Armageddon SagaAngel awoke to find himself in an empty bed. He rolled over and stretched. He had
Chapter Seventeen:
Hints Of What’s To Come
By the Lady Sirona ladysirona@LadySirona.com
~ ~ Designates speech in Romanian/Hungarian. *,* designates thought
gotten used to waking up with Buffy snuggled under his arm and he missed her. His body
told him that the sun was near setting, although it was what many would call dusk. He had
always been an early riser, and knew it would benefit him greatly to be seen up and
around during the "day", while they were here.He wandered downstairs and found Buffy in the kitchen table while the women worked at
preparing the evening meal. Angel walked up and kissed Buffy gently on the back of the
neck. She jumped up a bit, and then turned to him with love in her smile and love showing
from her eyes. The Romani women smiled at the two them. It was obvious they loved
each other very much."Oh Angel, how do you feel? I feel awful..." and with that she bolted out the kitchen
door and could be heard vomiting in the bushes outside the kitchen door."Buffy?" Angel was at a loss. She hadn't been sick for over a year. She claimed she
hadn't been sick since becoming the Slayer. He started to walk toward her but the
woman signaled him to sit. She placed a cup of tea and some crackers at Buffy's place
with a big smile. Angel definitely thought the Romani woman knew something he should.Buffy entered the kitchen looking pale and withdrawn and sat down. The woman signed
for her to drink the tea and eat the crackers. Buffy hesitantly nibbled, and found she did
indeed feel better. The woman smiled and nodded. Angel looked at Buffy and then the
woman. He was confused.The big Romani family Clan was in and out of the big house all evening. The Slayer and
the rest just enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the huge group. It was a large tumultuous
family, noisy and active. It was unusual for the Slayers. Ironically, Angel seemed right at
home amid the hustle and the bustle.A small girl came up to Angel as he sat on the couch; she was carrying a children's book.
~ Will you read me a story? ~ She asked him, her voice so hopeful. She looked up into his
eyes with large, hopeful, trusting eyes.Angel looked surprised. ~ Yes, little one, I will ~ She graced him with a large smile and
promptly climbed up into his lap with her book. She snuggled in and handed him the book,
and showed him the story she wanted.Giles and Buffy looked over at Angel and then each other. This certainly wasn't the
behavior they had come to expect from their reluctant and elusive vampire. They
couldn't understand what he was reading, but the obvious delight of the children was a
pleasure to see. Angel was accentuating the story with faces and grimaces and sound
effects causing the children to squeal with delight. Soon he had a child under each arm,
the little girl in his lap and a scattering of children around him at is feet.Buffy watched him interact with the children with a silly grin on her face. "He is good
with children." one of the women commented to her softly. Buffy looked at the gypsy
woman who was watching him with her children. If she only knew..."He's from a big family." Buffy smiled watching him interact with the children. He did so
love children. Maybe when she retires from slaying they could look into having children.
He would make a wonderful father. Modern medicine has ways to deal with sterile men."It is important for a man to understand the importance of family and to love children."
The Gypsy woman walked off, leaving Buffy thinking of things she never dared to think
of before; spending the rest of her life with Angel, children. Buffy knew Angel knew the
importance of family. He had killed his - every one.Buffy just sat at the table sipping tea and watching Angel read to the children. They
adored him. When he finished a story they clamored for another, and he always complied.
They adored his reading and the parents enjoyed the respite from their activities.Finally the matriarch walked in. ~ Bedtime little ones ~ She interrupted before he started
another story. Her announcement was met with ~ Awwww Grandmomma ~ from the
children and a look of relief from Angel.The children started to wander away. The little girl who started him reading remained in
his lap and looked up into Angel's eyes. ~ My Mommy says you are a vampire hunter, is
that true? ~ Angel looked at the little girls sitting so trustingly. He nodded. ~ My name
is Amina. Vampires scare me. You’re not going to let a vampire get me are you? ~ She
smiled at him wistfully.~ No little one. When we leave there will be no more vampires in the catacombs. ~ Angel
told her seriously. She graced him with a blinding smile.~ Can I tell you a secret? ~ She leaned forward and whispered into his ear as he nodded.
