(no subject)
Previous chapters located here: http://momentofbored.livejournal.com/9087.html
Sorry for the long delay. Writers block met a heavy work schedule and led to general unproductively. Sadly, not much of B&A together in this chapter, but! At long last! Some answers :-) I promise next time will have much Bangel frolicking through the fields joyfully action (or, you know, general angst, but who’s keeping track?)
Angel gasped in surprise as someone tapped him on the shoulder out of nowhere as he tried to unobtrusively hover in the corner of a run down bar he had stopped in on his way to- somewhere that was not with Buffy. He instantly knew that the creature, beautiful as she was, could not be human, and he jumped away warily, wondering how to assume a defensive stance without attracting attention even as she smiled at him, holding up her hand.
He was confused for a long moment before realizing she was sporting a gold band exactly identical to the one Buffy had frantically insisted he put on brief hours before, and he eyed her warily before asking shortly, “Who are you?”
“Questions later,” she hissed, rather roughly taking his hand and pushing him through a back door he had not seen, and as they entered an empty room Angel looked around in confusion before she kicked a carpet out of the way and, opening a hatch, jumping down.
Out of options, Angel followed.
--
Buffy allowed herself to be roughly shoved into an unfurnished room, falling to the floor without so much as a whimper and pulling her knees up to her chest, not even looking at what was going on around her
“I trust some time alone to clear you head may provide some clarity,” Ethan said with a knowing look before exiting the room.
Too proud to make a sound, Buffy allowed silent tears to run down her face. I have noting. No husband. No children. No friends. No Angel. In that second she wanted to curl up and die, feeling painful defeat in a way she hadn’t since she was seventeen years old and had realized-
And suddenly she heard his voice, unbidden, in her head.
“Take all that away and what’s left?”
Her chin jerked up sharply in epiphany as she whispered aloud, “Me.”
--
Angel looked around him carefully, scrutinizing the situation as best he was led into a well lit underground room. He looked around him in alarm at the massive number of vampires and demons, for the first time fearing it was a trap, trying to make sense of what was going on even as he noted that they were all wearing the same bizarre ring Buffy had so carelessly thrown at him earlier.
“Who are you?” one asked warily, breaking the terrible silence, and before he could even open his mouth to answer, a small voice to his right supplied,
“Angelus,” with a short sigh and he whirled to look at her in disbelief, trying to remember the name of Darla’s sire, who he had only met once before in a rather violent clash before saying briefly,
“Katharine?”
“I don’t know how you could stand it,” she said darkly, coming toward him with a small frown. “Having a soul all that time. It’s only been a few years for me, and already I feel like I want to die-“
“Is Drusilla here?” he asked in confusion, remembering his childe’s liking of the vampire, despite Darla’s warnings, surprised when she laughed shortly.
“They killed Dru months ago. Mrs. Giles took it hard-“
“Wait-“ he began, blinking in confusion as he looked around him, trying to process the vampire was saying as he looked around in continued confusion. “You know Buffy? And- you have souls?”
Katharine looked at him in genuine confusion. “Didn’t she tell you? You must have been with her, how else how would you have gotten the ring of preservation?
Angel felt more confused by the second before heavily sitting down on a chair.
“Explain,” he said shortly, trying to make sense of it all as at least four demons started speaking at once.
--
Buffy leapt to her feet as Ethan reentered the room.
“Gutsy of you to come alone,” she observed coolly and he shot her a knowing smile.
“I see you’ve come to your senses somewhat,” he said in a satisfied tone. “Good.”
“I’d like a change of clothing,” she said dully, surprised when he smirked.
“And what are you offering me in return?”
She met his eye. “I know where the last of the resistance is hiding. I can take you to them.”
He looked at her, eyes suspicious but alive with interest. “And what do you want in return?”
She met his gaze coolly. “To be left the FUCK alone for the rest of my life, however long that may be. No more calling on me as the slayer, no more snippy social calls where you throw my husbands death in my face, no more accusations.” Her voice shook slightly as she continued, “And you will never touch anyone I love again. You’ll leave my friends alone, you’ll leave whatever family I manage to make alone, you’ll leave my pet GOLDFISH alone. Are we clear?”
He nodded slowly. “If you stay out of my way I promise to stay out of yours.”
She laughed bitterly. “Oh, and your word is good? No way. I want it in writing. I want it in PUBLIC. I want you to announce to the world that you no longer consider me a traitor and that you’re letting me retire in peace.”
