TITLE: Demon Revenge
AUTHOR: Kelso
RATING: R
SPOILERS: "Eternity" (for "Angel"); and any of "Buffy" through "Who Are You?" is fair game, particularly season 4 episodes.
FEEDBACK: send to kelso28@excite.com
SUMMARY: Sequel to "Demon Bait." Angelus is still in Sunnydale pretending to be Angel. This time, he works on reestablishing a romantic relationship with Buffy and bringing down the Initiative.
DISTRIBUTION: wait until it's done, then anywhere is fine but take the version posted at my site (link below)
WEBSITE:
DISCLAIMER: "Buffy" and "Angel" characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc.
NOTES: Set in season 4. Picks up about a week after "Demon Bait" left off. Summary of that story: Angelus reemerged and went to Sunnydale, pretending to be Angel. He planned to inflict mental torture on the gang before killing them. He was able to cause trouble between Buffy and Riley, but then the Initiative captured him and implanted a chip in his brain that prevents him from harming humans.
--Spike didn't return to Sunnydale in S4, so he is unchipped. Buffy dated Riley, but never had sex with him. However, Buffy and Willow are still attending UC Sunnydale, Xander is not, Oz left town, and the Tara/Willow and Xander/Anya relationships developed as seen on the show.
--Thanks to Sky and SpikeFan for beta reading large chunks of this one.
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Demon Revenge
A loud clumping awoke Angelus from his sound sleep. He knew without any checking at all that the intrusive noise was caused by Buffy, returning like a fly to be caught in a spiderweb. Ever since his return to the old Crawford Street mansion, she had found multiple transparent excuses to visit him. It was best to play hard to get; let her come to him, so she would have to suffer with that knowledge in the long run.
He listened as Buffy continued to stomp throughout the house, opening and slamming doors in her search for him. "Angel?" she called. "Angel, where are you?"
He had waited long enough. He had to go out and talk to Buffy while acting like nothing was wrong and he was still that boring sap, Angel. Angelus growled unproductively at the very thought of having to imitate that idiot, then clutched his head in pain. Frankly, he'd almost entirely given up growling lately. He usually got a headache when he tried it, all due to that damned Initiative chip. Almost anything fun gave him a headache--even the mere thought of killing or just maiming someone. What had the world come to?
Getting back to business, Angelus rolled off the bed and onto his feet, then threw on the clothes he had lying ready. He had insisted on moving into the mansion several days ago, knowing Joyce was due to come home soon from her business trip and not looking forward one little bit to the thought of seeing the busybody twit again. Buffy had been forced to agree with his decision, aware her mother would be less than pleased at the thought that "Angel" had been staying with Buffy at the house in her absence. As for the question of where he should move? The mansion was empty, it was close, it was reasonably vampire-friendly, and in short, it was the logical solution.
Angelus finished getting ready and slipped into the hall. His nemesis had progressed to only a few doors away, and was frowning as she turned from yet another empty room. "Buffy." Angelus grimaced as he greeted her. Fortunately, Angel's smiles usually felt more like grimaces anyway so he doubted Buffy could tell the difference.
"Angel," she responded in a quivering voice, then ran down the hall and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hard day at school?" he asked as she clung to him. Not that he really cared if she'd had a bad day, of course, except to the extent that he could capitalize on it.
Buffy nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah, my hand wasn't even raised and Professor Burns called on me in lit and embarrassed me in front of the whole class when I didn't know the answer. Then I forgot we had a test in economics today. Instant F."
"Isn't that too bad." Angelus began to stroke her hair in long, even motions. "Well, maybe I can come up with something that'll make you feel better."
Buffy lifted her head, tears shining in her eyes. "Yeah? What?"
Angelus didn't reply verbally. Instead, he leaned down and gently touched his lips to Buffy's. He was remarkably restrained; he didn't even try to use any tongue until he felt her start to respond. One of the few pleasures left in Angelus' bland post-chip life was inflicting mental torment on his victims. His primary goal was to seduce and then dump Buffy, but he hadn't been able to make much progress thus far. Today, though, might be his day. Buffy was feeling vulnerable, and he was just the demon to take advantage of that weakness.
