Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Note: Italized words are Buffy's personal/Slayer thoughts.
(O.O)
Buffy
Well this sucked.
Being restrained by two vampires, while Sheila practiced her "skills" as a doctor on poor Mr. McKee, was not what I'd imagined happening on Parent-Teacher Night. I was angry and frustrated at the fact that I'd gotten caught so easily. I'd been sure I was going die when she had shown me this big, scary looking knife, but then she'd had her minions drag the poor teacher towards her. I hadn't liked the look of things on what was about to happen and had struggled to break free of the minions' grasp. Only they were a lot stronger than they looked. Stupid vamps. The teacher's agonizing screams assaulted me while I'd been forced to watch what she'd done to him. I seethed at being rendered unable to help myself or him. It was a nightmare, or it had been before the three men in front of me had shown up.
It had been a surprise to see them, well I was only really surprised by the appearance of only one of them. I had expected Angel and Xander to come to my rescue, may be even Giles, but Mr. Hottie I'd just met at the Bronze last night? Now that was just mind blowing. I mean what the heck was he even doing here anyway, and did he expect to be able to do anything to a bunch of vampires? I was shocked and a little worried for my guy. Not that he was actually mine, I mean he isn't mine, not yet I mean-
Oookay, I was babbling, but I couldn't help it. It was an eensy bit terrifying to be in the enemy's hands when my only hope were two regular guys and a soulled vampire.
"How 'bout you let the Slayer and that poor and mostly dead bloke go, then maybe me and Angelus over here might consider letting some of you bastards live long enough to get staked another day?" Mr. Hottie said in his sexy British accent as he pointed at himself and Angel.
Angelus? Why would he call Angel that?
"Just who the hell are you to think you are?" one of Sheila's minions, the big bulky one, snarled. "What the hell gives you the right to order us around?"
I don't know how, but Mr. Hottie went from where he was standing to dusting the bulky minion in a blink of an eye. He twirled the wooden stake he'd used before stowing it back in the pocket of his coat.
"Name's Spike. I'm the new Big Bad to all of you "Big Bads" in town," he glared at the remaining vamps. I wasn't completely sure but I could've sworn I saw his blue eyes shift to yellow for a second, but that didn't matter because overall he looked like a badass, an extremely sexy badass.
Sheila's minions shrunk back from him, but the lead psycho vamp didn't seem to know what was good for her.
"Idiots! There are just three of them! Don't be sissies, and just kill them!" she screamed at the five remaining vamps that weren't holding me.
They charged to attack the three men. Angel and Spike, I'm really gonna miss calling him Mr. Hottie, each took on two of Sheila's remaining vampire minions, which left Xander facing just one. I knew Angel would be fine and Spike quickly showed he knew a ton about brawling against vamps, but Xander was a different story. The vamp that he was fighting soon got the upper hand and was tossing Xander around like a rag doll. I struggled with my captors, but I couldn't escape them. Helplessly I watched as the vamp grabbed Xander by the head and started to twist.
"Xander!" I screamed, thrashing against the hands that held me.
I gasped in surprise when the vampire attacking my friend crumbled to dust, sending Xander crashing to the floor. Spike had already finished with his two opponents and had slayed the vampire who'd been about to kill my friend. I sagged in relief.
Xander was thanking Spike profusely. Had I been free I would have done the same, only with a lot more hugs and kisses. Y'know, to show how grateful I was.
I looked around and saw that Angel had taken care of his opponents too, leaving only Sheila and the two vampires holding me. My captors realized they were outnumbered and their hold on my arms loosened. I yanked free and turned around to deck one with a haymaker to the jaw and I sent the other one sprawling with a sharp kick to the gut. Freeing the stake hidden in the waistband of my jeans I dusted them both before they even started to recover.
I straightened up and turned to face Sheila, the last vampire left standing. She looked scared, and that was good, she should've known better than to attack me when I was with my mom and friends. I took a measured step towards her and my grip on the stake tightened. She panicked and picked up Mr. McKee's unconscious form and dragged him to the corner.
