Christmas Magic

Chapter 2

'Good Afternoon. This is your Captain speaking. It's a bright clear day and we shall shortly be arriving in London Heathrow. The time now is 04:OO and the temperature is a crisp -2. Enjoy your stay and we look forward to seeing you fly with us again.'

The pilot's voice announced their landing in London and Angel looked joyously out the window as they began to descend. They made their way through security and finally emerged outside, where a brisk winter breeze was sweeping across the airport. Angel took a deep breath, inhaling in the cold, refreshing feel of the English weather. Meanwhile next to her, Soryu stood rigid, frowning against the cold.

'Geez… I'd forgotten how cold it can get here.' He muttered through gritted teeth, winding his scarf tighter around his slender neck.

'I still can't believe we're here!' Soryu looked down at Angel, surprised by the joy shining in her eyes, as if there was a candle lit behind them. He couldn't understand why she hadn't suggested it earlier, if she'd wanted to come back to England so badly. He would have fought with the moon and broken the stars out of the sky if she'd asked for it- a holiday to London was nothing in comparison. H smiled fondly at his bright girlfriend. He couldn't believe how she'd so quickly encompassed him wholly in the palm of her hand. He, who'd never cared about anyone and had always thought of women as a nuisance, was now inappropriately head over heels in love with her- something no one could have ever predicted.

'You're happy?'

'Soryu, I'm happy to be able to spend time with you, doesn't matter where we are.' She said sincerely, resting her head on his shoulder while they waited for a taxi. 'So how do you want to play this? City break in my London flat or shall we head out to my house in the suburbs and spend Christmas there?'

'Do whatever you want.'

'We could go home- it's not too far from London anyway, so we can head up to the city closer to Christmas and enjoy the light and festivities.'

Soryu just nodded, grateful when the taxi finally showed up so that he could get out of the bitter cold.

The taxi pulled up outside a large, beautiful looking house with a huge sprawling carriage driveway. Angel lived in a modern mansion, with a beautiful juxtaposition of wood and metal to convey the post-modern architectural style of the building. Soryu looked at it in wonder, taking in the beautiful pond that had been lit up by blue lights in the darkness of the early evening. Even in front of the house, there were several lights leading up to the front door, and more subtly placed to illuminate the huge house. He had no idea she was so rich. While she didn't live completely frugally, she had never once flaunted her wealth or money, as Eisuke and the others were wont to do.

She un-hesitantly walked up to the door and opened it, leading him inside.

'Welcome to my humble abode.' She declared, flinging her arms wide in an inviting gesture.

'Nice place.' He commented dryly.

'You like it? I'm not around much, so when I'm away my housemate looks after it. Thank him for keeping it in such a pristine condition.'

'House-mate?' As if on cue, a handsome young man arrived, looking stunned to see her.

'Angel! You should have called and informed me that you were coming- and that you're bringing a guest! I would have prepared!' The young blonde looked slightly flustered.

'It's alright Charles!' She laughed, patting him amicably on the back. 'Don't be so formal! This is Soryu.' The man flashed him a charming smile, white teeth glinting like pearls and stretched out a hand in greeting.

'Lovely to meet you. I'm Charles Rosenberg- the bane and boon of her life.' He joked cheerfully. Soryu's face, however, remained hard and unfriendly. What was this about Angel living with a young man? He hated Charles from the moment he laid eyes on him, imagining just how close those two must be. The man's smile faltered slightly.

'Be nice.' Angel whispered in Japanese, noticing the displeasure on Soryu's face.

Soryu expressionlessly stretched out his hand for the handshake, smoothly introducing himself.

'Right well, you two must be exhausted. I presume you're returning from China, Angel, judging by the accent you've picked up?' Charles asked, taking her bag.

'Japan actually, but good guess. I'm starving Charles- what's for dinner?'

'Well, actually… I was going over to Jessica's place for the holidays. You know, a little Christmas family get together and all that.' He looked sheepishly towards the door and Angel noticed, for the first time, the packed suitcase standing by the door to the lounge.

'Who's Jessica?'

'My girlfriend.'

'What happened to Lizzie?'

'We broke up like 2 years ago.'

'I'm not surprised Charlie. You go through girlfriends faster than I go through Chocolate fudge ice cream.' She teased fondly. She hadn't seen her friend in ages and had truly missed him. She was so engaged in their banter that she almost forgot Soryu, who was still standing next to her with a deadly expression on his face.

'What can I say? You can't tie down a player like me.' He winked cockily at her.

'Yeah right. More like no girl apart from me can bear you for more than a few weeks.' He pouted at her teasing, both of them breaking down into laughter. 'Give us a few minutes to dump our stuff. Soryu love, why don't you head on upstairs and I'll just grab a glass of water and join you. Feel free to explore. Bedroom's on the second floor- 3rd door on the left.' Soryu sighed and left them to it, turning over in his head, all the fun different ways in which he could kill Charles Rosenberg.

