To Save A Vampire

Chapter Three

Buffy looked back at the three remaining Scoobies, who were arguing over what stanza two meant, as she quietly slipped out the double doors. Using her Slayer's skills and senses she easily avoided Snyder and any other people still in the building. They weren't her prey tonight anyway; she was hunting something young, a thief who was trying to steal what was hers.

After scanning and roaming the halls for the better part of an hour and only finding traces of him, she was getting very frustrated. That was, until she finally found him in the courtyard, pacing back and forth and mumbling something under his breath that even her slayer hearing couldn't pick up. Not that it matters, she thought, I'm here to make him listen, not to listen to his mad ramblings.

She watched him for a few minutes as he paced agitatedly, before walking up behind him. He must have heard her because he turned towards her and that's when she decided to hit him with her fist. She really just wanted to warn him off, but once she had hit him and he flew back about ten feet it was a whole new ball game.

Bending down, she slapped Xander across the face a couple of times, "Wakey wakey, don't want you miss out on the good part of the threat now, do we?"

Groggily, he came around and peered up at her. "Buffy, what the fuck is your problem? Why did you hit me?"

"Just giving you a taste of what will happen if you think you can take Angel away from me. Angel belongs to me in everyway possible, in bed and out. Do we have an understanding, Mister?"

At this Xander started to laugh. "Oh Gods above, save us! You really don't know what Cupid's dance is, do you?"

"It's just some type of ritualistic dance you need to do every once in awhile. I can live with that," Buffy replied, confused.

"Buffy, Cupid is a love god. So Cupid's dance is making love or having sex, lots of sex. This must happen or the bond won't work, and we will both or all will die at the end. Now do you get the prophecy? When Angel marries my ass, he gets my ass."

As Xander explained all of this to her Buffy's face turned pale white, then pink, then red, and then finally to a pissed off reddish purple. She got up, and with a furious look behind her, stormed off to the library to confirm these new revelations.


Meanwhile, the three Scoobies had settled the arguments and were doing their assigned tasks when the double doors slammed open forcefully enough to take one off its hinges.

"Good God, Buffy! What is the meaning of barging in like that? And look, you have damaged one of the doors! How am I to explain that to Snyder again?" groused Giles.

"Stuff it Giles, we'll talk about your damn door later. Right now I want to talk about stanza seven, row four, ’Cupid's dance’. I was just informed that means having sex, and lots of it between you three. Is this true?"

"Actually, well…"

"Yes or no, gentlemen? Not a tough question.”

"Yes," they both said at the same time.

"Why didn't you tell me about this, Angel? Didn't you think that, as your girlfriend, I have the right to know that you will be cheating on me, not only with Xander but with Spike as well?"

"Buffy, after the ceremony there will never be a ’you and me’ ever again. It will only be Xander and I, and then Xander, Spike, and me. I'm sorry, but there is no you in the picture, and there won't be," Angel told her bluntly. He wanted to get the facts on the table as soon as possible, so as not to give her any false hopes.

Gasping at what she perceived as deliberate cruelty of his words, she turned and ran down the hallway, crying. As she passed Xander, she stopped and spat, "You haven't won yet. I will keep you two apart if it's the last thing I do." She then continued running down the hallway while Xander continued on to the library.

Upon seeing what was left of the door, he just shook his head, "I take it Buffy didn't take the news well?"

"Ahhh, you can say no to that," Willow said as she looked up from here computer screen. "Oh, OH…. Angel, Giles…. I found it!! I found IT!!! A keg of wine made from the first pressing of the autumn in 1764. There are only five left in the world and none of the kegs have been breached, so the condition of the wine is unknown. That means you could be buying wine vinegar for all you know. The five kegs belong to different dealers and families throughout Europe, but only two are up for sale right now."

"One at 'Desidulf Fine Wines', Oh My God…"

"What is wrong, Willow?"

"They’re asking price is 250,000 Marks… roughly 750,000 American dollars."

Xander flopped down into a chair but missed, Giles rubbed his glasses but popped out the lens, and Willow just stared in shock at the screen. Angel looked around at them like they were a bunch of idiots.

"Surely the Council has set you guys up with an account for emergencies like this, right?"

"Angel, a fact of life; I have to downplay what Willow and Xander do so that we get to keep them, otherwise a Council hit team would take them out. A fact of life: the only money we have is what the Council pays me and my salary from the school. That is it. A fact of life; we have saved the world several times on a shoe string budget and bubble gum."

Seeing the shocked looked on the vampire's face, Xander and Willow nodded their heads in agreement, Xander even going as far as getting the supply of emergency gum from the weapons cage to show him.

With a grim look on his face, Angel marched over and gently removed Willow from in front of the computer and went on-line. After thirty minutes he had the wine, for 1/3 of the price and had arranged to have it delivered by sundown the following day.

Watching the vampire work on the computer shocked the three Scoobies. None of them thought he had the skill, let alone the ability, to haggle via the internet, and there he was, transferring money, setting up shipping dates, and everything.

Shaking his head, Xander realized he had a lot of things to learn about his future husband, and a lot to forget if he was going to make this work out. Most of all, he was going to have to overcome his father's programming, which was making his skin crawl as he thought of Angel that way.

He knew he would have to talk to Angel about this and soon. He would need Angel's help to over come it, and maybe a talk or two with Giles; but over come it he would. He had to.