Author's Note: For the purpose of this story, I need to explain a few of things. Enemy Mine is set in an alternate universe where the land is divided and at war between men and demons. The setting of the story takes place in a mish-mash background of Medieval, Victorian and Present elements. The characters are from different timelines and some have been minorly tweaked. Aside from that, I'm a Spuffy fan all the way (and that's why there will be Buffy/Spike pairing eventually) but this story centers around Willow and Angel/Angelous. What could be more of a challenge than trying to see who or what can tame the bad boy of all vampires?
This is my first foray into fan fiction. I hope you enjoy. -Nythe
Enemy Mine
Rating: M for language, violence, and adult content
Summary: In a land divided and at war between man and demon, what happens when one does the unthinkable and falls for the enemy?
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the BtVS and AtS characters. There is no intention of copyright infringement or monetary gain in the borrowing of characters. They are used only for entertainment purpose.
Ch. 1 - Interim
The breeze was cool, a fresh scent in the current. The French doors leading to the balcony were open and the sheer white curtains moved like gossamer wings inside the darkened room. Only the moonlight illuminated the interior and the sole occupant on the room's bed.
A dark figured stood outside, looking up into the balcony, the doors an open invitation. Dark clouds moved across the full, bright moon, screening the light and plunging the world into a temporary darkness. When they passed, the figured stood on the balcony, ten feet above the ground.
For a moment he stood still, just looking in, into the bedroom. The curtain's movement teased the view like a game of peek-a-boo. The dark interior beckoned, more seductive than anything he could ever have imagined. A slow smile crossed his lips and he stepped in.
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Willow awoke with a sudden opening of her eyes. She lay still in bed and searched the bedroom with her gaze, her senses going out and trying to pick up the cause of her discomfort. Something was different. Something was wrong. She couldn't find the source but her body felt what her mind couldn't. There was an inner trembling in her limbs responding to the sensation of the cold that she was experiencing, spreading throughout her body like ice water. Her breathing was becoming erratic: short and shallow. Willow slowly picked up her upper body, resting her weight on her hands. She looked toward the end of the room where the shadows where the deepest, beyond the farthest reach of the foot of her bed and tried to pierce the blackness.
With a sense of trepidation, fear and startlement, she watched as a shadow disengaged from the rest and slowly moved toward her. With a gasp, she took the sight of him in. In less than a second, her brain processed the images that made up that moment. He wore the dark clothes of his kind, concealing him from wandering eyes. Dark leather pants, dark silk shirt, dark hair, dark eyes, skin of cold marble. The breeze carried the scent of roses and jasmine in the air from the garden.
"Angel?" she whispered.
He slowly stalked toward her bed with the fluid grace of a predator, never once breaking contact with her eyes. Willow gulped and tried scooting backwards but it was difficult finding purchase in the cream silk sheets and she only ended up backing into her pillows.
"Wha-?" Willow tried to comprehend what was going on. Sleep still stubbornly clouded her conscience making her confused.
"I promised I would come for you," his voice rumbled, low and deep, and washed over her body like a forbidden caress.
Her eyes widen, all vestiges of sleep or confusion gone. "Angelous."
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"Angelous," Willow whispered.
He gave her a slow, seductive grin and placed his hands on the bed.
"But how?"
"You have been very naughty, my Fire," Angelous responded, yanking the covers off Willow's body in one hard pull of his arm and moving onto the bed. He began crawling toward her in slow, sensuous movements.
"I…I…I…" She tried to talk, to explain, to say something in her defense, to stop his advance but her throat was dry and her mouth moved up and down in silence, unable to get out more than that one syllable. She tried to move back as he moved forward but the pillows barred her way and she fell back onto them in her haste.
"My Fire," Angelous purred, coming up before her bended knees and kneeled before them. The gravity of the situation finally registered in Willow's head and she raised her slender hand to magically push the vampire off her bed….and couldn't. His eyes pierced Willow's and held her immobile.
"What? What are you doing?" she asked him in a panicked breath.
"I had hoped not to resort to this, but I really can't let you imprison me again," Angelous answered.
"What have you done?"
