Angel's Secrets

Creative Works   

The Past Can Haunt You
By Dreamer

Summary: A blast from the past finds Angel.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the BtVS characters or Angel or Cordelia.  They are the creation of Joss Whedon. They belong to the WB, Fox, Mutant Enemies, etc.  Angel and Cordelia probably belong to the same people.  I don't know who Pike belongs to, but he's not mine.  Basically I don't own any of these people.  I do own Harmony though (not the mean one). Please don't sue, I'm just a poor fanfic author.
Author's Notes: This is the 5th story in the “Half a Chance” series.  Thanks to my beta-reader Becca and my new beta-reader Juliet.

I love feedback, even flames as long as they're constructive.  PLEASE send feedback to lalaland(at)3n.net

. . .

Part 1

“You and Harmony seem to have been getting along well,” Buffy commented, as she looked around the crowded Bronze.

“Yeah, too bad she had to leave so soon though,” Willow said.

“Yeah, too bad,” Buffy replied vaguely, still scanning the room.

“It’s nice that she was able to get her own commission though.  She’s stationed indefinitely in a little town in France.  She says she thinks the council put her so close to the school, so they could keep an eye on her.”  Willow smiled at the memory of Harmony’s mischievous grin, when she talked about the council.

“Hmm,” Buffy said barely smiling, but turning back to look at her.  “Hey where’s Oz anyway?”

“Last night was the full moon remember.  Xander and Cordy are taking the early shift, Giles is watching for a while in between, and I’m taking the morning shift.  You said you’d stop by and say hi to Giles during his shift, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Buffy said, as she returned to scanning the crowd.

“The last two nights did give me a lot of time to talk to Harmony though.  We’ve been talking about Ms. Calendar and how much I’ve been going through all her pagan, cult, and witch websites.  She wanted to know how much reading and how much actual practice I’ve done.  I haven’t really done much practice, but she gave me a few pointers, and I even learned a minor spell or two.  Harmony says I show a lot of promise,” Willow said happily.

“Uh huh,” Buffy said, obviously not paying attention.

“Of course they were just small things.  I been thinking of moving on to much bigger things … I’ve been thinking of maybe joining SU instead of a regular college … But then again I think I like doing witchcraft on the side better, I couldn’t make a career out of it.”  Buffy continued to stare off into the crowd, oblivious to what Willow was saying.  “Besides which, they only teach white magic at SU.  I think the black arts are much more to my taking.  Soon, I’ll be able to summon demons, … raise the dead, maybe even control vamps.  Then they’ll have a new master,” Willow said trying to get Buffy’s attention.

“Yeah, right. … Wait a minute, what!” Buffy said, as what Willow said sunk in.

“Welcome back.  Where have you been?” Willow replied.

“Oh I’m sorry, Will.  It’s just … “

“Angel’s late,” Willow guessed.  Buffy nodded meekly.

“I’m just a little worried, that’s all.  I mean, we know what walks the streets of Sunnydale.  He’s almost 15 minutes late!  What if something happened?” Buffy asked.

“Buffy, I’m sure he’s just running late, that’s all.  He’s fine,” Willow told her.

“How can you be so sure?” Buffy said, placing her chin in her palms.

“Because he just walked in the door,” Willow said, pointing to alley door behind Buffy.  Buffy visibly brightening as she turned around and spotted Angel.  Angel walked to the foot of the stairs and a small smile crept onto his face as he spotted them.  He looked like he was about to walk over when the strangest look crept onto his face.


. . .

Angel walked in the door, anxiously looking around.  He was quite aware that he was more than 10 minutes late.  He’d had to kill a vampire, who had been about to feed off a young girl.  The vampire had taken more time to dust than Angel would have liked and now he was late.  He walked over to the foot of stairs, to get a better view of the room.  He spotted Buffy and Willow sitting at a table across the room.  He smiled as he saw Buffy, she was smiling at him, this happy little smile that seemed to start in her eyes.  Every time he saw her, it amazed him that he could earn a smile from her that he knew was saved only for him.  The fact that there was a smile she only bestowed upon him, never ceased to amaze and overwhelm him. He let go of the railing to walk over, when he saw a flash before his eyes, and felt something pulled tight around his neck.

“That’s a wire around your neck and it can easily cut your throat, so don’t make any sudden moves,” a voice whispered in his ear.  Angel froze in place.  “I know slitting your throat wouldn’t do any real harm to you, Angelus, but if we got in a struggle it could do some real damage.  You might even get the most painful beheading in history.  Either way, it would still cause quite a stir.”  His senses began to heighten, as they always did before a fight.  This time his opponent had the distinct advantage from the start that he was unsure of how to counter it.  That sent a cold shiver of fear up his spine.  He looked over at Buffy, wishing he could somehow communicate with her.  He knew that with her help he could get out of this one, but he wasn’t sure how to get out of it alone.  Her eyes locked with his across the room, confusion written in every line of her face.  “Now, we’re going out into the alley, so I can be sure you never kill some innocent person again,” the voice said in his ear.

“I don’t kill innocents,” Angel said in a low steady voice.

“Right they ask you to kill them,” the stranger said sarcastically.

“I’m sure there’s been some misunderstanding,” Angel said, a growl rising in his throat.  The growl was immediately cut off, when the man behind him yanked backwards on the wire.  Angel’s head snapped back and a line of fire cut across his throat.  Slowly he pulled his head back forward and even more slowly he brought his hand up to feel the wire at his throat.  His fingers encountered a small, slimy thread, which he interpreted to be the wire, but when he pulled his hand away he realized why the wire was slimy.  His fingertips were red from blood and he could now feel the blood slowly trickling down his neck and the scent filling his senses.  “Don’t play tricks with me, vamp.  Be a good boy and this will all be over quickly.  Now we’re going out the back door,” the voice whispered.

“Okay,” Angel said as he slowly pointed his thumb over his right shoulder, out of view of his assailant, all the while watching Buffy’s face.  A look of understanding and anger came over it, as the voice whispered, “That’s right.  Now slowly turn.  Good.”  Angel slowly turned and walked out the back entrance of the Bronze.

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