Balance 5/?
"Daddy, I'm back."
Angelus warily slit his eyes open to see Drusilla swaying near the front of his hideaway, a cave hidden in the woods. Or rather, he saw something that looked like Drusilla. It wasn't really Dru, of course. It had to be the First Evil taking on her form. He closed his eyes and lay his head back. "Go away, you dingbat. The real you is annoying enough. And this 'Daddy' shit? Lay off. I've done the real thing and you do not want to remind me of that disaster."
First/Dru ignored his comments. "Miss Edith told me to come back. She sees what lies in your future and tells me you should join up with the First."
"Miss Edith is an inanimate object," Angelus replied without bothering to look at his companion.
Silence ensued. It lasted so long that at length Angelus grew curious and opened his eyes again. Dru was gone this time, but now the form of Connor stood before him. "Oh, crap!" Angelus exclaimed, wishing he hadn't looked. "You know, I killed you for a reason. What are you trying to do, torment me with the sight of your ugly face until I agree to sign on just so I don't have to see you?"
"Connor" began to pace in front of him. "If you don't, they'll bring Angel back. Team up with me, though, and your soul is gone forever, guaranteed. You're my real father. Join me. I was created for a reason. An evil reason. Together, we can rule the world."
Angelus yawned. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take my chances on my own."
The fake Connor wavered and slowly morphed into another shape. "Maybe you'll listen to me, then," the Buffy-sized figure suggested. "You know you've always been obsessed with me. What better way to get what you want?"
"Hmm, I don't know." Angelus pretended to think. "Go back to her house and take the real thing, maybe? That's just an idea, though."
"If you go back, your soul will be waiting for you," First/Buffy warned.
"Like I said, I'll take my chances." Angelus turned away. "Now, will you please fuck off and leave me alone so I can get some sleep? Thank you."
In a snit, the First vanished, leaving Angelus alone. Or almost alone, as a whimper from the corner of the cave reminded him. He still had his prisoner, Kennedy, with him, though she was showing signs of wear. He sat up and speculatively eyed her. Her neck was scored with dozens of fang marks. Most were quite shallow, though a few were what he termed "drinking wounds." At the moment, Kennedy was his only decent food source.
He considered and then decided that he really shouldn't drink anymore for at least another couple of hours. Kennedy was his hostage, and the point of having a hostage was to keep that individual alive as bargaining power. Though why anyone would value Kennedy enough to want her back remained a mystery to him. At any rate, he couldn't risk depriving her of too much blood yet.
At least, this was what Angelus told himself for about five seconds. Then he reached into the corner, grabbed the snivelling girl, and yanked her close. Fear poured off of her in thick, intoxicating waves. Taking a deep breath of it, Angelus plunged his fangs into her neck and gulped down a hot mouthful of delectable AB negative. He was about to continue when the sound of a cracking branch called him away from his meal. Someone or something was approaching his hiding place.
Tensed and prepared for a battle, Angelus shoved Kennedy away. She moaned softly but made no attempt to fight, run, or even crawl away. She would obviously be no factor in any sort of physical encounter.
Ignoring his captive, Angelus inched nearer to the front of the cave. It was, unfortunately, a full hour until dusk; nevertheless, he maneuvered himself as close to the opening as he dared and searched his surroundings. It took only a moment before he placed the approaching human. It was Buffy, and he couldn't hear or smell anyone else nearby; she had come alone. It was a good sign.
She then spotted him, or more likely, his eyes glowing at her from the darkness of the cave, and stopped. "Angelus, we need to talk."
"Good to see you, Buffy," he greeted. "Had to admit, I thought you'd have a bit more trouble tracking me down, but maybe this way is best. Come inside."
Slowly, Buffy did. She gazed around until she spotted Kennedy's huddled body in the far corner. "Is she still alive?"
"For the moment," Angelus replied. "But she's a whiny pain in the ass, so don't expect her to last much longer."
Apparently taking him at his word, Buffy hurried on. "I want to make a deal. Let Kennedy go, and you can stay. No soul. You just need to show the others you're willing to give a little, and the only way to do that is to release Kennedy."
"You really care what happens to this useless twit?" Angelus demanded.
"Willow can't take another loss," Buffy explained. "Tara's death was incredibly hard on her. I can't stand by and watch her lose Kennedy, too. It isn't right."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. The important thing is, what's in it for me? As I recall, you said, and I quote, 'no soul.' Why the sudden outburst of generosity?"
Buffy bit her lip. "The truth is, we need your help with the First. All of us know this."
"Even Xander?"
"Xander knows it, even if he's not willing to admit it."
"Okay, I've had worse offers." Angelus pretended to consider, while Buffy anxiously watched. "Tell you what. Give me some more time to think about it. If I agree, I'll let Kennedy go at sundown and I'll show up at the house after that. Just remember, if this is some sort of trick, if you stuff that soul back into me, you'll completely unbalance the forces of good and evil and doom the world in the process."
Buffy nodded. "We know. Just let Kennedy go and everything will work out like it's supposed to." She backed out of the cave, then turned and ran off into the woods.
Alone again with Kennedy, Angelus mulled over the offer. It all came down to one question: Could he trust Buffy?
He thought about it for the next hour, until the sunlight faded away, and then he turned to his quietly crying hostage. "Kennedy." He poked her in the side. "Hey. Wake up there."
She turned her tear-stained face toward him.
"You have two choices: Stay here and let me slowly drain and torment you to death, or go back to Buffy's house and get fussed over like a precious little heroine. What'll it be?"
Kennedy uttered a high-pitched moan and pressed herself against the cave wall.
"Oh, hell! You're worse than useless." Angelus grabbed Kennedy's arm, dragged her to the front of the cave, and gave her a good, hard shove outside, watching dispassionately as Kennedy landed in the middle of a bramble bush. "Run along home, now. Before I change my mind."
Whimpering, Kennedy picked herself up and began to stagger through the woods in the direction Buffy had taken. Satisfied that she was headed the right way, Angelus settled back in his cave to wait another hour. Deciding whether to take Buffy up on her offer hadn't been very difficult. After all, he wanted to see what happened next.
TBC