Angelus watched as Buffy slowly descended the staircase.
There was no other way to describe her - she was magnificent.
From the top of her ridged forehead to the tips of her pearly
fangs, her demon face was the most wicked one he had ever seen.
He felt his own face ripple and morph in reaction.
And then Angelus realized that Buffy's bruises and other
injuries had vanished. One would never know she had been
brutally beaten mere hours ago. An unwelcome suspicion entered
Angelus' mind. He hated the very thought but he had to know if
it was true. "Turned slayers evidently possess even more
incredible healing powers than they did when they were alive,"
he noted. "I have to wonder, do they come with anything else
special?"
Buffy continued to smile as she moved toward him but the look
in her eyes turned cold. "Whatever are you suggesting, Angelus?"
"Still got a soul, lover?"
Buffy moved down the remainder of the steps in a flash and
batted Angelus against the wall. "That's the most insulting
thing you've ever said to me, and you've shot your mouth off
often enough."
Angelus steadied himself and faced Buffy. With her right in
front of him, he could look into her eyes and he found no trace
of a soul in them. It was true. Buffy was all vampire now. Well,
she might not have a soul but she did have one great right cross.
He'd only allow her that blow since he'd provoked her. "I stand
corrected. May I say it's quite a relief. Souls are highly
overrated."
"I agree."
"I knew I should have turned you years ago."
"We'll just have to make up for lost time." Buffy flew forward
and pinned him against the wall, finding his mouth with her. It
was almost like an attack because she hadn't retracted her fangs
and they cut into Angelus' tongue and lips, drawing blood that
Buffy eagerly gulped down as she continued to engaged him in a
drawn out kiss.
Angelus didn't mind. A little pain always worked for him. He did
usually prefer to be the dominant one but for Buffy he could
make an exception. He grasped her nightgown at the shoulders and
was about to rip it off her when the sound of a throat being
cleared nearby reminded him they weren't alone. Regretfully,
Angelus disengaged his lips from Buffy's. "Not in front of the
child, dear." He nodded towards Spike.
Buffy glanced over her shoulder at the other vampire. "Oh, him.
I already knew he was here."
"I think I'm in the way anyway," Spike muttered as Angelus gave
him a warning look. "I'll just go and give you two some privacy."
As he slunk away, Buffy turned back to Angelus but he held her
off. He had a few questions to ask. "Your change of attitude
toward me is refreshing but very sudden, I'm sure you'll admit.
Tell me, what's with this loving business? You always hated me
back when you were alive."
"That was the soul talking," Buffy explained. "But let's be
honest, she never hated you. She just felt like she was supposed
to. The soul was afraid of how you made her feel - wild, out of
control, desirable. She couldn't concentrate on her stupid duty
while you were around. Deep inside, even though she didn't want
to admit it, she admired you for the powerful, experienced demon
that you are. What woman with any taste wouldn't?"
"You know, Buff, you're so much more fun when you aren't being
a whiny, do gooder bitch."
"And you're so much more fun when you ARE being a merciless
fanged beast."
Angelus smiled, pleased by the compliment, but Buffy's words had
reminded him of some important unfinished business. "Speaking of
mercy, I don't intend to show any toward Penn. Not after the shit
he put you through, even if I do like the end result. I came too
close to losing you for me to let him off the hook. We need to track
that bastard down before he has time to get away. We have less than
an hour until the sun sets. The minute that happens, we'll go out to
hunt for him. My guess is he went back to Santa Ana last night
so that's where we'll start."
"I can show you where he held me prisoner," Buffy offered.
"Maybe he left some clues behind."
"Sounds good." Angelus began to think ahead, then noticed
that Buffy was touching her face and contorting her features.
"What's wrong?"
She continued her efforts, frowning as she did so. "Why can't
I change?"
She wanted to switch back to human appearance, Angelus
realized. "It's normal not to be able to right away. It takes
some practice before you get the hang of it."
"I don't want to be normal," Buffy complained. "I want to be
special."
"Believe me, you are," Angelus assured her. "You're the first
turned slayer ever. You'll be able to perform acts lesser
vampires can only dream of. But you're young yet. Give it a
little time. For instance, morphing will be especially hard
for you until you've fed and I know you must be hungry."
