Chapter Twenty-Two

Angel sat in his office chair, and finished reading a chapter of Poe. It was nice to sit in a chair, have sunlight illuminate the pages, and not catch on fire. Angel decided that he had had enough of dismal reading. Standing from his seat, Angel closed Poe, and walked into his main lobby. He kneeled, placing the book on a shelf filled with other antique volumes, and searched for another book to read.

Grabbing Jane Austin's Persuasion, Angel walked back into his office and sat down at his desk. A few moments later, the bell above Angel's door sounded, and footsteps were heard walking across the lobby towards Angel's office. A hand knocked on the open glass door, and Angel looked up from his book.

"Brian," Angel acknowledged his former lover's husband, standing in the doorway of his office. "How can I help you?"
Brian placed his hands into his pockets as he walked in.

"I was wondering if we could talk?" he asked Angel as concern dripped in his voice.

"Yeah, sure," Angel said as he closed the book and turned more squarely at his desk. "Please have a seat," Brian did as Angel asked and sat down in the chair across from Angel's desk. "What can I help you with?" Angel placed his hands on top the desk, and Brian began to play with his wedding ring.

"I really don't know how to ask you this," Brian began, taking deep breaths between words. "I'm just worried."
Angel scrunched his brow, and leaned forward. "Whatever the problem, you can ask me."

"Okay," Brian said gathering his courage, "then I guess I'll just come right out and say it."
Angel watched as Brian stared him in the eye as he spoke. "I thought I trusted you."

"What do you mean?" Angel was confused. Oh, god. He knows. I'm gonna kill Xander!

"I let you in my home, and allowed Buffy to be near you again. And now she comes homes with bruises all over her body, that she claims to have received while employed at your office."

The pieces came together for Angel. Brian had become overly suspicious of Buffy's injuries, or rather reason for the injuries, and was incorrectly presuming that Angel was the cause. Even though, he really was, if you thought hard enough about it. Angel exhaled air he did not know he had trapped in, and thought, Damn, now I don't get to pummel that kid though.

Angel stood and held out his hand to Brian.

"Thanks for letting me know," Angel said as Brian also stood and shook Angel's hand. "I will talk to Buffy as soon as she gets back."

As if on cue, something came crashing through the window beside Angel, and a mess of legs, arms and blond hair, came crashing to the ground. Then a second shape came through the window, landing on top of Buffy. Angel recognized the spiny demon with three eyes as a Perlok Demon. As they thrashed back and forth, Buffy looked to Angel as she kicked the demon off her.

"A little assistance would be nice!" Then Buffy pushed her self up and looked behind her at a wide eyed Brian.

"Oh, hi, Honey," she said as she blocked a punch. "Hang on, I'll be with you in a minute." Then Buffy spun around and gave the Demon a swift roundhouse kick to the chest.

Angel ran to the weapons cabinet he kept by the file cabinets, and gathered weapons.

"Here," Angel said, handing Brian an axe," If it comes at you, swing."

Then Angel walked into the fray and tossed Buffy another axe.

"Buffy, catch," Angel said as he punched the raspberry colored Demon.

"Oh gee," Buffy sighed with mock sarcasm, "And it isn't even my birthday."

Buffy took a swing, and Angel took his mace and gave the demon a swift punch in the shoulder. The demon flew through the frame that led to the lobby, and Brian watched as Angel and Buffy ran to finish the fight.

Brian watched stunned, as Buffy and Angel moved as one, fighting against the thing that had come crashing through the window with his wife. He didn't know what was going on, or what that thing was, but he had a feeling that he had just found the source of his wife's bruises.

Buffy would took a swing, but the demon blocked it, and pushed Angel out of the way. Buffy watched as the Demon jumped back out the window. As Buffy helped Angel stand, he quipped, "Friend of yours?"

"Nope," Buffy replied.

"It was rude," Angel rubbed the back of his neck.

"We should go kill it."

"I'm free." Angel said walking back into his office and grabbed his coat. "We'll be right back," Angel patted Brian's shoulder as he and Buffy walked out of the office, leaving a Brian still wide eyed and holding the axe.

