The Angelus and Methos
Christmas Special
Fandom : Angel/Highlander xover
Pairings : Angelus/Methos
Characters : Angelus, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Methos
Date : December 30, 2000
Rating : R
Warnings : Implied Slash, some violence
Disclaimers : They aren't mine. I can wish. Angelus
and crew belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Methos lets R:P/D think that they own him.
Author's Notes : I would like to thank both Killaria
and Theresa for betaing. They did an amazing job and
all remaining mistakes are my own. *...* around a
sentence denotes thoughts. *...* around a word
denotes emphasis. THERE IS NO CHARACTER DEATH! Please
remember this as you read, no matter how things may
seem at the time.
The Angelus and Methos Christmas Special
=====================================
"Is it just me, or has Angel been acting a
little strange lately?"
"Strange? What do you mean exactly?" Wesley
replied. Cordelia was up to something, he knew that
already. The slightly over dramatized concern was
obvious in her voice. Not that her concern wasn't
real, it probably was, but he knew with clear and
utter certainty - the kind that assured you that a
family member who doesn't really like you that much
is going to send you the fruitcake that you gave them
last year as a gift type of certainty - that she was
going to wheedle and coax him into doing something
for her. *Bloody hell, it's the day before Christmas.
I *might* have plans,* he thought.
"He's been acting dark, broody, you
know..."
"Since when is that unusual?"
"Well, broodier then normal. *And* then there's
the strange hours he's been keeping."
"Strange? He's a vampire. Strange hours are what
they do."
"Do I get a sense that you have no concern
whatsoever about what could happen to him?" She
smiled and Wesley knew that she was about to play her
trump card. "I will say two words: Paid
vacation. He actually offered us paid vacation! Not
that I mind, but he seemed in such a hurry to get rid
of us. Right now he could be suiciding on some demon
that he's decided to fight all by himself and we'd
never know."
"Wouldn't you have had a vision about something
like that?" Wesley responded dissmissively. He
assumed that the Powers That Be would let Cordelia
know if their Champion was in any danger. It only
made sense, after all. Then again, do the Powers ever
really make much sense? "I thought he was being
a nice guy by letting us off for a few days until we
were needed."
"Maybe he wouldn't tell us that we were needed
until it was too late. Right now he's probably
sitting in that hotel alone, feeling unloved. It's
Christmas and he hasn't got a soul in the world that
cares enough to visit him. No family, since he killed
them all, and no friends really. While he may be a
nice guy, since when does he have the money to pay
for us to take time off?"
Wesley shook his head. There was no stopping Cordelia
when she got an idea in her head. "What do you
want me to do?" he asked in a resigned tone.
"I knew you'd see things my way. I thought we'd
go and cheer him up; get some Christmas-like things,
decorate the lobby, sing carols, do generally cheery
stuff and make sure he has no thoughts about placing
himself in the way of certain death."
*It might be our certain deaths,* Wesley thought to
himself tiredly. "And?" he asked, knowing
there had to be something more.
"Well, we kinda need the Christmas supplies to
do the decorating. So you're going to come with me
and we'll go and buy some somewhere and..."
"Why do you need me?"
"Um, I need a man's opinion. I supposed that you
would qualify in a pinch. If I'm wrong - well, we
don't need to go into that."
"I know you're not doing this just for the
pleasure of my company or my opinion. You don't have
much cash do you? Your just going to drag me along to
foot the bill! There is no way I'm doing this so you
can spare your wallet!"
"I have some. Enough to split the bill,
especially with the last minute bargains." She
glared at him, then stared at her feet. "Fine,
the real reason that I need you to go with me is that
I don't know what to get Angel as a present. I could
really use your advice." The next look she sent
could have shattered glass. "The only present
that comes to mind for him is a paint set."
Wesley choked. Cordelia ignored him. He coughed
several times trying to regain his composure.
Realizing that he could drop dead and no help from
Cordelia would be forthcoming, he looked at her in
disgust. "Yes, um, I'm fine," he assured
her, somewhat sarcastically.
"So, are we going already?" Cordelia
replied nonchalantly. What did she care if Wesley
choked to death? As long as he got himself to the
mall - dead, alive - it was all the same to her.
***
Angelus looked down at the sleeping form lying in his
bed, mimicking the perfection of a marble statue.
*Someone is a bit worn out,* he thought with a grin.
Still, there was much to be said for immortal
stamina, even if it couldn't outlast a vampire.
