Title: Secrets
Author: Salinah20
Email:
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Buffy walked down the dark alley. She had been in LA for two months now, and it had been wonderful. Dawn liked her new school, patrols had been fairly uneventful, Cordelia had actually softened towards her, and Angel was the happiest she had ever seen him. She had begun to wonder if she was too happy, when would the other shoe drop.
"Angelus..." a voice questioned from the dark.
Thump thought Buffy as she turned around, seeking the source of the voice.
A tall blonde man stepped out the darkness to stare at her. "You smell of Angelus," he said in a questioning voice.
"I get that all the time, it's this new perfume I'm wearing," Buffy quipped.
"I don't think so. Angelus doesn't keep pets, why you?" he asked, not amused by her humor.
"I'm guessing you haven't seen him in what, a hundred years? Am I right?" She slowly pulled out the stake hidden in her waistband; if he turned violent she wanted to be ready.
"Take me to him," the man demanded.
"I'm thinking no," Buffy said slowly assuming a fighting stance.
"A slayer?" the man said, noticing the fighting stance, "I'm betting he's changed a lot. I swear no harm will come to you. I just want to see him again," he said shaking his head and trying to make sense of all this.
"No harm to me, or him?" she asked, something in his eyes was telling her it was ok.
"You? Protecting him? This I got to see," he chuckled.
"Is that a yes?"
"No harm will come to you, or him, I swear it," he answered holding one hand up in a mock courtroom swearing gesture.
***
As they entered the hotel, Buffy stopped him in the lobby. "I will stay in staking distance, you make one wrong move, and I'll kill you," she threatened.
The man just looked at her in awe. Angelus? With a pet? With a Slayer? This will be good.
"Angel, we got company," Buffy shouted up the stairs, never moving from the man's side.
Angel came down the stairs and stopped suddenly when he saw the man. "Victor?" he questioned.
Immediately the man burst into a smile, "A slayer?" he asked.
The two began to talk rapidly in Gaelic as Buffy stood looking between the two men, puzzled at the sudden turn of events. "OK, it's weird enough that he knows you, but the no English thing? That's just rude," she tried to sound scolding, but the smile on her face ruined the affect.
Both men laughed at their unconscious slip into Gaelic. "Sorry, love. I just haven't seen Victor in so long, I was distracted."
"So, I can move the stake away from his back?" she questioned cocking her eyebrow.
"Yeah, he hasn't killed a human in, what, 200 years?" Angel asked turning to face Victor.
"Something like that," Victor said reassuringly. "So, are you gonna' tell me what's going on here, and why you called her love?"
Victor looked at the two of them. Something on her neck caught his attention. "Marked?" he said looking at Angel.
"It's a long story," Angel chuckled as he put an arm around Victor's shoulders and led him into the kitchen.
Buffy just stared after the two of them. "Marked?" she asked the empty room.
***
The three of them sat around the kitchen table as Angel filled Victor in on the gypsy curse and the last hundred years. "I looked for you for about fifty years. Figured you could have helped me when I got my soul," Angel said looking down at the mug of blood in his hands, trying to block the memories of that awful time.
"He's cursed too? How many of you are there?" Buffy asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the two men.
"Nope, I never killed a gypsy," he answered Buffy. "Pretty ballsy by the way," he added glancing at Angel. "A fledging made me and he didn't have the strength to evict my soul."
"I've never heard of that before," Buffy said.
"Usually when that happens, the sire will kill them. He is considered an abomination in vampire society. His sire didn't kill him, and no one knows why," Angel explained still unable to lift his eyes from his hands.
"Long time since you called me that," Victor said sadness creeping into his eyes.
Buffy felt the tension level escalate in the room. "I think I'll leave you two alone." She glared at Victor, "If I find a pile of ashes when I get back, you’re dead." With that said she left the room.
"Charming little girl," Victor said looking after her. "Now, explain why you keep a pet, Angelus?" Victor gave a sly smile to Angel.
"It's Angel now, and she's not exactly my pet," his eyes finally rising from his hands.
"I saw the mark; since when do you take a mate?"
"I love her, Victor. She's the girl I've looked for all this time," Angel said with a dreamy expression on his face.
"Why isn't she bonded then?" Victor asked with a smirk.
