Title: Loves Lost (1/23/05)
Author: Slaymesoftly
Season: II, but AU
Word count – 15,500 +
Disclaimer: Joss’s characters, my story
Distribution: Belongs ATM to Good_Evil, can be archived after the round closes by anyone who already has permission.
AN: The characters for this round were Good Giles and/or Evil Ethan. Couldn’t decide, so I did a bit of both. Since the original (and I use the term very loosely – you will see why) idea was scribbled out almost a year ago and was intended as a Spuffy fic, those blond victims of their own UST will figure almost as prominently in this fic as they usually do in my stories; but this time they will be going up against an evil and vengeful Ethan Rayne and will be rescued (because, all-in-all, they aren’t doing very well against the sorcerer and his evil accomplices) by a Watcher who must reach back into his past for the tools he needs to save his Slayer. Many thanks to my beta, Always_jbj who worked hard with me to see that there were no contradictions or lapses in logic as I worked out some of these scenes, as well as providing constant encouragement for my first attempt at writing a dark fic.
WARNINGS: There are both character deaths and a rather graphic rape scene in this fic. It is NOT a fluffy fic. Please be aware of that as you read.
LOVES LOST
Chapter One
As Buffy raced out of the burning building, she cast a quick glance behind her to see that both Spike and Drusilla were buried under the collapsed organ and its many large pipes. She smiled with vindictive satisfaction.
(That should take care of those two. Now to get Angel back to his apartment and see if he’s all right.)
She quickly caught up to her Watcher and her friends as they struggled with their burden. Smiling at them in thanks, she positioned herself under Angel’s large, unconscious body and hefted him onto her small shoulder. When she staggered slightly, Xander laughed and got on the other side to help balance the load.
“Super strength is all well and good, Buffster, but I think expecting to carry something that big on your skinny little back is defying some kind of law of physics.”
In the rush to leave the burning building and get the injured vampire someplace safe, no one noticed the dark-eyed mage watching from the shadows. His face broke into a smile as he assessed the aura of the vampire to whom the Slayer was tending so lovingly.
(Oh yes, Ripper. That may not have worked out quite the way I planned, but this will do nicely. Very nicely, indeed.)
With Giles helping Xander to support Angel’s other side, they were able to get the still-unconscious vampire back to his home and onto his bed. He groaned slightly when they put him down as gently as they could. Buffy drew in a breath sharply as she caught sight of the burns on his chest.
“Giles! They tortured him! If I didn’t know that bleached blond menace was being barbequed right now, I’d go back to that church and baptize him in holy water.” Buffy’s face was a combination of determined Slayer and worried girl friend.
“I think he’ll be all right, Buffy,” her watcher said quietly. “Why don’t you go get him some blood?” He remained some distance from the bed, studying the vampire with cold eyes.
Glancing at her Watcher curiously, she went to the far side of the room and got some pig’s blood out of the small refrigerator there. She put it in a mug and stuck it in the microwave to warm it up, watching over her shoulder the whole time to see if Angel was waking up. She frowned slightly as she noticed Giles gesturing to Willow and Xander to stay back away from the bed. Her frown increased as she realized that he was holding a cross in one hand.
“Giles? What are you doing? It’s Angel. He isn’t going to hurt us!”
“Buffy, we have no idea what kind of effect that ritual may have had on him; nor can we be sure that he will recognize us when he first wakes up. I believe caution is warranted in this situation.”
“Caution, schmaution. This is my boy friend and he isn’t going to hurt anybody,” she said confidently as she approached with the mug of pig’s blood.
Willow was the first to notice that Angel’s eyes were open and she watched as he looked around the room before fastening his gaze on Buffy. There was something about the way he was looking at her friend that bothered her, but she shook it off as Buffy smiled down at the vampire.
“Angel! You’re awake. I’m so sorry they hurt you like that...I tried to get there sooner... Here, I warmed up some blood for you...”
As she babbled in relief, she sat beside him on the bed and supported his shoulders while he leaned toward the mug. Suddenly the mug went flying across the room and she was pinned beneath him, his vamp face was firmly in place as he ran his fangs lightly across her neck.
“I think I’d prefer it right from the source, lover,” he growled as he licked at the trickle of blood his actions had yielded. Buffy was too surprised and shocked to react, remaining immobile under him as he licked her neck and ground his obvious erection into her leg. As quickly as he had grabbed her, he let go with a snarl when Giles thrust the cross in his face, forcing him away from Buffy who then rolled off the bed. In spite of the pain and fear gripping her heart at Angel’s actions, Buffy’s Slayer instincts took over and, in seconds, she was on her feet, stake in hand.
“Angel...? I don’t understand...wha-“ She remained in a fighting stance, but her face was a study in dismay and fear.
“We’re not looking at Angel anymore,” her Watcher said, never taking his eyes off the snarling vampire and waving at Willow and Xander to leave. “Are we…Angelus?”
