I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate SG-1. They belong to Joss Whedon and MGM respectively.

Poor Unlife Choice

Crawford Street Mansion
March 10th 1998

Angelus was currently gritting his fangs in frustration. Xander Harris was still alive and, by all accounts, healing up nicely. Worse still, the Air Force presence outside his room made any attack extremely problematic. Angelus had lived long enough that he wasn't about to underestimate well-trained and physically capable individuals, however mortal they might be. He had considered going after another of the slayer's friends, but news of Xander's severe injuries was making them extremely cautious. Turning Theresa Klusmeyer had been nowhere near as psychologically effective as he had hoped.

"Bloody hell, ya grand poof! You're brooding almost as bad as yer whining alter ego."

Angelus spun about and growled threateningly at Spike, looming over the vampire in the wheelchair. "Mind your own business, Spike! I'm trying to decide what play to go for with the slayer in our great game."

The blond snorted derisively. "You've been at a standstill for the better part of a month, Master. Methinks you're a wee bit rusty at this whole terror thing. What's wrong, Angie? The Scourge of Europe lost his spark?"

Bloodlust shone dangerously in Angelus' eyes as he loomed over his subordinate. "What about you, Spike? The great William the Bloody, reduced to rolling around and relying on his Master for food…?"

"Well, well, well… I can see that I'm interrupting, but I don't really much care about that."

Angelus spun away from Spike, surprised to find a vampire he didn't recognize had penetrated so deeply into his well-defended mansion. "Who in the hell are you?"

"Lenny? Is that you?" Spike spoke up from the chair, surprised to see the vampire too. "I thought that the slayer had gotten to you."

The dark-haired vamp grinned slightly. "Naw, Spike. I just found myself a new boss." Lenny turned an ugly look on Angelus. "You've gone and done it this time, Angelus. You're attracting dangerous attention on this town. The boss wants to see you, immediately."

Angelus leveled a disdainful look at the minion. "I'm the Scourge of Europe, boy. I was draining slayers dry long before your master was ever turned. If you think you can take me in, you're welcome to try."

Lenny smiled. "I think I will, at that." The smile morphed into a nasty smirk. "Take him, boys!"

Angelus was shocked and appalled when a number of physically powerful demons entered the room and began a severe beating that left Angelus barely conscious. "Tha's not the was it's s'posed to be." His slurred speech came off as almost whiny to the vampires and demons present.

Lenny just shook his head in disgust. How the mighty had fallen. "Nobody cares about fair play anymore, Angelus. It's results that matter in this day and age. Maybe if you'd been active as more than a whiny emo kid in the last hundred years, you'd understand that." The vamp turned back to his former boss. "As for you, Spike, I'm letting you off with a warning for old time's sake. Your brand of mayhem is no longer welcome on the hellmouth. Take your crazy broad and get out of town."

Spike was left gaping in his wheelchair, wondering when the game had changed on the hellmouth.

City Hall
March 10th 1998

Richard Wilkins was cutting into a delightful steak in the lunchroom when he glanced up to see Angelus being dragged into his presence. He noted, somewhat disapprovingly, that Angelus was bleeding. "Come, come, Lenny. You know better then to drip blood onto the carpets. Bloodstains are frightfully expensive to clean out, you know. Not to mention unsanitary."

The vampire offered a contrite expression. "So sorry about that, Mr. Mayor. It's just that Angelus here wasn't inclined to be cooperative, and I knew you wanted to see him right away. It won't happen again."

The mayor nodded approvingly. "Good man. Make sure to see maintenance about lifting those stains as soon as we're done here, won't you? I simply cannot abide unsightly bloodstains. Messy, messy, messy…" The mayor turned his focus on his guest. "Hello, Angelus. Welcome to City Hall. I had hoped to discuss things under more pleasant circumstances but, needs must."

The battered master vampire snorted blood onto the floor in disgust. It was the most he could accomplish under the circumstances. The demons that were holding him were being very careful to allow him no leverage with which to escape and kill the people responsible for his current humiliation. "You know I had figured Lenny was working for some jumped up young master vampire, horning on my turf. Obviously I overestimated his talent if he's bowing and scraping to a… what's that term Spike likes to use? A walking Happy Meal. That's it. How does it feel to be fetching and carrying for a human, Lenny?"

