Forever Again

by SpikesKat

 

A/N:  Blatantly borrowed some dialogue from AtS season 5 "Smile Time."  So, just giving credit where credit is due.  ^_^

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 7

Angel eyed his team from his seated position in the middle of the table.  Spike and Buffy had left a while ago; well, more like after the third time the group had repeated the same story about Eve and Lindsey and the group’s lack of progress in determining where the duplicitous pair had holed up.  He was ready to call it a night himself.  Cordelia was upstairs sleeping peacefully, but he was nervous… afraid even.  Like if he weren’t standing watch over her, she’d just disappear.  Vanish without a trace.  

Rising to his feet, he concluded the meeting and told his people to get some rest.  

“I would, but I’ve got five or six more hours of spell detailing to do,” Wesley replied.  

“Yeah.  I got a mess of briefings to go through,” Gunn added.  

“And I have to redo the entire Trask experiment.  Knox really dropped the ball on that one,” Fred retorted in a rare moment of blame-laying.   

“Yes, he is unreliable.  Good point,” Wesley commented.  

Fred rolled her eyes at the Englishman, but couldn’t prevent the small smile that formed on her lips as he badmouthed the guy that seemed determined to ask her out.  

“Wes!” she admonished.  

“What?  I’m just agreeing with you,” he told her, stepping through the doorway leading out into the main office foyer.  

Angel, as the last one out, pulled the office door closed behind him.  He paused for a moment, hand still on the door knob, as he thought he felt the presence of his childer – and not Spike and Buffy either.  The sensation was soon gone, however, and he shook himself and released the handle, mumbling a distracted goodbye to the others and walked towards the private elevators that led to his apartment.  

“Bye, Angel,” Fred called out cheerfully before turning to Wesley and asking, “Do you want to join me.  To…you know…work on your spell stuff while I fix the Trask experiment?”  

Okaaaaaaay…” Gunn slapped Lorne on the back.  “Come on, Lorne.  How ‘bout I buy you a drink before I start on the stack of depositions sitting on my desk?  Leave these two lovebirds alone.”  

The green-skinned demon seemed upset that he’d been kept out of the loop on the latest office romance brewing right beneath his nose, grumbling under his breath about people needing to sing a bit more often. He allowed Gunn to lead him away from the pair blushing like teenagers caught by their parents while in the midst of some heavy petting.  

“We could go to Caritas…” Gunn’s voice drifted back to the pair still frozen by the stairs.  “…I can dazzle you with my rappin’ skills….”  

“Please, god, no,” they thought they heard as the elevators closed on the two men.  

“So….” Wesley began after they were alone in the foyer.  “…a joint work session.”  

Fred blushed some more, but refused to back down.  Giving him her sassiest smile, she told him, “Uh huh,” before making her way up the stairs that led to her office.   

Wesley, not mistaking the look in her eyes, hurried after her.  

Both were oblivious to the twin sets of eyes that followed their departure.  

~*~  

“Tell me again why we’re allowing them to leave,” Sam demanded of the dark-haired vampiress.  She’d snuck up on him early as he’d hidden one level up, watching intently as his Sire and the others entered the meeting room.  

“Naughty boy!” she sing-songed, dancing in a circle about him.  “Mustn’t spoil the tea party.”  

The vampire rolled his eyes at the crazed woman and moved to go around her but had barely managed to skirt past when he was stopped cold by a hand at his throat.  His neck felt like it had been locked in a vise that was slowly squeezing him to death.  

“Who are…” he managed to gasp out as he stared into her surprisingly lucid gaze.  

Drusilla cocked her head to the side as she regarded him.  

“Bad daddy,” she commented.  “Not telling you about—”  

She lifted her head suddenly, as if sensing another’s approach.  Her eyes closed in delight and she hummed a few faint strands of some melody he’d never heard before.  He tried to get free once more, but her grip hadn’t loosened even a fraction of an inch.  The spell was over just as quickly as it had begun, and she’d pinned him in place with a look.  

“Later,” she told him.  “Come…before they realize we’re here.  Don’t want to spoil the surprise.  Miss Becky does so love a good surprise.  You don’t want to spoil Miss Becky’s fun, do you?”  

