Disclaimer:All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of Joss Whedon. The original plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 25

Angel kept one eye on Buffy and the other on the chaos that surrounded him. He could identify more than a dozen different species in the hallway, which was slowly getting even more crowded as the Initiative had sent their men in to try to take back the control over the situation. Angel was amazed and more than a little concerned that they'd been able to put their hands on such rare specimens. Most of these monsters would be eliminated but not all. Once they'd made their escape, they would have to come up with a plan to finish off whatever was left.

We haven't even gotten away yet, and already you want to go back? Angelus asked. Damn, I don't understand you sometimes.

You usually don't understand me.

Angelus gave it a thought and shrugged. Yeah, guess I don't. Oh, watch out!

Angel ducked a punch that was headed his way and kicked out to swipe the feet out from beneath another creature before rolling further away down the hall. Only when the man he had punched fell to the floor with a grunt and blood began to pool beneath him, Angel realized he was human.

No time for your guilty crap. Get moving!

Angel closed his eyes for a moment, fighting conscience and hunger, and that was a mistake on his part.

Before his eyes had opened again, he was hit with a painful jolt.

Idiot! Fucker! Stupid, good-for-nothing, son of a bitch! Angelus was generous with his insults while Angel's ears were still ringing from the electric shock he'd just suffered. Apparently, while he was coming to terms with killing a human, one of the Initiative's soldiers had shot him.

When another jolt of electricity sent him to his knees, Angel lost it. He wasn't sure if it was him truly losing his self-control it or if Angelus somehow had taken over him. Whatever the reason, for several seconds, Angel operated on pure instinct. He growled and snarled, punched and kicked. He tore the weapons away from those shooting and broke the hands that had been holding them.

Several feet away from him, Buffy suddenly felt a rush of emotions taking over her. Rage and blind fury that had her punching her opponent harder than she'd intended, breaking the soldier's jaw. The next one suffered from several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder by the time he'd landed on the floor, unconscious.

As the rage slowly cleared enough to allow room for thought, Buffy only had time to take a breath before another slew of feelings was sent to her from her mate. This time it was pure satisfaction, pleasure on the brink of euphoria, and a sensation of fullness unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Angel?

The soft voice of his mate finally brought Angel back to his senses. It was too late, though. Angel was already draining the human dry. It was the first taste of blood he'd had after weeks of starvation, and he was close to groaning with the pleasure of finally feeling satiated when the heart of the human he was holding beat its last beat.

Angel let the body drop to the ground, feeling a sense of crushing guilt taking over him.

Don't, Angel, Buffy said quietly as she dodged a blow to her head. Don't let this drag you down. Focus on getting out of here.

Yeah, listen to our mate, Angel, and quit that guilt-trip shit, Angelus demanded. We're starving, and those idiots deserve to die for what they've done to us and to our mate.

Angel took a deep breath and pushed his conflicting emotions aside. They had other things to focus on. He looked across the hallway and found Buffy taking on two horned-demons.

He saw her snapping the neck of one and kicking the other demon between his legs. That particular demon species was humanoid enough for the kick to send him crumpling down. Angel flinched in commiseration at the pain that was clearly shooting through that demon's body.

She's fine. Angelus was feeling gleeful with the fresh taste of blood. She looks abso-fucking-lutely beautiful when she kicks ass. Especially when she's bare-ass naked. Then, he paused. Come to think of it, we'd better find something for her to wear. I don't like all of them seeing what's mine.

Silently agreeing with him, Angel quietly pulled a shirt off one of the bodies lying at his feet. It was charcoal black so that no blood stains showed on them and long enough to provide ample cover.

Finishing off the last demon, Buffy turned to find Angel approaching, holding some fabric out to her.

"Here. I thought you might want to cover up."

She took the item from him and was glad to see it was a shirt. Slipping it on, she said, "Thanks. Have we opened all of the doors on this level? It won't stay this quiet for much longer."

Angel shook his head. "There are a couple more." He nodded at the farthest cells on either side of the hallway. "I'll take those on the far end, you open these two. I'll meet you at the emergency exit in two minutes."

Buffy smiled. She rose up on her toes and gave him a short kiss. "See you in two."

Angel growled softly but moved away. Even half dead, I want her.

We're more than half dead, Angelus pointed out. We're totally dead, and we totally want to fuck our mate silly.

Angel shook his head and walked down the hallway.

What the hell's wrong with their blood, though? His demon's thoughts turned to a different matter. I know you were starving, but you couldn't have missed it. It was weird.

