The Cure:
Disclaimer: Do I need to state the obvious? I'm not Joss, I'm not Mutant Enemy (although my partner might disagree), I don't know the Kuzuis, and I have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Fox and/or WB... and besides, suing me would be like, well, like a Slayer falling in love with a Vampire... you can try and try, but ya ain't gonna get nothin' out of it but pain... (i.e. I'm not making any money from these stories, thus, I have no money -- although I do have a job-- so don't bother suing.)
ALIGN="CENTER">ANYHOO... the story picks up more or less at the beginning of "Graduation Day, Part 2"... so if you haven't had the pleasure of even seeing a poor internet bootleg of the ep, this is a MAJOR spoiler. Of course, if you haven't seen it, you wouldn't know that until you HAD seen it... but I digress. The rest of the Ep doesn't happen, and it would appear most of Season Three didn't happen, either. No mayor, bare mention of Faith, no Ascension, etc.
Chapter One
Buffy groaned at the alarm clock screaming on the night stand beside her. She struggled out of bed and swung at it viciously, smashing the poor thing to pieces against the far wall.
"Oops." She said to the bits of her late alarm clock. She started to crawl back into bed, but instead turned at a chuckle coming from the doorway..
"That's the third one this month," Angel said, grinning, "Go easy on those things, will ya?"
She scowled at him and got back in bed, sliding down to hide under the covers. He walked over, sat next to her on the edge of the bed, and tugged the comforter back down again.
"You set that for a reason..." he reminded her.
Buffy groaned again, and her stomach followed suit. She'd never get used to the way hunger felt, now... more like a body-rending pain than the old human pang. And the fact that it meant drinking blood wasn't getting any more pleasant, either.
"I have to go see Giles." She said, "Then meet Willow for movie night."
"What's on the marquee?" Angel asked, some part of him hoping for an invitation that wasn't likely to come. Her friends would never forgive him for the things he'd done... least of all for turning Buffy.
"Vampire Flicks." she told him.
He mentally revoked his desire to be present. "And whose witty idea was that, as if I need to ask."
Buffy grinned. "Mine."
"Of course."
"Are you coming with me to Giles'?" She asked, giving him 'that look'...
Angel shook his head. he wasn't much more welcome with Giles these days than with any of the rest of the group.
"Oh, come on..." Buffy poked him for emphasis, "We're experimenting with all my nifty and amazing new skills. You can do it too -- it's fun! Besides, I don't have anyone to spar with anymore, since last time..."
Last time, Angel recalled, Buffy had almost kicked Giles through the gym wall in his basement. Angel looked at Buffy for a long moment. it was still difficult to reconcile the feelings he had about their new life together. He still felt guilty horror at having changed his lover into a creature like himself, but he also rejoiced every day when they lay down to rest together, or rose together in the evening... and making love to her...
He leaned over and slowly kissed her, taking her soft, cold body into his arms. He nibbled her ears softly and kissed her neck, caressing her gently. She moaned and returned his touch for a moment before gently pulling away to look into his eyes.
"Hey, buddy... some of us have sacred duties to fulfill, you know." she started to rise, sitting up beside him on the edge of the bed. "We don't need frisky boyfriends pawing us... but oh, that would just be me, wouldn't it?"
He smiled at her in response, clearly unashamed, and clearly in love.
"What's that for?" She asked, her own smile telling him that she knew exactly what it was for... and hers was for the
same..."Because I love you." he said dutifully, knowing she wanted to hear it anyway...
She kissed her Angel briefly. "So, are you going to be my willing victim, or not?"
He nodded. "I am always your willing victim."
Buffy snapped back to ready position, arms flexed, feet spread for balance.
"Come on, Dead Boy!" She taunted, "You can do better than that!"
Angel ignored the blatant psych tactic, and leaped into a flying drop kick. Buffy easily avoided it.
"Ha!" She shouted, "Too slow!"
Angel executed a spectacular move something akin to a spinning kick, but with more height involved, and landed a blow to Buffy's chest that sent her flying into the padded basement wall. She recovered, grunting, and snatched up the jousting stick she'd abandoned earlier. Using it as a pole vault, she flew through the air, smashing Angel in the jaw with a perfectly angled foot and knocking him to the floor. She whipped a stake out of the waistband of her sweats and swung, halting only inches from his heart, her foot pinning his chest.
"Whoa!" he said, a little unnerved by Buffy's involuntary game face. She smiled, reverting to normal again.
"Sorry. Got carried away." She reached down to help him up, which was barely an effort, these days.
Giles came from his vantage point at the table to join them.
"Extraordinary." he said, "Your strength and speed seem to increase exponentially by the week."
"I'm hardly even a match for her anymore." Angel added.
"Damn skippy." Buffy said.
"I'm still concerned, however, about the control issue. Buffy, you seem to get what is called 'battle rage', when all that is in your thoughts or vision is the kill."
"And the hunting's not about killing?" Buffy quipped.
Giles frowned at her levity. "While this is an admirable skill in war, it can be a detriment in hand-to-hand combat. You must keep your wits about you, Buffy, or the fight can very quickly turn against you, when a particularly skilled opponent is involved."
She nodded. "Battle rage? Like, seeing red."
"Precisely. I don't know if this is a side effect of the demon you... eh... reside in your body with..." he looked to Angel, the resident vampire expert, for his opinion.
Angel nodded. "Blood rage, is more like it. Demon instincts seem to take over when a lot of adrenaline is involved." He recalled the moment his will had weakened under Buffy's punches, and he had drank her, bringing them to the current situation.
"I see." Giles said, scribbling furiously in his notebook. he absently pushed his glasses back into place. "And how does one counteract this... blood rage?"
Angel shrugged. "It depends. It's stronger in some than in others, like a temper. You can learn to control it, but..." He turned to look at Buffy, who was examining a broken fingernail with some concern, "...some never overcome it."
Giles thought this might be good cause to worry, the bloody gash on Angel's cheek a decent confirmation of his fear.
"Buffy!" Giles snapped, demanding her attention.
Her head jerked around. "Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'll work on it." She said distractedly.
"On what?" Angel quizzed her, knowing she wasn't paying attention.
She shot him a look. "On my road rage or whatever. No trouble."
Both men sighed. Trouble, indeed.
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