She was practically melting in his arms, leaning into him and sucking face with great enthusiasm. Maybe he ought to make sure she got F's more often.... Slowly, Angelus shifted backward, toward his abandoned room. If he could maneuver Buffy inside, he stood a good chance of being able to lure her into bed before she registered what was going on. He kept hold of Buffy with his right hand while he reached behind himself with his left to feel for the doorknob. He had grasped it and was about to twist it when Buffy pried her mouth away from his, almost taking his tongue with it. "No, Angel, we can't do this."
She backed away from him, and Angelus did his best to hide his sharp rush of annoyance. Buffy sounded like a broken record. Every time he put the moves on her, she trotted out the same old excuse. Well, he would have to persuade her to see things his way. It shouldn't be too hard to convince her he was miserable when it wouldn't even be a lie.
He braced himself and launched into his usual speech, though even *he* was tired of hearing it. "Let me explain again why we can have sex. Now, it's obvious I can never be perfectly happy like this, Buffy. We both know about the curse, and the thought of it will never completely leave our minds. Besides that, my ability to aid the imperiled has been compromised." He rephrased when he saw Buffy wrinkle her brow in obvious confusion. "It's harder for me to help the helpless. As long as this chip is in my head, I'll have to exist with that depressing knowledge."
Buffy crossed her arms and looked down, biting her lip. "Let me think about it, okay? This subject is too serious for us to jump into anything. Don't you agree?"
Damn. One would think she was still a virgin. Not meaning a second of it, Angelus solemnly nodded. He would overcome Buffy's scruples, no matter what he had to do.
***
After Buffy left to go study for a test with Willow, Angelus tried his best to get back to sleep but found himself unable to. Without consciously trying, Buffy was doing a thorough job of ruining his routine. So instead of getting more rest, he decided to do the next best thing. Naturally, that thing was no longer torturing, or destroying, or slaughtering, or feeding, because he could no longer indulge in any of those beloved activities; no, it was remembering the past.
Oh, for the bad old days, when he'd wiped out an entire village in one night. Those were the times, all right.
Angelus drifted into a nostalgic haze, daydreaming about his finest ambushes and goriest kills. He'd been pretty impressive back then. He should look into writing a book about his adventures.... Wait a minute! What was he thinking? Write a *book*? He was one of the most fearsome demons ever to roam the world. Fearsome demons raped and pillaged and murdered. They didn't lie around thinking about what to title their autobiographies.
He had certainly sunk low. Angelus was actually ashamed of himself. Instead of reveling in the admittedly glorious past, he should be out wreaking havoc in the present. Having that chip in his head was no excuse. He needed to take steps toward getting his bite back, that very night.
Determined to change his fate, Angelus impatiently waited until dusk fell. The second it was safe to set foot outside, he was on his way to infiltrate the underground Initiative complex. It took him mere minutes to reach the sewers where Riley had led him out. Despite Finn's feeble attempt at trickery by guiding him along a circuitous path, Angelus recalled the route perfectly. In fact, he was able to significantly shorten it. Riley had taken about five times as much travel time as necessary, all in a vain attempt to confuse Angelus.
Following his shortcut, Angelus soon found himself at his destination. He squeezed into the complex, senses on high alert for the presence of humans. His plan was to lure a single doctor outside with him, then somehow trick that doctor into revealing how to remove the chip. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to use physical force on that individual. But Angelus had often before relied on his superior brain power to win the day, so he didn't think lack of brawn would present any sort of problem.
He cautiously crept along the hallway, keeping to the shadows. Ahead, he heard the heartbeats of five people. Way too many for him to confront in his present condition. He backtracked several yards and proceeded down a corridor to the left. This way, he felt only one heartbeat, several doors down. He slunk to the doorway of the room in question and paused outside, listening.
The occupant was indeed alone. The door was open the merest crack, so Angelus took advantage and peered inside. He saw a long, wooden table with one chair. In that chair sat a man with graying hair who wore a white coat and a nametag. It seemed he was in luck, and had already found a doctor.
Quietly, Angelus slipped inside the room and shut the door behind him. The doctor jumped and looked up, dropping the clipboard he had been writing on. He clutched a hand to his chest and exclaimed, "Oh! You startled me."
Angelus eyed the man's nametag. "Hello, Dr. Hamilton."
"Hello." The doctor looked at him strangely.
