Part 9
Buffy woke up this morning refreshed, she knew she should have been upset about the prank Angelus played on her and Angel last night, but the only thought that came to her mind was, "Xander." She smiled brightly and got out of bed, she headed over to her closet humming to herself, and thinking about the plans she had for her and Xander.
Xander on the other hand was running through the halls of Sunnydale High like a madman, every girl went after him, worshipping him like a God. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he was scared out of his mind. Xander turned the corner and bumped into Harmony.
"Hello Xander." She said demurely, touching his cheek with the tip of her finger. She began to trail her hand down his chest.
"Um, I have to go." Xander stuttered.
"No!!" Harmony screamed, she jumped on his back, kissing down his cheek, and nibbling on his ear lobe. Other girls saw the display, and tried to pull Harmony off Xander. "No!! He's mine!!"
Xander was able to shake her off of him, with the help of the other girls, and took off to take refuge in the library. He crashed into the library, causing Giles to jump in surprise. "Giles, you gotta help me, I'm being attacked!"
Giles grabbed Xander by the arms. "Xander calm down, what happened?"
Taking a deep breath. "I made a mess, Giles. See, I found out that Amy's into witchcraft, and I was hurt, I guess, so I made her put the love whammy on Cordy, but it backfired. And now every woman in Sunnydale wants to make me her cuddle monkey. Which may sound swell on paper, but..."
"You bloody idiot!!!" Giles yelled, his face was beet red. "I cannot believe that you were fool enough to do something like this."
Xander nodded. "Oh no, I'm twice the fool it takes to do something like this."
"What the hell were you thinking? Oh, that's the problem you weren't" Giles sighed. "OK, you said Amy helped you, I'm going to go find her, you stay put, you've already cause enough trouble." He stormed out of the library.
Xander bowed his head, not wanting to see the disappointment on Giles' face as he left. Xander turned to go sit down at the table, until Buffy popped up in front of him, from behind a book shelf. He gasped in shock. "Buff, give me a heart attack!" He yelled, until he saw the picture she gave him, it was his fantasy come true. Buffy stood there in a short (I mean short) rain coat, in high heels her hair was slightly curled in a sexy way, flowing across her shoulders.
Her hands were fiddling with the straps of the coat "Oh, I'm going to give you more than that." She walked toward him, with a sensual smile across her face.
"Buff...for the love of God, don't open that raincoat!!"
"Come on, it's a party. Aren't you gonna open your present?" Buffy began to pull at the straps, Xander's eyes widened in shock. Just as the strap began to loosen, Giles came in and nearly fainted.
"Buffy!!" He dove towards her, pulling her hands away. Giles grabbed the straps and tightened them. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just showing Xander a good time." Buffy said, focusing on Xander the entire time.
"Bloody hell." Giles sighed, he took Buffy's hand and dragged her into his office. He sat her down and wrapped a blanket around her. "Stay." He ordered. Giles sat down in his desk chair and grabbed the phone, dialing a familiar number.
After 2 rings. "Hello." Angel's voice traveled.
"Angel, we have a situation here."
"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.
"Xander had a spell performed, and it backfired on it's true purpose."
"Great." Angel replied sarcastically.
"He had Amy perform a love spell on Cordelia, but now it seems that every girl is after him." Giles turned to look at Buffy, and the little attire she was wearing. "Um, in a very intimate way, I need you to help me, it seems that Buffy has been affected also."
"What?!!" Angel yelled. Buffy's now in a vulnerable state, anything could happen to her, but that wasn't the reason Angel was pissed off, knowing that Buffy was throwing herself at Xander, made Angel sick. He shook the visuals out of his mind. "I'm on my way, make sure the windows are closed OK." Angel hung up the phone.
Giles hung up the phone, grabbed Buffy and went into the main room, to see Oz punch Xander in the face, and Giles didn't even move to help. He helped Buffy sit down into the chair, especially since she was trying to get to Xander, who was nursing his bruised cheek.
Giles stared at her firmly. "Buffy, if you get up, I'll make sure you never see Xander again." He warned. Seeing the pout on her face told him she would do what she was told. Giles proceeded to go to every window and pull down all the shades.
Xander sat down at the table, keeping his distance from Buffy, noticed what he was doing. "Giles, what are you doing?"
"Angel is coming." Giles said tightly, he was still a little upset with Xander, and answering his questions wasn't helping. Giles finished and headed toward the door. "I'm going to look for Amy again, stay put, all of you."
Oz went over to the table, still shaking his hurt hand.
"Why did you hit me?" Xander whined.
"I was on the phone all night listening to Willow cry about you, and I had a sudden urge to hit you." Oz explained quickly.
"Oh." Xander replied.
Buffy leaned her face onto the palm of her hand, her eyes directed at Xander. She used her other hand to trail over her upper body, since Xander was watching intently, made her smile. Buffy began to pull at the collar of the raincoat, letting Xander get a small peek at her exposed flesh, she reached her hand inside the coat, and grasped herself; she licked her lips. Xander was panting, his eyes widened as Buffy began to pull her hand back, but his eyes widened in fear, Angel was storming toward the table.
He saw Buffy staring at Xander and it made him want to kill. Angel kneeled down beside Buffy's chair. "Buffy, stop." He pleaded, Angel turned her chair so that she was facing him. "Come on."
"I can't stop Angel, he so hot, he makes me wanna..." Buffy trailed off, until Angel placed his hand over her mouth, and quickly lifted her into his arms, and carried her into Giles office.
Xander stood up. "Can I help?"
Angel answered with a growl.
Giles came running into the library, dragging Amy with him. "You are going to undo this spell, now!"
Amy whined. "Can I have Xander now? You said I could have him, if I came to the library. Please." Amy closed her eyes in pleasure. "We see into each other's souls." She whispered.
Giles rolled his eyes in disgust.
"I'll do it, if only I could have him." Amy pleaded.
"No!!" Buffy came running out of Giles' office, with Angel running behind her. "He's mine."
"Xander is mine, he needs a strong woman in his life, not some preppy air-head cheerleader." Amy sniped at Buffy.
Buffy reeled back and landed a punch on Amy's jaw. "Is that strong enough?"
Amy snapped around, her eyes gleamed red opals, that shined brightly, everyone was blinded. She raised her hands above her head. "Goddess Hecate, do my will!!!" A beam of light hit Buffy, and she shrunk down.
When the light disappeared, everyone glanced around. Angel looked down and saw the raincoat she was wearing puddled on the floor, he kneeled down and saw a white rat, sitting there. "Buffy?"
The rat squealed, and took off.
"We have to catch the Buffy rat." Giles stated. "Oz, go after it, her."
Oz nodded and chased after the rat. "Here, Buffy."
"Angel I need you to help me with the spell."
Xander who stood there stunned the whole time, came out of his trance. "Can I help?"
Angel and Giles snapped toward him. "No."
"But..."
"Xander maybe you should leave." Angel said tightly.
He nodded, and walked slowly out of the library.
Giles grabbed Amy by the arm, and pulled her to the table. "Do it."
Amy pouted and began to get the spell ready, while Angel helped her set up. A few minutes later, the spell was ready and performed it smoothly, a light shined through out the room.
Down in the basement of the school, the light shined brighter, and Buffy materialized; very naked. She glanced down at herself, and hid behind some box, just in time to see Oz pop up.
"Buffy, you're back." Oz said.
She nodded. "I seem to be having a slight case of nudity here."
"But you're not a rat ... so call it an upside."
***********************************
The next day, Xander and Buffy walked down the hallway. Xander was still a little scared about being around her, but she told him everything was fine, except to stay away from Angel for a while. Xander sympathized with that.
"Well, I'm back to being incredibly unpopular." Xander cheered.
Buffy patted his shoulder. "It's better than everyone trying to kill you, right?"
"Mostly, but, uh, Willow won't even talk to me."
"Any particular reason she should?" Buffy replied.
"How much groveling are we talking here?"
Buffy sighed "Oh, a month at least."
"Well, I'm all for it, Buff I'm sorry."
Buffy started to laugh. "You're off the hook with me, and I wanted to thank you for what you did, well didn't do." She turned to Xander. "I remember coming on to you, I remember begging you to undress me, and then a sudden need for cheese. I also remember that you didn't."
"I couldn't take advantage of you like that. Okay, for a minute, it was touch-and-go there." Xander replied.
Buffy laughed. "I'll see ya, I think your fan club is walking this way." She motioned to Cordelia and the cordettes walking there way. "Bye."
Xander turned and faced the group.
Harmony walked to him. "My God, who dressed you."
Xander shook his head, and started to walk off.
Harmony shrieked back, as Xander nearly touched her. "Eww. Cord you must have been brain damaged cause..."
Cordelia snapped toward her. "Do you know what you are, Harmony? You're a sheep."