"Shh, my Fire. Don't fret, you only go under my thrall if you try to imprison me."
Willow was incensed. "What! How dare you?"
"It's a precautionary measure. What would you have me do?" Angelous queried. "You don't give me much of a choice--"
"You could leave. You know, better yet, you could not have come back at all."
Angelous gave Willow a smoldering stare. "I made a promise."
"No, no promise. I never asked for any promise, no."
Angelous slowly smiled and snaked his hands over her bare legs. "I gave it anyway. Don't you remember?"
Willow visibly gulped. How could she ever forget?
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5 MONTHS AGO
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Willow walked down the corridor of the mansion toward her room. Her arms were loaded up with books from the library. After finally hitting her head on one of the long study tables when her head dropped off from sleep, she decided to quit her research and get much needed rest. She had been working almost non-stop for more than forty-eight hours in their most recent crisis. The Slayer, who also happened to be her best friend had committed the worst sin imaginable for a slayer and had inconsequently unleashed the Council's most feared enemy. For as long as anybody could remember, the Council had been at war with the Shadowlands. A border of forest and mountains divided the territory between the Council and the Shadowland and nobody from either side ever ventured to the other unless they were the most strongest and feared warriors. The purpose of each crossing always ended in some kind of death. Most ventures nowadays were raids done in the cover of darkness but that wasn't always the case. A long time ago, the general from the Shadowland was bound by a sect of the Council's. A group of gypsies, living near the border, were almost completely decimated when the general and his men culled the camp. Nobody called them men though, because they weren't. They were monsters that could wear human masks. They had supernatural speed and strength and senses beyond mortal humans. They were immortal, practically unbeatable….and they were dead. To sustain their life, they had to take the life of others. Their essence. Their blood. They were the nightmares that roamed the night. Under the general's rule, thousands were killed. He was efficient and ruthless. He became known to the Council as "The Scourge". In revenge, the surviving members of the gypsy camp who were at the time in the Council's Headquarter for official matters, devised a way to punish the general in the most painful way possible. They cursed him - a thousand times more torturous than a quick death - and gave him a soul. And so the most feared vampire was felled, and thus the general Angelous became Angel, the cage where the monster resided.
Although Angelous had been bound, the Council feared that that wouldn't be the last of him. As long as Angel roamed, there was the danger of the reemergence of the general.
The Council was right.
They just could never have imagined the cause of his reemergence.
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6 MONTHS AGO
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"Willow. Willow wake up," Buffy hissed in the redhead's ear, shaking her lightly on the shoulder.
Willow woke with a start and hit her head with Buffy's. "Ow!" She rubbed her temple and blinked owlishly. "Bu-Buffy? What? What are you doing here? What time is it?"
"Never mind the time, Willow. I need your help."
"What?" Willow repeated confused. "It's still dark outside. How long did I sleep?"
"I don't know but -"
"It's still night and I'm tired," Willow slurred and dropped her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes.
"Willow, focus!" Buffy was becoming exasperated with her best friend. She shaked her again.
Willow instantly sat up on the bed on reflex, "I'm up, I'm up!"
Buffy sighed in relief when her friend's eyes cleared up of any sleep.
"What are you doing here, Buffy?" Willow asked, no less confused than before but clearheaded.
When Buffy started crying, Willow was at a loss and didn't know what to do. She pushed the bedcovers off her and scooted closer to her friend to wrap her in a hug.
"Oh, Will, I don't know what to do," Buffy finally said when her tears slowed down.
"What is it, Buffy?" Willow sat back and took her friend's hand in her own. "What's wrong?"
"It's terrible," Buffy raggedly whispered. "A nightmare."
Willow was becoming alarmed. She had never seen her friend so distraught, so sad, so hopeless. Buffy always had a carefree attitude. Even in the worst of times, among the most dire news or before and after a skirmish, Buffy had a lighthearted view of things. Willow was always amazed at how nothing could get Buffy down. She was peppy. She was peppy Buffy. A real unorthodox Vampire Slayer that confused and aggravated the Council to no end and always amused Willow. So Buffy's present attitude was very troubling to say the least.
