Angel watched as Anya and Xander practically ran away from the graveyard. They both looked upset and disgusted. From their location and stakes and holy water they were carrying Angel assumed that they were patrolling. He’d just gotten back to Sunnydale, he hadn’t felt comfortable leaving Buffy on her own. She had assured him that she could handle it, but he wanted to be sure for himself. He had decided to watch her from a distance, protect her if need be. Besides, it wasn’t like he was Mr. Popularity around the office after the whole Darla scandal.
If Buffy wasn’t out patrolling, things must be worse than he thought. She’d always told him that it relaxed her, the routine of it all. No matter how bleak things were, she usually patrolled. He emerged from the shaded area beneath a large pine. He was going to follow Xander and Anya, announce his presence to them and get some information about Buffy when he heard a commotion coming from a row of tombstones. Stealthily, he made his way over so he could see what was going on.
“Spike! Oh, Spike! You are the big bad! Big, BIG, bad!” Buffy was on top of his blonde granchilde, grinding against his pelvis. It was obvious what was happening. “Oh, yes! Yes! YES!” She keened, her hair swishing around her shoulders. Spike groaned as he found his own release.
“Oh my God!” Angel stumbled backwards, tripping over a headstone and crashed to the ground, completely blowing his cover. He couldn’t believe his own eyes. The couple broke apart, Buffy discreetly putting her clothing back into place. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t gramps.” Spike drawled, getting to his feet. He rudely pulled up his zipper and buckled his belt as Angel watched in outrage. Buffy stood up and he put a possessive arm around her, squeezing her waist.
Angel stared at Buffy, bewildered. This was downright creepy and disturbing but not painful. They were no longer together, he knew she’d had another boyfriend after him. Knew that she had loved the young man. But he was a human, could give her things that Angel couldn’t -- children. . . a life full of sunshine. But Buffy was now with another vampire. Namely, Spike, his own grandchilde. A demon. “How could you do this with SPIKE!?” He asked her.
Spike’s grin grew wider. “Buffy, you remember Angel, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes. Angel’s bloody stupid and his hair sticks straight up.” The Buffybot repeated dutifully, reading the words on her information file screen.
Angel recoiled, hurt by her behavior. He clenched his hands into fists and glared at Spike. This couldn’t be his Buffy, she loved him. Wasn’t in love with him, but she loved him. Trusted him. And she’d never make fun of him! And his hair did not stick straight up! “What the hell did you do to her?” Was it a spell? Extreme grief over her mother’s death? Drugs?
“Nothing, peaches. I guess she just woke up and smelled the blood. Realized who’s the better vampire.” Spike grinned maniacally.
Angel shook his head, trying to sort out the facts. Something had to be done. His hand shot out and grabbed Buffy’s sleeve. Since when did she start wearing a black leather jacket? “Come on, we need to talk about this. You’ve obviously lost your mind.” He glared at Spike. “Of course, he really likes that sort of thing.”
“Let me go!” The bot said indignantly as she struggled in his grasp. “I want to be with Spike. Not you!”
“You heard the lady, she wants to be with me.” Spike said smugly. Angel let her go and watched her snuggle against Spike’s side. “Come on, baby. Let’s go back to my crypt.” He spared Angel a glance. “Why don’t you go back to L.A.? As you can see, you’re not needed here.” And they walked away from him. Leaving him alone in the cemetery.
Angel once again examined his emotions. No pain. Only a hefty dose of revulsion, anger at Spike, and concern for Buffy. He stared in the direction they left in and thought of following them, taking her out of there by force. It was impossible though. He couldn’t fight a Slayer and his childe at the same time. “I have to go. Something’s wrong here. Very, very wrong.” He muttered. Something terrible must have happened to Buffy. She hated Spike, there’s no way she’d straddle him in a cemetery if she were in her right mind.
Angel jumped in his car and drove at a fast pace through the streets of Sunnydale. Wondering who he should go to. He found himself on the campus of UC Sunnydale. ”Willow.” He said with a sigh. **********
“I’m coming!” Willow shouted, but the pounding on her door didn’t stop. She threw open the door. “What’s the emergency? Oh, Angel! Hi!” The dark vampire continued to stare at her. “Are you alright? Something wrong with Buffy?”
“You could say that.” Angel said. “Can I come in?”
“Sure. Come in, Angel.” The barrier disappeared and Angel walked in. “You look upset. Oh, Goddess. There’s a new big bad in town? He’s going to kill us all, right?”
Angel smiled wryly. “Maybe you should ask Buffy about big bads, she’s an expert.”
“Huh?”
“I ran into Spike and Buffy in the graveyard tonight.”
“Oh, were they fighting?” Willow gestured to the futon which was currently folded into its couch position and Angel sat down. Willow sat across from him on the edge of her bed. “They’ve been kinda angry at each other lately.” I’m not mentioning Spike’s crush on her unless he directly asks me about it. She had no desire to see an Angel meltdown. Fish had a way of turning up dead when he got mad.
“No, they didn’t look angry. They were–“ Angel broke off, he knew they were in the new millennium, but he was an old-fashioned man with old-fashioned ideas about women. You just didn’t speak about such things with ladies and Willow was definitely a lady. She shouldn’t be subjected to something this sordid. He didn’t want to say something to embarrass Willow or himself but he wanted to get the point across.
“They were. . .?”
“Making love.”Angel said finally. That descriptor was woefully inadequate to characterize the frenzied coupling he’d witnessed.
Willow laughed loudly. Angel watched her in puzzlement, maybe all of the scoobies had gone insane while he was gone. Then, she pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, Angel, I’m sorry. For a second there, I thought you said they were ‘making love’, you said . . .’making gloves’ or ‘baking slugs’ or something else, didn’t you?”
It was time to be honest, he needed her help. He just hoped she wouldn’t be too shocked. “No, in fact, she was straddling him in the middle of a bunch of tombstones, shouting ‘you are the big–“
”Please stop!” Willow held out a hand. “Are you trying to scar me for life?”
Angel grimaced. “Sorry, Willow. But we need do something about this.”
“She’s lost her mind.”
“That’s what I thought.”
