Double or Nothing

Author: Lysa Whitmore

Rating: NC-17

Category: Smut, Humor

Content: C/Aus, B/A

Summary: Angel discovers a way to secure his soul and has to live with the results of his decision— literally— in the form of Angelus.

Spoilers: BtVS Season 3

Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.

Distribution: Anywhere
 
Feedback: Duh! Writers live for feedback, especially those of us who are really just obsessive-compulsive fan fiction addicts. I’d love to hear from you.

Extra Notes: Sunscorched sent me the challenge by direct PM. I think this one was all hers, so she gets the credit for firing up my imagination on this one. Angel and Angelus in the same fic? Oh, yeah!!!

The Challenge (boiled down to the very basics) is this:

1) Buffy & Angel find a way around the curse by separating him from Angelus.
2) Angelus must agree to 'fight the good fight' and is monitored by the PTB
3) Scooby Gang freaks out with Angelus running around
4) Angelus doesn't really care about the 'good fight', but ends up saving Cordelia one night. She is scared witless of the vamp.
5) Angelus goes after Cordy in a big way..cards & flowers no less...in addition to doing anything he can to impress her.
6) Hot, steamy C/Aus results
7) B/A starts to deteriorate despite the fact that sex is no longer an issue d/t mistrust and the slayer/vampire dynamic.
8)The following scenes have to be included:
a)Buffy and Cordelia meeting in the mansion kitchen. Buffy is fully dressed, but Cordy is only in Angelus' robe
b)Angel runs into the bedroom after hearing Cordelia screaming
c)Angel & Angelus walking in the library together, Buffy running up to Angelus thinking he's Angel. He pushes her away in disgust. Cordy can tell them apart, but Buffy can't
9) The rest is up to me (Hee Hee!!!)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
 

Part 1

 “Don’t get your nose out of joint,” Buffy told the demon as she leapt off the top of the crypt with a flying kick to its hanging proboscis.

With a howl the demon retaliated by taking several near swipes with its clawed hands. The Slayer dodged and rolled under the extended arms that threatened to reel her in. She reached into her bag of tricks, which she had dropped when her foe appeared out of the depths of the old Sunnydale Cemetery, and pulled out a short sword. This job required a little more oomph than Mr. Pointy could deliver.

Angel’s stealthy moves allowed him to creep up behind the demon. Fisting his hands together, he jabbed mid-spine causing another cry of pain. Only the beast did not go to the ground as expected despite the use of vampiric strength. As their foe turned to face him, Angel realized with a bit of demonic pleasure that this was really going to be a fight.

It took over ten minutes to bring the demon down and only with their combined efforts, a long fight as compared to their usual patrols. Angel met Buffy’s gaze with a predatory gleam in his dark eyes and then shifted back to his human features. Though he knew it was his demon jockeying for control there were times it just felt so damn good to kill something with his bare hands.

The vampire wasn’t the only one feeling the aftereffects of the fight. Buffy’s insides were still humming with the rush of power at overcoming the demon, rending its body with her weapon and watching it fall to the ground in a dead heap. It was a familiar sensation after a battle, especially one like this that was beyond the usual stakeout. That adrenalin buzz left her feeling needy and wanting more— of something.

“Injuries?” Angel queried stalking close to check for himself.

Buffy eyed the vampire’s muscular body outlined in the dark clothes and leather jacket with equal attention to detail. “Nothing serious.”

Towering above the Slayer’s petite form, Angel deliberately moved into Buffy’s personal space. His vampiric senses were reeling at the scent of her sudden arousal. Far from the first time Angel had noticed the way her body responded after a brawl, his instincts were clamoring for him to take the silent offer. Hot, fragrant need scented the air around her as he stopped only inches away.

So close, Buffy thought, feeling the lustful sting of her Slayer senses. A vampire was near they warned her. Too damn close, but not close enough. It wouldn’t be close enough until she had him deep inside her dampening the triumphal energy coursing through her body and sating this instinctive urge to celebrate victory in the basest way imaginable.