Harmony gasped in shock "I'm not a sheep."
"You're a sheep. All you ever do is what everyone else does, just so you can say you did it first. And here I am, scrambling for your approval, when I'm way cooler than you are, 'cause I'm not a sheep." Cordelia pointed her finger and Harmony. "I do what I want to do, and I wear what I want to wear, and you know what? I date whoever the hell I want to date. No matter how lame he is." Cordelia turned around to see Xander smiling brightly.
He reached his hand out to her, and she took it. As they made there way down the hallway, Cordy began to whine. "Oh, God, what have I done?! They're never going to speak to me again!"
Xander chuckled. "Oh, sure they are. If it helps, whenever we're around them, you and I can fight a lot."
"You promise?" Cordelia pleaded.
"You can pretty much count on it." He kissed her on the lips, and walked hand in hand down the halls.
Part 10
Music blared from the Bronze. Xander, Willow, and Cordelia sat at their normal table, engrossed in their conversation. Laughing and enjoying each other's company, while Buffy and Angel moved to the soothing, sensual sound of Morcheeba; on the dance floor.
Not one of them noticed the eyes following their every movement. Angelus stood back, deeply observing the group; his prey. He watched Buffy and Angel dance, hold each other tenderly, and kiss here or there in the middle of the song. Their expressions told him that they were just as close as before, and that they didn't have a care in the world; except for each other. That made Angelus come up with all sorts of ideas to stir up things.
Time passed on, the gang gathered together and decided to leave; before it got too late. They all walked hand-in-hand outside, not noticing Angelus watching them. He smiled, and began to follow Buffy and Angel whom had split up from the others. Angel walked Buffy home, kissing her deeply before leaving. Buffy went up to her room, and went straight to bed.
When he knew she had fallen into a deep sleep, Angelus silently came to her side, like a gentle lover not wanting to wake it's mate. He reached a hand out to brush a lock of hair from her face. His movements may have been gentle, but his intentions were far from it. Angelus smirked and stood above her, his shadow covering her form, and his actions.
Buffy awoke slowly the next morning, she stretched her arm out to work out her limbs, until she came in contact with a piece of paper. Confused, she sat up to open the paper, her eyes widened as she stared at a charcoal picture of herself sleeping. Buffy rushed out of bed to get ready, she needed to talk to Giles.
Arriving at school 10 minutes later, Buffy stormed into the library. "He was in my room."
Giles looked up from stamping books. "Who?"
"Angelus, he was in my room last night."
Giles came from where he was standing to talk to her. "Are you sure?"
"Positive, when I woke up I found a picture he left me on my pillow."
"A visit from the pointed tooth fairy." Xander replied, adding in his snide remarks.
"Wait! I thought a vampire couldn't come in unless you invited them in." Cordelia asked suddenly.
"Yes, but once you've invited them, afterwards there always welcome." Giles answered.
"Giles, there has to be some sort of spell to reverse the invitation rule. A barrier, a no shoes, no pulse kind of thing." Buffy asked quickly.
"Well, I can check on it......"
Giles was interrupted by some students looking for books, he quickly got rid of them, and quickly rushed out so they could continue there conversation. They walked out to the hallway. "So, Angelus has decided to step his harrassment toward you."
Cordelia had a sudden thought. "By leaving stuff for her at night, that doesn't make sense. Why doesn't he just slit her throat, or strangle her while she's sleeping, or cut her heart out?" She stopped noticing the looks Xander and Buffy were giving her. "What? I'm trying to help."
Giles rolled his eyes. "Um it's classic battle strategy. He's just trying to provoke you, to taunt you, to-to goad you into, uh, some mishap or some other sorts."
"The nan nan nan nan approach to battle." Xander said.
"Yes, Xander. Once more you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form." Giles said sarcastically.
"Giles." Buffy said, to get his attention. "Angel once told me that when he was obsessed with Drusilla, the first thing he did was to kill her family."
"Your mom." Xander replied, worriedly.
"I know, I gotta tell her something." She said, sitting on a bench "The truth.
"No, you can't do that. Giles intervened.
Buffy fumed. "I gotta tell her something, Angelus has an all access pass to my house, and I'm not always there when my mother is."
"I told you I will find a spell." Giles said, trying to calm her down.
"What about until you find a spell?" Buffy asked.
Giles put his hand on Buffy's shoulder, to try to comfort her. "Buffy I will find something, I promise you. But you must not let Angelus get to you, no matter how provacative his behaviour gets."
"So, what you're saying is just ignore him and maybe he'll go away."
Giles just stayed silent, all he could do is nod, and the confused look she gave him was not surprised. He wished there was another he could help her.
*****************************
The day went on, and Buffy became even more worried about what Angelus might do. That night, Buffy sat with her mother, enjoying a nice home cooked meal, well her mother was. Buffy picked at her food, eating just wasn't appealing to her at the moment, she had so much on her mind it was starting to give her a headache.
Being her mother, she noticed that something was wrong with her daughter. "OK, what's troubling you?" Joyce asked suddenly.
"Nothing."
Joyce smiled. "Come on, I've read all the parenting books, you cannot surprise me."
Sighing. "Do you remember that guy Angel?"
Joyce thought for a moment. "The college boy, who was tutoring you in history."
"Right, were.. going out, and..." Buffy stopped for a minute to think about what story to give her. "He has, a twin brother, identical twin brother, and he has a serious crush on me."
"Oh, a love triangle, how cute." Joyce chuckled.
"Not really, see Angel and his brother don't get a long, and I don't mean sibling rivalry; they can't stand each other."
"Why?"
"Um, he did some things in the past and Angel doesn't want anything to do with him." Shaking her head. "Anyway, now he's been following us around, leaving notes, and it's really getting to me." Buffy muttered, there was a slight tint of fear in her voice, and mommy didn't miss it.
"Buffy has he done anything?" Joyce asked worried for her daughter, it seemed to her that her daughter was in an unhealthy relationship.
"No, no it's nothing like that, I just don't want him around, OK."
After dinner, Buffy went to her room, she began to pull out some crosses and holy water out of her night stand, just in case Angelus decided to made a guest appearance again tonight; so she didn't hear Angel come into her room.
"Hey."
Buffy jumped, and thrust the cross in his face, causing him to jump back. When she realized it was Angel, Buffy threw the cross to the floor. "Oh, sorry."
"It's OK. You all right, Giles told me what happened last night." Angel said, walking toward her.
"I will be, when Giles finds a spell to revoke the invitation." She said sitting down on the bed. She looked at Angel, he saw the worry in her eyes, and she saw the worry in his eyes. "Stay with me tonight, I don't want to be alone." Buffy asked, already knowing the answer but just needing to see him acknowledge it.
Angel smiled and nodded. He sat down beside her and pulled her into his embrace, Angel noticed a vulnerability in her, and he tightened his arms around her.
The phone began to ring, and interrupted there quiet time.
Buffy sighed. "It's Willow, I told her to call." She moved away and answered it. "Hey Will."
Angel smirked and scooted up on the bed, near the headboard. He pulled her into his arms so that she sat between his legs, while she talked on the phone. Buffy looked up at him and smiled, she entwined there hands, while her other hand held the phone. It was a little hard to talk to Willow while Angel's other hand stroked her hair.
"Buffy? Did you hear me." Willow asked.
"Yeah, sorry, you were talking about what Giles told me earlier."
"Yeah, and I agree with Giles, you can't let Angelus get to you, he's just trying to get you to do something stupid." Willow said, pacing her room. "I swear guys can be such jerks, dead or alive."
"Yeah, well I just hope Giles can find a keep out spell. Buffy managed to say, while Angel's hand was massaging her scalp, it wasn't very intimate, but it felt just as good; it set her mind at ease.
Willlow chuckled she heard the stuttering in her voice, as she went to feed her fish. "Don't worry, I'm sure Angel will protect you, I know he's there and you two just......." Willow stopped when she saw an envelope by the fish tank.
"Just what??" Buffy said smiling, but when she didn't answer, she got worried. Buffy sat up, pulling away from Angel. "Willow?"
Willow pulled out the string, and all 5 of her fish hanged from it. Willow trembled, and dropped the phone.
"Willow?!" Buffy yelled into the phone, but all she got was a dial tone. She hung up the phone, and stared at it in worry.
"What's wrong?" Angel asked, seeing the worry in her face.
"I don't know."Buffy got up from the bed, she grabbed her shoes, and put them on quickly.
Angel stood up. "Do you want me to...."
He was cut off, by the phone ringing. Buffy picked it up. "Willow?" Hoping it was her, and that she was OK.
"It's me Buffy." Willow said, she was a little more calm then she was before.
Buffy on the other hand wasn't. "What happened?"
"Angelus paid me a visit, he killed my fish."
