ATS: Kindreds 4
Title: Kindred's
Author: Psychofilly
Rating: Pg-NC17
Pairing: C/A, C/S, A/C/S, other
Category: AU, Angst, Romance. Angel never gave Cordy money and Cordy never left with Groo after "Couplet." I started this after "Hells Bells", but it's really more along the line of a follow-up to "As You Were" for Spike.
Disclaimer: Not mine, all Joss's, ME's, and Fox Studios.
Summary: Spike always had been a sucker for a pretty face.
Kindred's 4 of 8 *Post Couplet/Hells Bells*
Archive Version
A deeply buried part of Cordelia Chase wished that she would have listened to Angel. She'd never admit it to herself or especially to him, but this was one seriously creepy club. Angel had mentioned blood and sex. Boy, howdy! To her left, a dark corner was being occupied by a vampire and a human donor currently having sex while he and two other vampires fed off of her. Spike had already declined several offers from other vamps for a taste of herself, and the way they looked at her, she was pretty sure that weren't just talking about her blood.
She scanned the floor, quietly willing the vampire from her vision to hurry up and show already. Pretty much every corner of the club was filled with vampires feeding, humans writhing and moaning and....no, she wasn't going to even think about what *that* vampire was doing. She felt a cool hand brush her knee and tensed. Spike looked worried. He could probably hear the way her heart would jump up and do the cha-cha every time another vampire approached....she tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.
Spike leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Relax, ducks. No one is going to hurt you." He lazily scanned the interior of the club. "Actually this place looks pretty tame, no wonder the wanker in your vision has a hard on to destroy it." He let out a disgusted huff, "This place is full of posers."
"Yeah, well these posers would be dust if we met them on the street." she groused. She huffed as a blonde and obviously drunk human stumbled past. She had bite marks on her neck and wrist. Cordy noticed two thin trails of blood creeping down the inside of her thigh. "Ugh." she shuddered, turning to Spike. "The vampires I get. They're just doing what vampires do....but what is up with the *people*! God, they're stupid," Her eyes caught sight of the blonde as she swerved into the nearest vampire and smiled drunkenly. "That's just gross."
Spike smirked, "Have you ever been bitten, luv?" He was surprised to see her eyes go hard and flat. "I see. I'll take that as a yes then." To cover his own flustered surprise, he fished out a cigarette and lit it. "Was it trying to feed?" he gently prodded.
Cordelia simply nodded, her mouth clamped in a grim tight line. He covered her hand with his own, squeezing it tight, stilling the slight tremors in her fingers. "It wasn't Angel was it?" She at him curiously as if surprised that he'd even ask, then shook her head.
"No," it came out in a croak and she quickly cleared her throat. "It was a bony, skanky, blonde, bitch-pire," Her eyes narrowed at the memory, and she looked at Spike as if the fact that he was blonde and undead were suddenly to very big demerits against his existence. "She's dead. End of story."
Spike seriously doubted it. He took a breath, preparing to tell her just that.
"Drop it." She smiled wide, but her teeth were clenched, bordering on grinding and her entire posture was stiff.
"Whatever, luv." He took a long drag of his cigarette, "So much for complete honesty, eh?"
"Ass," she snapped.
He chuckled, feeling good to finally have found some moral high ground. His mood evaporated when she scowled, her eyes sliding over his shoulder to the vampire approaching from behind. Spike turned, following her line of site. He had to bite back a derisive laugh at the young vampire waiting patiently for a chance to speak.
Taking Spike's silence for permission, his attention shifted to Cordy. He flashed her with what Spike assumed was supposed to be a seductive smile. The vampires long honey-brown hair slipped over his features as he dipped his head to take in Cordy's outfit and the body that it barely covered.
"Mmmm," the younger vampire smacked his lips appreciatively. "You are truly a feast for all the senses." He took her hand and brushed his lips lightly across her knuckles. "Care to join me for a drink?"
"As if!" Cordy snatched her hand away. "Listen here you lame Lois wanna-be. Brad Pitt you are not, so why don't you save the-" her eyes swept over him contemptuously, "Act- for someone that's lame enough to be interested." She turned back to the bar, giving the long haired vamp the glacial shoulder.
Warning bells went off in the back of Spike's mind as the other vampires expression darkened in outrage. For his own part, Spike found Cordy's imperious brush-off of the other vampire quite arousing. He felt secure in the knowledge that the chit was his, at least while they were here in the club. When it came to matching wits and trading barbs, Cordy could more than hold her own with any vampire that wanted to have a go at her. The problem is that same acid tongue could get her in a physical confrontation that she was wholly unprepared for.
Like now for instance.
The other vampires arm snaked out and grabbed Cordy by the elbow. It was a foolish move. Spike had its hand disengaged from Cordy's tender flesh and his thumb pressed savagely into the back of its hand, twisting its arm and locking its elbow before the other vamp was barely aware that Spike had grabbed him.
Spike brought his elbow down hard, breaking the other vampires arm. To his credit, the Anne Rice wanna-be didn't scream. Spike shoved him off and turned casually back to his psuedo-date. Cordelia's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, breath short. The piquant smell of fear drifted from her pores. Spike decided he'd never seen her looking more alluring.
Spike pulled Cordy close, sensing her need to be touched. He trapped her body between his legs and nuzzled her neck. His eyes, however, were on the room, making sure the other vampires got the message. Tonight the chit was his.
"It's all-right luv," he whispered, running his hands up and down her arms. He soothed and gentled her as if she were a skittish mare, cooing nonsense in her ear. After a little while, she began to relax, her hands slipping around his waist as she lay her head on his shoulder. He could feel the last of her tension leave as he stroked her back and smoothed her hair.
Her warmth and trust were reassuring for Spike as well. She was so soft and trusting in his arms, a direct contrast to the hard angles, sharp fists and even sharper words that was Buffy. He felt his chest constricting at the memory of her last visit to his crypt.
She had been so beautiful when she had come to him....beautiful but sad when she said the words that had seemingly damned him for his eternal existence. When she had dumped him, it was as if she had found a piece of herself that had been missing.
He didn't want to think about what that might mean. He loved her so much that it ripped him to shreds at every reminder that he wasn't what she needed....not because he couldn't be, but because she wouldn't even let him try.
"Spike?" Worried hazel eyes locked with his. "Are you okay?"
Spike blinked a couple of times, dragging his attention back to the present. "What?"
"I'd kind of like to breathe, and -well- let me go, okay?"
Spike immediately loosened his death-grip, grinning a little to cover his embarrassment when she took a couple of deep relieved breaths. "Sorry, ducks."
"Buffy?"
Spike scowled down at the young woman in front of him, "No."
Her lips quirked up at the corners. "So much for complete honesty, huh?" she said softly.
His only response was to brush his lips softly against hers. She didn't resist, but he felt a shiver run down her spine and his hands slid southward in an effort to catch it. He tugged her closer and hesitantly leaned in once again, knowing that he was tempting fate with Angel watching, only this time she did go stiff. Her hands reached up and dug into his shoulders, her gaze riveted on something behind him. "Cordelia?" he whispered.
She swallowed, and he could hear the dry click of her throat contracting. "Oh God."
Spike tried to turn his head and see, but she pulled him down by the ears into a quick savage kiss. Soon he saw what had to have upset her. A group of about six vampires strode through the middle of the room, all carrying weapons ranging from swords to Uzi's. The two largest vampires were half carrying half dragging Angel, who was slumped between them. Their cover was as good as blown.
"Bloody hell."
********************
Spike kept Cordy trapped in the circle of his arms. There was still a good possibility that they could salvage the situation if nobody panicked. Since Angel didn't look like he'd be doing much of anything for a while, all Spike had to worry about was Cordy.
She once more went stiff in his arms but she kept her cool, burying her face in his neck, bringing her lips to his ear. "We've got to do something." Her breath barely vibrated the air between them.
He leaned down and nuzzled her. "No we don't, not until we know whet they are planning." He felt her sharp nails dig into his biceps.
"We *do* know. I saw it. remember?"
He pried her claws off of his arms. "You saw Angel, and still let him come?"
She pulled back, scowling when their eyes locked, "No, dumbass, but I saw- why can't the Powers for *once* give me a clear vision?" she grumbled, "Fine Einstein, what do we do?"
Spike winked, grinning with confidence he did not feel as he slid out of his seat and held out his hand for her. "We watch the show." He leaned in and kissed her temple, careful to avoid the cut that was hidden underneath her bangs. "Keep your mouth shut and follow my lead."
"Pfft."
"Cordelia," he warned.
"Hey, my mouth was shut." She smirked, "Lead on Peroxide....and please, don't get us all killed."
Spike rolled his eyes, but true to her word, Cordy followed silently and obediently, her hands clutching at the waistband of his pants. Spike glanced over his shoulder. "Ease up, luv. I nicked these leathers from Billy Idol."
"Let go of the seventies, Spike, trust me on this."
"Bitch please- " Spike scoffed as they kept their slow, casual pace, bickering lightly as the edged closer to the action. "- So I can embrace parachute pants and power ties?" Spike shook his head, inwardly pleased that she was playing it cool. "Spike: Vampire Yuppie strikes terror in the hearts of no one."
"Well, *I* think it's scary." She wrinkled her nose as she swiped at his hair. "You should at least loose the platinum helmet, maybe go for a honey blonde with darker undertones-"
"Shh." Spike admonished.
They were close. Spike sensed a rise in fear as Cordy went ridged beside him, so much for her casual air of indifference. He quickly followed her line of sight. "That him?"
"Yep."
The vampire from Cordy's vision was definitely not to be trifled with. He wished she would have told him the bastard was so damn big. There was an itchy burn of raw power in the air that told Spike the tall Nordic vampire was at *least* twice as old as Angel. His glacier blue eyes were as cold and dead as a sharks.
He also looked like a vamp that rarely bothered to shift out of his true face. Spike knew that after a while some vampires, like the Master of Aurelius, lost the ability. Under this long wild hair that was naturally as light as Spike's this Master vampire's face was heavy-boned and deeply wrinkled. There was blood on his hands and chin, dried blood gave his hair strawberry blonde tips. Spike would bet good money that this vamp had been a Viking.
