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Title: A Perfect Fit. Chapter 8 of 19
Genre: General, Romance, Humor, bit of action
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: the Series
Pairing: Spike/Other, Buffy/Angel
Rating: R for sexual situations and language.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Buffy and Angel. Candy is my own original character and I do own her. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I'm not making any money off this.
Summary: Begins three months after the final battle in the alley in Angel, Not Fade Away. What's left of Angel's crew has moved back to The Hyperion, including a restless Spike. Someone interesting comes to LA, when Faith suggests that only Angel can help her. Many characters from both shows will make appearances. Angel, Harmony, Gunn, Illyria, Lorne, Buffy, Giles, Dawn, Angelus, Willow and others.
(Previous Chapters Here)
Betas:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raynedanser and leiadiana. Thanks again ladies.
Chapter Eight ~ Excuses
Angel’s living room was already crowded. He was sitting back in his easy chair. Giles relaxed, sipping his scotch next to Buffy on the larger couch. Spike was on the love seat and Gunn opted to stay out of this little meeting while Illyria was manning the phones in the lobby. Spike watched Angel get up to answer the knock at the door.
“Hi guys,” Dawn said cheerfully. “We each have our own rooms on the second floor. Candy and I moved the luggage into them already.” She plopped down next to Buffy.
Giles pulled a legal pad and pen out of his case and gave them to Dawn. “Take notes, please.” For all his faults, Spike had to give Giles props for being clever as jotting down notes would give her something to do and keep her comments to a minimum.
Candy sat down next to Spike and he scooted a little closer to her. He handed her a mug and looked at her, silently questioning her with his eyes. Had she moved her stuff to his room? “Thanks.” She leaned in close and whispered, “And yes, there is clutter everywhere.”
“Candy, your situation is quite a puzzle,” Giles started. “There are no documented cases of a vampire waking up with their soul intact that I know of.”
Buffy held up her hand. “While Candy’s case is very fascinating, I’d like to get one thing out of the way first.” She gave Giles an apologetic look. “I want to know how long Spike has been “back” and why we didn’t know about it.” She narrowed her eyes at Spike.
Spike looked to Angel to start. “It was about four months after Spike destroyed Sunnydale. My group and I were working at Wolfram & Hart. I opened some mail and the amulet dropped to the floor. Out popped Spike like a genie in a lamp.”
Spike snorted at that. “I had no idea where I was. Turns out I was incorporeal. Like a ghost,” he explained when Dawn stopped writing. “I could go through walls and for a time there I would disappear altogether.”
He paused for a moment and remembered the intense concern that he’d had for Buffy. He looked at her. “The first thing I did was ask about you. Angel assured me that you and the Scoobies had gotten out all right. I was set to go to you right away, but Angel told me that you were in Italy.”
“Spike was starting to some how fade away. None of us were sure he was going to stay on this earth, even in his incorporeal form. I was the one who convinced him not to contact you.” When she got that stubborn look on her face Angel continued quickly, “I did it for you, Buffy. You’d already had to deal with his death once. Here he was not really here at all and even that seemed temporary. I didn’t want you to go through it all again.”
Spike felt bad for Angel. Buffy was glaring at the guy and he shivered when he imagined the temperature of the room had dropped a few degrees. He was just glad that stare was not directed at him so he was in a charitable mood. “Angel was right to discourage me from going to you. I didn’t want you to have to go through any more than you already had. I have to admit that at one time I said 'sod it all' and tried to leave L.A. to get to you. I just kept teleporting back to Angel’s office.”
Buffy was frowning now. “So if he was a ghost, how come he's sitting here now all fleshed out and everything?” She put her hand out toward him in a sweeping motion.
“We still haven’t figured that out. Even Fred, our resident scientist, couldn’t figure it out.”
“Yeah. One day I’m standing in the lobby with Harm…uh Angel’s secretary. I got a package and she was opening it for me. There was a flash of light and next thing you know I’m me again.”
“How long ago was that?” Giles asked.
“It was a while ago.” Angel answered. “But crazy things started happening right after he fleshed out. And it wasn’t long after that….” He shared a look with Spike.
“Fred needed us all and I couldn’t leave,” Spike said.
“Our friend Fred was infected by what we now know was Illyria,” Angel said sadly.
“We all loved her, and I wasn’t going to just leave them with her life in the balance.” Spike swallowed and looked down. “Although I wasn’t able to do a bloody thing about her death,” he admitted sadly.
“None of us could Spike,” Angel said. “After all that, I, uh, I didn’t want Spike to leave.” Spike looked up in shock at that revelation. He grinned slowly when he got a look at Angel's face. He looked as if he'd swallowed a bag of spoiled pig’s blood. He caught Spike's grin and added, “I was fed up with the situation at Wolfram & Hart. I had decided to take more decisive action. Spike is the strongest warrior I had.”