"Oh." Buffy took the phone from her ear. "Angelus was at Willow's." She said to Angel.
"Is she OK?" He asked, standing next to her.
Buffy nodded, and put the phone back to her ear. " Where are you?
"I'm at Xander's." Willow said. "Oh." She breathed a sigh. "Will, I'm sorry about you're fish." Buffy replied sadly.
Willow stuttered. "It's OK. We didn't have time to bond yet, now for the first time I'm glad my parents didn't let me have a puppy." She paused for a second. "Well, I'll talk to ya later Buffy, tell Angel goodnight."
"I will." Buffy hanged up the phone.
"She's gonna stay at Xander's for a while."
Angel sat down beside her.
Buffy sighed, she put her head in her hands. "This is so weird." Buffy looked up at him. "Everytime something like this happens, my first instinct is to run to you, but now it's almost the same person I'm running from, he's completely different from you."
Angel wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to comfort her. "But we have one thing in common. You're still the only thing we think about."
Buffy turned her head to face him. "What else do you two have in common" She replied, not as a question but a thought.
Angel stared into her eyes, wondering.
Part 11
"I brought something for you." Drusilla said happily, she walked toward a wheelchair ridden Spike, with a small puppy crying in her hand. "She's an orphan, her mum died, without a fight." Drusilla said happily, not noticing the scowl on Spike's face. "Do you like her? I brought her to cheer you up." She licked his cheek.
"And I named her Sunshine." Drusilla brought the puppy to Spike's mouth. "Open wide." When he turned away she got sad. "Come on love you need something to keep your strength up, now open up for mummy."
Spike scowled. "I won't have you feeding me like a child, Dru!!" He wheeled away.
"Why not?" Angelus said, walking into the factory. "She already bathes ya, carries ya' around and changes ya' like a child."
Drusilla walked up, wagging her finger at Angelus. "Angel, where have you been? The sun is almost up, and it can be so hurtful; we were worried."
"No, we weren't." Spike replied.
"You must forgive Spike, he's a bit testy tonight, doesn't get out much."
Angelus kneeled down to face Spike. "Well, maybe next time, I'll bring you with me, Spike. Might be handy to have you around if I ever need a really good parking space."
"Have you forgotten that you're a bloody guest in my bloody home." Spike asked tightly, he was getting real tired of the wheelchair jokes.
"And as a guest, if there's anything I can do for you...any responsibility I can assume while you're spinning your wheels...anything I'm not already doing, that is." Angelus replied, staring at Drusilla.
"That's enough!!" Spike yelled, pushing a laughing Angelus away.
Drusilla giggled. "Oh." She kissed Spike on the cheek, putting the puppy in his lap, she glided away touching herself. "You two boys fighting over me and all, makes a girl feel." She stopped suddenly, letting out a painful moan.
"Dru, what is it pet?" Spike asked casually.
"Yeah, it worries." Dru looked into the ground. "Someone, an old enemy is seeking help, to destroy our happy home." She whined.
Angelus eyes widened, when he realized who the old enemy could be.
***************************
Willow, Buffy, and Xander walked up the steps toward the school, they were discussing last night. "How long do you think Giles will take?" Xander asked. "Not that I mind having you over Will, but maybe some hottie will wanna come over.
Willow rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Xander, I'll be long gone when a hottie comes." She and Buffy laughed as they walked on, to the study hall. Buffy saw Jenny walking across the quad, and left a mumbling Willow, and Xander behind.
"Hey." She called to Jenny.
Surprised that Buffy would talk to her. "Hey."
Buffy was silent for a moment. "I know you feel bad about what happened, and I just wanted to say....Good, keep it up." She said coldly.
Jenny nodded sadly and began to leave, until Buffy stopped her.
"Wait." She sighed. "He misses you, he won't say anything to me, but I know he does." Jenny smiled at her, but she kept on. "I don't want him to be lonely, I don't want anyone to be." Buffy whispered.
Jenny tucked her hair behind her ear. "Buffy, if there was a chance I could......."
"Stop." Buffy interrupted. "Were good, let's just leave it here." She said, and walked off quickly, to find Giles.
Giles was in the student study hall. He saw Buffy coming toward him. "Buffy how was your night?"
"Sleepless, but no human fatalities."
Giles nodded. "Good, well I found a spell to reverse the invitation. You just need to sprinkle some herbs, holy water, that sort of thing."
"All the stuff I have at my house." She smiled, and took the book from him. "I'm gonna give it to Willow first."
Giles agreed, and they went there separate ways.
******************************
Angel laid on the couch, with Buffy leaned up against him. They were waiting for Willow to come back with the spell book, after she protected her home, so they could protect Buffy's house, and she could stop worrying about her mother, whom was going to be home soon.
Angel heard a sigh come from Buffy, he tightened his arms around her. "What is it?"
She turned around. "I wonder what he's gonna do next? How far will he take this."
"As far as possible." Angel replied. "This is a game, and he wants you to play."
"I don't wanna play his games, I want this over with."
Angel nodded. "I know." Kissing her temple. He leaned his forehead onto hers, looking into her eyes. At the same time, they both leaned in for a kiss, the kiss deepened and soon they were fused together. Angel turned her body around so that she laid on top of him, his arms going around her waist. He kissed her deeply, letting all his emotions into the kiss. Angel sat up, causing Buffy to straddle his waist, he tightened his arms around her. Not breaking their passionate kiss he got up and headed for the stairs, Buffy tightened her legs around him, he made his way to her bedroom.
They stood in the middle of her bedroom, the only light shining was the small night lamp on her nightstand that made a small glow shine in the room, giving it a romantic touch. Angel sat Buffy down on the bed, he looked her in the eyes, as he took her top off, baring her body for his eyes only. Buffy unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it from the waist band of his pants, and slid it off his shoulders. It would be the second time they made love, it'd been nearly a month since the first time. They wanted it to be just as special, without any fear or desperation, and to tenderly experience each other. She stared at him, letting her hand stroke his cheek, without the fear in her eyes like before, she laid back onto the bed, and Angel followed.
Angel felt such contentment run through him, before there had been fear in her eyes, due to the fact that it was her first time, but now all he saw was pure love, desire, and complete trust shine in her eyes. "I love you, my wife."
She brightened at the sound of that. "I love you."
Angel braced his arms on either side of her hips, he looked deep into her eyes as he once again lowered himself on her warm body. The fierce desire of the past few minutes melted away as time stopped and their bodies joined. Their fingers entangled as their bodies moved together,he kissed her lips and her neck, down to her chest right above her breasts.�She moaned and he continued to love and caress her all over. �
Buffy laid on top of him as their bodies cooled. The sheets were pulled to their waists, letting there upper bodies remain in full contact with each other, sweat glistened on Buffy's bare back, as well as Angel's chest. Her head was resting in the crook of his neck, while both their hands were entwined on each side. Angel laid his head on top of hers, inhaling her scent, he slid one of his hands from hers and brought it up to stroke her hair off her face. She sighed at the comfort she was in and angled her face to look at her lover. His face was so calm and relaxed, she felt just as replenished; Buffy grinned at the thought of what they had done, and she was glad that her first experience in love making was with him, and that all her other experiences would be with him as well. If she could help it, no one would ever experience this kind of intimacy with her, no one but her Angel; her husband.
Buffy felt so in tuned with him, she wanted to share what she was thinking. "I'm glad you were the one." She whispered.
"The one?" Angel asked.
Buffy arched her body up so that she could look at him. "The one I gave myself to, the one who would teach me in the art of love."
Angel placed his hand on her cheek. "I'm honored that you chose me." He pulled her head down and placed his lips on hers. He rolled them over, so that she was beneath him again, not breaking their kiss, until Buffy needed to breath.
She was panting, while Angel caressed her neck with his lips. Buffy turned her head to the clock. "Angel, as much as I hate to say this, we don't have time."
Angel's head popped up, with a grin. "Are you sure? It gets better the third time around."
Giggling. "I thought it was the second time around?"
"Well, yeah." He started nibbling behind her ear. "The second, third, fourth, fifth...." Each number he said, he nibbled harder on that pressure point, it was a spot that made her crazy, and she didn't even know, until now.
Buffy clutched his back at the pressure, trying to get him to stop. "Angel, ooh, Willow, my Mom, they, ohh, coming..."
Angel ignored it, and concentrated on his task of pleasing his wife, until they heard a bang downstairs. He got up quickly, reaching for his boxers, while Buffy went to the other side of the bed, to pull her clothes on. They were fully dressed in less than a minute, and went downstairs cautiously.
The banging was coming from the kitchen door, going non stop. "Buffy, Angel!!! It's Willow open up hurry!!!"
Angel rushed to the door, and opened it to see a frantic Willow. She rushed in with a bottle of herbs and spell book in hand. "He's after your Mom." Willow showed them the picture Angelus drew.
