessica's death, adding this to it...I wasn't going to do that to you. I knew you'd be angry with me, but I figured that was better than running you though an emotional roller coaster until we knew who and why. So if you're going to hit me, do it while I still feel like crap please."
Taking a few steps closer, she moved to stand a few inches from him. Looking up into his tired brown eyes, she spoke softly, "I'm not going to hit you."
He didn't want to fight with her, he was tired and hungry and still had a headache, but he couldn't help the suspicious look what washed over his face, "Something worse?" The thought of her kicking him out to the curb drifted through his head.
She slowly shook her head, "No." Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head over his heart. "Honestly, I think we've been punished enough this week." He'd gotten a good beating from Marcy earlier, not to mention taking a knife to the chest for his wife, and she'd lost a slayer and was body-napped...that was more than enough drama for her this week.
"Fair enough." He agreed, his arms slipping around her as they stood just hugging in the hall.
After what felt like hours, he spoke again. "I know you're hungry too, can we just eat and see the kids, and deal with this 'other stuff' afterwards?"
Buffy could see the exhaustion in his eyes, and part of her wanted to march him right back into the Med-Ward and keep there for another two days, but she knew her stubborn husband would spend more energy fighting with her about it than recovering. It would be better for them both to get him fed, then he'd likely fall asleep on his own without them having a fight about it. Plus eating would strengthen his demon and heal him quicker.
"Fine, but you're not going into the cafe looking like that." She told him, determined to not bring her naked-save-for-rumpled-pants husband where she knew a large group of young woman would be eating breakfast. After experiencing Marcy's unhealthy love for her husband, Buffy wasn't going to let even one other slayer have a glimpse of her husband's uncovered chest, let alone a whole room full of them seeing him shirtless.
Despite his unhappy mood, he did smirk at that as she took his hand and led him to the elevations and up to his office to get a change of clothes.
When they reached the office floor at the top of the building, the elevator doors opened to reveal Dawn walking a sleepy Katie down the hall from the bathroom.
Her sister noticed them first, then Katie looked up and her brown eyes widened as she realized her parents were here. "Mommy?" She asked timidly, not sure if this lady that looked like mommy was really her. When Buffy smiled to her, Katie knew this really was mommy this time and ran to her.
"Morning sweetheart, I missed tucking you in last night." Buffy apologized to her daughter as she kissed her good morning.
"Daddy has an ouch?" The little girl observed with worry when she noticed the red tinted bandage on his chest.
"Just a tiny one." He answered. Angel's weariness evaporated as Buffy handed Katie to him, his face breaking into nothing but a big smile as his little girl kissed his cheek.
After collecting Liam and getting Angel a change of clothes, the four plus Dawn met Xander in the cafe and enjoyed as much of a quiet and peaceful breakfast as could be under the pressure and surrounded by teenage woman with super powers.
...
Cassidy was still recovering from a nasty concussion, but assured them her head-scan looked normal and she'd be fine in a few days.
Buffy figured since Cass was taking a few days off to heal and Marcy was still detained in the containment cells, if would be best to have Angel home instead of the Med-Ward.
Despite his promise to 'take it easy', he'd spent most of the day indulging the kids in playtime. The only rest he managed was for an hour when the kids went down for their noon nap.
When the kids finally went to bed that night and Buffy got her husband back, she was pleasantly surprised to find him still energized.
"You're looking much better." She told him as he entered the bedroom, her eyes picking up on the much healthier flush in his cheeks and that the bags under his eyes had faded.
"I feel better." He replied, feeling more like his 30 human years as opposed to his 300+ actual years.
Angel paused on his way to his bureau for a pair of sweatpants as Buffy walked closer to him, he felt the atmosphere in the room changing very quickly.
When she reached him, Buffy slowly unbuttoned his shirt and slid the fabric back over his broad shoulders to slip down onto the floor, exposing that chiseled, and so totally hers, chest. Her eyes immediately shot to the small circular scar that had formed from the scalpel's intrusion.
The skin surrounding it was still pinkish, the scar itself not yet fully healed as the skin was raised and tender. Gently, she stood on her tip toes and placed a light kiss over the wound, remembering how such a tiny and insignificant looking bit of skin could have cost her husband his life.
Angel exhaled out a low moan into her golden hair as he leaned forwards to nuzzle against her ear. His arms wrapped around her waist and drew her closer, greedy for her warmth and love.
His lies were forgiven before she realized it, knowing he'd only withheld information to protect her didn't absolve him. However, she knew she hadn't been dealing with Jessica's death very well, and knowing it had been a slayer to kill her, it would have been too much at the time. Buffy hated to admit it, but she was grateful for the lie, it put off the crushing truth just long enough for her to handle the blow when it came.
She knew he should be getting sleep tonight, not expending even more energy, but she couldn't help herself. A part of her was extremely jealous of Marcy, she knew Angel had no feelings for the other slayer, but seeing how far the girl had gone to take Angel from her wasn't the kind of thing she could ignore. She needed to feel her husband's love tonight, and she needed him to feel hers.
Knowing she could have lost him today only enhanced her desire, she needed to feel him alive and well against her.
Before she knew it, they were lying of their bed, clothing gone and bodies touching. He was leaning over her, his mouth trailing kisses down her neck and slowly moving south.