Buffy took a deep steadying breath. "There's something I have to tell you. I've…I've been keeping a secret…."
"A secret?"
"A big secret," Buffy clarified.
When nothing more was forthcoming, Willow nodded in understanding. "Ok."
Buffy took another deep breath. "I've been seeing someone."
Willow's mouth opened in surprise. "Buffy, I thought I was your best friend. Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked in a hurt tone.
"Oh, Willow, you are! You are my best friend. It's just that," she chewed on her lower lip nervously, "this guy I've been seeing….he's, uhmm…..he's, well technically not a guy…"
Willow was confused. Again. "Huh?"
"Yeah, see, the thing is…"
"What? What Buffy? Spit it out."
"It's Angel," Buffy mumbled under her breath.
Willow obviously hadn't caught that. "Come again?"
In a louder voice, "Angel. I've been seeing Angel."
Willow was speechless. Did she hear right? And what in the world could she say to that little bombshell. She blinked in surprise. "Angel?"
"Yes," Buffy whispered.
She dropped her friend's hands. "The General?" Willow squeaked.
"No!" Buffy tried to placate, "Angel is good. He has a soul. Remember the stories? The vampire with a soul?"
Willow was shaking her head, disbelief and amazement warring with each other as the most prevalent emotions. "Ok. Ok, Angel. The vampire with a soul Angel…. Angel, that houses the general Angelous," Willow finished with an almost shriek.
"Will-"
"Buffy?"
Buffy tried to explain but Willow cut her off. "Buffy, I can't believe what you've been doing. And in secret all along!"
Buffy bit her lip and grimaced, "Yeah, about that…"
"What? What Buffy? I don't think you can shock me anymore than you've already have."
"Oh, I think I can still shock you. A lot."
Willow looked at her with growing alarm.
"There's a problem with Angel," Buffy continued with her explanation. "I'm not really sure but I…I think Angelous is back."
"What?"
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Willow's brain couldn't function properly. Well, to be fair, none of her body seemed to be in her control. She couldn't move a muscle if her life depended on it. And it probably did. She had entered Buffy's chamber with something more than trepidation, knowing well that a vampire - possibly Angelous, the most feared and hated vampire in history - was behind the door. Seeing him was beyond shocking. She had really hoped, that her friend had somehow been wrong and hallucinated the whole thing. Better yet, that Willow might still be in bed, dreaming and believing like in all scary bizaro dreams that she was really awake and everything was truth.
Well, everything was true.
The vampire lay unconscious on Buffy's bed, halfway propped up on the headboard, with his hands chained over his head and secured to the metal in the headboard. He was half-naked….uh, all naked judging by the way the sheet rid low on the vampire's waist and left expose a very tantalizing bit of flesh.
She had to hand it to her friend. At least she knew how to pick them in the looks department. Too bad she didn't have better grasp of the concept: vampire (especially the master general) + human (especially a Slayer) one big No No.
"Will?" Buffy's hesitant voice cut in Willow's introspection.
"There's a vampire in your bed," Willow unnecessarily pointed out.
"He's unconscious," Buffy tried to placate.
"He's naked." Willow quirked an eyebrow.
Buffy's face flamed red in embarrassment of the obvious indication of their earlier activities.
Willow chose to ignore her friend's discomfort for more pressing matters. "How did he get in here? The whole mansion is heavily secured with the latest security and magic wards. How did he get in without anything going off?"
"I invited him in," Buffy confessed.
"What!" Willow's quota of shocking surprises was past full. "Since when?"
"Not long."
Evasive answers were not going to work. Willow put on her resolve face. "How long, Buffy?"
Buffy's eyes strayed everywhere but at Willow when she answered. "A little over five months."
"You mean to tell me that he," Willow pointed to the vampire, "has had free access to one of the Council's mansions where the current Slayer - and her team might I add - reside?"
"You don't understand. Angel is good. You just need to get to know him like I do to see that there never was any danger."
Willow gave her friend an incredulous stare.
"There was no danger," Buffy repeated, trying to emphasize her point, excuse her action and convince Willow.
