PART 7

"Emma… who's there?" Prue asked coming into the hallway. She saw a peroxide blonde guy talking to her niece and was curious as to who he was… after all he was kind of cute.

"Emma… that's not as bad as Fluffy" Spike commented. "Hello beautiful" he said to Prue, "Wanna invite me in?"

Before Prue could do it, Emma replied, "I am *so* not inviting you in… we *so* don't need another vampire on our team."

"And after we were engaged" Spike put on a hurt puppy dogface. "I hope you treat Peaches better than this… although if I remember correctly, he likes being whipped."

"Eww" Emma said. Seeing that he wasn't going to go away she asked, "Why are you even here?"

"The battle… I figured that Peaches could use some help" as he spoke, Spike leered at Emma, "With everything."

Emma wished that she could stake Spike, but she also had a feeling that this time they might actually need his help. "Okay… you can come in, but no funny stuff" Emma told him.

Spike strolled past Emma with a smile on his face and said, "Jeez, were you this big of a bitch when we were engaged?"

Emma slapped Spike across the back of the head and told him, "One that was Buffy… *not* me and two it was totally only because of Willow's stupid spell. If you even think for one minute that I ever found *you* attractive, you're as nuts as Dru."

"Testy aren't we?" Spike muttered strolling into the manor's living room.

Prue came up to her niece and asked, "Engaged to him?"

"Hey… it was totally Willow's fault" Emma told her aunt. Then she added, "I can't believe that he showed up… eww."

"Actually, he's kind of cute," Prue said, "… for an evil bloodsucking vampire."

Emma watched her aunt head off in Spike's direction and made a quick decision. "I'm going to patrol," she yelled and left the manor before anyone could object. She just didn't want to spend the whole night listening to Spike tell the 'I was once engaged to Fluffy' story.

Angel was lying on the bed in his hotel room thinking about Emma, wondering what she was doing and also if she was thinking about him. She was consuming his thoughts; he hadn't felt this out of control since Buffy, which made sense because in a way she was actually part Buffy… all he really knew was that somehow he was in love with her.

He felt guilty about that, not only was he sort of betraying Buffy's memory, but also because if Emma chose a life with him she'd get none of the things she deserved… sunlight, children and a man who would grow old with her.

Maybe it would be better if she picked that whiny, snot-nosed punk Andy after all… he could give her all those things and he even knew about the whole slaying-witch-white lighter-thing she had going. He could just settle for being her friend… Who was he actually trying to kid, if she picked Andy, he was going to rip the boy to shreds and then make her see sense, that he was the only one for her. He rolled over and reached for the phone debating whether or not he should call her. He was just about to dial when there was a knock on his door, figuring that it was just Dawn or one of the other Scoobies he called, "Come in."

Emma didn't know how she'd actually gotten there, before she even realised it she was standing in front of Angel's hotel room door. She knew that she should turn around, visiting him here… with the clause and all… was just asking for trouble. Next thing she knew she was knocking and a voice said, "Come in." Taking up the invitation, she walked inside. She saw Angel lying on his bed, telephone in hand staring at her in shock.

"Hi" she whispered nervously.

"Hi" he said back. He put the phone down and explained, "I was just going to call you."

"You should've… you could've talked to Spike. He showed up about an hour ago" Emma told him.

"Spike?" Angel said, "Is he still telling those bogus engagement stories about Buffy and him?"

"Uh, Angel… umm… they're not exactly fake" Emma replied.

"WHAT?"

"Willow cast a spell to have her will done after Oz left. Well… she thought it hadn't worked and then suddenly Buff… I was engaged to Spike, Giles was blind and every demon in Sunnydale was after Xander" Emma told him, "So technically the stories aren't fake."

Angel shook his head, "I can't believe that no one told me that."

"Well, it's not like your *so* forth coming at telling people stuff" Emma said.

"Like what?" Angel asked her.

Emma took a seat on Angel's bed, "Thanksgiving."

{Oh God, she knows} he thought, {Stop being paranoid. She can't know}. "What about it?" he asked trying to keep a neutral face.

Emma looked him straight in the eye, "I remember."

Angel started to panic. "Remember what?" he asked playing dumb.

"Morah demon, Santa Monica pier, the kitchen table and you making another Buffy-life-altering decision" Emma told him.

Angel was shocked, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how she knew. "How?" he asked her cautiously.

"They gave me back all of Buffy's memories, Angel. Not a brief overview, all of them… even the ones that she didn't remember" Emma explained.

"Why aren't you trying to stake me then?"