"Don't come any closer Buffy, or I swear I will kill this guy and his death will be on your hands!" Sheila hunched over my teacher's body, claws at his throat.
"You really want to go that way, pet? Taking a dying hostage isn't gonna save you tonight," Spike sounded bored. He scratched one cheek with the stake he was holding.
"Shut up, you punk ass reject! I'm not talking to you!" she snapped at him.
Spike growled, the sound rumbling deep in his chest, and again his eyes swirled from blue to gold and back. I guess he wasn't as human as I'd thought.
But that would explain the animalistic attraction.
I wrenched my brain back to the here and now, and saw Sheila slowly backing up towards the corner of the hallway. If she made it there it was a short shot to one of the exits. I knew she was trying to escape and I couldn't let her. I took a step towards her.
"I said not to come any closer! You really want to add this guy to the list of people you couldn't save, Summers?" her voice shrilled.
Again I stopped. She was right, I didn't want to add Mr. McKee to that list. However Angel, Spike, and Xander were still moving closer to her.
"Tell them to stop too!" Sheila hissed while wrapping her hand around the teacher's neck again.
I grabbed the back of Angel's jacket and Xander's shirt, stopping them in mid-step and shifting their attention towards me. I shook my head indicating them not to do what they were thinking. Spike looked back at us and I shot him a disapproving glare. He shrugged, but halted as well.
Seeing that she was getting her way, Sheila smiled wickedly. She was only a few steps from escaping. "I may not have killed you, Buffy, but I was able to do more damage on you than any other vamp here in Sunnydale. I killed a lot of people today and you couldn't do a thing about it!" she let out a high pitched giggle. "Don't think this is the end, Summers, because I'll be back and next time I will have your head on a silv-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she crumbled to ashes. In her place was a beautiful blonde woman. She wore expensive looking 6-inch red heels, tight leather pants, a red halter top and a form fitting leather jacket. It was like she'd just stepped out of a copy of Vogue just to kill Sheila.
"I hate it when villains have to stop to do their monologue. It's always so irritating listening to their stupid plans, and self-congratulations." Her voice was all honey and whisky and I found myself more than a tad bit jealous.
Gracefully she sank to one knee to check on Mr. McKee. "This man is still alive. I suggest you call an ambulance," she told us as she stood up again. When none of us did as she asked and instead continued to stare dumbfounded at her, she threw up her hands in exasperation. "Are all of you deaf?! I said this man needs medical attention, or else he will die. Call an ambulance right now!"
Her authoritative voice echoed in the hall and snapped all of us from our reverie. Spike pulled one of those expensive cellular phones from his coat, and started dialing 911. He told the operator what happened and who needed help, only omitting the part about the vampire attack. When he finished his call the beautiful woman walked towards him and slapped him so hard across the face that he ended up falling on his ass.
"That's for leaving the house without permission!" she snarled. A kick from the blood red pumps sent an unresisting Spike sprawling on his back. "That's for making Dru worried!" She launched another kick at him, this time hitting his stomach. "That's for making me walk through town in heels!" With one last strike she sent Spike flying toward the lockers. "And that's for ruining my plans on when and how to meet up with Angelus and the Slayer!"
She was panting as her body pulsed with anger. I'd wanted to stop her from hitting Spike, but in her currant mood the woman looked like she was capable of anything. She stalked towards Spike's prone form, ire sparking in her eyes. I gathered my courage together and started to move in between them. Only Angel gently stopped me with a hand on my arm and did it himself. He stood in front of the blonde beauty, his face wearing an expression I'd never seen him use before. It was a mixture of surprise, anger, awe, disbelief and a tiny bit of love. It was the most communicative look I had seen Angel exhibit since I met him a year ago, and he showed it all to the beautiful woman in front of him. It made me wonder even more who she was.
I got my answer when Angel whispered her name.
"Darla.."
It was his Sire. All I could do was stare at her in disbelief.
(O.O)
Angel
When I'd left my apartment this evening to go to Willie's and see if I could get more info on the illusive and new Master Vampire here in Sunnydale, I had not expected my whole world would end up being turned upside down.
