Part Five
Angel awoke disoriented and in a lot of pain. For a moment the pain overwhelmed him so that he hadn’t a clue where he was. There was just sensation, like a tremendous heat all through his abdomen. Though, he gradually realized as his mind cleared from unconsciousness, it was not nearly as bad as it had been before.
The battle had moved, fortunately for any bystanders. Now, in the shopping mall’s back lot, the demon assumed its true form. It seemed to split from its skin and clothing all at once with a horrible rending sound. It rose to its full height on legs that bent the wrong way. It now stood a good two heads taller than Angel, if not more, and its body was covered by slick fur over mottled scaly skin. It gave off a stench truly unlike anything Angel had smelled before.
“Aren’t you an ugly one,” he commented. He removed his axe from under his coat.
The hideous creature screeched its anger. Its arms ended somewhat like the forelegs of a praying mantis, but viciously serrated. It swiped at Angel, furious at his interruption. It had come here to feed. Angel could not let that happen.
He threw himself to the side, rolled, and came back to his feet. It was not the most graceful of moves. His shoulder was slightly bruised from impact with the asphalt, but he ignored it. It would heal. There was something far more important right now – staying alive.
The axe caught nothing but air as Angel attempted to strike. The demon tried for him in return. Angel jumped back. Neither one of them was injured. Neither one of them was giving up.
Finally, Angel had enough. He needed this fight over now. His heart was hammering in his chest; his half healed wound from his previous battle pulled and ached. His limbs trembled with exhaustion. He could not keep this fight going much longer.
The demon was back against the wall of the building. It couldn’t back up. Dodging the demon’s limbs, Angel abruptly ran right up close. He couldn’t stay there and not get killed. The demon was startled for a moment. Then, with a vicious swing, Angel buried the head of his axe in the creature’s torso.
It screamed in pain, flailing, but would not die without taking its revenge. Angel was too close to avoid its death throws. Almost in slow motion, he saw one of those wicked limbs rear back and...time returned to normal as it effortlessly skewered Angel’s stomach.
Their screams of pain intermingled, unheard by any but each other.
Angel didn’t remember how he’d gotten away from the creature’s body. He didn’t know how he’d gotten in his car and driven home. He was home now, though. Home, in a room and a bed where he’d spent far too little of the last several years, a familiar body pressed softly against his side.
Despite the pain that would linger for some time, Angel found himself smiling. Even if he had been well enough to move, he was perfectly happy to remain right here.
If he was given the option.
A door opened, startling Angel. Not the bedroom door which he could see, but the main door to the apartment. With Buffy asleep next to him, he grew alarmed. Whoever had just entered was greeted by a second voice from inside the apartment. Both were too hushed to recognize or make sense of.
“Buffy,” Angel whispered urgently, pressing a hand to her shoulder.
She was reluctant to stir. Her eyelids were only partially opened as she blinked at him sleepily. “Hmm?” she managed.
“There’s someone here,” he said a little louder. Were he not worried, and in pain, he’s probably be amused by her sleepy distraction.
She closed her eyes again. “Just Willow,” she muttered, unconcerned.
Angel relaxed.
Abruptly, Buffy tensed. Her eyes shot open and she was fully awake. “Angel,” she gasped.
He smiled at her. “Hey,” he said, amused by the reaction. It was as if she was shocked to see him.
“I was so worried!” Buffy said quickly. “What happened? Are you okay? I mean, I know you’re not okay, but....”
“You’re babbling,” Angel pointed out.
She smiled and took a deep breath. “I’m glad you’re back,” she said. “I just...wish it wasn’t like this.”
“I’m fine,” he said, then winced as the pain got more intense for a moment before fading again.
Buffy just looked at him in patient disbelief.
“I will be fine,” he modified his statement.
“You will,” Buffy agreed, but she didn’t sound quite so confident.
“Buffy,” Angel said gently, “I’m here, aren’t I? I’ll heal.”
“If you’re given time to,” Buffy said, sounding a touch bitter.
“Buffy...”
“No, don’t try to reassure me,” Buffy interrupted. “Listen to me for a moment. Just this once, listen to me as I put my foot down.”
Angel had to fight a grin. She was adorable when she got pushy.
“I don’t care what is going on. I don’t care how much ‘they’ need you. I need you, too. This...was cutting it way too close, Angel. You keep up like this, and I will lose you...and so will they.” For a brief moment, deep sadness showed through her eyes. Then her resolve returned and she continued. “You are not going anywhere this time until you are fully healed. Do you hear me?”
Angel swallowed hard. It just wasn’t that simple. “Buffy...”
“Do you hear me?” she repeated sternly.
As an extra reminder, the pain returned in wave. “I hear you,” Angel forced through gritted teeth.
Buffy smiled at him tenderly. “Good,” she said, sounding pleased. Love and concern were plain in her expression. “Don’t ever do this again, okay?”
Angel forced a grin. “I’ll try.”
“Angel...”
The door to the bedroom opened, cutting her off. A familiar red head peeked around the corner, blinking into the darkened room. “Buffy,” she whispered. “I said I’d tell you when....”
She was obviously startled by two sets of eyes staring back at her.
“Oh!” she gasped happily. She continued in a normal speaking tone. “Angel! You’re awake.”
“Hey, Willow,” Angel said.
Buffy sat up in bed, making the mattress move and Angel wince. “Sorry,” she apologized, placing a loving hand on his shoulder.
