The Contentment Series:
Finished Business
by Consuella T.

Angel's kiss grew more heated. They were deep in the stacks and so involved in what they were doing, Buffy knocked down a couple of books off the shelf. They hadn't noticed much until Giles asked, "Is everything okay up there?"

They stopped immediately both embarrassed. Angel picked up the books. "Everything is fine. Buffy was being clumsy again."

Buffy glared at Angel and then smiled. "Thanks a lot." He put the last book on the shelf and then came over to her. "That was close out there," she whispered to him softly.

They kissed once more as he wrapped his arms around Buffy's tiny waist. "I know."

"You could have backed me up out there you know," Buffy said a little annoyed at the situation.

"I'm not good at being put on the spot. I didn't know what to say and if I said something then I'm sure I would have told. If I was the old me, when I was human the first time, I could have lied with a straight face about something secret, but not anymore. It's hard keeping secrets."

Buffy sighed. "I know."

The secret was that Buffy was almost a month and a half pregnant and married to Angel. They had decided to keep quiet for awhile about it. Only Vicky and Steve knew they were married. They didn't know about the baby that lay in Buffy's womb. They figured the recent Soul Loss of Angel Issue would be too fresh for everyone. Not everyone. A certain member in the Scooby Gang. Giles would totally freak out. Not to mention that they had been married since before he ever lost his soul. That, and the fact that if the vamps found out, they would be crucified for sure. No one knew that Angel was immortal and not a vampire. Then there was the Watcher's Council and the Romani who would not look upon this kindly, as they didn't feel Angel redeemed himself in their eyes. It would just not be a good idea to tell anyone at this point.

"Do you know that I'll never stop loving you?" Angel said to her, his eyes almost misty.

The Slayer smiled teasingly. "Sure. That's what they all say about new love. And then after ten years when the excitement fades, we're ready to move on to the next thing," she said jokingly. But Angel wasn't laughing.

"I could never stop loving you, even if I wanted to. You've brought me happiness since the day I met you. . .Buffy if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had this second chance, not even the slightest glance from anyone. You made me love you. God gave me you as a second chance. I have to thank Him for it."

Buffy smiled at him, her eyes sparkling. "Nice pick up line babe. Major points for mushiness. Now kiss me." He smiled at her and obeyed.

"You know," Angel said pulling away, "I don't think Giles would appreciate us making out on your duty."

Buffy shrugged. "What Giles doesn't know couldn't possibly hurt him. Besides, Giles wouldn't know any thing about our late night smoochies. He's the kind that doesn't get this stuff." Angel looked at her doubtfully. As they reached in for another peck, Giles called

up."I do hope you're actually watching up there. Its a little quiet for your own good. This is not a date, this is a job." The two lovers looked at each other and smiled.

Meanwhile, another couple was walking down the hall. Steven stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air loudly. Vicky rolled her eyes and turned around.

"It's been two hundred and twenty years almost and I still hate when you do that. It's annoying."

"My sniffing annoys you?" he teased.

"You know what I mean. It's annoying the way you sniff. It's totally childish. You act like you've got snot up your nose," she said turning back around so he couldn't see her smiling.

He walked up to her and put her arm around her absentmindedly. "Oh, who's being the childish one now?" She pretended to unlock his grasp on her but, he held her firmly. "Not until I get a kiss for your being crude."

"No, then that would mean that I would have to apologize and I am not apologizing for anything in the world. I'm right and you're wrong. It's simple as that."

"Vicky," he said testily.

"Okay okay. If it means kissing you then it won't be that bad." She brought his face close to hers. Her lips almost touching his, she commented. "This could get intense. And now isn't a good time." He smiled at her and touched her hair. He let his hand go down to her upper back and then lower until it nearly touched her bottom.

She got chills up her spine every time he did that to her. She fell in love with him all over again. The same with him as she brought her hand up to his face and traced the outline of it. Her touch was soft and silky like satin sheets. He kissed her tenderly letting his hands travel back up to her waist. The kiss grew more heated and they broke away for fear that they might sneak out of school that night and go home.

She whined a little. "Later," he promised. Their lips touched once more and then broke apart as they continued to walk down the hall holding each other's hand. After a minute of gaining her composure, she thought back to her brother and the current Slayer's weirdness in the library.

