Boats Against the Current

Boats Against the Current (Chapter Three)



The trip to Willie’s had been a bust. No one there seemed to have any information, or if they did, even Angelus didn’t scare them enough to divulge it. But they still had to meet with the others and let them know at least that much. So here they were – Giles’s flat. Was it Angel’s imagination or did Giles hesitate before inviting him in? He supposed he couldn’t really blame the man. He well remembered the night he’d left Jenny’s corpse here, laid out in grotesque mockery on Giles’s bed.

It was an uncomfortable gathering, but Angel hadn’t expected anything else. Willow, on the other hand, seemed pained by the awkwardness that hung in the air. It saddened him, all the more so because he couldn’t put his arm around her and support her through this.

That wasn’t quite true. If Buffy could be presumed upon to act like an adult and see reason, Angel and Willow would be free to behave like the couple they actually were and not be forced into this ridiculous charade. But no, despite being the longest-lived Slayer in history, Buffy still acted like the shallow young girl she was the day before she became The Chosen One.

He looked over at Spike, who was hiding a smirk as he focused his attention on Cordelia, who couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of Xander. Wonderful. Only Xander Harris could be so dense as not to notice her obvious lingering interest in him. But he didn’t seem to have a clue.

Spike could play audience for this paltry human drama. Angel had bigger things to worry about. Any minute now, Buffy’s new beefcake would be walking in the door, camouflage-clad sadist that he was, and Angel would be called upon to protect Spike and himself from the man. He might also have to protect Willow.

Willow and Giles headed for kitchen on some pretext so paper thin he couldn’t believe no one looked askance. Obviously, they were going to talk about something connected to her being Angel’s lover now.

It was strange. Back when he’d been with Buffy, the word girlfriend seemed a natural way to describe her. The word was utterly ill-suited to Willow. She was his lover, his mate, his love… but girlfriend? It seemed a small, silly word to describe her.

He listened carefully, trying to pick up on what was being said in the kitchen.

“Are you happy, Willow? Truly happy?” Giles's voice sounded slightly wistful to Angel's ears.

“Yeah, I am. I mean, I miss you guys so much and Los Angeles streets still confuse the heck out of me, but…I’m…happy. Really, really, incredibly happy. I never knew I could be as happy as I am with Angel.”

Angel’s heart almost beat as he listened to her. The fact that she felt the same way he did, and that he could confirm that with what she was telling a third party…

The bonhomie soon ended, however.

"Is there some good reason why you didn't let me know about what's been going on? Why Cordelia had to have visions for me to learn that things aren't really hunky dory?" Willow sounded more than slightly upset with her former mentor and Angel could well understand that. He would have liked to listen to the rest of the conversation and hear Giles's answer, but…

“Angel.” Buffy’s voice brought him back to the living room. His ex-girlfriend. She was right in front of him, that pained and wistful look on her face yet again. Months ago, it would have moved him. Today, it cost her more of what little respect he still felt for her.

That wasn’t just because he loved Willow either. He knew, deep down, that even without his new lover, his feelings for Buffy had been changing. And knowing just what she was capable of, who she was capable of giving herself to, would have brought him as close to regretting he’d ever loved her at all as he was now. He’d meant what he told Spike: she wasn’t the girl he’d thought her to be.

“So, how have you been?” she asked. He was grateful for her fondness for long, dramatic pauses, or he’d have been caught out.

“Fine.” Not actually wanting to have a conversation with her, he thought it best to keep his answers short.

“How is it working with Willow?” The question surprised him. Maybe she was hoping he’d indicate that Willow being around brought back memories of the two of them. Well, she could wish all she liked for all the good it would do her.

“Great, actually. She’s a whiz. She’s got us completely computerized in a way that we can all cope with and her magic comes in very handy.” What a relief to be able to tell the unvarnished truth. Willow really was an asset to Angel Investigations.

“She’s that good with the hocus pocus, huh?” Buffy’s skepticism might have more to do with irritation at not getting what she was hoping for than with actual contempt for Willow, but it rankled.

