Title: From These Seeds (Chapter 1)
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Chapter 1
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Buffy didn’t know which was the more frightening thing to do: to just confront Angel or to wait for him to contact her and explain why he’d left her alone in his bed after she finally gave herself to him.
‘Don’t be silly, Buffy. This is Angel. He loves you; he said so. He must have a good reason for leaving like that. Most likely he’s gone to play the hero and take out Spike and Drusilla before they can use the Judge to destroy the world one human at a time,’ Buffy consoled herself with explanations for being left.
‘I should have just stayed longer. Mom thought I was at Willow’s, after all.’ Buffy stopped outside Angel’s front door and chided herself for running home like a scared little girl that morning.
She started to knock but tried the doorknob first. Finding the door unlocked, Buffy entered and looked about the neatly appointed home of her love. She could see that he had returned at some point. The bed was made and clothes were laid out on the bed for him to don later.
She heard a sound behind her and turned to see Angel putting on a necklace. He had obviously just come out of the shower and looked handsome as ever as he dressed for the evening.
Buffy smiled uncertainly and ran to him. "Angel!"
He hadn’t said more than "hey" before Buffy threw her arms around him in a lover’s embrace and kissed him in relief.
"Oh, my God, I was so worried!" She knew that Angel would reassure her now and that her world would be set right again.
He felt stiff in her arms and Buffy briefly wondered if she had hurt his feelings by not leaving so much as a note when she left earlier.
"I didn’t mean to frighten you," Angel offered.
Buffy tried to get Angel to explain where he had gone at such an unlikely time. She had looked forward to afterglowing all day at least! Everything she had ever heard or read made Buffy certain that her romantic boyfriend would excel in morning afters. His casual response to her worry chilled her, both with his disinterested tone of voice and his choice of words.
"Yeah, like I really wanted to stick around after that," he said with a sneer in his voice.
Buffy was reeling, unable to understand what was wrong, and something was definitely wrong.
"What?" Buffy prayed he would laugh and tease her for her unnecessary awkwardness. It didn’t happen. Instead it got much, much worse.
"You’ve got a lot to learn about men, kiddo. Although I guess you proved that last night." Angel’s face was as cold as his words.
Buffy pressed him further, each confused word accompanied by a silent plea for Angel to take back his hurtful words and make it better.
He tried to change the subject, but Buffy just had to ask if she had been any good in bed. She was flayed alive by his derision. He had mocked her and dismissed the most important night of her entire young life as just another notch on his centuries old bedpost. She pulled back from his touch in horror, but when he turned to leave, she panicked.
"Angel!" He stopped at the door and turned towards his crying girlfriend. "I love you." She half expected him to pull her into his arms and kiss away the hurt.
He did walk towards her and began to kiss her roughly. Angel was pressing her back towards a bookshelf that contained tasteful statues and classic volumes of literature. As Buffy melted in his now heated assault, she lost track of his movements until the world went dark.
Angel let go of the unconscious body of the Slayer and let it slip to the floor. He looked at the pewter bust and the carpet now coated with Buffy’s blood and tsked to himself. "Gonna have to clean this up, I guess, if I don’t want to lose that damage deposit when I move. Oh, wait, now I remember … I can just eat the landlord and take all his deposits, including mine… that’s right!" His laugh would have made Buffy’s blood run cold had she been able to hear it.
He slung Buffy over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and headed to his new headquarters. Angel decided he would get his erstwhile girlfriend settled in before moving his family and their minions into the mansion he had liberated from its human owner just that morning. The factory might do for Willie and the Loon, but not for the return of the Scourge of Europe!
No reason to live in anything less than luxury--Darla had been right about that--and the mansion fit the bill to a tee.
Darla. That was another thing Buffy was going to pay for! His sire had been the most talented lover Angel ever had. He had hated leaving her when she drove him away. He had tried to compromise, even with the soul, to stay near her and her skills. Thanks to this child, this goody two-shoes Slayer, his Darla was dust now. Buffy had a lot to answer for and Angelus knew just how to get his pound of flesh from her.