Dropping her sword to the ground, Buffy reached for Angel at the same moment he bent down to wrap his arms about her. Their mouths met in a kiss of pure hunger. Lips swiped voraciously across each other nipping and mooching at the tender flesh. Lifting Buffy up to fold her legs around his waist, Angel straightened without ever breaking the kiss. She tightened her hold on the vampire, pulling away only to draw a panting breath.

Then both caught the other’s gaze realizing instantly that this was something dangerous. It could not continue. A look of pain and frustration crept into their eyes. Slowly, Angel let Buffy slip back down to a standing position and he stepped away from her. The kisses only fed the flame and now they were both to the point of minimal control. Angel resisted the urge to adjust his hard need as it pressed thick and ready against his pants.

Hardly unaware of Angel’s arousal, Buffy forced herself to replace her imaginings of her lover bringing her to orgasm with the harsh reality of him losing his soul. There was only one path when it came to making love to Angel and it lead straight to his darker demonic side. Angelus was not something they could ignore. The threat was all too real.

“That was close,” Angel muttered perturbed by the fact that he couldn’t seem to control his lust these days. This was the third time he had patrolled alone with Buffy during the past week and each occasion resulted in the same behavior.

Under her breath, Buffy grumbled, “I miss touching you.”

Naturally, the vampire heard her. Angel’s feelings were obvious, “You think I don’t miss it? Buffy, I find this as damnably frustrating as you do. It’s not as if I chose to be cursed.”

Before Angelus’ arrival and long before the night they made love for the first and last time in Angel’s apartment, the vampire had slowly been easing Buffy towards a more intimate relationship. He was all too conscious of her youth and innocence. By the time the week of her seventeenth birthday rolled around there was not much left to explore except the final ultimate act of breaching her virginity.

Apparently, their little love games had been fun and satisfying, but didn’t quite equate to perfect bliss. Not until they made love and Angel forgot all about being a vampire in her arms and felt the light of hope that was pure human happiness. Then his soul was gone and Angelus swept through Sunnydale like a dark plague. Killing when and where he chose. Stalking the Slayer’s friends and generally playing mind games with Buffy in the hope of driving her mad.

“I don’t need reminders!” Buffy snapped. Then she remembered that she had forgiven Angel for the things his demon had done when the soul was not around. She considered them different people. There was Angel and there was the demon. With his soul intact, there was no thought of any link to evil for Angel was her boyfriend, her lover and her champion.

“Apparently, we both need reminding.”

Pouting, Buffy realized that he was right. “This is impossible. We can’t seem to be good. I want you Angel. There has to be a way around this curse, a way to make your soul permanent.”

Angel ran both hands through his hair in a sight of utter frustration that now included the conversation. “I have researched this gypsy curse for years— decades.”

“Recently?” Buffy asked him.

“No,” the vampire admitted. “Coming up empty-handed time after time is maddening. I lost the motivation to try keep looking for answers that don’t exist.”

Standing with her hands on her hips, Buffy tapped her booted foot against the ground as she waited for Angel to get the hint. He seemed to see only her irritation without guessing the reason for it. Finally, she waved a hand down the svelte outline of her body.

“Hello, I’m your motivation.”

Early after sunset the next evening, Angel found himself browsing through some of Rupert Giles’ books tucked away in the caged section of the Sunnydale High School Library. Carrying several of them out to the worktable, he sat down and began to study sections related to Romany magicks.

“Giles, I’m—,” Cordelia Chase broke off her greeting as she caught sight of the vampire. Angel looked up as soon as he heard her enter through the double doors of the library and found it interesting that the cheerleader was here alone.

“He left an hour ago,” Angel commented. “Something about an evening appointment.”

“Oh.” The brunette looked almost disappointed.

Dropping a bookmark in the large tome, Angel closed the binding and pushed the book away in order to turn his attention to the teenager. Without being obvious about it, Angel let his eyes soak up the sight of Cordelia in the knitted top that hugged her breasts and the short skirt that left her long supple legs bare to his view. He told himself that it was only natural to stare and wonder if things would be different if he had taken Cordy up on one of her many flirtations.