Buffy looked at the drawing intensely. "Mom."
**********************************
Joyce drove home after a hard day at work, and shopping. She pulled up into her driveway, and saw Angelus standing in her yard; she breathed a sigh, annoyed that he was there.
Angelus approached the car. "Ms. Summers, I need to talk to you."
Grabbing her bag of groceries. "You're Angel's brother." She replied, noticing a slight difference in the young man.
Angelus smiled, and let out a chuckle. "Did Buffy tell you about us?"
"She told me she wants you to leave her alone."
"I can't, I can't do that." He replied, still chuckling.
"You're scaring her.
"You have to help me." Angelus pleaded.
Joyce rolled her eyes and walked around him.
Angelus eyes glowed slightly, and turned toward her. "Joyce, I need to be with her, you can convince her. You have to convince her."
"I'm telling you to leave her alone." Joyce threatened.
"Please, talk to her, tell her I need her."
The sound in his voice was demented, Joyce feared what she saw in his eyes. "Look, I just wanna get inside." She rushed to get to the door, and dropped her bag of groceries. Joyce scrambled to get them up quickly.
Angelus rushed to her side, trying to help her pick up everything. "You don't understand, I'll die without Buffy, she'll die without me."
"Are you threatening her?" Joyce said tightly.
"Please." He begged. "Why is she doing this to me?"
"I'm calling the police, now." Joyce replied scared, his eyes, his voice just screamed danger to her. She got up and rushed to the door, fumbling to find the right key.
Angelus smiled, He got up and walked up to Joyce. Angelus could sense the fear in her. "I haven't been able to sleep since the night we made love." He said, knowing that it wasn't all true, but he felt every feeling, and heard every gasp of pleasure, gave him all the truth he needed, in more ways than one, he made love to Buffy that night.
Joyce gasped in shock, she snapped her head toward him, she could not believe what she was hearing; her baby girl, having.........
Angelus smiled at Joyce, seeing the shock in her face. "I need her, I know you understand."
Breathing hard in fear. "Just leave us alone!" She yelled. Joyce rushed into the house.
Angelus stepped to enter the house, but stopped in his tracks when Angel, Buffy, and Willow came walking to the door, finishing the spell to keep him from entering. The barrier set in when Willow finished that last part. "His Verbes Consesus Rescissus Est."
Smiling in triumph, Buffy walked up to him. "Sorry. Changed the locks." She slammed the door in his face, causing Angelus to growl in anger.
***************************
Back at the school, Jenny sat pouring over her computer, trying to get this program going. "Come on." She said, this was taking longer than expected. Giles had stopped by before, she told him that she may have something and that she would meet him later.
Jenny just hoped that this would work, but she stopped worrying when the program downloaded, and the curse was translated. "That's it." She quickly hit save, and pulled out the yellow disk. As she waited for the text to print, she took a quick glance, and jumped out of her seat. "Angelus."
"Hiya Jenny." He said sitting in one of the student chairs with his feet planted on the desk.
Jenny was trying to remain calm. "How did you get in here?"
"The sign on the door." He took his feet from the desk. "Romatia Transicara Edicatorum."
"Enter all ye who seek knowledge." Jenny translated.
"What can I say, I'm a big knowledge seeker."
Jenny started to scoot towards the door, but she had to keep him distracted. "Angelus, I've got great news."
"I heard." He walked toward her desk. "You went shopping at the local boogedy, boogedy store." Angelus picked up the orb. "The Orb of Theseula, if memory serves me it's supposed to store a soul in the ether until it can be restored in a body." He looked into the glowing orb. "You know what I hate most about these things?" Angelus threw the orb at the blackboard, smashing it to pieces, causing Jenny to shriek away. "That they're so damn fragile. Must be that shoddy gypsy craftsmanship, huh?"
Jenny turned back, breathing hard.
Angelus chuckled, and went over to the computer. "You know things have certainly changed, you put the secret to my curse, in here!!" He pushed the computer screen to the ground. "It comes out here." Pulling the paper out of the printer, and looks at it. "The ritual of restoration.' Huh, well, this-this brings back memories."
Angelus begins to tear the paper.
Jenny gasps. "Wait that's you're....."
"Oh, my cure?" He tears the paper in half. "No thanks. Been there, done that. D�j� vu just isn't what it used to be." Angelus looks down at the computer screen on the floor, now on fire. "Huh, looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone." Kneeling down to look into the fire, Angelus morphed to his vamp face, and turned to Jenny. "And the teacher makes three."
Jenny rushed passed the desk to run, but Angelus caught her and threw her into the other door, forcing it to open. Jenny scrambled up, and ran out the classroom.
"Oh good, I need to work up an appetite first." Angelus took off out the door.
Jenny ran down the hallway, she could hear Angelus growling behind her. 'I'm going die.' She thought frantically. Jenny went through the double doors, heading towards the front of the school, she looked behind her not seeing Angelus. When she turned around, she ran right into him.
Laughing. "Sorry Jenny, this is where you get off."
"Noo!!!"
With the twist of his wrist, Angelus snapped her neck like a twig, the cracking vibrating through his ears. "I never get tired of doing that."
Part 12
Joyce stood in her living room, staring at Buffy and Angel, she was still in a slight shock at what had happened with Angelus. Her eyes focused on Buffy. "I wanna talk to you now." She said tightly, not caring that Willow or Angel was there and walked toward the stairs.
Buffy looked at Angel for moment, before following her mother upstairs. Angel just stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them to come down as quickly as they went up.
Joyce went to Buffy's bedroom, with Buffy following behind. She motioned for Buffy to sit down on the bed, while Joyce turned the lights on. Pacing in front of her daughter, Joyce was at loss about what to say. "Um, that was Angel downstairs."
"Yeah."
"And his brother, um, was outside." Joyce said.
"Yeah." Buffy breathed. "That stuff with the Latin and the herbs; he's just real superstitious, I figured it would keep him away."
"Oh." Joyce said. She breathed in a sigh, to work up the courage to ask this next question. "Who was the first?" When she thought about what she just said, Joyce started babbling. "Oh, I don't want to know, I don't think I wanna know."
Confused. "What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, "The first?"
"Buffy, he told me you had sex with him, so don't lie to me!"
Buffy shot up. "I never slept with him, he's lying. I'm with Angel." She said passionately.
Joyce exhaled. "Was he the first?"
Sitting back down on the bed. "Yeah, he was the first, he's the only one."
"He's older than you." Joyce pressed. "Too old Buffy, what he's 23? 24?"
"22." Buffy clarified, giving her the line she and Angel made up.
Joyce stopped pacing. "And his family is obviously not very stable, I thought you would have shone better judgment, before you got into a situation like this."
"It wasn't always like this." Buffy whispered.
Joyce saw a look in Buffy's eyes, she recognized that spark. "Are you in love with him? Angel?"
"Yes."
"Were you careful?"
Suddenly embarrassed. "Mom." Buffy shook her head.
Joyce jumped up. "Don't you 'Mom' me!! You don't get to get out of this, you had sex with a boy you didn't even tell me you were dating."
"I know that, we, we were going to tell you we were dating." Buffy explained.
"Were you gonna tell me everything?"
Sighing. "Mom, I can't tell you everything." Buffy pleaded, with her mother, she didn't know how hard it was to have to keep her out of the dark like this. Buffy wanted to tell her mother everything, but to keep her safe she couldn't.
"How about anything." Joyce shot back. "Buffy you can shut me out of your life, I'm pretty much used to that. But don't ever expect me to stop caring, cause it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world.
Buffy stayed silent, not sure what to say.
Joyce sat down beside her. "That would be your cue to, uh, roll your eyes and tell me I'm grossing you out."
Smiling to herself. "You're not." Buffy said, placing her hand on top of her mother's.
Joyce smiled at her, and squeezed her daughter's hand. "Oh well. I guess that was 'the talk'"
"So how'd it go?"
Chuckling. "I don't know, it was my first." Joyce said smiling at Buffy. She got up from the bed, pulling Buffy's hand. "Come on, let's meet the boyfriend, that you're so in love with. Gotta give him the third degree."
They both smiled at each other, and headed down stairs with there hands linked.
**********************************
Giles came home, exhausted, he'd had a long day. He just wanted to have a drink and go to bed, but Jenny was coming over to talk with him. When Giles got to his front door, he knew sleep was out of the question. There was a rose taped to the door, he pulled the rose to his nose, and smelled the fragrance; he smiled even brighter when he heard the soft classical music playing.
Giles quickly opened the door, to see the most romantic site. "Jenny, it's me"
On a table in the middle of the room, lit candles were placed around a bottle of champagne waiting to be opened, and beside it was a note. "Upstairs." He read. Giles smiled even brighter, he grabbed the bottle of champagne; and headed up the stairs to his bedroom. Jenny was waiting. He followed the trail of roses, when he got to his bedroom, the smile slowly dropped from his face, the bottle of champagne fell from his hand; shattered.