He was dragging a terrified patron along behind him. The man's face was a pulpy mess. The Master jerked the barely conscious man up and ripped into his throat. He drank until the man's pasty skin began to shrink in around his bones.
Cordy was beginning to squeeze his hand so hard it hurt. With a deep sense of foreboding, he realized he had been staring hard at the other blonde vampire and it had been staring right back at him as blood slowly dripped from his chin. Spike licked his lips. He bet if he closed his eyes he could imagine the taste of it. A deep moan from Angel snapped both of their attention from their silent challenge to his huddled form.
"Who is this?" The tall vampire demanded of the two lackeys in a surprisingly cultured voice. There was no trace of any accent but there was a strong note of surprise. Spike was pretty surprised that Angel had been taken down by two slags himself. The Master sucked at a bit of tendon stuck between his teeth. "What did you do to him?"
The first lackey, a huge doughy vampire that was only as strong as the weight he could throw around simply shrugged. The second one, thin as a reed, giggled. Spike pursed his lips with distaste. He recognized the signs of a vampire with a habit. Drug addiction among vamps was rare, but just as devastating as among humans. Vamps were addicts by nature. Drugs couldn't kill brain cells that were already dead, but they could still produce some pretty jacked-up specimens of vampire society.
The laconic vampire adjusted his grip on Angel's arm. "I don't know who he is. We've never seen him around these parts before."
The strung out vampire tittered wildly. "He's a strong one though, and pretty old. Not that bright though, or that observant, eh?" He eyed his partner in crime with a mischievous twinkle. "We just snuck up behind him and- pow!" He made a jabbing motion with his hand. "I shot him up with my own special blend; he went down pretty easy after that. Why fight fair if you don't have too. right?"
The other vamp rubbed his chin. "He got in a few good shots."
"Heh, we got in more."
The Nordic Master scowled at the twitching lackey. "I thought I told you-"
"Yeah, yeah, no drugs tonight. I'm clean man, I just brought a little for the after-party." The ill hid fear on the vamps face said he'd been a bad vampire, and had a good bit of his own special blend running through his system. "Anyway's shouldn't we be concentrating on the-" He kicked Angel in the ribs, "Happy peeper?"
Cordelia blanched, her stomach seemingly plunging to her feet, as fear made her insides want to crawl into the darkest corner of the club and hide. She glanced at Spike who was listening to the entire exchange with feigned disinterest. He'd never met Angel while under chemical influence. Maybe- at least she fervently hoped that whatever those vampires had shot him up with was a depressant, and not a happy drug. She eyed Angel's captors, the way that squirrelly little vamp was bouncing around....
They were definitely screwed.
Angel groaned and shook his head, obviously feeling the effects of the drugs as he began to come round. Cordy could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, something he only did when he was really happy, or really upset. She supposed their odds were even, and wondered which side of the coin toss their asses had landed on this time. Experience made her fear for the worst.
Angel's head snapped up, surprising his captors. He searched the room frantically, eyes locking with hers as soon as he homed in on her. There was a world of pain behind dark brown irises, and something she rarely saw in Angel- fear. "Cordelia...." he rasped. "RUN!"
Yep, screwed, and she doubted they'd be getting a kiss afterwards. Angel was a fighter, but this was one battle that she knew he wouldn't win. Spike was looking back and forth between them, but this was a fight going on inside Angel that no soulless being would ever understand or appreciate, not even an exceptional one like Spike.
She sent Angel all the supportive vibes she could, but she couldn't do a damn thing for him now except be there to help pick up the pieces when it was over and hope like hell he didn't kill anybody, especially her. The way her knees were wobbling and her muscles turning to Jell-O meant her instincts knew exactly who Angelus would focus his attacks on, even if her mind was fighting to deny it.
They *so* needed to get the hell out of there.
Angel broke eye-contact. His head dropped back down as he sagged between his captors. Cordelia slowly began to back away, dragging Spike with her. Unfortunately, the vamp from her vision hadn't missed the exchange between her and Angel. With a wave of his hand, their escape route was suddenly blocked by two bouncer sized vamps with guns. Her heart-rate soared until she thought it might pound right through her chest and run off without her.
"Balls," Spike swore, his blue eyes snapping with annoyance, "What the bleeding hell is going on!" Cordy understood Spike was annoyed that Angel had blown their cover, but she didn't spare the energy to worry about it. They weren't dealing with just a pack of bloodthirsty vampires anymore. There was only one bloodthirsty vampire she was worried about, one whose face that still paid occasional visits to her nightmares.... She simply jerked her chin in Angel's direction. He had fallen to his knees, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
"You want the cliff notes version? Just look at him." Cordy said. The big vamp from her vision was looking curiously back and forth between her and Angel, clearly impatient to get to the root of their little drama before the killing began. She didn't need to be a vampire to smell the fear coming off the other humans in the club. She struggled, trying to control her own rising panic. She wouldn't do anyone any good by running and screaming like a schoolgirl.
Sometimes her job really sucked.
Angel raised his head slowly, gaze locking with Spike's for the space of a heartbeat before sliding over to caress Cordy from head to toe. "Hey baby," he all but purred, "Miss me?"
Beside her, Spike sucked in a tiny, startled breath of air. Her mind flashed back to Doyle's parting words to Angel. "You never know yourself until you were tested," he'd said, just before he'd sacrificed himself in Angel's place. Cordy had been tested repeatedly since Doyle's death, with the visions, the demonization, and just by trying to keep their ragtag family together after Wesley's attempted kidnapping of Connor. Somehow she knew, deep down, that she could face Angelus.
Her face scrunched into a hopeful expression. "Would you kill me if I said no?"
He chuckled. "I'll kill you no matter what you say, Cor."
Her shoulders slumped dejectedly. "I thought so."
Spike watched his grandsire watching Cordy. She'd said to look at him, and it took him a moment, but then he saw it. With Angel it was all in the eyes. He was still the same monster, his strength and bloodlust lying dormant under smooth pale skin and still chest. The difference was that Angel eyes possessed the warmth of his soul. The one thing that changed dead brown into something rich with pain, guilt, life and love. Angel could push his soul down deep until one look told you he was something dangerous, inhuman, but he never could quite kill the spark, the flash of guilt -that extra something- that marked him as cursed among his kind.
There was nothing now but death behind his eyes.
"Angelus," he breathed. The other Master's eyes widened with surprise at the name. Spike didn't care. He didn't care about the people that were fixing to die. His focus narrowed down to the vampires at his back, the human at his side, and the knowing smirk on Angelus face. He had to get Cordelia out of here.
"Angelus?" the blonde Master queried. "I've heard of you. I thought you had died years ago." He cocked his head and studied Angel with renewed interest. "Why were you spying on me?"
Angelus only had eyes for Cordy. He shrugged, indifferent to the other vampires questions. "I wasn't here for you," he answered simply.
The Master nodded, deducing the obvious. "The human female, you were hunting her?"
"Not exactly, but close enough." He glanced up at the two vamps still holding him. "You know that I'm going to kill you, right?" He shifted heavily then let out a frustrated grunt, "Just as soon as I can feel my legs."
The Master laughed, a great booming sound that made just about everyone, demons included, start in surprise. "There will be plenty of killing tonight without resorting to harming those in my crew. Look around you Angelus. Our brothers have become weak, feeding on the willing, forming relationships with their food. It is sickening....this bestiality. Some of our brothers have forgotten the taste of human's blood laced with mortal fear."
"Oooh, preach it brother!" Angelus mocked, earning a glare from the Master. Angelus flashed him a shit eating grin, "Hey, just agreeing here, it's been ages since I've had a decent drink."
"You drink from the willing?" the Master asked, genuinely surprised.
Cordelia closed her eyes and concentrated on just breathing. She drew on the strength and lessons of nearly three years of constant battles to still her trembling limbs and slow her pounding heart. She drew on Angel's training to set her body into a loose but defensive position. She relied the unfamiliar pulse of power that was now a part of her to put force behind her attack. She drew on the high-school bitch that she had been to wall off her terror until the battle was over and Angel was once again the man she knew and trusted.
Spike sidled up a little closer to Cordelia, his hand brushing hers. She jerked, then settled, lacing her fingers through his and giving his hand a hard squeeze. Spike noted with pride, the high jut of her chin and thin set line of her mouth. He sniffed the air but the scent of her fear had faded and her heart had slowed to an almost steady rhythm. The cheerleader had become a warrior. He bet none of her friends in Sunny-D would recognize the strength that now resided behind her sparkling hazel eyes. She was ready, now they just needed a plan.
The two vampires behind them didn't stop Spike from touching her, but he seriously doubted they would let him reach into his pockets where several stakes lay hidden. Years spent with his grandsire gave him insight into Angelus' actions that the unfamiliar vampires lacked. Spike sensed the time for action was near. Angelus would be all the distraction he and Cordy would need.... If they were quick. He gave her hand two sharp squeezes and let her go.
Angelus grimaced, "Worse, and if I had more time, I'd tell you all about it, but I'm sort of on the clock here, so-" He swept the larger of the two lackey's off his feet, snapping his wrist to release his spring-loaded stake from it's wristband. He drove his hand down hard, cracking the heavy vampires sternum, piercing the heart. "Maybe I'll give you a call, we could meet for coffee and corpses...." He grabbed the second vamp by his skinny little ankle. "Leaving so soon? I'm hurt -well okay- not really." He yanked the reedy vampire down and punched him in the face. "Maybe I'll kill all of you instead, and keep all these tasty folks for myself. I mean who gives a fuck if some vamps like to play with their food?"
"Stay put," he growled and slowly rose to his feet. "I want to talk to you later." A short black vampire took a defensive position in front of the Master, an ancient and deadly Katana raised to the ready position. Angelus grinned. He circled his prey. After so many years hunting his own kind it felt natural, comfortable, but there was other more desirable prey on his mind.
Cordy's smell was driving him wild, and with the leash off he was free to act on desires that his conscience kept buried deep. He wanted to bash and rend and sully the girl, leave a pretty mess for his soul to deal with if he couldn't find a way to make this drug induced freedom permanent.
As soon as Angelus had made his move, Spike whipped around, digging a stake out of his pocket and staking the vampire behind him in one smooth motion. He tossed a stake to Cordy, who had reared back and mule kicked her goon in the knee. She then spun and hit him in the face with the heel of her hand, angling her blow up, driving his nose cartilage into his brain.