It first started with HER scent. I'd caught it when I was about to enter the seedy bar. At first I'd not been certain if it was really hers. It'd been so long. I had to shift to game face just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Once I had been certain, I change back to my human visage, and without conscious thought I headed off to find the source. Tracking her then had lead me to Buffy's school, and the thought of her being there terrified me.
What was she doing there? Was she after Buffy?
I'd ran into Harris before I'd had a chance to find answers to those questions. The boy started blabbering about the school being attacked by a large group of vamps. At first I'd thought that the leader of the vampires was her, because it was her scent that'd lead me here, but Harris had told me that the leader was a newly turned student. I had sighed in relief, at least until Harris had told me that Buffy was in dire need of my help. All thoughts of anyone else had fled as I hurried to get to Buffy.
I had planned to use Harris as a diversion so that the first vampires we would meet would let their guard down when they saw me with a possible victim in my arms. Only instead of that happening, I had ended up being on the receiving end of the frustration of another vampire family of member of mine- William.
I had been shocked to see him after nearly half a century. He'd changed his hair again. He had it bleached platinum blond, which made him stand out more than he ever did. I shouldn't have been surprised to see him, because I had smelled him not too long after first catching her scent, but I still was. What was even more surprising than seeing him in Sunnydale, was seeing him stake two of the vampires who were attacking the school.
It was confusing, and when he'd failed to answer me, anger and frustration had followed.
I'd forgotten how annoying the boy could be.
Weirdly he'd asked me to release Harris before we fought. That wasn't like the William I remembered. The one I remembered wouldn't have cared about any humans getting hurt in the middle of our fight. But I hadn't had time to dwell on it because once I had released Harris he was at my throat the next instant.
I'd been surprised at William's strength. He was faster and more skilled than I'd expected. He was getting the upper hand, and it made me regret that I had not taken him seriously at the beginning of the fight. This was not the weak, arrogant fledge I had traveled with and trained long ago. This was an experienced Master Vampire. I tried changing tactics mid fight, but it was too little too late. I'd lost and found myself pinned with a stake at my heart.
I'd tensed up, expecting the final blow. Going out at the hands of my Grandchilde seemed strangely poetic and I'd resigned myself to my fate.
Again, William surprised me. He hadn't killed me as I had expected. Instead he talked about my transgressions, his disappointment in me, and finally about how Dru needed me.
I was aware of the all things I'd failed to do for my family, and it hadn't been surprising that William would get angry about them. He hated me enough that he'd never overlook my past failings for anything short to Dru dying. Which meant that Dru was actually dying.
Drusilla, my favored Childe, was dying. I had mixed feelings about that. My soul knew that her death would be a blessing since it would allow me to finally atone for the sin I had committed in making her, but my demon raged for a chance to help her.
I was again at war with myself, not to mention confused at William's sudden kindness in offering me a hand to stand up. I needed answers. I was even willing to force them out of the boy, despite Harris being near, but a man's scream had forced us to leave all that for later.
William had been the first to react and ran to the direction of the scream. Harris and I followed quickly behind. We had stopped upon reaching the intersection of two large hallways. The leader of the vampires, along with some of her crew, were holding Buffy and a teacher hostage.
My first thoughts upon seeing Buffy in danger was to massacre all the fledglings, to show them what a real vampire was. Only I couldn't afford doing such violent and demonic act in front of Buffy, so I had stood silently fuming at the sight in front of me.
Of course, William just had opened his big mouth and started talking to the interlopers, distracting them. It let him not only kill one of the vamps and intimidate the stupid amateurs, but to also to look cool while doing so. Buffy was obviously impressed.
It'd floored me to see Buffy looking at my stupid Grandchilde with such great admiration, backed up by more than a hint of arousal. I didn't like that smell on her especially when the reason for it was the idiot, William.
The vampire leader had then ordered her minions to attack, and the distraction had been a welcome relief. I'd thought it'd been a perfect opportunity to show Buffy how superior I was to William, but again the bastard outshone me by not only defeating his opponents faster but also by rescuing Harris from certain death. Buffy's ever growing lust and admiration for William along with the worshipful gratitude on Harris's face was the final straw for me.