"Honey, I think that Buffy and Angel are hiding something from the rest of us. Weren't they acting strange to you in the library?" she said turning her senses toward the basement. She opened the door and strained her ears to see if she could hear anything. Nothing. She shut the door.

Steven was checking out the closet door. "Yeah. Something is definitely up between the two of them. Whatever it is they're hiding, I'm sure it'll come out when they're ready." He shut the door and turned back around to face his wife. Her eyes went up in a sudden notion as if she had just gotten the best idea in the world.

She moved from her perch against the basement door and moved closer to her better half. "Steven. I know what it is! I think that they are going to be proud new members of the parenting game. I mean think about it. Why else would they be acting so strangely?"

He pretended to knock on her head. "Um. . .hello? They're immortal honey they can't have children remember?" She looked at him dumbfounded and then knocked on his head in return.

"Um. . .Hello? We're immortal honey but we have a child remember? Two of them to be exact. Ranalda said our case was special. Way back when. This is now and Buffy and Angel's relationship have a bond like no one ever had before. We didn't have the set backs they had. They were Slayer and Vampire, a couple that never was and was never supposed to be. It was forbidden. By nature they were supposed to have a natural hate between them. Instead, they found each other and fell in deep love, breaking all the rules. Their love is immortal. It can never be broken and even the cruelest of fates and mystical beings can't destroy that. They've tried and it didn't work."

Steven took in what his wife had just said to him and sighed. "Okay, so it's definitely possible, but, we aren't sure."

Vicky folded her arms across her chest. "Please! Why has Angel taken over her slaying secretly then? And why is Buffy acting sick a lot lately? It's called morning sickness for a reason and Buffy has plenty of it. Oh!. . .this could mean so much! I'm so happy for Angel. He's going to be a father! I'm going to be an aunt!"

She started walking again. Steven grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. He looked her sternly in the eye. "Victoria, we are not going to butt in. We'll wait. There is an obvious reason why they haven't told anyone if this is true and we both know why without even going there. When they want to tell us they will."

She looked him in the eyes and smiled innocently. "Victoria, I mean it. Don't."

She nodded. "The 'be a good wife and listen to what I say' days are over love, and if you noticed back then I didn't listen to you much anyway," she said smiling sweetly. He let go of her arm.

"So I recall. But I'm telling you this means no special brother/sister eye contact and no hinting and giving them goofy and funny looks." She nodded once again. "Good."

"Good," she echoed smiling to her self. They turned the corner both eyeing each other suspiciously. "You know," Vicky said devilishly, "when we have a heated argument like this and the tension is thick, we have a really extra, extra, extraordinary time in the bed."

Steven smiled. "That's why I say the more, the better."

After awhile the gang pulled back into the library. The first ones to reach the doors were Willow and Oz who were having quite a discussion of how many licks it really took to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop. Next, Vicky and Steven who were shooting sparks between each other like crazy and sending special glances across the table, much like Buffy and Angel as they came down the stairs.

Cordelia and Xander walked in fighting over apparently what seemed to be another one of Cordelia's complaints on Xander's habits. "Well, then maybe you should try getting a life. That could boost your popularity points," Cordelia sad sarcastically.

"Well, why don't you try getting out of this one that I have now so I can rid my self from old lifetime memories and then, I can start searching for a new one. I don't know about popularity points but my self-esteem level will go up a notch higher," he retorted. She sucked her teeth and then stomped her way to a seat.

Giles came out of the office. "I take it no one was attacked yes? That's a good thing."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Giles they're going to come. I know they are. I just don't know when."

Cordelia looked at the clock and rolled her eyes. "And you know what? I can't be here in any longer. Its been two hours, and if they were gonna show, they would have come. I have to go. I've already missed my massage therapist."

Buffy perched herself on top of the table. "Cordy's right. They would have been here. They probably wanted us to come here and wait for them to make us too tired to focus for when they really come."

"Or, they might want us to think that that they won't come tonight, and wait for us to leave Giles here alone so they can capture him and use him as bait, but they really will be here," Xander pointed out.

"Or they could be tricking us into thinking that they are coming tonight because they want us to second guess them when they are coming tomorrow. Tricking us into thinking that we know they are trying to trick us so they'll trick us again by actually coming at a time when we least expect it," Buffy went on.

