Title: Secrets Don't Make Friends (Pt 20-What They Don't Know, Can't Hurt Them)
Author: DivaDelilah (divadelilah@aol.com)
Description: Set in late Season 4, after Faith has body switched and is in prison.
Adam isn't in play, Spike is working with the Scoobies reluctantly.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, but at least I treat 'em right. Joss, Mutant Enemy,
and Fox own all…I'm just daydreaming.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net, assorted lists, and anything I okay. Just let
me know where it's going…
Feedback: Feed my addiction…pretty pleeeeeeeease with Spike on top?
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Buffy sat on a rock several feet from the breaking surf, watching Spike run
through the breaking surf like a kid. He'd rolled his jeans up to his knees
and taken off his boots, then sprinted into the glistening water eagerly. The
sun was reflecting off his wet white blonde hair, making it almost glow from
a distance. He's so happy…and I gave this to him. Because I trusted
him, and loved him, he is happier than I've seen him since…since I dropped
an organ on him. She chuckled to herself and pulled her knees up to her
chest, smiling fondly at her lover.
"Buffy, luv, come out here. The water's perfect, and the sun isn't frying
me. What could be better?" He grinned, taking her shirt off and tossing
it toward the sand, water rolling down his chest.
Buffy's mouth suddenly went dry again watching the path the seawater was taking
over his rock hard abs. God, he is so fucking hot! I can only imagine
how wonderful it would be to be with both him and Angel…she sighed. But
that can never happen. If it did, it would change everything. But Angel could
claim me, too, and then he could come outside with us. Her thoughts flickered
to the scene in the field again. I just don't know. Do I really want to add
someone else to a relationship that's already working beautifully? And nothing
with Angel is ever easy… She sighed and turned her head to watch Spike
cavort around, wiggling his sand covered toes at her as he laid just below the
surf line. His bleached locks were curling at the ends, giving him an adorable
boyish charm.
"Buf-fy! Come on, luv. Pleeeeeease?"
Giving up, she stripped off her shirt and shorts. Making sure her bikini straps
were tied tightly, she jogged down to where Spike was making a sand angel. "You
are totally insane, you know that?" she asked, smiling fondly at him.
He looked up at her, golden brown and blonde, drenched in sunlight like a goddess
and found it hard to breathe all of the sudden. Her skimpy little bikini barely
covered enough to be decent and he felt his jeans grow uncomfortably tight.
Licking his lips, he dragged her down onto the sand next to him, moving to cover
her body with his.
"I thought you wanted me to play with you," she said frowning. "All
I'm doing down here is getting sand in my unimaginables."
"Oh, I'd say that'll change in a little while," he smirked, crushing
his lips to hers.
"If you insist," she sighed, melting under ministrations.
The sun warmed them as they made love, and the waves continued to crash around
them, cooling them at the same time. Neither could have ever imagined such an
idyllic time, and it seemed even the Powers That Be were smiling down on the
unlikely couple half buried in the sand.
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Willow leaned over to Cordelia, and whispered in her ear. "I have the list
of what I'll need finished. We have to get Tara and Anya away from Wesley and
Giles so we can ask them to help. Then we have to convince everyone that all
four of us need to go do something, and once we do, we'll take off to the mansion
and do the spell."
"No problem. I'm an excellent liar. Especially when it comes to fooling
Wussley. One eyelash bat and he dissolves into a stuttering pile of mush. Want
me to go now?"
"Cordelia, are you sure this is what you want? I mean, I don't know if
this will even work. It might make Angel bad and we'd have to kill him. Or it
might do something worse that we don't know about. Miss Calendar wasn't always
exactly honest with us… And I'm not having the best of luck with spells
lately, either. Maybe we should ask Giles what he thinks first," Willow
fretted.
Cordelia placed her hands over Willow's and looked into her eyes. "Willow,
we both know you can do this. I think you're more worried about what will happen
with Angel and the Dynamic Duo once his soul is anchored or whatever. I assure
you, I'm not going to stake Angel if he decides he has some things to work out.
It won't do me any good to have Angel if he's always wishing he were somewhere
else. Or if he's always brooding over 'what might have been'. So if he chooses
them for now, or forever, he's still my friend, and I still love him. I can
accept his right to make his own decisions, even if they are misguided."
She shrugged, and cocked her head towards the door. "Ready to see me turn
Wesley into a blabbering idiot?"
Willow grinned. "It's not like it's something I haven't seen before. What
happened to that great relationship you two were going to have?"
"Call it temporary insanity. Or maybe I just had the flu, I don't know."
Willow chuckled and pocketed the papers necessary for the spell. "We need
to go to the magick shop and my apartment, too. Can you borrow Angel's car?"
"When it comes to Angel, I've learned it's better to take and run than
ask. Trust me. I'll get his keys on our way out. Let's go rescue Tara and Anya
and head out."
They were greeted by a loud boom and the stench of sulfur as they walked out
the back door. Giles was waving a burning bundle of herbs and Wesley was drawing
symbols in the dirt. Tara and Anya were holding hands, chanting something in
Gaelic until the sulfur smell faded. Everyone opened their eyes and looked around.
"Damnit. Nothing again. What on Earth could be wrong with the spell that
keeps it from even giving us the slightest result?" Wesley muttered.
"I don't know. Maybe we need to re-write the whole damned thing and try
again later," Giles sighed.
