*****
Author: Ash
Distribution: Any one who already has some of my fic and anyone else if they
ask.
Disclaimer: To the surprise of everyone, these are still not my characters.
Rating: Oh, I give up. If it's not PG-13, I'll tell you.
Author's Note: This part of the story originally contained Spike. And disco.
Thankfully, I've managed to remove all traces of that little escapade.
Be grateful, people. ;-)
*****
Part Four
*****
Buffy paced the corridors of the hospital outside Willow's room. Willow was in there and the doctors were in there and Buffy wasn't in there and all Buffy wanted to do was start punching things and not stop until she felt better.
Buffy stopped walking and breathed deeply, forcing herself to calm down. One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths and the urge to destroy was beginning to die down. It wouldn't help Willow if Buffy got thrown out. It wouldn't even make Buffy feel better.
There was only one thing that would do that, Buffy thought, her hands curling into fists at her side. She would feel better when she'd made Angelus hurt. Bleed. Die.
Buffy's mind stumbled. As much as she hated Angelus, she knew that even if he appeared in front of her holding a stake to his chest and handing her a hammer, she still wouldn't be able to kill him. She was weak, she told herself bitterly. Weak to love him, weak to sleep with him, weak to let him live. And her weakness was a poison that was slowly killing everyone around her.
But she'd get stronger, Buffy thought grimly. Her heart was only one voice in a chorus of voices, and the rest of them were screaming for his death. Her Slayer instincts, her human soul, the part of her that ached for every life she'd been too slow to save from him, all were united in a call for blood and vengeance.
In moments like this one, when a thousand agonizing ways for him to die flickered before Buffy's eyes, when a grim smile touched her lips at the almost heard sound of his screams, one thought blotted out the world around her.
Soon.
So far her softer emotions had always won in the end, chipping away at the corners of her rage until it was a blunt and useless thing. But each time it came the anger remained longer, burned hotter, screamed louder. The time was coming. As Buffy looked through the glass window in the door at Willow lying still and motionless, she prayed that it would come soon enough.
"Buffy?" Xander's voice quavered slightly.
Buffy turned around, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind so that Xander wouldn't see the darkness in her face. She forced a weak smile, which Xander didn't return. He looked frightened, she thought. That was her fault too.
"She's going to be okay." Buffy said, hoping that it was true.
Xander visibly relaxed. He walked over to stand beside Buffy and looked through the window in the door. She saw him wince when he saw Willow
"Was it" Xander began, but the question trailed off. Better not to say his name. Better still not to need to.
"I don't know. Buffy said. I haven't had the chance to talk to Willow alone yet. But, probably." Her voice was quiet and leaden.
"Where did you find her?" Xander said, his tone carefully non-judgmental. This wasn't the time to start pointing fingers. Willow wouldn't want that.
"She was in her bedroom. Her balcony doors were open." Buffy said, her mind's eye seeing the scene again in horrible detail. The stuffed animals on the bed, the open doors to the balcony, the blood on Willow's floor and on Buffy's hands.
Xander paused and she could almost feel him deciding not to say something.
"Why would she invite Angel in?" Xander said finally. Maybe it wasn't him. There was a hopeful note in his voice.
Buffy could guess what he was thinking. If it wasn't Angelus that had hurt Willow then it was someone else. Someone that Buffy could kill.
"Maybe. Buffy said, wishing that she believed it. If it was... him... she wouldn't have invited him in. Not willingly." Buffy thought of what Angelus might have done to persuade' Willow to let him in and felt sick.
Xander's eyes were focused on the large bandage that covered Willow's neck when he asked, "What did you tell the hospital?"
"Um" Buffy shifted nervously, vaguely embarrassed on behalf of the Sunnydale medical personnel. "I said that we'd been attacked. By a gang."
Xander's eyebrows lifted. "They bought that. He said with disbelief.
When her only injuries were two puncture marks and a serious lack of blood?
Either there's been a rash of barbecue fork attacks that I haven't
heard about, or these people have lived in Sunnydale *way* too long."
Xander's face paled as another possibility occurred to him. "Those
were her only injuries, right? He didn't -"
"No!" Buffy cut him off, shaking her head. "That was all."
Xander let out a breath and almost smiled. Then his face darkened again. "How long does she have to stay in here? It's a public place."
Buffy's eyes were again fixed on the pale figure in the bed. "They said she could probably leave tomorrow afternoon, she said. She can stay at my house until we get the un-invite spell done again. I'm going to stay here tonight."
"I'm staying too." Xander said firmly. He looked like he was expecting her to argue with him. She really should argue with him, Buffy thought. She was the Slayer and this was her job. She was strong and she could protect Willow.
She was very tired and she didn't want to be alone.
I'm glad you're staying. Buffy said, and smiled gratefully at Xander, surprising a smile from him in return. Together, they stood watch over Willow until the sun had forced the darkness into hiding for another day.
*****
The darkness was not happy.