Probably pumping them full of drugs, Angel replied. He didn't want to think about the human he'd drained. As off-tasting as the blood had been, Angelus was right. It had tasted better than anything he'd had in recent years.

Except our mate. Angelus nearly purred the thought. Now, she tastes divine. Absolutely divine.

Focus, Angelus, Angel finally snapped at his demon.

Right, right. Killing and maiming now, sexing up my mate later.

Angel almost chuckled. You have a one-track mind, Angelus.

Now who's not focusing?

Angel ignored him, instead putting on a shirt he'd taken off of another body.

Nice look, Angelus snickered, allowing himself a moment of amusement. Butt naked in a military t-shirt.

Yeah, well, I don't have the time to strip them, Angel replied as he heard more footsteps heading their way.

o.O.o

Three minutes later, Buffy and Angel were on a different level, in yet another hallway, once again opening as many doors as their stolen keycards would work on. The Initiative was sending more troops down to the basement levels, trying to contain the sudden threat coming from within, and chaos was reigning.

Angel dodged a stake from a soldier that appeared around the corner. As soon as the stake passed his torso, moving just a little too close for comfort to his chest, Angel grabbed the hand that held it and twisted the wrist until he heard the bones crack. The soldier dropped his hold instantly, and Angel caught the stake before it hit the floor. Performing a roll to escape another stream of projectiles—bullets, this time—Angel used his momentum to slam into a third soldier and throw him back at the other team coming up behind him.

Taking out a can conveniently-labeled as smoke grenade from the vest he'd torn form the soldier, Angel removed the safety pin and threw it into the corridor.

"This should keep them busy," Buffy commented, coming to stand beside him. "Shall we move on to stage two – escaping this place?" Then she gave him a once-over. "We should probably find you some pants along the way, though."

Angel chucked and pulled her for a quick kiss. He paused when he sensed something familiar. Spike! Angelus recognized. "Spike!"

"Spike?" Buffy asked. "Where?"

Angel gestured toward a door to their right. "Looks like he was captured as well."

I owe that asshole a few days in hell, Angelus said.

We both do, Angel corrected.

I want to spend weeks filleting him like a fish. Angelus brought up several images that had left Buffy slightly nauseous. Too bad the smoke grenade and demons won't keep the Initiative busy for long.

"Great imagery there, Angelus," Buffy whispered, swallowing back bile. "But we really don't have the time."

"Won't be a problem." Angel raised the stake. "Unlike Angelus, I don't plan on a lengthy conversation."

Buffy smiled. "Let's introduce Spike to Speed Dating."

As he raised the card to open the door, Angel shot her a glance. "Speed Dating?"

"I'll explain later." She shook her head. "You have someone to take care of." She would let him go in alone, but she would be watching his back.

Spike was shocked and terrified to find Angel on the other side of the door when it opened. "Angel! What are you doing here?"

"Killing you," Angel said without inflection. He was secretly pleased to see the sunken cheeks, paler than normal skin, and general messed-up appearance of the vampire before him.

Looks like the Initiative did a number on him as well. Angelus sounded just as pleased as Angel felt.

Spike raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and took a step back inside his cell. "Now, now, Angel, slow down. There's no need to kill me. I can help you." He took another step back. "Come on, can't you just torture me a little once we get out of here?"

"I could." Angel smirked at the fear he could smell coming from his grand-childe. He decided to taunt Spike a little more. Buffy could hold fort for a few seconds. "I would definitely enjoy torturing you. Never really liked you much." That much was true. While Angelus had had some measure of affection toward Spike, Angel had no such warm feelings for the blond male.

Come on, that was one time, Angelus objected. And it was about discipline, damn it!

They both heard Buffy's mental giggle. You're going to have to explain about that one time, Angelus.

Angelus groaned. Later, we have business to finish first.

"See?" Spike relaxed a little and lowed his hands to his sides. "Now, let's get the hell out of here, and you could do that."

"Don't think so," Angel said and shoved the stake he'd taken from the soldier straight into Spike's heart. "Wouldn't want to have to watch my back for another betrayal."

Good riddance! Angelus cheered as Spike was reduced to a pile of dust. Now, enough with the distractions. Let's find a way out of here and spend the next decade fucking our mate.

Uh, Angelus? You do remember I can hear you as well, don't you? Buffy asked, her face slightly flushed but her eyes amused as she met Angel's sheepish expression. "Is he always like this?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Angel walked over to her.

I'm always hard when you're around, Buff. Angelus smirked. So how about that decade?

"I think we'll start with getting out of here."

"Agreed," Angel said, and they headed toward the emergency door they were told would be unlocked and unmonitored.

o.O.o

Unmonitored my ass, Angelus growled. As soon as they opened the door to the staircase, ten Initiative soldiers were all over them.