"Because you've already had twenty years punishment. You've had to live with the memories of that day all by yourself, not able to share them with anyone, because that day never happened for them" she told him.

"At least hit me… or something… this just doesn't feel normal" Angel told her.

"Angel… we're not normal," she whispered back.

While they had been talking they had moved from opposite ends of the bed to the middle, right next to each other. Angel looked into her eyes and then kissed her. She was perfect and with this kiss she seemed to be saying she was his, but he had to be sure.

Angel broke the kiss and said, "We can't…"

"The clause. I almost forgot" Emma said starting to get up.

Angel grabbed her arm; "The clause is gone. I was talking about Andy and you…"

"Since I picked you, I really don't see…" Emma never got to finish; Angel pulled her down to him and kissed her again.

"You really picked me… I don't think I believe it," he said finally.

"Well, it felt like you believed it" Emma replied breathless.

Angel looked at the young woman in his lap, "Are you sure you want me?"

"I'm totally into brooders," she said kissing him again.

Angel continued kissing her and as his hand began to creep underneath her top, he stopped. "Em… are you sure?" he asked not wanting to pressure her into anything.

"I've never been surer," she told him.

"More sure" he corrected her.

Emma laughed. "Whatever" she said pulling him to her for another kiss.

For the next few hours the only talking that occurred was a faint whisper between the lovers and they became one once again.

Emma was disorientated when she awoke a little while later, she didn't know where she was just that it wasn't her own bedroom and it was when she rolled over and bumped into a solid mass that the nights events came back to her. She looked up and found Angel was already awake and staring at her, "Hi."

"Hi yourself" he replied, "How are you feeling?" He was paranoid that he'd hurt her or something earlier.

"Terrific" she told him. Emma stretched her tired muscles and asked, "What time is it?"

"Four" Angel answered, "Why?"

"Because if I don't come home my dad will come looking for me," Emma said trying to get up.

"And how will he know where you are?" Angel asked pulling her back into the bed. He didn't want her to go it was probably the last chance they'd have together before the battle.

"I guess I could call and say I'm crashing at Chris'" Emma told him.

"Good idea" Angel said kissing her. A moment later he stopped and asked, "Who's Chris?"

"You can stop panicking, Chris is short for Christine" Emma replied giggling. She thought it was cute how Angel got all jealous and protective.

"I wasn't panicked" Angel denied. He couldn't believe how easily he'd fallen back into the whole 'stay away from my girl' thing.

"Sure you wer…" Emma began, but Angel silenced her with a kiss and silenced reigned once more.

Meanwhile at the manor everyone else had arrived and Leo was having a panic attack over Emma's whereabouts. "I knew we shouldn't have let her patrol last night" Leo kept telling Piper, as he paced the living room. Piper, who had her own suspicions about her daughter's whereabouts, kept quiet.

However Spike who wanted to cause some trouble said, "Anyone check with Peaches? She's probably shagging the great poof right now."

Leo stilled at Spike's suggestion… hadn't the powers told him the exact same thing, that the warriors would most probably consummate their relationship before the battle. He hoped that was true compared to the alternative… that his baby girl was lying dead in a graveyard somewhere, possibly killed by that demon again. If he had to choose between his daughter with Angel and his daughter dead, he was going to pick the vampire.

"Don't be ridiculous… she's probably with one of her friends" Leo told the meddling vampire. He'd had the urge to stake Spike since he'd arrived and then when he began telling those disgusting engagement stories…

"Hey maybe she's shagging some random guy she picked up in a bar?" Spike suggested. He really hated Leo; he was a bigger poof than Peaches.

Prue looked at Spike; "You are an evil little man." After she'd spent the entire evening with him last night, she was wondering why she'd ever thought he was attractive, he had a big mouth and never shut it.

"Actually I'm an evil vampire… I have a chip, not a poofy soul."

Cole on the other hand liked Spike, he reminded him of the old days when he was evil. "He does have a point… if Em thinks she's going to die… maybe she did something crazy" Cole suggested.

"Like shag Peaches" Spike added.

Willow had, had it with Spike. "You're just jealous because you're in love with her and she wants Angel still" Willow told him.

Andy walked in at that moment, "Who is he and why is in love with my girlfriend? It's bad enough I have to compete with that Angel-thing."

"Since she's missing" Spike added, "I think that means she chose the poof." He was desperate to get the conversation away from his feelings for Buffy and this boy was the perfect opportunity. He also vowed never again to get drunk in front of the redheaded witch again; she was a giant blabbermouth.

A better one walked through the door a minute later, "Hey guys."

"Emma Victoria Wyatt… where have you been?" Leo demanded.