ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,805
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,805
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
STARBUCKS
CHAPTER 107 - STARBUCKS
December 2, 2008
Monday
10:45am
"I really hate this season," Angel said, tossing the latest cheerily, cliched Christmas card in the trash.
Actually it had been the card prior to this one, which had really set him off. It was a card from his former ‘loyal’ A.I. employees. It had the usual, cheery holiday crap, but their newsletter was a bit different than most. It detailed their latest cases, which they were now quite efficiently solving, so it would seem.
Wesley, Fred, and Gunn each added a little personal note for him, either asking him to reconsider coming back to the firm he’d created, or offering their assistance, should he need it.
They had all gone with him to Wolfram & Hart in the beginning, but one by one, they had found that the company was corrupting them into people they didn’t recognize anymore. Or like.
The only one who stayed on was Lorne. He loved his job hobnobbing with the celebrities.
Angel had insisted from the beginning, that W & H give them all a 90-day no-strings-attached trial. Slowly but surely, one by one, they bailed on him, like the weak humans they were. They’d given up the world of resources that Wolfram & Hart provided at their fingertips, all for the greater good, or so they’d said.
From Angel’s perspective, he could do more good in a week from the belly of the beast, than a year on the outside. Who cared how it was achieved, as long as it was? And that, he’d thought, would surely come to the notice of The Powers that Be, when ultimate prophetic rewards were being considered.
Only that ’t s’t seemed to be the case.
“I really hate this season,” he repeated, as his office door opened.
"Well, maybe this will cheer you up," Lilah said, handing him a VHS tape.
"What's this?"
"Oh, just something that stood out today, when the latest tapes were run though the scanner," she said, referring to the multi-million dollar machine, which had been set up to identify anybody remotely of interest in Wolfram & Hart from all over the country. Every single thing about a person was programmed into the computer, hair color, eye color and shape, cheekbones, bone structure, DNA, weight, gait, clothing style, even what they would look like wearing a disguise.
Every day thousands of video feeds from Starbucks all across the country were run through the program, and when somebody of interest was identified, be they human or demon, the computer would generate a report on a possible sighting. Starbucks had beensen,sen, because of it’s overwhelming popularity with both humans and demons. The chances were, at least once a week; everybody of interest would probably be on camera, paying for their coffee, innocent of the fact that they were being recorded.
"What’s this, the latest Ghora demon, having a triple espresso in Boise freakin' Idaho?" Angel scowled, taking the tape, and putting it into the VCR,
"Well?" he asked, a few minutes after it started.
"May I?" Lilah asked.
Angel handed her the remote and she brought up the onscreen menu. She then fast-forwarded to frame 3350.
"Right here, it's coming up," she said, smiling slyly at him.
"Buffy!" Angel exclaimed, seeing her standing at a Starbuck’s counter. He stared at the screen for a while, as she talked to a tall, dark haired man, smiling easily and touching his arm.
Out of habit mostly and years of conditioning, a part of him was pained to see her talking to any man, but a grin slowly spread across his face, as he realized the person was most definitely not Spike.
"Interesting," he said, emotionless, though she could tell differently.
"Hold on, don't get too happy," Lilah said, enjoying seeing him squirm.
"Here we go," she said, fast forwarding another 20 or so frames.
Angel watched as Buffy turned and smiled happily towards someone off screen. The man walked up to her, Dawn on his arm, laughing. They unlinked arms and Dawn went to the unidentified dark haired man, while he went to Buffy, putting his arms around her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She turned to him, her pleasure at seeing him there, apparent in her eyes and body language; the way she leaned in towards him. She had a teasing look, as she said something to him, then laughed. The man turned to her, said something in return, shrugging.
"William!" Angel spat the name out, like a piece of gristle stuck between his teeth.
"Uh-huh," Lilah said, "a little more interesting, huh?"
"What else is there?" he asked through gritted teeth.
She rewound the tape to when they'd first got to the mall.
Angel watched as Buffy and William first arrived, then greeted Dawn and the other man, and as they sat and talked, drinking coffee, before going off to shop.