He stood, stretched and walked to the shower. So far
he'd had a week of soulless bliss and no one was the
wiser. For a few days he'd waited anxiously for a
vision to come and warn Cordelia, but nothing had
happened. It seemed that even the Powers could be
fooled with the proper pretense. This time he wasn't
going to get caught in the act. No torn out hearts,
no envelopes containing dead goldfish, no posing and
mocking his ex-friends while acting evil and
menacing. This time he was going to achieve his
goals, then mock them. Put bluntly, hell sucked, and
there was no way he was going to get sent back there
if he could help it. Angelus had never been accused
of stupidity; he could learn from his mistakes,
especially when pressed by necessity and
circumstance.
Oh, and such pleasant circumstances! In less than
five years, Angel, his Soul-Boy alter-ego, had
managed to lose his soul twice. Angelus knew that he
would have to keep his "friends" in the
dark this time; he had to act broody and
guilt-ridden, say some regular Angel-type stuff to
keep up the pretense. *And* refrain from killing
them, at least until the little ex-Watcher could tell
him about the location of certain relics that could
serve his purpose. The Scourge of North America
didn't have the same ring as the Scourge of Europe,
but getting there could be fun.
He let the warm water caress his skin like Methos had
been doing a little while before and thought of how
things had gotten to this point. It had started three
weeks ago when his goody two shoes alter ego had
rescued a seemingly poor and hapless student. Who
would have thought that as a thank you Angel would
let the student take him out for a drink? And that
they'd keep meeting and talking? And that Angel would
fall in love?
***
Wesley held in a sigh and muttered phrases under his
breath that didn't bear repeating in front of an
audience. This seemed to be the thousandth store they
had visited and it turned out that he was,
apparently, Cordelia's personal shopping cart. At
least they had already found the tree - a scraggly,
pathetic looking specimen that had been really cheap
simply because no one else had even considered buying
it.
"Ooohh! What do you think?" Cordelia held
the item up for his inspection. So far, every time
she had asked his opinion she hadn't listened to a
word he had said, but this time he just had to put in
his two cents.
"No way. You are not serious. Please tell me
you're not serious."
"But they're so cute! And cheery - we can't
forget cheery. They even blink in time to the
music."
The box of singing Christmas lights blinked at
Wesley, as if it were daring him to try to convince
Cordelia that, no, Angel wouldn't be terribly happy
to have them arranged all over the hotel. More likely
the lights would drive Angel into a homicidal rage,
as they would do to anyone who listened to the
annoying singing for extended periods of time.
"I'm not sure that we can afford them."
There, that was a reasonable argument. Wesley
resisted the urge to rub his temples and pinch the
bridge of his nose. It wasn't that difficult to
resist, especially since his hands were full of bags
of cheery, if slightly defective, Christmas
decorations.
***
Angel had been so careful. He just couldn't seem to
stop himself and, although he had always meant to say
no, he ended up seeing Adam again. And again. And
again. Despite the obvious interest on both sides,
Soul-Boy had ignored the possibility of a
relationship after what happened with Buffy. Wouldn't
want to be happy, now would we? All of his good
intentions were gone in a single moment of absolute
acceptance.
Angel couldn't avoid telling Adam the truth. He had
to let him know what he was, what he'd done. Adam
hadn't even blinked. Instead, he'd held Angel closer
and confessed to crimes more ancient than Angel had
even thought possible. Adam had even trusted him with
his true identity. Methos. A 5000 year old immortal.
They'd only just met, but it was almost like destiny
and the cliche of love at first sight. Or first
demon. Whatever. And, just for an instant, Angel had
been happy about that trust; that someone actually
cared for him with no reservations.
"Are you okay?" Adam, or rather Methos, had
asked in concern when Angel had clutched at his head
in pain.
"Fine," Angelus had answered leaning even
closer to his companion. A wiser and more devious
Angelus than before had been freed and this Angelus
wasn't going to waste the opportunity to exploit five
thousand years of willing experience.
***
"Wesley, stop whining. We only have to get one
more thing, then we're done."
"That's what you said three stores ago."
"It's a tough decision. Angel's difficult to buy
for. That's why I brought you along."
Wesley was doubtful, but he kept his mouth shut. He
suspected that his true purpose was to cart
everything around as Cordelia darted from store to
store like a hummingbird in a flower garden. He
attempted to straighten himself without dropping a
load of Christmas decorations that was so large, it
would have made Saint Nicholas proud.