"NO!" Angel glared at him, his chocolate brown eyes flashing gold. "I'll never do that to her."
"Hey, calm down," Victor quickly back-pedaled. "I didn't mean anything insulting by it. I was just teasing you. Why didn't you tell her?" he asked trying desperately to change the subject.
"She doesn't need to know. I still don't understand it completely," Angel answered him shrugging.
"How much doesn't she know about you?" he asked, tilting his head in question.
"She knows everything she needs to." Angel glared at him. "I will kill you if you start telling her things she doesn't need to know."
***
Dawn bounded in the door, glad to be home from school. She headed to the kitchen and was shocked to find a very handsome man sitting at her kitchen table. Great. We finally get a good-looking client, and I'm not allowed to talk to the clients, she thought. As Victor turned to see who had come in the room, Dawn finally got a good look at his face, and her jaw dropped in appreciation.
"Well, hello," said Victor, his blue eyes sparkling, "and who are you?" feeling power rolling off of her in intoxicating waves.
"I...I...I'm Dawn," she finally stammered out.
"Well, hi Dawn. It's nice to meet you," he said, eyes raking in the beauty of her.
"Don't you have homework, Dawn?" Angel asked, trying desperately to get Dawn out of the room.
"Yeah, sure...nice to kiss you...I mean see you...I mean meet you...bye" Dawn rushed out of the room trying to hide her embarrassment. Kiss you? Great going, Dawn, she chided herself as she went upstairs to her room.
Victor slowly turned back to Angel with a dreamy look in his eyes. Angel spoke menacingly in Gaelic, "She's Buffy's sister. You hurt her, and you'll face both of us."
"She's beautiful," Victor replied, still speaking Gaelic, shocked that Angel would think that of him. "I wouldn't dream of hurting her."
Buffy walked into the room behind Angel. She slid her arms around his chest, leaning her chin on the top of his head. "Remember, we discussed this. English please. How can I eavesdrop if I don't understand the language?" she said, her eyes sparkling.
"I mean it," Angel said to Victor in English. He didn't know if something had just started in this room between Victor and Dawn, but he knew Buffy shouldn't know about it, not yet.
Buffy leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Can I see you upstairs for a minute?"
Angel glanced at Victor, knowing he not only heard Buffy's comment, but also that he could smell her arousal as well as he could. "Meet you up there," he answered. Buffy walked out the door, but not before shooting Angel a lust filled glance.
Turning back to Victor, Angel growled, "I’ll trust you with Dawn. You violate that trust, and I promise I won't be merciful." Angel raced out of the room, following Buffy upstairs.
*******
Victor wandered around the hotel taking in Angelus' new digs. Much better than the sewers, he thought to himself. He caught a scent from down the hall, and a smile crept over his face. He walked down and stood in the doorway watching her fold laundry. Dawn looked up and saw Victor in the doorway.
"Hi." What is a client doing upstairs? "Are you looking for Angel?" she asked innocently.
"No. I think he's kinda' busy right now," he said gesturing upstairs.
"Again?" Dawn asked incredulously, "Those two are always at it."
Victor chuckled softly at her response. At least you don’t have to hear them, he thought to himself. Breaking the silence he said, "Can I come in?"
Dawn's eyes narrowed as she stared at him. "Are you a client?"
"No, I'm a friend of Angel's," not understanding the hesitation.
"Friend of Angel's?" Dawn said raising her eyebrow in question. "Why do you want to come in?"
"I just want to talk." Does she know what Angel is? he wondered.
"You’re not invited," Dawn said in an attempt to determine Victor's status in life, or non-life.
"It's a public building, even if it’s not used that way," Victor said. This girl caught on quick. "I don't need to be," he said as he crossed into her room. Dawn slowly began to back away from him, heading for her nightstand.
"What do you want?" she asked as her hand slipped inside the drawer and grasped the cold metal of the cross she kept in there.
"I just want to talk. I'm not going to bite," Victor said flashing his most dazzling smile.
Dawn slowly pulled the cross out of the drawer, careful to keep it out of his sight. "Are you a vampire?" she asked.
"What do you think?" Victor said still advancing on her.