Buffy was far from the first person he had sexual relations with after being cursed with the soul. Just the only who engendered feelings of such depth. Discovering that he loved Buffy Summers had been a shock. For Angel had never been in love before, not really. Not during his human life and certainly not during the two centuries of time as Angelus. That moment of bliss, the utter contentment he had experienced in being in her arms was a feeling Angel wanted again and again. His body craved it. He felt the loss of his lover’s touch and this enforced celibacy was infuriating.

As Angel looked at Cordelia Chase, he found himself thinking things that were definitely off limits. If it had been Cordelia instead of Buffy in his bed would the results have been the same? Or would it be like before when he could take whomever he wanted, whenever and wherever he desired?

Right now for instance he could strip Cordelia of the prim red panties matching her cheerleader garb and set her atop the table. The possibilities of what he could do were endless. Would he start with those incredible tits? Bury his face between her thighs making her scream his name as he used his mouth on her? Wrap those long legs around him as he thrust himself inside her tight warmth?

“Was that a growl?” Cordelia asked as she placed her pom poms down on the table. How was she to know she jiggled in just the right way to catch his attention as she moved? Not like she did it on purpose just for Angel. She wouldn’t waste a good jiggle on a vampire. Especially one she was starting to think of as a friend. “It’s not my fault if Giles left you to do all the research.”

“Research?” Had Buffy been talking?

“I see a mountain of books,” waving a hand at the large pile on the table, “hence I assume that research is the objective. I doubt that this is your idea of reading for pleasure.”

Angel muttered something incomprehensible and then admitted, “Only in a round about way.”

Cordelia glanced around the library and realized that it was indeed empty except for the two of them. “No Scoobies. Where is everybody? Since when do they miss a chance for a research pizza party?”

“It’s a private party,” Angel leaned back against his chair as she propped one cheek of her buttocks against the edge of the table.

“Is that your way of trying to get rid of me?” She arched a thin brow before grinning at him. Then she realized Angel was referring to Xander and Willow. “Ah. Your fan club couldn’t come tonight.”

“Fortunately, I didn’t invite them.”

The vampire had never been in Xander’s good graces even before Angelus came along. Despite the fact that she had cast the spell that returned his soul, Willow still had certain moments where she saw nothing but her dead fish every time she looked at him. The two of them had made the transition back into Buffy’s life much more difficult. Even Oz, who had more reason to be a little empathetic, seemed standoffish, but that may have been his normal stoic behavior. Giles had the only personal vendetta against him considering that Angelus had tortured him and killed his girlfriend, Jenny Calendar. It was the real reason that the Watcher had left the library when Angel arrived. He didn’t trust himself not to try to stake the vampire.

“So you came here looking for Giles?” Angel questioned her remembering that she called out his name upon entering the library.

Cordelia blinked away her surprise at the question. “Duh! Who else would I normally see in the library?”

“You want me to name them?”

The cheerleader didn’t want to say that she had gotten into the habit of looking in on the librarian after Jenny’s death. He had taken it so hard and worked so many hours beyond what he did for the school that she had taken it upon herself to cheer him up, especially when Buffy skipped town after the whole Acathla thing when she had to send Angel to hell to save the world. It was an easy thing to stop by and check on him after practice.

“What do you want me to say, Angel?” asked Cordelia hopping up on the table as he sat facing her at an angle. “That I’m having a secret hot affair with Giles? I sneak in here so we can do it in behind the stacks?”

The corners of the vampire’s mouth quirked upward. “I guess you already know what they say about cheerleaders.”

Playfully gasping in outrage, Cordelia countered with, “You’re lucky that you are sitting down, because I’m thinking your vampire butt deserves some serious kicking.”