<Crash>
"Ouch ...," Wesley exclaimed in pain. He
continued to mutter things about the parentage and
the sexual habits of the plastic mistletoe that had
fallen out of the bag and caused him to trip. He
barely resisted the urge to get up and grind the damn
thing into the floor.
"Wesley! Are the decorations alright?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Wesley answered
sarcastically. "I think I've pulled a muscle in
my back. Give me a second."
Amazingly enough, he felt better already. It might
have been due to the fact that the Christmas supplies
were scattered all over the floor.
***
Angelus deepened the kiss as Methos opened his eyes
and moaned greedily.
"Not as tired as I thought, are you?"
"With you, never." A hand reached around
Angelus and pulled him down.
***
"I can't believe you dropped everything! Did you
see the way everyone was looking at us?"
Wesley ignored the commentary. He'd been forced to
endure Cordelia's prattle since he had retrieved all
the items that had tumbled to the floor.
Unfortunately, the singing lights had survived the
impact and so had the can of fake snow, though it was
dented from where he had fallen on it.
Cordelia's voice broke off suddenly. "That's it.
It's perfect. It's happy, it's cheery..."
Wesley stared in horror. She couldn't seriously be
considering *that* as a present. Cordelia noticed his
unbelieving gaze.
"Well, what else can we get him? Toe
socks?" Cordelia asked him in consternation.
"Actually, that would be a fairly reasonable
idea. I've heard that a vampire's feet can get quite
chilled when they're out fighting the forces of
evil..."
***
"Angel! We know you're up there." The voice
was faint, having to pass through the walls and over
the sound of the shower running.
Angelus should have known that something like this
was going to happen. He supposed that the best thing
to do would be to get rid of his annoying visitors
quickly. He had a lot of *plans* for today and it was
annoying to have them interrupted.
The pounding at the door would have to be Cordelia.
He considered going out and ripping her head off in
the joyous holiday spirit, but realized that the
gratuitous violence would make Wesley slightly
suspicious. *Perhaps if I ignore them, they'll go
away,* he thought to himself tiredly.
The noise ceased momentarily as both the pounding and
the shower ended simultaneously. But then Cordelia's
unique voice pierced the silence. "If I have to
hold you at stakepoint, I'm going to cheer you up. I
know you're in there! I heard the water
running!" There was a few more minutes of near
absolute quiet, but for the rustling of towels.
"It's Christmas Eve, Angel. You're not allowed
to sit in there by yourself and brood." That was
all the warning Angelus had before the door to his
room was opened, and in came Cordelia on a mission.
At just the same moment, Methos exited the bathroom
wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist.
Cordelia saw him and blinked in astonishment.
"Oh." She blinked again and repeated the
syllable. This obviously had not been what she was
expecting.
***
"Angel! We know you're up there." Cordelia
walked up the stairs resolutely with Wesley close
behind her. She knocked loudly on the door, hoping
that Angel would get the hint and get out of the
shower. She stopped knocking when the water stopped
running and waited, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Even if I have to hold you at stakepoint, I'm
going to cheer you up. I know you're in there! I
heard the water running!"
There was no answer. She just knew his plan was to
keep quiet in the hope that she would leave. But
there was no way she was going to let all of her hard
work go to waste. "It's Christmas Eve,
Angel," Cordelia called out. "You're not
allowed to sit in there by yourself and brood."
Wesley stepped back, unconsciously trying to get away
from the imagined wraith of the man behind the door.
Cordelia jiggled the doorknob. The door was unlocked,
so she opened it and stepped inside.
Angel was standing in the middle of the room, glaring
at her in an almost menacing way. Then, out of the
bathroom walked a half-naked, wet, well-muscled man.
It was the guy she had seen in her vision a few weeks
back. He definitely looked better without that
sweater he had been wearing. Her thoughts raced.
There was no way that this was what she thought it
was.
"Oh," she muttered in confusion. Angel?
Gay? She couldn't help but blink to see if her eyes
were deceiving her. "Oh." Well, she had
spent the entire morning with Wesley, going from
store to store for Angel's sake. There was no way
that this turn of
events was going to stop her.
"Well," she swallowed, then gathered her
composure, "I have spent the entire morning
searching for the perfect thing to cheer you up. I
have been picturing you here all by yourself, lonely
and suicidal and here you are hardly either. How
could you? Don't you dare start being happy. I even
went to Walmart. Walmart! Me! YOU let me think that
you were depressed and the whole time you were just
fooling around on the side. Couldn't have dropped any
hints, like, 'Oh, don't visit me on Christmas, I'm
having someone over'. So, this is all your
fault." She brandished the nutcracker that
somehow found its way into her hand threateningly.