Common sense reared it's ugly head, "Angel." she breathed out, his name a prayer on her tongue. "No. Stop."
At the word no, he froze immediately, looking up at her with confusion in his eyes. "No? No what? Am I doing something wrong?" He had no idea why she would be telling him to stop, he knew she loved when he kissed her like this, even her body was signalling him to keep going, which was confusing him more.
She sat up and reached out for him, "You're supposed to be resting, and this hardly counts as resting." Se told him as she ran her fingers though his hair, drawing him closer.
"I'll rest later." He defied, leaning down and kissing under her ear. He knew making love to his wife always made the transition to restful sleep a thousand times better.
Buffy knew he was far from sleepy at the moment, his arousal pressing against her thigh every few moments was a constant reminder.
Knowing now he wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon and deciding she wasn't going to deny him or herself loving tonight, she pushed him down onto the bed and straddled herself on his hips. "Well if you insist, I suppose I can arrange for something less strenuous on your part."
His dark brown eyes were hungrily looking up at her exposed breasts, "I insist."
With a smile, she leaned down and allowed him free range of her cleavage as she kissed his face and lips.
All too soon, she found herself beginning to ache for him, so she slid south, feeling his arousal ready and waiting. Lifting her hips, she slid down onto him and seated him fully inside her in one motion.
He groaned as he sat up and leaned against the backboard, his arms wrapping around her hips and waist in preparation.
Snaking her arms around his shoulders and gripping the back of his neck, she slowly began to lift herself up and down on him, grinding their most sensitive parts together and they both pushed up and dropped in sync to one another.
She gasped his name as one of his hands slid down between them and began to message her now tingling nub.
Trying to ignore the rapidly increasing build-up of pressure inside her, she kissed and bit and sucked at his mouth.
Long before she had planned it, she could feel her traitorous body beginning to quiver with pleasure.
His hands fingering both her nipple and her clit wasn't helping, nor was his lips nipped on her right ear.
"Mine." He whispered into her ear, "All mine."
Buffy didn't know why, but his words sent her over the edge. She felt her body clench tightly around him, her name escaping as he gasped it out over his own climax.
Leaning heavily against him, she tried to catch her breath as she felt him doing the same.
When she looked up, she found him watching her with those dark and intense eyes.
Feeling self conscious, she bit her lip, "What?"
He lifted his hand and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and behind her ear, "I love you." He said it so plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I love you." She repeated back with a smile on her lips, leaning in and sealing the promise with a kiss.
After a moment of just looking into the deep pools of melted chocolate that he called eyes, she lifted herself and released him from her depths.
"No you don't." He denied as she tried to move off him, "You're staying right here." He slid down so he was laying flat and wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her against him.
"Am I now?" She teased back, having no intention of moving off of him now.
"Yes you are." He stated while kissing her temple, "You're mine."
The possessiveness in his tone used to bother her, she had hated being treated like property, but now, she'd grown to love it. She knew he didn't think of her as an object, but as someone precious and desirable. "I'll be yours as long as you be mine."
"Deal." He agreed, nuzzling her neck as she settled against him for the night.
She was almost asleep when something came to mind, despite her wish to let him sleep, she found her mouth asking the question, "Angel? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you didn't, but why didn't you kill Marcy?"
When it came to people threatening his wife and family, Angel had been more recently inclined to terminate than forgive since his soul and demon merged. Buffy had honestly thought the young slayer would be dead for what she'd done, but was shocked to learn not only had Angel not killed her, but had spit her blood out after he'd drained the girl.
His closed eyes opened and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments as his tired brain worked to find the correct words. Finally she felt him shrug his shoulders, "She's obviously sick and only seventeen, and despite the fact I hate her and wanted to kill her for what she did and tried to do, she's a slayer." He met his wife's eyes, "I know how much loosing a slayer hurts you, and I couldn't do that to you."
"Thank you." She whispered as she kissed his cheek, so very thankful the demon in him was capable of mercy.
After a moment he spoke again, "Don't get me wrong Buffy, now that I know she killed Jessica, if Marcy ever comes after you again or the kids, I wont think twice."
A cold sliver of fear trickled in her heart at that, knowing he was dead serious about killing a young slayer if the circumstances repeated.
"Well then I guess it's my job to make sure Marcy doesn't go back down that path." She told her husband.
She felt his fingers brush though her long blond hair, "For your sake, I hope she listens." After a second he added, "But if she doesn't, I'm not letting you blame yourself for her failures."
Buffy knew if Marcy refused to be redeemed, she would blame herself. She knew not everyone could be saved, but she also knew as part of who she was, she'd do everything in her power to give her a second chance. "I know you'll try." She told him, knowing it was in his nature to try and prevent Buffy from blaming herself for the weakness in others.
They looked at each other, both knowing it was an old stalemate between them that would never truly be won by either. They both had their own guilt-complexes, some would never be absolved.
Satisfied all was well between them and hopeful for Marcy's future, Buffy kissed her husband's forehead and laid back down against him. "Ok, go to sleep now."
With a smirk, he pressed his face into her soft golden hair, "Yes dear."
She shook her head and closed her eyes too, a smile on her lips.
...
The End.
Hope I didn't rush some parts too much, but I try to post one story arc within a day of each other. More updates will follow eventually. ;)