Back at the Summer's residence, Angelus stood outside of the window, watching Buffy, Angel, and Joyce talking. By the look of there faces he could tell his little scheme didn't faze them, they all looked as if they were having a family gathering. He saw Willow come into the room, she and Buffy walked into dining room, where Angelus had a better view of everyone. The phone ringed, Buffy ran to answer it, Angelus smiled when he heard her acknowledge the call, "Giles."
Angelus watched her face become the most mortified look he'd ever seen. A confused look came over Willow, she took the phone from Buffy, who was locked in a trance. Angelus smiled brighter, when Willow became hysterical, and screaming "No."
Angel and Joyce ran into the room. Angel kneeled down beside Buffy, she was sitting on the floor, her eyes screamed shock, and Joyce ran over to a hysterical Willow; she pulled her into a hug, to calm her down. Angel did the same to a catatonic Buffy, he looked up at the window and came face to face with Angelus.
Angelus smiled back at Angel, and walked away.
Angel held Buffy tighter, as she came out of shock. She looked at him, and Angel had nothing he could say. Buffy pushed him away, she got up from where she was sitting, and ran upstairs to her room. Angel followed closely behind her. "Buffy?"
She didn't answer. Buffy went into her closet, grabbed her jacket, and went back downstairs. Angel sighed and followed her. Buffy rushed to the closest phone she could reach, to call Xander and Cordelia.
A few moments later, Xander and Cordelia pulled up outside of the house. They tossed Joyce an excuse, and left.
Xander glared at Angel as he walked toward the car. Angel noticed, but didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say. He could see the hate that Xander held for him intensify, Xander always hated him, but what shone in his eyes now was far beyond hate.
Buffy walked up to the car. "Did you find Giles?"
Xander shook his head. "No, by the time we got to the police station, they said he'd already left."
Sighing. "Let's go to his place, Cordelia will you take us to Giles'?" Buffy asked.
"Of course." Cordelia replied.
Willow grabbed Buffy's arm. "Don't you think Giles wants to be alone?"
"I'm not worrying about what Giles wants, I'm worried about what he's gonna do." Buffy confessed, and they all got into the car. When they got to Giles apartment, they saw the place was just as Angelus set it up. Roses were still scattered, and the candles were still set in place.
Xander walked to the table. "Looks like Giles had a night planned." He said tightly, looking at Angel.
Buffy walked to him, she saw a charcoaled drawing of Jenny. "Giles didn't set this up. Angelus did." She tossed the picture to the floor.
"This is the wrapping for the gift." Angel said, speaking up for the first time. Buffy nodded at him, agreeing before she went upstairs to check, when she came back down. "He's gone."
Willow glanced down. "Look, all his weapons are gone." She looked into the open box.
Cordelia turned to look into the box "But I thought he kept his weapons at the library."
"No, those were his everyday weapons" Xander replied. "These were his good weapons, the ones he, um, breaks out when company comes to visit."
"He's going after Angelus." Buffy said
"Good." Xander proclaimed, letting his anger show.
"Xander..."
He interrupted Willow. "I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, pussycat, kill, kill.'"
Xander looked at Angel. "Look all I'm saying is, you guys should have been more careful in dealing with Angel instead of rushing to trust. Just because you had a soul, doesn't change the fact that you still had a demon, and now it's loose."
Buffy bowed her head. In a way, Xander was right, maybe they were so caught up in each other, that they didn't think off something like this, now as a result, Jenny is dead, and Giles might be next. "But there is a problem with a revenge ridden Giles."
"What?" Xander asked.
"It's gonna get him killed." Angel finished.
*****************************
"Are you insane?" Spike yelled. Angelus returned to the factory, and told Spike and Dru about what he did; Spike was not pleased. "You're supposed to kill the bitch, not leave gag gifts in her friends' beds."
Drusilla started to stroke his cheek. "But Spike, the bad teacher was gonna restore Angel's soul." She pouted, her pet wasn't pleased and that made her sad.
"What if she did?" Spike took Drusilla's hand away. "If you ask me, I find myself preferring the old Buffy-whipped Angelus. This new improved one is not playing with a full sack."
Angelus rolled his eyes.
"I love a slaughter as much as the next bloke, but his little pranks will only leave us with one brassed off slayer." Spike explained.
Angelus rolled his eyes again, pissing Spike off. "Don't worry, Roller Boy, I've got everything under control."
A bottle came crashing, and flames began to spread. Spike wheeled away, with Drusilla behind him, clutching her puppy. Angelus hid his face from the flames, while he followed, until an arrow impaled him in the shoulder.
Giles came out of his hiding spot, he threw the crossbow into the fire, and picked up a two by four; letting it catch on fire, he struck Angelus in the face, making sure the flames hit him.
Angelus fell to the floor. "Jeez, whatever happened to wooden stakes?"
Spike and Drusilla watched on, she was about to intervene, until Spike grabbed her arm. "Uh-uh, no fair going into the ring unless he tags you first." He pulled her, and motioned for her to follow.
Giles kept hitting Angelus, until he blocked the next blow, and grabbed Giles around the throat, game face and all. "All right, you've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?" He growled.
"My fun." Buffy replied, coming from behind, she kicked Angelus in the chest, causing him to drop Giles. She punched him in the face, he blocked her next punch, and pushed her away. Angelus ran toward some stairs, and ran across the walkway to get to a door. Buffy jumped onto the walkway, and kicked him in the face; when he fell down, she kept punching and kicking him the face, shoving his head into the railing of the steps. Every blow caused him to laugh harder.
He blocked her next punch. "You gonna let your old man burn." When Buffy's attention turned to Giles, he tossed her over the railing, and ran to the door. Buffy came to Giles side, she pulled him onto his feet, and helped him walk out of the building as the flames grew. When they got outside, Giles pushed Buffy away from him. "Why did you come here?!!!" He pushed her again. "This wasn't your fight."
Buffy retaliated, and punched him in the jaw. She started to cry. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!!" Buffy kneeled down, and pulled him into her arms, they were both crying. "You can't leave me, I can't do this without you." She sobbed. Giles clutched her tightly, letting his emotions run.
The gang came running towards the two, they had been waiting for Buffy to bring Giles out. The gang just stood there, watching, the building go up in smoke.
Part 13
A pair of hands hooked over the top of a wall in the seemingly quiet cemetery. Buffy pulled herself up, and jumped down to the other side. When she hit the ground, Buffy lost her balance, and nearly toppled over.
Sighing, she straighten herself up, Buffy coughed hoarsely, she felt icky and gross. But she couldn't just lay at home, after Jenny's death, Buffy had been more determined in her nightly slaying, she needed to make sure that no one would die. Buffy pulled a stake out of her jacket, shaking off the wave of dizziness that hit her, she made her way across the graveyard. She walked for a moment, until Buffy sensed a presence, she tried to concentrate while she slowly walked toward a mausoleum. Buffy raised her stake, and jumped around the corner, she swung to strike, but held back when she saw who it was.
Xander screamed, his reflexes made him jump back, while holding onto his own stake. Causing Willow and Cordelia to hold up the crosses in front of them.
Buffy sniffed, she brought the stake she had in her hand down. "Non-vampire. Plus two."
Willow exhales, and puts her cross away. "Hi." The 3 stepped out into the open.
Xander was still hyperventilating. "Buffy! My whole life just flashed before my eyes! I need to get one." He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here??" Willow asked, ignoring her question, she look at how pale Buffy looked, and was upset that Buffy would come out here in her condition.
"I'm patrolling." Buffy replied.
Concerned. "Buffy, you're sick."
"No." Buffy said. She placed her hand on her forehead, trying to stop the spinning. "No, I feel fine. I mean, World's spinning a little bit, but I like it, it's like a ride." Buffy wobbled a little, but stayed on her feet.
Cordelia flipped her hair behind her. "Half the school's out with this flu. It's a serious deal, Buffy. We're all concerned about how gross you look."
Buffy rolled her eyes again. "I'm touched." She said with a hint of sarcasm. "But I have work to do."
"Buffy, come on." Willow pleaded. "One night of rest is not gonna kill you."
"No, but it might kill somebody else." Buffy replied sadly.
Xander points at her with his stake. "You mean Angelus might." When Buffy turned away from him, he got more worried. "Buffy, this not the time to challenge Angelus for the ultimate fighting championship. He's at full strength, you're only half a slayer."
Buffy turned to him. "Yeah, but I'm still the Slayer. And as long as I am, he's not gonna kill anybody else."
"Aww, please just one more." Angelus said, walking from behind them. He ran toward Buffy pushing her out of the way, and tackled Cordelia to the ground.