***
After the slightly confused speech from Cordelia,
Angelus promptly found his life threatened by a woman
with a nutcracker - that is, before she sweetly
turned to Methos and invited him along for whatever
it was that she had planned. Angelus suspected that
this was going to be a very long day. Good thing they
couldn't make him go caroling or anything, since the
daylight would turn him into a rather toasted
vampire.
At least she hadn't tried to stake him. Death by
nutcracker would be rather embarrassing. He paused by
the door for as long as possible before following
Methos downstairs. There was no sense tempting
himself with opportunities to do away with them any
more than he had to.
His first thought upon viewing the lobby was, *Gods,
that's the ugliest tree I've ever seen.* It was in a
corner, held upright by some very creative
maneuvering of furniture and boxes. Methos was very
carefully helping to string lights around it so that
it wouldn't collapse on him.
"There, I think that's got it," he heard
the ancient say. Cordelia plugged the lights in with
a flourish and they immediately began to blink and
emit high pitched noises meant to resemble carols.
The noise caused Angelus to grind his teeth. His
first instinct
was to rip the tree up and destroy the source of his
pain, but settled for Wesley quickly pulling the
plug.
"Now what we really need is some snow."
Cordelia pulled out a slightly dented canister as he
walked closer.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't know
if that stuff is meant to be used on Christmas trees.
Isn't it meant for windows?" Wesley's comments
fell on deaf ears, and everyone removed themselves
from Cordelia's path as soon as they possibly could.
Cordelia began a slightly muddled version of Oh,
Christmas Tree, occasionally mixing up the words as
she continued to spray.
"Oh, Christmas tree. Oh Christmas tree.. Um..how
does it go again..Your beauty lasts forever... Well,
isn't anyone going to help me sing?" she asked
indignantly.
Everyone reluctantly began to sing. Or at least
Wesley and Angelus started; Methos simply started
laughing. The trio glared at him.
"What?" he asked disingenuously.
"Do I get the idea that you don't like our
singing?" Angelus asked.
"Not at all. I find if very amusing."
Wesley glared. "Angel, where did you pick up
this oh so *amusing* fellow?"
***
*Oh, Angel, you have to be the one to put the angel
on the top.* The sarcasm was obvious, even in mental
commentary. Angelus balanced himself precariously on
the chair, attempting to avoid the tree
"stand" and the excessively used fake snow.
*Snow? Who needs snow? Wait, almost got it. I'm going
to kill her slowly and painfully. Or, perhaps quickly
and immediately, or at least as soon as I get off
this damn thing.* He carefully placed the slightly
beaten angel on the top
bough. *There. Done.* His mission accomplished, he
began to step down as the triumphant group plugged in
the lights. Unfortunately, the cord tried its best to
move through his improvised step ladder on its
journey.
The next thing Angelus knew, a mixture of branches
and blinking colours was dancing before his eyes. He
was in pain, as well, from said branches and crushed
decorations. He rolled away from the debris of what
had been the tree--using the term loosely--and
attempted to get up. The first thing he noticed was
that getting up was impossible because he was now
tied up in the lights; the second thing was that the
lights were still on and singing, and that he had
fake snow in his mouth.
"Pwahhh! Thwoo!" He spit out the
foul-tasting stuff as fast as possible and struggled
against his confinement. That only succeeded in
making it worse. It was then that he looked up to see
his companions whose expressions were vacillating
between concern and laughter. Even Methos was trying
hard to keep a straight face.
*That bastard! I will kill them all. Including him. I
don't need them, I don't need him, even if the sex is
good! Okay, the sex is great, but...*
"Damn it. Get these things off of me."
Angelus struggled furiously with the lights. His
sometime companions merely stared at him impassively.
Finally Wesley had the decency to unplug the bloody
things.
Methos knelt down to help untangle him, but then,
instead, whispered in his ear, "Maybe I like you
tied up." Angelus growled at him in response.
***
He'd brushed his teeth three times already and the
taste was still there. The manufacturers of this
foul, white excuse for a Christmas rip-off were going
to find themselves and their families mounted on his
wall when his plans were complete. The idea was a
very pleasing one. Of course, he wasn't keeping a
list or anything, but he made a mental note to
remember this for later.
Wesley's voiced drifted in his direction.
"Angel, Gunn's here."
Wonderful. Now there was another one to deal with.