Spike continued to grin at him. Angel could try to cover that little slip all he wanted but Spike had his number now. On the other hand, he wasn't about to admit to the proof that he had been happy to stay.
“So you just forgot about me…us,” Buffy stated to Spike.
“No. That’s not how it was. I told you about our trip to Italy. Angel and I were fumbling all over each other trying to get to you. Sorry mate, but you know it's true,” he added when Angel groaned. “Then like I told you earlier, we saw you with The Immortal. We had a time sensitive issue, too. We had to get back. I just figured you’d moved on and were happy, even if it was with that ponce.”
“Gaston?” Candy asked. “She’s dating him?”
“Huh? Who’s Gaston?” Buffy asked and frowned at Candy.
The three vampires shared wicked smiles but Angel answered, “The Immortal. It’s our nickname for him.”
“Weird,” Dawn said, shaking her head at them.
“She’s not really dating The Immortal. She’s under cover for the Council,” Giles said.
“Don’t you think that was a bit dangerous, Giles, to send her in there with him? You know he has this power over women to bend them to his will.” Angel glared at the Watcher.
“She was in no danger. It’s been a well kept secret, but slayers are immune to his charms. Watchers, on the other hand are not. She was assigned the job of finding out if he’d turned Ms. Trentham or just killed her. When she found out, she was to dust him and if necessary dust a turned Ms. Trentham as well. We can’t have a vampire out there with watcher knowledge.”
“So far he’s been tight lipped about her, and I’m having a heck of a time keeping him at bay.” Buffy leaned back and sighed. “The assignment should have ended months ago.”
“Yeah, he’s totally obsessed with Buffy now and he won’t leave her alone,” Dawn chimed in with amusement. Buffy frowned and squeezed her sister’s arm. Dawn flinched but smiled at her.
“And this is a surprise?” Spike couldn’t believe how stupid they were. “Two master vampires fall in love with you and you are surprised when a third does?”
“It’s very funny actually. He’s even bagging it for her now. Pig's blood, mostly.” Dawn loved teasing her sister.
“Oh please!” Spike threw his hands up at that and leaned back. He was through talking about the wanker.
Angel had been quiet for a time. The pieces were falling to place for him and he was now pretty sure his theory about Candy was correct. “Giles, you say slayers are immune to his charms?”
“Yes, he's quite the coward and usually stays clear of slayers. He's even been known to leave Italy when one is called there. Even so, the records show that he’s met with two other slayers in the past. Their watchers both wrote similar stories about how their slayers were repulsed by him.”
“My theory about Candy. Are you seeing it now?” Angel said. When he first told Giles his theory down stairs, the watcher had been doubtful.
Giles’ eyes widened and he looked closely at Candy. “Yes, yes. I’ll have to do some research. I’ll need access to a computer.”
“What theory, Angel?” Spike wanted to know.
“I think I have a right to know what’s going on,” Candy added.
Angel told them his theory while holding his fingers up one at a time. “Candy mentioned that she was always a bit stronger than other girls. When she met The Immortal in 1944, she couldn’t stand the guy and when he got fresh with her, she slapped him and he went flying. She’s turned and wakes up with a soul. I’m thinking that she was a potential and that she was activated some time before she met The Immortal.”
“Whoa,” Spike said and looked at Candy, sitting beside him, in awe.
“That’s a little far fetched don’t you think?” Buffy narrowed her eyes at Candy.
“I believe Angel’s on the right track,” Giles countered. “It will be easy enough to find out. The Council employs seers to keep track of the deaths and subsequent activations of new slayers. They could tell when the current one died and give the name and location of the new slayer. This was set up so that we could get a watcher out to the new slayer as soon as possible.”
“I was never contacted by a watcher,” Candy said quietly. Spike watched her look down to escape Buffy's disapproving gaze. He squeezed her hand.
“Well, you must consider that it was war time and travel between countries in Europe was dangerous and slow going,” Giles told her. “We can quickly find out if this theory is correct or not. Candy, what was your human name? Write this down, Dawn. The seers would have documented a slayers death in 1944 and your activation and quick death.”
“I was Candice Tierney.” She spelled out Tierney for Dawn.
Dawn stopped writing and looked up at Candy. Tierney was a familiar name to her because she was an avid classic movie fan. She looked a lot like her, too, even the old fashioned hair style.
“What?” Candy asked her.
“No.” She shook her head. “You can’t be her. She went on to make lots of movies and she died, an old lady, some time in the nineties.”