“Uhh….no?”  

Sam didn’t know who this vampire was, but realized that for all her crazy ramblings, she was powerful in her own right.  And, right now, he really didn’t want to piss her off.  So, if she wanted to wait, he’d wait.  After all, it wasn’t like Angelus – or Angel, as the vampire was calling himself these days – was going anywhere.  

And neither was he.  

“Good boy!”  

Drusilla released him immediately, clapping her hands excitedly and bouncing off towards the exit, her nature reverting to that almost child-like innocence of before.  The pair escaped out of the Wolfram & Hart law offices before anyone was the wiser.  

Why he followed after her was anyone’s guess.  She’d intrigued him about the daddy comment.  Then there was the whole tea party that sounded like fun, especially if it caused his Sire pain.  

~*~*~*~*~  

The week seemed to slip by for Buffy, only because there seemed to be a lull in the aftermath of Eve’s deception.  The absence of the senior partner’s influence had confounded even Angel.  Which was why the Slayer was waiting anxiously for the other shoe to drop.  Even her conversations with Lorne produced no results; the green-skinned demon couldn’t tell her any more than he had at Christmas, hadn’t even commented on the subtle alterations she’d made.  Apparently, since Cordy’s return, his “visions” regarding those among the LA gang had dried up like the proverbial well.  

His statement seemed to ring false with the Slayer, given the haunted look about his eyes, but she didn’t prod him further.  Instead, she concentrated her energies on those around her, her eyes and ears alert to everything and everyone.  When her behavior was commented on by either Spike or Angel, she shrugged their concern aside.  Buffy knew the two talked when she wasn’t around; she’d caught hints of their silent communication when they thought she wasn’t looking.  But, she couldn’t share her concern with them.  She’d interfered enough as it was, and to have more in the know…it only invited disaster.  

The stress of the situation seemed to be getting to her, which caused her to sleep later than usual today.  Spike had obviously already left the room, no doubt trying to let her sleep.  Buffy quickly showered and dressed, gulped down two packets of blood – human, per her Watcher’s request – and hurried from the room.  

Not sensing either male vampire, or Cordelia, on the above floor, Buffy took the private elevator that opened directly into Angel’s office.  When the doors opened, she was greeted by Angel, Spike and Cordelia – all of them huddled around the desk as the sound of Giles’ voice came over the speaker phone.  

“…not having much luck, I’m afraid,” he was saying.  

“Well, keep on it, Rupert.  Wes is also looking into the matter,” Angel replied as he glanced over and noticed Buffy standing just outside the elevators.  He waved her over.  “Buffy!  Come say hello to Giles.” 

She smiled and walked over, snuggling into her mate as he sat propped on the arm of one of the chairs.  “Hey, Giles!”  

“Buffy!  Hello!  How are you?”  

“Oh, the usual,” she replied.  “Dealing with two overprotective males.  But, with Cordy back in the land of the living, at least the scales have balanced.”  

“Balanced, my arse,” Spike grumbled.  Buffy punched him good-naturedly on the shoulder, grinning at her female coconspirator.   

“Yes, well, I’m sure they only have your best interests at heart.  You’re not giving them any problems with the human blood, are you?”  

“No…sheesh!  Did Spike put you up to it?”  

“Put me up to what?” Giles asked, clearly confused.  

“To hound me about feeding,” Buffy grumbled.  

“No.  And even if he did, we just want…”  His sigh could be heard clearly over the phone.  “One of these days I’m going to learn not to fall for your leading questions.”  

Buffy bit her lip to keep from laughing, but unfortunately, her watcher couldn’t see.  

“Just as contrary as Dawn,” he mumbled.  

“How is Dawnie?” Buffy asked.  

“She’s doing well.  A sight more dedicated to her studies than someone else I could mention.”  

“That’s not fair!  She doesn’t have the whole ‘Chosen One’ label to deal with like I did,” Buffy griped.

“Be that as it may… She’s really amazing.  She’s been very mature about this whole separation and even comes in to help me research once she’s finished with her homework.  Rome definitely agrees with her.”  