888

Brian had sat back down in chair in front of Angel's desk, when Buffy and Angel returned from their Demon hunt. Their clothes had been somewhat slashed, as Angel then sat down and got out the cleaning supplies to clean the weapons, while Buffy talked with her husband. Buffy's sweater that Brian had given her for her birthday a few years back, had a gigantic tear across the front, exposing her navel to every man in sight.

Buffy turned and gave her husband a kiss. "Hi, honey," she said as if what had just happened was normal. "What brings you here?"
"I was asking Angel why you kept coming home with bruises, but I think that question has already been answered."

Buffy looked to Angel, and it was then that Buffy realized the gravity of what had happened just a few hours ago. Angel looked at Buffy telling her the time had come to come clean.

"Um, I don't quite know how to say this," Buffy began as she sat on the corner of Angel's desk.

"Start with the truth," Brian said, folding his arms. "Try explaining what exactly just happened here?"

Buffy looked back at Angel who didn't say a thing, just continued to polish his battle axe.

"Um, well," Buffy scratched her head as she thought of a way to explain everything to Brian. "I'm what's known as a Slayer."

"A Slayer?" Brian raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Yeah. A Slayer is a girl who has these powers to fight Demons and vampires, and all kinds of evil things. It's kinda my job."
"So you fight demons?" Brian titled his head back, trying to understand.

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, looking uneasy as she waited for Brian's response.

"Okay," Brian looked to Angel. "What's he Superman?"
Angel stopped cleaning and waited for Buffy to respond.
"He also fights demons."
"So there are male Slayer's also?"
"No, Angel's a Vampire. Or he was."
Brian shook his head and leaned against the chair.

"Okay," he said rubbing his face. "My meds must need adjusting, cause I thought I just heard you say that Angel is a Vampire?"
"No, you heard right," Buffy said as she nodded her head.

"So Angel's a vampire?"
"Yep." Buffy smiled as though it were something to be proud of. "Back in Sunnydale he helped me out. But it's all good now, cause Angel's human now."

"But he was like, dead, when you guys met in Sunnydale?"
"Ahuh."

Brian tilted his head form side to side as the information sunk in.

"So in Sunnydale you were a..? And he was a…? And you two...?" Brian pointed at Angel as he finally said, "So you slept with a corpse!?"
Angel sat up straighter. "Hey!"
Buffy hunched her shoulders, "Well, gee, Honey. If you put it that way!"

"I'll have you know I had a soul at the time!" Angel exclaimed.

"Yeah, but you also lost it twice!"
"You helped!"
Buffy looked down at her ring as Brian stood.

"Ok, someone needs to explain! What do you mean you lost your soul? And what did Buffy have to do with it?"
Buffy looked at Angel. "Shall I explain or do you?"
"I'll do it," Angel said motioning for Brian to sit down.

"When I was a Vampire, I was one of the worst. Although Hitler was probably worse. Point is, about the turn of the 20th Century, I was given the "gift", if you will, of a beautiful Gypsy girl. The problem was, the girl was favored among her people, so the elders conjured up the perfect punishment, by restoring my soul."

"Ok. I'm still a little lost." Brian told the ex-vampire.

"When you die, your soul leaves, and a demon takes up shop in you're old body," Buffy pitched in. "It walks like you, talks you, even has your memories. But it's not you."

Brian nodded, as he finally understood. "So the gypsies returned your soul, as punishment for something a demon did?" Angel nodded. "That doesn't sound right, if you ask me."
"Tell me about it," Angel scoffed.

"Yeah, especially with that clause."
"Clause?" Brian looked at Buffy. "What clause?"
"The happiness clause," Angel told him. "When I was cursed, they placed a clause in my curse."
"If Angel ever experienced one moment of true happiness…," Buffy added.

"I would lose my soul, and Angelus, as I was known, would be loose again."

Brian propped his head with his hand. "So you were cursed to never experience happiness? And if you did, you became this sadistic monster again?"
"In a nutshell." Buffy said, looking to Angel.

"And that happened because, you and Buffy slept together?"
Angel nodded as he looked at Brian. "Yes, We didn't know it at the time, but spending the night with Buffy, allowed Angelus to wreak havoc on Buffy and her friends for a while."