Didn't you just say that it was all a little too easy? Buffy asked as she took a punch. She flew back against the wall, and her ears rang from banging her head against the hard surface. She recovered quickly enough to avoid another punch though, the soldier groaning loudly when his hand met the wall instead of her face, but he didn't have long to think after that. Buffy grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and rammed him face first into the wall.

The crunching sound that followed confirmed she'd hit him heard enough to break several bones. She added one more smash and let the human man slide down to the floor, unconscious. Sensing someone behind her, she kicked back before turning and punching the man in the shoulder, throwing him against the staircase rail. The man hit the rail mid-back and continued to flip over it, falling down. Buffy's attention was away from him long before he finally hit the ground three stories below.

She gritted her teeth when her body protested, still healing from the weeks of torture, but she continued to use every ounce of her strength, training, and instinct to keep track of all the moving bodies in the small space. In a way, that was to their advantage, as the stairs were only wide enough to allow two people stand shoulder to shoulder. However, even as the last of the ten soldiers' body hit the floor, Buffy could already hear more coming.

"The only way out is up," she murmured, meeting Angel's concerned gaze. "How are you holding up?"

He flashed her a smile. "Still standing. You?"

Buffy sighed and nodded. "I've had better days."

They moved together, taking the stairs two at a time as they rushed to go up the floors.

No stopping for anyone, Angelus ordered. Just throw them over the rail.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Wasn't planning on offering them tea."

Angel didn't reply. He was already throwing the first uniformed figure down. They needed to escape sooner rather than later. Their strength, although supernatural, wasn't limitless, and Angel knew that if he was hurting, Buffy was at least ten times worse. The stubborn woman blocked him from feeling her as much as she could, but he saw the tightening in her jaw, the stress lines around her eyes that told him she was in pain.

Angel released a roar of anger when he was hit with an electrical charge for the second time that day. He dropped to his knees as this shock was worse than the previous one, and neither was a walk in the park. He was blinded with the pain for only a second or two, but that was enough for the soldier who had attacked him to produce a stake and shove it into his chest.

"ANGEL!" Buffy screamed, her heart tearing inside her chest as she saw the stake travel in the direction of her husband's chest. She grabbed the nearest soldier and twisted his head hard enough to break his neck. His knees hadn't hit the floor, and Buffy was already moving, pulling the firearm the soldier had strapped into his thigh. The stake had imbedded itself into Angel's flesh just as Buffy pulled the trigger. The deafening sound of gunshots filled the stairway, echoing off the walls, as Buffy systematically placed a bullet in the face of every single figure who had attacked them. She couldn't feel anything but numbness and cold. Her heart was ripped out the moment that wooden stake hit Angel's chest, and she knew she would never care about anything but revenge from that second on. As soon as the Initiative and everyone involved in their kidnapping were dead, she would find a way to join her love.

It took her tired and emotionally distraught mind several seconds to realize that Angel hadn't burst into dust, and it was suddenly eerily quiet in the hallway. The only sound her ears were picking up was a choked up, wounded moan that she realized was coming from her.

Angel turned shocked eyes at his mate, meeting her equally-as-stunned gaze.

Well, that's one theory proven right, Angelus said cheerfully. He was the only one coherent enough to speak at that point, but even he was amazed. He simply did a better job at hiding it.

Angel looked down at his chest and brought his hand to touch the wood.

"Uh, I…" Buffy had to take a deep breath to get her mind to work again. She knew there was no hope for her heart at that moment. That particular part of her might never recover from the shock. "Let me."

Angel lower his hand and nodded. He met her eyes, seeing the shock, fear, and anger in them. She was holding a torn piece of fabric—he presumed a shirt off one of the dead figures around him—and despite the emotional turmoil he could see raging inside her, her hand was steady.

"On three," she said. "One, two, three." She pulled. As soon as the stake was out, she pressed the fabric against the wound, staunching the bleeding. There wasn't much, and she realized just how starved her mate truly was. A wound this big would have caused a vampire to bleed profusely. Any other vampire would have been dust, she corrected.

Angel hissed and slumped forward. The pain was incredible as his body instantly tried to repair the literal hole in the middle of his chest. Trying to rise, he felt everything begin to spin. "Damn it!" He closed his eyes.

"We're not going to make it to the surface with you in this shape," Buffy said, lifting his arm over her shoulders, still keeping the pressure on his chest. "Lean on me, and let's find a place to hide."

Angel nodded very slightly and slowly rose to his feet. He put his palm over Buffy's on his chest and opened his eyes to look at her. "I guess either Tara's spell or Angelus' kicked in."