Gunn? Angelus wondered what Cordelia had planned
next. They appeared to be on a schedule, especially
given the way he'd been yelled at to hurry.
*I think I'll keep her tongue as a souvenir.*
His jaw almost dropped when he saw Gunn, the big, bad
vampire hunter. He was dressed in red and green. With
a pointed hat. And belled shoes. Belled shoes? Gunn
the elf was not something he had been expecting to
see. If Angelus had needed to breathe, he would have
choked. From Gunn's expression, he clearly wasn't too
happy about his attire either. The look he directed
in Angelus' direction dared him to make some snide
comment about the outfit.
As if Angelus would let this opportunity pass him by.
"Well, Merry Christmas, Twinkle Toes," he
said in vicious amusement.
There, that wasn't too out of character, was it? Not
what Angelus would really like to be doing, but
fortune only knocks occasionally and usually in
unexpected ways.
"'Tis the season, Santa Claus," replied
Gunn, full of hidden knowledge.
Santa Claus? Angelus threw a questioning look in
Cordelia's direction.
"I thought we'd go down and cheer up some sick
kids so I managed to get someone here," she
bestowed a glowing smile on Gunn, "to find us
some costumes. The arrangements have already been
made. Here's yours."
She held out the red material and Angelus continued
to stare at her. Some of his true nature must have
shown in his eyes because Cordelia actually backed up
a step.
"But, on second thought, Wesley might be a
better choice." The ex-Watcher found the outfit
shoved into his arms violently. "You even have
glasses."
"Yes, well, if you insist." The ex-Watcher
too was staring.
Angelus attempted to reign in his happy, if
bloodthirsty, thoughts. *You've made it through the
tree and the Christmas caroling and you can make it
through this - even if it kills them.*
***
They had finally made it back to the hotel. It was
almost enough to make him rethink his plan. *Maybe
instead of becoming the Scourge of North America, I
should become a dentist. They cause pain and get paid
for it. At least I wouldn't have to keep these oh so
happy "friends" of mine alive.*
The trip had not gone well for Angelus, even after
trading the Santa outfit for the belled hat. No one
had suggested that he put on the rest of the suit and
that fact had probably saved their lives. If he saw
even one more candy cane during the rest of his
unlife he was going to go and destroy the entire
human race--just to eliminate Christmas. It was
overrated anyway.
"Time to open the presents," Cordelia
called out cheerily. It wasn't morning yet, but who
would want to argue with Cordelia?
Angelus seated himself and stared at the small pile
of wrapped gifts. Since there was no tree, they had
been piled on the counter and Cordelia proceeded to
hand them out.
***
*'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through
the hotel, not a creature was stirring, not even
Cordelia - at least, not anymore.*
"Angel!"
Angelus blinked in surprise. His effort to tone out
the gift-giving had succeeded too well. Cordelia was
holding out a large box wrapped in red. He hadn't
seen it before they'd left for the hospital. Strange.
Then he noticed that it was moving. Angelus felt that
a moving box was never a good sign unless, of course,
he was the one giving it. The fact that it was moving
could mean all sorts of nasty things were inside of
it and, while this normally wouldn't be a bad thing,
most often these nasty things had been trying to do
away with him.
"You wouldn't believe how long we searched for
the perfect gift. And then we saw him. You're going
to love it." She smiled encouragingly and
gestured for him to open the package. "Now you
won't have an excuse about being lonely and
broody."
He picked up the object. Wesley grabbed his arm
before he brought the box up to his ear to shake.
Then he smelled it. They wouldn't have. He tore open
the paper and ripped open the lid.
A puppy jumped on him in one happy bound and licked
his nose. Angelus hated dogs. *This is the final
straw! I don't care. I can find the bloody relics on
my own without the help of that damned ex-Watcher! I
was a scourge once and I don't need any stupid
mortals to be one again.*
The dog actually caught on quicker than most of the
room's other occupants and jumped out of his grasp
before he could break its scrawny little neck.
Cordelia wasn't so fortunate. He grabbed her hair and
before anyone could react, he shoved the wrapping
paper down her throat, shutting her up like he'd been
wanting to all day. Meanwhile, the puppy hid in the
pile of the Christmas tree remains and whimpered.
Unlife was good.
***
*The heads were mounted on the chimney with care, In
hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there*
Angelus managed to arrange the heads artfully. It had
taken a while but he'd finally found some stakes,
appropriately enough, to stick them on. Cordelia in
the middle with the wrapping paper still in her mouth
with Wesley and Gunn on each side. It gave him a warm
and fuzzy feeling inside to see that he hadn't lost
his touch. As a personal reward, he'd added a few
Christmas stockings filled with such objects as
fingers and toes. It certainly gave the place a
festive air.