Spike winced, on a human that move would have been fatal. Cordelia caught the stake and drove it home, grimacing and shaking the dust off her skin. She picked up the dead vampires crossbow, and jerked her head towards the crowd of humans.
"I'll get them out, you take care of Eric the Viking over there." Spike turned to jump into the fight that had already begun between the two master vampires and the swordsman, but Cordy's voice stopped him. "Wait! Whatever he does, you can't kill him. Spike, you have to promise me...."
"Luv, you know who he is. I have to," he argued, incredulous that she'd even ask. He spun round, hearing the sound of tables breaking.
She had to know she was wasting precious time, but she grabbed him by the arm and jerked him back around, her tone insistent. "NO! You don't understand. This has happened before, and it's only temporary. Whatever that little crap-weasel gave him is making him behave like this...it's still Angel. You *can't* kill him, no matter what!"
Understanding hit like a clear shaft of sunlight. He tried to back away. "Oh no- NO- no bleedin' way, luv." He wasn't even sure why it mattered so much to him, but having spent the last two years on the outskirts of the Scooby's knowing that none of them truly cared whether he came or went, he wasn't going to watch Cordelia willingly allow Angelus to destroy her. Cordelia had let him in to her home, to her circle of friends. They didn't really know each other, not yet, but the promise was there and that meant more to him than she could ever imagine.
Cordy's eyes went brittle, her fingers digging painfully into his skin. "Listen to me you little co-"
"Fuck that, Cordelia! You think that soddin' idiot wouldn't do the same? If he hurts you, he's dead.... If he kills you- I'm staking him, and pissing in his ashes, you hear!" He wrenched his arm from her grip. "If he kills you, he'd be walking into the sunshine as soon as he got his soul back anyway, so don't you dare ask me to spare him!" He pushed her away from him, anger coiling in his gut like a clenched fist. "Now, get those people out of here before this becomes a bloodbath!"
Spike took a few long running steps and jumped into the fray.
Cordelia was seething inside, but one thing Spike was right about. The humans had to go. She ran to the bartender, a tall muscle-bound man, who was just beginning to lean more to the side of flab than flex. "You got a back door?" she snapped. He tore his eyes away from the brawl that was quickly demolishing his club. "Yeah but it's no good....they got it covered."
"By how many vamps?" She barked impatiently.
"Two, I think."
Her shoulders tensed as she considered her options. She had to get these people out, but she couldn't leave Angel. She wondered where the hell Wes and Gunn were. She held up the crossbow. "You know how to use one of these?"
The bartender rolled his eyes. "Sure, but the second vampire would kill me before I got the bolt reloaded," he hedged.
Cordy just huffed and shoved the butt of the crossbow into his gut. "How many people do you have standing here?" She turned on the crowd, "Jeeze folks, you let them suck all on you and *now* your scared? Get the hell over it! There's like twenty or so guys that I see, to one vampire. Some of you *are* vampires even if you are losers. I think you can take them so get a move on....GO!" she shouted, herding them towards the back.
Angel dodged a lethal down-sweep and ducked under an attempt at decapitation. He twisted to the inside, grabbing the swordfighters wrist pushing it and the sword back to knock the other vamp in the face. The startled vampire loosened his hold on the sword and Angel took advantage, ripping it from his hands. He twirled it with a flourish and cut the other vamps head off.
He admired Spike's fighting while the dust settled, grateful that Spike had kept the odds even. One sleeve had been torn from his mesh shirt leaving the arm bare, while the rest of his torso was marginally hidden behind the see-through material. Spike fought dirty, like always, gouging at the Masters eyes, kicking, biting, and yelling.
Angelus remembered all too well how Spike would struggle to gain the advantage over a bigger man. In Angelus' case, Spike always ended up the looser.... He'd picked up some skills since then. The thought of testing those skills had him hard and ready, or would have if the thought of tasting Cordy's blood tonight didn't already have him so hard it was painful. Life was suddenly looking very good. He eyed the little junkie still cowering on the floor. He hoped he could find a way to keep it that way.
First he had some business to attend to while Spike was occupied.
Spike grunted as another punch connected with his ribs. He bent over, feigning injury, only to lunge, spearing the Master, throwing his entire weight into the effort to knock the other vampire down. It only staggered him back a few steps. It also pissed him off. The Viking threw Spike into a table, striding over to a case to pull out a huge, heavy, sharp axe. The Master caught his eye and smiled wickedly.
Spike gave him the two fingered salute.
With a roar the big Viking charged. Spike let him come, using his legs to flip the bigger man over. He hopped up and brushed himself off. "A berserker, eh? Isn't that just another term for someone who can't hold their- oh shit!" He ducked as the axe flew over his head and buried itself in the wall behind him. He laughed, jumping up and grabbing the axe, but it was stuck fast.
The Viking recovered and charged again, picking Spike up and crushing him into the wall. Spike punched him repeatedly in the face, but the bigger vamp only reared back and punched him so hard his vision went gray. He thought now would have been a great time for Angel to lend a hand, but Angelus had disappeared. Cold dread chased away the cobwebs in his brain. While he was stuck dicking around, Angelus was free to run wild. With a defiant roar, Spike began to attack with unrestrained fury....
The bartender had been right, there were only two vampires guarding the exit. He had charged around the corner and shot one with impressive accuracy. The only problem was the one that was left standing was the vampire with the Uzi. A rain of bullets scattered the club patrons, and had the bartender pinned against the far wall.
Cordelia had about had it. Wes and Gunn were nowhere to be found, and the non-violent vampires were running back into the club, leaving the humans who had been their willing feasts to be shot at. She peeked around the corner, getting a glimpse of the vampire slipping another clip into his gun. With a set, determined face, she marched up to about three good sized vampires who were back by the bar.
"What the hell is your problem Nimrods! Bullets won't kill you, now get your asses over there and take out that gunvamp!"
The bravest of the three shook his head. "No way, bullets still hurt like hell. You want to get out of here so bad, then you take him out." The others crossed their arms and nodded their assent.
Cordelia gasped, her eyes flashed with indignation. "You are telling *me* no?" She picked up a barstool swung it round and broke it over the counter. Wood splinters flew everywhere making the three vamps yelp. She picked up a handful of good-sized pieces and shoved them into the dumfounded vampires hands. She pinned all three under a glare that had their testicles scrambling to draw up in their bodies.
"These stupid people come in here night after night to be your chow. It's sick, and it's gross, but that's what they want, so we let them do it....*your* food supply is in trouble and you *will* get in there and stake that gun toting psycho or so help me, I will stake you myself, right here and now."
"Huh?" The spokes-vamp grunted, confused. Cordy's flashing eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on her stake. All three vamps took a step back.
A low chuckle startled them. Cordy turned to see Angelus behind her, the blonde bimbo from earlier at his side. His arm was wrapped casually around her waist, but her eyes said her being there was anything but willing.
"You see, you have to ask yourself which is scarier- A gun toting zealot, or Cordelia Chase when she's pissed and in full-on bitch mode." He grinned at Cordelia and pulled the blonde tightly to his body. She let out a little terror filled squeak. "I know which one I'd be afraid of...."
Cordy's knees were shaking, her throat dry. She didn't want to die for the bimbo. Anyone but her would have been okay, but not the stupid, drunk, blonde, bimbo. She whirled around to the vamps, hating to put her back to Angel but refusing to show him her fear. "Well?" she asked them flatly.
The three vampires looked nervously between themselves and her. "We'll take our chances with the Uzi." They ran to the back of the club and after a moment there was a flurry of gunfire then- silence. She waited until she saw the other people and vampires rushing towards the exit before turning back around to face her own worst fear.
He was still standing there, watching her curiously, while he absently fondled the terrified woman's neck. He smiled. "You are the only person I have ever met that could intimidate a vampire."
She smirked. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
His features shifted slightly and his playful smile turned cold. "I like strength in a woman. It makes them more fun to break. Of course Darla here-" he snickered. "Imagine that, Cor, such a coincidence don't you think? Darla is weak, needy, addicted....worthless." His lips curved into a sadistic smirk as they brushed the other woman's ear, "Aren't you Darla?"
"Y-Ye-Yes." She trembled under his light caresses. "I am w-worth-worthless- sure. P-please I'll do whatever you want." Her lower lip quivered, and her eyes shown with useless hope as Cordy watched Angelus toy with her. "D-Do you want a-a taste?"
"Oh Darla," Angelus breathed dipping low to suckle her neck. "Why stop at just a taste?"
"Don't do it." Cordy pleaded.
"Or what? Are you going to stop me?" He laughed derisively. "I don't think so, but enjoy the show because- you're next."
Without another word, Angel sank his fangs deep into his captive's throat.
"No!" Cordy shrieked, taking a few steps closer. After taking a few more swallows Angel slowly lifted his head and blinked at her, his expression as innocent as a child's. Blood was smeared across his lips and dripping down his chin.
"Oh, come on Cor. No one is going to miss Darla here, she's already used up." He brushed the woman's hair out of the way, showing the many old scars underneath his fresh bite. Darla's eyes were brimming with unshed tears as they pleaded silently with Cordelia. Maybe it was her demon, but suddenly Cordelia knew- she could see this woman's life laid bare in her watery eyes, like a long empty road, she could see both where she had come from and where she was headed. Darla believed Angelus, but only because she had felt that way for a long time. Cordelia could also see a hidden strength, something that Darla herself had long since believed she'd dumped by the roadside, abandoned and forgotten. "There's hardly enough left of her to make a good snack." Angel leaned down, baring his fangs.
"Wait." Cordy said, softly. Angelus hesitated, watching her with undisguised curiosity. Cordy licked her lips nervously. She could do this, even if it was for the bimbo. "Even trade."
Angelus cocked his head, expression amused. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Cordy kept her voice steady. She sounded a hell of a lot more confident than she felt.
"She's not worth it." Angelus replied seriously. "Let me have her, Cor." He rubbed his cheek along Darla's, eliciting a high pitched keen from her. "She wants it, hell she was practically begging for it all night. Look at her, Come on! Take a *good* look at her!" Angel shoved the woman forward, keeping a firm grip on her neck. Darla moaned, terrified gibberish pouring from her lips. "You can't tell me her life is worth more than yours." She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out everything but Angelus. She couldn't focus on Darla, or she'd loose it.