Besides the Slayer herself, Cordelia was the only member of the Scooby Gang who freely accepted Angel back into the fold. She gave him a one-time verbal reaming out about him keeping his undead body parts away from Buffy in order to avoid certain unmentionable happiness clauses. Angel noted at the time that she never even blamed him because his soulless self had been less than pleasant toward her. That was an understatement. None of the things he had threatened her with would normally be so easily forgotten.

As the dark thought surfaced, Angel’s smile dropped away. He turned serious again and asked, “Why are you here?”

“I told you, I’m—,” Cordelia tried to keep it light.

“Fuck that explanation,” he growled with such foul force that Cordelia jerked in sudden response. “I know you’re not corrupting Giles with your saucy little temptations.”

“My what?”

“Never mind. Ignore me. I’m sorry, Cordy,” Angel pleaded understanding. The need to tell her what was going on suddenly became unavoidable. “This thing with Buffy has me so damn frustrated I can’t even think straight.”

Understanding suddenly dawned as Cordelia realized why a vampire who could no longer have sex might feel frustrated. Some of the demonology books she had read were actually rather informative. Sex Ed of the demon world. Vampires actually had a strong sex drive. Unlike living humans, it was not directly tied to their reproductive methods. Vampires drained and turned their victims into other not-so-little offspring. Sex was an emotional outlet, an intimate form of showing domination/submission in ways that could be tender or brutal, and a way to fill the long days of eternity with pleasure instead of boredom.

While there was a time when Cordy had thought Angel to be the man of her dreams that was when she thought he was actually a man. Her discovery of him as a vampire changed that outlook fast enough. The fact that Buffy had actually done it with Angel still creeped her out a little. Eew! Though a hottie, he was still a walking corpse. Then again, she had learned a lot in those books on vampires. Cordelia had to wonder as she looked at Angel whether the information on vampire stamina was really that accurate.

“So what thing with Buffy?” As if she didn’t know.

Angel pushed out of his chair and flexed his shoulders to ease the growing tension. “I’m not talking to you about it. This isn’t a subject I should be sharing with a teenager.”

“You shared a lot more than that with Buffy,” Cordelia pointed out drolly. “Just tell me what is bothering you. Besides, those rumors you’ve heard about cheerleaders? Some of them are true. If I haven’t done it, I’m sure someone has told me about it.”

So it was a little stretch of the truth, but if it got Angel talking that was okay. It wasn’t as if the vampire was going to spread rumors amongst the members of the Scooby Gang or find out the truth.

For a minute, Angel simply gave Cordelia a defiant stare. “I’m looking for a way to make my soul permanent.”

“So you can sleep with Buffy,” nodded the brunette without batting an eyelash. Cordelia never failed to cut straight to the point. “Any luck so far?”

“No,” the growl was back in his voice again, frustration showing as his eyes actually made a subtle change from near black to dark amber.

Subconsciously, Angel shifted his stance placing himself directly in front of her with his hip touching one bare knee. Cordelia automatically opened her knees a little wider not even noticing that she accommodated the vampire as he moved up to the edge of the table where she sat. “You should ask Giles for help.”

Letting out a gruff laugh, it seemed clear to Angel that Giles would sooner to send him to hell in a hand-basket than help him with this project. “Ask the Watcher to find a way to make my soul permanent. Do you honestly imagine Rupert Giles assisting in any research designed to allow his protégé to have sex with a vampire, especially when that vampire is me?”

“True,” Cordelia freely admitted. “Giles would sooner stake you.”

“We agree on that.”

Leaning back on her elbows, Cordelia put a little distance between herself and Angel who seemed to have edged into her personal space. “What if you don’t find a way?”

“Eternal frustration,” Angel almost moaned. He didn’t know how Cordelia managed to get him to talk about things like this, but she seemed to have a knack for wheedling information out of people.

“That’s why you’re so grumpy. You’re not thinking with your head,” she commented. “I know guys when they get like this. Instant stupidity. Can’t think beyond what’s in their pants.”