Buffy grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled him off of her. She turned Angelus around and swings at him with a stake. He easily blocked and grabbed her arm, making Buffy drop the stake.
"Not feeling well, lover?" He teases.
Buffy punched him in the jaw. Angelus fumes at her and tries to kick her, but she grabs his foot, and trips him up; making him fall hard on his back.
Angelus scrambled to get up, Buffy comes at him from behind, but he kicks out with his leg, landing into her chest, Buffy staggered back until she regained her balance. Dizziness struck her quickly, her vision swarmed, flashes shined in her eyes; giving Angelus the advantage. He got up and rushed toward her, he blocked the wild punches she made easily, and grabbed her by the throat. He sighs, like he's out of breath. "You know, you being off your game, is kinda takin' the fun out of this."
When Buffy struggled, he punched her in her face, she stumbled backwards.
"Nope, still fun!" Angelus grabbed her by the neck again and shoved Buffy into a headstone.
Buffy is so dazed, she can barely stand up straight, especially since Angelus wastes no time in knocking her down onto her back.
Angelus straddles Buffy and pins her arms down. "Uh-oh. This does not look good for our heroine." He smiles in triumph, and leans down to bite her.
Suddenly out of no where, Willow throws Xander's jacket over Angelus head just as his fangs began to sink in. She quickly backs away as Xander runs toward Angelus, punching and kicking.
Angelus fell onto his back. Willow and Cordelia quickly pull out their crosses and holds them out as he gets up, and backs away; growling.
"Take a walk, overbite." Xander threatened.
Buffy gets to her feet slowly, as Angelus slowly backs away.
Angelus smiles. "We'll have to do this again." He walks off.
Buffy just watches him go.
Xander quickly goes to her side. "Are you OK?"
Angrily, Buffy pushed Xander away. "I told you guys to leave!!!" She clutched her head with both hands, wobbling on her feet. "I...oh.." Buffy fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Buffy!" Xander yelled, kneeling down beside her. "Buffy?"
*********************************
Xander held a still unconscious Buffy, as he stormed into Sunnydale Hospital Emergency Room, with Willow and Cordelia right behind him.
"We need help!" Xander yelled.
A nurse ran up to him. "What happened?"
They all spoke at once.
"She fell."
"The flu."
"She fainted."
The nurse quickly brings a gurney over to them.
Xander became frantic, and began rambling. "The flu, fainted and fell. She's sick, make it better!
"It's gonna be okay." The nurse replied to calm Xander down. "Let's get her up."
Xander lays Buffy out on the gurney, and steps back. The nurse checks Buffy's eyes for a response, as they start to wheel her into the emergency room. "Patient's unconscious, pupils are unequal and unresponsive."
Willow is concerned about what the nurse just said. "Is she gonna be okay?"
The nurse ignores her question, she blocks there way. "Stop, you can't go any further."
Xander doesn't listen and tries to follow. "Someone should be with her!"
"You can't go any further!!" The nurse demanded, and closes the door in there faces.
Willow sighed. "I'll go call Giles, one of you go call Buffy's Mom." She said quickly, and rushed off to the pay phones.
After a while, Cordelia, Xander and Willow are sitting in the waiting room with worried looks on their faces. Giles arrived earlier and was also waiting and nervously cleaning his glasses. He straightened his form, when he saw Joyce come from the elevator, with Angel behind her.
Joyce rushes to them. "Where is she?"
Everyone gets up. Giles walks toward Joyce. "She's still in the emergency room." He made sure he stayed focused on Joyce, looking at Angel still brought out a few dangerous thoughts he wanted to act on.
Angel bowed his head, he prayed that she was all right. He went to see Buffy tonight, because he knew she was sick, he wanted to keep her company, and when Joyce told him that she wasn't there; he began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was there when Joyce received the call from Cordelia telling them that Buffy was in the hospital, he and Joyce had left immediately.
Joyce started to walk toward the ER. "I wanna see her."
"They won't let us in there."
Joyce stops and looks back at her. Just then a Doctor came out of the ER.
"Mrs. Summers?" The Doctor called. "I'm Dr. Wil.......
"Is Buffy, OK?" Joyce interrupted.
"We were able to stabilize and...."
Joyce interrupted again. "Is. She. OK?"
"She's going to be fine." The doctor said reassuringly.
Joyce sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"Were bringing her down now, I wanna keep her here for a few days, she still has a lot of healing to do."
Buffy was being wheeled down the hall on the gurney. Everyone rushed to see her and followed, while going to her room. Her arm was in a small cast, and an IV was in her right hand. Joyce stroked Buffy's head. "Hi, sweetheart."
Xander is on the other side of her. "Hey Buffy, were all here."
Buffy who is still a little dazed from the medication they were giving her. "Here we are. What's all of we? Are we taking me home?" She says groggily, trying to sit up.
The doctor quickly pushes her down. "No, Buffy you need to lie down."
Dazed. "Uh. Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that's..not my bed."
The doctor looks at Joyce. "She's still a little out of it."
Angel gets closer to her and strokes her cheek. Buffy smiles slightly. "Shh" She placed her finger on her lips. "Hospital zone, no singing."
Angel smiled a bit. "The drugs are strong."
The doctor nodded. "She'll feel better, after she's been here awhile."
Buffy heard this and terrified look crossed her face. "No!!!" Buffy tried to get up from the gurney. "Lemme go!!"
The doctor and two other nurses struggle to get Buffy to lie back down, but she was putting up a fight, even in her weakened condition.
Angel looked scared for her, he had never seen her that terrified before, not even with the Master. "Buffy, what's wrong?" Was all he could think to say.
"No!! Let me go.."
The nurses, and doctor manage to push her back down, and restrain her. The doctor pulled a needle out of her jacket. "This'll help you relax."
Buffy struggled to keep the needle away from her. The doctor held her arm tightly, and injected a sedative into her vein.
"Ow." Buffy winces in pain. "No"
The doctor pulled the needle out, Buffy's struggling stopped, she breathed heavily as the sedative kicked in. Buffy begin to relax, and one of the nurses checkd her IV to make sure she didn't pull it out.
Joyce leans over. "Honey, listen."
Buffy whimpers. "I wanna go home."
Angel steps up to her, and takes her hand. "Buffy it's gonna be okay, I promise."
Buffy starts to cry, the fear in her eyes crushed Angel. "Angel, please I don't want to stay here."
The nurse pushed Angel and the others away, wheeled Buffy away.
"Angel please don't make me stay here." She whimpers, trying to hold onto his hand.
Reluctantly Angel lets go. "Its OK, Buffy, I'm here."
Everyone stood back as Buffy was wheeled away. Angel stood in place, he could get the look of her fearful eyes out of his mind.
"That was a new experience." Xander replied, stirring Angel out of his thoughts. "I'm not used to seeing Buffy scared like that."
Joyce sighed. "Yeah, she just *hates* hospitals. Ever since she was a little girl."
Willow walked up to Joyce. "What happened?"
"When she was eight her cousin Celia died in a hospital. Buffy was alone with her at the time." Joyce turned back around. "They were very close." She sighed and left, she headed toward the pay phones, with Giles in tow.
Angel stood where he was. He stared at the door that Buffy just went through, waiting to go and be by her side.
Part 14
Buffy stirred slightly in her sleep, the sedative she was given was really powerful. She took a deep breath as she woke up, she blinked her eyes rapidly trying to shake the sleep cloud from her eyes. Buffy glanced over at the door, it was wide open and she noticed a little boy silently staring at her. After a while, the boy walked down the hall, Buffy tried to say something, but couldn't get the words passed her dry throat. She stared at the door, when all of a sudden a man in a black suit and a hat walks by.
The man looks into Buffy's room, giving her a good look at his disfigured, mutilated face. His teeth were all long fangs, giving off a grotesque smile and his fingers were sickly elongated; he waves his hand at her, and followed the little boy.
Buffy raised her head in disbelief, unsure of what she saw, in her weakened state she slowly gets up from the bed, and pulled the IV from her hand; tightening her robe, Buffy walked down the hall, following where the little boy had gone. Buffy walked down the hallway, going into the children's ward, she walked passed the an office where she heard two doctors arguing about the death of another child. When she had heard enough, Buffy walked down the hallway, until she saw the little boy.
He looked at her. "He comes at night. The grown ups don't see him. He was with Tina. He'll come back for us." The boy said.
"Who?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Death."
********************************** Xander sat in the waiting room, outside near the front desk. He was trying to keep himself awake, earlier when he and Willow were talking, he suggested that someone keep watch, just in case Angelus decided to make an appearance. Insisting, Xander took first watch, and asked a reluctant Angel to take Willow and Cordelia home.
