Email: EvilDead_DemonGirl@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: All things Buffy and Angel belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy and a band of lawyers. I own the plot and anything you don't recognize from the Buffyverse.
Rating: overall for series NC-17
Pairing: Spike/Willow, Angel/Isabel
Synopsis: The course of true love is never smooth, especially when three demons and a witch are involved, but when you add a Slayer and a stake-happy Slayerette to the mix, 'never smooth' is an understatement.
Distribution: If you have anything of mine, you're welcome to this. If anyone else would like to archive it, go for it : ) Just drop me an email to let me know where it's going.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Prologue~
Isabel had begged them not to go, unwilling to say goodbye to the two people she considered her family. Only yesterday she had said goodbye to her old life and today she was supposed to embrace her new one. Unfortunately, it would have to be done without Spike and Willow.
In a fit of panic, Giles had called Angel demanding that the witch and the vampire return to the Hellmouth. Some evil had reared its ugly head and their expertise was needed. Badly. Unable to refuse the former watcher, they had been ready to leave only twenty minutes after his call. All parties were upset, having thought they'd at least have the opportunity to celebrate Angel's soul binding. But as distraught as Isabel was, Angel was just as disappointed, if not more so. After all, he had been looking forward to knowing his childe again after so many years.
Sadly, the four parted ways, with promises to keep in touch until they could see one another again. Watching the DeSoto pull away, Angel kept his arm around Isabel until their friends were out of sight and then silently led her back into the Angel Investigations office.
Even without their absent friends, they had work to do, both professional and personal as they began their new lives together. And only miles away, Spike and Willow were silent, each knowing that once home, everything would change.
Sadly, neither couple knew that Angel was right. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
~*~*~
"Angel! *Please* don't sing!"
The vampire abruptly stopped singing along to Bon Scott and AC/DC and glared after Cordelia as she left the room covering her ears. Hoping to cheer Isabel up after Willow and Spike left, the vampire unearthed his prolific collection of hard rock albums. To say that Wesley and Cordelia were shocked was an understatement. In fact, the seer had been shocked speechless. But that luxury was soon ended with the insult to her employer.
"My singing isn't that bad," he pouted as he hefted one of the last boxes out of the kitchen bedroom. He, Wesley, Cordelia, and Isabel were almost finished clearing out the witch's former home. All that was left was Drew's bedroom and the kitchen. Once those rooms were finished, the foursome would be moving Isabel into her new apartment. Of course, Angel had been disappointed with her choice to live alone, but eventually, he saw things her way.
"Angel, honey," she tried to explain, "I do love you, but in all honesty, I'm not ready to live with you. We still need to get to know each other. And besides, I have *way* too much crap to have it all fit into your apartment."
The vampire had reluctantly agreed and even helped her find her new home--a very spacious studio in a building only blocks away from his own. He knew his love was looking forward to this new start. A new life, new love, new home, new friends and new family. Finally, she would have the best of both worlds, a life full of what she loved and none of the setbacks her prior existence had. It warmed the vampire's undead heart knowing that he was going to be taking this journey with her.
The sharp pain of a heavy box dropping on his foot jolted Angel from his thoughts with a yelp, realizing that he had dropped the offending box. Sheepishly, he looked over at Isabel who had stepped out of the pantry when she heard her love cry out. "A bit distracted, are ya, Angel?" she asked him knowingly. The demon knew the vampire was thinking about other things than moving. His mind was going a million miles an hour, most probably thinking about the last week. Hell, even she was guilty of that. After all, and infinite number of changes had been made to her life, to *their* lives.
Admiring the way Isabel's violet eyes sparkled in amusement, he crossed the room and swept her into his arms. "Yeah, you could say that I'm a bit distracted. There's this beautiful woman who's been invading my thoughts and my dreams--I can't seem to get her off my mind."
"Hmm," she purred, stroking her love's back. "I just might be able to remedy that." She brought her lips to Angel's--
"Isabel! Angel! Get your paws off of each other and get your butts up here!"
--and drew them back with a grimace. "Foiled again," she complained as she and her vampire went in the direction of Cordelia's bellowing voice. The found the seer and the demon hunter in Drew's bedroom, kneeling the midst of piles of paperwork and very old texts.
"What in the hell is all this?" Isabel asked incredulously. "The Drew I knew absolutely abhorred clutter and messes, especially those of the paperwork kind. I'd never known anyone so anal about keeping things clean and neat and orderly."
As if on cue, Cordelia and Wesley turned their attention to Angel who looked at them witheringly. "First you attack my singing. Now this. I don't need this kind of abuse."
"That's debatable, Angel," Cordy replied wryly, "but that debate will have to wait. We found this stuff in the back of the closet. Everything else had been absolutely pristine, but all of this was just a jumble. As if someone just tossed it in there."
The witch and vampire joined their friends on the floor and began sorting through the mess. The first document Isabel looked at elicited a gasp. "Oh, gods," she whispered. "These are pages from my mother's journal. My birth mother."
~*~*~
"I do trust that Spike wasn't too much of a burden, Willow."
Four pairs of eyes turned to the witch after Giles disrupted the silence with his question. The entire Scooby Gang plus Spike was sitting in the former watcher's living room for another one of their annoyingly frequent research sessions. The witch and the vampire had been back for three days, long enough to vanquish the evil, begin researching another one, dread telling the gang about their newfound love, and wish they were back in L.A.
Casting a sweet smile at the demon in question, Willow smiled and shook her head. "Not at all, Giles. In fact, it was just the opposite. He helped us take out the demon and was incredibly helpful while we took care of Isabel. She's actually grown quite attached to him." 'She's not the only one,' she thought sadly. It was going to be a long time before she and Spike would be confident enough to trust her friends to not stake the vampire once they found out. Those feelings were only cemented by a snide remark from Xander.
"If she'd so attached to him, why doesn't she adopt Sir Fangless?"
To Spike and Willow's surprise, it was Giles who responded. "Because we need him here, Xander," the Englishman stated sternly. "We need him to help us find the commandos. And to help us fight. In case you didn't notice, he was the one who killed the leader of the cult of Shonenehra demons last night."
The statement was enough to surprise everyone in the room. Never had Giles defended Spike like that. It was enough to give the star-crossed lovers a spark of hope. Maybe the Scoobies wouldn't be a threat to Spike. Maybe. But until they were certain, they weren't going to take the chance.
With discreet grins on their faces, Spike and Willow researched happily that night.
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