"No?" Willow's gaze shifted to the manacles around the vampire and Buffy visibly deflated in lieu of the recent events.
"I don't understand," Buffy said in a weak voice. "I don't know what happened. One moment he was fine….and the next….he changed into game face and lunged for my throat."
With a great shuddering sigh, Willow resolved to do whatever was needed to help the slayer. Buffy was her friend, practically her sister, and seeing her so sad, so confused and scared was breaking Willow's heart in two. No matter what had happened or what Buffy had done, Willow's power and expertise was at her command. She would help, dammit. Even if it meant getting near the infamous, possibly homicidal, naked vampire. "Okay, if you want me to help, I need you to tell me everything that went on tonight that could have been different from other times."
When Buffy blushed and started to open her mouth, Willow cut her off, having a feeling were her friend might take the conversation. "No graphic lusty details please!"
The room was silent for a moment while Buffy gathered her thoughts and her courage. Her eyes turned to the figure of the vampire on the bed, her gaze unfocused, her mind reliving the events of the night. "We made love," she whispered.
Willow's eyes widened in surprise. Although she had guessed - hello naked vampire on the bed! - it was an entire matter altogether to have it confirmed out loud.
"It was our first time. It was my first time. I thought that this was it - we were going to finally express our love for each other; I was going to give myself in love to the man I love and plan to spend the rest of my life with. I was so happy, so excited…so nervous…."
"So what happened?" Willow softly asked.
Buffy gave a small shrug, her eyes tearing up. "After he…uhmm…came…his body convulsed. I thought nothing of it. Probably normal, right? Well, he then looked down at me and - and his face changed. He lunged at my throat but my slayer side was already on alert the second he went into game face. I head butted him and …uhmm…kneed him in the groin, and finally punched him unconscious. I secured him to the bed, not knowing what else to do."
"Where did you get the manacles?" Willow couldn't help but ask, eyeing the chains dubiously.
"Oh, they're from our weapon's arsenal."
"Can he get out of them?"
"No. They're magically locked and enforced. They're used only for the capture of demons and vampires."
"I didn't know this," Willow said confused. "Since when does the Council capture them and why?"
Buffy shrugged. "Don't know. For interrogation purposes."
Willow's brow furrowed. "Huh." After a long moment of again eyeing the chains fastened to the vampire, Willow built up her nerve and strode to the bed. Without taking her eyes off Angel, she gingerly sat on the very edge of the mattress and pressed a button to unlock a black, medium sized bag she was carrying. When the bag opened, Willow turned to it to quickly retrieve a small, glass vial containing a silver powder in it.
"What's that?"
"This," Willow explained to Buffy, "will help me determine what is wrong."
"How?"
"It will help me sense around and through the matter. In this case, Angel. If there is anything off in the order of nature, I will be able to detect it."
"Wow, that's kinda nifty."
Taking a steadying breath, Willow uncorked the bottle and poured the powder into the palm of her hand. Closing her eyes and concentrating on the spell, she raised her hand near her mouth and blew the powder toward the vampire. The powder shimmered and sparkled, raining down and swirling around Angel as if in slow motion.
Then Willow's eyes snapped open and Buffy was taken aback at her friend's transformation. Her eyes were completely covered in the same whitish-silver color of the powder. Their color reflected the movement and the light of the fine particles as the spell wove itself around them. The tableau was mesmerizing and surreal.
Buffy was so captivated by the magic that she wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Being in a state of trance was a mesh of contradictions that always left Willow awed but puzzled. The body was numb, in a position of dissociation that yet, could sense everything around it in a heightened awareness that would never be detected as such levels before in normal circumstances. Thus, the events that unfolded should not have come as a surprise; although the spell allowed her to "see" what was wrong, it also made her vulnerable and didn't let her react in time to the danger.
Having biding his time and sensing that moment to make his escape, in one strong jerk, Angel snapped the headboard holding the chains in place . Faster than anyone could react, he lowered his manacled wrists over the witch and fiercely pulled her against him.
His face morphed and he struck, his fangs sinking deep into her neck.
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To be continued: Ch. 2 - When Sleeping Beasts Awaken