Angel glanced down noticing for the first time the position they managed to get into. He was standing between Cordelia’s legs with the flap of her cheerleader mini-skirt barely covering her red panties as she reclined before him. The tight knit top stretched over the generous mounds of her firm breast making the outline of her large nipples visible even through the layers covering them. As his gaze traveled further up to her neck he caught the tiny flutter of her pulse which brought his other senses into play as he breathed in the scent of her: sweet breath, the coppery tint of her blood and the slight saltiness of her soft skin that came from her recent workout at cheerleading practice. Then he noticed another scent proving that Cordelia was not as unmoved by this conversation as she pretended to be.

Lifting his eyes to Cordelia’s beautiful face, Angel realized that her mouth was moving. She was saying something to him.

“— other things?”

“What?” Angel missed the point.

Cordelia rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Come on, Angel! It wasn’t that shocking a suggestion.”

“No, I— uh, didn’t hear you.”

“Right. So much for vamp super-senses.” Cordelia pursed her lips, “Are we dealing with the instant stupidity factor?”

Shoving his hands in his pants pockets, Angel told her, “Absolutely not.”

Cordelia looked doubtful. “What I asked was whether you had considered doing other things?”

“Other things?”

Fidgeting a bit, Cordelia felt her leg move along Angel’s thigh and suddenly realized the way they were positioned seemed overly intimate. She sat up immediately only to find that the move brought her only a couple of inches away. The vampire appeared to notice nothing and he did not voluntarily step back. Cordy shrugged it off as her imagination getting away with her, but answering that question when she was physically up close and personal seemed more than a little wrong.

“Um—you know.”

Since when had Cordelia not been able to say exactly what she was thinking? Angel took pity on her. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been around for a while, remember? It’s not an option. Buffy and I can’t do the things we did before I knew about the clause to this curse. There is no guarantee we would stop.”

“I get that,” Cordelia gripped the edge of the table.

“Cordy, Unless you’re planning to help me research this problem I think I’ll just take it from here.”

Help with research when the end of the world was not at stake? No way! “Not that I wouldn’t jump at the chance of finding a way to get rid of Angelus, but I suddenly have unexpected homework tonight.”

“Uh huh.” That was what he figured she would say.

“Do you mind?” Cordelia asked as she nibbled on her lower lip.

Angel actually thought it would get done a lot faster without her around to distract him. Her steady heartbeat sounded in his ears like a beacon calling him back to the pulse at her throat. So close. The scent of her intoxicating. He could feel her warmth from here just a few inches away.

His voice belied his thoughts as the demon within kept clamoring for fulfillment of its needs. “No, it’s fine.”

Flashing the vampire a grin, Cordelia thanked him for understanding. Planning to leave, she put her hands on his chest to move him out of her space, but Angel didn’t budge. “Move, dumbass! If I’m going to leave you to your research, you need to let me off the table.”

“There’s enough room,” Angel surveyed the scant distance between them. “Go ahead.”

Grmph! Stubborn vamp. As Cordelia scooted forward, she squeezed herself into the space between the table and the vampire until she found her entire body pressed flush against his. Every hard inch of it.

“Angel— move!” She tried to wiggle through, but only felt his large erection pressing up against her. Cordelia froze in place, partially in shock at the sensation and partly in anger that he was taking his Buffy-induced sexual frustration out on her.

“I should,” Angel agreed that moving was probably a good idea, but he couldn’t seem to will his body into action. It liked feeling her lush form. Then both hands came out of his pockets and brushed along her small waist up to the sides of her breasts where his thumbs encroached upon their curves. “Stay still, Cordy. Just for a minute.”

The vamp was officially out of his mind. Cordelia’s anger increased with each passing second, but it was also accompanied by a sliver of fear. The eyes staring back at her were those of a predator. Not at all like her ‘Care Bear with Fangs’ manpire that she jokingly called him. No, he was gazing down with the same dark sensual gaze that Angelus wore the night he almost got lucky enough to kill her.

“You don’t need a permanent soul,” Cordelia kept her hands on his upper arms futilely pushing back. “What you need is a cold shower.”

