Part 11
"Hello hostiles, we have a surprise for you," Riley said as he entered the holding area that Angel and Spike were currently held in. Spike and Angel stood in a defensive position, preparing themselves for whatever Riley had planned for them. That posture quickly changed when they saw what, or more accurately, who was entering behind the commando.
"Willow."
"Angel," Willow shouted, breaking free of Graham and running into Angel’s arms. He picked the petite red head up, swinging her around before planting a kiss on her mouth. Spike grinned at his sire and the hacker, glad to see the two of them happy. He turned to see Anya being held back by Forrest.
"Anya," Spike said, glad to see that the former demon was okay.
"Spike," Anya replied, finally getting loose from the man holding her and rushing to the bleached blonde, who also pulled her into a tight hug, reveling in the feel of her arms around him.
"I was so worried about you pet. I didn’t know what happened to you," Spike told the brunette in his arms, refusing to let her go just yet.
"Same here," Anya replied.
"Well, isn’t this just too special," Riley said from the doorway, sarcasm lacing his voice. Anya and Spike pulled apart, feeling like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar, while Willow and Angel stopped kissing but refused to release the hold that they had on each other.
"You bastard," Willow hissed at the man that was dating her best friend. "Why are you doing this?" Willow broke away from Angel and went and stood right in Riley’s face. This was the first time that she had seen him, since he had come and taken Angel away the day before. He didn’t even flinch. "I thought we were friends, or at least good aquantices since you have the hots for Buffy."
"That was before you involved yourself with a killer," Riley replied, his voice even and cool.
"Angel isn’t a killer," Willow tried telling her TA. "He’s a good man who helps people and maybe, if you morons would do your research you would know that."
"Oh, but you see, I’ve done some research," Riley told her. "I know all about your precious Angel. Or should I say Angelus, Scourge of Europe." Riley watched as Angel visibly flinched at the mention of his past. "And let’s not forget his childe, Spike aka William the Bloody."
"How did you find out?" Willow asked, shaken by the knowledge that the people that held them captive knew of Angel and Spike’s past. She backed away from the smug grin on Riley’s face and found herself wrapped in Angel’s arms.
"Oh, you can find a lot out if you ask the right questions of a certain watcher and a group of helpful, what do you call them, slayerettes," Riley explained, pleased with the reactions of the people in the room. "They were most helpful in explaining the pasts of your boyfriend and his childe."
"Oh really, and did they happen to mention how Willow and Angel met?" Anya asked, indignant over the way that Riley was making Angel and Spike sound. Sure, they might have been vampires, but they hadn’t done nearly as much damage to the world as she had when she still had her powers.
"They told me that Angel used to help them because of some kind of curse placed on him, giving him a soul, but they didn’t go into much detail about it. Seemed like a touchy subject for all of them, especially Buffy," Riley reluctantly admitted, hating the fact that he hadn’t been able to get more information out of the group of teenagers and watcher. The four hostages all had to stifle laughs at the lack of actual information that Riley had received.
"Oh, please, you so have to let me tell him some more of it," Anya begged. "I mean, pretty pretty please. Just a little." Willow smiled as she looked up at Angel. He caught her gaze and nodded slightly.
"Go for it Anya."
"Yes," Anya cheered. Anya looked over at the three commandos standing in the doorway, making all of them suddenly uncomfortable. She hadn’t felt this good about doing something since she had become mortal and found that she was enjoying this new way of making someone pay for hurting others.
"Okay, now you have to remember that for some of this, I only know what Xander and the others have told me since I didn’t meet any of them until their senior year," Anya started. "But, from what I understand, Angel had met Buffy when she first came to town and he told her about this bad ass master vamp that was trying to break free from his prison and open the hellmouth. Which, of course, most demons want to do."
"Hellmouth?" Graham asked, never having heard the term. "What exactly is a hellmouth?"
"Ummm, exactly what is sounds like. The mouth of hell, duh," Willow replied. "Dumb much?" Spike, Angel and Anya laughed at the hacker’s comment, while Graham looked uncomfortable.
"Anyways," Anya continued as soon as her laughter was under control, "Angel helped Buffy and the rest by supplying information to her, all the while keeping his vampire condition a secret. Well, that was, until they kissed after they were attacked one night."
"What do you mean they kissed?" Riley asked, not quite ready to believe what Anya was telling him.
"Okay, so is asking dumb questions a requirement to become a soldier boy, because you are awfully good at them," Spike taunted the other blonde. Riley had to take a deep breathe to relax himself enough to not want to kill the vampire that had just mocked him.
"They kissed, although I’m surprised it took her that long to realize he was a vampire. I mean, she’s the slayer. She should have been able to tell that he had no pulse and all. Well, anyway, where was I. Oh yeah. So the two of them kissed and he vamped out but yet she didn’t kill him."