He nodded once more, shooting her a smile that did not fully conceal his admiration. “Give me an hour to call a press conference.”
She shot him a hard look. “Get me my change in clothing. And nothing cheap or trashy. I want to look good.”
He nodded. “It’s done.”
--
Angel nodded understanding as the vampires around him conveyed all that he had already been told, blissfully in chronological order- the Apocalypse in LA had been a disaster. Buffy had rushed down there to do damage control and barely escaped with her life, her fellow slayers not having been so lucky. Ethan Rayne had showed up at the last possible moment, emerging a hero and, in the face of enormous press coverage had had seized on the panic to take over, aided by a reluctant Buffy and Giles.
The three of them had embarked on a campaign to ‘clean up’ what remained of evil in the world, overlooking one tiny detail-
“There wasn’t evil left in the world,” Katharine finished shortly. “Whatever happened when the Circle of the Black Thorn was defeated was major- we were all ensouled, demons lost the desire to kill-“
“And the people who took over didn’t care,” Angel said flatly, beginning to piece it all together, surprised when a demon interrupted,
“Oh, Mrs. Giles cared. So did her husband. Very much. It just took them a while to figure it out, since it didn’t occur to any of us to try to reason with the slayer as she murdered one by one-“
“And it didn’t occur to them that you weren’t inflicting harm on humans anymore?” Angel questioned and was met with tired shrugs.
“They didn’t know. And Rayne certainly didn’t care- he just wanted to look like he was doing the community a service by ordering our extermination; he didn’t give a second thought to the reality.”
“How did Giles- er, Mr. Giles,” Angel began awkwardly, “figure out that-“
“Didn’t. It was his wife. No one was ever really clear on the details, but she found- actually,” Katharine smiled slightly, it was Drusilla.” He just nodded wordlessly as she continued, “Dru didn’t know well enough not to beg for her help and for whatever reason Mrs. Giles believed her enough to do some investigating. It was her husband who figured out what had actually transpired, but she was the one to get the ball rolling-”
Angel swallowed hard. “What happened then?”
“They thought Rayne didn’t know what was going on and tried to tell him. It didn’t take long for them to figure out he didn’t care- and then they discovered that he had been the one causing all the violence that had happened in the world since the apocalypse. Of course, he had blamed it on demons-”
Angel blinked, trying to wrap his mind around what sounded totally irrational yet must be true.
“They decided to go along with what he was doing outwardly but set up massive underground networks to help us all- even kept a lot of us in their house at one point.” Katharine’s brow furrowed. “Not really sure exactly what their ultimate plan was- you’ll need to get that from her sometime- but they helped us any way they could. Not at all prejudiced people- both of them always looked for the commonality in all creatures- though it was very hard for her, I think, to really realize the cruelty that can lie in regular people-“
Angel knew he should be asking relevant, pertinent questions about this evil and future plans, but found that the only thing he really wanted to know was ridiculously insignificant and petty, and he blurted, unable to stop himself, “What were they like together?”
The demons and vamps surrounding him all looked confused. “Who?” one finally inquired.
“Buffy and- I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Giles,” Angel amended, feeling almost insane linking their names together in that way even as he knew it was the only way that any of these beings had ever known them- that it must seem natural to them.
One shrugged. “Affectionate. He didn’t smile very much except for when she was around, but she teased him pretty relentlessly.” A small smile. “He liked it.”
“I guess,” another ventured, “They seemed very in tune with each other- very much the same in essentials-“
“Essentials?” Angel questioned a bit sharply, locking eyes with Katharine, who clarified,
“Selfless,” meeting his eyes. “It was clear there was a lot of love and a lot of history there.” She smiled slightly, analyzing his face closely before adding, “I’m not as sure about passion.” Her small smirk faded as she added somberly, “She was very much changed after he was captured-“
“You can say that again,” a voice quipped suddenly from the doorway and Angel looked up in surprise to see Buffy wielding a longbow, pointing it directly at his heart. “Turns out you were right all along,” she said, addressing Angel slowly, “All I’ve got is me. And it’s time for a little bit of selfish, don’t you think? At least that way maybe my children won’t be killed next time-“
“Buffy, what are you-“ he began slowly before at least fifty men pushed into the small room behind her, all similarly armed.
“Bringing the fight,” she said with a defiant lift of her eyebrow before sending the arrow flying.
