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Chapter 13

“What do you mean she’s not answering?” Giles practically spat on the other line.

“I mean she’s not answering,” Angel said flatly. “I think she’s with Spike.”

“Explain to me again how Spike’s back?” Angel could practically hear the Watcher cleaning his glasses on the other line.

“I don’t know. I opened a package, and the amulet fell out, and Spike just…appeared.”

“And he was a ghost?”

“Incorporeal, yeah.”

“And now he’s not.”

“Right.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We don’t really get it either. But I guess he’s back in L.A., and Harmony gave Buffy the address. At least that’s the story so far.”

“And she doesn’t remember…oh dear.”

“Giles, there’s something you might need to hear…about the prophecy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve had my researchers looking into it, and…Giles, so far, all we know is that…in order to prevent the reversal of the power Willow summoned with her spell is to destroy the baby…or Buffy, and it has to be before the birth.” There was a long line of silence, before Giles finally chose his words carefully.

“Does Buffy know this yet?”

“No,” Angel replied, a tad exasperated. “Her phone keeps going to voice mail. If she’s with Spike…” He choked on the next words. “She’s probably safe. I know he…he cares about her.”

“Keep trying her phone. I’m flying out.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I really think I must.” With that, the line was dead.

“Giles? Giles?” Angel banged the phone down onto the desk, and he sat down with a thud. How was this all happening? Just twenty four hours ago, he’d only had to worry about his murderous employees and their probable alliance with the senior partners, who were most likely looking to kill anybody who ever had any connection to Angel Investigations. Now, he had his pregnant ex-girlfriend, her newly soul-empowered, bleach blonde poor excuse for a vampire boyfriend, and this brand new prophecy that only spelled bad ending no matter how you looked at it.

This was definitely more than just another day at the office.

***

His breath was ragged against her collarbone, as he held onto her hips, steadying her over him. God, he’d missed this. The feeling of her surrounding him, intoxicating him. Her eyes were fixed on his, and it was all he could do to stop himself from letting go right then and there, filling her completely with his seed, something that, until now, had never been much of a concern. So wait a minute? Does this mean vampires can… No. No thinking. He shook his head, and he sought her lips with his own. Feeling her tongue dart out to graze against his lips made his body shudder and his cock twitch, begging for more.

“Slayer,” he groaned, as Buffy’s nails sunk into his shoulders, eliciting a hiss from him.

“Spike,” she moaned, tilting her head back, as Spike sucked and licked his way down her neck, paying special attention to her pulse points, before hungrily taking a nipple into his mouth, thus eliciting a much higher pitch from her.

“Was that a squeal?” he chuckled against her breast.

“Shut up,” she replied, half smiling, as he lay her back on the bed, situating himself over her, as he continued to rock his hips against hers, filling her completely, each time causing her to squeeze her eyes a little tighter. It suddenly dawned on him.

What if I’m hurting her? What if I’m in too deep? She could feel him hesitate, and she drew her arms tightly around him, shaking her head.

“Don’t stop. Please. Please. Please.” A couple of years ago, hearing her begging like that, begging beneath him, looking up at him with such desire in her eyes, such unyielding need to feel him inside of her would have drawn a cocky grin to his face. It almost did not, but instead, he bent down to kiss her again, needing to feel closer to her, if it was possible.

The change of positions allowed him to reach between them, circling her clit with his thumb, drawing out a hiss and then a soft moan from her, as she began to arch against him. Her inner vaginal muscles began to pulse, milking him harder with each spasm.

“Fuck,” he muttered, burying his face in her neck, smelling her scent. His whole body seemed to be aroused by her. God, she was beautiful. More than that, she was his.

“Spike! Oh God…God…mmmmmm….Spike!” Another string of words like this was his undoing, as he gathered her up, filling her completely once more, hearing her moan a soft “hnnnf” with each stroke, and when she opened her eyes and he lifted his head to look into hers, it was his complete undoing. He growled out his climax against her lips, as he felt a flood of warmth coating his cock. Oh God. This was Heaven, or at least as close to it as he’d ever get.

He rolled off of her, panting. Buffy lay next to him, her hands running through her hair, as she closed her eyes and tried to slow her pounding heart. After a few moments, she could hear his soft breaths next to her, and she watched the fast and steady rise and fall of his chest.

“Why do you breathe like that after sex? It’s not like you have to?”

“Old habits, pet,” he whispered, closing his eyes. His hand moved to one of his shoulders, where a trickling of blood seeped out. Buffy eyed it.