“Who did?” Spike asked.
“Gene Tierney. Wow though, you look a lot like her.” Dawn stared at her in awe.
Spike was looking hard at her now, too. “Yeah I can see it. You do look like her.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not Gene. She was my cousin.”
“That’s sooo cool,” Dawn said. “What was she like?”
“I don’t know what she was like as an adult. She was older by a couple of years. I last saw her when I was twelve. She was moody and a bit spoiled then. My Uncle was very well off.”
“As interesting as all this is, I’m anxious to go through the Council archives.” Giles stood up. “So if you can point me to a computer with Internet access…”
“You can use my office computer,” Angel offered.
Giles left with the notes and his briefcase. The room was suddenly quiet. Buffy stared at Spike and Candy’s hands. They were still entwined. Angel watched Buffy watching them.
Dawn yawned loudly and rolled her eyes at them all. “Gee Buff, can't you go one day without all this drama? You can't even do a love triangle right.” She swept her hand in an arch to include them all. “What do you call it when there are four people? Whatever. I'm not going to stick around and watch this freak show.”
“Shut up, Dawn.”
“You’re in room 210.” She handed Buffy a key. “I’m in 207 and Giles is in 205. I’m going to go down and give Giles his key and then go to bed. Do you guys have any human food in this place? I could use something to eat.”
“Yes, Nibblet, the kitchen is on the bottom floor. Easy to find. Charlie keeps his stash well stocked. I’m sure he won’t mind if you graze a little.” He smiled at her and watched her leave. She may be nosy and she may talk too much, but at least she speaks her mind.
“It’s really good to see you, Buffy,” Angel said when the door clicked shut behind her little sister. Spike rolled his eyes. Angel forever played the tormented one. Buffy was the love of his life and it was agonizing for him to know they couldn’t be together. Boo Hoo.
“It’s good to see you too,” she said without much enthusiasm. She looked tired and worn down. Spike imagined that a long plane trip and the roller coaster day she'd had so far would do that to her. She looked at Angel with a slight frown, but when she turned to look at Spike with her sad eyes, his stomach did a flop. He turned with pleading eyes to Candy, hoping she'd get the hint. He was ready to leave. She nodded slightly.
Spike and Candy rose at the same time. “I guess we’ll leave the two of you to catch up,” Spike said. “Angel, stay in that chair though. We wouldn’t want you two to get much closer. That would be bad all around.”
“Good night, Spike,” Angel practically growled.
“If Giles finds out something tonight, please let us know,” Candy requested.
“We’ll be right across the hall.” Spike opened the door. “I’m leaving this door open.” He gave them both a pointed look. “I strongly suggest that you refrain from even touching each other.”
Candy was unusually quiet once they were in their suite. She looked at him sadly, with a hint of anger in her eyes and for the first time since they met, she appeared closed off to him. She turned her whole body away from him and faced the blacked out window.
“You want to tell me what’s got your knickers in a twist?”
“Oh that’s rich. It seems to me that you’re the one with the twisted knickers, my friend.” She began gathering up her bags, which she had only set inside the door. She hadn’t had time to unpack. “I’ll just get out of your way and you can go back across the hall and drag your Slayer over here and away from Angel.”
He closed his eyes for a second and clenched his jaw. She was trying to manage all her bags at once, but in her distress she was dropping things. He barely got her moved in and she was already leaving? “Bloody hell, woman!” he roared in anger.
She jumped and dropped another bag. He was suddenly mindful of how thin the hotel walls were and the fact that they were standing near the door with Angel’s door wide open across from his. He grabbed the stuff on the floor and one suitcase out of her hand and marched towards the bedroom. He tossed them in and went back for more. Candy watched with her mouth open. This time he grabbed a duffel bag and her arm and dragged her towards the bedroom. He shoved her in and dropped the bag, and at the same time, he kicked the one open door and it slammed shut.
At this point, she was too shocked to have a reaction. She leaned back against the wall by the doors. He was just standing there staring at her with his chest heaving, taking in unneeded breaths. With vampiric speed he was before her. He slapped his hands on the wall on either side of her, trapping her.
His face was inches from hers and in a low and deadly voice he told her, “I just got you moved in here and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you go now.”
They were eye to eye and his were hard cold steel. “I’ll leave if I want to,” she said with quiet resolve. He backed away then and ran his hand through his hair in agitation. She stayed where she was. “I won’t play second fiddle to another woman. If it’s her that you want, then go fight for her. I…I have too much pride to stick around and be someone’s consolation prize. I have been alone for decades. I…I can do it again.”