The eight people looked at them as if they were crazy. Angel got up and read the note to himself once more. "Whenever they come, they have to come when we're here, that was the whole purpose of the note. To let us know that they're looking for a fight."

Vicky pulled up a chair. "Yeah, but they knew that as soon as they killed someone, Buffy would rush down here. We all would. He banked on Giles calling and having everyone meet at the library. I mean lets face it, whenever trouble happens you guys just naturally are drawn here. That's how the connection started between all of you and us really."

Angel put the note down carefully and made his way to the center of the room. "Spike used his brain after all." Buffy saw his face and saw what was in it. He was bothered by something. Holding it in was something he was good at, but his wife new him to well when he finally locked eyes with her. No need to question him now. It could be done later.

"So what you're saying is its sort of like black mail," Willow wanted to know.

Steven nodded and sat down as well. "Spike knew that Buffy, naturally, as the Slayer, would come down here and find out what happened. Naturally she would stay and guard the place to make sure that no one else got hurt."

"He's playing serious games with me. Now is not the time to be starting something that there is no way he can finish." Buffy clutched rubbed her stomach lightly and looked at Angel who smiled slightly.

The Watcher took a sip of the tea that was laying on the table. "He said something about secrets."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that," Vicky said. "It was directed towards Buffy. He said knew about your little secrets. Any of them you wanna share with us?" she asked innocently. Steven kicked her foot under the table causing her to yelp.

*That was my foot honey*, she said to him telepathically.

*I know buttercup. I was just making sure that it was awake. You know what happens when it falls asleep.* Steven looked at her firmly refusing to blink.

Buffy shook her head. "No secrets of the importance anyway. Maybe he just meant that he knew we were immortal now. He's gotta know that you all did not go gentle into the night obviously, from his last visit. Maybe that's what it is."

Vicky looked at her brother and then at Buffy. Darn! They weren't giving away anything. "Well, you know your secrets better than we do. Whatever it is he must not be to happy about. Look at the way he emphasized baby. What could that mean?" She choose to ignore the look her husband was giving her at that point and got up before he could do anything.

Willow saved Buffy without even knowing. "Spike is over dramatic. That'll probably never change. He just likes to make himself known. That's probably it."

"What if they come in the day time?"

Heads turned to Oz as he had spoken for the first time since they got back. "I mean that's when we wouldn't expect them."

Buffy didn't buy it. "They'll come here at daytime? We won't expect them yeah, but classes?"

"Have we forgotten that the schools are closed tomorrow?" Xander showed them.

"Fine then. Then we'll come back early in the morning. Gotta love Sunnydale. Where every vacation is just another work day." Buffy got up with Angel close behind her. "We'll be ready for them."

Xander shook. "Sounds so Star Trek final, except it never really is final."

Vicky nodded. "They'll come here thinking that we're won't be ready, and when they attack. . ."

"We'll be ready to strike back," Willow finished for her.

All heads turned to Giles. He looked back and forth. From Buffy to Angel. Vicky to Steven, and so on. He nodded. 'I sup-suppose that t-t, well it sound fine."

The gang got up, as always, talking, complaining, and yelling at each other. They said bye to Giles and left as noisily as they came.

"So wanna spring for the Quadra-date?" Xander asked as he took Cordelia's arm.

Buffy remembered the look on Angel's face and knew that tonight was a night that was going to be spent indoors. She looked at him now and he seemed rather distant. "Not tonight. The mood for a qaudie has now passed into the Dead Sea of what could have been."

He shrugged and saw that everyone agreed. He looked at Cordy and smiled. "Wanna go to our special place?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "You know they lock the East Hall closet at night. That's where all the good cleaning supplies are.

"Xander reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "That's why I stole the key and had a copy made."

Cordelia stared at him with disbelief. "You are shameless. Let's go." The two couples went their separate ways.

Vicky and Steve pushed through the doors. "Wanna go make out in the back of the car like teenagers?"

Vicky took this as a peace offering and smiled. "We are teenagers Steve."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "No one has to know that." The girl laughed at this and quickened the pace.

Willow and Oz were the last to file out. "Wanna rent a movie?" Willow asked her boyfriend.

He looked at her and smiled. "I'm free."

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