Chapter 21-Options
A/N I had a reviewer ask who John Lee was from the last chapter. John Lee was the guy in the episode The Wish (btvs season 3) that Cordy asked if she had something in her teeth. She made it look like she was kissing John Lee so Xander would know just how over him she was.
-Angel-
I don't know when the last time I slept was. I am on my feet by sheer willpower alone. It had to have been over a week ago, before Buffy lost her soul. She's killed at least one person every single night since she's lost her soul and these were just the presents she left for us to find. There have been several of Dawn's classmates, some of her former classmates and one teacher from Sunnydale High, all artfully displayed in a manner that would make Angelus proud. She's left me notes, flowers, corpses and a dead puppy. I let Giles contact the Watcher's Council yesterday. They are on their way here. I don't really know that that is the wisest course of action as she's got plenty of things to be bitter toward the council about. I'm afraid the only suggestion the council will have will be a fatal one.
Wes and I are at Giles' waiting for the arrival of Quentin Travers and company. We're alone for the first time since he and the rest of Angel Investigations arrived.
"Angel, I want to talk to you about something." Wes starts out with that same sort of calm tone you use with a rabid dog. I can already tell I'm not going to like this talk.
"What?" I snap my head up and glare at him. I imagine I resemble something very much like a rabid dog.
"When we capture Buffy, we're going to have to decide what to do with her. I don't believe we'll have a lot of time to make that decision, so it's best that we decide now."
"What do you mean what we're going to do with her? Willow has the ingredients for the curse already. We'll restrain her and use it." I'm even afraid to guess what he's hinting at.
"Angel, think about this. If you were to lose your soul again, would you truly want to be re-cursed, to spend the rest of your life afraid to be happy, battling the demon inside you every second of every day? Would you really want to remember all the things you've done, all the things Buffy has done with crystal clarity? Would you want to remember the faces of every single person you'd murdered while your soul was absent? Would you wish that for Buffy? And let's not even discuss the consequences if something like this were to happen again. Do you even know how many people Buffy has currently killed?" Wesley's voice started out soft. It's now gone hard.
"Twelve that we know of." I growl.
"Indeed, that we know of. That number could be much higher when you consider everything we don't know."
"Wes, I did this to her. I'll take responsibility for her." I stand up and turn my back to him.
"Angel, I wouldn't expect you to. When we catch her, I'll stake her."
I whirl on him faster then he can actually take a breath. I pin him to the sofa by the throat. "You. Will. Not. Touch. Her." I relax my hold slightly, allowing him to take ragged shallow breaths. "You're talking about killing my mate, not my friend, not an associate, my mate. Can your feeble little brain even process what that means to a vampire? Humans mate for life, occasionally, vampires mate for eternity. You will not kill my mate, no one will. Willow will re-curse her. This is not even a discussion, understood?"
Wes nods slightly. I let him up and go back to staring at a book about gypsy curses that I've looked at a dozen times already. Wes straightens his neck tie and clears his throat. He doesn't utter a word until Giles returns with the council.
*
"I am to understand that Buffy has lost her soul and is now on a killing rampage here in Sunnydale?" Quentin asks.
"Yes, I'm-I'm afraid so." Giles says. He takes his glasses off and cleans them.
"Needless to say, our contract is null and void. You will no longer receive a pay check from the Watcher's Council, Mr. Giles. I will order in a strike team and take care of this problem once and for all." Quentin says, removing his cell phone from his pocket.
I move faster then he can actually see, crouching down in front of him in full vamp face. "You remember me, right Mr. Travers?"
"Of course, Angel." Quentin is desperately trying to maintain his cool. I can smell the stink of his sweat.
"Then you would do well to remember the files the council has on Angelus. He lurks just under the surface every single second. You hurt Buffy and I might be inclined to quit fighting him quite so hard. You realize what Angelus would do with someone like you, don't you Quentin?"
The incredibly pale English man grows even paler. He folds his cell phone back up and slides it into his pocket.
"Besides, if I remember correctly, Faith kicked the crap out of your special ops team not once but twice. We're talking about the greatest slayer in history, turned vampire. You could throw your entire team at her, she might, might break a sweat killing them. I doubt it though."
"There is one other option." Quentin says once he's gained his composure.
I stare at Quentin in complete shock. I can't even begin to absorb what he's just told me. "So, you've known about this soul spell for how long?"