Hazel eyes locked with dead brown. "It is to me." She took another step forward. "Let her go, and I won't try and run."
"Promise?" The predatory gleam in his eye told her that he didn't believe her, and wouldn't mind the chase.
Cordelia took a deep breath. "Yes."
"Okay," he shoved Darla towards Cordelia. The woman took one wobbly step and collapsed at Cordelia's feet, clutching at her ankles and sobbing with relief. Without taking her eyes off of Angelus she knelt, prying the hysterical woman off of her shoes.
"Listen to me Darla. I'm only going to say this once. You are not some worthless piece of trash. I don't care what your daddy did to you, or what your mamma told you. You are worth more than this. You have a good head for numbers, and are really good at organizing things, right?"
Shocked out of her hysteria,the other woman sniffled, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. "What? How do you know about-?"
Cordy grabbed the other woman's shoulders and gave her one good shake. "Shut up. It doesn't matter, I just know. What does matter is that you are never going to set foot in one of these places again. You are going to march out that door, and never look back. Come Monday, you are going to enroll into night school and you are going to clean yourself up, go to school and get your life together. If you EVER let another vampire within thirty feet of your neck, I'll know."
The woman's expression had shuttered and gone defensive. "You can't stop me. You can't make me do anything."
Cordelia finally tore her gaze from Angelus' laughing eyes and fixed Darla with a cold hard stare. "You're right, you ungrateful bitch, but I *can* send him after you."
Angelus laughed, striding over to squat beside them. "You'd better listen to her. She's just enough of a hard-ass to go through with it. Of course, she'll be dead before the night is over, but I bet her ghost could nag me until I caved. So you go and do what she said, and remember. she gave her life for yours. Now you just have to go about deserving it...." He shoved Darla towards the door, sending the woman sprawling. She scuttled towards the exit. Angel wrapped his hand around Cordy's wrist, standing and jerking her to her feet. "Well, I've done my good deed for the millennium."
"Don't hold your breath waiting for a thank you." Cordy snapped.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Angel swept her into a tight embrace, fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her into a searing, bruising kiss. Cordy tried to push him away, but he pinned her to him, pressing his taught body flush as his blood-slicked tongue slid in alongside hers. She gagged and beat at him with her fists, but that only seemed to spur him on. He fucked her mouth with his tongue, the blood on his lips smeared across hers as he ate at her mouth hungrily. One hand kept her head where he wanted it as the other slid down her back and over her ass, pulling her into his erection. She refused to react or kiss him back, and the next time his tongue slipped between her teeth, she bit down, hard.
She felt muscle tear, and the copper tang of fresh blood. Angel reared back with a hiss. His eyes darkened with desire and anger. He took a short step back and then backhanded her. Cordy felt her world go black and then she was slamming into the bar. Without thought her hand closed around a splinter of wood from the broken barstool. Her legs wouldn't support her, however, so instead of turning to fight, she sank bonelessly to the floor. She heard the sound of growling behind her, and slowly, painfully turned towards the sound. She touched a tooth with her tongue and found it lose.
"That's the second time today you've refused my kiss." He touched his fingers to his lips, as if still slightly incredulous that she had resisted.
Cordelia coughed and spit a stringy mass of blood and spit on the floor. "What can I say, Angelus? You're a horrible kisser." Her mouth twisted up into her singular trademark smirk. "Xander makes you look like an amateur. You'd think with two hundred and fifty years of practice, you'd have picked up a few skills, but-" she shrugged. "Now Spike- that's a vamp that knows how to use his tongue."
Angelus shook his finger at her, as if he were scolding a petulant child. "You'll pay for that." He ran his hands down his chest towards his crotch. Her eyes dropped. Too late, she realized that was exactly what he had wanted her to do. "Fight me all you want, Cor, I like a girl with spirit, makes me feel all manly while I'm raping her."
"Whatever." Cordy answered, dully trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her best friend was sporting a monster hard on and threatening her with it.
"Don't pretend your not afraid." Angelus warned.
She scowled at him as she gripped the edge of the bar and struggled to stand on unsteady feet. "I'm terrified, you happy?" She faced him, elbows resting on the bar behind her. It was a deceptively casual pose. She wasn't sure if she could stand without the solid wood at her back for support. Angelus closed the distance between them, but he didn't pounce this time. He simply stood about a foot in front of her and studied her.
"No." Angelus finally answered.
Maybe Cordy's mind was still foggy from being bitchslapped across the room, but Angelus' answer threw her. "Why the hell not?" she barked. Killing her should have damn well made him happy, and as insane as it sounded, she was indignant that he would insist otherwise. If he said it was because she wasn't Buffy, she didn't care if Angelus was only temporary, she'd stake him herself. Mainly, she just wanted to keep him talking until the cavalry arrived.
Angelus actually stuck out his lip in a very real pout, his finger raising to trace the contour of her neck, and then slide across her shoulder and down her arm. Cordy simply kept up the steely glare. "There are so many things I want to do to you. I mean, there's the blood drinking, torture, and the raping, and more torture, more raping, more blood, a little more with the torture-"
"OKAY!" Cordy interrupted. "I get it. Drink, rape and torture, that's pretty much the vampire M.O." She shied away when he brushed a knuckle against the plump swell of her barely-covered breast. "Whatever happened to originality? How many times can the same story be fresh? Why don't you try for comedy instead?"
"I happen to think killing you will be hilarious." He grinned, nailing her with a wet, bloody kiss on her lips. "It'll be one of my best performances yet."
"Pfft." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the urge to puke, garnering a light but stinging slap from Angelus.
"I don't like it when you mock me." His tone instantly lightened. "Now, where was I? Right, I don't have time to do all three, and even if I were to attempt two, I don't want to be half-assed about it, so I figure I only have time to really do one thing right before the drug wears off, or someone shows up to rescue you. Raping you would be fun, really, but in the long run, it's all about what would be best for the soul."
Angelus closed the distance between them, once more pressing himself fully against her. "So, killing you it is." He stated with a wicked gleam in his eye. "I just want to taste you first. I can't kill you without having one last kiss." He sighed, "The sacrifices I make for my soul's suffering. None of you ever give me enough credit." He leaned down and kissed her neck tenderly, like a lover would.
"Yeah," she scoffed. "You're a real unsung hero-" Her retort was cut off by his lips covering hers. Except for the fact that both their faces were now smeared with blood, it was a damn good kiss, even Cordy would have to agree, though she'd die before she admitted it. Angelus kissed her gently, reverently, keeping his tongue in his mouth, and focusing instead on giving each lip equal attention as he sucked lightly at her skin. His hands wandered down her side, sneaking around to cup her breasts. He groaned pressing his erection against her stomach. He trailed a thin line of red across her cheek as he kissed his way towards her ear, biting down on the delicate skin as he hooked his hand under her knee and pulled her leg up over his hip, bringing them into the most intimate of contact.
Cordelia responded as he rocked himself against her heat. One hand wrapped around his neck, trying to force him to end his teasing kisses and give her something to fuel the fire he'd ignited in her belly. She blocked out the now sickly taste of Darla's blood, as she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, nipping and sucking until he opened up to her. She licked the blood off his teeth, sparking something deep inside Angel's demon. His hands traveled up to grip her shoulders with bruising force, as she rubbed his back in a soothing, familiar pattern and explored the cool cavern of his mouth the way she'd always wanted to. Angelus pulled back panting and stared, completely floored that she would respond to his advances with such passion. She let him see it, hiding nothing, caught up in the moment.
"Cordelia?" he whispered. He was off guard, his soft parts exposed to attack.
"Angelus." she answered, her voice breathless. She acted before the thought could be read in her face, slamming the stake into his gut and jerking it up, trying to rend as much of his torso as her strength would allow. She felt splinters digging deep into her palm but she kept pulling. Angelus features twisted in pain, surprise and then complete and utter rage. Cordy's mind flashed back to the alley, only the night before, when he'd pushed her against the wall and pinned her there.
Angel had warned her that he was his monster. Cordelia got that, and had for a very long time. The difference, the thing that Angel never seemed to acknowledge, was that Angelus could never be Angel. He didn't have a conscience, didn't understand the word mercy. He picked her up one handed as the other clutched at the gaping hole she'd torn into his belly. By some stroke of luck she had managed to hold on to her sharp sliver of wood, and she swiped at his face with it. He jerked away, but she managed to slice his cheek open.
He let go of his intestines and grabbed her arm. It was slick with his blood, and she almost was able to jerk it free. His grip tightened until she felt bone grinding against bone, and then they both heard something snap. Cordelia screamed. Angelus threw her across the room before sinking to his knees.
Cordelia curled herself around her broken, useless wrist. She lay panting, bruised and dazed but Angelus hadn't beaten her yet. His face had changed as he roared at her in pain and frustration. She grinned, an insane urge to laugh in his face bubbling to the surface. She gave in to it. His eyes glittered gold, but there was a new wariness in them that had never been there before. "I'm going to kill you, you fucking cunt!" he snarled.
"Big words, baby-man, but it's *your* guts leaking all over the floor, not mine." she boasted.
He panted, his words coming out in a gasping breathless rush, "I just wanted to make it nice for you, in honor of all you had come to mean to me. You are the first-" He winced, shoving bits of something back into his chest cavity. "You are the first person who ever accepted Angel for everything he was, including me. Is this the thanks I get?"
"Excuse me for not wanting to die, you asshole!" she hissed. "I think I like you better when you don't talk so much." She pushed herself up to a sitting position, watching Angelus as he slowly crawled towards her. "You are so gonna get it when your soul gets back."
Angelus tried to laugh, but it came out in a pained cough. "I thought you didn't blame the soul for my actions. If I have to spend the next -however long until you die- listening to you bitch at me for every single bad thing I've ever done, then stake me now." Angelus was close. Cordelia began to scoot away.
Angelus lunged, despite the searing pain in his abdomen, and snagged Cordy by the ankle. "Ah, ah, Cor. I believe I was fixing to kill you while you were stalling for time." He yanked her foot, sending her sliding over the rough boards of the floor. He straddled her, his weight pushing her bruised and scraped body flat. "As entertaining as this little interlude was. I think it's time for you to die."
