Part 6

 “First off, I want to thank all of you for coming,” Willow began.  “I know
that you all had to put aside whatever you had going to get here and I want
you to know that we appreciate it.”
 “Angelus told us some very interesting things about this group we are
supposed to go against,” Louis stated.  Willow nodded her head, remembering
what Angel had told Louis and Lestat.
 “Anyanka only gave me a brief description,” Barnabus said.  “I would be
most grateful if you could explain more.”
 “Same here,” Nick added.
 “Okay, why doesn’t everyone take a seat and I’ll tell you what we’ve been
able to find out about the Initiative so far.”  Everyone did as asked,
taking various seats around the warehouse.  Willow had to hold back a giggle
as she watched Jeannette take a seat next to a nervous Giles.
 “The Initiative is a group of government sanctioned demon hunters.
Actually, from what we’ve been able to find out, they are actually a part of
the military, although not one that many people in Washington seem to know
about,” Willow started the explanations.  “Apparently, though, while the
government does know about vampires and the like, and that they tended to
gravitate towards Sunnydale, they didn’t truly understand why or how come
Sunnydale hadn’t been taken over by the demons.”
 “Although the mayor almost succeeded last year,” Cordelia pointed out.
 “Yeah, but we took care of that, didn’t we,” Willow answered.
 “True.  Too bad about the school blowing up though.”  Both Willow and
Cordelia smiled at that, only to be brought back to the present by an “ahem”
from a member of the group.
 “Sorry,” Willow apologized sheepishly.  “High school memories, you know.”
The newcomers looked at Willow and Cordelia, trying to comprehend what kind
of high school they must have gone to in order to have those kinds of
memories.  Only Amanda had heard the stories of what the teenagers have been
dealing with for the past few years.  “Anyway, as I was saying, Sunnydale
isn’t your usual kind of town.  The Spanish had another name for it.  They
called it "Boca Del Inferno.”
 “The mouth of Hell,” Methos translated.  “You grew up on a hellmouth?”
Willow nodded her head and the respect the others had for the red headed
teenager and her friend increased.  They had only heard rumors of the power
behind a hellmouth and could only imagine the havoc that living on top of
one could cause.  “How did you survive?”
 “We didn’t know we lived on the hellmouth until sophomore year of high
school,” Willow continued.  “Not until Buffy came to town and we became
friends.”
 “Buffy?”
 “She’s the reason that Sunnydale has yet to be taken over by the demons
that keep trying.  You see, Buffy’s the Slayer and she’s currently working
with the Initiative.”  An uproar rose up at the mentioning of the Slayer.
Many curses were directed towards the people that had asked them to come.
The only people to stay silent were the Immortals who had come with Joe and
the people from Sunnydale themselves.
 “Quiet,” Spike yelled, silencing everyone at once.
 “I can’t believe you want us to go against the Slayer and a bunch of
military types,” LaCroix stated.  “I haven’t survived this long by taking on
the girl destined to fight us.  Especially if she’d aligned herself with the
army guys.”
 “I’ve hear that the Slayer now is one of the most powerful,” Louis noted,
remembering the stories that he had overheard in regards to Buffy.
 “I can personally attest to how powerful the damn chit it,” Spike growled.
“I have first hand knowledge.  You can trust me on that.  But she does have
a weakness.”
 “What?” Lestat asked.  Spike looked pointedly at Angel.
 “Me,” the dark haired vampire replied.  At the questioning looks he was
receiving from the other people present, Angel went on to explain.  “Buffy
and I have a history, you might say.”  Spike snorted, drawing an angry glare
from his sire.  “I’m the reason that she’s turned her back on her friends.
She’s angry at Willow and I because we fell in love.”
 “But why should the Slayer,” Jeannette hissed the word with distaste, “care
who you love, unless she was worried that you would turn her friend.  I
mean, other than the whole, you vampire, she Slayer thing?  Exactly what
kind of history do the two of you have?”  Angel looked down at something on
the floor, unable to answer the vampiress’ question.  He felt someone take
his hand and looked up to see a pair of concerned emerald eyes looking at
him.  He squeezed Willow’s hand, grateful for the silent comfort she was
offering.
“Buffy and I were together up until last year.”  There were gasps of stunned
disbelief coming from the other vampires present at the thought of one of
them involved with a Slayer.
 “Why?”  Nick questioned.  Angel shrugged his shoulders.
 “I think a lot of why I was attracted to her was because of what I thought
she offered me,” the souled vampire tried to explain.  “Although if you
asked me at the time, I would have said that it was because I loved her.
Which, in a way I did.  But I think it was because of what she represented
to me.  She was a way of redeeming myself.  Of making up for all the damage
I inflicted on the world before I was given back my soul.”
 “You know, the whole pain and torture thing tends to go with being a
vampire,” LaCroix stated.  His voice didn’t hold an accusation, just quiet
understanding.  “As I keep trying to remind my childe.”  The elder vampire
stared pointedly at Nick, who refused to look at his sire.  “And from what
I’ve heard, you were one of the most feared vampires in history.  You have
even gained my respect.”
 “Thank you.  I used to pride myself on it,” Angel said, regret in his
voice.  “Then I got my soul back and everything changed.  Darla, my sire,
tried to stake me.  The memories of those I killed kept washing over me.
Their screams.  Their begging for mercy.  They threatened to overtake me.
It took a long time before I was able to live again and that’s when I met
Buffy.”
 “So you saw her as a way of making up for what you did,” Nick repeated
Angel’s earlier comment, understanding the souled vampire’s feelings.  “So
what happened between the two of you?”
 “There was a clause on the gypsy curse that gave me my soul,” Angel
continued.  “I found a moment of true happiness and I lost my soul again.  I
then decided to torment Buffy and her friends.  Then Willow,” Angel looked
lovingly at the girl by his side, “gave me my soul again.  Unfortunately it
was already too late for Buffy and I.  The damage had already been done.  I
left town at the end of their senior year so that Buffy could find someone
new.”
 “And let me guess, she’s still in love with you,” Jeannette observed.  “And
seeing the two of you together when she can’t have you didn’t sit too well
with her.”
 “She tried to kill Red,” Spike growled, remembering their escape from the
Initiative labs.  “Chit refused to help her best friend because she and
Peaches had finally admitted their love.  Didn’t matter that the damn Slayer
had her own new little boy toy, she just couldn’t stand that Angel had moved
on.”
 “Willow and I had been captured by the Initiative,” Angel explained.
“Spike and Anya got caught when they were out looking for us.  We escaped,
luckily, but we ran into Buffy as we were doing so.”
 “Turned out her new boyfriend is a member of them,” Willow continued.  “She
chose them over us because of her jealousy.”  Willow’s sadness at the loss
of her friend had turned to anger and it came across in waves.
 “And now you want to get back at the Initiative,” Barnabus observed.
 “They need to be stopped,” Angel answered.  “They are running experiments
on the demons they catch.  They’ve even found a way of making it so that
vampires are unable to hurt anyone.” Another outraged gasp was heard among
the vampire crowd.  “And, even though its limited to Sunnydale so far,
what’s to stop them from expanding until no place is safe for us.”
 “Then what are we waiting for?  Let’s take these bastards down.”
 

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