Angelus paced around the silent mansion, his face thunderous. Anger hung around him like a dark cloud.
He furiously remembered the bright, sterile corridors of the hospital and the long hours he'd spent there tonight, waiting for them to leave Willow alone. It would only have taken a moment, he thought. And it would all be over by now.
Angelus stopped walking and leaned against the wall, imagining how it could have happened. Buffy and Xander go to get a coffee. One minute later and Angelus is in the room with Willow. Another minute and they're both gone. And then... he let out a shuddering breath and licked his fangs, savouring the memory of how Willow had tasted.
But no. Buffy had to be there, smelling like everything that was wrong with the world, clearing his head and reminding him to be cautious. Right now, Angelus wasn't sure that caution had been the right choice. Right now, Angelus was thinking that it would have been better to let the fever take him and push him into an orgy of blood and pain.
He grinned to himself at the image of the clean white hospital corridor littered with corpses, Buffy and Xander's torn bodies right on top of the pile.
Of course, he thought, if I kill them then I won't have anything to hold over Willow. I suppose I'll just have to deal with her first. He licked his lips again. It'll be a pleasure.
A faint shuffling noise came from behind him.
Angelus turned quickly, half-expecting to see an angry Buffy or, better yet, a suicidal Xander. Instead, he saw nine of the younger vampires standing there silently, staring at him.
He raised an eyebrow. Can I help you gentlemen?" He said with mock civility, looking each of the men briefly in the eye. One by one they dropped their gaze before him, but didn't speak.
Angelus said warningly, a snarl in the words. "If you don't tell me why you dare disturb me within the next five sec-"
The eldest of the nine stepped forward, trembling. "I don't know, master. He said, not quite managing to meet Angelus' eyes. We were all down in the basement but we smelled we smelled
Another of the nine finished for him.
The eldest caught Angelus' sudden tension and hastily qualified his statement. "Not that we think that you're prey! He said somewhat desperately. He'd been alive for a hundred years, but now he was stammering like a schoolboy.
Pathetic, Angelus thought, growling under his breath. This was a complication he hadn't considered. Since he hadn't managed to seize Willow, she was still out there, smelling like the best parts of heaven and hell. Other demons would want her too, want what was his. They would try to take her.
These whelps were all the proof he needed of that, Angelus thought grimly. Just the memory of her scent and here they were, bothering him. Under normal circumstances, they would drink holy water rather than risk his anger.
In some cases, they had.
The idea that another vampire would take Willow before he could was intolerable. That couldn't happen. Re-arranging his features into a pleasant smile, Angelus walked towards the nine younger vampires, who were all watching him nervously.
"Let me make this absolutely clear. Angelus said to them, his voice a dangerous purr. The one whose scent you smell is mine. Mine alone. If you find her, you will bring her to me. If you touch her, you will die."
With every sentence he stepped closer to the young vampires, watching their expressions carefully. The emotions on their faces flickered between hunger, fear and defiance.
"If you defy me" Angelus said, and moved very quickly. Five busy seconds later, he looked at the younger vampires again and saw only fear. Satisfied that his point had been made, he stepped over the pile of dust and walked out of the room.
The younger vampires that were left behind exchanged relieved glances.
One said in a quiet voice. I think that puts him in the lead.
Another disagreed quickly. The Slayer killed two of ours last night. She's still ahead.
Drusilla is thinking of putting on a play. Another one said in a miserable tone.
As one, the vampires shuddered.
Her last play' killed twenty-one of us and sixty-four humans, The first vampire to have spoken said nostalgically. I was an understudy.
Thirty-four of us, actually. Another said. You have to count the ones she used as scenery.
Oh, yes. I'd forgotten.
That would put her in the lead, if she kills the same amount this time.
They all thought about that for a moment.
Do you think it's like this everywhere? The youngest of them asked finally.
How else could it be?
I don't know. I guess I just thought that immortality would be... longer.
Well, you're still young. You'll learn.
I hope I get the chance. The youngest traced the shape of a smiley face in the pile of dust that was all that remained of the eldest. Does anyone know where we left the dustpan?
A few minutes later, the mansion was once again silent. Waiting for the night, and the hunt, to begin.
-----
Tell me what you think?
I love Angelus. I really do. However, if I ever met him I would quickly run
away in the opposite direction, screaming like a madwoman, and jump on the first
bus to Mexico. From Mexico, I would then send him fan mail with no return address
on the envelopes.
I'm obsessed, not crazy. ;-)
On another note, thank you to everyone who went off to see my website and drawings.
That was sort of the unofficial opening of this incarnation of my website, and
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who came. It's funny,
but I always assume that the only people who read my fics are the people who
comment. Apparently, this is not true. (Shocking, eh? *g*)
So thank you to everyone who comments, you make my days just that much brighter.
And thank you to the silent majority, because I'm glad that you're
along for the ride.
Ash Easy To Please Jay
http://xanadu-dreams.com
*Writings – Drawings - Oddness*