Angel let out a frustrated sigh as he rapidly crept along underground, going on little more than instinct and a general mental picture of where he had seen them take her before he slipped underground. Despite all that Buffy hadn't told him, she had definitely said enough that he knew what he should be doing.
He should be getting as far away from this and all other major cities as possible, and he should be pretending to not even know what a slayer was.
Unfortunately, even as he argued with himself, telling himself not to go through with this crazy plan, he knew one thing with certainty: there was no way he was leaving the city without her.
Buffy felt nothing as she was kicked in the gut, realizing in some distant corner of her mind that she must be bleeding and lacking the motivation to care as she was backhanded across the face.
"That will be enough," she heard as though from very far away, allowing herself to raise her head and look toward the open door where Ethan was standing before letting her head drop again. He let out a low chuckle at the gesture. "I'll admit, Miss Summers, I'm impressed," Ethan smirked, rewarded for his words when her chin jerked up once more, defiantly.
"That's Mrs. Giles to you," she said coldly, and he laughed softly.
"Try to hide it all you want, little girl," he said in a small, amused voice. "But there's fight in you yet."
She rolled her eyes. "Done talking now," she said abruptly, then smiled grimly, tossing her head as best she was able in her bonds. "I know! Why don't you hit me some more?"
"Come now, when I've just offered you my oh-so-reluctant respect? Don't be crass."
"Crass?" she repeated incredulously, then let her head fall backward, muttering slowly, "It's just not worth it. Kill me already."
"Say that enough and you might start to convince yourself," he said with a smirk. "But I know you don't want to die."
"I don't want to," she said softly. "But I don't care to prevent it, either."
"Buffy, why do this to yourself?" he asked gently, abruptly changing tactics and reaching out to gently push a strand of hair from her face, ignoring the way in which she flinched as he did so. "You've earned my respect. I'm willing to let you off easily. Just tell me who you're trying to protect."
She looked at his in disgust, shaking her head incredulously just before the skylight above he shattered and a man clad in black sailed gracefully to the ground.
"That would be me," Angel growled, vamp face emerging and Buffy cringed at the realization of what had just happened.
And then she couldn't think anymore as the men who had been beating her up began to walk toward Angel from where they had been standing against the wall.
"Angel look out!" she screamed, taking advantage of Ethan's stunned silence to warn him.
Unfortunately, her voice snapped Ethan out of his stupor and he snapped "Kill him!" stepping toward the door himself to watch the scene.
Buffy cringed as though she were the one hit as the first punch was thrown.
Why is he doing this to me? she wondered despairingly before jutting her chin out and telling herself not to be selfish, to be strong no matter how much she wanted to just be weak for once. She surveyed the room critically, looking for an opening, any way to possibly get free-
And let out an exasperated sigh as she saw none, unable to even fully plant her feet on the ground due to how high her hands were pinned above her head. She attempted to wriggle her hands around in vain and let out another exasperated breath, continuing to look for an opening she wasn't sure existed, wondering if Angel was really going to be able to defeat all six of them, knowing that even if he managed Ethan would just send more until he was dead.
"You shouldn't have come here!" she cried out in agony, stunned when the fighting stopped for a fraction of a second and they all turned to look at her before continuing to wale on Angel. Ethan, however, continued to gaze at her contemplatively from his place by the door, eyes narrowing as his face suddenly cleared.
"Devon!" he said loudly, and Buffy looked at him in confusion as he beckoned to one of his cronies, evidently named Devon, who immediately stopped hitting Angel, smiling slightly as, in her peripheral vision, she saw Angel knock one of them unconscious, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Kill her," she suddenly heard Ethan say, not particularly loudly, but firmly, gesturing to her as Devon nodded. Her brow furrowed in confusion, but she wasn't left to wonder for long as Ethan elaborated, "Once she's dead he'll stop fighting."
She cringed as she realized the probable truth of the statement, struggling with everything inside her not to scream at Angel to promise he wouldn't stop fighting once she was-if she was-
And as Devon approached her, knife outstretched, she let her eyes flutter shut.