Her words were almost as effective. Angel dropped his hands away from her body and stepped back to a distance that kept her out of arms reach. What the hell was he doing? This was Cordelia Chase, cheerleader and all around Queen Bitch of the Scooby Gang. Only Angel didn’t think of her that way. Obviously, he thought about other things too much for his own good.

There was only one outlet for this self-imposed celibacy and it included a few too many fantasies that involved this willful brunette. He was in love with Buffy, dammit! After all, that was why he was here at this damnable library doing research on his curse, hopeless cause though it might be. Not only had he come on to Cordelia, he had frightened her.

Apologizing profusely, Angel begged her to forget his overly familiar behavior. To his surprise, Cordy relaxed almost immediately. “Dumbass! Hello, I’m not a substitute for Little-Miss-Likes-to-Fight. We’ll blame this on the obvious lack of blood flow to your already dead brain cells.”

“Okay.” No arguments.

Picking up her pom poms from the table, Cordelia wished him luck with his research. “You know, Angel? It’s too bad someone just can’t separate the good you from the bad you. Kind of like cloning your evil twin. Then you could just lock Angelus up and throw away the key.”

As Cordelia flounced out of the library her words repeated in Angel’s head. Separate the good from the evil? The vampire realized with sudden clarity that he did not need to do any research at all. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of this before? No motivation, Angel reminded himself. There was a very real solution to making his soul permanent. It just involved calling in an old debt.

Part 2

 “Buffy!” Angel jogged up to her side after tracking her through two of Sunnydale’s new cemeteries.

The Slayer turned lowering the stake in her hand before tucking it away. A bright smile lit her features as she saw Angel approach. “I haven’t seen you for a few days. Where have you been?”

“Following up on a little research,” Angel told her leaving out the fact that Cordelia had really given him an idea.

Teasing, “So my motivational spiel actually worked?”

Angel leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her mouth. Afterward, he explained, “You inspired me to take up the task of securing my soul and now I’ve found a way to do it.”

Standing agape, Buffy started to look a little teary-eyed at the prospect. “Really?”

“It’s definitely real,” Angel held onto one of her hands. “Just a little dangerous.”

“How dangerous is dangerous?”

“Deadly.”

That wasn’t the word she wanted to hear. “Oh.”

“Maybe I’d better tell you about this from the beginning. First off, you probably won’t believe me and secondly you’ll probably tell me not to do it.”

Buffy wanted his soul intact. It was the only way they were ever going to get to be close physically and neither of them seemed to do well under the constraints of a celibate life. This was all new to Buffy, but her Slayer instincts apparently included a robust sexual appetite. Having Angel around was too much of a temptation.

“Deadly as in we face this kinda thing all the time,” she asked, “or deadly as in there is a high percentage chance that you won’t survive this? Because I’d rather suffer through this torture of being without you than not having you at all.”

Angel revealed, “As the Slayer, you have seen so much of the dark nature of this world as it concentrates here at the Hellmouth. This is only a cornerstone. The demons we fight are nothing compared to some of the beings that come into contact with us. Higher beings that influence life and death, some bound to this reality or to connecting dimensions.”

“What do these bigwigs have to do with your soul?”

“I-I actually know some of them,” Angel confessed. “The Fates and the Furies. That’s a really long story so we won’t get into the details, but both groups owe me a favor.”

Buffy thought the Fates and Furies sounded like a band they might find at the Bronze, but decided to take Angel at his word. “So these people can get rid of the curse?”
“I contacted the Fates and they are willing to make my soul permanent,” Angel told her and watched the gleam of hope enter her eyes. Then it died as a scowl appeared on her face.

“What’s the catch?”

“This isn’t just about securing my soul,” Angel walked Buffy over to a small bench. “It is also about my getting rid of Angelus.”

Buffy was confused. She sank down onto the bench and folded her hands together in her lap before speaking. “If your soul is permanent, doesn’t that end Angelus’ threat?”

