SEIZE THE NIGHT (22/?)
 

"Will?" Xander said, his eyes disbelieving.
 

"Damn...death looks good on you" Cordelia said, taking in the redhead's
casual dress and newly found glow.
 

"Cordy!" Amy hissed, rolling her eyes. She looked back at Willow who was
ignoring them. She saw the way Angel's eyes lit up as they looked at her
old friend. This was his mate.
 

"Lovey....you know everyone?" Darla asked, smiling at the girl.
 

Willow nodded as she turned her eyes to look at Xander. She smiled as
she saw the look of relief and fear cross his eyes. "Xan. Sorry I
couldn't see you before this."
 

"You're alive" Xander said, shaking his head slightly. "I mean, dead but
not dead but damn, you know what I mean! They said you ran away but we
thought you were dead...."
 

"And you said he was smart?" Angel said rolling his eyes. He looked at
her, amusement in his dark eyes.
 

"He is...just misunderstood" she said defending her old friend.
 

"That's an understatement" Angel said, stopping when Darla glared at
him. "Sorry mum."
 

Giles found himself almost laughing as the vampire smiled sheepishly
under Darla's warning look. "Willow. I must say, this is a bit of a
surprise."
 

Willow smiled. "A nice one, I hope. Have you met Mum? I've told her a
lot about you...."
 

Darla rolled her eyes, "Lovey seemed to think you and I had a bit in
common...well, besides the whole need to breathe and feed on blood
differences, of course."
 

"Quit matchmaking" Spike said, moving to sit beside Willow. "Setting up
Gran with a human.....a bleeding watcher at that. Makes me ill...."
 

"Ahem!" Giles said, clearing his throat. He knew his face had to be red.
He was facing four vampires who were discussing his love life. "I do
hate to interrupt"
 

"No you don't" Darla said sweetly. She could see that the man was
getting embarrassed. She wondered how long he'd been without a woman.
Knowing the watchers that she had dealt with, it had probably been
awhile. She had researched this one though...Ripper. Sudden delicious
images ran through her mind. She heard Lovey snicker as she realized she
was still staring. She gave the redhead a warning look before turning
her attention back to what the watcher was saying.
 

"No, actually, I don't. Why are you here and what do you want?" Giles
asked, irritation clouding his words. This was fast turning into a
circus.
 

"Yeah...you mentioned a proposition" Buffy said, remembering. She smiled
at Willow, glad to see that the girl was alive but wondering if she was
one of the very things she was trained to kill now. Her head was
starting to hurt. Too much to understand all at once.
 

"Oh, the proposition" Darla said. "Sorry, I almost forgot. I tend to get
sidetracked."
 

Angel snorted, smiling innocently as she glared at him. He knew how his
sire worked. She could play helpless and dumb with the best of them, but
her mind was more agile than anyone he had ever met. She surrounded
herself with intelligence and beauty. She was also the least forgetful
person he had ever met. His eyes falling on Willow, he could easily see
the many similarities between his sire and his mate. He had always been
attracted to strong, intelligent women.
 

"Excuse my son." Darla said. "Now, the plan. That's where we are, I
believe. It's rather like this." She paused, trying to think of how to
phrase it. Finally, she decided it would be easier to just be simple.
She started to explain her proposition.
 

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