He decided to play it cool, though. The last thing they needed right now was rancor between the factions. “Yeah, she is. She gets stronger every day. “

“That’s great.” Forced smile, pain-filled eyes. It was patent, predictable, and damnably annoying. He wondered what she would say if she knew that her behaviour was making their love a memory he could scarcely comprehend as having ever been real. It was painful, that. Regrets were already too numerous in his life. One more was a weight he didn’t need to carry. He watched the rosy glow of nostalgia fade and he mourned.

“It is. She’s a real asset. I don’t know what we’d do without her.”

“That’s our Willow.” She paused for emphasis. “We miss her.” She was sincere about that, though he wanted not to believe it. It would be so much easier to deal with her at this moment if he could think her completely devoid of any finer qualities. But no, he had to accept that, for all he now regretted and all he now despised, Buffy was not utterly contemptible. He might not love her, or even like her anymore, but he couldn’t hate her.

Grey areas…not his favorite thing, even if he himself was the very personification of a grey area.

He caught Spike’s gaze out of the corner of his eye. Wonderful. So now he was the entertainment. Spike was at least disguising his smirk, if there even was one, better now. That was a blessing.

Giles and Willow came back into the room, and he was carrying a tray with a pot of tea and some crackers and potato chips in bowls perched precariously on it. Willow carried a tray of cups, presumably for the tea.

“Refreshments,” she chirped happily, bringing off a fake smile far better than Buffy had managed. Should he be worried at his lover’s greater facility at prevarication? If he should be, he wasn’t. He was proud, really, the demon within him glorying in Willow’s superiority. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t human and he was tired of trying to force himself to react and feel like one.

“And yet one more reason why we need you back here with us,” Xander chimed in.

He’d be irritated but for the fact that the boy’s remark added a touch of realism to Willow’s grin. “Thanks, Xan. I miss you, too.” She put down her tray and gave her friend a quick hug.

“Buffy, is Riley going to be here soon? Because if not, I don’t see why we have to be here.” Anya was peevish and Angel found himself enjoying the evening at last. After the fruitless trip to Willie’s and the depressing conversation with his ex, it was nice to finally be able to smile.

“An,” Xander whined. He got the impression the boy did that a great deal. How desperate could Harris actually be that he stayed with such a creature? Foolish question. It was Xander Harris. Just how many women could he possibly have a chance with? Then he looked at his seer, crossing and uncrossing her legs in a none too subtle effort to draw attention to them - though with a skirt as short as the one she was wearing, it was amazing she felt she had to work so hard. No, he was reminded, Harris wasn’t actually as hard-up as reason and logic decreed he should be.

As if Anya still had some vestiges of her demonic power, there was a knock at the door and the sudden stiffening of Spike’s spine told him the commando had arrived. Angel shot Willow a look and she moved to his side, as did Spike. Even Cordelia picked up on his signal and got up, moving to join her cohorts in their corner. Angel wanted there to be no doubt that they were a team, and furthermore, that all its members were under his protection.

The door opened and Riley walked in. Angel almost fell over. The man looked impossibly corn-fed and wholesome. A few seconds appraisal, however, gave him pause. There was something…off. His scent was wrong. He would talk to Spike about it later, but Angel’s nose never lied. The man was human, yes, but there was something more, something chemically unbalanced.

Now was not the time to bring the subject up, that was certain. He locked eyes with the new arrival – two leaders sizing each other up, scanning for weaknesses…and strengths.

“What’s going on, Buffy?” Riley turned to his girlfriend before fixing his eyes once more on Angel and his crew.

“We’re here to help you with your little Frankenstein problem,” Angel said.

“I don’t remember authorizing you to share this with civilians.” Riley glared at Buffy. This one was all soldier, all the time. Remembering what Buffy was like in the bedroom, Angel found it hard to believe she’d changed so much on that level, too. Or hadn’t they gotten there yet?

“She didn’t tell us.”

“I had a vision,” Cordelia piped up. She got points for bravery, if not for smarts.

“Really now?” Riley sounded utterly contemptuous as he looked her over. “Well, no matter what your so-called ‘vision’ was, I never asked for any help.”

“Yeah, well the Powers That Be seem to think you need it anyway,” Cordelia snapped, taking an instant dislike to Buffy’s new beau.

