Angelus, Spike, and Buffy pulled themselves together and exited the convertible, no worse than a little shaken up from the collision. They fanned out and cautiously approached the crippled Mustang in front of them, which had come to rest with its nose pointing into the ditch.

As they crept nearer, the driver's door flew open and Penn staggered out, bleeding profusely from a deep cut on his forehead. "Oh, shit," he muttered upon seeing the angry faces of the three vampires closing in on him. "Look, Angel, maybe we can talk this out."

Angelus continued to slowly, steadily advance on his prey. "Sorry, Angel isn't home anymore. Save your begging for someone who might care."

"An-Angelus?" Penn stammered.

"The one and only," Buffy confirmed, making a wide circle to cut off Penn's best chance of escape.

Penn looked like a trapped rat, unsure of which way to run. He broke to the left toward Angelus, stopped short, and ducked right, straight into Spike's waiting arms. Buffy closed in on him from behind and Penn had absolutely nowhere to go unless he could get through the three of them.

Cornered, Penn snarled horribly and snapped his fangs at Spike, missing by several inches. "Now, now," Angelus chided, wrapping an arm around Penn's throat. "None of that. The only one getting hurt tonight will be you." He nodded to Spike, who drew back a fist and then slugged Penn directly on the jaw.

Twenty minutes later, the first thing Penn saw when he regained consciousness was Buffy's vamped out face. "You should have been more thorough when you tried to kill me," she informed him. "I managed to hang on for longer than you anticipated, and it was just long enough for Angelus to find me. Of course, if you had half a brain, you wouldn't have looked sideways at me in the first place. Didn't you know what would happen to you if you did?"

"What can I say, I turned an idiot when I chose this one all those years ago," Angelus' voice chimed in. He paced in front of Penn, making sure the handcuffs and chains holding his victim in place against the crypt wall were secure. It would ruin all of their fun if Penn somehow managed to worm his way free and escape.

"Here you go." Spike entered and lay a large, heavy toolbox at Angelus' feet. "Right in the boot of the car, like you said."

"It wouldn't do to come unprepared to a party," Angelus replied, stooping and flipping back the box's lid. "Let's see. What shall we start with? Buffy, you want to do the honors?"

She grinned evilly. "It would be my pleasure. But you're the expert. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well..." Angelus picked up a wicked scourge. "This baby would do nicely for a warm up. Or you could go for the more obvious, but so effective, knife." He pointed out a selection along the top of the box.

"The scourge," Buffy decided. "I've always wanted to use one on someone who really, really deserved it." She grabbed the weapon, strode over to Penn, and dangled it in his face. "Sorry yet that you screwed with me? You will be." With quick motions, she tore Penn's shirt down the front and exposed his unmarked chest. "This should be very enjoyable." Penn flinched as Buffy flicked the scourge over his chest again and again, whipping him with exactly as much mercy as he had shown toward her-- none.

Angelus and Spike observed in fascination. Vampire Buffy was a sight to behold. When Penn broke down and began to scream in agony, Angelus made a quick check to verify that no one was near enough the crypt to hear. They'd deliberately chosen a secluded location, though, so he was pretty confident they wouldn't get any unwanted visitors until at least past dawn. By then, of course, they'd be long gone.

Satisfied, Angelus shut the door and turned back to Buffy and her victim. Penn's chest was a bloody patchwork of cuts. It looked like Buffy was only getting warmed up. She dropped the scourge and dug through the toolbox, emerging with a small vial filled with a clear liquid.

She held it up for all to see. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Holy water, yes," Angelus confirmed.

Buffy's face lit up like that of a child with a new toy. "You're going to like this, Penn." She carefully uncapped the vial, stepped close, and spilled a small amount down Penn's chest. It sizzled as it burnt a trail along his already damaged flesh. Buffy repeated the procedure until all the holy water was gone. Then she returned to the toolbox, where she took her time selecting her next implement. Eventually she emerged with a hammer and a box of nails.

Though he continued to revel in Penn's moans and screams, Angelus found himself itching to take part in the torture session. "Buffy, surely there's enough to go around?"

"Hmm." She considered as she drove a rusty nail into Penn's heart. "Well, you've been patient so far, so I suppose you can participate. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Not to worry." Angelus grinned as he chose a sharp knife.

"You too, Spike," Buffy invited, using her last nail on Penn's shoulder.

Eagerly, Spike pawed through the box and came up with a cigarette lighter and three candles. Buffy stepped away for a breather, allowing the two male vampires to establish positioning. Angelus set about gouging out chunks of Penn's flesh while Spike dripped hot wax here and there.

Buffy sat back and admired their technique, delighting in Penn's obvious pain and fear. It was so thick she could practically feed off of it. Only when Penn slumped unconscious in his bonds did she call Spike and Angelus off. "Come on, boys. I think he's had enough for a while. It's kind of boring when he isn't awake to react."

"True," Angelus agreed, withdrawing. "And after all, we don't want to finish up too soon. We can stick around until a couple of hours before dawn. No reason to waste any of that valuable time. We should pace ourselves."

So until Penn woke up, the three discussed possible plans for the future. When Penn stirred some time later, he found himself again facing three pissed off vampires who promptly armed themselves with crucifixes, hot needles, and whips, and set to work on him.

Several more torture sessions later, Angelus called a halt to the proceedings. "Much as I hate to cramp anyone's style, we have to finish things up. We could be here for ages, but we have places to go and people to kill." Angelus eyed the battered Penn. He really wanted to finish off the asshole himself but perhaps he should allow Buffy to do the honors instead. He turned to her. "Buff?"

"All set." She brandished a stake and advanced on Penn.

"Wait," Penn gasped out in a faint voice. "Don't let her do it, Angelus."

"And why not?"

"You're my sire. You can't stand by while this happens."

"Want to bet?" Angelus nodded to Buffy. "Go ahead."

Before Penn could beg again, Buffy raised the stake and thrust it through his heart. A smattering of dust was all that remained of him. He'd gotten exactly what he deserved.

As they gathered their supplies, Spike asked, "So what next? Do we stick around Los Angeles or set off for greener pastures?"

Buffy and Angelus looked at each other. Angelus could swear he was reading Buffy's mind because he knew what she was going to say before she did it. "We go to Sunnydale."