“Sorry…old habits.” He grinned at her in the very way he had when he’d pulled her aside at her birthday party, teasing her about the lad who’d had a crush on her. Only this time, he was grinning at someone who wasn’t looking at him with self-loathing in her eyes…and loathing for him. He reached over to the bedside table, finding the clock.

“It’s nearly five.”

“Wow, making up for lost time really makes you lose track of time,” Buffy said aloud, staring back up at the ceiling. “Angel’s probably wondering where I am. I’m surprised he’s not here. I figured he’d have got it out of Harmony in no time.” She saw Spike’s eyes cloud over at the mention of Angel’s name. “Spike, he wants to help us.”

“No, luv, he wants to help you. I think he has a secret back room where he sits whittling wood stakes with my name on them every night. You know, kind of like the pottery room on Ghost?”

“Ghost? Wow, I really do have a lot to learn about you.” Spike chuckled at that, and he leaned over, kissing her shoulder. “I should get a shower, but I kind of feel weird using some stranger’s bathroom…”

“Weirder than this?” He motioned toward the bed. Buffy rolled her eyes and got out of bed, starting to slip into her clothes.

“We’ll see what they have to eat, and when the sun goes down, we’ll head back.” She leaned down again to kiss him, and it was all he could do to restrain himself from pulling her back into bed and ravaging her once more. But, their usual, very cardio-friendly, but mark-leaving foreplay would have to wait until after the baby. He lay back against the sheets as Buffy dressed, and he thought about what this all meant.

A baby. His baby. Their baby. He’d never thought about having children when he was alive. Not even when he’d fallen in love with Cecily. He’d hated children as a vampire, and teenagers? He would have rather bitten them and rid the whole bloody planet of them. But his child? Seeing Buffy’s swollen belly heavy with his child was one of the most unnaturally natural things he’d ever seen, and he just hoped that when all was said and done, they could be as happy as they were right now.

Who are you kidding, you git. You’re not supposed to be happy. You’re a bloody vampire.

“Spike?” she asked, already dressed, standing in the doorway. “You coming?” Spike sighed and nodded, climbing out of bed.

“Right behind you, luv.”

***

“What do you mean you have to go?” Kennedy asked, as Willow tossed clothes into a suitcase. Willow nodded toward the phone.

“That was Giles. Buffy needs me,” she explained.

“I need you here,” Kennedy pointed out. “I might be a slayer, but you’re pretty much the most kickass witch around these parts. I can’t do this without you.”

“Kennedy,” Willow said firmly, “you’re a Slayer, and if I don’t go and help Buffy, you might end up being a Slayer with no Slayer strength.” Kennedy flinched. Since obtaining all of this power, she knew Willow was right.

“You’ll be careful?”

“I’m always careful,” Willow said with a nod.

“I don’t see why you can’t just…you know, fly over there.” Willow rolled her eyes.

“It doesn’t exactly work like that all the time. Besides, if I even attempted just popping myself over there, flight free, I’d be drained for at least a day, and they might need me.”

“Right,” Kennedy said with a nod. “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know,” Willow said with a sigh. “Whenever I’m not needed. I…I don’t know. Buffy’s my friend. I have to be there.”

“I get it,” Kennedy said with a nod. “Go on. Tell her I said hi.”

“I will.” Willow walked over to put her arms around the young woman. She kissed her softly and smiled, caressing her cheek. “You worry too much. You shouldn’t.”

“I know,” Kennedy replied, a soft smile spreading across her face. “Just go, and hurry back.” Willow nodded, closing the suit case and heading toward the door.

“I’ll call when I land in L.A.”

***

Angel paced back and forth in the lobby. All of the employees had gone home, and the vampire employees had waited until after sundown, or had taken the underground tunnels. Angel’s skin was crawling, partly from the fact that he was the big cheese at a company full of people he would have probably fought to the death while working as the head of Angel Investigations. Now, he was paying them. And part of it was because Buffy was still out there, doing God knows what, probably with Spike. Or worse, she could be…no. She was fine. She was fine, and they were going to find a way to work this out. He only hoped it didn’t come down to doing something he very much did not want to do…something Buffy, as a mother, would never allow him to do.

He saw a flash of golden blonde hair whipping past one of the large, glass windows, and in a moment, Buffy was hurrying through the front door, alone.

“Buffy?” She stopped for a moment when she saw him, but she headed in his direction. He knew he didn’t need to ask, but he did anyway. “Where have you been?” Great. You’re not her father. Don’t sound like it.

“I was…I found…I…”

“You were with Spike?” She didn’t need to answer. “Where is he?”

“He’s parking the car. He let me out in front.”

“What a gentleman.” Now you just sound like a jealous ten-year-old. Buffy sighed.

