Before they were halfway there, he pulled to a stop and looked right back at her. "What's with the staring, Buf?"
"Well you kind of made with the distracting back there, so I was to busy to deal, but um... why are you all Hyena-y, again? Only, you know, more so cause you're way stronger now than you were then."
"It's not just the hyena now, soldier guy is here too," He tapped a knuckle to his head, "and I don't know why or how. Course I woke up naked ontop of the Hellmouth this morning, so I'm kind of in a just go with the flow sort of mood."
"What about um..." Buffy wasn't quite sure how to ask and totally leaving the naked part far far away from her brain. Nope no visuals for Buffy.
"The mate thing?" He asked, his voice low and tinged with guilt.
"Yeah."
"I've kind of got a mate now, so it's not really an issue. Plus I'm still here, so is the soldier. The idea of forcing anyone is really not of the good with either of us. I can never appologize enough for trying that, Buffy. I'd rather die than hurt any of you."
Buffy grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Um, what about food?"
"You mean the whole pig entre with a principal main course? I think they've both embraced the power of the Twinkie. The hyena isn't in control, and I think the soldier helps balance it out now. Although neither of them care much for Snyder, especially after this morning." His expression turned slighly more feral yet amused at the same time.
"What happened this morning?" She asked, her face wary.
"Cordy and me got kinda carried away in one of the closets, just making out, you know. Snyder found us and grabbed her arm."
"And..."
"And I slammed him into a wall and told him never to touch my mate or my pack." He grinned at her, showing more teeth than normal.
"Shit, Xan, what did he do?" She asked, not sure whether to be shocked or amused.
"So far as I know he didn't do anything... except make a mess for the janitor to clean up. Hopefully he doesn't try to send me the drycleaning bill."
Buffy couldn't help herself, she laughed the rest of the way.
--
They made their way through the garden and found a new statue setting in beside the fireplace. Angel sat unmoving legs crossed. Buffy started to rush to him, worried by his stillness, but Xander's hand on her arm stopped her.
"He's ok, Buff. He's just working on control. Come on we still have some things to talk out and he'll be a few more minutes." He led her back to the garden and took a seat on one of the scattered stones.
"So what do we need to talk about, Xander?" She asked squinting to see his face siloetted against the setting sun.
"He and I have things to work out, and you can't be around for it." He continued before she could protest. "I won't hurt him, but we have to settle where he stands in the pack, and neither of us can do that if you're watching. Besides that he needs to feed. I want you to go pick up some blood at the butchers. And more than that little container I saw. God only knows how long he's been starving himself, or making do on short rations."
Buffy, who'd been gearing up to protest settled back worried about how little she'd seen Angel eat. "You really think he's been starving himself?" She asked in a small voice.
"Considering what Angelus did when he was in charge? Yeah I think he is. As much as I disliked the guy, I know he's taking it all hard. We have to make him see being weak is only going to hurt the pack more. We need him, and we need him strong and able to fight to the best of his abilities."
Buffy glanced back towards the mansion with a thoughtful look.
"There's something else. We have to tell the others, as soon as we're done here we'll go round them all up. This isn't something you're going to keep a secret forever, and the longer you lie the more hurt people will be, especially Giles."
"Huh? Why Giles?"
"Buff, I love you dearly but sometimes you have zero people skills. Think about it. Who did Angelus hurt the most. It wasn't you and it wasn't me or Wills. It was Giles. He butchered the woman he loved, and left her like a present. Then he spent hours torturing the secrets to hell out of the man. He finds out you're lying to protect Angel, and I don't think he'll ever forgive you. He'll still love you, cause that's who he is, but he'll always feel you put a killer over him, and it will eat away at him."
Tears in her eyes, Buffy dove into Xander's open arms. "Oh God, Xander, what did I do?"
"Nothing that can't be fixed." He whispered into her head; patting her back while she sobbed.
After a few moments he handed her a battered, but clean, hanky. "Go ahead and get yourself cleaned up. Our host is almost ready for company"
Angel stood and turned towards the two heartbeats he heard entering from the garden. 'Buffy' he thought serenely, then he saw/smelled/sensed who else was with her, and started growling.
"Buffy get away from him." He ordered in a gutteral voice.
"Angel?" She asked, shocked at his reaction. When a second growl broke out beside her she instictively stepped back away from both men. "Xander, what the hell is going on?"
"Buffy just go to Angel. He's worried about his mate. Calm him down, then we'll talk."
Xander's words seemed to calm Angel down slightly, but once he had ahold of Buffy, he buried his nose in her hair for half a second before pulling her behind him and bared his teeth at Xander. "Your scent is wrong, boy."