Angel expected a snide retort from Riley, but he seemed to be distracted by something – a certain bleached-blond something standing beside Angel.

“Hostile 17,” he breathed. “Giles, why is there an HST in your house?” He turned back towards the Watcher.

“His name is Spike, actually, and…”

“And he’s not the only vampire in this room,” Angel interposed, allowing the faintest shadow of his true face to flicker for just a moment. “By the way, we have names. It’s more polite to use them than the numbers you Initiative types seem compelled to tag us with.”

“Angel,” Buffy said softly. “It’s not his fault.”

She had a point and Angel actually saw it. He allowed himself to calm. Willow put her hand on his arm in a gesture of support.

Riley, however, wasn’t at all calm and the tension was palpable in the tightness of his arms and the stiffness of his bearing. “None of which answers the basic question of just what the hell a Slayer and her Watcher are doing consorting with hostiles.”

Willow stared, the anger building in her in a way he could feel as she stood beside him. Spike seemed none too comfortable either and it was difficult for Angel to maintain his composure while flanked by two people rapidly losing their cool.

Not surprisingly, Willow was the one to break first. “Hey! You’re not a commander here, buster. So don’t think you can barge in here and tell people who’ve been fighting evil and winning since the tenth grade how to do our jobs.” She marched up to Riley and stuck her finger in his chest. She was adorable when she was angry, but Angel mentally readied himself to fight and kill if need be. “I’ll bet I knew more about demons when I was fifteen than you know now. And if there’s one thing I definitely know, it’s that seeing all demons as bad guys is as idiotic and narrow-minded as it gets.”

“Go, Willow,” Xander breathed softly, his eyes wide with awe, though Angel was pretty sure he was more impressed with the fact of her having just faced down the commando than with the substance of her tirade. Riley, too, was speechless, stunned that a girl he’d obviously pigeonholed as Buffy’s bookworm ex-sidekick had such a courageous and forceful side.

Surprisingly, Buffy, too, was gazing at her friend with admiration. She looked fond and proud and just a bit sad, as if she’d missed out on something important before. It took a measure of the weight off of Angel’s burden of regret, this vision of the good heart Buffy still had inside.

Of course, none of this could last. Time to get back to business. “Willow’s right,” Buffy acknowledged crisply. “You can’t make hard and fast rules. The game changes all the time and you have to go with it. That math you learned? Humans=good and Demons=evil? Not actually the way things add up all the time.”

“Yeah, I mean, the Mayor started out as a human, and look what happened with him,” Xander said.

“Quite,” Giles concurred.

Riley seemed utterly deflated and Angel watched with no small amount of satisfaction as he sank down on the couch. Nevertheless, he was going to have a serious talk with Willow later. She needed to be far more careful and let him take the lead in situations like this.

After a few moments of strained silence, Riley spoke again. “You’re Angel? The guy Willow went to work for? The detective?”

Angel wasn’t actually surprised that Buffy had told him that much. Having once been Buffy’s boyfriend, he knew she was prone to talking about her friends. Nonetheless, he was going to proceed cautiously. He’d answer questions, but he wasn’t going to volunteer anything. “Yes, I am.”

“And you’re a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“You knew he was a vampire?” Riley addressed Willow.

“Yes,” they both answered, but a look from Angel let her know that he was doing the talking now.

“So why…?”

“I’ve known her since Buffy first came to Sunnydale. We’re friends. We’ve been fighting side by side for years. She knows she can trust me.”

“You fight evil?” Riley snorted. “But you’re a vampire.”

“Like I said,” Buffy chimed in. “There are no hard and fast rules. It’s amazing what the good guys are wearing this season.” She graced Angel with a half-smile and he returned it, hoping Willow didn’t misconstrue the gesture.

“And Hostile 17 – Spike – he’s one of the good guys, too?”

“Hey now!” Spike objected. His childe was about to launch into a tirade of his own, but matching glares from Willow and Angel stopped him. Good. “I prefer to think of myself as a soldier of fortune. Right now, the good guys are paying me.” Angel stifled a chuckle.

“I…I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not a Slayer.”

“Or a seer.” Cordelia was heard from again. No one paid any attention.

“You said you’ve known Buffy since she came to Sunnydale.”

