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Buffy was not dead, in fact, she was painfully aware of the fact she was alive. The knock on her head which had finally brought her down had healed by now. Now she had all sorts of new pain to deal with.
There was blackness all around her. A small visor allowed her to see the vampires, two small holes around her ears let her hear them. What she was in resembled the old bloody Mary execution devices, with a cruel twist: the points were not close enough to kill her. They merely bled her every time she moved, out of weariness, muscle spasm, or escape attempt. She was bone tired now, ready to cry. Her blood was not going to waste. Occasionally she would see a vampire kneel in front of her and pull a small cup up. The woman vampire would smile and show Buffy the cup before she drank down the contents. The vampire was slender, small, and beautiful while in human guise. Buffy could feel the power and tell this was a master vampire she was dealing with.
When she first heard the voice, she thought she was dreaming, or delirious from blood loss. "Nimue, Nimue, Nimue, of all the people I didn't expect to see around here. How is New England this time of year?" What was Angel doing here?
The vampire, Nimue, was clearly familiar with him. "Angelus. It's been decades. How's the soul?"
She heard Angel's low chuckle. "You don't miss a beat, do you Nimue?"
Nimue's voice was low, throaty. "I wouldn't have lived a thousand years if I weren't. Now, there are all sorts of nasty rumors flying around about you draining this one and leaving her alive. Now, if you were doing it like I am, I could understand. She's delicious, like a fine wine. But, last I heard, you were in L.A."
Buffy could hear his footsteps on the stone. "She's a special girl, and not any danger to you, out in Hartford. What are you doing here on the West Coast?"
"With the Master dead, it's been free territory for more than two years now. Everyone thought you or Spike would jump in, take over, but nope. You were busy for a few months and then dropped off the map." Buffy could see her proffer a cup of her blood to Angel. "Have a drink, on the house."
Angel breathed in the smell. He knew exactly what Nimue was talking about. "Nimue, just give me the Slayer. You must have seen my mark on her when you took her. That mark means mine, you know it, I know it, every vampire in the world knows it."
Buffy on the other hand, didn't know the significance of that mark. It burned now, like she had been branded, which it turns out, she had. That caused her to flinch, and she cursed as the spines drove into her arms.
Angel heard her curse and started walking toward the box in the corner. He thought he'd smelled her. Nimue grabbed his arm. "Please, Angelus. I've been sick. You know the potency the Slayer's blood has. Just let me hold her until I'm back to full strength."
Riley chose that moment to knock over something in back. Nimue's eyes slit in suspicion. "You brought a human here?" He tried to stop her but it was too late. She used a powerful binding spell, and Riley dropped like a stone. The sorceress was swift, and bypassed Angel to grab him up. She held a knife to his throat. "What do you say, Angelus? You leave here with him, I'll hold on to the girl."
Angel cursed the boy. "Not going to happen, Nimue. They're both coming home with me."
Nimue licked Riley's neck. "This one doesn't have your brand on him. Come, we'll drink him together. I can smell her all over him. We'll all get a kick out of it." Nimue was threatened and dangerous. Angel knew of only one thing to do.
He ran towards the box that held Buffy.
As he'd hoped, Buffy was the real prize, and Nimue forgot Riley entirely in her rush to save her meal ticket. He managed to wrestle her to the floor, but she spelled him to feel an incredible rush of pain. Fortunately for him, Riley had come free, and before Nimue could inflict any more damage, he had pulled her off. Angel shook himself out of the pain in time to see Riley howl in pain as a magical force threw him against the cave wall. He looked around for something handy and wooden but failed to find one. Instead he threw himself at her. She must have been sick; normally she would've killed them by now. She bit his hand hard and he yelped, pulling away. Riley had crawled up, and was breaking apart a chair. Nimue began a spell to set the chair on fire, but Angel vamped out and bit her in throat from behind. She shrieked and threw him against the wall. Angel braced himself as he felt the fires of a spell run up and down his nerves. It was ten times the agony of holy water. He howled, ready to pass out from the pain when Riley came to the rescue and plunged the leg of the chair, still attached, through Nimue's chest. Angel nearly wept with relief when she exploded in a cloud of dust. Riley threw the chair away, stared at him for a moment, panting, then offered him a hand up. He accepted it, then realized what Riley had been staring at. He let the vampiric ridges fade away and wiped his mouth of Nimue's foul, stale blood.
They both looked at the cabinet. Buffy was screaming inside of it. Riley looked with a frown at the lock. "What do we do about that?"