Author: Psychofilly
Rating: Pg-NC17
Pairing: C/A, C/S, A/C/S, other
Category: AU, Angst, Romance. Angel never gave Cordy money and Cordy never left with Groo after "Couplet." I started this after "Hells Bells", but it's really more along the line of a follow-up to "As You Were" for Spike.
Disclaimer: Not mine, all Joss's, ME's, and Fox Studios.
Summary: Spike always had been a sucker for a pretty face.
Kindred's 4 of 8 *Post Couplet/Hells Bells*
Archive Version
A deeply buried part of Cordelia Chase wished that she would have listened to Angel. She'd never admit it to herself or especially to him, but this was one seriously creepy club. Angel had mentioned blood and sex. Boy, howdy! To her left, a dark corner was being occupied by a vampire and a human donor currently having sex while he and two other vampires fed off of her. Spike had already declined several offers from other vamps for a taste of herself, and the way they looked at her, she was pretty sure that weren't just talking about her blood.
She scanned the floor, quietly willing the vampire from her vision to hurry up and show already. Pretty much every corner of the club was filled with vampires feeding, humans writhing and moaning and....no, she wasn't going to even think about what *that* vampire was doing. She felt a cool hand brush her knee and tensed. Spike looked worried. He could probably hear the way her heart would jump up and do the cha-cha every time another vampire approached....she tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.
Spike leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Relax, ducks. No one is going to hurt you." He lazily scanned the interior of the club. "Actually this place looks pretty tame, no wonder the wanker in your vision has a hard on to destroy it." He let out a disgusted huff, "This place is full of posers."
"Yeah, well these posers would be dust if we met them on the street." she groused. She huffed as a blonde and obviously drunk human stumbled past. She had bite marks on her neck and wrist. Cordy noticed two thin trails of blood creeping down the inside of her thigh. "Ugh." she shuddered, turning to Spike. "The vampires I get. They're just doing what vampires do....but what is up with the *people*! God, they're stupid," Her eyes caught sight of the blonde as she swerved into the nearest vampire and smiled drunkenly. "That's just gross."
Spike smirked, "Have you ever been bitten, luv?" He was surprised to see her eyes go hard and flat. "I see. I'll take that as a yes then." To cover his own flustered surprise, he fished out a cigarette and lit it. "Was it trying to feed?" he gently prodded.
Cordelia simply nodded, her mouth clamped in a grim tight line. He covered her hand with his own, squeezing it tight, stilling the slight tremors in her fingers. "It wasn't Angel was it?" She at him curiously as if surprised that he'd even ask, then shook her head.
"No," it came out in a croak and she quickly cleared her throat. "It was a bony, skanky, blonde, bitch-pire," Her eyes narrowed at the memory, and she looked at Spike as if the fact that he was blonde and undead were suddenly to very big demerits against his existence. "She's dead. End of story."
Spike seriously doubted it. He took a breath, preparing to tell her just that.
"Drop it." She smiled wide, but her teeth were clenched, bordering on grinding and her entire posture was stiff.
"Whatever, luv." He took a long drag of his cigarette, "So much for complete honesty, eh?"
"Ass," she snapped.
He chuckled, feeling good to finally have found some moral high ground. His mood evaporated when she scowled, her eyes sliding over his shoulder to the vampire approaching from behind. Spike turned, following her line of site. He had to bite back a derisive laugh at the young vampire waiting patiently for a chance to speak.
Taking Spike's silence for permission, his attention shifted to Cordy. He flashed her with what Spike assumed was supposed to be a seductive smile. The vampires long honey-brown hair slipped over his features as he dipped his head to take in Cordy's outfit and the body that it barely covered.
"Mmmm," the younger vampire smacked his lips appreciatively. "You are truly a feast for all the senses." He took her hand and brushed his lips lightly across her knuckles. "Care to join me for a drink?"
"As if!" Cordy snatched her hand away. "Listen here you lame Lois wanna-be. Brad Pitt you are not, so why don't you save the-" her eyes swept over him contemptuously, "Act- for someone that's lame enough to be interested." She turned back to the bar, giving the long haired vamp the glacial shoulder.
Warning bells went off in the back of Spike's mind as the other vampires expression darkened in outrage. For his own part, Spike found Cordy's imperious brush-off of the other vampire quite arousing. He felt secure in the knowledge that the chit was his, at least while they were here in the club. When it came to matching wits and trading barbs, Cordy could more than hold her own with any vampire that wanted to have a go at her. The problem is that same acid tongue could get her in a physical confrontation that she was wholly unprepared for.
Like now for instance.
The other vampires arm snaked out and grabbed Cordy by the elbow. It was a foolish move. Spike had its hand disengaged from Cordy's tender flesh and his thumb pressed savagely into the back of its hand, twisting its arm and locking its elbow before the other vamp was barely aware that Spike had grabbed him.
Spike brought his elbow down hard, breaking the other vampires arm. To his credit, the Anne Rice wanna-be didn't scream. Spike shoved him off and turned casually back to his psuedo-date. Cordelia's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, breath short. The piquant smell of fear drifted from her pores. Spike decided he'd never seen her looking more alluring.
Spike pulled Cordy close, sensing her need to be touched. He trapped her body between his legs and nuzzled her neck. His eyes, however, were on the room, making sure the other vampires got the message. Tonight the chit was his.
"It's all-right luv," he whispered, running his hands up and down her arms. He soothed and gentled her as if she were a skittish mare, cooing nonsense in her ear. After a little while, she began to relax, her hands slipping around his waist as she lay her head on his shoulder. He could feel the last of her tension leave as he stroked her back and smoothed her hair.
Her warmth and trust were reassuring for Spike as well. She was so soft and trusting in his arms, a direct contrast to the hard angles, sharp fists and even sharper words that was Buffy. He felt his chest constricting at the memory of her last visit to his crypt.
She had been so beautiful when she had come to him....beautiful but sad when she said the words that had seemingly damned him for his eternal existence. When she had dumped him, it was as if she had found a piece of herself that had been missing.
He didn't want to think about what that might mean. He loved her so much that it ripped him to shreds at every reminder that he wasn't what she needed....not because he couldn't be, but because she wouldn't even let him try.
"Spike?" Worried hazel eyes locked with his. "Are you okay?"
Spike blinked a couple of times, dragging his attention back to the present. "What?"
"I'd kind of like to breathe, and -well- let me go, okay?"
Spike immediately loosened his death-grip, grinning a little to cover his embarrassment when she took a couple of deep relieved breaths. "Sorry, ducks."
"Buffy?"
Spike scowled down at the young woman in front of him, "No."
Her lips quirked up at the corners. "So much for complete honesty, huh?" she said softly.
His only response was to brush his lips softly against hers. She didn't resist, but he felt a shiver run down her spine and his hands slid southward in an effort to catch it. He tugged her closer and hesitantly leaned in once again, knowing that he was tempting fate with Angel watching, only this time she did go stiff. Her hands reached up and dug into his shoulders, her gaze riveted on something behind him. "Cordelia?" he whispered.
She swallowed, and he could hear the dry click of her throat contracting. "Oh God."
Spike tried to turn his head and see, but she pulled him down by the ears into a quick savage kiss. Soon he saw what had to have upset her. A group of about six vampires strode through the middle of the room, all carrying weapons ranging from swords to Uzi's. The two largest vampires were half carrying half dragging Angel, who was slumped between them. Their cover was as good as blown.
"Bloody hell."
********************
Spike kept Cordy trapped in the circle of his arms. There was still a good possibility that they could salvage the situation if nobody panicked. Since Angel didn't look like he'd be doing much of anything for a while, all Spike had to worry about was Cordy.
She once more went stiff in his arms but she kept her cool, burying her face in his neck, bringing her lips to his ear. "We've got to do something." Her breath barely vibrated the air between them.
He leaned down and nuzzled her. "No we don't, not until we know whet they are planning." He felt her sharp nails dig into his biceps.
"We *do* know. I saw it. remember?"
He pried her claws off of his arms. "You saw Angel, and still let him come?"
She pulled back, scowling when their eyes locked, "No, dumbass, but I saw- why can't the Powers for *once* give me a clear vision?" she grumbled, "Fine Einstein, what do we do?"
Spike winked, grinning with confidence he did not feel as he slid out of his seat and held out his hand for her. "We watch the show." He leaned in and kissed her temple, careful to avoid the cut that was hidden underneath her bangs. "Keep your mouth shut and follow my lead."
"Pfft."
"Cordelia," he warned.
"Hey, my mouth was shut." She smirked, "Lead on Peroxide....and please, don't get us all killed."
Spike rolled his eyes, but true to her word, Cordy followed silently and obediently, her hands clutching at the waistband of his pants. Spike glanced over his shoulder. "Ease up, luv. I nicked these leathers from Billy Idol."
"Let go of the seventies, Spike, trust me on this."
"Bitch please- " Spike scoffed as they kept their slow, casual pace, bickering lightly as the edged closer to the action. "- So I can embrace parachute pants and power ties?" Spike shook his head, inwardly pleased that she was playing it cool. "Spike: Vampire Yuppie strikes terror in the hearts of no one."
"Well, *I* think it's scary." She wrinkled her nose as she swiped at his hair. "You should at least loose the platinum helmet, maybe go for a honey blonde with darker undertones-"
"Shh." Spike admonished.
They were close. Spike sensed a rise in fear as Cordy went ridged beside him, so much for her casual air of indifference. He quickly followed her line of sight. "That him?"
"Yep."
The vampire from Cordy's vision was definitely not to be trifled with. He wished she would have told him the bastard was so damn big. There was an itchy burn of raw power in the air that told Spike the tall Nordic vampire was at *least* twice as old as Angel. His glacier blue eyes were as cold and dead as a sharks.
He also looked like a vamp that rarely bothered to shift out of his true face. Spike knew that after a while some vampires, like the Master of Aurelius, lost the ability. Under this long wild hair that was naturally as light as Spike's this Master vampire's face was heavy-boned and deeply wrinkled. There was blood on his hands and chin, dried blood gave his hair strawberry blonde tips. Spike would bet good money that this vamp had been a Viking.
He was dragging a terrified patron along behind him. The man's face was a pulpy mess. The Master jerked the barely conscious man up and ripped into his throat. He drank until the man's pasty skin began to shrink in around his bones.