The vampire that was being addressed looked at the additional blood stains Angelus had produced. "You've been out of the loop too long, Angelus. That much is certain. The mayor is the boss of Sunnydale's underworld. Anyone not on his payroll either toes the line or dies."

Angelus chuckled at that. "Then why is the slayer still operating in this town after over a year then, huh? Because the mayor is weak." Angelus was slightly disturbed to see everyone in attendance, bar the mayor, flinch at that last declaration.

The mayor merely smiled genially. "Well gosh, Angelus. It seems that you have all of the answers. You might almost think that the people who cross me don't almost always run afoul of the slayer when they do."

That had Angelus' head snapping up as he leveled a searching look at the mayor, finally giving a sign that Wilkins might actually be a threat.

Richard's smile never wavered. "Oh yes, Angelus. The slayer is well under my control. Oh not directly, you understand, but a teenage girl with little experience can be guided in the right direction if one knows the art of subtlety. It's certainly not a perfect system, I'll grant you, but the odd employee that she executes is a fair enough price to see my enemies swept away."

A faint hardening of the mayor's eyes had everyone in the room, including Angelus, shuddering. "And speaking of subtlety, Angelus, I think we need to address your own severe lack of that very virtue. I run a quiet little town here, Angelus, and I'm afraid I don't much approve of military presence here when I'm not in full control of it. Such attention as you are bringing upon my little berg might constitute a rather poor unlife choice on your part. Do we understand each other, Angelus?"

The vampire would probably have been sweating at that point if he'd been physically capable of it. "So you want me out of town. Is that it? Or do you plan to just dust me?" Angelus coiled his body like a spring, gathering every last ounce of leverage he could in a desperate attempt to escape his captors. It was all for naught. The demons simply weren't letting him have the needed leverage.

Wilkins managed to offer up a faintly shocked expression, as if he found the whole idea of murder to be appalling. Angelus found it less than convincing at that point. "Oh good golly, no! That simply would not do at all. If you were to disappear, whether it be out of town or into a vacuum cleaner, it would leave the Air Force searching my little town for you. I'm sure you can understand that I need you whole and present in order to… throw the military a little bone to chew on."

"You're going to hand me over to the military?" Angelus had officially heard everything. That was easily the dumbest plan he had ever heard. He'd be out of Air Force custody in the time it took him to snap his cuffs and run for the hills.

The mayor patted his lips with a napkin, having finished his lunch, and stood up from the table. He walked calmly over to a cabinet and withdrew a crystal vial that had a bright blue liquid within it. "Are you familiar with killer of the dead, Angelus?"

Angelus paled, revealing to all present that he had. "You're not going to use that on me." The statement was weak indeed.

Another genial smile crossed Richard's face. "Of course not, Angelus. We've already established that dusting you would be a useless gesture for me." The man inserted a needle into the vial and drew the blue liquid out. "This particular liquid was designed by the same person who invented killer of the dead. It's called Medusa's kiss. This dandy little liquid is a paralytic, Angelus. It is made specifically to work on the undead and it is believed to be quite permanent." The chilly look returned to Wilkins' gaze. "You see, Angelus, the Air Force will be needing a body to satisfy their investigation into young Alexander's unfortunate injuries." He tapped the tip of the needle thoughtfully. "Never fear, Angelus. I'll be sure to include your sacrifice for my cause when I'm writing my memoirs."

The needle was duly inserted and Angelus was rendered stiff as a… well a corpse, really. Wilkins smiled. "Excellent. It's good to see that's working properly. Lenny, if you would be so good as to inflict a fatal-looking wound upon this vampire, outside of course, then you may deliver him to the morgue. That should be enough to get the Air Force off of my doorstep."

"Of course, Sir."

"And Lenny… Don't forget to call maintenance about those stains. The longer they're there, the more likely they'll never come out. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

"Of course not, Mr. Mayor. I'll see to it immediately."

"Good man."

Is Wilkins setting up Angelus to essentially be buried alive (or undead) for all eternity as punishment for causing him problems? Why yes... I believe he is. *shudders*

Jasper