Angel’s face was dark with anger, as he watched Buffy and William hold hands, as they walked off, out of view.
"That's it," Lilah said, grinning as she turned off the VCR, “your ex and Shanshu boy out doing their holiday shopping; sweet isn’t it?” she purred to him.
She started to take the tape out of the VCR.
“Leave it!” Angel said, raising his voice.
“Whatever you want, boss,” she said, taking her hand off the machine and backing up as she saw the expression on his face. No use getting her head cut off, yet again; it would most definitely ruin her new white, silk blouse.
“Where was this taken?”
“San Diego,” Lilah said, “Mission Valley Mall.”
The wheels were going around in his head, “San Diego, huh?”
“That’s the place.”
“Leave now,” Angel said to Lilah.
She nodded and headed out the door, grinning as she shut the door.
He reached for the remote and turned on the VCR again, pausing the tape when he got a clear shot of Buffy’s face. He stared impassively at her for a long time, wondering to himself what it was he was feeling.
It finally came to him. Revulsion.
Angel’s eyes flashed yellow, as his mind conjured the last images of her, sending him away, giving him that stupid cookie dough speech of hers! Cheating him, Angel, of his destiny, so that Spike, whom she’d said wasn’t her ‘boyfriend,’ but ‘in her heart,’ got the chance to Shanshu.
He advanced the tape, until he saw William and hit the pause button again.
Angel’s face, now in complete vamp mode was distorted, his yellow eyes narrowed, as he glared at the cursed image on the scree
“S
“So, Spike, you think you’ve suffered? Think you’re deserving enough to live happily ever after with her, do you?” he muttered, as images of just what he’d like to do to William to make him suffer filled him with satisfaction.
All of a sudden he banged his fist on the desk as hard as he could, causing his mug of O+ to spill all over the desk.
“Willow!” he said darkly, impotently, recalling the protection spell she’d cast and the threat of annihilation, should he to ito interfere with the prophecy, as it played out.
“Damn her! Damn them all to hell!”
END CHAPTER 107
December 2, 2008
Monday
10:45am
"I really hate this season," Angel said, tossing the latest cheerily, cliched Christmas card in the trash.
Actually it had been the card prior to this one, which had really set him off. It was a card from his former ‘loyal’ A.I. employees. It had the usual, cheery holiday crap, but their newsletter was a bit different than most. It detailed their latest cases, which they were now quite efficiently solving, so it would seem.
Wesley, Fred, and Gunn each added a little personal note for him, either asking him to reconsider coming back to the firm he’d created, or offering their assistance, should he need it.
They had all gone with him to Wolfram & Hart in the beginning, but one by one, they had found that the company was corrupting them into people they didn’t recognize anymore. Or like.
The only one who stayed on was Lorne. He loved his job hobnobbing with the celebrities.
Angel had insisted from the beginning, that W & H give them all a 90-day no-strings-attached trial. Slowly but surely, one by one, they bailed on him, like the weak humans they were. They’d given up the world of resources that Wolfram & Hart provided at their fingertips, all for the greater good, or so they’d said.
From Angel’s perspective, he could do more good in a week from the belly of the beast, than a year on the outside. Who cared how it was achieved, as long as it was? And that, he’d thought, would surely come to the notice of The Powers that Be, when ultimate prophetic rewards were being considered.
Only that ’t s’t seemed to be the case.
“I really hate this season,” he repeated, as his office door opened.
"Well, maybe this will cheer you up," Lilah said, handing him a VHS tape.
"What's this?"
"Oh, just something that stood out today, when the latest tapes were run though the scanner," she said, referring to the multi-million dollar machine, which had been set up to identify anybody remotely of interest in Wolfram & Hart from all over the country. Every single thing about a person was programmed into the computer, hair color, eye color and shape, cheekbones, bone structure, DNA, weight, gait, clothing style, even what they would look like wearing a disguise.