Cordy was beginning to squeeze his hand so hard it hurt. With a deep sense of foreboding, he realized he had been staring hard at the other blonde vampire and it had been staring right back at him as blood slowly dripped from his chin. Spike licked his lips. He bet if he closed his eyes he could imagine the taste of it. A deep moan from Angel snapped both of their attention from their silent challenge to his huddled form.
"Who is this?" The tall vampire demanded of the two lackeys in a surprisingly cultured voice. There was no trace of any accent but there was a strong note of surprise. Spike was pretty surprised that Angel had been taken down by two slags himself. The Master sucked at a bit of tendon stuck between his teeth. "What did you do to him?"
The first lackey, a huge doughy vampire that was only as strong as the weight he could throw around simply shrugged. The second one, thin as a reed, giggled. Spike pursed his lips with distaste. He recognized the signs of a vampire with a habit. Drug addiction among vamps was rare, but just as devastating as among humans. Vamps were addicts by nature. Drugs couldn't kill brain cells that were already dead, but they could still produce some pretty jacked-up specimens of vampire society.
The laconic vampire adjusted his grip on Angel's arm. "I don't know who he is. We've never seen him around these parts before."
The strung out vampire tittered wildly. "He's a strong one though, and pretty old. Not that bright though, or that observant, eh?" He eyed his partner in crime with a mischievous twinkle. "We just snuck up behind him and- pow!" He made a jabbing motion with his hand. "I shot him up with my own special blend; he went down pretty easy after that. Why fight fair if you don't have too. right?"
The other vamp rubbed his chin. "He got in a few good shots."
"Heh, we got in more."
The Nordic Master scowled at the twitching lackey. "I thought I told you-"
"Yeah, yeah, no drugs tonight. I'm clean man, I just brought a little for the after-party." The ill hid fear on the vamps face said he'd been a bad vampire, and had a good bit of his own special blend running through his system. "Anyway's shouldn't we be concentrating on the-" He kicked Angel in the ribs, "Happy peeper?"
Cordelia blanched, her stomach seemingly plunging to her feet, as fear made her insides want to crawl into the darkest corner of the club and hide. She glanced at Spike who was listening to the entire exchange with feigned disinterest. He'd never met Angel while under chemical influence. Maybe- at least she fervently hoped that whatever those vampires had shot him up with was a depressant, and not a happy drug. She eyed Angel's captors, the way that squirrelly little vamp was bouncing around....
They were definitely screwed.
Angel groaned and shook his head, obviously feeling the effects of the drugs as he began to come round. Cordy could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, something he only did when he was really happy, or really upset. She supposed their odds were even, and wondered which side of the coin toss their asses had landed on this time. Experience made her fear for the worst.
Angel's head snapped up, surprising his captors. He searched the room frantically, eyes locking with hers as soon as he homed in on her. There was a world of pain behind dark brown irises, and something she rarely saw in Angel- fear. "Cordelia...." he rasped. "RUN!"
Yep, screwed, and she doubted they'd be getting a kiss afterwards. Angel was a fighter, but this was one battle that she knew he wouldn't win. Spike was looking back and forth between them, but this was a fight going on inside Angel that no soulless being would ever understand or appreciate, not even an exceptional one like Spike.
She sent Angel all the supportive vibes she could, but she couldn't do a damn thing for him now except be there to help pick up the pieces when it was over and hope like hell he didn't kill anybody, especially her. The way her knees were wobbling and her muscles turning to Jell-O meant her instincts knew exactly who Angelus would focus his attacks on, even if her mind was fighting to deny it.
They *so* needed to get the hell out of there.
Angel broke eye-contact. His head dropped back down as he sagged between his captors. Cordelia slowly began to back away, dragging Spike with her. Unfortunately, the vamp from her vision hadn't missed the exchange between her and Angel. With a wave of his hand, their escape route was suddenly blocked by two bouncer sized vamps with guns. Her heart-rate soared until she thought it might pound right through her chest and run off without her.
"Balls," Spike swore, his blue eyes snapping with annoyance, "What the bleeding hell is going on!" Cordy understood Spike was annoyed that Angel had blown their cover, but she didn't spare the energy to worry about it. They weren't dealing with just a pack of bloodthirsty vampires anymore. There was only one bloodthirsty vampire she was worried about, one whose face that still paid occasional visits to her nightmares.... She simply jerked her chin in Angel's direction. He had fallen to his knees, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
"You want the cliff notes version? Just look at him." Cordy said. The big vamp from her vision was looking curiously back and forth between her and Angel, clearly impatient to get to the root of their little drama before the killing began. She didn't need to be a vampire to smell the fear coming off the other humans in the club. She struggled, trying to control her own rising panic. She wouldn't do anyone any good by running and screaming like a schoolgirl.
Sometimes her job really sucked.
Angel raised his head slowly, gaze locking with Spike's for the space of a heartbeat before sliding over to caress Cordy from head to toe. "Hey baby," he all but purred, "Miss me?"
Beside her, Spike sucked in a tiny, startled breath of air. Her mind flashed back to Doyle's parting words to Angel. "You never know yourself until you were tested," he'd said, just before he'd sacrificed himself in Angel's place. Cordy had been tested repeatedly since Doyle's death, with the visions, the demonization, and just by trying to keep their ragtag family together after Wesley's attempted kidnapping of Connor. Somehow she knew, deep down, that she could face Angelus.
Her face scrunched into a hopeful expression. "Would you kill me if I said no?"
He chuckled. "I'll kill you no matter what you say, Cor."
Her shoulders slumped dejectedly. "I thought so."
Spike watched his grandsire watching Cordy. She'd said to look at him, and it took him a moment, but then he saw it. With Angel it was all in the eyes. He was still the same monster, his strength and bloodlust lying dormant under smooth pale skin and still chest. The difference was that Angel eyes possessed the warmth of his soul. The one thing that changed dead brown into something rich with pain, guilt, life and love. Angel could push his soul down deep until one look told you he was something dangerous, inhuman, but he never could quite kill the spark, the flash of guilt -that extra something- that marked him as cursed among his kind.
There was nothing now but death behind his eyes.
"Angelus," he breathed. The other Master's eyes widened with surprise at the name. Spike didn't care. He didn't care about the people that were fixing to die. His focus narrowed down to the vampires at his back, the human at his side, and the knowing smirk on Angelus face. He had to get Cordelia out of here.
"Angelus?" the blonde Master queried. "I've heard of you. I thought you had died years ago." He cocked his head and studied Angel with renewed interest. "Why were you spying on me?"
Angelus only had eyes for Cordy. He shrugged, indifferent to the other vampires questions. "I wasn't here for you," he answered simply.
The Master nodded, deducing the obvious. "The human female, you were hunting her?"
"Not exactly, but close enough." He glanced up at the two vamps still holding him. "You know that I'm going to kill you, right?" He shifted heavily then let out a frustrated grunt, "Just as soon as I can feel my legs."
The Master laughed, a great booming sound that made just about everyone, demons included, start in surprise. "There will be plenty of killing tonight without resorting to harming those in my crew. Look around you Angelus. Our brothers have become weak, feeding on the willing, forming relationships with their food. It is sickening....this bestiality. Some of our brothers have forgotten the taste of human's blood laced with mortal fear."
"Oooh, preach it brother!" Angelus mocked, earning a glare from the Master. Angelus flashed him a shit eating grin, "Hey, just agreeing here, it's been ages since I've had a decent drink."
"You drink from the willing?" the Master asked, genuinely surprised.
Cordelia closed her eyes and concentrated on just breathing. She drew on the strength and lessons of nearly three years of constant battles to still her trembling limbs and slow her pounding heart. She drew on Angel's training to set her body into a loose but defensive position. She relied the unfamiliar pulse of power that was now a part of her to put force behind her attack. She drew on the high-school bitch that she had been to wall off her terror until the battle was over and Angel was once again the man she knew and trusted.
Spike sidled up a little closer to Cordelia, his hand brushing hers. She jerked, then settled, lacing her fingers through his and giving his hand a hard squeeze. Spike noted with pride, the high jut of her chin and thin set line of her mouth. He sniffed the air but the scent of her fear had faded and her heart had slowed to an almost steady rhythm. The cheerleader had become a warrior. He bet none of her friends in Sunny-D would recognize the strength that now resided behind her sparkling hazel eyes. She was ready, now they just needed a plan.
The two vampires behind them didn't stop Spike from touching her, but he seriously doubted they would let him reach into his pockets where several stakes lay hidden. Years spent with his grandsire gave him insight into Angelus' actions that the unfamiliar vampires lacked. Spike sensed the time for action was near. Angelus would be all the distraction he and Cordy would need.... If they were quick. He gave her hand two sharp squeezes and let her go.
Angelus grimaced, "Worse, and if I had more time, I'd tell you all about it, but I'm sort of on the clock here, so-" He swept the larger of the two lackey's off his feet, snapping his wrist to release his spring-loaded stake from it's wristband. He drove his hand down hard, cracking the heavy vampires sternum, piercing the heart. "Maybe I'll give you a call, we could meet for coffee and corpses...." He grabbed the second vamp by his skinny little ankle. "Leaving so soon? I'm hurt -well okay- not really." He yanked the reedy vampire down and punched him in the face. "Maybe I'll kill all of you instead, and keep all these tasty folks for myself. I mean who gives a fuck if some vamps like to play with their food?"
"Stay put," he growled and slowly rose to his feet. "I want to talk to you later." A short black vampire took a defensive position in front of the Master, an ancient and deadly Katana raised to the ready position. Angelus grinned. He circled his prey. After so many years hunting his own kind it felt natural, comfortable, but there was other more desirable prey on his mind.
Cordy's smell was driving him wild, and with the leash off he was free to act on desires that his conscience kept buried deep. He wanted to bash and rend and sully the girl, leave a pretty mess for his soul to deal with if he couldn't find a way to make this drug induced freedom permanent.
As soon as Angelus had made his move, Spike whipped around, digging a stake out of his pocket and staking the vampire behind him in one smooth motion. He tossed a stake to Cordy, who had reared back and mule kicked her goon in the knee. She then spun and hit him in the face with the heel of her hand, angling her blow up, driving his nose cartilage into his brain.
