CHAPTER FIVE: PROPOSITION

Sunnydale California

Wednesday 11:58pm

18th December 1998

"Forgive me, I assumed you knew. I am Lord Voldemort."

Buffy could have sworn that her heart stopped beating. Surely the creature in front of her was just trying to frighten the bejesus out of her. Her throat tightened in fear, and her body tensed in its fighting position, her hands raised in defence.

"You're lying."

"Why would I bother to do something as mundane as lying, Miss Summers?" Voldemort questioned.

Buffy could feel herself begin to panic. He knew her name. She was alone, in a graveyard, in the middle of Sunnydale with only a stake to protect herself against the legendary Lord Voldemort. This did not look good for the Slayer.

Buffy stood tense as Voldemort stepped towards her, and began walking in a circle around her, sizing her up, and making her more nervous than she had ever been. Even the Master had never inspired this much fear before.

"You are magnificent," he complimented her.

"I bet you say that before you curse all the girls," Buffy replied bitingly, though she still couldn't pluck up the courage to attack him.

"No, you are different," he replied softly, his voice somewhat lilting and seductive. "Kindred."

"Kindred? Hardly, I-"

"You are a creature of darkness," Voldemort interrupted her protest. "Just like myself. You have power, child, and you use it for a fruitless cause."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. She knew what he was doing, though she couldn't work out why. What she couldn't understand was why she hadn't known that Voldemort was suddenly very much alive. Even his name was enough to make people cower in fear, and here he was in front of her, circling her like a predator, and trying to confuse her with his words.

"You try and work to save a world that won't acknowledge you," he continued. "You were banished from the world you were reared in, a world that now despises you. A world that punishes the powerful and makes pathetic attempts of empowering the weak."

"Is there gonna be an intermission anytime soon here?" Buffy asked flippantly, annoyed that he was hitting so closely to home in what he was saying.

Buffy could have sworn that Voldemort growled as he stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, pinning her arms to her side, leaving her completely unable to move.

"Insolent child!" he yelled angrily. "I am offering you a partnership, and you spit in my face."

"Not yet I haven't," Buffy muttered.

He shook her fiercely, and Buffy had to close her eyes to try and regain her equilibrium.

"Join me, Miss Summers. Return to the world you were supposed to rule, and stand at my side. Together we would be invincible. I can give you power you've never dreamed of."

"Not interested," she replied.

She was thrown roughly to the ground, her head hitting the corner of a stone cross, an arm of it breaking under the force of her weight. She felt blood beginning to drip from the cut to her forehead, and she could feel bile rising in the back of her throat as she fought to contain her nausea. She struggled to her hands and knees and dry-heaved, coughing until her stomach managed to settle itself down.

She felt a gentle hand touch the centre of her back, and she shuddered at the feeling of darkness surrounding her.

"I do not wish for us to be enemies, Miss Summers," Voldemort said softly, his breath tickling her ear, making her shiver in fear and disgust. "I wish for us to be allies. We are both powerful in our own right. You can imagine what we could do together, can you not? You would be a most powerful weapon."

"Not gonna happen Tom," she replied, spitting out the name, perversely enjoying the direct hit to Voldemort's pride.

Her enjoyment was short lived as she felt herself being lifted by the collar of her shirt. She was once more tossed across the cemetery, landing on her back, wincing in pain as she landed on a rock with incredibly sharp edges. She could feel the beginnings of a bruise already, and she didn't look forward to trying to sleep on her back later in the night.

"Would you just listen to me, Summers," Voldemort hissed, grabbing Buffy by the neck, picking her up and shoving her against a tree trunk. Her feet dangled in the air, and she struggled to breath. "We have a common enemy that I know you would enjoy seeing being brought to the ground."

"Never," she rasped out, as lack of oxygen became a rather serious issue. She grabbed at his hands, trying to get him to drop her. She did the only thing she could think of and dug her nails into his wrist, causing him to drop her to the ground. She rubbed at her red throat and coughed as her lungs began to breathe in the air once more.

"Pity," Voldemort commented. "I'll return in a week to see if you have reconsidered. Oh…and if you value your mother's life…you may want to re-evaluate your priorities."

He stepped backwards to prepare to apparate. As a final parting shot before he left, he pointed his wand at her and whispered one more sentence.

"Oh, and one more thing…just as something to remember your mother by…Crucio!"

He disapparated in complete silence as Buffy's entire world exploded with paid.