Tara and Anya just looked at the Watchers expectantly until they noticed Cordelia
and Willow standing on the steps.
"H-Hey, sweetie. Any l-luck?" Tara called.
"Well, no, but…"
"What she means," Cordelia cut in, "is that we're not sure if
we found something or not. We have a lead but we're going to check it out. We
figure we'll be safe cause it's daylight. The only vamp about is Spike, and
I'm pretty sure he and Buffy aren't hanging around the Museum library."
Cordelia smiled brilliantly at Wesley, batting her eyelashes a bit.
"I don't know if you can… Well, what I mean Cordelia is that you
and Willow might not... Don't you think someone should accompany you?"
he finally got out.
Willow snickered and everyone looked at her. Blushing bright red, she floundered
to cover up her mistake. "You're right. We can take Tara and Anya with
us. And if we have a problem, Cordelia has her cell phone. We can call you.
How's that?"
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. All the stress from the
events of the past few days was starting to take its toll on him. "If you
really feel it necessary to investigate, go ahead. The Museum should be relatively
safe for the four of you, provided no one reads aloud any inscriptions on artifacts
or what not. The last thing we need are more surprises. When you get back, Wesley
and I will have worked out the kinks in this spell. Do be careful and don't
be long." Having given his permission, he picked up the spell papers and
headed for the house. Maybe with most of the children gone, he'd actually get
to lie down like he'd wanted to earlier.
Wesley shrugged and made to follow Giles. Before going inside, he turned and
spoke. "Please do heed Giles' warnings. We need everyone at their full
strength to help discover what's going on. With these mysterious demons running
around to complicate things, it makes it even harder to concentrate on Buffy
and Spike's…problem. And we can't forget that Buffy's well being is essential
to…well, everyone really." Giving Cordelia a final smile, he went
inside to use the laptops to find a translating program to help them better
write the spell.
Willow turned to Anya and Tara excitedly. "Okay," she said in a low
voice. "We're not really going to do research at the library. Cordy and
I have found a spell on Miss Calendar's laptop that will help us rid Angel of
the happiness clause. We can't tell Giles because he'll say it's too risky to
try. I know we can do it, but we need to run to the apartment and the magick
shop for supplies. Then we'll go to the mansion, and within an hour or so…Angel
will be free for good. Are you in?"
Tara stared at Willow. "D-didn't Giles tell you n-no m-magick until he
works with you s-s-some more? Are you su-sure you want to d-do this? It's seems
d-dangerous," she asked worriedly.
Anya nodded. "We don't even know if it works. What if it takes Angel's
soul away? What will we do then? He could kill us all, and then we wouldn't
be able to have orgasms anymore."
"Guys, I can do this. And truthfully, with this whole Buffy and Spike
thing getting to Angel, we don't know if he might make a hugely bad decision
sometime in the near future. When the three of them get into each others' minds,
it gets very intense. Who knows when they'll crack? This is just as much for
our own safety as for Angel and Cordy's future." Willow put on her resolve
face and looked at her friends.
"Are you with us?" Cordy asked softly. "Cause if so, I need
to go steal Angel's car keys so we don't have to hoof it."
Tara and Anya looked at each other, then at Cordy and Willow. Anya spoke first.
"You seem very intent on doing this no matter what. I think I'd rather
be there in case something goes wrong or if you need us than sitting here listening
to the British guys bicker over Gaelic translations. Especially since Xander
and Angel are busy playing chess."
Tara nodded. "O-okay. I-I'm in t-too." She took Willow's hand.
"Cordy, go steal us some car keys. We'll go around the side and wait by
the car." She squeezed Tara's hand and motioned for Anya to follow them
to the car.
Cordy returned minutes later with the keys and tore out of the driveway in
the convertible. They hit the magick shop first, coming out with their arms
full of herbs, ingredients, and candles. Willow grinned as she imagined the
look on Angel's face when he realized Cordy had also stolen his wallet. They
arrived at her apartment soon after, and she ran in, grabbing basic ceremonial
supplies and the Orb of Thessula she'd used to re-curse Angel.
"Next stop, the mansion. Home of some of the creepiest memories we'll
ever have," Cordy muttered.
Willow nodded grimly, then went back to staring at the words to the spell.
She'd had Anya write out the phonetics underneath all the words so she wouldn't
mispronounce anything and cause a disaster. Luckily, being a thousand year old
ex vengeance demon, Anya was fluent in just about any language, including Romany,
and skilled at spell casting. Cordelia would be their weakest link magickally,
but since the spell really only needed two anchors, it didn't matter. She felt
Tara squeeze her knee in encouragement and smiled. Soon, Angel would soulful
forever, and Giles would have to recognize her skill in magick.
The car pulled up in front of the mansion slowly, and Willow took a deep breath.
"Everyone ready?" At their nods, she gathered up the supplies and
her instructions for each person. "Then let's get going. We've got a lot
of set up to do and not much time to do it in. Make sure every single elements
is precise to the nth degree or who knows what will happen. Got it?"
The girls piled out of the car solemnly, their assignments clutched in their
arms. No one wanted to be responsible for failure, so they worked diligently
and carefully. When the last candle was in place, Willow gathered Anya and Tara
in a circle of three. Cordelia stood on the outside, ready to say her part and
wave the incense. The chanting began, and Willow slowly lit each candle with
her mind. No one even blinked as the ceremony began, knowing they would find
out if it had worked almost as soon as they finished.
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