Willow looked beyond Angel to meet Buffy’s eyes. “How is he?” she asked calmly.
“Stubborn,” Buffy retorted. “And in far more pain than he’ll admit.”
“Well,” Willow suggested. “I should probably take a look at his wounds. See how he’s healing...”
“Hey!” Angel interrupted. “Don’t talk about me as if I wasn’t here.”
The girls shared a smile over his head that Angel chose to ignore.
“Now,” he said calmly. “Who else is here?”
Willow looked abruptly nervous. “Uh...Jade. She was coming over to talk to Buffy, but I guess she’d want to talk to both of you now.”
“Jade?” Angel asked, surprised. He hadn’t seen the strange woman in months. She was supposed to help the Phoenix – Angel – in times of transition and times of crisis. Angel was suddenly worried as to which of those she considered this to be. Gritting his teeth against renewed pain, Angel struggled to sit up.
“Oh no you don’t!” Buffy scolded, her hand on his shoulder abruptly stronger. “You are staying right here.”
“But...” Angel tried, then took a deep breath. “What is she doing here?”
“As she said, I am here to speak to you both.”
The familiar white-haired woman stood in the doorway, looking at him with the exaggerated patience Angel remembered from those days when she had taken it upon herself to train him. How he had hated those training sessions.... “Jade,” he said flatly in greeting.
She gave him a small smile. “Check on his wounds,” she said to Willow. “I shall talk to the both of them at the same time. Right here...so as not to cause any undue stress.”
Willow chuckled. “So no moving for the patient,” she reproached Angel.
“There’s a washcloth and fresh bandages in the bathroom,” Buffy added.
Willow nodded and went to get them.
Finally Angel just couldn’t put it off any longer. If the hole in his stomach didn’t kill him, the suspense just might. “You needed to talk to us?” he said pointedly to Jade.
She nodded, and pulled the desk chair over next to the bed. “I have been meeting with Willow over the last couple of days,” she explained. “Ever since you left, Angel.”
Angel could not help his surprise at that. “Why?”
“We’ve been trying to help,” Willow spoke up, returning with an arm full of clean bandages.
“Still needing explanation here,” Buffy prompted.
Jade sighed. “It...was not supposed to be like this,” she tried. “Angel, I feel I have done you a great disservice, and now I need to fix it.”
She looked sorrowfully at them both. “I hope you can forgive me,” she explained. “In forcing you to rise as the Phoenix again, Angel, and then forcing you to full use of the gifts that entails, I may have done more harm than good. Do you know how hard it was for me to even catch up with you?” She took a deep breath as if to calm herself. “The point is, the Guardian’s fears are justified. Your calling has grown too strong. If it keeps driving you like this, sending you after every little demon on the globe, with never a chance to recuperate in between...you’ll burn yourself out. It’ll all be useless. You’re supposed to be on call for major, end of the world type disasters. Not every minor invasion in existence.”
Angel could feel Buffy’s emotions as she heard the worst of her fears confirmed. She was practically shaking in distress. Angel wanted to comfort her, then abruptly yelped as Willow removed one of the bandages that had gotten stuck to his wound. “Ow!”
“Sorry,” Willow said gently.
Jade gave the two of them on the bed a sad smile. “Also,” she said gently, “Buffy, Angel...I can’t stand to see what this is doing to you on a personal level. Ignoring duty and roles in the universe.... I have also listened to Willow. And I would like it if there was some way for the both of you to...be together more often.”
“But?” Angel prompted sadly.
“No ‘but’,” she replied, flashing a brief smile. “Your friend is quite determined, and so am I.”
Buffy’s hand squeezed Angel’s shoulder. “What do you mean by this?” she asked. “Can you...help? Fix this?”
Jade’s smile faded. “We don’t know.”
Buffy tensed. Hope that Angel hadn’t even realized was dawning in him faded away. He reached for the hand on his shoulder and held it tightly.
“But we might have an idea!” Willow interrupted suddenly.
“An idea?”
“Not really an idea,” Jade said more calmly. “A place to start looking.”
Willow took over the explanation. “Giles left a lot of his notes and stuff behind when he left for England. You know, ‘cause we’d probably have more use for it than he would. Anyway...Angel, you remember that after you returned he started going through all sorts of Phoenix prophecy?”
“Yeah,” Angel acknowledged. He remembered Giles going over some of it with him. “Why?”
“There was a fragment that he kept,” Willow explained. “There wasn’t enough decipherable text around it to be clear on the meaning. ‘The Guardian and the Phoenix are one.’”
Buffy and Angel looked at each other sharply at that.
“Now, he sort of thought those might have been one and the same,” Willow said. “You know, ‘Guardian Angel’ sort of idea. But....”
“He worked on the text prior to Buffy becoming the Guardian,” Angel said in understanding.
Jade nodded. “Precisely. So it may have been referring to the two of you, instead.”
“What...what does that mean, then?” Buffy asked.
“We’re working on it.”
“But...there is hope?” Buffy’s voice was tight.
“Hope, yes,” Jade agreed. “But I must warn you. We have no idea what this entails. It is merely a place to start looking.”
Angel found himself smiling again. “Anything you can do.... Anything....”
“Of course,” Jade agreed.
Angel found Buffy smiling happily at him. This was good. This had to be good.
Because they just wouldn’t settle for anything less.
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