Across the bed from them, the vampire shifted back to his human face and said smoothly, “Nonsense, Giles. I just over-reacted a little to the smell of pig’s blood, that’s all. I’ll need to stop by Willie’s and pick up some human blood to get these wounds healed.”
He turned his head toward Buffy and looked at her with calculating eyes.
‘You believe me, don’t you, darlin’? You know I’d never hurt you.”
“Stay away from him, Buffy,” her Watcher warned as she wavered.
She looked back and forth between the two of them, frantically trying to decide which was telling the truth. She loved Angel with the whole of her sixteen-year-old heart, but something was setting off alarm bells in her head as she stared into his strangely flat eyes. When she didn’t immediately agree with him, she saw a flicker of impatience cross his face and his eyes briefly flashed yellow before he could control it.
“That’s all right, lover,” he said suddenly, relaxing his posture, but maintaining the distance between them, “I’ll just go get my blood and I’ll see you later. I’ll see you, too, Watcher,” he said with deceptive mildness as he edged toward the door, but Giles did not miss the threat.
Buffy flew to the door behind him, telling herself she wasn’t worried about Willow and Xander, that she just wanted to be sure that they hadn’t gone far. She found them pressed against the wall holding out crosses and cringing against each other.
As soon as Buffy saw the crosses and the frightened looks on their faces, she crumpled to the ground sobbing. Giles pulled her to her feet somewhat abruptly and said, “I understand this is a shock, Buffy, but right now you need to be the Slayer. One of the most vicious vampires in the world is now loose in Sunnydale and you are the only one who can stand against him.”
He gazed at the girl he was coming to think of as his daughter and his heart ached for her loss, but he refused to allow any of the pain he was feeling on her behalf to enter his voice as he urged them all back to his car.
He drove Buffy back to her home and suggested they all stay there for the night. When they asked him why, he responded with impatience.
“Angelus has an invitation to all your homes, does he not?” the Watcher asked curtly.
Buffy and Willow nodded their agreements as Xander spoke up.
“Nope, not to my house. Never had any reason to give Deadboy an invite to the Harris casa.”
“All right, then, Xander can go home. Willow, you will need to do some disinvite spells for Buffy’s house and for your own immediately.”
The novice witch nodded her head and walked up to the door with Buffy.
“We’ll do your house first,” she said with as much confidence as she could muster. “Then we’ll go over to my house and do it. Fortunately my parents are away this week, so there’s nobody there if Angel shows up.”
They burst into Buffy’s house and followed the sound of Joyce’s voice into the kitchen where she was making hot chocolate.
“Well, you girls are home late,” she said with just a trace of irritation. “Now that I know you’re safe, I’ll be going to bed. Don’t stay up too late,” she cautioned as she turned to go upstairs.
Just then they heard a sound from upstairs, as though someone had bumped into a table.
“Willow, do the spell now!” Buffy ordered as she shoved a cross into her mother’s hand and ordered, “Stay here, Mom.”
Joyce sputtered in surprise and anger at being told what to do by her sixteen-year-old daughter, but the memory of how competent and in charge Buffy had been at the terrifying Back to School Night events stilled her tongue and she waited impatiently with Willow.
Buffy flew upstairs just in time to see Angel leap out the window and onto the roof. She ran to the window, but halted before she got close enough for him to touch her. There was no doubt, as she looked into the cold, evil countenance of Angelus, the Scourge of Europe, that her Angel was gone.
Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the familiar, and yet so different, face glaring back at her.
“A...Angel?” she couldn’t help the plea in her voice as she begged him to tell her she wasn’t seeing what her Slayer senses were telling her.
“He’s gone, lover. And I’m back. But don’t you worry, Buffy, we’re going to have lots of fun without him.” He leered at her and made as though to come back through the window, only to bump up against an invisible barrier.
While the vampire snarled and growled on the roof, Buffy sent him a last sad look and said, “The locks have been changed, Angel. You...you’re not welcome here anymore.”
She turned away from the window and went slowly down the stairs to join her mother and her best friend in the now-safe kitchen. At Joyce’s, “What was that all about, Buffy?” she just absently took the cross from her mother and mumbled something about a big animal on the roof. Joyce missed the widening of Willow’s eyes as she bustled about putting the hot chocolate ingredients away.
Since there was no one at Willow’s home to worry about, the girls decided to stay at Buffy’s for the night and go to Willow’s in the morning. Although Joyce was more than suspicious that they weren’t telling her the truth about what was going on, she decided to wait until the next day to discuss it with her daughter. It was obvious that Buffy had been crying, and she decided to believe there had been a typical teenage crisis of some sort that Buffy and Willow would sort out over ice cream while she went to bed.
As had become her custom, she ignored the strange chanting Willow had done while Buffy was upstairs, as well as the obvious sounds of someone on the roof that she’d heard. Her chosen way of dealing with the strange things that went on with and around her daughter was to ignore them as much as possible. The only alternative – to believe in the monsters that Buffy had tried to tell her about when they lived in Los Angeles – was unthinkable.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!