Spike lit a cigarette and looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in his palm as he walked. A friendly client of Clem’s had given him the address. He hoped it was correct – he’d hate to have to admit to Angel that he’d searched the city through and through for him.
The apartment block was fairly modern, built in a revisited colonial style and painted all in white, with flowerbeds and shrubs lining the front facade. It was hard to be believe Angel lived here, actually paying a rent and taking out the garbage. The things a soul could make you do.
The vampire made his way inside. As he arrived on the landing, he felt a pang of nervousness – there was something about this place that reminded him of Sunnydale. And there was a time when he used to think only one person in the world could make Angel settle down like this.
Spike knocked on the door, willing himself not to feel so apprehensive. This was bloody Angelus, after all – the Great Poof, as he affectionately liked to refer to him. There was no reason to be nervous – no reason to believe that perhaps…
“I’ll get it,” came a muffled female voice from inside.
His feeling of apprehension surged, making the blood rush in his veins. Surely that couldn’t be her.
The door opened and a young woman appeared, looking at him curiously.
“May I help you?”
Completely stunned, Spike was short of an answer for a minute. “Well, I - ”
The young woman was in her twenties, with dark almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones and thick auburn hair that fell down in curls on her shoulders. She was small but shapely, and looked like such a perfect little doll standing there that the vampire had to suppress a laugh.
“I’ll be damned,” he finished under his breath. “This is quite a surprise.”
She frowned, cautiously narrowing the span of the open door. “Excuse me?”
“No need to be afraid of me, sweetheart. I’m just looking for someone who I was told lives here. His name’s Angel, perhaps you’ve -”
Suddenly, the looming figure of his former friend appeared behind the young woman. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Spike grinned.
“And here’s the main man himself. Sorry if I interrupted anything - I thought I might find you alone.”
“Nice to see you, too, Spike,” Angel said flatly, opening the door wide again to make room for him. “Come on in.”
The young woman watched the two men, arms crossed, arms crossed. "Oh, so you're the infamous Spike?"
Spike threw his arm around Angel’s shoulders. “The one and only. Eh, Peaches?”
“Spike, this is Ruby,” the other vampire said, looking very uncomfortable. “My – my girlfriend.”
“I kind of figured that out,” Spiked replied, thoroughly amused by Angel’s embarrassment. “It’s a pleasure, sweetheart. He’s had his share of women back in the days, but I must admit -”
“You must have come a long way,” Angel interrupted him, making tremendous efforts not to smack him upside the head. “Darling, why don’t you whip us up something to eat?”
“Sure thing,” Ruby replied, turning away towards the kitchen and giving Spike a warm smile over her shoulder. “It’s great to meet you, Spike. Angel’s told me all sorts of things about you.”
“The rule of thumb in that case is not to believe anything he says,” he called out to her, before Angel grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away to the living room.
“You know, I was almost nervous coming here, but now I’m simply astounded.”
It was much later that evening. Ruby had gone to bed after shortly dinner, leaving the two vampires to talk alone.
“What’s so astounding?” Angel asked, pouring himself some coffee. “It’s been two years, Spike. I wasn’t going to stay alone, living on a hope that had no reason to be.”
“Well - ” I am, he almost said, before brutally chasing the thought away from his head. “- that makes perfect sense. And your China girl is a real babe.”
“Ruby’s not from China,” Angel said, irritated. “She’s Kyrghyz.”
Spike shrugged. “Kyrghyzstan – not your typical holiday location to pick up girls, but to each his own, I suppose.”
Angel rolled his eyes. “We met in California, you idiot. She’s lived in the States for years now. She’s a nurse – works the night shift at the hospital.”
Spike chuckled, leaning his head back on the couch. “Angelus, former terror of the underworld, picking out curtains with a nurse. Next thing I know you’ll be telling me she doesn’t know about your little allergy to sunlight.”
“She knew before we even started dating,” Angel said. “I told everything from start to finish.”
