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Over and Done With
Author: Pattyanne
Part 1


*******************

"Angel?" Xander stopped in his tracks and stared
into the murky shadow of a large mausoleum. "Is
that you?"

"Yeah, it's me...hi." Stepping out from behind the
marble wall, the vampire came out into the dim glow of
a streetlight.

"Hi," Xander replied. "How've you been?"

Angel shrugged. "So-so. Business is good. Lot's
of bad guys in L.A."

"So I've heard." Xander glanced around the dark
cemetery nervously. "How come you're here?"

'Um..well, I was actually on my way back from...some-
where else, so I...just thought I'd pass through." He
averted his eyes and tried to sound only mildly inter-
ested. "How's....everybody?"

Xander had to force himself to keep a straight face.

"How's everybody? Everybody is fine. In fact, Every-
body is completely recovered from their trip to the
other side and back." He jammed his hands into
the pockets of his trousers and began walking slowly
along the concrete path that cut through the middle
of the graveyard, hoping that Angel would not linger
behind.

"Everybody," he added, "hasn't gone back to school
yet, but Everybody isn't sure that's what they want to
do. Everybody was having financial problems for a while,
but that's all fixed up now that Everybody is getting a
regular paycheck from the Watchers Council. Oh, and
Everybody...."

"All right, all right," Angel cut him off. "I understand what
you're saying." He shook his head and smiled a bit
sadly. "Guess I'm pretty obvious."

It was Xander's turn to shrug. "Only in the way that an
elephant doing the tango in your living room is obvious."

They walked along in silence for a moment, then Angel
turned to face Xander. "So...she's really okay? She's
happy?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, she's really okay. And she's
happier than she's been in a long time." He took
a deep breath, wondering if he should be the one to
tell Angel the reason behind Buffy's newfound hap-
piness.

Granted, he'd never liked Angel one damn bit, and
he wouldn't have hesitated at one time to deliver the
news with a side of relish, but things had changed
so much over the past year or so. Basically, they had
all been forced to grow up almost overnight, and he
found that he really had no taste for childish "nyah-
nyah" games anymore.

"Look," he began, "I think you should know...."

He stopped in mid-sentence, hearing a sound that was
very familiar to them both...punches being thrown
and landed.

They looked at each other for a moment, then both
turned and walked around the back of the maintenance
shed, looking for the source of the fight.

On the other side of the small building, they stopped
short. In a small clearing a few dozen yards away, the
slayer was doing battle with a vampire, one they both
recognized.

"You're getting slow in your old age, luv," Spike
taunted. "Time to think about retiring."

"Don't count on it, fang-face," Buffy sneered. "On your
BEST day, you couldn't take me on my WORST." She
punctuated her remark with a spinning back kick into
her opponents abdomen.

Angel muttered something and started to go the
slayer's aid, but Xander caught his arm. "No. It's not
what you think."

The vampire jerked his arm away. "Let go of me," he
snapped. "I have to help..."

"HEY!!" Buffy's voice rose up the scale, and they
turned to see her literally flying through the air, then
land in a graceless heap up against a headstone.

Spike followed at a casual pace, grinning as she
struggled to stand. "Now THAT looked like it hurt!"

Buffy straightened up and shook her hair out of
her eyes. "Only in a good way." She was breathing
hard and staring him down as he slowly approached
her.

Xander felt Angel tensing, and took a firmer grip on
his arm. "Look," he hissed. 'You're gonna have to
trust me on this. It's NOT what it looks like."

Angel shook his head angrily. "I thought he couldn't
do this anymore. Couldn't hurt people. What the hell
happened?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the two
combatants.

Xander sighed. "He can't. It's hard to explain, but when
she..died..and came back, she was different. Spike was
the first one to figure it out."

"But...I was told he was helping her...working with you
guys."

"He does." Xander dragged Angel a little further back
into the shadows. "Look...they're not really fighting. Not
like they used to."

Angel craned his neck, trying to keep Buffy in sight. "I've
been around for a few hundred years," he said curtly. "I
know what fighting looks like."

"You do, huh?" Xander spun him around suddenly. "Does
it look anything like THAT?"

Angel completely lost the power of speech when he
saw what Buffy and Spike were now doing.

The slayers arms were wrapped tightly around the
vampire's neck, and his were locked around her
waist as he lifted her a few inches off the ground.

Their mouths were seemingly glued together.

"She...they...how...?" Angel turned back to Xander,
looking horrified and confused.

Xander rolled his eyes. "I don't know...it's like
some kind of weird foreplay for them. Every once
in a while they beat the crap out of each other and
then...do THAT," he said, pointing at the couple.

They were talking too quietly for Xander to hear
them, but Angel's superior hearing picked up every
word.

"Not a bad workout, gorgeous," Spike said, nuzzling
Buffy's hair. "Didn't wear you out, did I?"

Buffy giggled. "Not yet...but if you want to go home,
I'll give you another chance."

He maneuvered her up against a tree. "I don't know
if I can wait that long."

She tugged him down for another kiss. "Well...it's been a
while since we made love outside, hasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm...and you smell so good, kitten," Spike
murmured. "Like strawberries and cream. I want to
have you for dinner."