Quentin looks extremely uncomfortable, and he should be. I can be just as dangerous as Angelus; I just don't enjoy it like he does. "Well, it's rather complicated. The Watcher's Council has had the information for- "he pauses and looks up at me pacing like a caged animal. "The Council has the text in their possession since the early 9th century."
The anger claws at me, fighting to get out and string this man's intestines across this room like Christmas lights. I clench my fists, nails biting into the palm so hard the blood runs and drips onto Giles' carpet. I grit my teeth. This time the anger has nothing to do with Angelus, it's all mine.
Wesley, seeing that speech really isn't going to be an option for me anytime soon, speaks up. "You say this is an ancient Chinese curse?"
Quentin gains a bit of confidence speaking with Wesley. "Indeed, although they don't call it a curse, more like a gift. We're not sure what the purpose of coming up with such a spell was. The Watcher's Council as a whole fails to see the benefit in giving a vampire a soul-"
"The purpose would be because a soul is the only thing keeping me from tearing the skin from your body in little curling ribbons and wearing them as a hat." I snarl in Quentin's direction.
Quentin coughs and clears his throat. "Yes, well, in any case, the spell has never been used under the council's supervision. We do not know what the side effects are or if it even works."
"It has been fully translated though?" Giles breaks in.
"Of course, our translating resources are impeccable. The spell speaks of permanently gifting the vampire with a soul. There is no mention of clauses, curses or any other unsightly ramifications. There are no records of any vampire that has received this 'gift'." Quentin says.
"Call your council. Have them deliver the book overnight express, earlier if possible. Every single night that goes by Buffy kills one more person. Keep that in mind when you're speaking to the council." I tell him. My tone allows no room for argument.
Quentin removes his cell phone from his jacket pocket. He talks in quiet whispers. It is a short, terse conversation. He glances up at the group of us when he is finished. "The soonest they can have the text here is morning after next."
Dusk has just fallen. That gives her two nights, two full nights. "Alright, let's group up. We've got to find her. We stay together. I know we don't all like each other right now. It doesn't matter. If we're going to stay alive we have to stay together. We've been careful up to now she hasn't gotten any one of us. We have to keep it up for two more nights. Quentin, my advice to you is to get back to your hotel and stay there."
I pick up the tranq gun. There's enough sedative in it to pull down a vampire four times Buffy's size. I can only hope it will be enough to make her manageable.
A/N I had a reviewer ask who John Lee was from the last chapter. John Lee was the guy in the episode The Wish (btvs season 3) that Cordy asked if she had something in her teeth. She made it look like she was kissing John Lee so Xander would know just how over him she was.
-Angel-
I don't know when the last time I slept was. I am on my feet by sheer willpower alone. It had to have been over a week ago, before Buffy lost her soul. She's killed at least one person every single night since she's lost her soul and these were just the presents she left for us to find. There have been several of Dawn's classmates, some of her former classmates and one teacher from Sunnydale High, all artfully displayed in a manner that would make Angelus proud. She's left me notes, flowers, corpses and a dead puppy. I let Giles contact the Watcher's Council yesterday. They are on their way here. I don't really know that that is the wisest course of action as she's got plenty of things to be bitter toward the council about. I'm afraid the only suggestion the council will have will be a fatal one.
Wes and I are at Giles' waiting for the arrival of Quentin Travers and company. We're alone for the first time since he and the rest of Angel Investigations arrived.
"Angel, I want to talk to you about something." Wes starts out with that same sort of calm tone you use with a rabid dog. I can already tell I'm not going to like this talk.
"What?" I snap my head up and glare at him. I imagine I resemble something very much like a rabid dog.
"When we capture Buffy, we're going to have to decide what to do with her. I don't believe we'll have a lot of time to make that decision, so it's best that we decide now."
"What do you mean what we're going to do with her? Willow has the ingredients for the curse already. We'll restrain her and use it." I'm even afraid to guess what he's hinting at.
"Angel, think about this. If you were to lose your soul again, would you truly want to be re-cursed, to spend the rest of your life afraid to be happy, battling the demon inside you every second of every day? Would you really want to remember all the things you've done, all the things Buffy has done with crystal clarity? Would you want to remember the faces of every single person you'd murdered while your soul was absent? Would you wish that for Buffy? And let's not even discuss the consequences if something like this were to happen again. Do you even know how many people Buffy has currently killed?" Wesley's voice started out soft. It's now gone hard.
"Twelve that we know of." I growl.
"Indeed, that we know of. That number could be much higher when you consider everything we don't know."
"Wes, I did this to her. I'll take responsibility for her." I stand up and turn my back to him.