“I….that’s good to hear, Giles.  Is she there?”  

“Sorry, Buffy.  I’m afraid not.  She and a few of the girls went to a movie earlier.  They’re not due back for another hour or so.  I can have her call you when she gets in.”  

“Ok.  Thanks, Giles.”  

“Well, I suppose I should get back to the research.  I’ll call you if anything turns up.”  

“Bye, Giles.  I love you.”  

“Goodbye, Buffy.  Spike.  Angel.  Cordelia, nice to hear your voice again.”  

“Thanks, Giles,” Cordelia replied.  

The sound of the line ringing off could be heard and Angel punched a button to disconnect the speaker phone.  

“Boss?” Harmony’s voice sounded over the phone’s intercom.

“Yeah, Harmony?” Angel replied as he pressed the answer button.  

“Nina’s here.”  

He looked through the glass to see Nina standing in front of Harmony’s desk. “I’ll be right out.”  

Angel turned back to the others and took in their curious looks. “I’ll be back in a minute…I’ve got…this thing….” He trailed off and made a hasty exit out of his office.  

“Did he seem a tad embarrassed?” Buffy asked of no one in particular.  

“I’ll say,” Cordelia grumbled.

“Peaches doesn’t know how to do embarrassed, pet.  He’s got only one expression… brood,” Spike commented at the same time.  

~*~*~*~*~  

When Angel got back to his office, he found it deserted except for Spike.  

“Where are the—”  

“Shopping.”  

“Shopping?”  

“Uh huh.  Have to say… you really messed that one up, Peaches.  Cheerleader stormed out of here with an evil glint in her eyes.  Slayer went along to keep her company.  Safe to say your wallet’s gonna take a hit.”  

“Think it’ll work?”  

“The truth?”  

Angel nodded.  

Spike shook his head.  “Only thing’s gonna fix this is a full-blown confession.”  

“She asked me to breakfast.”  

“The cheerleader?”  

“No…Nina.”  

“Ahh… wolfgirl.  What did ya say?”  

“Nothing.  I locked her in her cage and took off out of the room.”  

Spike quirked his brow.  

“See…the thing is…before Cordy came back, I might have entertained the idea.  But now—”  

“You want to see where this thing with her is going,” Spike concluded.  

“We were supposed to meet, you know.  Point Dume.  I’ll never forget.  Only…”  

“Only?”  

“Never mind.  It’s not… Important thing is…we never got a chance to say what we both felt.  I’d finally let Buffy go.  Was going to see about this thing with Cordelia.  And now she’s back.  And now Nina’s in the picture.”  

“Right pickle you’re in there, mate.”  

Angel frowned at his grandchilde.  A knock sounded at the door, and both vampires turned to see Fred, followed by Wesley, enter the office.  

“Hey, guys.  I think I have a case.”  

“Thank god!” Angel exclaimed.  

Fred walked over to the desk and handed Angel the file in her hands.  

“Children's epidemic,” she told him. “Seven kids, comatose, each with a semi-rictus of the facial muscles. I haven't been able to isolate a causative agent.”  

“You think it's mystical.”  It wasn’t a question.  

“Well, I've been down the strictly physiological route, number-crunched all the victims' charts, even had our hospital contacts send over blood samples. I've pulled all their plasma apart. No indicators on the cellular or subcellular levels.”  

Angel continued to flip through the pages of the file while Fred explained.  “TV,” he said suddenly.  

“What?”  

“Parents said all the kids collapsed between 7:00 and... looks like 7:30A.M. And all of them in front of the TV.” 

“Huh. That could be something, but I'd still like to get a handle on the pathology.”  

“Good. I'll—I'll follow up on this lead.  Spike, let the girls know—”  

“Will do.”  

~*~*~*~*~  

Angel was never so grateful to be the CEO of Wolfram and Hart as he was right now; it allowed him to sneak into his office unseen from the parking garage via his private elevator.  Or, it would, if he could reach the key slot with his key.  He hopped up and down a few times trying to slam the key into the hole.  After the third time, he gave up on that approach and looked around for something to stand on.  