"Now that you mention it ..."
Angelus went on, "Too bad we don't have any fresh humans lying
around. There is some bagged blood in the refrigerator and I
can stand drinking it if I have to, but a newly arisen vampire
needs more potent meals." He pulled back his shirt sleeve and
prepared to slice open a vein for Buffy.
"Wait, what are you doing?" She pouted. "I want to go out and
hunt."
"It's still daytime, remember? And even when dusk falls, we
won't have time for that if we want to have any chance of
catching up with Penn. Drink from me for now, and after we
get on the road we can stop at a gas station and pick you up
someone to eat."
"Oh, all right." Buffy didn't seem to mind the compromise too
much once she'd latched on to Angelus' wrist and begun to drink.
He let her continue for a short while, then commanded, "Stop.
That's enough." He waited to see if she would obey or cause
him trouble.
Slowly Buffy pulled her fangs from his flesh and then licked
her lips to catch up stray droplets of blood. "Delicious. We'll
have to do that again sometime."
"We will," Angelus promised, pleased with her responsiveness to
his order. As her sire, he held ultimate authority over her.
"But now we have to get ready to go to Santa Ana. We need to
find Spike and attractive as you look in that nightgown, you
have to get more clothes on for the trip. I know, you can have
one of Cordelia's outfits. She left enough behind."
"Cordelia's dead?" Buffy smiled. "I never liked that snobbish
bitch anyway."
"I hope her fashion sense is more to your taste." Angelus showed
Buffy to Cordelia's quarters and left her to select an outfit
while he located Spike. They all met in the lobby just as dusk was
about to descend.
Buffy had managed to revert to her human face and was scowling
as she smoothed out a wrinkle in the sleeve of her blue outfit.
"I don't like this rag."
"We'll steal you some leather later," Angelus promised. "Then
we'll all match." He and Spike both wore leather jackets and
Angelus had his favorite style of leather pants. He checked outdoors.
"Ready?"
Buffy and Spike nodded.
"Let's go capture Penn and torture him for a while." Angelus
led the way out the door.
There was no other way to describe her - she was magnificent.
From the top of her ridged forehead to the tips of her pearly
fangs, her demon face was the most wicked one he had ever seen.
He felt his own face ripple and morph in reaction.
And then Angelus realized that Buffy's bruises and other
injuries had vanished. One would never know she had been
brutally beaten mere hours ago. An unwelcome suspicion entered
Angelus' mind. He hated the very thought but he had to know if
it was true. "Turned slayers evidently possess even more
incredible healing powers than they did when they were alive,"
he noted. "I have to wonder, do they come with anything else
special?"
Buffy continued to smile as she moved toward him but the look
in her eyes turned cold. "Whatever are you suggesting, Angelus?"
"Still got a soul, lover?"
Buffy moved down the remainder of the steps in a flash and
batted Angelus against the wall. "That's the most insulting
thing you've ever said to me, and you've shot your mouth off
often enough."
Angelus steadied himself and faced Buffy. With her right in
front of him, he could look into her eyes and he found no trace
of a soul in them. It was true. Buffy was all vampire now. Well,
she might not have a soul but she did have one great right cross.
He'd only allow her that blow since he'd provoked her. "I stand
corrected. May I say it's quite a relief. Souls are highly
overrated."
"I agree."
"I knew I should have turned you years ago."
"We'll just have to make up for lost time." Buffy flew forward
and pinned him against the wall, finding his mouth with her. It
was almost like an attack because she hadn't retracted her fangs
and they cut into Angelus' tongue and lips, drawing blood that
Buffy eagerly gulped down as she continued to engaged him in a
drawn out kiss.
Angelus didn't mind. A little pain always worked for him. He did
usually prefer to be the dominant one but for Buffy he could
make an exception. He grasped her nightgown at the shoulders and
was about to rip it off her when the sound of a throat being
cleared nearby reminded him they weren't alone. Regretfully,
Angelus disengaged his lips from Buffy's. "Not in front of the
child, dear." He nodded towards Spike.
Buffy glanced over her shoulder at the other vampire. "Oh, him.