'Who's the bloke?' Charles asked in a low voice once Soryu had disappeared upstairs. 'A guy from the mission you're working on now?'

Angel shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't actually dated since Thomas' death and felt a bit strange to turn up after one and a half years with a new boyfriend in tow.

'Umm…not quite…'

'What? Then who is he? And how come you're back so suddenly anyway. Aren't you supposed to be temping with Interpol right now?'

'Yeah… I'm on holiday…'

'Holiday?' He echoed in disbelief. Charles was a colleague of Angel's when she worked for MI6 and Thomas' best friend. He'd known her in forever and knew a lot about her. Ever since Tom's death she'd thrown herself into her work and he hadn't seen her take a holiday once in those 5 years. In fact, he hadn't seen her this cheerful in a very long time. He glanced back in the direction Soryu had disappeared, jaw dropping in shock as realisation set in.

'No…' He said in an awed whisper.

'Yep. That was Soryu Oh. My new boyfriend.' She announced with a proud smile.

'Get out of here! Holy shit! You have a boyfriend! Oh my, fucking god!' He shouted, picking her up and whirling her around gleefully.

'I knew you'd overreact.' She rolled her eyes in exasperation at his antics.

'I'm not overreacting. This is your first boyfriend in 5 years! I'm happy for you. It's well past time for you to move on.' He cheered, dragging her to the kitchen and pouring out a liberal glass of wine to celebrate. 'Although, a lot has to be said for your taste in men. What's his problem, anyway? He looked like he wanted to kill me.' Charles complained.

Angel sighed with a shrug. 'Knowing Soryu, he probably did want to kill you. It's way stricter in Japan- you know what it's like. Remember the Kowachi mission. Anyway, I suspect he's not too thrilled to find out that you live with me.'

'Live with you? That's rich. Not like either of us are ever around long enough for him to complain.' Charles snorted, raising his glass for a toast. 'To a long and prosperous relationship between the two of you.'

'Ugh! You make it sound like such a big deal.' She shook her head in exasperation. Just then, Soryu reappeared, the scowl on his face deepening as he saw the two of them huddled together laughing and grinning.

'Relax mate. I ain't making a move on your woman. She's all yours and I'm thankful for it. Good luck- she's a right handful alright.'

'I am not!'

'Are too.' Charles countered with a cheeky grin. 'Anyway, I'd best get a move on. Leave you two love birds alone.' Angel blushed at the suggestive look he was giving them. Boys never grew up.

'Charlie…' She mock glared at him. He threw his hands up in surrender.

'All right, alright, I'll go. I know when I'm not wanted. Have fun!' He grabbed his coat and suitcase, but suddenly turned to Soryu with a dead serious expression on his face. 'Listen, mate. I don't know what magic you worked on her to make her fall in love with you but it's taken her 5 years to finally move on from her fiancé. If you ever hurt her, or break her heart, I will personally hunt you down and kill you.'

'Charles! Stop it. We can do without the threats thank you very much.' Angel said indignantly, immediately stepping up to defend her boyfriend. All the initial playfulness was gone from Charles' face and Soryu noted just how intimidating the man could look. He was tall and muscly from years of training and fighting and Soryu knew he wasn't just making an empty threat. Suddenly, his respect for the other man rose slightly.

Soryu nodded stiffly and replied seriously, 'I don't intend to ever hurt her. I promise you that I will try to keep her the happiest woman alive and if I fail, I deserve to be killed.' Charles stared hard at him and Soryu returned his gaze unflinchingly.

'Tch. Knock it off you two. And Charles- quit butting into my love life.'

'Fine. I'll see you later, Angel.' His bright smile was back, the dangerous menace he'd displayed a second ago had vanished instantly. Soryu didn't trust the ease with which this man changed his demeanour. It made it hard to see what he was really like. 'But then again, I guess that's what a spy has to be like.' Soryu thought, correctly presuming him to be Angel's colleague.

Charles left cheerily and Angel turned to him with a smile.

'Now… We're all alone in this big, empty house. What could we possibly do to keep ourselves entertained?' She wondered dramatically, tapping a finger on her chin. Soryu ignored her and the flirtatious suggestion, instead turning his back on her and heading up the stairs to her bedroom.

'Soryu, come on! You're not still mad about Charles, are you? It's completely platonic I assure you- he's just a colleague and I'm never around anyway. And when I'm home, he's most likely away on work. You know I love you and you're the first and last person I've loved since Thomas.' She called behind him.

'If that's the case then prove it.'

'Huh?'

'We have the whole house to ourselves, right? Well, I can think of a few ways for you to make it up to me.' He grinned wickedly at her and stepped back hesitantly, wondering what she'd gotten herself into. One thing was for sure: she wouldn't be getting much sleep that night...

AN: Angel/ Soryu smut scene next chapter? What do you think? Let me know any thoughts or ideas or comments you may have!