“I won’t ever be Angelus again, but his influence is still right beneath the surface. There are times when I hardly know what I’m doing.”

“So what’s the plan?”

Angel attempted to stick to the highlights. The Fates were mistaken by the Greco-Roman culture in the ancient Mediterranean as goddesses. For all intents and purposes, that was how they presented themselves to the human culture at the time. Now they were part of a group of higher beings known as The Powers that Be.

“They are the Moirae,” Angel told Buffy who was looking at him in shock, “charged with influencing life from its beginnings to its endings. You can also imagine their amusement in dealing with vampires. We are born as humans, exist separately as demons, die and then live again as a hybrid being until we become dust.”

“So how do you know these Fates, again?”

“I told you. Long story.” Angel really didn’t want to get into it, especially as the trio had demanded an additional price despite the fact that they owed him a favor. It was the main reason Buffy hadn’t seen him. He had spent the last seventy-two hours sequestered with them.

With a pout, Buffy realized he wasn’t going to share the details.

Angel got to the part the Slayer really wasn’t going to like. “There is only one way the Fates’ powers can work to fulfill my request. They have agreed to spilt the thread of my existence into two separate beings.”

“Whoa!” Buffy jumped off of the bench and whirled around to face him. “They’re gonna split you apart?”

“The result will be me with a permanent soul— and Angelus.”

“What?”

“Angelus will have his own existence.”

“I-I can’t think,” Buffy felt like her head was spinning. She could have what she wanted with Angel, but only if Angelus was allowed to run free. “This is a lot, Angel. I have to go.”

“Buffy, wait!” Angel called after her, but the Slayer was already stalking off into the depths of the cemetery. There was more to tell her. A lot more. Unfortunately, she hadn’t waited long enough to hear it.

The deal with the Fates was a complex one. There was never anything simple when these higher beings entered the mix. His sojourn into the other dimensional realm where the Moirae existed provided Angel the opportunity for a face-to-face chat with his evil half thanks to some temporary magick. This interview allowed the Fates to decide how they would handle Angel’s request.

The Moirae were truly neutral beings, neither linked to good nor evil. Their life tapestries were woven from the threads of both and Angel’s very existence was a delight to them as he embodied disparate counterpoints. In truth, they were all too eager to take the vampire up on his request simply to see what would happen. They created and apportioned the threads of life, but free will often changed the course of their weaving making a different picture than the one set out.

Angel was well aware of the risks by the time the three women finished creating the plan.
While Angelus fought against the stipulations placed upon him, in the end the vampire agreed to the deal. He wanted nothing more than to be free of the soul that bound him. It influenced his behavior and basically denied him every vampiric need. This arrangement wouldn’t be much better, but at least the soul would be gone.

Now Angel headed back to the mansion alone. He had hoped Buffy would accompany him in order to stand watch while he activated the mystical device given to him by the Fates. Though Angelus would be bound by his side of the bargain, there was no absolute guarantee that he wouldn’t try to break it. There was no possibility of waiting. The Fates’ deal came with a time limit. Angel had to do this tonight.

Part 3

 “I’m telling you, I think Angel has gone off his rocker,” Cordelia warned the rest of the Scooby Gang. Willow, Xander and Oz were all gathered at the library table conducting research for Giles on the newest threat to Sunnydale and waiting for Buffy to show up from her early sweep of the cemeteries.

“This surprises you?” Xander stared at her. “The vamp is a walking split personality.”

“Everyone has a little devil’s voice whispering naughty suggestions now and then,” she returned almost defensively before remembering that she was still ticked off at Angel. “I just happen to know that Angel’s little devil is a big bad demon who gets off on pushing people to the limits.”

Rupert Giles paced around the table listening in on the conversation. While he knew that he should be telling them to get back to the research, Cordelia’s concerns were actually quite legitimate. Lately, he too had noticed that tensions between Buffy and Angel were running high. The reason seemed obvious despite the fact that it made him cringe every time he thought of his young charge literally sleeping with the enemy.