--
Feedback keeps me writing and is treasured more than you can realize :-) THANKS for reading!
Sorry for the long delay. Writers block met a heavy work schedule and led to general unproductively. Sadly, not much of B&A together in this chapter, but! At long last! Some answers :-) I promise next time will have much Bangel frolicking through the fields joyfully action (or, you know, general angst, but who’s keeping track?)
Angel gasped in surprise as someone tapped him on the shoulder out of nowhere as he tried to unobtrusively hover in the corner of a run down bar he had stopped in on his way to- somewhere that was not with Buffy. He instantly knew that the creature, beautiful as she was, could not be human, and he jumped away warily, wondering how to assume a defensive stance without attracting attention even as she smiled at him, holding up her hand.
He was confused for a long moment before realizing she was sporting a gold band exactly identical to the one Buffy had frantically insisted he put on brief hours before, and he eyed her warily before asking shortly, “Who are you?”
“Questions later,” she hissed, rather roughly taking his hand and pushing him through a back door he had not seen, and as they entered an empty room Angel looked around in confusion before she kicked a carpet out of the way and, opening a hatch, jumping down.
Out of options, Angel followed.
--
Buffy allowed herself to be roughly shoved into an unfurnished room, falling to the floor without so much as a whimper and pulling her knees up to her chest, not even looking at what was going on around her
“I trust some time alone to clear you head may provide some clarity,” Ethan said with a knowing look before exiting the room.
Too proud to make a sound, Buffy allowed silent tears to run down her face. I have noting. No husband. No children. No friends. No Angel. In that second she wanted to curl up and die, feeling painful defeat in a way she hadn’t since she was seventeen years old and had realized-
And suddenly she heard his voice, unbidden, in her head.
“Take all that away and what’s left?”
Her chin jerked up sharply in epiphany as she whispered aloud, “Me.”
--
Angel looked around him carefully, scrutinizing the situation as best he was led into a well lit underground room. He looked around him in alarm at the massive number of vampires and demons, for the first time fearing it was a trap, trying to make sense of what was going on even as he noted that they were all wearing the same bizarre ring Buffy had so carelessly thrown at him earlier.
“Who are you?” one asked warily, breaking the terrible silence, and before he could even open his mouth to answer, a small voice to his right supplied,
“Angelus,” with a short sigh and he whirled to look at her in disbelief, trying to remember the name of Darla’s sire, who he had only met once before in a rather violent clash before saying briefly,
“Katharine?”
“I don’t know how you could stand it,” she said darkly, coming toward him with a small frown. “Having a soul all that time. It’s only been a few years for me, and already I feel like I want to die-“
“Is Drusilla here?” he asked in confusion, remembering his childe’s liking of the vampire, despite Darla’s warnings, surprised when she laughed shortly.
“They killed Dru months ago. Mrs. Giles took it hard-“
“Wait-“ he began, blinking in confusion as he looked around him, trying to process the vampire was saying as he looked around in continued confusion. “You know Buffy? And- you have souls?”
Katharine looked at him in genuine confusion. “Didn’t she tell you? You must have been with her, how else how would you have gotten the ring of preservation?
Angel felt more confused by the second before heavily sitting down on a chair.
“Explain,” he said shortly, trying to make sense of it all as at least four demons started speaking at once.
--
Buffy leapt to her feet as Ethan reentered the room.
“Gutsy of you to come alone,” she observed coolly and he shot her a knowing smile.
“I see you’ve come to your senses somewhat,” he said in a satisfied tone. “Good.”
“I’d like a change of clothing,” she said dully, surprised when he smirked.
“And what are you offering me in return?”
She met his eye. “I know where the last of the resistance is hiding. I can take you to them.”
He looked at her, eyes suspicious but alive with interest. “And what do you want in return?”
She met his gaze coolly. “To be left the FUCK alone for the rest of my life, however long that may be. No more calling on me as the slayer, no more snippy social calls where you throw my husbands death in my face, no more accusations.” Her voice shook slightly as she continued, “And you will never touch anyone I love again. You’ll leave my friends alone, you’ll leave whatever family I manage to make alone, you’ll leave my pet GOLDFISH alone. Are we clear?”
He nodded slowly. “If you stay out of my way I promise to stay out of yours.”
She laughed bitterly. “Oh, and your word is good? No way. I want it in writing. I want it in PUBLIC. I want you to announce to the world that you no longer consider me a traitor and that you’re letting me retire in peace.”
