Chapter 20
“Do you have a place to stay?” Buffy asked Angel.
“Not yet, but we can go to the motel,” he answered. He snatched up his black coat that had been draped on the back of a chair.
“I’d let you guys stay at my place. . . But it’s sort of cramped. There’s only one bedroom and Dawn has to sleep on the couch. If you want to get all snuggly wuggly with sleeping bags, though . . .” She felt sort of bad to make him crash at the rundown motel Sunnydale offered. Especially with how elaborate his hotel must be.
“We’ll be fine, Buffy,” Angel assured her.
She nodded. “Ok, but if you see cockroaches feel free to run over. We’ll be crushed like sardines, but it’s buggy free.”
He gave her a smile. He was about to head to the door, but then turned back toward her. “Buffy, uh . . . Are you and Spike together?”
She swallowed. “Yeah, we sorta are.” She looked him in the eyes. “But, it’s my life, remember? You left. And essentially this is my second life anyways so I can do whatever I want with it.”
“I’m not gonna give you a lecture, Buffy. I just want you to think this through. Spike isn’t prince charming here.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. “He’s loud and obnoxious. He drinks and smokes. Sometimes I can hardly stand him. But he is also understanding, loyal, and caring.” She gave a small laugh. “Ya know, I think we go good together. I mean, I can be right bitchy when I wanna be. But I’m a good person. I saved the world. And so has Spike. Or, he contributed anyway.”
Angel put on his coat and then questioned, “Are you happy?”
She smiled. “Yes. I am actually.”
They both exited the magic shop. Their friends were waiting outside. Spike and Dawn stood nearest to the door, while Fred, Gunn, Cordelia, and Wesley were a little ways off to the side. Spike’s cigarette glowed in the darkened night. It was cool and Cordelia had her hands in her coat pockets.
“What about you, are you happy?” Buffy inquired, curiously.
Angel’s eyes shifted to set on Cordy, which didn’t go unnoticed by Buffy. “Yeah, I think I am.”
“I’m glad.“ Buffy eyed Cordelia. “You sure Cordy’s gonna handle a motel?”
“She’s changed a lot. Staying in a cheap motel room is nothing compared to her mind-splitting headaches. Besides, you should have seen the first place she got,” he explained.
“Ok then. See you tomorrow.”
The two groups parted for the night. Buffy stepped over to Spike and her sister. The blond vamp dropped his cigarette and stomped it out with a boot.
“Shall we be off then, luv?” Spike asked.
She answered with a nod. The small group began to walk toward their cozy apartment. Spike and Buffy trailed slightly behind the teen. Occasionally, they would share a glance.
Spike came up close to the slayer. He whispered into her ear, “Cold, luv?”
She nodded in affirmation.
His mouth formed a playful smirk. “I’ll warm you up when we get home.”
The suggestive words hit Buffy and she felt her body respond. Even if he was a vampire with no temperature, he could certainly heat her up. Oh, what that voice did to her. She quickened her pace. Sooner she got home, sooner she got Spikey goodness.
“Come on, Dawn, you move like you’re 80,” she teased.
“What!? You guys were the ones ‘behind’ me,” Dawn pointed out.
Spike moved his legs faster, passing Dawn as well, to match Buffy’s stride. He let out a chuckle. Getting Buffy all worked up when they weren’t quite home was awfully fun. But not as fun as he would have when they actually got there.
* + * + * + *
Angel Investigations, or formal (as to how it had been a few years since their organization had actually been active), checked into the motel. Cordelia and Angel got a room together, as Fred and Gunn suspected they would. To Wesley, however, it was unexpected. He hadn’t had as much time as the others to get used to the idea of the vampire and seerer being together.
Fred and Gunn ended up having rooms exactly next to each other. Gunn, being a gentleman, carried her suitcase to the door. She beamed over at him. “Thanks, Charles, you really didn’t have to do that,” she told him.
“It was nothing,” he replied. “Sleep well.”
“Kay, you too.”
They exchanged a long look before parting into their separate rooms.
Inside Fred’s room, she put her suitcase on the bed. Then she went to the mirror, undid her hair, and combed it. After that, she put on her pajamas for bed and brushed her teeth. She crawled into bed. She rolled around, trying to get comfortable. Several minutes passed before she gave up, deciding she just wasn’t sleepy.