"You'll watch you're tone, beta. You don't see me insulting you over the brimstone and decay that waft off you like a cloud, do you? I've changed since the last time we met, but I'm fairly sure its a good thing. Especially considering the old me would see you staked, not fed."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Angel asked, confused by the almost friendly tone.
"Buffy's going to go pick up some take out at the butcher's. You need to feed. While she's doing that, you and I will decide where we stand."
Before anyone could object, Xander handed Buffy a small roll of bills and then the small stake he had gotten in the habit of keeping on him. "Get as much as you can, he's going to need it. And don't lose that, its my favorite stake."
"Um, Xan, why are you giving me your stake?"
"So I know he won't use it on me." Angel answered.
"Exactly." Xander said with a smirk. "Go on, Buff. We promise to play nice, and when you get back we can all settle in to decide what we need to do next. Besides, I'm sure Deadboy here is hungry."
The thought of Angel willingly starving himself got her moving despite her suspicions. "I'll be back as soon as possible."
They waited until both were sure she'd gone, then as one they took on a fighting stance.
--
When Buffy walked in she was rather amazed at the change in the atmosphere. The two men were talking and laughing, pleasantly. On one hand she was incredibly pleased... on the other she was highly suspicious.
"Ok, guys, what gives?" She asked as she passed Angel a large bag of blood containers, then got a good look at him. A black eye was still clearly visable as well as flecks of blood on his shirt and across his knuckles. She spun to face Xander, to find a matching black eye, his just starting to fade, similarly bloody knuckles, a few claw marks that looked nearly healed, and most unsettlingly blood near his mouth, almost as if he'd been...
She spun back to Angel, looking him over more carefully this time, then spotting what she'd been looking for, jerked a particularly bloody shoulder of his shirt back to reveal an ugly bite mark that was just starting to heal itself.
"You... he... I..." She started, totally confused by what she was seeing.
"I think we broke her." Xander said with a smirk that was quickly returned by Angel.
"You BIT him." She said in a small, confused voice. "Why did you bite him?"
"Buffy, it's alright. I'm ok, Angel's ok, and now the pack is ok. We just had to see this thing out and figure out, once and for all, who was the alpha."
"Alpha, like a hyena thing?" She asked.
"Sort of, more of a pack thing. Vroom Vroom, baby."
Buffy just looked confused, but Angel, shoc-kingly enough, started laughing, "Good one." When Buffy spun to look at him he pulled her in for a brief kiss on the forehead then replied. "It means he's the leader of the pack."
"The bite was just a show of dominance, for his demon and my hyena. Settled our places in the pack and shut up the bullshit posturing we've done for the last couple years. Although, I will say that the blood pick me up has its benefits." He gently touched the fading black eye, then wiped blood off perfectly healed knuckles.
Buffy was just about to work her way up into a snit when Angel reached out and pulled her close. He settled her between his stretched out legs and wrapped his arms around her, chin on her shoulder.
"It's ok. We needed to get things settled and now its over, and it won't be happening again. Vampires are just as much pack creatures as the hyena is. The demon respects Xander's position as alpha, and it's place in the pack."
"And the hyena respects Angel's place in the pack and as you're mate." Xander said picking up the explaination.
Angel kissed Buffy along one cheek and pulled her back against him holding her. Buffy looked over at the now nearly healed Xander, who was smiling at them in a way too content manner.
"So you're suddenly ok with Angel? Two years of hate, and now one fight is all it takes for you to be all pro-Angel?" Buffy asked confused.
"I never hated him, Buff. I was jealous. You know the hyena wanted you as a mate, you know I wanted you as a girlfriend. Angel had what I wanted, and I was the uncool loser who didn't stand a chance."
Buffy opened her mouth to respond but before she did, Angel spoke up. "He was the regular guy who could give you a normal life, and who could walk in the sun with you. He also challenged my demon's... my claim on you as a mate, not to mention that God awful smart mouth."
"Gotta love the snark, Deadboy." Xander said with an open smile.
"So you guys hated each other cause of me?" Buffy asked, balanced between horror and a tiny bit of supressed pride.
"I'm almost suprised one of us didn't start peeing on your shoes. Course I think that would have led to you staking the both of us." Xander said enjoying the fierce protective look that crossed her face at the threat to her shoes. "Although I think we both figured out just how deadly that would have been. Never threaten a slayer's family, friends, or footwear."
Buffy smirked up at him, "I think they need to add that chapter to the handbook... not that I've ever gotten to read it, mind you."