Angelus thought quickly. On his way over, he had made up what he thought was a plausible cover story, which he now rolled out to allay the other man's obvious suspicions. "I need you to come with me. We've captured another hostile in the park and you have to go there to treat him."
The doctor shook his head and began to laugh, long and hard. "You expect me to believe that story? Everyone here knows who you are. You're the hostile Agent Finn freed. He warned us you might come back and attempt to frighten us into giving you medical data. Fortunately, we are all prepared. We know you can't harm us in any way."
It was like a nightmare, which would have been fine except it wasn't a nightmare of Angelus' creation. He was being *laughed* at, by a pitiful creature he might not even have deigned to eat as recently as a week and a half ago. He vamped out and snarled fiercely at the doctor, but was quickly punished by the familiar shooting pain in his head.
"We do good work here," he heard the other man smugly note. "Now, I'm calling security. Do stay around so we can experiment some more on you."
That warning was enough to send Angelus fleeing back to the relative safety of the sewers, where he could do little but muse on the indignities to which he was subjected and try to come up with a new approach.
***
"Um...1861," Buffy wildly guessed in answer to Willow's Civil War history question.
"No, 1865," her friend corrected. "Next. What was the first state to secede?"
"Louisiana?" Buffy suggested.
"Wrong again." Willow set her book aside. "Look, something's obviously distracting you. You knew most of these answers yesterday. So, what's wrong?"
Buffy fiddled with her pencil and then decided to just plunge into the subject. "Willow, what would you think if I told you Angel wanted us to have sex again?"
"*What*?" Willow screamed. Then she blinked and went on in her usual quiet tone. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right. Could you repeat that?"
"Okay, let me explain first," Buffy backtracked. "See, Angel still loves me, obviously I still love him, and with him being around it's tough on both of us. There's so much temptation, you know? So he brought up the subject and said there won't be any danger now that he knows about the curse plus he's got the chip in his head. Two big checks in the not-happy column. I kind of understand what he's saying but on the other hand, I really, *really* don't like the thought of Angelus possibly coming back. So, what do you think?"
Willow sighed. "Angel raises some good points, then so do you. All I know is, it's definitely not something I should be deciding. Have you thought about talking to Giles?"
Buffy laughed. "Go to Giles for advice on my sex life? I don't think so."
"I get your point." Willow paused. "So, what are you going to do?"
Buffy furrowed her brow. "Maybe I'm making this all way too complicated when it boils down to one simple issue."
"Yeah?" Willow prompted.
For long seconds, Buffy remained silent. Then she declared, "I've made up my mind. Now, all I have to do is go to Angel and tell him what I've decided."
***
It was a good thing for the human population of Sunnydale that Angelus was unable to harm them, because he was in possibly the worst mood he had *ever* been in. He'd been humbled by the Initiative doctor, forced to hide from puny soldiers for two hours in a stinking sewer tunnel, and finally dragged himself back to the mansion, pissed off, bored, and starving. The only one of those conditions he could improve was the last one.
Angelus stalked to the kitchen, threw open the refrigerator door, and scowled as he eyed the container of pig's blood sitting alone on the top shelf. Even the lowliest of fledglings didn't make a regular diet of animal blood. In fact, most vampires had never so much as tasted it. Most never needed to. Angelus was one of the rare unfortunate creatures who did. He didn't like the feeling one bit.
Unwillingly, he reached for the container. Then he stopped. He wasn't going to do it. No more of that slop for *him*, he decided. He was going to get himself the luscious human blood he deserved. The only question was how. Angelus thought for a moment. Buying the good stuff from Willy or any other supplier was out of the question, since Buffy was bound to find out and wonder what was going on. However, if he worked at it, he was sure he could figure out a solution. Much as it sickened him, Angelus called to mind some of the goody-goody actions of Angel and soon came up with an epiphany. The local hospital received a periodic blood delivery. Back in his Sunnydale days, Angel had helped Buffy protect the supply from other vampires. Well, Angelus planned to help, too--help himself *to* the blood.
He consulted the Halloween-themed calendar hanging on the refrigerator door and nodded. If he recalled his dates correctly, the hospital blood delivery should arrive the very next night. Angelus had every intention of being there to meet it.