Once the danger was past I'd be showing both of them who and what William truly was while forcing the answers I wanted out of the insufferable boy.
I'd wanted everything over sooner rather than later, but the fledgling bitch had to take a hostage and threaten my Slayer. By then, I'd wanted to tear her to pieces, the hostage be damned. Buffy physically holding me back and reminding me of her presence had been the only way I'd at least partially calmed my demonic urges.
Then it happened.
The fledgling vampiress dusted and in her place stood the one I'd gone out to searching for earlier.
Too many emotions rolled over me at the sight of her, from surprise to happiness, excitement, sorrow and disappointment. I didn't know what to say or do. I wasn't even sure if the beauty in front of me was truly her. Then I heard that melodious voice for the first time in over a century, and I knew I wasn't dreaming.
It was her! She was real and in front of me. My ex-lover. My once upon a time companion. My Sire.
Darla...
I still shivered at the sight of her. I never would've thought she could still draw such a reaction from me after all the years we'd been apart, and after the fact that'd she abandoned me such a long time ago. She still could turn me into a puddle of goo with just a look and make my thoughts turn to lust with just a scent.
I should've known she was in town; I should've felt it. I knew that our Sire-Childe connection had been partly severed a long time ago, when she turned me away, but I had always thought it never truly went away unless one of us was dead. After all, she was still in my blood as I was still in hers, that sort of connection shouldn't get broken because of simple words. I had always thought that if Darla were near, I would still be able feel her proximity. Only I hadn't. I was crushed and humiliated knowing that'd taken me accidentally crossing her path to find out she was in Sunnydale.
My Sire...
Wait!
What was she doing here? And what did she mean about William ruining her plans on how to meet with me and Buffy? Is she going to try and kill my Slayer? If so, why did she help save that man? Why? Why? Why?
I needed answers.
I moved myself between her and William, taking her attention off both him and Buffy. The sight of her face up close was making my head swim with emotions that'd been buried for far too long. They were all raging inside me, wanting to get out. I bit my tongue until it bled, using the pain to focus myself and at least try to find some answers.
"Darla," her name sounded like a prayer on my lips. "What are you doing here?"
(O.O)
Darla
Stupid, stupid William. Putting me this situation when I had no plan as of yet on how to proceed. I had no idea how to face the demon, no, the man standing before me. All the emotions I saw on his face made the situation ten times more difficult. I had failed him as his Sire, I had chosen his Childers before him, all because they'd seemed more innocent than the man who stood before me.
How could I apologize to that atrocity? How could I make up for the years of abandonment and pain I'd caused, and then hope he would grant me his help for the very thing I abandoned him for?
I had no idea. Which was why I'd kept stalling. I wasn't ready, at least not yet. I needed to know the kind of man Angelus turned out to be after all these years he had spent alone. It'd been impossible to pin him down however, no matter how many demons I asked or how many fledglings I harried for information. There was no one answer. Some said he was still as cruel as he'd once been. Others said he was pathetic and had grown weak over the century. Many said he was still selfish and self-serving, yet a lot said that he now worked for the good guys and had saved a lot of people. I didn't know who or what to believe.
My Childe had become an enigma, a mystery I couldn't solve. Even looking at him now, despite the emotions rolling out of him, I still couldn't see the Childe I created or the man he turned out to be with his soul. So I had no idea how to proceed, nor how to answer his questions without either hurting or angering him.
Damn that William, damn him for putting me in this position.
"Answer me, Darla. What the hell are you, William and most likely Dru, doing here in Sunnydale?" Angelus dared to snap at me. So much for not angering him.
"I-"
I wasn't able to finish my sentence before the doors of the school slammed open and a bunch of police officers came rushing inside the building. I always find it amusing how the police always arrive when the danger is over. Angelus' hand on my arm, gripping me tightly, brought my attention back to him.
"This isn't over," he hissed. "You will tell me everything. You and William better not leave my side until then or I will hunt you down and finally finish what I started when you betrayed me and handed me to Holtz a long time ago."