"Guess so." Buffy bit on her lip to stop it from trembling. She wouldn't think about it, she told herself. Not now. Focus. There, a door. Male quarters. Perfect. Then, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of more footsteps. Damn it, there are more of them coming. "Angel…"

"I know," he said, having heard the same thing. "We need to hurry. Let's go."

Buffy knew that he must have nearly crushed his teeth by the tightness of his jaw, but Angel made it—with her help—up the few stairs to the door. It opened easily with the keycard she picked up from one of the soldiers she'd killed.

Yet another topic to think about later, she told herself.

We're fine, Buff, Angelus said, surprising her with his gentle tone. It's nothing a little blood won't fix.

I know. Heal. You'll heal. Both. Out of here. Need to escape. Where? Not safe. Holy shit, Angel nearly died! No, don't think. Act. One step at a time. Hide. Cameras. They must be watching.

Her words were a jumbled mess, and she knew it, but she couldn't get her mind to think straight. The pain she was suffering was both physical and mental, and she knew that she was also feeling some of Angel's in a ghostly manner. None of these helped her think any clearer.

"I don't see cameras here," Angel said quietly. "Try this door, see if we can open it."

Buffy swiped the card, but the panel light flashed red. "Damn it. What are the chances that we'll find the right door? We might as well just break the damn lock and be done with it."

Angel heard the frustration in her words. "We can't. That would lead them straight to us."

"I know." Buffy shoved hair away from her face as she helped Angel to the next door. Same result. She sighed. "Can you wait here a moment?"

He nodded. "What do you plan to do?"

"Increase our chances." She only waited long enough to see that Angel could remain upright when leaning against the wall before she ran back to the door that they'd used to enter the floor. The soldiers coming down were closer, and she knew she would not have much time. Dashing back to the dead bodies, she went through each and every man, taking his keycard. She also picked up the gun she'd used earlier as well as several clips.

Better safe than sorry. More might come, and I might need it. She hated thinking about the men she'd killed, knowing that if she allowed herself to do so right then, she would fall apart. No time for that. Fall apart later. Get to safety now.

Once all the cards were in her hand, she dashed back up the stairs and through the door. She made it back to Angel just as they both heard the scuffle continuing down, past the level they were on.

"They must have gotten back down," they heard one man say. "The doors on this floor and upward are secured. Observation says they're not here."

"Okay, let's head down to the basement," another said.

They waited another long minute before daring to breathe again.

"Stay here and let me check the doors." She looked down at the rag Angel held to his chest. It was black, so she couldn't really tell if he was still bleeding or not.

Yes, ma'am, Angelus said. I like it when you're being bossy, lover. Makes me want to tie you to my bed and show you who is really the boss around here.

Save it for later, Angelus. Buffy didn't even look up from the panel as she methodically checked each key.

Promise?

There was so much hope in his tone that Buffy couldn't hold back the chuckle. It was borderline hysterical, she realized. Come on, come on, come on. She moved from one door to the next, searching for cameras as she went, but none of the keys seemed to work.

Finally, at the seventh door, one of the keys matched. "Finally!" she breathed, afraid to speak any louder.

Angel slowly began moving toward her, and she rushed to assist him.

"Stubborn," she muttered.

Angel chuckled and then winced when the movement caused more pain. "You would know."

"I would." She glared at him even as she led him to the door. "Come in," she said, remembering that he needed an invitation. Though the owner of the key was definitely dead, it didn't mean that the mystical barrier would be open to Angel. It could be that, from a supernatural stand point, the room belonged to the commanders of the Initiative, which were still alive.

Buffy shut the door behind them and turned a critical eye on the room. It was small. The furniture consisted of a narrow bed against one wall and a small desk with two chairs pushed against it. One door was slightly ajar and led to the bathroom, another was closed, and Buffy assumed it led to the closet. "Well, it's not much, but it'll do. It's got a bed and a shower."

"All the luxuries of home," Angel said.

Buffy turned to look at him with a raised brow. "Was that a joke?"

He sighed, wincing again.

"Right, let's see if I can find some bandages." She walked Angel the short distance to the bed and helped him down on it. "Can you take off your shirt?"

Anytime, lover, Angelus said.

"Might need help, actually," Angel said sheepishly when lifting his arms proved painful.

Buffy wasted no time in tearing the shirt he wore down the middle, revealing his naked body to her. He dropped the rag he held against his chest to the floor, and she gasped in shock. "It's almost closed!"

"Yeah, I can practically feel the knitting of the tissue." Angel grimaced. "It's not very pleasant."