Grumbling under his breath all the while, he finally located a discarded box.  It took him a while since his legs were now cropped to midget length, given that he’d somehow been turned into a damn puppet.  His gait was awkward as he tried to carry the box back to the elevator, its size making it difficult for him to see.  Eventually, though, he reached the elevator, but only after having tripped over the curb and nearly crushing his “boost.”  

With the box in place, Angel carefully stepped onto it and inserted his key that gained him instant access to his personal elevator.  Inside, he had another problem reaching the button that would take him to his private office and had to grab the box he’d left outside, nearly getting squished once the doors started to close.  The cardboard box didn’t survive the second attempt as a stepstool, crumbling under the puppet’s weight seconds after Angel had managed to push the necessary button.  The entire ride to the top floor was spent trying to disengage his feet from the hole he’d made.  

The doors opened without a sound a moment later, and Angel was relieved to find his office empty – he was already dreading the explanations to his team.   Oh, who was he kidding?  He was trying to avoid having Spike find out, knowing the insolent vampire would take extreme delight in teasing him mercilessly.  

He spent the remainder of the night brooding at his desk, waiting for the moment Fred got in.  If anyone could fix his problem, it would be she.  

~*~*~*~*~  

“He hasn’t been back?” Buffy asked Cordelia.  

“Nope.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch waiting for him to get in,” she replied.  

Buffy turned to Spike.

“Don’t look at me, pet.  Last I saw him, he was lighting out of his office talking about researching leads on what happened to those kids.”  

The Slayer walked to the elevator that led to Angel’s office.  Cordelia and Spike trailed after her.  The trio got out just as the elder vampire commented, “Oh, there’s a problem.”  

“Whoa!” Gunn took a step back as Angel swiveled in his chair to reveal Angel…only in puppet form.  

“Angel, is that… you?” Wesley questioned.  

“Oh my God!” Fred rushed to his side.  “Angel….you’re….”  

Buffy beat the girl to him.  “Angel!  Oh….”  

“Buffy,” Angel growled.  

“….how cute!”  Ignoring the growls coming from the vampire-turned-puppet, she lifted him out of his chair and cuddled him close.  Fred and Cordelia quickly joined in, fawning over the cuddly softness that was now Angel.  

“Awww….look at his little hands,” Fred gushed.  

“And his hair,” Cordelia added.  

“And he’s so squeezably soft,” Buffy added, hugging Angel tightly against her chest.  

Spike growled possessively.  

Angel wiggled his faux eyebrows at him.  Being turned into a puppet might not be so bad after all...  

“Oi! Slayer!  Let ‘im go already.  So the poofter’s a bloody stuffed animal.  Who cares?”  Spike’s eyes narrowed on his grandsire as he lapped up the attention; Buffy and the others ignored him.  

Spike rolled his eyes at the fawning women and stalked over to the bar, pouring himself a drink, muttering under his breath.  

“Sorry I’m late, gang,” Lorne announced as he sailed into the office.  “Uh, what’s with the puppet?”  

“That’s Angel,” Wesley told him.

“Whoa!”  

“That’s what I said,” Gunn commented.  

“Uh…Angel?” Wesley called out.  “Angel!”  

“Slayer, would ya let the Toys ‘R Us reject go already, the watcher’s tryin’ to talk to the git.”  

“Erm, yes…I wouldn’t put it quite that way, but, uh… yes…Angel, what happened?”  

“I'm not sure,” Angel replied as he shifted on Buffy’s lap to look at Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne. “I went over to Smile Time last night, and I think their office is under some kind of spell. I could feel it trying to get at me. I—I shook it off, but then I met this guy with a towel over his head, and something exploded! I woke up like this. Ugh.”  

“Not ugh.  Cute,” Cordelia interjected, fluffing his spiky hair.  

“Hey!  Not the hair.”  

“They make hair products for plush toys?” Spike snarked.  

Buffy’s firm grip prevented the elder vamp from launching himself off her lap as he vamped out and growled.  Spike started laughing as soon as he got a look at him, pointing as he gasped, “Ooooh…the wee li’l puppet man has fangs.”  

The Slayer frowned at her mate, but understood his mirth.  Angel as a puppet was cute; Angel as a vampire puppet was kind of silly.  Still….  