"Well, it was kind of hard and all," Willow pointed out. "I mean, she majorly had the hots for him, although that is easy to understand." Angel kissed that top of Willow’s head and pulled her closer to him.
"Yeah, well, I just can’t believe I let myself fall for her," Angel said, shaking his head as he remembered how he would have willingly walked out in the sun if Buffy had asked him.
"But if it wasn’t for that, I would never have met you," Willow said, turning in Angel’s arms and placing a kiss on his lips.
"Excuse, but I believe Anya was telling a story," Spike said, smiling at the couple beside him.
"So sorry," Angel said, not meaning a word of it as he grinned at his childe.
"No prob," Anya said. Riley, Graham and Forrest just looked between the four trying to decipher what was happening between them. "Okay, so Buffy finds out about Angel being a vampire and then Giles tells her about Angelus. But does that stop her from falling for the man, nope not our heroine. Not only does she fall for him, but she gives him something that can only belong to one man."
"And that being?" Riley asked, almost afraid of her answer.
"That would be her virginity, which just led to another whole new set of problems," Anya answered, happy with the obvious distress on Riley’s face. Spike grinned at her, proud of the way the little chit had of making the other man squirm over what his little girlfriend had neglected to tell him.
"What….what about the curse?" Riley stuttered, trying to regain his composure, all the while upset over the omissions that Buffy and her friends and kept from him. "What was that all about."
"I met the wrong person one night and her family cursed me with a soul," Angel shrugged. "Kinda made me rethink the whole drinking from humans thing. I haven’t killed a human from hunger since then."
"Well, except after you shagged the slayer that was,’ Spike pointed out, earning himself glares from both Angel and Willow.
"Spike," Willow growled at the blonde vampire who looked at her sheepishly.
"Sorry."
"What do you mean, after you… you….," Riley was unable to say the words to his question.
"Slept with Buffy is what you are trying to say?" Riley nodded his head. Willow could feel the tenseness in Angel’s body and she pulled his arms tighter around her, giving him the comfort that he needed, not to mention, reminding him that she knew that what had happened when he was Angelus wasn’t his fault.
"The curse that gave me my soul had a clause that no one but the gypsies that placed it knew about," Angel explained, the guilt over what had happened just a few short years ago in his voice. "If I was ever to achieve one moment of true happiness, I would lose my soul again. So, when Buffy and I made love, I lost my soul and I proceeded to terrorize her and everyone around her."
"That wasn’t you Angel," Willow admonished the man that held her. "That was Angelus. The two of you aren’t the same person. If I can forgive you for trying to kill me and everything that happened, why can’t you forgive yourself?"
"I’m getting better, little one," Angel told her. "With the help of a certain red head I know." Willow smiled up at Angel, happy to hear the guilt in his voice disappearing.
"Wait a minute," Riley interrupted, slowly processing all of the information that he has been given. "He tried to kill you and yet you still let him drink from you and make love to you. Why?"
"Because Angel never hurt me," Willow stated. "He saved me more times than I can ever imagine. When he didn’t have his soul, that wasn’t my Angel. That was someone I never knew. Someone who is never coming back." Willow finished.
"How did he get his soul back?"
"I cursed him again," Willow stated proudly. "I missed my friend and I knew that I needed to get him back."
"That and the fact that the wanker was trying to suck the world into hell," Spike pointed out.
"Okay, that had something to do with it," Willow admitted. "But, he didn’t and everything has turned out for the best."
"You expect me to believe all of this?" Riley asked, finally deciding that the four people in the room were lying to him about everything.
"Believe what you want," Angel shrugged. "Or go ask Buffy. I’m sure she’ll confirm what we told you."
"But then you would have to explain how you found out about everything considering they never told you," Anya said.
"Good point, luv," Spike said grinning at the brunette.
Riley, Graham and Forrest looked at the two couples who were clearly enjoying the discomfort that they had caused. There was something in the way that they were talking that made them believe what they had been told. But if that was the case, what did that mean they were to do with the four of them. While they would make an interesting case study, especially the hostile who supposedly had a soul and his consort, they could also mean trouble if the slayer and her friends found out they were there.
"Agent Finn report to holding area 5," a voice called over the intercom.
"I believe you’re being paged," Willow said. Riley signaled for Forrest and Graham to leave the room.
"I will find a way to confirm what you have told me, although
I doubt that any of its the truth. Until then, enjoy your time together.
It may be the last you have." With that threat, Riley left the four people
alone in the room, wondering what was going to happen next and knowing
that if they didn’t find a way out soon, they may never have the chance.