I already knew he was here."
"I think I'm in the way anyway," Spike muttered as Angelus gave
him a warning look. "I'll just go and give you two some privacy."
As he slunk away, Buffy turned back to Angelus but he held her
off. He had a few questions to ask. "Your change of attitude
toward me is refreshing but very sudden, I'm sure you'll admit.
Tell me, what's with this loving business? You always hated me
back when you were alive."
"That was the soul talking," Buffy explained. "But let's be
honest, she never hated you. She just felt like she was supposed
to. The soul was afraid of how you made her feel - wild, out of
control, desirable. She couldn't concentrate on her stupid duty
while you were around. Deep inside, even though she didn't want
to admit it, she admired you for the powerful, experienced demon
that you are. What woman with any taste wouldn't?"
"You know, Buff, you're so much more fun when you aren't being
a whiny, do gooder bitch."
"And you're so much more fun when you ARE being a merciless
fanged beast."
Angelus smiled, pleased by the compliment, but Buffy's words had
reminded him of some important unfinished business. "Speaking of
mercy, I don't intend to show any toward Penn. Not after the shit
he put you through, even if I do like the end result. I came too
close to losing you for me to let him off the hook. We need to track
that bastard down before he has time to get away. We have less than
an hour until the sun sets. The minute that happens, we'll go out to
hunt for him. My guess is he went back to Santa Ana last night
so that's where we'll start."
"I can show you where he held me prisoner," Buffy offered.
"Maybe he left some clues behind."
"Sounds good." Angelus began to think ahead, then noticed
that Buffy was touching her face and contorting her features.
"What's wrong?"
She continued her efforts, frowning as she did so. "Why can't
I change?"
She wanted to switch back to human appearance, Angelus
realized. "It's normal not to be able to right away. It takes
some practice before you get the hang of it."
"I don't want to be normal," Buffy complained. "I want to be
special."
"Believe me, you are," Angelus assured her. "You're the first
turned slayer ever. You'll be able to perform acts lesser
vampires can only dream of. But you're young yet. Give it a
little time. For instance, morphing will be especially hard
for you until you've fed and I know you must be hungry."
"Now that you mention it ..."
Angelus went on, "Too bad we don't have any fresh humans lying
around. There is some bagged blood in the refrigerator and I
can stand drinking it if I have to, but a newly arisen vampire
needs more potent meals." He pulled back his shirt sleeve and
prepared to slice open a vein for Buffy.
"Wait, what are you doing?" She pouted. "I want to go out and
hunt."
"It's still daytime, remember? And even when dusk falls, we
won't have time for that if we want to have any chance of
catching up with Penn. Drink from me for now, and after we
get on the road we can stop at a gas station and pick you up
someone to eat."
"Oh, all right." Buffy didn't seem to mind the compromise too
much once she'd latched on to Angelus' wrist and begun to drink.
He let her continue for a short while, then commanded, "Stop.
That's enough." He waited to see if she would obey or cause
him trouble.
Slowly Buffy pulled her fangs from his flesh and then licked
her lips to catch up stray droplets of blood. "Delicious. We'll
have to do that again sometime."
"We will," Angelus promised, pleased with her responsiveness to
his order. As her sire, he held ultimate authority over her.
"But now we have to get ready to go to Santa Ana. We need to
find Spike and attractive as you look in that nightgown, you
have to get more clothes on for the trip. I know, you can have
one of Cordelia's outfits. She left enough behind."
"Cordelia's dead?" Buffy smiled. "I never liked that snobbish
bitch anyway."
"I hope her fashion sense is more to your taste." Angelus showed
Buffy to Cordelia's quarters and left her to select an outfit
while he located Spike. They all met in the lobby just as dusk was
about to descend.
Buffy had managed to revert to her human face and was scowling
as she smoothed out a wrinkle in the sleeve of her blue outfit.
"I don't like this rag."
"We'll steal you some leather later," Angelus promised. "Then
we'll all match." He and Spike both wore leather jackets and
Angelus had his favorite style of leather pants. He checked outdoors.
"Ready?"
Buffy and Spike nodded.
"Let's go capture Penn and torture him for a while." Angelus
led the way out the door.