The gears in his brain screeched to a halt and went in reverse. He closed his eyes as warmth coupled with understanding spread all through him. She thought he was jealous of Angel and Buffy? She was jealous of Buffy. In all his existence he’d rarely had a woman be jealous for him. It was an amazing feeling to know she wanted him all to herself. He wanted to sit down, he wanted to drop to his knees, he wanted to mash his lips against hers and kiss her senseless.
He watched her, leaning against the wall on the verge of tears. Her hand trembled slightly as she absently smoothed the end of her sweater against her waist. Spike sat down on the end of the bed. “Will you sit down with me please?” She hesitated than nodded her head, sitting away from him to stare at the wall.
“Candy, look at me.” He slid closer to her and took her hand. When he had her full attention he said, “What happened back there in Angel’s room, it’s not what it seemed.”
She opened her mouth to talk but he put his finger to her lips. “Shh, let me speak and when I’m finished you can talk.” He was going to be perfectly honest with her. It was his way and he respected her too much not to be. “I’ll admit, there was a small amount of jealousy on my part... But more from force of habit than anything else,” he said quickly. “Angel and I have fought over everything like two dogs with one bone for well over a century. Women especially. Not just Buffy. And yes the thought of the two of them together unnerves me. But back there,” he pointed towards Angel’s room. “It was more serious than that.”
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head in confusion.
“Do you know how Angel got his bloody soul?”
“Something about a curse?” she offered.
“That’s right, luv. Angel drained the wrong girl a long time back. A gypsy. The family cursed him. His soul was meant to be a torment and it is to him. That’s why he’s so broody. If he has a pure happy moment ever, the curse will be lifted and his soul goes ‘poof’.”
“That’s really stupid.”
“I know, but tell that to the gypsies. The thing is he went for a 100 years with his soul. Then he met Buffy and started helping her. They fell in love. She was very young then. He was her first lover, but it was a short lived affair. Just one night. He’d had his moment of pure happiness and woke up without the sodden soul.”
“What happened then? He has his soul now.”
“I was in town at the time with Drusilla. I had my own problems and with Angelus back they only got worse. Angel without a soul is a right evil bastard. He tormented Buffy and her friends. I was not strong at the time. Buffy had put me in a wheel chair after one of our fights. He came in and took over my dominion and Drusilla. He was planning to end the world and take us all down with it. A budding, now powerful, witch restored the curse.”
“So he can lose his soul again anytime?”
“It’s the same as before. A moment of pure happiness. Buffy’s given him that before,” he said pointedly. “You see that is why I don’t want them to get together. It means death and destruction for all us if they did.”
“I can’t imagine Angel going all crazy on us. He’s so laid back,” Candy said.
“Trust me; you don’t want to meet Angelus. His soul is a leash that holds back a demon of epic proportions. He was a bastard to live with before he got a soul, but he’s twice as bad with his cursed soul removed,” Spike warned.
“So what were you like without a soul then?” She was curious.
“Hmm. Pretty much like I am now. Only now I have this annoying conscience that stops me from doing all the fun stuff,” he shrugged but had that sexy smirk on his face.
She groaned and put her hands on her cheeks. “I am so stupid, having a tantrum over your ex.” She put her hands down and looked at him sheepishly. “But really, what was I supposed to think with you all, ‘don’t touch each other.' I’m sorry.” She looked down again.
“Don’t be.” He smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “If I were you, I would have come to the same conclusion. You know I didn’t set out to make you jealous, but I’m glad you were.”
“That’s not helping, Spike.”
“No, really. I've never had a girlfriend get jealous. I kinda like it. And hey! Did we just have our first fight?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yes, we did,” she said not returning his smile. She stood up so she could tower over him. She pointed her finger in his face. “And if you ever try to strong arm me into staying with you again…”
He kissed the tip of her finger. “Don’t you think we ought to make up now?” he asked in a low rumbling voice.
“Didn’t we already?” He wasn’t even touching her yet and he could tell he was getting to her. Her eyes were half closed and she rested a hand on her stomach.
“Oh no, baby. Making up takes hours and hours.” He stood up and then they were on each other. She was soft in all the right places and he would go insane if he didn’t have her now. He got her belt undone while kissing her. She pushed his hands back and yanked his duster off. Then she tore at his silk shirt. Buttons went flying and once she got the gray shirt off she moaned when she saw that he had a black wife beater on underneath. He was lifting her sweater when there was pounding on the door. She pulled her sweater down.
“Bloody hell,” he groused. “This better be important.”
They made their way to the front door. Angel and Buffy stood there together looking very uncomfortable. It was obvious that they had heard the doors slamming and the shouting.
“Giles wants us down in the office,” Buffy told them.
