All Wet - The Happy Ending

They clung desperately to each other, waiting in pained, anxious solitude for the horror to begin. Eventually, Buffy began to shift in his arms.

"Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"How...how long did it take, the last time?"

He thought about it for a moment. "About a half hour from, uh, well, from..."

She looked up at him. "It’s been more than a half hour."

"Maybe it takes longer the second time. I don’t know."

At that moment, a tiny thread of hope flared in Buffy’s heart, but she fought to keep it from creeping into her eyes. Instead, she snuggled against him, and despite the sword hanging over their heads, they fell into a deep, quiet slumber.

*****

Nearly two hours later, Buffy jerked awake.

Angel was sleeping peacefully beneath her, looking though he hadn’t moved an inch since they had started their nap. He was always a heavy sleeper, but the loss of his soul, she imagined, would have woken him up. It had the last time. So if he was still asleep...could it be? Was it possible?

"Angel?" she asked, running a hand up his chest. "Angel, wake up."

"Huh," he murmured, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes. "What’s wrong?"

"Are you all right?"

"I’m fi—oh my God," he said, reality returning quickly. "Are you...? Why am I...?"

"You’re still you, Angel."

"I shouldn’t be. I should be him."

"But you’re not," she whispered, tears reappearing in her eyes. "You stayed." She brushed trembling fingers across his lips. He kissed them, staring at her beautiful face.

The sound of feet pounding down the stairs interrupted them. A door flew open, and a small man skidded into the basement, his breath coming in heaving gasps. "Angel, I..." he blurted before he caught sight of the couple on the bed.

"Doyle, what the HELL are you doing?" Cordelia yelled as she stamped down the stairs after him. "You come running in like a madman, and then—OH MY GOD." She laid her hand on Doyle’s arm. "We have to get out of here NOW," she said, her eyes focused on the couple in bed. "Any minute now, Angel’s going to go postal, and if we’re here, it will only distract her."

Before either Buffy or Angel could fill them in on the situation, Doyle shook his head, then winced at the sudden movement. "No, that’s no’ the way it’s goin’ t’go this time." He grinned. "For once, I’m glad I had a blindin’ migraine."

Cordelia tugged at him. "Doyle, come on!"

He laid his hand on top of hers. "No, darlin’, things are goin’ t’be okay.

His soul’s intact. I saw it."

At his words, Buffy’s body jerked upwards. "Intact," she whispered, her hand covering her mouth. "As in, permanent?"

"As in, you two can get as fleshy as you want wi’ each other, and it won’t matter a bit."

Angel sat up as well and stared at Doyle. "You saw this just now?" he demanded.

"Aye. You know I see things, and then I just know things, like they were spoken in my head. And I saw you and the lovely blonde Slayer there ...uh...well, havin’ a bit of sex. And then I just knew it would be okay."

Cordelia’s death grip on his arm relaxed, and she heaved out a breath. "Well, thank God! I didn’t want to be out of a job." Her beaming smile belied the words, showing how happy she truly was for her friends. "We’ll be going now," she added.

"It’s been a while...maybe Angel needs some help. What d’you say, man?"

Doyle’s eyes twinkled wickedly; he couldn’t resist the urge to needle Angel.

Still shell-shocked, Buffy muttered, "If he had any help, I’d be dead." Then, realizing what she had said, the Slayer blushed, hiding her face in Angel’s chest.

Doyle snorted, but before he could reply, Cordelia towed him to the stairway. "Up! Now!" she demanded.

Licking his lips, he replied, "That’s never a problem around you, darlin’."

Cordelia’s outraged shriek was muffled by the slamming of the door.

"Are they always like that?" Buffy said into Angel’s chest.

"No."

"Thank God."

"Usually, they’re worse."

"That’s terrifying."

"Tell me about it," he sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Angel?"

"Hmm?"

"Your soul’s permanent."

"It would appear so."

"Then why are we talking about Cordelia and Doyle?" She tilted her head back to look at him.

A small smirk crossed his lips. "Hell if I know."

And then his hands were framing her face as her arms wrapped around him. Their mouths met and clung together sweetly as Angel eased them back down to the mattress.

"I love you," she murmured, breaking the kiss slightly. "And I won’t let you leave me again. I’ll follow you around all the time, until you give in."

He silenced her with another kiss, then said, "I gave in a long time ago. Walking away the first time used all the willpower I had. You couldn’t get rid of me now if you tried."

The Slayer grinned at her beloved. "Good. Now, what was that about ‘getting fleshy’...?"

The End