He was kissing and nipping at her neck, and Angel
watched in horror as she tilted her head to one side,
completely exposing her vulnerable throat.

Buffy squealed and started laughing. "That tickles...
don't! God...you're such an animal...I love it!"

Angel turned away. "This is unbelievable."

"Tell me about it," Xander said. "Sometimes, they're
absolutely sickening."

Leaning against the maintenance building, Angel's
head dropped back with a thump and he smiled
bitterly. "You know...I left so that she would have
a chance at a normal life with a normal guy. Some-
one with a pulse."

Xander stared at the ground, kicking a rock around
with his shoe. "She tried that," he said. "It didn't
take. She doesn't seem to want a normal guy. It's
just not in her nature." He shook his head. "I don't
know..maybe she needs more of a challenge."

"Yeah...but why HIM?" Angel asked.

"I guess," Xander said slowly. "it's because he gives
her what she needs. They can have a complete rela-
tionship without worrying about him...."

"Doing what I did," Angel finished.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, doing what you did." Looking
up, he met Angel's eyes. "Look..it took me a while to
accept it, too. I was absolutely sure that he'd find a
way around that chip and turn on her."

"How do you know that he...." Angel's voice trailed
off when Xander shook his head.

"He won't," Xander said firmly. "He loves her. I mean
really, truly loves her. And he takes good care of
her. She never goes out alone anymore. He goes with
her every night."

"When did things change?" Angel asked, rubbing
his temples as though he had a colossal migraine.
"She always hated him."

"Yeah, well...he was the first one to change," Xander
said. "He loved her first, I mean." He smiled. "He
told me once that he went to sleep one night hating
her guts and woke up in love with her."

"Just like that?"

Xander nodded. "Just like that. Of course, she still hated
him. Didn't want anything to do with him, but my GOD,
is he tenacious! You know, he once offered to stake
Drusilla to prove that he loved Buffy."

"Are..are you serious?" Angel asked in disbelief. "Dru-
silla...well, she was..."

"Yeah. Was." Xander chuckled. "Anyway...he kept after
Buffy, started helping her. To make a long..WEIRD..story
short, he threw in with her completely during that mess
with Glory. Oh, and you'll love this...Glory thought that
Spike was her key. Actually," he amended. "her little
bridge trolls thought he was, so they grabbed him and
they took him to her. She tortured him for hours to get him
to tell her who it really was."

"Dawn."

"Yeah. God, I've never seen ANYBODY so totally
beaten up, and I went to high school with some real
professional bullies. It almost hurt just to look at
him." Xander took a deep breath. "Soooo..we all
figured that he'd give Dawn up in a heartbeat."

"But he didn't."

"Didn't say a word. Got beaten half to death, but he
wouldn't talk. When he got away, Buffy sort of tested
him by pretending to be the Buffybot..."

"The WHAT??"

"Don't ask. Anyway...he passed the test and signed
on to play for our team." Xander swallowed hard at
a painful memory. "When she died..he was just about
out of his mind. For a while, I thought he was gonna
die right along with her. Stake himself or just...die of
grief."

Angel looked away. "I know how he felt," he said
quietly.

"So, she came back," Xander continued. "And...well,
you saw it for yourself."

"I wish I hadn't."

Xander hesitated a moment. "Don't worry about her,
Angel. She'll be fine. Spike would kill himself before
he would hurt her. He's proved it."

"I hope you're right," Angel said. "I just..."

He was interrupted by a soft scream from Buffy, and
turned automatically, wanting to go to her.

Xander grabbed his coat. "You don't want to see it.
Trust me."

Angel stopped. "You're right. I don't." He turned
back to Xander. "I'm gonna go now, before my head
explodes."

"Good plan."

They left the cemetery together in silence, pausing
when they were outside the front gate.

"Hey," Angel said. "Will you call me if...?"

"I guess so," Xander smiled ruefully. "But it's not
gonna happen."

Angel hesitated, doubt still in his eyes. "I hope it
doesn't...for her sake."

"And maybe for YOUR sake, too," Xander said
under his breath as Angel walked off.

He stood and watched until Angel disappeared
around the corner, then turned and headed for
home.


~~~~~

Back in the middle of the cemetery, the vampire
and slayer were still kissing feverishly.

Spike moved Buffy closer to a mausoleum, and
pushed her up against the cold marble, never losing
contact with the soft lips parted beneath his.

Buffy moaned as she felt him trail moist kisses
across her face and down her throat, tonguing the
shallow hollow at it's base. She cupped his face in
her hands and guided his mouth back to hers.

"I love you," she whispered, watching his face as
he closed his eyes, savoring the words he'd once
despaired of every hearing.

"I love you, too," he said in her ear. "So much." Tang-
ling his fingers in her hair, he gazed into her eyes. "You're
my world, you know. All wrapped up in one tiny little
package."

Tilting her face up, he covered it with teasing kisses.

"Know what?" she said, pulling back. "Let's go home. I
want us to be in bed so that we can take our time."

"Best offer I've had all day," he replied, grinning lech-
erously.

Her eyes sparkled devilishly. "Race ya," she said. Back-
ing a few feet away, she turned on one heel and took
off.

"Watch where you're going!" he shouted, running after
her, following the music of her laughter.


TBC.....





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