"Yeah Angelus killed one of my teachers, and kidnapped Giles, almost torturing him to death! And then there's the part where I had to send him to hell to save the world." Buffy quipped
"Yeah, I know, I was sent to hell and they kicked me out." Angel said with a straight face.

"They kicked you out of Hell?" Brian asked, a strange look on his face. "Why did they kick you out?"

"Yeah, well, I tried to take over," Angel joked.

"Why do I believe that?" Buffy said as she looked him.

"Well, now you know absolutely everything there is to know about me," Buffy told Brian, as he still looked dazed.

"No more skeletons in the closet?"
Buffy broke into a smile. "No more skeletons."

Brian stood and stared at Angel.
"So you really are a Vampire?"
"Was," Angel replied. "I fulfilled an ancient prophecy, and I gained Humanity."

"Okay," Brian said motioning to Buffy it was time to go, "This is sounding way too much like an episode of "The X-Files".

"I'll explain later," Buffy said as she turned Brian around to escort him out of Angel's office.

"Talk to you later?" Buffy asked, concern for Angel evident in her voice.

"Yeah," Angel said, assuring Buffy it would be safe to leave him alone. "Always."

Buffy smiled sweetly at their code word for each other, and Buffy walked with Brian out of Angel's office.

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Later that evening, Brian found Buffy on the front porch swing, a throw across her legs, holding a steaming mug. Brian smiled inwardly, and walked over to his wife. He took a seat beside her, and she smiled at him.

"How are you feeling?" Brian asked as he touched an already healing cut on Buffy's shoulder.

"Pretty good," she said, "My wounds are healing fast. One of the perks of being a Slayer."
Brian smiled at Buffy's attempt at humor.

"I still can't get over the fact that vampire's are real." Brain placed an arm around Buffy and she leaned over and put her head on Brian's shoulder.

"Yeah, I was a little less than thrilled myself, when I found out."

"I wish I had known sooner," Brian said.

"I know," Buffy pushed herself up to look at Brian. "But I guess I just didn't want you to reject me, when you found out I was a freak."
"You're not a freak Buffy," Brian looked sincerely at his wife. "You're special. You know more about the evils in this world, than normal people." Brian lifted Buffy's chin. "And I'm glad I have you."

Buffy's eyes began to water, as she looked into Brian's green eyes.

"Thank you," she almost whispered, as Brian drew her close for a hug.

Brian took a breath as he pushed Buffy up so he could at her.

"I have one very important question to ask you."

Buffy sniffled and wiped her eyes. "What's that?"
"Are you still in love with Angel?"

"Is this because of that clause Angel used to have?" Buffy questioned her husband.

"Not necessarily," Brian answered her. "It's a question that has been burning inside of me for a while."
Buffy thought for a moment. "If I said 'yes', would you divorce me?"

Brian almost hesitated. "I-I just want to know where things stand between us."

"Where do you think things stand?"
"I think that true love comes once in a lifetime." Brian wiped Buffy's eyes. "And I think you found yours, a long time ago."
"But would you divorce me, if I told you that I was still in love with Angel?"

"No," Brian said shaking his head. "I know that the fire between you two still burns, but you have both come to understand, that there is more to love than just passion."

Buffy looked down before returning her gaze to Brian's.

"So what about my question? Are you still in love with Angel?"
"Always," Buffy responded, using the word that she and Angel share. "I have always loved Angel, Brian. And I always will."

She reached up and touched Brian's face. "But I love you, too. And I am grateful for whatever time the Powers see fit to let me have with you."

"So if I gave you permission to sleep with Angel you wouldn't do it?"
Buffy smiled. "As incredibly temping as that sounds, I am happy where I am now. And I wouldn't trade that for the world."

Buffy leaned over and kissed Brian. Brian returned the kiss more passionately. Buffy came up for air, and looked at her husband, a seductive glimmer in her eyes.

"What?" Brian asked his wife, already assuming what she wanted.

"Upstairs?" Buffy asked, as she stood from her seat.

"You bet," Brian said as he took Buffy's hand and followed her inside. After he closed the door, he picked up Buffy, and carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.

End Chapter

Yeah I know mushy Bu/Br stuff! But know things take a more serious turn.

As Always, FEEDBACK PLEASE!! New Chapter soon!