Spike winced, on a human that move would have been fatal. Cordelia caught the stake and drove it home, grimacing and shaking the dust off her skin. She picked up the dead vampires crossbow, and jerked her head towards the crowd of humans.
"I'll get them out, you take care of Eric the Viking over there." Spike turned to jump into the fight that had already begun between the two master vampires and the swordsman, but Cordy's voice stopped him. "Wait! Whatever he does, you can't kill him. Spike, you have to promise me...."
"Luv, you know who he is. I have to," he argued, incredulous that she'd even ask. He spun round, hearing the sound of tables breaking.
She had to know she was wasting precious time, but she grabbed him by the arm and jerked him back around, her tone insistent. "NO! You don't understand. This has happened before, and it's only temporary. Whatever that little crap-weasel gave him is making him behave like this...it's still Angel. You *can't* kill him, no matter what!"
Understanding hit like a clear shaft of sunlight. He tried to back away. "Oh no- NO- no bleedin' way, luv." He wasn't even sure why it mattered so much to him, but having spent the last two years on the outskirts of the Scooby's knowing that none of them truly cared whether he came or went, he wasn't going to watch Cordelia willingly allow Angelus to destroy her. Cordelia had let him in to her home, to her circle of friends. They didn't really know each other, not yet, but the promise was there and that meant more to him than she could ever imagine.
Cordy's eyes went brittle, her fingers digging painfully into his skin. "Listen to me you little co-"
"Fuck that, Cordelia! You think that soddin' idiot wouldn't do the same? If he hurts you, he's dead.... If he kills you- I'm staking him, and pissing in his ashes, you hear!" He wrenched his arm from her grip. "If he kills you, he'd be walking into the sunshine as soon as he got his soul back anyway, so don't you dare ask me to spare him!" He pushed her away from him, anger coiling in his gut like a clenched fist. "Now, get those people out of here before this becomes a bloodbath!"
Spike took a few long running steps and jumped into the fray.
Cordelia was seething inside, but one thing Spike was right about. The humans had to go. She ran to the bartender, a tall muscle-bound man, who was just beginning to lean more to the side of flab than flex. "You got a back door?" she snapped. He tore his eyes away from the brawl that was quickly demolishing his club. "Yeah but it's no good....they got it covered."
"By how many vamps?" She barked impatiently.
"Two, I think."
Her shoulders tensed as she considered her options. She had to get these people out, but she couldn't leave Angel. She wondered where the hell Wes and Gunn were. She held up the crossbow. "You know how to use one of these?"
The bartender rolled his eyes. "Sure, but the second vampire would kill me before I got the bolt reloaded," he hedged.
Cordy just huffed and shoved the butt of the crossbow into his gut. "How many people do you have standing here?" She turned on the crowd, "Jeeze folks, you let them suck all on you and *now* your scared? Get the hell over it! There's like twenty or so guys that I see, to one vampire. Some of you *are* vampires even if you are losers. I think you can take them so get a move on....GO!" she shouted, herding them towards the back.
Angel dodged a lethal down-sweep and ducked under an attempt at decapitation. He twisted to the inside, grabbing the swordfighters wrist pushing it and the sword back to knock the other vamp in the face. The startled vampire loosened his hold on the sword and Angel took advantage, ripping it from his hands. He twirled it with a flourish and cut the other vamps head off.
He admired Spike's fighting while the dust settled, grateful that Spike had kept the odds even. One sleeve had been torn from his mesh shirt leaving the arm bare, while the rest of his torso was marginally hidden behind the see-through material. Spike fought dirty, like always, gouging at the Masters eyes, kicking, biting, and yelling.
Angelus remembered all too well how Spike would struggle to gain the advantage over a bigger man. In Angelus' case, Spike always ended up the looser.... He'd picked up some skills since then. The thought of testing those skills had him hard and ready, or would have if the thought of tasting Cordy's blood tonight didn't already have him so hard it was painful. Life was suddenly looking very good. He eyed the little junkie still cowering on the floor. He hoped he could find a way to keep it that way.
First he had some business to attend to while Spike was occupied.
Spike grunted as another punch connected with his ribs. He bent over, feigning injury, only to lunge, spearing the Master, throwing his entire weight into the effort to knock the other vampire down. It only staggered him back a few steps. It also pissed him off. The Viking threw Spike into a table, striding over to a case to pull out a huge, heavy, sharp axe. The Master caught his eye and smiled wickedly.
Spike gave him the two fingered salute.
With a roar the big Viking charged. Spike let him come, using his legs to flip the bigger man over. He hopped up and brushed himself off. "A berserker, eh? Isn't that just another term for someone who can't hold their- oh shit!" He ducked as the axe flew over his head and buried itself in the wall behind him. He laughed, jumping up and grabbing the axe, but it was stuck fast.
The Viking recovered and charged again, picking Spike up and crushing him into the wall. Spike punched him repeatedly in the face, but the bigger vamp only reared back and punched him so hard his vision went gray. He thought now would have been a great time for Angel to lend a hand, but Angelus had disappeared. Cold dread chased away the cobwebs in his brain. While he was stuck dicking around, Angelus was free to run wild. With a defiant roar, Spike began to attack with unrestrained fury....
The bartender had been right, there were only two vampires guarding the exit. He had charged around the corner and shot one with impressive accuracy. The only problem was the one that was left standing was the vampire with the Uzi. A rain of bullets scattered the club patrons, and had the bartender pinned against the far wall.
Cordelia had about had it. Wes and Gunn were nowhere to be found, and the non-violent vampires were running back into the club, leaving the humans who had been their willing feasts to be shot at. She peeked around the corner, getting a glimpse of the vampire slipping another clip into his gun. With a set, determined face, she marched up to about three good sized vampires who were back by the bar.
"What the hell is your problem Nimrods! Bullets won't kill you, now get your asses over there and take out that gunvamp!"
The bravest of the three shook his head. "No way, bullets still hurt like hell. You want to get out of here so bad, then you take him out." The others crossed their arms and nodded their assent.
Cordelia gasped, her eyes flashed with indignation. "You are telling *me* no?" She picked up a barstool swung it round and broke it over the counter. Wood splinters flew everywhere making the three vamps yelp. She picked up a handful of good-sized pieces and shoved them into the dumfounded vampires hands. She pinned all three under a glare that had their testicles scrambling to draw up in their bodies.
"These stupid people come in here night after night to be your chow. It's sick, and it's gross, but that's what they want, so we let them do it....*your* food supply is in trouble and you *will* get in there and stake that gun toting psycho or so help me, I will stake you myself, right here and now."
"Huh?" The spokes-vamp grunted, confused. Cordy's flashing eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on her stake. All three vamps took a step back.
A low chuckle startled them. Cordy turned to see Angelus behind her, the blonde bimbo from earlier at his side. His arm was wrapped casually around her waist, but her eyes said her being there was anything but willing.
"You see, you have to ask yourself which is scarier- A gun toting zealot, or Cordelia Chase when she's pissed and in full-on bitch mode." He grinned at Cordelia and pulled the blonde tightly to his body. She let out a little terror filled squeak. "I know which one I'd be afraid of...."
Cordy's knees were shaking, her throat dry. She didn't want to die for the bimbo. Anyone but her would have been okay, but not the stupid, drunk, blonde, bimbo. She whirled around to the vamps, hating to put her back to Angel but refusing to show him her fear. "Well?" she asked them flatly.
The three vampires looked nervously between themselves and her. "We'll take our chances with the Uzi." They ran to the back of the club and after a moment there was a flurry of gunfire then- silence. She waited until she saw the other people and vampires rushing towards the exit before turning back around to face her own worst fear.
He was still standing there, watching her curiously, while he absently fondled the terrified woman's neck. He smiled. "You are the only person I have ever met that could intimidate a vampire."
She smirked. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
His features shifted slightly and his playful smile turned cold. "I like strength in a woman. It makes them more fun to break. Of course Darla here-" he snickered. "Imagine that, Cor, such a coincidence don't you think? Darla is weak, needy, addicted....worthless." His lips curved into a sadistic smirk as they brushed the other woman's ear, "Aren't you Darla?"
"Y-Ye-Yes." She trembled under his light caresses. "I am w-worth-worthless- sure. P-please I'll do whatever you want." Her lower lip quivered, and her eyes shown with useless hope as Cordy watched Angelus toy with her. "D-Do you want a-a taste?"
"Oh Darla," Angelus breathed dipping low to suckle her neck. "Why stop at just a taste?"
"Don't do it." Cordy pleaded.
"Or what? Are you going to stop me?" He laughed derisively. "I don't think so, but enjoy the show because- you're next."
Without another word, Angel sank his fangs deep into his captive's throat.
"No!" Cordy shrieked, taking a few steps closer. After taking a few more swallows Angel slowly lifted his head and blinked at her, his expression as innocent as a child's. Blood was smeared across his lips and dripping down his chin.
"Oh, come on Cor. No one is going to miss Darla here, she's already used up." He brushed the woman's hair out of the way, showing the many old scars underneath his fresh bite. Darla's eyes were brimming with unshed tears as they pleaded silently with Cordelia. Maybe it was her demon, but suddenly Cordelia knew- she could see this woman's life laid bare in her watery eyes, like a long empty road, she could see both where she had come from and where she was headed. Darla believed Angelus, but only because she had felt that way for a long time. Cordelia could also see a hidden strength, something that Darla herself had long since believed she'd dumped by the roadside, abandoned and forgotten. "There's hardly enough left of her to make a good snack." Angel leaned down, baring his fangs.
"Wait." Cordy said, softly. Angelus hesitated, watching her with undisguised curiosity. Cordy licked her lips nervously. She could do this, even if it was for the bimbo. "Even trade."
Angelus cocked his head, expression amused. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Cordy kept her voice steady. She sounded a hell of a lot more confident than she felt.
"She's not worth it." Angelus replied seriously. "Let me have her, Cor." He rubbed his cheek along Darla's, eliciting a high pitched keen from her. "She wants it, hell she was practically begging for it all night. Look at her, Come on! Take a *good* look at her!" Angel shoved the woman forward, keeping a firm grip on her neck. Darla moaned, terrified gibberish pouring from her lips. "You can't tell me her life is worth more than yours." She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out everything but Angelus. She couldn't focus on Darla, or she'd loose it.