Angel had spent the better part of the morning preparing the place for Buffy. He knew she would come to him, trusting and easily snared. When she awoke, she would find herself properly chained and he would begin to take her apart one piece at a time from the inside out. He had already begun with his carefully chosen words earlier. He knew just how to destroy a woman, beginning with her confidence. Rip out the heart, poison the mind and the rest was gravy.
The only thing Angelus had yet to decide was if he wanted to kill the bitch or turn her.
~~~
"Come on, Rollerboy, need to spin those wheels a little faster or you won’t keep up," Angelus taunted Spike. There had been no argument about the need to move headquarters since the Slayer and her group had discovered the Factory and could come in at any time.
Spike hadn’t liked Angelus just stepping into the role of leader. He hated the lack of respect his grandsire showed him in front of the minions even more. Spike could hear snickers from the rabble and felt the stares and speculation of the underlings. A wounded vamp was always in danger of being seen as a liability and Spike’s position as a Master had been the one thing that had prevented a mutiny up until now. With the constantly degrading comments coming from his grandsire, that position was becoming more and more tenuous.
Dru wasn’t any help either with her wide, empty grins and slavish devotion to Angelus. As soon as her "daddy" returned, she became Angelus’ shadow, nearly ignoring her Dark Knight.
Spike had managed to wheel himself to the local Red Cross and break in for a meal only a couple of times since the Slayer had crippled him. Dru would remember to feed him on rare occasions, but now that her daddy was the center of her universe again, she never remembered at all.
Spike had been working on strengthening himself to walk again. Survival depended on his getting out of that chair and fending for himself. He hated having to swallow his pride and accept Angelus and his fearless leader’s dismissive attitude while he bided his time and healed. At least if Angelus wanted to keep him around, he’d get fed on occasion.
The present Spike had arranged for Dru—the reassembled Judge--was also working on building strength and happily followed the orders of Angelus, the "pure one". Things had gotten completely out of hand since Peaches returned to the fold.
Take the whole Judge disaster in the making … . Spike had given Dru the exact gift she requested. She had wanted this demon reassembled for years, ever since she first heard of him. Spike had always managed to deflect her interest, until this last time when he had been forced to promise the Judge to her in order to get Dru to be complacent while he got her the cure she needed to be strong again. Spike always kept his word if given to a lady.
Spike had thought to let Dru have a bit of fun with the reactivated demon and then destroy it before the Judge managed to do too much damage. Spike liked the world just the way it was, thank you very much, and had no desire to destroy it completely. Dead humans meant the end of the food supply.
Angelus didn’t seem to mind the idea of letting the Judge go on a spree unchecked. Spike was more than a little worried about that. Taking out all the humans on the Hellmouth and maybe a couple of other places until Dru lost interest was one thing; wiping out all walking Happy Meals was another.
Spike had begun to wonder if Angelus had gone as mad as Dru during his years locked up within souled Angel. It would take every ounce of strength and all Spike’s wits to make it out of this mess undusted and with any food supply at all.
"Dru, my beautiful work of art, leave the dollies for the grunts to pack and move. I have a lovely surprise for you at our new place and want to get there before the BLASTED SUN COMES UP!" Angelus shouted this last while looking at Spike. There had been no warning they would be moving that night and they had been pretty well nested in the abandoned factory.
"I feel like I’m in a bad movie staring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, "The Crip and the Cuckoo"," Angelus mumbled to himself. "The Feeble and the Fruitcake". ‘Tis a shame a fine lad such as meself should find himself the leader of such a sad, sad group. Standards have just gone to hell since I was about last."
Spike glared at his grandsire’s back and mentally ran through the tortures he’d love to try out on Angelus, who had taught them to him so many years ago.
First get strong and get out of the chair, then get even.
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!