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Authors Chapter Notes:
Thanks for the fab reviews. You said pretty much what every author wants to hear, hence the quick post of chapter 2. As for the reviewer who wondered when Spike would make his appearance, remember, this is season two and Spike is still in a wheelchair. I'm trying my best to make this story plausible and mostly within established events from canon (though the timeline may be off a little bit). Trust me, we'll get to see Spike, but it will take a little while.


Chapter 2: Reprise

“I have told you how bad an idea this is, haven’t I?” Buffy had tried not to dwell on the events of the prior week, but it had been hard to get Angelus out of her mind. Now it was going to be even worse.

“Yes, Buffy. Several times in fact,” Giles sighed. He didn’t understand why she was being so difficult.

“Then I don’t think that I’ve said it strongly enough. I really, really, don’t want to do this.”

“Why?” Giles persisted. “I can understand that it might have some unpleasant associations for you, but really, your reluctance is quite irrational. It’s broad daylight. It won’t be dark for hours, and we’ll be long gone before any vampires could possibly be abroad.”

Despite his assurances, Buffy trembled as she put the key in the lock to Angel’s old apartment. Giles didn’t know what had happened here, and if Buffy had her way, he never would. But coming back to Angel’s apartment, again, seemed a terribly stupid thing to do. Besides, she knew that there would be nothing of value here. Angelus had been back and cleaned the place out of anything at all useful. She knew, she had been here. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that without letting on that she had at least seen Angelus here – and that could lead to all sorts of badness and discussions that she didn’t want to have.

Everything looked pretty much the same as she had left it. The handcuffs were no longer on the floor where she had thrown them, for which she was entirely grateful. But it was obvious to her that the place had already been stripped of anything of interest. Angelus had seen to that.

Giles searched the titles on the bookshelf and rummaged around in some drawers. Again Buffy breathed a sigh of relief that Angelus’s, no Angel’s, toys were no where to be seen. Uncomfortably, Buffy just stood around waiting, until Giles finally admitted defeat and said he was ready to leave. She almost shook with relief as Giles locked the door behind them and they started down the hallway.

Just as her Watcher turned to follow her, another door opened, and a little old lady peered out.

“Oh, I was hoping that you were Angel.” She looked at Buffy more closely. “You’re his girl, aren’t you? I’ve seen you here before.” Buffy remembered the eyes peering at her and Angel that night. The night that began this horrible chain of events. “He always has such nice things to say about you. But I thought that your father lived out of town?”

Buffy blushed. “Oh, Giles is not my father. He’s a teacher at my school.”

Giles recovered himself enough to remember his manners. He held out a hand. “Rupert. Rupert Giles. Pleased to meet you.”

The old lady nodded. “I’m Mrs. Halliwell, since Buffy seems to have forgotten that we’d already met. You don’t happen to know when Angel will be back, do you? Oh, I guess he had to go out of town on business. But I so depend on him for little things around the house. Could I possibly impose on you Mr. Giles? It will just take a moment. It’s just so difficult to do anything these days.”

She was heading back into her apartment, Giles in her wake. “I just need you to open a few jars – change a light bulb – things like that. It’s funny how you depend on someone, and suddenly they’re gone and you don’t know what to do. Come in, come in, both of you. I’ll just point you in the right direction and I’ll make us some tea as a thank you. I do so enjoy company. Nobody’s been to visit me since Angel left.”

Helplessly Buffy and Giles allowed themselves to be shepherded into the apartment. A half hour later, Buffy was shooting daggers at Giles, who was still trying graciously to complete an endless list of small tasks, when there was a knock on the door.

Mrs. Halliwell cheered, “More company? I wonder who it could be? Come in.” Buffy gasped as she recognized Angelus framed in the doorway. Mrs. Halliwell gushed, “Angel. We were just talking about you and how we all missed you.”

Angelus put on a cheery smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Halliwell, but I need to see Buffy for a minute. You can keep Giles company for a bit, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Buffy tried to make a stand. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Angelus just smiled broader and gestured to the two thugs he had brought along with him and who were lounging at the other end of the hall. He turned back to Buffy, “I’m sure that Mrs. Halliwell would advise us that these silly quarrels of ours just aren’t worth it in the end. We need to resolve things between us, Buffy, and it really would be too bad if we had to drag others into our quarrel. And my friends and I have already been invited in.”

The threat was clear. Both Giles and Mrs. Halliwell would suffer if she didn’t go across the hall with her supposed beau. Besides, she still had her stakes. Daylight or not, she never went anywhere unprepared anymore.

With a look to Giles, she stepped out into the hall. If she could just catch him off guard and dust him the minions would probably flee. “How’d you get in here, anyway? It’s still the middle of the afternoon.”