***
Promptly at 8 p.m., Angelus strode through the front door of Sunnydale Hospital. He absolutely loved public buildings--no invitation required. Not that he'd ever spent much time in hospitals. He preferred to feed on healthy humans, not those wasting away from some nasty disease or other. No, he was only at this hospital out of desperation. To intercept the blood delivery without a fight, Angelus had to look like a hospital employee. He needed to steal one of those ugly white lab coats.
He skulked down a few random corridors until he found an employee break room. Inside lay an unguarded coat.
At 8:10 p.m., Angelus, coat and all, was waiting impatiently in a dark, cozy spot outside the emergency room entrance. If the schedule was the same as he remembered, the delivery was supposed to arrive at a little after 8:30 p.m. He also recalled, however, that sometimes it came somewhat earlier or later. In this case, he was hoping for earlier. He could almost taste that blood already.
While he waited, Angelus' thoughts shifted to Buffy. She hadn't shown up at the mansion all day, which was unusual and also made him wonder. Angelus did not like being left in the dark. If Buffy avoided him the next day, as well, he would have to seek her out. Maybe he had pressed her too hard and scared her away. Being good, or pretending to be, anyway, was certainly hard work.
Angelus sighed in annoyance, then straightened to attention. He heard the noise of a vehicle approaching. It sounded much heavier than a car, so chances were it was the blood-delivery van. He glanced over his shoulder. The employees who were supposed to collect the delivery hadn't put in an appearance yet. Perfect.
As the van rolled into its parking space, Angelus stepped forward, ready to collect his loot. The driver and his passenger hopped out and went around to the back of the vehicle to unload the supplies. Angelus followed, determined to sign for the blood and then make a swift escape.
The driver glanced at him. "You here to collect the stuff?"
Just as Angelus was about to utter an emphatic "Yes," the most unwelcome voice in the world sounded behind him.
"Angel, what are you doing here?"
Dammit, it was Buffy. Just when you didn't want her around, she popped up. Angelus had been hoping against hope that she had either forgotten about the hospital delivery, or stopped guarding it, or was too busy to show up, but no. He couldn't be that lucky, could he? With a feeling of doomed resignation, he turned to face her.
"Hi, Buffy."
"I think we covered that already." She stared at him. "I asked what you're doing here."
"Um, same thing you are?" Angelus lied.
Buffy smiled. "I knew there was a logical explanation. But why are you wearing that coat?"
Time for another lie. "To trick any lurking demons into thinking I was a harmless hospital employee." He whipped off the lab coat and tried to look innocent.
"Good idea. Why don't we make sure the blood gets inside safely?" Buffy suggested. "Then we can talk."
So Angelus was forced to watch his meal plan slip away, to be given to an unknown number of useless humans who would never appreciate it like he did. It was all Buffy's fault, too. If only she'd stayed at home, or gone patrolling in one of the cemeteries, or something, *anything*, else. He cast one last, longing look at the swinging hospital doors before he turned back to the person responsible for his poor diet.
"I bet you were wondering why I didn't come to your place today," Buffy began, eyes downcast. "That's because I've reached a decision about the future of our relationship, Angel." She finally looked at him, briefly, before she went back to studying the ground. "I can't see you anymore. At all. In fact, I think it's probably best if you go back to Los Angeles. If I figure out a way to help you get rid of the chip, I can call you. It isn't like you'll be all that far away. You can come back the same day if anything big happens. If you stay here, the temptation is too much and the risk is too great. It wouldn't be fair to give in to our feelings when we might be putting other people in jeopardy. I know you'll understand so I'm going to leave now and not drag this out, okay?"
Angelus stared in horror as Buffy turned on her heel and strode off without a backward glance. He couldn't stop her. He couldn't bite her. He couldn't even try to shake some sense into her. Sure, she was a pain in the ass most of the time. But he had to be given a fair chance to get back at her for the hell she'd put him through. He'd never even considered the possibility that she would dump him--Angel, whoever. As if he didn't have enough problems already, now he had to try to win Buffy back just so he could reject her again.
***
It took less than a day for Angelus to grow restless. He wanted to accelerate the timetable of his recovery, and it looked like Buffy wouldn't be as much help as he had hoped. Never one to rely on others to do his dirty work, Angelus thus considered his options and came up with a new plan. He needed information, he wanted it now, and the best way to get it was from other demons. That meant he had to pay a visit to Willy's Bar. Accordingly, Angelus set out for the place at dusk that night.
