Whistler’s News
"What do you mean?" Angel tried to cover himself, but the intent look in Max’s eyes told him it wasn’t enough. He backed up a little until his thighs hit the edge of his desk. He sank against the firm wood, a little in shock.
"I mean Connor is the son you gave up, isn’t he?" Max prodded gently. Angel glanced away, then turned his gaze to look at her feet. He nodded slowly. "Oh wow," she breathed. It had all just suddenly clicked together. The way Angel avoided saying his son’s name, the way he’d acted around the teen when Connor had brought her belongings over. Connor even had the look of Angel about him. And their smell was similar. That was a strange one, but Max just attributed it to her feline enhanced DNA.
"How did you know?" Angel mumbled, shaking his head.
"Things just added up all of a sudden," Max sighed. "You know, I aced my theory and probability classes at Manticore," she teased. "I am brilliant when it comes to connecting the dots."
"Obviously," he gave he a small grin. She moved closer to him, and ran her hand down his arm comfortingly. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. With a small sigh, he admitted, "I just didn’t think I would give him up and then end up running into him every time I turn around." Max chuckled softly.
"Maybe these Powers of yours are trying to tell you something," she turned his earlier words on him. "That maybe Connor is supposed to be in your life."
"I don’t know," Angel admitted. "I just thought that I was doing the right thing, giving him up. Letting him start over."
"And that’s exactly the chance you have now," Max pointed out reasonably. "Connor and you have no history now. He’s coming at you with no preconceived notions… well, except the ones he seems to have picked up from me."
"Uh oh," he drew his head up to look her full in the face. "Why don’t I like the sound of that?"
"Oh, it’s not bad," Max frowned. "I told him that you were my ex-roommate’s boss. A nice guy."
"Really?"
"Really!" she laughed. "Well, I may have ranted about you a couple of times. But I’m sure he knew I was just blowing off steam."
Angel gave her a hard glare. "What exactly did you say about me?" She kept her mouth closed, refusing to answer. "Max?" he growled in mock warning. "Tell me." She shook her head. He growled even louder and she quickly backed away. He gave chase for a short run around the office before he caught her. She squealed as his arms trapped her gently and he lowered his head to her ear. "Tell me," he whispered before nibbling at her lobe. She giggled and tried to shake her head again. He proceeded to take light, nipping kisses down the column of her throat. She moaned softly as his hands traveled down her back to rest lightly on her hips. He brought his face up and met her lips, brushing softly against them until they fell open. His tongue darted in quickly as his hands rubbed over her ass and lower back in slow circles.
"Hello!" came Cordy’s strident voice. "The door may be closed, but I can still hear you!" Angel broke off the kiss with an exaggerated sigh. "Some of us are trying to work you know!" He rolled his eyes and released Max to stride swiftly for the door. He yanked it open and leaned out to stare at the overly cheerful ex-cheerleader.
"Cor, take the rest of the day off!" he growled. She grinned and held up the purse she’d already pulled from her little cubbyhole.
"On my way," she laughed. "Bye Max!"
"Bye Cordy!" her friend called back. Then the door was shut again. Cordy walked into the warm sunshine of the day, giggling, still patting herself on the back for the wonderful coup she’d pulled off. She honestly hadn’t heard a thing, but she knew what they were up to. She figured that if Angel could play hooky from work, so could she.
Angel leaned against the closed door, staring at Max from under hooded eyes. "So, where were we?" Max smirked at him and moved towards him, her body fluid and seductive. He opened his arms to her and she slipped in, both of them feeling at once how comfortable and right it seemed.
"We were talking about dinner, Friday, with Connor and Alyssa," she spoke huskily as she trailed one finger down his broad, cloth-covered chest. She stopped right above his belt buckle and glanced up at him. "So, is it on?"
Angel grit his teeth, his member already hard and straining at the fabric of his slacks. It still amazed him how quickly her husky little bedroom voice could turn him on. "Yeah, it’s on," he agreed. He pushed his concerns to the back of his head. He’d deal with meeting and spending time with Connor later. Right now, he had other matters to attend to. Like the matter of Max undoing his belt buckle and sliding down his body to bring about a pleasurable torment he’d gladly suffer every day.