Hazel eyes locked with dead brown. "It is to me." She took another step forward. "Let her go, and I won't try and run."
"Promise?" The predatory gleam in his eye told her that he didn't believe her, and wouldn't mind the chase.
Cordelia took a deep breath. "Yes."
"Okay," he shoved Darla towards Cordelia. The woman took one wobbly step and collapsed at Cordelia's feet, clutching at her ankles and sobbing with relief. Without taking her eyes off of Angelus she knelt, prying the hysterical woman off of her shoes.
"Listen to me Darla. I'm only going to say this once. You are not some worthless piece of trash. I don't care what your daddy did to you, or what your mamma told you. You are worth more than this. You have a good head for numbers, and are really good at organizing things, right?"
Shocked out of her hysteria,the other woman sniffled, wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. "What? How do you know about-?"
Cordy grabbed the other woman's shoulders and gave her one good shake. "Shut up. It doesn't matter, I just know. What does matter is that you are never going to set foot in one of these places again. You are going to march out that door, and never look back. Come Monday, you are going to enroll into night school and you are going to clean yourself up, go to school and get your life together. If you EVER let another vampire within thirty feet of your neck, I'll know."
The woman's expression had shuttered and gone defensive. "You can't stop me. You can't make me do anything."
Cordelia finally tore her gaze from Angelus' laughing eyes and fixed Darla with a cold hard stare. "You're right, you ungrateful bitch, but I *can* send him after you."
Angelus laughed, striding over to squat beside them. "You'd better listen to her. She's just enough of a hard-ass to go through with it. Of course, she'll be dead before the night is over, but I bet her ghost could nag me until I caved. So you go and do what she said, and remember. she gave her life for yours. Now you just have to go about deserving it...." He shoved Darla towards the door, sending the woman sprawling. She scuttled towards the exit. Angel wrapped his hand around Cordy's wrist, standing and jerking her to her feet. "Well, I've done my good deed for the millennium."
"Don't hold your breath waiting for a thank you." Cordy snapped.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Angel swept her into a tight embrace, fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her into a searing, bruising kiss. Cordy tried to push him away, but he pinned her to him, pressing his taught body flush as his blood-slicked tongue slid in alongside hers. She gagged and beat at him with her fists, but that only seemed to spur him on. He fucked her mouth with his tongue, the blood on his lips smeared across hers as he ate at her mouth hungrily. One hand kept her head where he wanted it as the other slid down her back and over her ass, pulling her into his erection. She refused to react or kiss him back, and the next time his tongue slipped between her teeth, she bit down, hard.
She felt muscle tear, and the copper tang of fresh blood. Angel reared back with a hiss. His eyes darkened with desire and anger. He took a short step back and then backhanded her. Cordy felt her world go black and then she was slamming into the bar. Without thought her hand closed around a splinter of wood from the broken barstool. Her legs wouldn't support her, however, so instead of turning to fight, she sank bonelessly to the floor. She heard the sound of growling behind her, and slowly, painfully turned towards the sound. She touched a tooth with her tongue and found it lose.
"That's the second time today you've refused my kiss." He touched his fingers to his lips, as if still slightly incredulous that she had resisted.
Cordelia coughed and spit a stringy mass of blood and spit on the floor. "What can I say, Angelus? You're a horrible kisser." Her mouth twisted up into her singular trademark smirk. "Xander makes you look like an amateur. You'd think with two hundred and fifty years of practice, you'd have picked up a few skills, but-" she shrugged. "Now Spike- that's a vamp that knows how to use his tongue."
Angelus shook his finger at her, as if he were scolding a petulant child. "You'll pay for that." He ran his hands down his chest towards his crotch. Her eyes dropped. Too late, she realized that was exactly what he had wanted her to do. "Fight me all you want, Cor, I like a girl with spirit, makes me feel all manly while I'm raping her."
"Whatever." Cordy answered, dully trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her best friend was sporting a monster hard on and threatening her with it.
"Don't pretend your not afraid." Angelus warned.
She scowled at him as she gripped the edge of the bar and struggled to stand on unsteady feet. "I'm terrified, you happy?" She faced him, elbows resting on the bar behind her. It was a deceptively casual pose. She wasn't sure if she could stand without the solid wood at her back for support. Angelus closed the distance between them, but he didn't pounce this time. He simply stood about a foot in front of her and studied her.
"No." Angelus finally answered.
Maybe Cordy's mind was still foggy from being bitchslapped across the room, but Angelus' answer threw her. "Why the hell not?" she barked. Killing her should have damn well made him happy, and as insane as it sounded, she was indignant that he would insist otherwise. If he said it was because she wasn't Buffy, she didn't care if Angelus was only temporary, she'd stake him herself. Mainly, she just wanted to keep him talking until the cavalry arrived.
Angelus actually stuck out his lip in a very real pout, his finger raising to trace the contour of her neck, and then slide across her shoulder and down her arm. Cordy simply kept up the steely glare. "There are so many things I want to do to you. I mean, there's the blood drinking, torture, and the raping, and more torture, more raping, more blood, a little more with the torture-"
"OKAY!" Cordy interrupted. "I get it. Drink, rape and torture, that's pretty much the vampire M.O." She shied away when he brushed a knuckle against the plump swell of her barely-covered breast. "Whatever happened to originality? How many times can the same story be fresh? Why don't you try for comedy instead?"
"I happen to think killing you will be hilarious." He grinned, nailing her with a wet, bloody kiss on her lips. "It'll be one of my best performances yet."
"Pfft." She rolled her eyes, ignoring the urge to puke, garnering a light but stinging slap from Angelus.
"I don't like it when you mock me." His tone instantly lightened. "Now, where was I? Right, I don't have time to do all three, and even if I were to attempt two, I don't want to be half-assed about it, so I figure I only have time to really do one thing right before the drug wears off, or someone shows up to rescue you. Raping you would be fun, really, but in the long run, it's all about what would be best for the soul."
Angelus closed the distance between them, once more pressing himself fully against her. "So, killing you it is." He stated with a wicked gleam in his eye. "I just want to taste you first. I can't kill you without having one last kiss." He sighed, "The sacrifices I make for my soul's suffering. None of you ever give me enough credit." He leaned down and kissed her neck tenderly, like a lover would.
"Yeah," she scoffed. "You're a real unsung hero-" Her retort was cut off by his lips covering hers. Except for the fact that both their faces were now smeared with blood, it was a damn good kiss, even Cordy would have to agree, though she'd die before she admitted it. Angelus kissed her gently, reverently, keeping his tongue in his mouth, and focusing instead on giving each lip equal attention as he sucked lightly at her skin. His hands wandered down her side, sneaking around to cup her breasts. He groaned pressing his erection against her stomach. He trailed a thin line of red across her cheek as he kissed his way towards her ear, biting down on the delicate skin as he hooked his hand under her knee and pulled her leg up over his hip, bringing them into the most intimate of contact.
Cordelia responded as he rocked himself against her heat. One hand wrapped around his neck, trying to force him to end his teasing kisses and give her something to fuel the fire he'd ignited in her belly. She blocked out the now sickly taste of Darla's blood, as she ran her tongue along his bottom lip, nipping and sucking until he opened up to her. She licked the blood off his teeth, sparking something deep inside Angel's demon. His hands traveled up to grip her shoulders with bruising force, as she rubbed his back in a soothing, familiar pattern and explored the cool cavern of his mouth the way she'd always wanted to. Angelus pulled back panting and stared, completely floored that she would respond to his advances with such passion. She let him see it, hiding nothing, caught up in the moment.
"Cordelia?" he whispered. He was off guard, his soft parts exposed to attack.
"Angelus." she answered, her voice breathless. She acted before the thought could be read in her face, slamming the stake into his gut and jerking it up, trying to rend as much of his torso as her strength would allow. She felt splinters digging deep into her palm but she kept pulling. Angelus features twisted in pain, surprise and then complete and utter rage. Cordy's mind flashed back to the alley, only the night before, when he'd pushed her against the wall and pinned her there.
Angel had warned her that he was his monster. Cordelia got that, and had for a very long time. The difference, the thing that Angel never seemed to acknowledge, was that Angelus could never be Angel. He didn't have a conscience, didn't understand the word mercy. He picked her up one handed as the other clutched at the gaping hole she'd torn into his belly. By some stroke of luck she had managed to hold on to her sharp sliver of wood, and she swiped at his face with it. He jerked away, but she managed to slice his cheek open.
He let go of his intestines and grabbed her arm. It was slick with his blood, and she almost was able to jerk it free. His grip tightened until she felt bone grinding against bone, and then they both heard something snap. Cordelia screamed. Angelus threw her across the room before sinking to his knees.
Cordelia curled herself around her broken, useless wrist. She lay panting, bruised and dazed but Angelus hadn't beaten her yet. His face had changed as he roared at her in pain and frustration. She grinned, an insane urge to laugh in his face bubbling to the surface. She gave in to it. His eyes glittered gold, but there was a new wariness in them that had never been there before. "I'm going to kill you, you fucking cunt!" he snarled.
"Big words, baby-man, but it's *your* guts leaking all over the floor, not mine." she boasted.
He panted, his words coming out in a gasping breathless rush, "I just wanted to make it nice for you, in honor of all you had come to mean to me. You are the first-" He winced, shoving bits of something back into his chest cavity. "You are the first person who ever accepted Angel for everything he was, including me. Is this the thanks I get?"
"Excuse me for not wanting to die, you asshole!" she hissed. "I think I like you better when you don't talk so much." She pushed herself up to a sitting position, watching Angelus as he slowly crawled towards her. "You are so gonna get it when your soul gets back."
Angelus tried to laugh, but it came out in a pained cough. "I thought you didn't blame the soul for my actions. If I have to spend the next -however long until you die- listening to you bitch at me for every single bad thing I've ever done, then stake me now." Angelus was close. Cordelia began to scoot away.
Angelus lunged, despite the searing pain in his abdomen, and snagged Cordy by the ankle. "Ah, ah, Cor. I believe I was fixing to kill you while you were stalling for time." He yanked her foot, sending her sliding over the rough boards of the floor. He straddled her, his weight pushing her bruised and scraped body flat. "As entertaining as this little interlude was. I think it's time for you to die."