In the other room, Gunn sat Indian-style on the bed with the TV remote in his grasp. He flipped through the cable stations, looking for something good to watch. A cop program? Na. Some talk show? Not in the mood. Donald Duck? Don’t think so. Clueless? That’s a chick-flick. He gave a long sigh and flipped off the television.
He fell back on the bed, putting his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling. Patterns began to form. Hmmmm. . . was that a bunny? And there’s a heart. A small smile came to his lips. Hey, was that the word Fred?
Gunn got off the bed. He went out into the hall, and faced the next room. He brought a hand up to knock. Wait, what if she was asleep? He didn’t want to wake her up. He lowered his hand. He better not disturb her. He turned to leave.
“Charles?”
He spun back around to see Fred with the door open. She was dressed in pink satin pajamas and looked very cute. “Hey,” he greeted.
“Did you want something?”
“I’m not exactly tired. Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to like do something? I mean, if you’re not doing something already, that is.”
She grinned. “That’d be great. I couldn’t get to sleep.”
She opened the door wider for him. Gunn stepped inside. “Whadda say about 20 questions?” he asked.
* + * + * + *
Somewhere in Las Vegas
After Heather’s confrontation with David her life changed forever. She was amazed as to how her eyes could have been closed for so long. Now that she made sure they were open, she could pinpoint deaths in the newspaper that were clearly caused by vampires. She could find strange occurrences on the web.
Not being able to handle it on her own, she confided in David. The two had become very good friends. It was as if they already knew each other. They couldn’t sit back and do nothing, so the pair would sweep around their part the city, staking any evil fiend they came in contact with. They actually weren’t that bad. Okay, so she had dropped the stake yesterday, but she grabbed it before the vamp could take advantage of the error.
Heather sat down at the bus stop bench, watching as the people went by. So many, going about their lives, ignorant of the nasties that also existed in their world. And she had once been one of them. A part of the crowd.
She glanced at her watch. Five minutes and the bus should be there. Mass transportation was her friend. Learning to drive didn’t sit well with her. Too much stress. Especially when living in such a busy city.
Out of nowhere, she heard a shout. “Willow!”
It was always noisy in Las Vegas. There were calls all the time. But for some reason Heather craned her neck. A pretty blond in a long dress came up. She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “W-Willow, it is you!”
Heather stared, not knowing what to do.
“I’ve found you. I really didn’t know it would work,” the woman went on.
Heather blinked. “What would work?”
“The spell. A location spell. Bu-But it did! I found you, Willow. This time it was me that found you.”
The words hit Heather deeply. She couldn’t move.
The woman took Heather’s right hand in hers. The touch was so warm and familiar. Heather’s eyes began to water.
“It’s me, Tara,” the woman said, softly.
* + * + * + *
Angel was sitting on the bed when Cordelia exited the bathroom. Her hair was wet from the shower. She was dressed in a nightgown. “Remind me to bring my own shampoo next time,” she remarked.
He smiled in return. Cordy came over and he wrapped his arms around her. She smelled good after her shower and he inhaled deeply.
Running a hand through her locks, he asked, “Cordy, are you happy?”
She broke away, searching his eyes. “I knew coming here was a bad idea. Buffy always gets you thinking too much.”
“I want to be sure you have thought this through. I’m not your normal guy. I can’t go out in the sun. I can’t . . .”
She snuggled back up to him. “I’m happy right here, like this, with you. It’s all I need.”
* + * + * + *
Somewhere in England
Alden Clark pushed his glasses back up higher on his nose. He brought a cup of steaming tea up to take another sip before flipping the page of his new book. He peered down at the words, absorbing them. When he reached the end of the page he turned to the next.
Alden almost dropped his cup. With a shaky hand he placed it down on the top of the desk. His eyes never left the photo he saw printed on the paper in front of him.
A picture of Rupert Giles. An exact replica of himself.
_____________________________________________________
Sorry for the tremendous delay on this. It was really awful of me to keep you all waiting. I’ll get the next part out in the next few days. I promise.
So how did you like this part? I found it fun skipping around so you could see what everybody was up to.
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