He nodded once more, shooting her a smile that did not fully conceal his admiration. “Give me an hour to call a press conference.”
She shot him a hard look. “Get me my change in clothing. And nothing cheap or trashy. I want to look good.”
He nodded. “It’s done.”
--
Angel nodded understanding as the vampires around him conveyed all that he had already been told, blissfully in chronological order- the Apocalypse in LA had been a disaster. Buffy had rushed down there to do damage control and barely escaped with her life, her fellow slayers not having been so lucky. Ethan Rayne had showed up at the last possible moment, emerging a hero and, in the face of enormous press coverage had had seized on the panic to take over, aided by a reluctant Buffy and Giles.
The three of them had embarked on a campaign to ‘clean up’ what remained of evil in the world, overlooking one tiny detail-
“There wasn’t evil left in the world,” Katharine finished shortly. “Whatever happened when the Circle of the Black Thorn was defeated was major- we were all ensouled, demons lost the desire to kill-“
“And the people who took over didn’t care,” Angel said flatly, beginning to piece it all together, surprised when a demon interrupted,
“Oh, Mrs. Giles cared. So did her husband. Very much. It just took them a while to figure it out, since it didn’t occur to any of us to try to reason with the slayer as she murdered one by one-“
“And it didn’t occur to them that you weren’t inflicting harm on humans anymore?” Angel questioned and was met with tired shrugs.
“They didn’t know. And Rayne certainly didn’t care- he just wanted to look like he was doing the community a service by ordering our extermination; he didn’t give a second thought to the reality.”
“How did Giles- er, Mr. Giles,” Angel began awkwardly, “figure out that-“
“Didn’t. It was his wife. No one was ever really clear on the details, but she found- actually,” Katharine smiled slightly, it was Drusilla.” He just nodded wordlessly as she continued, “Dru didn’t know well enough not to beg for her help and for whatever reason Mrs. Giles believed her enough to do some investigating. It was her husband who figured out what had actually transpired, but she was the one to get the ball rolling-”
Angel swallowed hard. “What happened then?”
“They thought Rayne didn’t know what was going on and tried to tell him. It didn’t take long for them to figure out he didn’t care- and then they discovered that he had been the one causing all the violence that had happened in the world since the apocalypse. Of course, he had blamed it on demons-”
Angel blinked, trying to wrap his mind around what sounded totally irrational yet must be true.
“They decided to go along with what he was doing outwardly but set up massive underground networks to help us all- even kept a lot of us in their house at one point.” Katharine’s brow furrowed. “Not really sure exactly what their ultimate plan was- you’ll need to get that from her sometime- but they helped us any way they could. Not at all prejudiced people- both of them always looked for the commonality in all creatures- though it was very hard for her, I think, to really realize the cruelty that can lie in regular people-“
Angel knew he should be asking relevant, pertinent questions about this evil and future plans, but found that the only thing he really wanted to know was ridiculously insignificant and petty, and he blurted, unable to stop himself, “What were they like together?”
The demons and vamps surrounding him all looked confused. “Who?” one finally inquired.
“Buffy and- I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Giles,” Angel amended, feeling almost insane linking their names together in that way even as he knew it was the only way that any of these beings had ever known them- that it must seem natural to them.
One shrugged. “Affectionate. He didn’t smile very much except for when she was around, but she teased him pretty relentlessly.” A small smile. “He liked it.”
“I guess,” another ventured, “They seemed very in tune with each other- very much the same in essentials-“
“Essentials?” Angel questioned a bit sharply, locking eyes with Katharine, who clarified,
“Selfless,” meeting his eyes. “It was clear there was a lot of love and a lot of history there.” She smiled slightly, analyzing his face closely before adding, “I’m not as sure about passion.” Her small smirk faded as she added somberly, “She was very much changed after he was captured-“
“You can say that again,” a voice quipped suddenly from the doorway and Angel looked up in surprise to see Buffy wielding a longbow, pointing it directly at his heart. “Turns out you were right all along,” she said, addressing Angel slowly, “All I’ve got is me. And it’s time for a little bit of selfish, don’t you think? At least that way maybe my children won’t be killed next time-“
“Buffy, what are you-“ he began slowly before at least fifty men pushed into the small room behind her, all similarly armed.
“Bringing the fight,” she said with a defiant lift of her eyebrow before sending the arrow flying.
--
Feedback keeps me writing and is treasured more than you can realize :-) THANKS for reading!