“Well, that must’ve been an interesting conversation. We know it appeals to Slayers – but how does a normal girl take to having an undead former blood-sucking killer for a boyfriend?”
“Actually, she’s not really as ‘normal’ as you may think. I mean, she’s not a vampire or a witch or anything like that,” Angel added quickly.
Spike leaned forward again, propping his elbows on his knees. “Succubus?”
“Don’t be disgusting.” The dark-haired vampire made a face and took a sip of coffee. “Ruby was born in a small village in the Tian-Shan mountains. All the women in her family are Midwives – you’ve heard of those, I suppose.”
“No, I thought storks delivered babies,” Spike snapped. “What do you think, you sod?”
“The Midwives I’m talking about don’t just deliver babies,” Angel said pointedly. “They’re healers – they have a special fluid of energy running in their hands and in their voice that they can use to mend bones, heal muscle tissue, even restore mental sanity.”
“I’m beginning to understand why she’s interested in you.”
Angel chose to ignore his comment. “They’re also very learned in the power of plants. They can make healing potions, traceless poisons, anything really – and all natural. Not a trace of magic.”
“Too bad we didn’t have these wonder women around when we were fighting it out,” Spike remarked.
“You won’t find any on this side of the world – the vast majority Midwives live in Eastern Europe and Asia.”
“Hence you meeting one in sunny California.”
Angel sighed, the trace of a smile forming on his lips. “I came back to Los Angeles at first – I thought I could handle it, you know, and I think down inside, I still hoped… Anyway, the demon world was in a sorry shape. Nearly all of them cleared out, but those who stayed acted like they had nothing to lose – they had no magic left, so they started to pick on easy preys, humans teenagers and kids. What was left us gathered some new followers, but one night I stumbled on a real nasty Havok demon. I got wounded pretty bad – I was unconscious when Gunn took me to Ruby. He’d heard there was a Midwife operating in town. She healed me – and she made all the pain go away, inside and out.”
“I can imagine.”
“She’s so different from any other girl I’ve known. She’s kind, calm, and patient – it’s like she knows how to reach in and take out all that’s hurtful and leave only the good. I’ve never met someone who’s so compassionate, who feels so much.”
Spike allowed himself to grin. She sounded like the perfect match for his byronesque friend.
“This is all very touching, but that still doesn’t explain how she got here in the first place.”
“Well – let’s just say Ruby had to leave her homeland behind a few years ago.”
“I’m guessing there’s a good reason for that,” Spike ventured, curious to hear more.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” Angel replied, looking pained.
Spike nodded. The odds that she had simply left to study at Berkeley were rather slim, and he didn’t want to prod Angel into telling a story that wasn’t his to tell. Besides, there was another very interesting subject he wanted to breach.
“Does Buffy know?”
Angel pressed his lips together. From the look on his face, it was clear that she didn’t, and that he was extremely reluctant to change that.
“Well, she’s going to have to sooner or later, isn’t she?”
“Why, are you two planning a honeymoon at the Slayers’ resort in Rome?”
“Rome? What does this have to do with Rome?”
“Well, that’s where she lives, isn’t it?” Spike said, getting annoyed. He didn’t like to stretch out any conversation about Buffy more than he had to – letting himself think about her in earnest, picturing her deep eyes and determined smile in his mind, was still like rubbing salt to a fresh wound. “I can’t see how else she would find out about it.”
Angel looked at him in silence. It was always the calm, quiet side of his ancient companion that scared Spike the most.
“What is it? Why are you using your mystic glare of death on me?”
“I thought you knew,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought she was the reason you came back here.”
“I came to see you, you big prat! Thought you might be up to something, moving here!” Spike exclaimed angrily as the meaning of Angel’s words started to dawn on him. “Are you trying to tell me that - ”
“Spike, Buffy moved back to California. Flew in just last week. She’s here, with Dawn, in San Jose.”