Buffy shot him a look, but it wasn’t needed. He wasn’t any more inclined than she was to share their past with her new boyfriend. “I was sent here to help her, yeah.”

“Oh.” Riley didn’t seem to know what else to say.

Buffy sat beside him. “I know this is a lot for you to take in. Especially now. But everyone in this room can be trusted. And you will need all of us to defeat Adam.”

“I…”Riley was gazing at Buffy so helplessly that even Angel was moved for a moment. He supposed he could spare some compassion for someone whose whole world had just been turned upside down, though recalling the chip in Spike’s head and the troubling scent the man gave off made him ratchet back that compassion a few notches.

“Yes, well, not all of us are demons, you know. There are plenty of plain, ordinary humans here. Like me.” Anya was, as ever, both pointless and annoying. At least she hadn’t mentioned sex. Yet.

“An, I think he knows that.” Xander actually sounded exasperated. Was the bloom off the rose? Or were Cordelia’s legs having more of an effect than Angel had previously believed? “Cordelia, maybe you should tell him about the vision.”

“Okay.” Cordelia seemed as surprised as anyone by Xander’s request, but she complied. “I didn’t get a whole lot that was clear, because somebody rudely distracted me.” She glared at Spike, who whistled in an exaggeratedly nonchalant fashion for a few seconds. “But I remember seeing a whole bunch of demons just sitting around this lab.”

“Wait a minute,” Riley interrupted. “There were a group of hostiles all in the same room at the same time? That never happens.”

“Well it does now, or it will, because that’s what I saw.”

“Are you sure?”

“Look, are you the one getting visions from the Powers That Be? No, I don’t think so. I am, and I know what I saw.”

Riley looked confused again by Cordelia’s mention of the PTB, and Buffy put her hand on his knee. Somewhere, wherever it was that he came from, there was a little white church with a pew in it where Riley’s family sat every Sunday. Angel would bet money on that in spite of that off-kilter aspect of Riley’s humanity. This all had to be overwhelming for the man. That was no bad thing, however. He needed to learn that he’d been messing with forces whose true nature he couldn’t begin to comprehend and that it was time for him and his fellow toy soldiers to leave demons and evil to those who understood them.

“Do you think it has something to do with Adam?” Buffy asked, obviously for Riley’s benefit.

“Duh,” Cordelia answered, a stranger to diplomacy, as ever.

“Cor,” Xander chided gently. Much to Angel’s astonishment, Cordelia coloured and looked regretful. She had a bad case of it, that was for sure.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. I just remembered something. I thought it was a demon at first, but when I was looking through Willow’s boring college stuff, there was a picture of a blonde woman and she looked a lot like this weird creature I saw in part of the vision…only, she was kind of Frankenstein-looking in the vision and not so much in the picture, well, except for the fact that she badly needed a facial. I think it was that Professor Walsh…but isn’t she supposed to be dead? If she is, she looks like she died a lot earlier than yesterday. That hair was so 1987.”

Way to keep your priorities straight, Cordelia.

Riley seemed more worn down than ever. Cordelia bringing up Professor Walsh seemed to have saddened him. Angel’s sympathy for the man’s grief was non-existent and his regard now diminished once more. Walsh was a sadist and a monster - a cruel, power-hungry child playing with fire and fancying herself too clever to get burned. Angel was more than happy to leave her ashes on the ground beneath his boots. The thought that she might not actually be completely deceased was not the least bit cheering.

“I need to get back. They’ll expect…I have things I have to do.” Angel got the feeling Riley would have said more had there not been strangers in the room, but he didn’t figure it was anything beyond their powers to reason out once the commando was gone.

“Want me to head back with you?” Buffy asked.

“No. It’s better if I go alone. Besides, I have some thinking to do.” He nodded at the others in the room, probably a sop to the manners he was raised with, and then he departed. Buffy gazed after him even as the door closed behind him, and she frowned worriedly.

“I hope he’s okay,” she said softly.

“More to the point, I’m hoping he doesn’t go running back to his G.I. Joe buddies and tell them all about the fact that he knows where to find Hostile 17 and some of his shiny new demonic pals.” From the mouth of Xander Harris…who would have thought?