The elevator opened, and a whistling Angelus stepped off, with white flowers in his hand. Xander turned and saw the smirk on his face, and knew it wasn't Angel, he quickly got up and faced Angelus before he could go any further.
"Visiting hours are over."
Angelus smirked. "Well, I'm pretty much family." Xander breathed, trying to keep his cool. "Yeah. Why don't you come back during the day? Oh, I guess not.
Angelus got into Xander's face. "If I decide to walk into Buffy's room, do you think for one microsecond that you could stop me?" He threatened.
"Maybe not. Maybe that security guard couldn't either." Xander nodded to the guard behind him. "Or those cops..or the orderlies... But I'm kinda curious to find out. You game?" He challenged.
Angelus smiled. "Buffy's White Knight. "You still love her." He leaned in closer. "It must eat you up that you didn't get it first. "
Trying to hide his anger. "You're gonna die. And I'm gonna be there." Xander threatened.
"Tell her I stopped by." Angelus said, he slaps the flowers against Xander's chest, and walked back toward the elevator.
Xander shuddered, he covers his mouth and lets out a breath of relief. He slowly goes back to where he was sitting, and puts his head in his hands.
A few minutes later, Angel came through the waiting room doors, he saw Xander still sitting there with his head in his hands, automatically Angel assumed something was wrong. He walked quickly over to Xander, and touched his shoulder. "Xander?"
Xander heard his voice and jumped up out of his seat, he was about to start making threats, until he looked at him closely. "Oh, it's you." Xander snapped, and walk back to his seat.
"Of course it's me." Angel said.
"Big brother showed up." Xander replied, he knew Angel would know what that meant. When he saw Angel bow his head, Xander got back up and walked to him. "I think you need to realize what kind of danger you're putting her through, you've done nothing but put her through hell." He said, still angry at what Angelus said to him, and still upset with Angel, since he believed all of this was his fault.
Angel looked up at him, he never cared what Xander thought if him, and he wasn't gonna start now, even though Angel somewhat agreed. "Well, what have you done?" He said. Angel brushed passed Xander and walked toward Buffy's room.
Xander stood there, thinking about Angel's words, he didn't want to admit it, but he was right. 'What have I done for her?' he thought.
Angel walked into Buffy's room, seeing her sleeping on the bed. Buffy had come back to her room, and passed right out; no one had even known she had left. Angel grabbed a chair and sat down beside her, he took her hand in his. He sighed. "Why didn't you stay at home?" Angel looked at her, Buffy looked so peaceful, in her sleep. Like nothing was wrong, but he knew that Angelus attacked her, and it wouldn't have happened if she had stayed home, she knew she was sick, and she went anyway. Angel just wished she wasn't so stubborn, but that's what he loved about her.
Buffy stirred in her sleep, a light flashed in her eyes, and she was 8 years old again, she walking down a hallway, going to her cousin Celia's room. Buffy slowly approached the curtain around Celia's bed, she pulled it open to look at her cousin, who was lying there peacefully asleep.
Buffy's eyes snapped open, she turned her head and saw Dr. Wilkins walk in.
"Good Morning."
Buffy moaned, she rubbed her eyes, while moving into a sitting position. "Could've fooled me."
The doctor smiled, and checked her vitals. "How are you feeling?" Reaching out to touch her forehead. "Looks like your fever's gone down."
"Well, good! Thanks for having me. Let's try and keep in touch." Buffy said quickly, and tried to get out of the bed.
Dr. Wilkins quickly pushes her back. "Not so fast." The doctor inspected Buffy's bandaged arm. "Hmm."
"Good 'hmm' or bad?" Buffy asked.
Swelling's ... gone! Dr. Wilkins said. "Does this hurt?
"Nope."
"Amazing." The doctor replies.
"Well, then I should probably go, right?" Buffy said, trying to leave.
The doctor stops her again. "No, we have to make sure that fever is gone. That's a strong virus you have. Maybe not as strong as you but...."
Buffy thought about last night. "Is it the same virus the kids have?" She asked suddenly.
Before the doctor could answer, there was a knock at the door. Giles slowly peeped his head in. "May we come in?"
Dr. Wilkins sighed. "Please! Maybe you can keep our patient from bolting." Looking at Buffy sternly. "Rest!" The doctor left, leaving them to there reunion.
Xander walked up to the bed holding some big balloons in his hand. "Flowers for milady." He bowed.
Buffy smiles and looks at them. "I think they call those balloons."
"Yeah, stick them in water, maybe they'll grow."
Willow smiled, and dropped some books into Buffy's lap. "Not to be outdone."
"Homework." Buffy replied in a 'are you crazy tone.'
"It's my way of saying, get well soon."
Buffy looks at Willow. "You know chocolate says that better."
Willow shook her head. "I did all your assignments. All you have to do is sign your name."
Happily. "Chocolate means *nothing.*"
Giles stepped up and gave her a bag of grapes. "It's tradition." He smiled. "Um, did you pass the night well enough."
"Not really. Something happened I thought you..."
Buffy was interrupted, when a nurse came in, to check on her.
"You know what? Let's go outside." Buffy suggested.
*******************************
Outside near the hospital's main entrance. Willow pushed Buffy, who was sitting in a wheelchair, while the others walked alongside.
Buffy breathed in the air. "Now, this part I could get used to."
"Do you want me to go real fast?" Willow suggested, but when she got a look from Giles. "Not that I would."
Giles cleared his throat. "We were discussing, um, stuff."
"Yes, stuff. Um, a girl died here last night." Buffy said.
"How?"
"Well, the flu." Buffy answered.
Xander looked a little confused. "Flu doesn't exactly sound monsterrific."
Sighing. "I know. But there's this Dr. Backer, and he's been giving them these experimental treatments." Buffy explained.
They stopped by a bench and Giles sits in front of Buffy, motioning for her to go on.
"I'm not sure what he's up to, but he's a little creepy, and there's this kid, Ryan, he said he saw something."
"Saw what?" Giles asked.
"Death." Buffy answered. "And I saw something." She looked at the looks they were giving her, and knew they thought she was probably crazy. "Maybe it wasn't death. Maybe it was something else."
Cordelia cleared her throat. "So this isn't about you being afraid of hospitals, cause your friend died and you wanna conjure up a monster that you can fight so you can save everybody and not feel so helpless?"
Buffy looked at Cordelia with mixed emotions. She was upset that Cordelia brought up such a painful memory, but she was more pissed because of what Cordelia had implied. 'She really didn't know when to shut her mouth,' Buffy thought.
"Cordelia, have you actually ever heard of tact?" Giles said, calmly.
Rolling her eyes. "Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass."
Willow pushes Cordelia out of the way. "Your Mom did tell us about your cousin."
Exhaling. "This had nothing to do with that." Buffy said sternly. "This little boy Ryan is afraid of something, something real. And as long as I'm forced to stay here, I'm gonna find out what."
Part 15
Buffy sat in her wheelchair, looking out the window. The gang went off to start looking for clues to what might be going on with the kids. Buffy was positive some kind of demon or creature was terrorizing the children, but she kept getting the feeling that her friends didn't really believe her. No matter, she was dead set on finding out the truth.
A knock on the door stirred Buffy from her thoughts. She turned her head, when she saw who it was her eyes brightened, and closed the curtains, to block the light.
Angel walked into the room, with bouquet of lilies in his hand. "Hey baby."
Buffy smiled brightly, and turned herself around in the wheelchair. "Hi."
Angel kneeled down to kiss her on the forehead. "Feeling better?" He said, placing the flowers in her arms.
"Much better." Buffy replied. She looked at the flowers. "There beautiful."
"I hoped you liked them, I figured roses were a bit over played." He pulled a chair up, and sat in front of her.
Buffy chuckled.
Getting serious. "Are you sure you're okay? You gave us all a scare last night." Angel said
"Yes, I'm fine." Buffy touched his hand. "My fever's gone, and my wrist stopped swelling; so I'm good to go."
"I'm glad you're okay." Angel took a moment. "You know, I should be upset with you, going on patrol, while you were sick, but I understand."
"You always do, even when I do something really stupid. No, wait, this was stupid." Buffy joked.
Angel chuckled with her, he laughed it off, but he was still a little upset that she would put herself in danger like that, but the part of him that understood, knew that Buffy would always put others before herself.
"So, when do you get out of here?" Angel asked.
"Umm, I can't leave now."
"I thought you would do anything to get out of here." Angel replied.
Buffy took a breath. "Angel, I saw something last night. I was a little out of it, but I saw a man, well not a man, he was all monster like, and he was after one of the children here."
"Buffy, are you sure?"
"Yes, I saw it. It killed one of the kids, and now the other kids are scared." Buffy explained.
"What do you want to do?" Angel replied.
Buffy stopped to think for a moment. "Well, I need to find out what it is, and what the doctors know about it, there are 2 of them that seem to be involved."