Chapter Nine: A Slayer Obsession
Genre: General, Romance, Humor, bit of action
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel: the Series
Pairing: Spike/Other, Buffy/Angel
Rating: R for sexual situations and language.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Buffy and Angel. Candy is my own original character and I do own her. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I'm not making any money off this.
Summary: Begins three months after the final battle in the alley in Angel, Not Fade Away. What's left of Angel's crew has moved back to The Hyperion, including a restless Spike. Someone interesting comes to LA, when Faith suggests that only Angel can help her. Many characters from both shows will make appearances. Angel, Harmony, Gunn, Illyria, Lorne, Buffy, Giles, Dawn, Angelus, Willow and others.
(Previous Chapters Here)
Betas:
raynedanser and leiadiana. Thanks again ladies.Chapter Eight ~ Excuses
Angel’s living room was already crowded. He was sitting back in his easy chair. Giles relaxed, sipping his scotch next to Buffy on the larger couch. Spike was on the love seat and Gunn opted to stay out of this little meeting while Illyria was manning the phones in the lobby. Spike watched Angel get up to answer the knock at the door.
“Hi guys,” Dawn said cheerfully. “We each have our own rooms on the second floor. Candy and I moved the luggage into them already.” She plopped down next to Buffy.
Giles pulled a legal pad and pen out of his case and gave them to Dawn. “Take notes, please.” For all his faults, Spike had to give Giles props for being clever as jotting down notes would give her something to do and keep her comments to a minimum.
Candy sat down next to Spike and he scooted a little closer to her. He handed her a mug and looked at her, silently questioning her with his eyes. Had she moved her stuff to his room? “Thanks.” She leaned in close and whispered, “And yes, there is clutter everywhere.”
“Candy, your situation is quite a puzzle,” Giles started. “There are no documented cases of a vampire waking up with their soul intact that I know of.”
Buffy held up her hand. “While Candy’s case is very fascinating, I’d like to get one thing out of the way first.” She gave Giles an apologetic look. “I want to know how long Spike has been “back” and why we didn’t know about it.” She narrowed her eyes at Spike.
Spike looked to Angel to start. “It was about four months after Spike destroyed Sunnydale. My group and I were working at Wolfram & Hart. I opened some mail and the amulet dropped to the floor. Out popped Spike like a genie in a lamp.”
Spike snorted at that. “I had no idea where I was. Turns out I was incorporeal. Like a ghost,” he explained when Dawn stopped writing. “I could go through walls and for a time there I would disappear altogether.”
He paused for a moment and remembered the intense concern that he’d had for Buffy. He looked at her. “The first thing I did was ask about you. Angel assured me that you and the Scoobies had gotten out all right. I was set to go to you right away, but Angel told me that you were in Italy.”
“Spike was starting to some how fade away. None of us were sure he was going to stay on this earth, even in his incorporeal form. I was the one who convinced him not to contact you.” When she got that stubborn look on her face Angel continued quickly, “I did it for you, Buffy. You’d already had to deal with his death once. Here he was not really here at all and even that seemed temporary. I didn’t want you to go through it all again.”
Spike felt bad for Angel. Buffy was glaring at the guy and he shivered when he imagined the temperature of the room had dropped a few degrees. He was just glad that stare was not directed at him so he was in a charitable mood. “Angel was right to discourage me from going to you. I didn’t want you to have to go through any more than you already had. I have to admit that at one time I said 'sod it all' and tried to leave L.A. to get to you. I just kept teleporting back to Angel’s office.”
Buffy was frowning now. “So if he was a ghost, how come he's sitting here now all fleshed out and everything?” She put her hand out toward him in a sweeping motion.
“We still haven’t figured that out. Even Fred, our resident scientist, couldn’t figure it out.”
“Yeah. One day I’m standing in the lobby with Harm…uh Angel’s secretary. I got a package and she was opening it for me. There was a flash of light and next thing you know I’m me again.”
“How long ago was that?” Giles asked.
“It was a while ago.” Angel answered. “But crazy things started happening right after he fleshed out. And it wasn’t long after that….” He shared a look with Spike.
“Fred needed us all and I couldn’t leave,” Spike said.
“Our friend Fred was infected by what we now know was Illyria,” Angel said sadly.
“We all loved her, and I wasn’t going to just leave them with her life in the balance.” Spike swallowed and looked down. “Although I wasn’t able to do a bloody thing about her death,” he admitted sadly.
“None of us could Spike,” Angel said. “After all that, I, uh, I didn’t want Spike to leave.” Spike looked up in shock at that revelation. He grinned slowly when he got a look at Angel's face. He looked as if he'd swallowed a bag of spoiled pig’s blood. He caught Spike's grin and added, “I was fed up with the situation at Wolfram & Hart. I had decided to take more decisive action. Spike is the strongest warrior I had.”