Angel grunted and pulled the door off its hinges. A relieved Buffy collapsed immediately into Riley's arms. He gasped at the sight of the hundreds of wounds in her flesh. Angel sighed. "Lay her out on the table." Riley did so obediently. Angel found a wash cloth and began wiping the blood off of her naked body. At that, Riley blushed. Angel sighed once more. "See if there's anything around here to cover her up." While the boy did that, Angel finished cleaning the wounds. She had lost a lot of blood. His eyes gleamed when he spotted a small refrigerator. Nimue had meant to keep Buffy alive here for some time, and there was juice in the fridge. He broke one of the juice boxes open and carefully coaxed the fluid down her throat. She came into a half consciousness as he did, but wasn't aware at all.
Riley had found a fairly ratty blanket. "I guess Nimue wasn't keeping her clothes in this cave." With Angel's help, he wrapped it around Buffy's body. "Is she going to be okay?"
Angel frowned. "She's a bit weak, a little pale. But I've seen her overcome worse that this. Still, I'd like to get her someplace warmer." He did some mental calculations. Closest by a three-quarters of a mile; good thing he still had a year's worth of lease on the place. He made a quick decision. "Riley, find a phone and call Giles. Tell him to meet us at the Crawford Street mansion, and to bring food and iron tablets." He carefully collected Buffy in his arms.
"Then where do I go?"
"To the Crawford Street mansion. I'm carrying a wounded woman. If you can't catch up with me, you haven't been fighting demons very long." With that, Angel turned around and strode out of the cave.
The house was a bit dusty in his absence. Fortunately, there were still soft sheets on the bed. Angel laid her down tenderly before lighting a fire. He heated some water in it and began dressing Buffy's wounds, some of which had reopened during the journey.
He was just tucking her in when Riley arrived. "Giles will be here in a few." He gazed concerned at Buffy. "She okay?"
"She should be. Slayers heal pretty quickly. Knowing her, I expect her to be awake any moment." He put the gauze away. "Thank you, by the way."
"It's alright. You saved my life before that. We're even."
"Don't keep score." Angel was too tired for this. Giles arrived then, Willow and Joyce in tow. Buffy came into the half-consciousness while they coaxed her into a nightgown and fed her broth, juice, and iron tablets, but was only aware enough to swallow. After a few hours, Angel managed to persuade them to go home, and get some sleep.
Except for Riley.
"You're exhausted, man. Major head trauma is something that demands rest."
"Not until she's awake." Angel couldn't argue with that. Instead he pulled another wing chair up to her bedside and sat down. "Lots of memories here?"
Angel would have been happy with comfortable silence, but he was content enough to indulge the boy. "Yeah. Got sent to Hell here, came back from Hell here, that sort of thing." He sighed.
Riley chuckled at that. Angel tilted a glance at him. "Sorry. It's just other girls I've dated have told me about how their ex would have gone to Hell and back for them. Buffy's the only one who means it literally."
Angel leaned back, gazing at the sleeping figure. "Yeah. She does that to a guy."
"She's a special kind of girl."
They were silent for a few moments. "Is she happy?"
"What?" Riley seemed a bit confused at Angel's query.
"With you? Is she happy?" He needed to know that much.
"I, I think so. I hope so." Riley didn't seem sure if that answer would get his throat torn out.
Instead Angel smiled. "Good. That's all that really matters."
Riley thought on that a moment. "It really is."
After a half-hour of watching, Riley fell into sleep. Angel picked up a slim volume of Donne's poetry he'd left behind and began reading. Three hours later, he could hear her beginning to stir. He closed the book and knelt by the bed, holding her hand. When she opened her eyes, he was the first thing she saw.
"Hey there." He couldn't think of anything else to say. He gave her hand a soft squeeze.
"Hey there," she replied back weakly. "Can I get something to drink?"
Silently, he got her more juice and another iron tablet. She accepted them and downed them all. He returned to her side immediately. "You going to live?"
"I think so." She smiled. "Thank you, for coming, and for rescuing me."
He smiled back. "I even called this time." She chuckled.
"What was that talk with Nimue, about the mark?"
She had heard that. He tried to think of the easiest explanation. "Sometimes, if a vampire takes a special interest in a human, he'll leave his mark on them. Less powerful vampires won't drain them." A gleam caught in her eye, and he added quickly, "They'll kill, torture or maim them, but they won't drain them."
Buffy sighed. "Guess it's no Glinda's kiss then."
Angel smiled. "You need to sleep. Close your eyes." With his other hand, he lightly stroked her hair out of her face. He tried to pull away, but she wouldn't let his hand go.
"Don't go, while I'm asleep." It was a plea from the heart, and he had always had trouble saying no to her.
"I'll be here when you wake up, I promise." She still didn't let go of his hand, and he had to wait until she had fallen back asleep to stand. He settled back down in his chair, glad Riley had still been asleep. Just then, the commando spoke, his eyes unopened.
"You keep that promise to her or I'll stake you myself."
Angel couldn't help but smile. He still didn't like the boy. He was too bland, too hulky, too cornbread for Angel's refined, aristocratic tastes. But if Finn was that dedicated to making Buffy happy, Angel supposed he could live with it.
For now.