Angel nodded, agreeing with her plan.
********************************************************
Angel stayed for a few more minutes, before leaving to go see what he could find out. Buffy decided to go see the kids, she headed down to the children's ward, and saw Ryan sitting at a table drawing a picture with crayons. Buffy walked over to him. "Hey. Remember me?" She asked.
Ryan kept on coloring. "You shouldn't be here."
"Why not?"
"Contagious." He replied.
Buffy smiled. "Nah. I already got what you got."
Buffy sat down by the table, while Ryan kept on drawing his picture.
"Oh, what, you think because I'm a grown-up? Believe me, I'm not that grown up."
When he didn't answer, she takes a look at his picture. It's of the monster that he's seen coming after the other kids. Buffy zoned out for a second, having a flashback to when she saw it walk past her door.
"He'll come again tonight." Ryan said
"Ryan, listen to me. I'm not gonna let this thing hurt you, any of you."
Ryan looked up at her.
Buffy continued. "Grown-ups don't believe you, right? Well, I do. We both know that there are real monsters. But there's also real heroes that fight monsters. And that's me.
Ryan looked away and goes back to drawing his picture. "Can't fight death." He said, Ryan was so sure that he was going to die, nothing she said could break through to him.
At the Library, Willow, and Giles were looking up information on both doctors at the hospital. Willow had broken into the hospital's database, and was pulling up one of the doctor's file. "Here's the information on Dr. Backer." Willow informed Giles
He stood behind her looking at the screen. "Our Dr. Backer has something of a rap sheet."
"Reprimands for controversial experiments, risky procedures, a malpractice suit. Looks like it was dropped suddenly." Willow listed
Giles took his glasses off, indicating he was thinking really hard. " The factor in Buffy's observation that he gives her the, um, uh, wiggins... "
"This may be our death guy?"
"I just wish I knew what he was doing to these children." Giles mumbled.
Part 16
Dr. Backer walked into the children's ward. He passed various beds of sick children, until he came to one particularly sick boy, he pulled a syringe out of his pocket, and injected it into the boys IV . He pulled the needle out, to put it back in his pocket. Dr. Backer jumped when he heard a muffled laugh from behind, he turned to look but no one was there. When his attention was focused back on the boy, suddenly he was hit in the back, the blow causing him to keel over. Dr. Backer groaned in pain as another blow was struck in his chest, by something unseen.
Two beds down Ryan awoke, he cowered in fear.
Dr. Backer started to breath hard as if trying to keep air in his lungs, he yelled in agony, when four slashes rip through him going so deep the blood spilled profusely. On the wall a shadow can be seen swinging its arm for another slice at the doctor, and blood sprayed onto the wall.
Buffy came toward the children's rooms, wanting to check on Ryan and the other kids, as she reached the door, Dr. Backer came flying out the door, and onto the floor. Buffy rushed to his aid trying to help him, but something pushed her way, causing her to hit the wall hard, knocking her unconscious. Dr. Backer's arms are lifted by the unseen being, and his body pulled around down the hall, a stream of blood following him.
The next day, Buffy informed everyone what had happened to Dr. Backer, now that they knew he wasn't involved with the children's death, they were trying to find out what the monster was, and why it was killing the children, one by one. Buffy listened as Giles and Cordelia explained, what they had found out, with the help of a picture Buffy took from one of the kids.
"We know what it is?" Cordelia said, over the phone. "It's called Der Kindestod, the name means 'child death'. This book says that he feeds off of children by sucking the life out of them. But anyway, afterwards, it looks like they died because they were sick.
"So it killed the little girl." Buffy stated.
"Yeah, that's my take" Cordelia replied."'Cause it would be looking at the children's ward as basically an all-you-can-eat kind of thing, y'know."
"Backer was curing the kids and taking away the Kindestod's food." Buffy realized
Buffy overheard Giles, say that he knew how it kills the children and took the phone from Cordelia. "Um, Buffy, the Kindestod gorges by sitting atop it's prey, pinning it down, then slowly draws out the life; must be horriflying for the victim.
But is was just as horrifying as the on looker, Buffy froze in place, her mid going back to a long ago memory. She remembered the screams, and the terror of that memory, it was so vivid in her mind as if it just happened. Willow saw the paleness in Buffy's face, and took the phone from her.
Buffy slowly came out of her daze. "It killed Celia."
"Your cousin?" Willow said confused.
"We have to get this thing, Willow, before it gets any more kids."
Willow saw her determination. "You will. We will."
"But how? I-I can't even see it." Buffy asked
"You saw it once."
Buffy shook her head confusingly. "Did I? Uh, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I mean, I was crazed with that fever. Who knows..." She stopped for a second, when she realized that she had the fever when she saw it. Buffy grabbed Willow's hand and dragged her in Dr. Backer's office.
They went straight to his refrigerator, she began looking for the serum that held the virus, that everyone had. Willow began to get worried. "Buffy, think about this."
"I have." She said sternly. Buffy searched through the test tubes on the shelf. "The fever, that's how you see the Kindestod. That's why Celia could see it. That's why Ryan still can. It's the only way."
Willow got frantic, and tried to make Buffy see what she was doing. "How are you gonna fight this thing with 107 degree temperature?
Buffy shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."
She uncaps the tube and raises it to drink the serum. Willow quickly stopped her. "Buffy!"
Buffy sighed. "Willow, I'm going to do this." "Buffy, that's 100% pure. It'll kill you in an instant."
"Oh." Buffy mumbled. "They really should put that on the label."
Willow quickly reaches into the refrigerator for a bottle of drinking water and grabbed a beaker that was sitting on top of the desk. "It needs to be diluted." She takes the test-tube and draws some of the serum into a dropper. She holds it over the beaker and lets a single drop fall in.
"More." Buffy replied
Willow looks up at her, worried, but gives in and puts another drop into the water. Buffy takes the beaker, she exhaled slowly. "Here's to my health." Buffy quickly downed the glass. She could already feel the virus taking affect, as they walked toward the children's ward. Buffy froze when they got to the double doors, she saw that the kids were not there.
"They're gone." She said, before stumbling into Willow. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Slowly with the help of Willow, they began to search the hospital.
The kids were hiding in the boiler room, led by Ryan. Hoping and praying that the monster would not find them, Ryan tried to soothe a frightened girl, until a clawed hand grabbed him. The other kids began screaming. Kindestod held Ryan down to the ground, the boy's eyes widened in fear as the monster's eyes bulged out, and extended toward Ryan's forehead. He screamed in agony as he felt his energy being drained.
Suddenly Kindestod took a blow to the head causing his eyes to snap back into their sockets. It turned, and saw Buffy standing there with a lead pipe in her hand.
"You make me sick." Buffy said, pun intended. She lunged at the monster, using the pipe in her hand, as a fierce weapon.
Xander, who had came with her rushed to get the kids out of danger. He was a little stunned at the sight of Buffy fighting something he could not see.
Buffy fought as best she could, knowing that the fever was affecting her badly. After a while, the sound of a snap could be heard vibrating in the room. Xander ran over to help her. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She stumbled in his arms, but he held her tightly as the made there way up the steps.
Xander kept looking behind him. "He's dead right? I mean, I heard something snap."
Chuckling "That would be his neck."
**************************
At the Summer's home; Buffy, Willow, and Xander were lounging in Buffy's bedroom. Willow and Xander came over to keep a still sick Buffy company, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She loved being spoiled, especially Angel; he kept sending balloons, and flowers, her room was littered with all of it. The trio were watching a movie when Joyce came in.
"Here you go, honey. Peanut butter and jelly, without the crust, just the way you like it."
She sits on the bed next to Buffy and puts the glass on the nightstand. Buffy was lying back comfortably.
"And the juice?" Buffy asked.
Joyce smiles. "Two parts orange, one part grapefruit." She got up from the bed, and started to walk out.
"That's my drink."
Buffy examines the sandwich and frowns. "Oh, Mom?"
Joyce turned back to her daughter "Mm-hm?"
"I wanted crunchy peanut butter."
"Oh, sorry." Joyce walks back to get the plate. "Anything to help my daughter get well." She said, the tone in her voice, meant getting well soon. Before she could leave, Xander and Willow began making orders as if it was a restaurant, Joyce reminded herself that they were here for Buffy and they were guests in her home. She nodded, and started to leave. Coming back quickly, holding an envelope. "Oh this came in the mail."
Buffy took the letter, and smiled. "It's from Ryan."
"The boy from the hospital?"
Buffy takes out the paper inside and unfolds it. Joyce looks down at it.
"Oh, he drew you a picture."
Getting a closer look of the picture, it showed a blond standing over a monster with her foot up on its chest. The monster's neck is split open and blood is gushing out. Buffy, and Xander smiled.
While Joyce was little taken back. "How ... nice."