Angelus grinned and grabbed her arm to take her further towards the privacy of his own apartment. “This building has sewer access. That’s the reason Angel chose it to begin with. Did you really tell Mrs. Halliwell that you missed me? You must, or you wouldn’t have come here. I thought I made myself pretty clear that if you came back, I’d meet you here again.”

She pulled her arm away and pushed him into the apartment. No need to have the neighbors witness Angelus’s dusty ending. “Of course not. I’m here because Giles insisted and I couldn’t very well tell him why I didn’t want to come here. We’d have been long gone if that Mrs. Halliwell hadn’t stopped us in the hall.”

“Yeah, good bit of planning, wasn’t it?”

Buffy realized that there was something important that she had missed. It wasn’t just how and Angelus had managed to make it to the apartment complex in broad daylight, it was how he had known that she was here. “Most disgusting thing I ever ate – but it was worth it considering the results.”

“You don’t mean… that nice old lady?”

“Yep. I turned her and left her here to tip me off should you ever drop by again. She also had orders to detain you until I was able to get here – pretty creative way to do it, if I do say so myself.” He rocked back and forth on his heels as if expecting her praise. When she had been silent a few moments he continued, “Now she’s got her reward,” he vamped and leaned towards her unprotected neck, “and I’ve got mine.”

Nimbly Buffy avoided his embrace, one arm pushing him carelessly away while the other stalled somewhere near her mouth. “Oh God. Giles doesn’t know…”

Seeing her agitation, Angelus’s features returned to their human guise. He had an uncontrollable urge to take her into his arms and comfort her – and where did that thought come from? Even more surprising were the words that he heard coming out of his mouth.

“Relax. I think Mrs. Halliwell’s having too much fun with her ‘gentleman caller’ to eat him anytime soon. She always was a lonely old soul. Oh, but she’s got no soul now – well- she’s still lonely. Maybe she’ll turn him.”

“Over my dead body,” Buffy retorted and in a flash her stake was in her hand.

His moment of temporary insanity disappeared instantly when he saw the stake. Instinctively Angelus vamped and lunged for her neck once again. After his moment of almost compassion, Buffy wasn’t ready for such an abrupt about face. Instead of Angelus hesitating that crucial second, she found that she was the one who couldn’t bring herself to attack the man in front of her. The moment of tenderness had her resolve wavering, and somehow her stake went wide. Buffy felt his fangs at her throat.

Angelus had never felt anything so intoxicating. The Slayer’s blood burned its way down his throat and set off a series of explosions like fireworks behind his eyes, shooting the pleasure all the way down to his cock. The feeling was at the same time more intense than the strongest orgasm, and lasted longer. Without experiencing it for oneself, it was a sensation that could never be adequately described.

It had all happened so quickly. Already sensing that this was the end, Buffy could feel her strength slipping away. She almost welcomed it. If Angel was really gone, then she was ready to go with him. Wasn’t it better to go in the arms that had once belonged to her beloved, rather than some random vamp or demon? And perhaps Angelus did love her – after a fashion.

Just as she was sliding away into nothingness, she felt his lips tear from her neck. Distantly she thought that she heard the words she never thought she would hear again, “God, I love you Buffy!” before she felt him embrace her in a final kiss. Surely she had imagined the words.

She knew that it was Angelus who held her in his deadly embrace, or she wouldn’t be dying, would she? It was only her heart that imagined it was Angel, that imagined that he had spoken the words that she longed for.

Angelus stopped completely still for a moment. What had possessed him to say that he loved her? There was nothing of Angel left in him. Nothing.

Imagining that any part of Angel had survived had only been a trick that he had played on the Slayer. Hadn’t it? It must be that the demon regarded this woman as its property. The demon wasn’t ready to give up its toy just yet. Besides, her blood had excited him as nothing before ever had. He was desperate to have her at least one more time.

Giving in to his desire, Angelus bent to kiss her lips one more time, and was amazed to find her opening her mouth to him, willingly accepting and returning his passion. Hungrily he plundered her mouth and nipped at her lower lip. Nearly gagging, the Slayer tasted more of her own blood flowing from his mouth into hers. The kiss deepened further until she had to force him far enough away that she could draw a breath. Reflexively she swallowed.

Immediately she felt a burning sensation spreading upwards from the soles of her feet. The feeling of lassitude was instantly replaced by a burning need. Without conscious thought she was tearing into Angelus’s lips again, sucking traces of her blood from his mouth and teeth.

Angelus felt the change in her as Buffy suddenly became the aggressor. One moment she had been dying, and now she was hungrily returning his kisses and licking her own blood from his face.