His threat sent shivers down my spine, both from the arousal of the sudden change in his voice that made him sound exactly like the old Angelus and from the fear his threat engendered. I knew exactly what he meant. Easily I acquiesced to his demands and nodded my agreement.
The medical team entered after the officers learned from the Slayer and her friend that there were no more threats left. We all had then been ushered outside, where we waited to be called to make statements to the officers. Lying to the police was nothing new to me and the untruths flowed easily while Officer Stewart stared at my chest. Once finished I had to wait again, so I stood back and observed from the sidelines.
I saw the arrival of the town's media and chuckled as I listened to a short man tell them that the attackers were a group kids high on PCP. The things people say to rationalize the supernatural never ceased to amaze me. I saw the Slayer being hugged by an older woman, whom I immediately assumed was her mother.
It'd been odd to see a Slayer up close and not have her be nearly at my throat. I've met a lot of Slayers since I received my soul, always William's fault, but I had never met one who's innocence still shone so bright despite the responsibility of her calling. This Slayer was definitely different from the others. It could be because she is stronger than most Slayers I've met. After all, she did defeat Lothos in her first year of being called and the Master in her the second year. An impressive resume for one that didn't seem as attached to her calling as she should be. This Slayer was indeed special.
And it seemed I wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Ever since we'd left the building I'd noticed that my Great Grandchilde has been sneaking glances at the Slayer whenever he believed no one was watching. He had this confused look in his face along with another emotion that I had yet identify. I didn't know what was up with him, but I guessed his odd behavior from the night before could be explained by what I was seeing now. I'd been so busy watching William acting odd that I hadn't even noticed that Angelus was standing right beside me until he grabbed my arm again. He spun me to face him.
"Let's go. You still have some explaining to do." There's venom in his voice as he pulled me towards the shadows under the trees.
"William!" I called the boy, who immediately followed us.
Angelus kept his hand on my arm as he led us away from the school. I tried to prepared myself for the showdown that was about happen, and hoped beyond hope that everything would turn out alright. It just had to, Dru's life was at stake.
(O.O)
A/N: Yeepee! I finally finished this chapter! I really get lost when I write Angel's POV, I really find it hard. And if you notice I explained it a bit when I did Darla's POV. Angel has two different personas that he shows to different kinds people and one can never really tell who he really is and that even Darla finds him confusing. He's like Mr. Two-Face of DC's Batman series, but without the ugly dual face, and homicidal tendencies. Well, he doesn't have the last one when he is Angel. Anyway, if you find Angel in this chapter kinda different from the Angel in the other chapter that I had him on it, that is because Angel in this chapter is showing more of his darker self because of the apparance of his vampire family. I still remember his words from an Angel episode when he is ask why he asks differently with Spike, he says he doesn't know but Spike just gets to him in a way many of his enemies don't. I tried to put this idea in the story, that somehow Angel's true character becomes more visible in front of his vampire family. But of course I won't be writing him as an evil guy in this fic, at least not yet. I still view Angel's character growing during this part of the series, I believe that he truly does have a dark side but he's been holding out because he is afraid that Buffy and her friends won't accept him, and also the good side of his character hasn't fully developed yet, that's why he's always so cryptic message guy in the series. He doesn't know how to truly help others yet, and he still is motivated by selfishness. Of course I will be changing that slowly as the story progresses.
For those who notice, yes, I do ship Darla and Angel. I think that their romance, though was filled with violence and death, was still romance in vampire terms. I mean they both spent centuries together, Darla even chose Angel over the Master. I know they both cheated on each other constantly and even hurt each other but they never did kill each other, not until Angel had his soul, and he only did it because Buffy had been in trouble back then. Angel tried to save Darla when she was dying as a human. I know most say he did it because he wanted to redeem his sire and himself but he cared enough to still try. So yes, I think Angel/Angelus, though he wouldn't admit it, did love Darla on some level. It may have been a cruel, violent and deadly sort of love but he still did. So in this story I'll be trying to ship them along with Spike and Buffy, but not immediately, after all Angel truly does have feelings for Buffy in this fic and he still will get angry at Darla for what she did to him. So anyway, I guess that's all. Thank you for reading and see you next time!