Spike continued to grin at him. Angel could try to cover that little slip all he wanted but Spike had his number now. On the other hand, he wasn't about to admit to the proof that he had been happy to stay.
“So you just forgot about me…us,” Buffy stated to Spike.
“No. That’s not how it was. I told you about our trip to Italy. Angel and I were fumbling all over each other trying to get to you. Sorry mate, but you know it's true,” he added when Angel groaned. “Then like I told you earlier, we saw you with The Immortal. We had a time sensitive issue, too. We had to get back. I just figured you’d moved on and were happy, even if it was with that ponce.”
“Gaston?” Candy asked. “She’s dating him?”
“Huh? Who’s Gaston?” Buffy asked and frowned at Candy.
The three vampires shared wicked smiles but Angel answered, “The Immortal. It’s our nickname for him.”
“Weird,” Dawn said, shaking her head at them.
“She’s not really dating The Immortal. She’s under cover for the Council,” Giles said.
“Don’t you think that was a bit dangerous, Giles, to send her in there with him? You know he has this power over women to bend them to his will.” Angel glared at the Watcher.
“She was in no danger. It’s been a well kept secret, but slayers are immune to his charms. Watchers, on the other hand are not. She was assigned the job of finding out if he’d turned Ms. Trentham or just killed her. When she found out, she was to dust him and if necessary dust a turned Ms. Trentham as well. We can’t have a vampire out there with watcher knowledge.”
“So far he’s been tight lipped about her, and I’m having a heck of a time keeping him at bay.” Buffy leaned back and sighed. “The assignment should have ended months ago.”
“Yeah, he’s totally obsessed with Buffy now and he won’t leave her alone,” Dawn chimed in with amusement. Buffy frowned and squeezed her sister’s arm. Dawn flinched but smiled at her.
“And this is a surprise?” Spike couldn’t believe how stupid they were. “Two master vampires fall in love with you and you are surprised when a third does?”
“It’s very funny actually. He’s even bagging it for her now. Pig's blood, mostly.” Dawn loved teasing her sister.
“Oh please!” Spike threw his hands up at that and leaned back. He was through talking about the wanker.
Angel had been quiet for a time. The pieces were falling to place for him and he was now pretty sure his theory about Candy was correct. “Giles, you say slayers are immune to his charms?”
“Yes, he's quite the coward and usually stays clear of slayers. He's even been known to leave Italy when one is called there. Even so, the records show that he’s met with two other slayers in the past. Their watchers both wrote similar stories about how their slayers were repulsed by him.”
“My theory about Candy. Are you seeing it now?” Angel said. When he first told Giles his theory down stairs, the watcher had been doubtful.
Giles’ eyes widened and he looked closely at Candy. “Yes, yes. I’ll have to do some research. I’ll need access to a computer.”
“What theory, Angel?” Spike wanted to know.
“I think I have a right to know what’s going on,” Candy added.
Angel told them his theory while holding his fingers up one at a time. “Candy mentioned that she was always a bit stronger than other girls. When she met The Immortal in 1944, she couldn’t stand the guy and when he got fresh with her, she slapped him and he went flying. She’s turned and wakes up with a soul. I’m thinking that she was a potential and that she was activated some time before she met The Immortal.”
“Whoa,” Spike said and looked at Candy, sitting beside him, in awe.
“That’s a little far fetched don’t you think?” Buffy narrowed her eyes at Candy.
“I believe Angel’s on the right track,” Giles countered. “It will be easy enough to find out. The Council employs seers to keep track of the deaths and subsequent activations of new slayers. They could tell when the current one died and give the name and location of the new slayer. This was set up so that we could get a watcher out to the new slayer as soon as possible.”
“I was never contacted by a watcher,” Candy said quietly. Spike watched her look down to escape Buffy's disapproving gaze. He squeezed her hand.
“Well, you must consider that it was war time and travel between countries in Europe was dangerous and slow going,” Giles told her. “We can quickly find out if this theory is correct or not. Candy, what was your human name? Write this down, Dawn. The seers would have documented a slayers death in 1944 and your activation and quick death.”
“I was Candice Tierney.” She spelled out Tierney for Dawn.
Dawn stopped writing and looked up at Candy. Tierney was a familiar name to her because she was an avid classic movie fan. She looked a lot like her, too, even the old fashioned hair style.
“What?” Candy asked her.
“No.” She shook her head. “You can’t be her. She went on to make lots of movies and she died, an old lady, some time in the nineties.”
“Who did?” Spike asked.