Angelus was no fool. He had never tasted Slayer’s blood before, but he knew what it was and had been prepared for his own reaction to it. What he hadn’t known was that the Slayer herself would not be immune to it. Slayer's blood was a powerful aphrodisiac; even it seemed, to the Slayer herself.

He thought quickly. Her body regenerated fast. If he didn’t take any more blood from her she might yet live. It wasn’t unusual for vampires to keep captives alive for weeks, sometimes months while they fed from them. If he was careful with her now, she might survive.

The demon was ecstatic. Gods, if only he could find a way to keep her! His own private stock of Slayer blood to have whenever he wanted!

Prisoners were often kept chained, or in a semi-hypnotized state of thrall. But neither would work with this girl. Chains would be far too dangerous. She was, after all, the Slayer. And unfortunately Dru was the master of thrall, not him.

He’d worry about the future later. Right now he had more important things to do.

They were on the bed in seconds, their clothes a mere inconvenience and easily shed. He was shocked that Buffy met and matched his every blood-enhanced desire. He still wasn’t quite sure why she was even still alive. The blood he had already taken should have left her comatose, or worse. Perhaps Slayers healed faster than he ever imagined.

He was grateful. He’d much rather have her an active participant, willing or unwilling. Screwing her while she was unconscious just wouldn’t have the same appeal. He wanted her to know what had happened to her. Wanted her to have to admit to herself that he was the one who had brought her to completion again and again. Him, Angelus, not that pansy ass Angel she had thought she loved. Angel’s gentle touch on her virginal skin had only made Buffy lukewarm. Now it was as if Angelus’ s touch had inflamed her.

Inspired by the thought of outdoing his alter ego, Angelus brought the girl beneath him to orgasm again and again, holding off his own release as long as possible. It was incredible. He continued to pound into her heat with a force that a mere mortal could never have withstood. She responded by raking her nails across his bare shoulder, hugging him tightly to her with a fierce possessiveness he had never experienced before. Not from Dru, and certainly never from Darla.

At last she climaxed for a final time, and Buffy lay still beneath him, unconscious. Her blood still thrummed through his veins – igniting him and making his senses reel as he finally allowed himself to climax. Struggling to come down from his own orgasm, he contemplated the still form on the bed. The way she had reacted, the way she needed more and more of him. He almost hated to admit it, but it had been one of the best fucks of his life – and that was saying something.

And she was still not dead. He could hear her heart beating, feel her breath warm on his chest. Idly he considered whether to finish the job now that she was exhausted and vulnerable. He wanted to taste her again – to let the power of her blood fill him until he couldn’t stand it anymore. But inevitably that would lead to wanting to fuck her again – and he knew from experience that fucking a corpse was just damned unsatisfying.

It was getting dark out. Dru and the others would be waking up soon, and wondering where he was. But it would be like going back to drinking two-dollar wine after his first sip of fine champagne. Grudgingly Angelus admitted that something inside him actually liked this girl. He admired her strength, and exalted in her submission to him. He enjoyed the way that she clung to him as she climaxed again and again. His ego wouldn’t be satisfied until he heard her shout his name while she came.

When he wasn’t thinking of killing or fucking her, he could remember how much Angel had cared for this girl. It was a feeling that Angelus was unfamiliar with, but the affects of Angel’s emotions somehow seemed to linger. It was confusing him. She was his natural enemy; he should want to kill her. Needed to kill her. But he found suddenly that he couldn’t bear the thought of her dead.

His mind whirled. There were still so many unexplored possibilities. She was immature and trusting. Could possibly be manipulated. If she could be persuaded not to hunt him, to leave him and his alone… it was possible she might become an ally instead. He could only imagine how powerful he could become if he controlled the Slayer. He could steer her towards vampires from rival clans, and there were plenty of those. If he wanted, he could rule the hellmouth in no time. Hell, he could rule all of California if he had a few lieutenants that he could trust.

As he pulled out of her warm body and began putting on his clothes he continued thinking. Acting rashly was never a good idea. Something had changed between them. She had responded to him physically, and he knew that she was young and naïve enough to think that that meant something. He could use her naivete to his advantage.

First of all, he had to decide what it was that he wanted from her, and how he could reasonably expect her to react. Then all he had to do was devise a plan to make sure that everything unfolded the way that he wanted it to. He was good at that. For now, he’d keep all his options open.

That meant leaving the Slayer alive and feeling kindly disposed towards him. He could do that.

Gently, he shook her awake. “Buffy, you should check on your Watcher and both go home before nightfall.” God, he sounded like Angel, even to his own ears.

“Can’t,” came the sleepy reply. “Can’t move. Don’t want to.” Her first experience of sex with Angel had been nothing compared to this. Her sleepy mind wondered at the change.