*****
Dinner with Connor and his girlfriend went amazingly well. Angel was understandably nervous about spending more than a few minutes with his son. Max understood surprisingly well. He’d talked to her about his fears and his hopes in the days leading up to the event. She just quietly encouraged him to be himself. Reminding him patiently that it was a fresh start. And when the time finally came, it was easy. Connor and Alyssa arrived, right at seven. The hotel and the fact that Angel owned it awed them. Alyssa, who’d met Max before was comfortable enough with her to chatter about school and the part time job she’d had. Connor, after a few moments hesitation, broached the subject of Max with Angel. After he’d ascertained that she was happy in her choice and that Angel was treating her well, he’d relaxed as well.
Angel had prepared a scrumptious dinner and Max was able to introduce subjects that everyone was able to converse on. Angel was surprised to find that Alyssa was declaring art history as her major. So there was plenty for them to talk about. Connor let slip that he was leaning toward criminology for his studies. And he was thrilled that Angel was a private investigator. Max was able to sneak into that conversation and hint broadly to the young man that Angel hunted things like that ‘nasty guy that mugged us’. It stunned Connor for a moment, to consider that there were more things that went bump in the night than he’d believed, but it amped up his admiration for the man even more.
Alyssa had also entertained them with descriptions of the first time they found themselves in a karate class. Connor, highly embarrassed over his lack of grace, kept trying to change the subject. Angel finally took pity on him, declaring that he felt less than graceful the first time he tried tai chi. That led to an argument over the superior form of martial arts. When Max’s opinion was asked, she declared herself a ‘free style kick ass artist’.
The evening finally came to an end with promises to get together again. After closing the main hotel doors behind the young couple, Angel had swooped Max up in his arms. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear. "I don’t know what I did to deserve you…"
"About the same thing I did to deserve you?" she asked teasingly. It was a mystery to them both why things had ended up the way they did. But it was enough for them to just enjoy it now. Angel let her body slide down his and tipped his head down for a kiss. She accepted it easily as his body shifted to begin walking them towards the basement access. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a sharp knock at the main door. Angel growled as he lifted his head.
"Who the hell could that be?" he demanded. His staff had keys to the main door, but they’d all assured him that they had plans, separately, for the evening and weren’t likely to be back.
"It’s probably Connor and Alyssa," Max answered reasonably. "They probably forgot something." She slipped from his grasp and turned to head downstairs. "I’ll go look and see. I can’t think of anyone else, can you?"
"No," Angel answered, his ire cooling now that he thought about it. He moved back to the door, quickly releasing the deadbolt and pulling one door open. But to his surprise, it wasn’t either of the teens standing before him.
"Hello Peaches," Spike grinned. He still enjoyed the sight of the dumbfounded Angel. But the Vampire recovered quickly.
"Spike? What are you doing here?" He was confused for a moment until he saw Buffy behind her lover. Today was the day that Giles said they’d be back in town. "Why are you here so late?"
"Um, Angel," Buffy chuckled. "It’s only nine thirty."
"Yeah mate," Spike chirped. "That’s early for us blokes." They all stared at each other, unsure what to say next. Finally Angel recovered his manners and stepped back from the door. The duo entered, but as Angel was about to close the door, a flash of lime green caught his eye. He yanked the door open wider.
"Whistler too?" he demanded. The little balance demon gave him a wide grin.
"Hey Angel boy," he greeted brightly. "The slayers were kind enough to give me a lift over here."
"Coerce much?" Buffy muttered. "He says he’s got a message." She eyed the demon warily, still not trusting him fully.
"Well?" Angel sighed, turning to him and waiting expectantly. "What is it?"
"Jeez," Whistler’s grin did not falter. "Ain't ya even gonna offer me a drink?"
"No."