Every day thousands of video feeds from Starbucks all across the country were run through the program, and when somebody of interest was identified, be they human or demon, the computer would generate a report on a possible sighting. Starbucks had beensen,sen, because of it’s overwhelming popularity with both humans and demons. The chances were, at least once a week; everybody of interest would probably be on camera, paying for their coffee, innocent of the fact that they were being recorded.
"What’s this, the latest Ghora demon, having a triple espresso in Boise freakin' Idaho?" Angel scowled, taking the tape, and putting it into the VCR,
"Well?" he asked, a few minutes after it started.
"May I?" Lilah asked.
Angel handed her the remote and she brought up the onscreen menu. She then fast-forwarded to frame 3350.
"Right here, it's coming up," she said, smiling slyly at him.
"Buffy!" Angel exclaimed, seeing her standing at a Starbuck’s counter. He stared at the screen for a while, as she talked to a tall, dark haired man, smiling easily and touching his arm.
Out of habit mostly and years of conditioning, a part of him was pained to see her talking to any man, but a grin slowly spread across his face, as he realized the person was most definitely not Spike.
"Interesting," he said, emotionless, though she could tell differently.
"Hold on, don't get too happy," Lilah said, enjoying seeing him squirm.
"Here we go," she said, fast forwarding another 20 or so frames.
Angel watched as Buffy turned and smiled happily towards someone off screen. The man walked up to her, Dawn on his arm, laughing. They unlinked arms and Dawn went to the unidentified dark haired man, while he went to Buffy, putting his arms around her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She turned to him, her pleasure at seeing him there, apparent in her eyes and body language; the way she leaned in towards him. She had a teasing look, as she said something to him, then laughed. The man turned to her, said something in return, shrugging.
"William!" Angel spat the name out, like a piece of gristle stuck between his teeth.
"Uh-huh," Lilah said, "a little more interesting, huh?"
"What else is there?" he asked through gritted teeth.
She rewound the tape to when they'd first got to the mall.
Angel watched as Buffy and William first arrived, then greeted Dawn and the other man, and as they sat and talked, drinking coffee, before going off to shop.
Angel’s face was dark with anger, as he watched Buffy and William hold hands, as they walked off, out of view.
"That's it," Lilah said, grinning as she turned off the VCR, “your ex and Shanshu boy out doing their holiday shopping; sweet isn’t it?” she purred to him.
She started to take the tape out of the VCR.
“Leave it!” Angel said, raising his voice.
“Whatever you want, boss,” she said, taking her hand off the machine and backing up as she saw the expression on his face. No use getting her head cut off, yet again; it would most definitely ruin her new white, silk blouse.
“Where was this taken?”
“San Diego,” Lilah said, “Mission Valley Mall.”
The wheels were going around in his head, “San Diego, huh?”
“That’s the place.”
“Leave now,” Angel said to Lilah.
She nodded and headed out the door, grinning as she shut the door.
He reached for the remote and turned on the VCR again, pausing the tape when he got a clear shot of Buffy’s face. He stared impassively at her for a long time, wondering to himself what it was he was feeling.
It finally came to him. Revulsion.
Angel’s eyes flashed yellow, as his mind conjured the last images of her, sending him away, giving him that stupid cookie dough speech of hers! Cheating him, Angel, of his destiny, so that Spike, whom she’d said wasn’t her ‘boyfriend,’ but ‘in her heart,’ got the chance to Shanshu.
He advanced the tape, until he saw William and hit the pause button again.
Angel’s face, now in complete vamp mode was distorted, his yellow eyes narrowed, as he glared at the cursed image on the scree
“S
“So, Spike, you think you’ve suffered? Think you’re deserving enough to live happily ever after with her, do you?” he muttered, as images of just what he’d like to do to William to make him suffer filled him with satisfaction.
All of a sudden he banged his fist on the desk as hard as he could, causing his mug of O+ to spill all over the desk.
“Willow!” he said darkly, impotently, recalling the protection spell she’d cast and the threat of annihilation, should he to ito interfere with the prophecy, as it played out.
“Damn her! Damn them all to hell!”
END CHAPTER 107