“Riley wouldn’t do that.” Buffy seemed adamant, but it was obvious her conviction was shared by no one else in the room.

“No offense, Buff, but where Riley and his pals are concerned, you are batting zero. Up until Walsh tried to kill you, you thought she and her little project were peachy keen. And now you’re telling us that Willow and Cordelia and the blood brothers over there are perfectly safe because good ole Riley would never spill the beans. I think I’m gonna go with skepticism right now. It’s workin’ for me.” Again, Angel was shocked by Xander’s attitude and his willingness to defy Buffy. There was something going on behind that. He almost cared enough to try and find out what it was.

“Xander, I’m sure Buffy’s right about Riley. I mean, he’s her boyfriend and I’m sure she knows him better than we do.” Willow smiled at Xander even as she spoke, though, and Angel could tell she was touched by his concern. It was possible he despised the boy somewhat less than before. After all, he was concerned about Willow’s safety…

And Cordelia’s.

Complications – they were not something he needed to have to deal with right now. So he wouldn’t. Let his wayward seer and her no-longer-teenaged swain work this out on their own.

“Yes, well, whether Riley divulges Spike and Angel’s presence in town or not, I would suggest that they both keep a very low profile. In light of recent events, I will assume that the ‘military presence’, as it were, will be greater than usual and that they will consider themselves on high alert.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He could almost feel the panic radiating from Willow as she spoke. It was agonizing not to be able to hold her right now.

“So, let’s get the facts straight as we know them, okay?” Buffy was in take charge mode and she avoided looking at Xander. “First: Professor Walsh was killed by a scary, evil creature she was building out of demon parts. Second: We know the creature’s name is Adam and that he’s on the loose somewhere in Sunnydale. Third…” Her voice trailed off.

“You have crappy taste in men?” Cordelia couldn’t resist a chance to snipe at Buffy. “What?” she said when confronted by several annoyed looks. “It’s not like any of the rest of us think Riley’s a catch.”

She had a point there, though Angel could see Anya trying to find a way to disagree. Not that he was paying much attention. No, what really concerned him was how little they knew. It made him realize just how important Willow had been to the Sunnydale crew. Had they kept her in the loop, they would undoubtedly know a great deal more.

“Once we get back to the house, I’ll see how my password program is working and if I can get into the Initiative files yet, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan, Will,” Xander answered. “No one works the computer mojo like my best bud.” He walked over and hugged her. It was hard to let that happen. Angel couldn’t help but envy the fact that the boy could touch her at a time when he couldn’t.

“Well, as delightful as all this togetherness is, I say that Red and Peaches and the cheerleader and I head back to chez catalogue and see if she can whip up that computer mojo right away. Seems pretty pointless to make any plans until we actually know anything. And since Buffy and the bimbo have both proven to be no help there…” Spike’s voice trailed off as he waited for a reaction that didn’t come.

Angel stifled his merriment at Spike’s frustration, but he was pleased to see that even Buffy was taking this very seriously. No quips or pop culture references tripped off her tongue. Instead, her brow was furrowed in thought. Giles was already heading for a stack of books, and Xander seemed poised to help him.

“We’ll head back to Willow’s house then. If she finds anything, we’ll call. From now on, I want to meet there. It’s well-situated, it’s easy to see if anyone’s coming, and there are plenty of exits in case we need to escape. No offense, but here we’d be trapped like rats if anyone decided to attack. I brought a cache of weapons which, along with what you have, should be sufficient to arm us if needed and you might want to bring those when we meet next. In the meantime, keep researching any demons you recognized as being part of Adam. We’ll tackle the computer research and I’ll get Wesley to help out at his end.”

He barely gave Willow a chance to get out a cheery “goodbye, guys” before he had his crew out the door and in the car. He wanted to get back to the house. There were things that needed to be done to make it safer and he also needed to discuss the matter of Riley’s abnormal scent with Spike and Willow. Cordelia could do as she pleased so long as it didn’t involve Xander Harris and didn’t create any impediments to the rest of them efficiently getting down to business. They had a monster to defeat and Angel was more convinced than ever that it was his crew who would make that happen.

Tbc…