The Big Payback

Chapter 5 – Angel and Angelus Make a Deal

A/N: While speaking with Angel, Angelus' words are shown between double equals, == ==.

Part 1

Once again Angel was startled awake from the nightmares he had been having for what seemed like forever. Over and over he was seeing Buffy in trouble, calling him for help. He had been in Los Angeles five long weeks and he knew that the nightmares were just his guilty conscience playing tricks on him. He had left Buffy standing on the street without so much as a wave goodbye.

How could he have done such a thing? 'I know that I had to leave, but I could have done it differently; I could have talked to her, told her how much I still love her, promised her that I would return as soon as I had made amends or as soon as I figured out a way to bind my soul, let her know that I wouldn't stay away forever, told her that she should not put her life on hold for me, but promised her that some day we would have our happy ever after. Why didn't I do that?'

==I don't give a rat's ass what you did or didn't do in the past; our mate is in trouble and all you're doing is lying here feeling sorry for yourself. Get your ass up and do something about it. Open the link so that I can respond to her. Maybe she can tell me where she is.==

Angel ignored Angelus as usual. He was startled again when the phone rang, and he was annoyed. 'Why would Doyle be calling me this time of day?' He was even more startled when he heard a strange voice on the phone.

"I'd like to speak to Angelus, please. It is most urgent."

The first thing Angel thought was that this was some kind of joke. Why would anybody call him looking for Angelus?

"Who is this?" He demanded.

"I beg your pardon," a very British voice replied, "My name is Griffiths. I work for the Watchers' Council in London. Several weeks ago I was part of a retrieval team sent to the US to capture Miss Summers and return her to London for trial."

"WHAT?"

"Are you Angelus?"

Without hesitating Angel replied, "Yes, I am."

"Then you must hurry. I don't know how much longer Miss Summers can survive the starvation and torture that she is suffering at the hands of Quentin Travers, head of the Watchers' Council."

"I know who Travers is and I don't believe you."

"Her watcher said the same thing when I spoke to him weeks ago, but I thought surely, as her watcher, he would be concerned about his slayer enough to do something, anything. If he has called Travers to verify what I told him, then Travers knows that I have betrayed the Council and he will be after me. I am not so concerned for myself; I deserve whatever punishment I get for not contacting you in the first place, but Miss Summers is an innocent in this. If you are truly her mate, then you must know that I am telling you the truth; you know that she is in danger. I only hope that you get to her in time. Contact me when you get to London. I can help you."

Part 2

Angel hung up the phone. 'This could be a trick.'

==Are you insane?==

Angelus was raving mad as he spoke in Angel's mind.

==You have been having the dreams. She is calling us for help. You know that she would not go off without telling anyone unless she had a good reason. What about what her mother said about food missing from the refrigerator? You know that Buffy couldn't eat that much in one day. And the blood in the carpet, she must have tried to defend herself. Are you going to just leave her there? If my mate dies and I could have prevented it and you failed to act, I will make the rest of your unlife a living hell.==

Before Angel could reply, the phone rang again; this time it was Doyle. He was frantic. "Angel, Buffy is in serious trouble; it looked like she was in some kind of prison and she can't defend herself, you have to go to her, Angel. You have to go now."

Angel hung up the phone and replied to Angelus. 'What if what Griffiths said is true? You heard what he said; her friends in Sunnydale do not believe him. How am I supposed to attack the Watchers' Council alone?'

==You're not. I am. You don't have it in you to do what needs to be done.==

'What? No. I cannot let you out. You would kill everybody.'

==Everybody connected to this assault, yes I would. Look, Angel, she is my mate as much as she is yours. I love her probably more than you ever could. After I know she is safe and everyone responsible for this has been taken care of, I will willingly return control to you. You have my word.==

This was probably the first time Angelus had ever called him Angel … he must be serious. 'All right. When it comes to Buffy, I believe that I can trust you. All I ask is that you make them suffer and don't tell me about it afterwards.'

==It's a deal. Now where are Spike and Drusilla?==

'I don't know. I haven't heard from either of them since your fight with Buffy. Dru wouldn't willingly stay away from you this long unless … '

==No!==

Angelus said adamantly.

==Drusilla is still alive; I would know otherwise, so would you. I can only surmise that she has been captured, probably by the same people who took our mate; that would mean that Spike has also been captured. She can easily reach me telepathically; I wonder why she has not done so. Penn and Gretchen are still in Europe; I will contact him from the plane and have him meet me with as many reliable reinforcements as he can get. In the meantime I want Gretchen to start a little computer research project for me.==

'You sound as though you're going to war against the Watchers' Council.'

==I am.==