***
*Methos was chained up all snug in Angelus' bed,
while
visions of, well, you know, danced in his head. And
the ancient was unclothed, and Angelus was in
leather,
just goes to prove that the vamp'd reached his
tether*
Methos looked very nice like this, Angelus thought.
Of course, the gag would have to come out later. It
was no fun otherwise.
"Who likes who tied up now?" The question
was rhetorical since trying to speak through the gag
would have been an exercise in futility. Angelus
wasn't going to kill Methos permanently - that would
be too much of a waste. One doesn't go and lightly
destroy one of the Four Horsemen, especially one in
such a delightful package. Methos just needed a few
lessons about where his place was in everything.
Angelus was certain that with a bit
of...persuasion..., things would work out just the
way they should.
***
*When out in the lobby there arose such a clatter, he
sprang from the bedroom to see what was the matter.
Away down the stairs, he flew like a flash, And what
did he find but a big Christmas bash.*
Angelus had seen a lot of strange things in his life,
but finding the employees of Wolfram and Hart in the
lobby of his hotel hadn't ever been one of them
before.
"What the hell..."
"You seem surprised." Lindsey oozed charm,
consolingly. "Didn't Cordelia tell you that we
rented this place for our annual Christmas party? She
was muttering something about you not being able to
afford the paid vacations you'd given your
employees."
A struggling figure was dragged in through the door
and tossed in the fire, but the lawyer distracted him
again just as he was wondering where the fire place
had come from. It appeared that some of lawyers had
marshmallow sticks all ready and were waiting for the
real roasting to start.
"I really like what you've done with the
place," Lindsey said, pointing to the mutilated
body parts attached to the wall. "When Cordelia
had said that the place would be decorated, I had no
idea. Egg nog?" Lindsey asked, passing Angelus a
cup.
"Why not."
"Glad to see you've given up on the whole save
the world from the forces of evil crusade. If you
ever need a job, just let me know." The one
armed man wandered back to his cohorts from the firm
leaving Angelus sipping his drink. As if he would
start
working for them. He had bigger ambitions, but he
then thought, *Options, Angelus, it's always nice to
have them.*
***
*The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow, gave
the luster of mid-day to objects below, When, what my
wondering eyes have just met, But a Slayer, a
Watcher,
and a few slayerettes.*
It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. There
was no explanation for the number of strange people
converging on him. Perhaps someone or something *had*
noticed his transformation.
It was at that moment that the door flew open
revealing Buffy, Giles and the other members of the
Sunnydale crew. This could not be happening. Why the
hell would they be here? If Santa showed up next...
"Angel!"
At first, he thought the shout was from Buffy, but
when he heard it the second time he realized that it
sounded more like Cordelia. Wait a minute, mounted
heads do not talk. That was part of the reason he'd
stuck them up there in the first place.
"Angel, snap out of it."
Someone gave him a shake and he blinked his eyes. The
room transformed, revealing Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn
and Methos. Gunn had a slightly bemused look on his
face and was holding a piece of mistletoe with a tag
that said "From Cordelia." Wesley was
holding a red package, this one much too flat and
small to hold anything living, he hoped. That had
been some strange dream.
"Time to open your present. You wouldn't believe
how long we searched for the perfect gift. And then
we saw this. You're going to love it." She
grabbed the box from Wesley and handed it to him. He
was disturbed by the eerie similarity between the
words just spoken and that of his dream.
Angelus tore open the packaging. He noticed Wesley
backing away from him, moving closer to the door.
Obviously, whatever it was hadn't been his idea.
The gift was indeed happy and cheery. A puppy stared
back at him, this time merely an image on a piece
paper. A calendar - a kitten and puppy calendar.
Angelus sighed. If word of this got out he'd never
live it down at the annual Bad Guys Association
meetings.
"Thank you everyone." The words were ground
out with as much politeness as possible. "I've
always wanted one of these."
Cordelia ignored his tone and said, "You're
welcome."
Goodbyes were exchanged and it looked like the others
were leaving. Methos came over and sat down on his
lap. "Now that they're gone, can I have my
present?" His voice mimicking that of a three
year old.
Angelus nuzzled his neck. "What do you
want?"
Methos turned around and kissed him. "Let's just
say that it involves whipped cream, chocolate syrup
and massage oil."
Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.
***
*Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night!*
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