WCHB Chapter 10: Stuck On You
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Chapter 10: Stuck On You
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As Angel made his way back to the abandoned warehouse he was contemplating what his next move should be. If Buffy's information was correct and Spike did not yet have the amulet that would explain why Spike was so reluctant to tell him about it.
It was also all the more reason to find out just witch amulet Spike was after so Buffy could get it first and hopefully but a stop to whatever Spike was planning. However, after his last encounter with Spike he was reluctant to bring up the subject again.
When he enters the warehouse Spike is nowhere in sight, it seems like the perfect opportunity has presented it self. He makes his way over to Drusilla who is humming to herself while staring unseeingly into space. "Oh Drusilla," he calls out in a low voice.
"Angel!"
"Are you alone?"
Her smile falters a little, "Spike went out, he had to meet with someone."
"Did he now?" He walks behind her and buts his hands on her shoulders, "He should have waited for me, I could have gone in his place. It would have given him time to work on his grand plan. Are you excited?"
"Oh it's going to be so wonderful," she exclaims in obvious delight.
He leans in closer and whispers in her ear, "Tell me... exactly how wonderful it will be."
"What the hell are you doing?!" Spike calls out in fury as he quickly makes his way over to them.
Angel can't help but curse Spikes sudden appearance under his breath but when he turns to address him there is nothing but superior grin on his face, "Hey there, Spike."
"Get your hands of off her," Spike growls, his hand fiercely clutching the handle of the wheelchair.
"Now, now there is no reason to get testy. Dru and I where just having a friendly chat."
"Yeah I know exactly how friendly you wanted to get."
Drusilla moans and coos, "Ohh, Spike don't be mad."
"Don't worry sweetheart." He reaches out and takes her hand in his, "Why don't you go find yourself something to eat."
He waits until she has left and the door has closed behind her before turning to Angel, his expression wild with fury, "If you so much as lay a hand on her I swear I will..."
"You will what? Face it Spike, you could barely take me when you had two working legs, you have no chance sitting in that thing. But hey, no need to worry. I wouldn't hurt Drusilla, you know how much I care for her."
"That's exactly what worries me," Spike states as he begins to calm down.
"Let's talk about more pleasant things, like this meeting you where at. Meet with anybody interesting?"
"It's peculiar how nosy you've become recently."
"I find it peculiar that you have gotten so secretive lately," Angel shoots back. He leans forward and lowers his voice, "Or maybe you're just scared to tell me about it? Don't want me to see you fail again?"
"You just wait," Spike spits out before turning the wheel chair around and making his way out of the warehouse leaving Angel alone once again to dwell on his inability to get some useful information.
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Jenny made sure to arrive at the school extra early in hopes of seeing Rupert before her first class started. He had wanted to continue researching the amulet and since she herself had papers that needed to be graded they had spent the night apart. In the back of her mind she scolds herself for acting like one of her lovesick students but it is completely smothered by her longing to see him.
On first sight the library appears empty but the amount of books scattered over the table tells her Rupert is somewhere near, she knew he wouldn't dream of leaving the library in this state. A quick look in his office reveals even more books and a cup of steaming coffee on his desk confirming her suspicions that he hadn't been home at all, only a lack of sleep would bring her all-through English lover to drink coffee.
Just then the object of her thoughts walks out from between the bookshelves carrying yet another book. He comes to an abrupt stop when he notices her, "Jenny, what are you doing here?"
"I work here," Jenny drolly replies and when Rupert still looks confused she adds, "I'm a teacher remember?"
One look at the clock sends him out of his bewilderment. "Oh, I hadn't realized the time," he says as he hurries down and starts stacking the books one the table.
"You've been here all night," she states rather than asks.
He gives her a sheepish look before admitting, "Eh yes, I thought it would be best to do a as thorough research as possible."
"Found anything?"
"I might have," he responds to her surprise. "I found three different possibilities that might be the amulet we are looking for."
He reaches for one of the books on the table and hands it to her, the open page shows a drawing of an amulet existing of two snakes, one in gold and one in silver, intertwined together. "That belonged to an ancient emperor, it doesn't really match the description to well but I figured one can never be to sure. The other two doesn't have any pictures but based on their descriptions one of them could be the one we are looking for."
He gives her another book before heading to his office and retrieving the third book. "Both of them are described as round shaped with undefined patterns in silver and gold and they are both used for protection against dark forces."
"What would Angel and Spike want with one of these?"
He gives a tired sigh as he sits down, "I have no idea at the present, the next step will be to find out more about these three amulets and try to find out if they could have any use for any of them."