“Buffy, he’ll be worried about you. Plus, well, I don’t think that Mrs. Halliwell will harm him – but fledglings are often stupid. We’d best check up on them – don’t you think?”

That brought her awake immediately. She was with Angelus, not Angel. “My God, Giles! You left him alone with that horrible old vampire woman next door.”

She got up and began frantically looking for her clothes.

“Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden? Shouldn’t I be dead right about now?”

“Always one to look a gift horse in mouth, aren’t you Buff? I’m not really sure myself – maybe the incredible sex had something to do with it, made me feel generous. Maybe it’s just my inner Angel. I admit that I came here fully intending to kill you – but now I find myself looking for excuses to let you live. But you’d better go quickly, before I change my mind.”

“Yeah, like you could take me now. That was a fluke, earlier.” Buffy’s emotions were in turmoil, so she lashed out at the nearest target. “This sex thing was a mistake. I don’t know why I let you near me. You must have caught me off guard, somehow made me believe that you were Angel.”

She must have thought that, hadn’t she? She would never have willingly slept with the devil. Best to be clear about her intentions. At least, once she was a little closer to the safety of the door.

“Don’t think that this is ever going to happen again. Next time I see you, you are so dead.”

Angelus was unconcerned. “Yeah. Right. I’ll remember that.”

Buffy began to pull open the door when she heard his insouciant voice drawl, “You might want to take these with you.”

Angelus was holding out two wooden stakes. Buffy stalked back to him and took the offending objects.

Without a word she strode back and ripped open the apartment door. Two astonished vamps peered back at her. Doubtless they’d heard most of everything that went on inside the apartment, but they’d expected Angelus to emerge, not the Slayer. They took one quick look at one another, and then hightailed it back towards the laundry room and the sewer entrance. She turned back to look at Angelus for a second.

“I guess good help is hard to find.”

Slamming the door behind her, she hurried over to the other basement apartment, and opened the door without knocking. As nonchalantly as she could, she took in the domestic scene before her – Giles and Mrs. Halliwell playing cards, complete with tea and an assortment of cookies spread out on the table.

Her relief was palpable. “Let’s go Giles.”

Quickly Giles made his good byes and accompanied Buffy down the hallway. “I was afraid for you, Buffy. But I knew that I could trust you to do the right thing. To kill Angelus once and for all. Though it did seem to take rather a long time. Was it very painful?”

Blushing crimson, Buffy stammered, “I…I didn’t kill him. I tried to, but he was too strong for me. He could have killed me, Giles. But he let me go. Are you all right Giles?”

Giles was turning pale. “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? Are you sure that you’re quite all right, Buffy? He didn’t… hurt you, did he?” Was he finally getting a clue as to what was going on here? "And, not that I’m complaining, but why would Angelus let you go free, Buffy?”

She was still beet red. “We… talked. He claims that he can still feel Angel inside of him. That Angel is coloring his view of the world. That’s why he let me go. Not that he doesn’t still want to kill me. I don’t know. He’s confused I guess, by emotions that he’s not used to.”

“So you’ve reached a temporary truce with him? Is that it? But you did kill the minions, didn’t you?” Giles didn’t understand. Why would she make a truce with Angelus?

“Not exactly. They took off.” Let him make of that what he would. She was angry. She was uncomfortable with Giles questioning her, and knew she couldn’t bear to tell him anything resembling the truth. She needed to strike out at something. Besides, it would distract Giles from his current line of questioning.

“There is one more thing I should do before we go.” Without pause she strode back to the apartment Giles had just left. As Mrs. Halliwell opened the door, Buffy’s stake flew up, and the dust of Mrs. Halliwell fell around her.

Now it was Giles’s turn to stutter. “She was a vampire? That nice old lady?”

“Yeah. Apparently Angelus turned her so that she’d tell him if I ever came back – um – if we ever came here. That’s why I’m so glad that you’re okay.”

“We drank tea and played cards! She seemed like a perfectly sweet little old lady. Perfectly normal.” Giles was polishing his spectacles now. “Except she did make a pass at me once or twice, but I thought I was imagining it. Oh, dear lord. How could I not have known?”

“Yeah. She could have easily drained you at any time. But she didn’t.”

“She seemed perfectly normal. If she was influenced by bloodlust, she was obviously able to control it.”

Buffy couldn’t resist the jibe, “Kinda makes you think twice about the Council dogma about vampires being mindless animals. About there being no part of the person that survives.”

Buffy couldn’t help but wonder at the truth. If the personality of the host really did have that much influence over the demon, then perhaps there was something of Angel left in Angelus. Perhaps she hadn’t been imagining that he had softened towards her. Perhaps it was still possible that they could have a future together.

___

A/N: As I may have mentioned somewhere, the bulk of this story is ready to go. So the faster you review, the faster I'll post it.




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