“Gene Tierney. Wow though, you look a lot like her.” Dawn stared at her in awe.
Spike was looking hard at her now, too. “Yeah I can see it. You do look like her.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not Gene. She was my cousin.”
“That’s sooo cool,” Dawn said. “What was she like?”
“I don’t know what she was like as an adult. She was older by a couple of years. I last saw her when I was twelve. She was moody and a bit spoiled then. My Uncle was very well off.”
“As interesting as all this is, I’m anxious to go through the Council archives.” Giles stood up. “So if you can point me to a computer with Internet access…”
“You can use my office computer,” Angel offered.
Giles left with the notes and his briefcase. The room was suddenly quiet. Buffy stared at Spike and Candy’s hands. They were still entwined. Angel watched Buffy watching them.
Dawn yawned loudly and rolled her eyes at them all. “Gee Buff, can't you go one day without all this drama? You can't even do a love triangle right.” She swept her hand in an arch to include them all. “What do you call it when there are four people? Whatever. I'm not going to stick around and watch this freak show.”
“Shut up, Dawn.”
“You’re in room 210.” She handed Buffy a key. “I’m in 207 and Giles is in 205. I’m going to go down and give Giles his key and then go to bed. Do you guys have any human food in this place? I could use something to eat.”
“Yes, Nibblet, the kitchen is on the bottom floor. Easy to find. Charlie keeps his stash well stocked. I’m sure he won’t mind if you graze a little.” He smiled at her and watched her leave. She may be nosy and she may talk too much, but at least she speaks her mind.
“It’s really good to see you, Buffy,” Angel said when the door clicked shut behind her little sister. Spike rolled his eyes. Angel forever played the tormented one. Buffy was the love of his life and it was agonizing for him to know they couldn’t be together. Boo Hoo.
“It’s good to see you too,” she said without much enthusiasm. She looked tired and worn down. Spike imagined that a long plane trip and the roller coaster day she'd had so far would do that to her. She looked at Angel with a slight frown, but when she turned to look at Spike with her sad eyes, his stomach did a flop. He turned with pleading eyes to Candy, hoping she'd get the hint. He was ready to leave. She nodded slightly.
Spike and Candy rose at the same time. “I guess we’ll leave the two of you to catch up,” Spike said. “Angel, stay in that chair though. We wouldn’t want you two to get much closer. That would be bad all around.”
“Good night, Spike,” Angel practically growled.
“If Giles finds out something tonight, please let us know,” Candy requested.
“We’ll be right across the hall.” Spike opened the door. “I’m leaving this door open.” He gave them both a pointed look. “I strongly suggest that you refrain from even touching each other.”
Candy was unusually quiet once they were in their suite. She looked at him sadly, with a hint of anger in her eyes and for the first time since they met, she appeared closed off to him. She turned her whole body away from him and faced the blacked out window.
“You want to tell me what’s got your knickers in a twist?”
“Oh that’s rich. It seems to me that you’re the one with the twisted knickers, my friend.” She began gathering up her bags, which she had only set inside the door. She hadn’t had time to unpack. “I’ll just get out of your way and you can go back across the hall and drag your Slayer over here and away from Angel.”
He closed his eyes for a second and clenched his jaw. She was trying to manage all her bags at once, but in her distress she was dropping things. He barely got her moved in and she was already leaving? “Bloody hell, woman!” he roared in anger.
She jumped and dropped another bag. He was suddenly mindful of how thin the hotel walls were and the fact that they were standing near the door with Angel’s door wide open across from his. He grabbed the stuff on the floor and one suitcase out of her hand and marched towards the bedroom. He tossed them in and went back for more. Candy watched with her mouth open. This time he grabbed a duffel bag and her arm and dragged her towards the bedroom. He shoved her in and dropped the bag, and at the same time, he kicked the one open door and it slammed shut.
At this point, she was too shocked to have a reaction. She leaned back against the wall by the doors. He was just standing there staring at her with his chest heaving, taking in unneeded breaths. With vampiric speed he was before her. He slapped his hands on the wall on either side of her, trapping her.
His face was inches from hers and in a low and deadly voice he told her, “I just got you moved in here and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you go now.”
They were eye to eye and his were hard cold steel. “I’ll leave if I want to,” she said with quiet resolve. He backed away then and ran his hand through his hair in agitation. She stayed where she was. “I won’t play second fiddle to another woman. If it’s her that you want, then go fight for her. I…I have too much pride to stick around and be someone’s consolation prize. I have been alone for decades. I…I can do it again.”