"Great, more research. I'll send an email to some of my online sources, maybe somebody will know something." Suddenly she notices him looking at her with a dazed expression not appearing to be listening, "What?"
"Oh, nothing... you look very nice today."
She can't resist teasing him a little, "As opposed to how awful I usually look?"
"No, no of course not. I-I just meant..."
Then because she knows it's the most effective way to silence him and because she can't resist she leans forward and gives him a long deep kiss. Eventually she reluctantly pulls back, this was neither the time nor the place, "I'll see you later."
She's happy to not that his dazed expression has returned, "Yes of course... later."
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"That was absolutely horrible!" Buffy heard a familiar voice exclaim behind her and she turned to see Cordelia approaching with Xander in tow.
"It wasn't that bad," Xander tries to calm his agitated girlfriend.
Buffy really didn't wont to get involved in whatever argument the two where currently having but on the of chance that it could be something Hellmouth related she concludes that it was best to at least ask, "What happened?"
"I was forced to take the buss to school," Cordelia elaborates, still noticeably upset.
"How dreadful," Buffy dryly replies, giving Xander a 'are you kidding me' look.
He merely shrugs his shoulders, "Her car broke down yesterday on the middle of the highway, we had to stand at the edge waiting for the tow truck with cars going by faster then a speeding bullet. I'm telling you, that's worse than any vampire you can imagine."
Buffy can't help but direct a gleeful look at Cordelia, "Sounds like you'll have to continue taking the buss to school for a while."
The other girl responds with a big smile, "As if, I'll be getting a new, functional car in two days."
Buffy snorts, astonished and slightly envious, "You're car breaks down and you automatically get a new one? Why not just repair the car you already have?"
"I was getting the new car anyway as my 17 birthday present. My sister will get the old car to use for test driving."
"It's your birthday?" Xander blurts out in surprise which gets him an angry glare in return.
Just then Buffy caught sight of Willow making her way towards them, "Hey, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. But I have to warn you, you just walked into an episode of Days of Our Lives." Taking a closer look at her friend she suddenly notices that she looks upset and judging by the redness under her eyes she'd been crying, "What's wrong?"
"I just... the funeral is this weekend, on Sunday. Oz parents weren't sure which students they should invite so, they asked me to tell you."
Buffy feels her stomach tightening painfully and all she is able to respond in return is, "Oh."
"Are you okay?" Xander asks ,stepping forward as if to comfort her.
Willow takes a step backwards and instead of answering him she asks, "Will you guys let Giles and Ms Calendar know?"
"Sure," Buffy quickly agrees searching desperately for something to say.
"I have to get to class," said Willow before as quickly as possible walking away.
Buffy stares after debating what to do, "Do you think we should go after her?"
"I don't know. What would we say?" Xander's voice is cold, sending shivers down her spine even before he declares, "If you ask me actions his better then words. Don't you think it's high time we make Angel pay for what he's done."
The bell rings saving her from having this conversation, at least for the moment. She closes her locker and makes sure to avoid looking at Xander as they make their way to their first class of the day.
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Willow tried desperately not to let any more tears escape. Over the past days she had almost began to feel sane again, school had even started to have a peaceful affect on her making it appear as if nothing had changed. She'd been entirely avoiding the hallway where Oz used to have his locker witch meant she had to take a detour to some of her classes but it had given a comforting illusion.
It was still hard to find the strength to go up in the mornings but at Saturday she had slept the whole night through without any nightmares and she had finally began to hope for some sort of normalcy.
Then on Sunday night the phone had rang, it had been Oz's father telling her that the funeral was set in one week. One week. That was all the time left before she would have to say goodbye, before he would be gone forever. Part of her knew that wasn't logical, he was already gone, but somehow she had managed to delude herself of that notion, making it feel as if it was only temporary. That he was away somewhere performing with his band and would be back soon. But he wasn't coming back and she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with that.
She comes to an abrupt stop outside the door, the classroom blurs before her eyes as tears threaten to overwhelm her. A soft sob escapes her before she turns and runs in the opposite directions. She doesn't pay any attention to the looks she's receiving as she race through the hallways. She is vaguely aware of the bell ringing just before she throws the door open bursting down the stairs and on to the school grounds. Finally away from the crowd she stops her flight, leaning against a tall tree trying to get herself under control. Then her gaze come to focus on a nearby bench, the same bench where Oz was sitting when he first asked her out on a date. The last of her resolve finally crumbles and her knees buckles sending her crashing to the ground as her grief finally comes pouring out.