It wasn’t nice to make fun of family in front of others.  

“Hey, it’s Smile Time!” Angel exclaimed and jumped off Buffy’s lap to hurry over and stand in front of the TV, having just got a look at the time.  

The opening music to the program resounded in the room as Lorne cut on the television.  

Fred picked up Angel’s phone and dialed her office.  Tracy , record the program that's running on channel 12 right now. Use everything. I'm gonna need a full-spectrum analysis.”  

Angel growled as the overly-cheerful puppets sang on screen.  “I want everything there is to know about Smile Time and its creators on my desk in an hour.  Nobody does this to me and gets away with it.”  When everyone remained where they were he shouted, “Let’s move, people.”  

Team Angel hurried out of the office leaving just Spike, Buffy, and Cordelia behind.  

“Little harsh there, don’t you think, Angel?” Cordelia commented.  

“Look at me, Cordy.  I’m a puppet!”  

“Still doesn’t give you cause to yell at your people like that.”  

Angel hobbled back to his chair on his short, stubby legs.  He hopped up on the seat, sighing heavily as he leaned back.  “I know…”  

“You have to apologize.”  

“I…I will.  Just as soon as they figure out—”  

A knock sounded at the door and a moment later, Nina peeked her head inside.  

“Angel?”  

“Nina…uh…now isn’t exactly—”  

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize you had someone with you.  I’ll go.”  

“No…wait.  Come in.”  

Nina stepped inside the office, closing the door behind her.  

“Angel!  What happened?”  She’d just gotten a look at him in his chair.  

“Long story.  Went up against some big….thing….and it turned me into a puppet.  My team is working on it now.  Should be back to normal in no time.”  

“Oh….”  

“Well….I…uh…You’re busy…I’ll let you get back to work.”  The blonde hurried to the door and was gone before Angel had a chance to call her back.  

“Really bolloxsed that one up.”  

“Spike,” he growled.  

“Wot?  ‘M jus sayin’.”  He arched a brow, daring his grandsire to contradict him.  

“Yeah, well don’t.”  

“Fine!”  

“Fine!”  

Buffy and Cordelia rolled their eyes at their childish actions.  Men!  

~*~*~*~*~  

In the end, taking out the puppet demons running Smile Time was rather anticlimactic.  So much so, that Spike and Buffy just stood by while Angel and his gang did all the work.  Spike, however, managed to get a few digs in about the lack of Angel’s fighting style, causing the other to ground out, “I’d like to see you do any better as a damn puppet!”  

With the baddies destroyed, Angel had used his cell phone to call in the clean-up crew and the small group had returned to Wolfram and Hart.  

The one good thing that had come out of the entire mess was that Fred and Wesley were officially a couple now; the Texan had cornered the former watcher after she’d finished her spell, kissing him senseless in the hopes that he’d get the picture.  Now, huddled together on the couch in Angel’s office, the pair seemed glued at the hip – which, to Buffy, was a good thing.  

“Fred?  Fred!” Angel finally shouted.  

“Hmmm…”  

“How long before this wears off?”  

“Two….maybe three days,” she answered.  

“Three days!”  

The office door burst open suddenly and Dawn came barreling into the room.  

“Dawnie!”  Buffy jumped out of Spike’s lap and raced to her sister’s side.  “What are you doing here?”  

“It’s spring break.  Giles said we could come visit….well, Spike and Angel planned the whole thing,” she replied as she hugged her sister.  “I’ve missed you!”  

“Oh, Dawnie!  I’ve missed you too!  Now come…tell me how school’s going?”  

Giles walked in as the pair plopped down on the couch.  

“Rupert, glad you could make it,” Spike greeted.  “Tea’s at the bar.  Had it put on when you guys landed.”  

Giles’ look said it all.  

Spike smirked in response.  

‘Bloody colonials.’  

“How long can you stay?” Buffy asked.  

“For a week….ummm….Buffy?” Dawn was looking over her sister’s shoulder at the desk chair occupied by Angel.  

“Hmmmm?”  

“What’s with the doll?”  

Spike’s booming laughter resounded throughout the room.

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