"Angel, I wouldn't expect you to. When we catch her, I'll stake her."
I whirl on him faster then he can actually take a breath. I pin him to the sofa by the throat. "You. Will. Not. Touch. Her." I relax my hold slightly, allowing him to take ragged shallow breaths. "You're talking about killing my mate, not my friend, not an associate, my mate. Can your feeble little brain even process what that means to a vampire? Humans mate for life, occasionally, vampires mate for eternity. You will not kill my mate, no one will. Willow will re-curse her. This is not even a discussion, understood?"
Wes nods slightly. I let him up and go back to staring at a book about gypsy curses that I've looked at a dozen times already. Wes straightens his neck tie and clears his throat. He doesn't utter a word until Giles returns with the council.
*
"I am to understand that Buffy has lost her soul and is now on a killing rampage here in Sunnydale?" Quentin asks.
"Yes, I'm-I'm afraid so." Giles says. He takes his glasses off and cleans them.
"Needless to say, our contract is null and void. You will no longer receive a pay check from the Watcher's Council, Mr. Giles. I will order in a strike team and take care of this problem once and for all." Quentin says, removing his cell phone from his pocket.
I move faster then he can actually see, crouching down in front of him in full vamp face. "You remember me, right Mr. Travers?"
"Of course, Angel." Quentin is desperately trying to maintain his cool. I can smell the stink of his sweat.
"Then you would do well to remember the files the council has on Angelus. He lurks just under the surface every single second. You hurt Buffy and I might be inclined to quit fighting him quite so hard. You realize what Angelus would do with someone like you, don't you Quentin?"
The incredibly pale English man grows even paler. He folds his cell phone back up and slides it into his pocket.
"Besides, if I remember correctly, Faith kicked the crap out of your special ops team not once but twice. We're talking about the greatest slayer in history, turned vampire. You could throw your entire team at her, she might, might break a sweat killing them. I doubt it though."
"There is one other option." Quentin says once he's gained his composure.
I stare at Quentin in complete shock. I can't even begin to absorb what he's just told me. "So, you've known about this soul spell for how long?"
Quentin looks extremely uncomfortable, and he should be. I can be just as dangerous as Angelus; I just don't enjoy it like he does. "Well, it's rather complicated. The Watcher's Council has had the information for- "he pauses and looks up at me pacing like a caged animal. "The Council has the text in their possession since the early 9th century."
The anger claws at me, fighting to get out and string this man's intestines across this room like Christmas lights. I clench my fists, nails biting into the palm so hard the blood runs and drips onto Giles' carpet. I grit my teeth. This time the anger has nothing to do with Angelus, it's all mine.
Wesley, seeing that speech really isn't going to be an option for me anytime soon, speaks up. "You say this is an ancient Chinese curse?"
Quentin gains a bit of confidence speaking with Wesley. "Indeed, although they don't call it a curse, more like a gift. We're not sure what the purpose of coming up with such a spell was. The Watcher's Council as a whole fails to see the benefit in giving a vampire a soul-"
"The purpose would be because a soul is the only thing keeping me from tearing the skin from your body in little curling ribbons and wearing them as a hat." I snarl in Quentin's direction.
Quentin coughs and clears his throat. "Yes, well, in any case, the spell has never been used under the council's supervision. We do not know what the side effects are or if it even works."
"It has been fully translated though?" Giles breaks in.
"Of course, our translating resources are impeccable. The spell speaks of permanently gifting the vampire with a soul. There is no mention of clauses, curses or any other unsightly ramifications. There are no records of any vampire that has received this 'gift'." Quentin says.
"Call your council. Have them deliver the book overnight express, earlier if possible. Every single night that goes by Buffy kills one more person. Keep that in mind when you're speaking to the council." I tell him. My tone allows no room for argument.
Quentin removes his cell phone from his jacket pocket. He talks in quiet whispers. It is a short, terse conversation. He glances up at the group of us when he is finished. "The soonest they can have the text here is morning after next."
Dusk has just fallen. That gives her two nights, two full nights. "Alright, let's group up. We've got to find her. We stay together. I know we don't all like each other right now. It doesn't matter. If we're going to stay alive we have to stay together. We've been careful up to now she hasn't gotten any one of us. We have to keep it up for two more nights. Quentin, my advice to you is to get back to your hotel and stay there."
I pick up the tranq gun. There's enough sedative in it to pull down a vampire four times Buffy's size. I can only hope it will be enough to make her manageable.