"I bet. Well, looks like we won't need the first aid kit." She glanced at the bed. "As much as I would love to hit the sack. I really want a shower first."

Angel slowly stood and turned to offer her his hand. "Let us both take one. I would like to get the dirt off my body as well, and I could use some help."

She took his hand and rose. "Any excuse to get me to touch you, eh?"

"You caught me."

The light tone of the conversation betrayed the true feelings they could each see in the other's eyes. Quietly, they walked the few steps to the bathroom and stepped into the small shower stall. It was barely large enough to hold them both.

Angel adjusted the heat of the water while Buffy picked up the single bottle on the floor. Shower gel. Figures, this being a man's room, that there would be no shampoo and conditioner around. She briefly thought about the amount of different bottles her own bathroom held—shampoo, hair conditioner, body lotion, facial soap—and that was only counting the bare essentials.

Slowly, they lathered each other's body with the shower gel and washed away the dirt, enjoying the warm temperature of the water as well as each other's company. After the third cycle of lathering and rinsing, they finally felt clean enough and simply stood under the running water. Angel leaned against the wall, holding Buffy in a loose embrace as she let her head fall on his healing chest.

Buffy kissed him over his heart and knew that tears were freely flowing down her cheeks, mixing with the water. "You almost died today," she whispered.

"We both did," he said quietly, feeling his own emotions rise to the surface. It was breaking his heart to see her cry, to feel the pain in her voice.

She whimpered, her shoulders shaking. "Angel…"

His arms tightened around her as she began to sob, allowing all the pent-up emotions to flow out of her alongside the tears. He comforted her, whispering his assurances as she held on to him. "I'm here, beloved. I'm here, and you are here. And we will not be parted again."

He knew his own cheeks held traces of tears as well by the time Buffy finally calmed. He envied her that kind of release sometimes. In his human times—and it was probably still true these days—it was not socially acceptable for men to cry. It was seen as a weakness and poor character. The only one who had ever seen him break was Buffy. She was the only person that he knew wouldn't judge him.

And now she is my wife and mate, forever bound to me. The thought was warming. Buffy had been the light in his dark existence since the first moment he had laid eyes on her, and it continued to be true, even while he was forced to be away from her.

The water began to cool, and they both moved to step out of the shower. The towels were surprisingly soft, which made Buffy hum in satisfaction. Angel smiled when she wrapped a towel over her hair, piling it up on her head. She looked amazingly beautiful with her face clean and a hint of a smile on her lips.

"I love you," he said and leaned down to kiss those smiling lips.

She smiled even wider against his mouth before answering his kiss. She brought her hands up to bury her fingers into his wet hair and groaned when her ribs protested.

"We better get some rest." He pulled away but kept one hand on her bare shoulders. "Sleep will go a long way in helping us heal."

She nodded, and he followed her out of the bathroom. After making sure that the front door was locked, Angel placed one of the chairs under the handle as an extra security measure. If the humans found a way to pick the lock and push through the door, the chair would provide a loud warning that would wake them up.

"One more precaution," Buffy said softly. With what had to be the last of her energy reserves, she cast a shield around them. It was nowhere near as powerful as the one she had been able to cast when she and Cordelia had left the mansion to go to Los Angeles—oh, Lord, how long ago had that been? She couldn't honestly tell for certain—but it was better than leaving them completely without protection.

Impressed, Angel said, "You have grown much in power."

She shrugged. "I had plenty of free time."

Seeing that the subject was hurting her, Angel abandoned the issue.

Don't worry, Angelus said with glee, I have plans for those idiots. Very pleasurable plans. Well, for me they are. For them? Not so much.

Angel sighed. He did not have the power—nor the will, if he were being honest—to argue with his demon. Instead, he walked over to the narrow bed and slid between the sheets. Buffy joined him, curling into his side and sliding her thigh between his. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and enjoyed her warmth for the first time in weeks.

"Sleep, beloved." He kissed the top of her head.

Buffy snuggled closer to him and sighed in satisfaction. "With you, I will."

Within moments, they were both asleep, comforted by the other's presence.

Trouble is still brewing, and they aren't out of danger yet, but they are together - and remember what we have been told: together they are strong.

What did you think about Angel's near-death experience? First we have Buffy dying and coming back to life, and now Angel takes a stake through his heart and continues on walking the earth. Interesting, ain't it?

Next time on Bring Me to Death: Tara is playing spy again, and what she learns is more than a little disturbing. She does her best to put a spoke in the wheels of the Scooby Gang, but is it possible that the Initiative holds more in their compound that she could even have imagined?