“Angel, I know this isn’t the easiest thing to deal with. It’s not for me either. But you…you weren’t there. You don’t know what all we’ve been through together.” Somehow, those words stung much more than he’d thought they would. He blinked a few times, opened his mouth, closed it, and cleared his throat.

“I could have been if you’d just called me.”

“You had a lot more to deal with, I think,” she said quietly. Angel sighed, nodding his head.

“I never should have left Sunnydale.”

“So you want to take back everything you’ve done here in L.A. just because I’m pregnant with Spike’s child?”

“For starters.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Great. Great. And I thought the jealous vampire crap died with Sunnydale.” I wonder if I could still get them to wrestle it out. Ooh, there’s a thought. Don’t forget the oil! She shook her head. “Spike’s different, Angel. I know you don’t see it. But he has a soul now, and…”

“So I’ve heard.” Why was it that everyone kept reminding him of that, as if he didn’t know? Yeah, maybe Spike fought for his soul, but it was under much different circumstances. “It doesn’t make up for what he did to you.”

“What he did to me?” Buffy asked, her brows knitted. “What are you talking about?” Angel froze for a minute.

“I…”

“Angel?”

“He tried to rape you!” Buffy was floored.

“How did you…”

“It was something the senior partners told me when I tried to find out how Spike got his soul back.” He cleared his throat. “They have guys in Africa too.”

“You were checking up on me.”

“I think attempted rape is a little more serious than…”

“You don’t have any right, Angel. Not anymore. You…you don’t understand what was happening. I wasn’t myself, and he…”

“You’re making excuses for him?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “I hated him for what he did to me, but I hated myself for the way I treated him. I was…I wasn’t the high school girl anymore, Angel. I died, and I came back, and I didn’t want to be there. Spike understood, and I took advantage of his feelings for me. We started having sex, and I treated him like…like he meant nothing to me. And then I told him it was over, and he was hurting. He did something really stupid, and I acted like I had the right to be upset, when I treated like I did. He was confused, and…well, a vampire.” Angel flinched. “He left town. He didn’t say a word.” Tears were in her eyes. “He went through…God knows what trying to get his soul back, and he did, and when he came back, he was nearly killed because of what getting that soul did to him. But he came out of it. He changed. He…he hated himself for what he did to me.”

“So that makes it all better? Because he felt bad?”

“No. It doesn’t make it all better. But he wasn’t the same man that he was when he left Sunnydale. You of all people should understand that. From what you’ve told me, you’ve done much worse in your time, Angel, even when you had a soul.” It was like a slap in the face, and she suddenly felt a little sick to her stomach. Angel turned around. “I’m…I’m sorry I said that.”

“No, it’s…no. You’re right. I have done a lot worse. I’ve gone further than that…but never with my soul, and I hate myself for it every day.”

“So you know how he felt? How he still feels?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Angel replied.

“I didn’t mean to bring up the past, Angel, but you and Spike? It’s kind of a level playing field now. He’s trying to make up for his past. You just got a head start.” Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she looked toward the elevators.

“I’m going to go lay down. It’s…been a long day.” She blushed and avoided his gaze. And I reeeeeally need a shower.

“Yeah. Um, I called Giles, and he’s taking the next flight out.”

“What? Why?”

“He wants to help. I figure he might be able to do that better if he was here.”

“Right,” Buffy said with a nod. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” He watched her start toward the elevators, but he called out to her. “Buffy?”

“Yeah?” She turned to face him again. He wanted to ask her to stay and talk to him a while longer, but looking at the swell of her belly, the exhaustion in her beautiful face, and the way she bounced on her heels, waiting to go to the elevator, he knew it wasn’t right. She had moved on, and he’d thought he had, but every time he saw her face, he was pulled back, yearning for her, wishing he could hold her and make love to her like he knew Spike would be doing every night from now on. He pushed the image out of his head and waved her on.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She nodded at his words, flashed him a half-smile, and headed off toward the elevator. Angel stood alone for a moment, head down, studying the patterns on the floor, and then he reluctantly retreated up to his own apartment.

Once the lobby was clear, Spike slowly crept out of the shadows from the back hall. He’d come in from the parking garage, and he’d heard almost every word Buffy had said about him to Angel. For a moment, he’d wondered if he was imagining that she really, truly loved him, but when he heard those words, he didn’t have a doubt in his mind. Still, his stomach was unsettled, and he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was going to happen, how he was going to mess it up. It was too good to be true. Everything he touched was supposed to suffer, die, decay. S’alright, mate. Just be happy with what you got. Ain’t every day the vampire gets the girl.





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