~ I've had dreams where I am kidnapped by a mean vampire and Angelus saves me! ~
She looked into Angel's eyes deeply. ~ I see Angelus in my dreams. Your not going to let
that bad vampire hurt me are you? ~ She looked up into his eyes forlornly.~ Not if I can do anything about it ~ Angel told her as he looked straight back at her.
*She knows I'm Angelus! * He thought to himself. She looked at him with large trusting
eyes. ~ Never! ~ He told the little girl with a hint of a growl to his throat, heard only by
her.She smiled ~ Good! ~ Then she kissed him on the cheek, and quickly scampered off to
bed as Angel stared after her in confusion. How did the little girl know he was Angelus
when the adults didn't know? If she did know, why did she trust him?Angel's reverie was broken by Karl's voice "That is Amina. She is the Great Great
Grandchild of Mina- Our healer that was killed by that bastard Angelus, curse his soul.""She had children?" Angel asked. She had seemed so young. But he remembered that
women bore their children early in those days."She had a girl and a boy, both infants. She was pregnant with another. She was the last
of our great healers. Her knowledge died with her." Sighing, the old man followed after
the children.Buffy came up behind him on the couch, having heard the interchange with Karl. She
hugged his shoulders. "Let's hunt?" She purred as she pulled him out of the morass of
his memories. They quickly gathered their supplies and slipped out the door. Only Giles
noticed their departure.Giles had gone to bed this night with the books he brought with him. He was up and
at the table in the dining room with Karl waiting for the dawn for the lethal couple to
return."Hi Giles... Four more vampires down!" Buffy announced as she bounced into the room
with Angel silently following her. Karl stared in shock *FOUR vampires?*"Let's see, ah, that leaves five left to go, ah, doesn’t it?" Giles asked. Buffy nodded
"Yes it does, but they are the strongest ones. I am sure they realize there is a Slayer in
town and will be pulling back to the catacombs and laying low." Angel spoke softly, and
Karl was amazed at the knowledge he had. "Antonia is about 210, Raphael he must be
pushing 170, Dominique is over 200, Jessica his partner is also around 200, Monie the
baby comes in near a century and a half." He looked at Giles with anger. "None of them
are pushovers. We need to pick of two or three more before we brave the catacombs or
we will be sitting ducks." Angel took Buffy's hand and led her toward the bedroom; she
followed him with no disagreement.They arrived in their room to find warm tea and crackers on the table next to the bed for
Buffy. Buffy looked down at a large bowel next to the bed. Angel looked at it and
laughed. "I guess they don't want a puking Slayer. How do you feel now?""I feel all right, I just feel really tired." Buffy quickly stripped and lay down on the bed
glancing at Angel. "Can we just snuggle? I am exhausted." He smiled and nodded. He
stripped and slid into bed next to her. She was asleep in his arms before he even got
comfortable, she really was exhausted. What happened to his usually energetic Slayer?
Was she sick from travel? Did something in the damn gypsy food not agree with her?He laid in the dark thinking of the children. God he loved children... but they were far
beyond him now. How would you explain to a child "Dad" can't go out in the sunlight, or
never ages? He shook his head sadly. He would never be a father again; he didn't
deserve the right, not after what he did to his own children. He was an inhuman demonic
monster that drank blood to continue to survive. He wasn't the perfect idea of a father.But Buffy deserved the right to find a normal man who could give her these things. A man
who could father children, walk in the sun and raise them. Maybe if he died in the
upcoming battle, and they won, she would be free to find such a man. He would never
leave her, but if he died in battle she would mourn him and move on to her own future
where a demon vampire didn't occupy her life. Angel fell asleep with dark and depressive
thoughts about the future.