"Well, my throat’s really parched," the demon whined. Angel rolled his eyes and turned to lead them to his apartment. The door was ajar and Angel knew that Max was already down here. Before he could call out for her, Spike spoke.
"So, I hear congratulations are in order," the pale man smirked. Angel turned a baleful stare at him.
"Congratulations about what?" he asked suspiciously. Spike just shrugged.
"Giles told us about your soul," Buffy explained. Angel could tell right away that she seemed to be a little bit sad. Perhaps because she wasn’t the one that restored it.
"Oh," he was slightly relieved that that was all Giles had told them. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to deal with informing Buffy that he’d gotten Max pregnant. And just then, she emerged from the bathroom.
"I didn’t see anything left behind Angel," she was saying, before realizing that they had new company. She took in Spike and Buffy, but when her gaze fell to Whistler, she unconsciously began to growl. Whistler watched her for a moment before turning his smirking face to Angel.
"I gotta tell you man, you sure know how to pick ‘em."
"You know this thing?" Max demanded. Angel moved to comfort her, unsure why she was reacting in such a manner. He’d never heard her growl before and in a purely random moment, found it sexy as hell. He could see her at her basest level, a strong, independent lioness, protecting her home from an unwelcome intrusion. Yeah, very sexy.
"Max," he spoke soothingly, "this is Whistler. He’s a good demon."
"Really?" she asked skeptically. He nodded. She arched her eyebrow and sniffed, then turned back to the demon. "The clothes should have been the first give away."
"You think my clothes mark me as good or evil?" Whistler chuckled.
"No, I mean you should give them away," Max snorted. "They’ll cause an accident, if they haven’t already." She turned to the others. "So what’s the dealio?"
"Ask him," Buffy pointed at the demon. "We just gave him a ride." Max sighed and everyone turned back to the demon.
"I just came to pass along a message," he shrugged. "My congrats big guy," he smiled at Angel. Angel just nodded and motioned for him to get on with it. "Well, this is kind of a private thing." Angel frowned at him then walked towards the bedroom. "Not you," Whistler’s voice stopped him cold. "For Max."
Four voices erupted, wondering to different degrees what he could possibly have to say to Max. Spike wasn’t all that concerned, just pissed that the little git was using them in some way. Buffy knew that a really big mess usually accompanied a message from Whistler. And Angel, who’d known Whistler longest of the group, was more than ready to keep his mate out of the potential crossfire of the next apocalypse. Max, just wondered softly what new curveball was being thrown her way. While the others threw useless questions at Whistler, which he refused to answer, she moved to the bedroom. She jerked her head and the demon hurriedly came forth. She shut the door behind them as the outer room descended into silence.
It didn’t take long for him to deliver his message. He emerged from the room in less than ten minutes. He shut the door behind himself, leaving Max to herself. He threw an amused glance at Buffy. "It’s nice to see that some people are willing to listen, rather than bombard me with threats and stupid questions." He turned to Angel. "Give her a few minutes, big guy." Angel nodded reluctantly. "Well, time to go!" He ushered Buffy and Spike towards the door and Angel trailed after to lock up once more.
But the wily demon had one more parting shot. After the trio had climbed into Spike’s beloved DeSoto, he rolled down the back window and stuck his head out. "Hey man, I almost forgot. Congrats on the baby! You and Max'll make good parents." Angel scowled fiercely when he saw Buffy’s head whip around to stare uncomprehendingly at the balance demon. Angel hurriedly shut and locked the door as he heard her surprised screech. He rested his head against the door, listening with relief as Spike pulled away from the curb. He’d deal with them later. But first, he needed to check on Max.
She was still sitting on their bed, staring distractedly at her clenched hands. Angel approached the far side of the bed and crawled across it, trying not to jar her. He settled in beside her, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her close. He rested her head on his chest, stretching her legs out. "What did he say?" he asked softly.
"He isn’t dead," she muttered monotonously. Angel’s mind leapt. Who wasn’t dead? Was it Case? "He’s coming for me," she continued softly.
"Who baby?"
"Sandeman."
Searching
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