Dawn quickly held the cross up in front of him. Victor hissed turning his face, as he quickly backed up. He turned back to face her in full game face. "Yep, you are most definitely a vampire," she said not flinching.
*******
Angel lay on his back on their bed, he was lost to all rational thought as Buffy sucked the full length of his cock into her mouth.
"I’m gonna…" he moaned, knowing he was reaching the end of his rope.
She slowly lifted her mouth until her lips just grazed the oversensitive tip. "What does marked mean?" she asked knowing he was in no position to lie to her right now.
"Buffy, please…not now," he pleaded with her, trying to thrust back into her mouth, but she held him down denying him his release.
"Now’s the perfect time," she grinned, knowing she would get an answer out of him.
He paused wondering how to explain this as she began to slowly stroke him, teasing him with hot breath. She slid her mouth down his shaft and quickly removed it again. "Again, why am I marked?"
"The scar on your neck…"Angel panted.
She rewarded him with a few quick thrusts of her mouth, but still not enough to give him his release. "What about it?" she asked hovering over him again, knowing from the gold in his eyes that he was on the verge.
"It means you’re a vampire’s mate," he quickly answered, knowing he would have answered any question she asked at that moment.
Forgetting the awkward position she had left him in, she looked up at him and snapped, "You mean I’m branded? Like a cow?"
Angel suddenly flipped her over and entered her with one full stroke. "Not a cow, mine," was all he could say as coherent thought was lost.
********
"Can you put that down please?" Victor snarled, still unable to move.
"What do you want?" Dawn said, not allowing the cross to drop.
"I told you. I just want to talk. Why is that so hard to believe? Would you do this if Angel wanted to talk?" Victor said trying to reason with the girl.
"Angel has a soul." Dawn said simply.
"As do I," Victor responded. "Please, can you put that down? I won't hurt you."
Dawn slowly lowered the cross as she stared at Victor. "You’re cursed too?"
"No, why does everyone around here assume it's a curse?" Victor said, slipping back into his human features.
"Angel," Dawn answered simply. "Does that hurt?" she asked.
"What hurt?" Victor asked, unaccustomed to the Summers trait of rapidly switching subjects.
"When you change?" she asked blushing slightly at the boldness of her questioning.
"Not at all," Victor said smiling at the girl. Where was this feeling of tremendous power coming from? he wondered.
Dawn set down the cross and slowly walked toward him. "Angel never wants me to see. He won't even talk about it," she pouted.
"Ask me anything," he said, holding his hands up hoping to placate the girl.
"Can I touch it?" Dawn asked timidly
"Are you referring to my face?" Victor asked with a sly smile
"Yeah," Dawn answered, not catching the reference. She slowly reached her hand up to his face and he slipped into game face again. She innocently caressed the ridges, seemingly unaware of the effect she was having on him. It was all he could do to stay still and let her explore. The more she caressed his face, the harder it was.
She pulled back and recognized the look in his golden eyes. She had seen that look before in other boys’ eyes, but for the first time she felt something inside herself stirring at that look. She smiled coyly trying to change the subject, "Do you want something to eat?"
He could smell the beginnings of her arousal and decided he would have to pursue this avenue later. He could tell, however, that she was trying to change the subject, "What did you have in mind?" coyly raising an eyebrow at her.
"I...I meant downstairs...in the kitchen..." Dawn chided herself Do you want something to eat? Not very appropriate to ask a vampire.
"Sure, I'll go downstairs with you," chuckling softly at the embarrassment on her face.
***
As they lay spent in each other’s arms, Angel said, "Buffy, you don’t have to play games if you want an answer. All you have to do is ask."
"It was fun though," she said, giggling at Angel’s growl in response. "Well, I have another question," she asked reluctantly.
"Okay." He began to wonder if this new ‘open honesty’ policy would backfire on him.
"Why didn’t you kill him?" she asked, sitting up to look into his eyes for the answer.
"Kill him? When?" he stalled, looking away from her questioning eyes. He tried to roll over to get out of the bed, and away from the question, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"After you sired him?" she asked as she turned him to face her.
He looked into her eyes and realized she wasn’t bluffing; she had figured it out. He sighed deeply then began, "I don’t know," he answered honestly. "Maybe Angelus did have a merciful streak in him, but I have never been able to figure that out."
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