The gears in his brain screeched to a halt and went in reverse. He closed his eyes as warmth coupled with understanding spread all through him. She thought he was jealous of Angel and Buffy? She was jealous of Buffy. In all his existence he’d rarely had a woman be jealous for him. It was an amazing feeling to know she wanted him all to herself. He wanted to sit down, he wanted to drop to his knees, he wanted to mash his lips against hers and kiss her senseless.
He watched her, leaning against the wall on the verge of tears. Her hand trembled slightly as she absently smoothed the end of her sweater against her waist. Spike sat down on the end of the bed. “Will you sit down with me please?” She hesitated than nodded her head, sitting away from him to stare at the wall.
“Candy, look at me.” He slid closer to her and took her hand. When he had her full attention he said, “What happened back there in Angel’s room, it’s not what it seemed.”
She opened her mouth to talk but he put his finger to her lips. “Shh, let me speak and when I’m finished you can talk.” He was going to be perfectly honest with her. It was his way and he respected her too much not to be. “I’ll admit, there was a small amount of jealousy on my part... But more from force of habit than anything else,” he said quickly. “Angel and I have fought over everything like two dogs with one bone for well over a century. Women especially. Not just Buffy. And yes the thought of the two of them together unnerves me. But back there,” he pointed towards Angel’s room. “It was more serious than that.”
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head in confusion.
“Do you know how Angel got his bloody soul?”
“Something about a curse?” she offered.
“That’s right, luv. Angel drained the wrong girl a long time back. A gypsy. The family cursed him. His soul was meant to be a torment and it is to him. That’s why he’s so broody. If he has a pure happy moment ever, the curse will be lifted and his soul goes ‘poof’.”
“That’s really stupid.”
“I know, but tell that to the gypsies. The thing is he went for a 100 years with his soul. Then he met Buffy and started helping her. They fell in love. She was very young then. He was her first lover, but it was a short lived affair. Just one night. He’d had his moment of pure happiness and woke up without the sodden soul.”
“What happened then? He has his soul now.”
“I was in town at the time with Drusilla. I had my own problems and with Angelus back they only got worse. Angel without a soul is a right evil bastard. He tormented Buffy and her friends. I was not strong at the time. Buffy had put me in a wheel chair after one of our fights. He came in and took over my dominion and Drusilla. He was planning to end the world and take us all down with it. A budding, now powerful, witch restored the curse.”
“So he can lose his soul again anytime?”
“It’s the same as before. A moment of pure happiness. Buffy’s given him that before,” he said pointedly. “You see that is why I don’t want them to get together. It means death and destruction for all us if they did.”
“I can’t imagine Angel going all crazy on us. He’s so laid back,” Candy said.
“Trust me; you don’t want to meet Angelus. His soul is a leash that holds back a demon of epic proportions. He was a bastard to live with before he got a soul, but he’s twice as bad with his cursed soul removed,” Spike warned.
“So what were you like without a soul then?” She was curious.
“Hmm. Pretty much like I am now. Only now I have this annoying conscience that stops me from doing all the fun stuff,” he shrugged but had that sexy smirk on his face.
She groaned and put her hands on her cheeks. “I am so stupid, having a tantrum over your ex.” She put her hands down and looked at him sheepishly. “But really, what was I supposed to think with you all, ‘don’t touch each other.' I’m sorry.” She looked down again.
“Don’t be.” He smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “If I were you, I would have come to the same conclusion. You know I didn’t set out to make you jealous, but I’m glad you were.”
“That’s not helping, Spike.”
“No, really. I've never had a girlfriend get jealous. I kinda like it. And hey! Did we just have our first fight?” he asked cheerfully.
“Yes, we did,” she said not returning his smile. She stood up so she could tower over him. She pointed her finger in his face. “And if you ever try to strong arm me into staying with you again…”
He kissed the tip of her finger. “Don’t you think we ought to make up now?” he asked in a low rumbling voice.
“Didn’t we already?” He wasn’t even touching her yet and he could tell he was getting to her. Her eyes were half closed and she rested a hand on her stomach.
“Oh no, baby. Making up takes hours and hours.” He stood up and then they were on each other. She was soft in all the right places and he would go insane if he didn’t have her now. He got her belt undone while kissing her. She pushed his hands back and yanked his duster off. Then she tore at his silk shirt. Buttons went flying and once she got the gray shirt off she moaned when she saw that he had a black wife beater on underneath. He was lifting her sweater when there was pounding on the door. She pulled her sweater down.
“Bloody hell,” he groused. “This better be important.”
They made their way to the front door. Angel and Buffy stood there together looking very uncomfortable. It was obvious that they had heard the doors slamming and the shouting.
“Giles wants us down in the office,” Buffy told them.
Chapter Nine: A Slayer Obsession
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