The establishment was just as much of a dive as he remembered. Angelus curled his lip in distaste but entered nonetheless. Within seconds, a pair of drunken Pindar demons in the booth nearest the door looked up, saw him, and sneered.
Angelus had to force himself not to go over and wrench their heads off of their puny necks, but the last thing he needed was for Buffy to hear rumors of how he'd become entangled in a common barroom brawl. Of course, time was he could have ruled this place with one well placed glance. But these demons didn't know who he was. The lack of respect they displayed toward "Angel" was appalling. Any vampire with the slightest hint of self-respect would be setting them straight in a very gory way right about now. Only, as Angelus sadly reminded himself, Angel had no self-respect.
He bypassed the rude Pindars and went up to the bar. Though the place was packed with at least a dozen varieties of demon, it contained just one human: the proprietor, a scrawny, trembling, born loser named Willy, who was Angelus' first target. "Willy," he greeted him. "Just the man I was looking for."
"Which would make sense considering that this is my bar," Willy unwisely replied.
He promptly shrank back as Angelus glared. *He* was the only one allowed to make smart-ass remarks in this place. Then, however, Angelus remembered that he was supposed to be Angel, and Angel, the humorless, stoic fool, either wouldn't know or wouldn't care that Willy had cracked a joke at his expense.
Reluctantly backing off, he reached up and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. Something got caught in here."
Willy relaxed, and Angelus stifled a sigh. Even in absentia, the soul continued to cramp his style. Yet all wasn't lost. Although he couldn't be his usual vicious self, he *could* apply a little pressure to Willy, because the only time Angel allowed himself to act assertive was when he was trying to help "save the world." Angelus could grill Willy about the Initiative and the moron wouldn't have a clue why he really wanted the information. Keeping this thought in mind, he regained his focus and faced his opponent. "I advise you to tell me the truth the first time I ask. What do you know about the Initiative?"
"Nothing?"
"Wrong answer." Angelus leaned closer, right in Willy's face. "I know you know something, so don't bother lying again unless you want to deal with both me and the Slayer. Now, I need to see anyone who was captured and experimented on by that organization."
Willy caved and jerked his thumb toward the other end of the bar. "That Reaver's the closest you're going to get. Aren't many left around who'll admit it to it, but one of his friends went through that place."
Angelus nodded curtly and strode down the bar to join the cannibalistic Reaver demon. This particular one, like all Reavers, was a very pale, very thin creature with a forked gray tongue and three elongated fingers on each hand. Angelus had dealt with Reavers in the past. They were pretty open and talkative, as demons went. He didn't anticipate having much trouble. He took the stool beside the Reaver and addressed his companion. "Willy said you might be able to help me out with a little matter. Has to do with an organization called the Initiative."
The Reaver looked at him. "Maybe. Maybe."
"Let me buy you a drink," Angelus offered. He gestured Willy over and waited for the Reaver to order.
"I'll have cream of mutant brain."
"Bloody Mary for me," Angelus ordered. It was the best drink in the place; Willy used real blood in each one.
He waited until they were served and the Reaver flicked out its tongue to taste its drink. It was a very thick liquid that looked like it would congeal if left untouched for more than a minute or so. Angelus eyed it in revulsion as he downed his Bloody Mary. The things some creatures put in their mouths.
The concoction, though, did the trick. After drinking about half, the Reaver withdrew its tongue and turned to him. "You want to talk about the Initiative? I have never seen the place myself, but my best friend ended up in there a few months back. They shocked him, stuck a chip in his head. He couldn't defend himself against humans. I had to save his hide so many times I was about to just eat him and be done with the trouble. Well, he didn't want that to happen so he came up with an idea to dispose of the chip."
The Reaver paused to suck at its drink again. "What idea?" Angelus demanded.
The other demon took its time finishing up before it turned to him again. "Keeping a short story short, he went to a witch doctor to have it removed. But things went horribly wrong. The extraction had barely begun when the chip exploded and blew my pal's brain into little mushy bits. Splat! All over the wall. Delicious." The Reaver smacked its lips. "Friends and family always taste the best, but I'm sure you know that."
Angelus stared at his cannibalistic companion in dismay. He'd gotten the information he sought, but it wasn't good. It seemed the chip was expressly designed *not* to come out the easy way.