“We’ll have to trust that Angel and Buffy can control themselves,” Giles cut in resulting in sardonic stares from Cordelia and Xander.

“Hello!” Cordy threw her hands in the air as she reminded the Watcher. “One is a horny vampire and the other is a hormone-driven teenager.”

Giles wasn’t certain that it was any of their business, but he explained, “That isn’t really the case. Well, at least not the entirety of it. Slayers and vampires are natural enemies. They aren’t supposed to be in love. Somehow, that factor is exponentially causing some rather delicate issues with how Buffy and Angel are responding to each other.”

Cordelia wanted to point out that Buffy wasn’t even present when Angel went wacky on her in the library. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

“Can we not talk about this anymore?” Xander held a hand to his stomach. “The Buffy and Angel thing just makes me sick. Major ick factor.”

“I thought it was just jealousy,” Cordy snapped back. Not that she didn’t get the whole vampire ick factor idea. Except that while she was pissed at Angel for being such a jerk, she could not deny the fact that his touch had left her tingling.

Willow glanced over at her boyfriend sharing a silent look that suggested it was better to stay out of the conversation when Xander and Cordelia started to get snippy. Stepping in between two firing cannons might be a safer option. While Oz turned his attention back to his research, an activity that he rarely participated in, Willow failed to take her own advice. She started to worry about what would happen if Cordelia’s fears were actualized.

What if Angel seduced Buffy again? Then Angelus would be back. Not a good thing. He had the nerve to kill her fish— and Miss Calendar for that matter. The vampire actually had the gall to come into her house and string up her cute little fishes. While Willow had been all too willing to cast the spell that restored Angel’s soul, she admitted to being a bit skittish around the vampire.

Xander’s attention was focused directly on Cordelia. The continued to argue until Cordy told him, “You’ve been itching to stake Angel ever since he got back from hell.”

“Nah. I wanted to do it long before then,” Xander admitted. “Hey, does anyone else want a soda? All this research is making me thirsty.”

Staring at the boy, Giles wanted to point out that very little research was actually getting done. All of their time seemed to be taken up by discussing Buffy and Angel. Now they were going to load up on sugary caffeinated beverages. Trying to get them to concentrate after that would be like herding cats— completely impossible.

Several hands rose at the soda offer and Xander headed toward the doors. He paused as he heard Angel’s voice just outside. Was the vamp eavesdropping? No, it seemed like he was arguing with someone.

“I don’t give a damn if these are your only leather pants,” Angel’s voice clearly emanated through the doors. “Now they’re mine. It’s not like you wear them anyway.”

Then Angel seemed to answer his own complaint with, “Just have a little respect for my things.”

“Those are my things,” came a growl. “You are the one who came along to contaminate my stuff with that pesky soul.”

Angel was tired of their petty argument. “Enough! We have to go in there. Just let me do the talking.”

Xander slowly backed away from the doors. Without turning away, he called out to the gang, “Guys— remember when Cordy thought Angel was going crazy? Well, I think it’s finally happened. He’s out in the hallway talking to himself.”

The doors to the library swung open simultaneously and thanks to Xander’s comments, they were all staring in that direction. Angel and Angelus appeared side by side striding in with the same walk and the same determined look on their identical faces. Stopping mid way into the library both vampires found themselves subjected to wide-eyed stares.

Backing up at a faster rate, Xander joined the group. All he could mutter was a repetitive, “Buh-buh-buh.”

Willow and Oz jumped up out of their chairs to gaze in frozen wonderment at the sight before them. In a twittering voice, Willow managed to question what she was seeing, “Angel— and Angelus?”

“That’s right, Willow,” Angel confirmed standing his ground and hoping that the other vampire would do the same. Let the group get used to the idea.

He noted instantly that Buffy was not among them. That meant she had not yet returned to the library after her patrol, which also meant none of the Scoobies knew about his plans.

“Sure you’re not the Doublemint Twins?” Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Angel with a sudden understanding of what happened. Based on their words the other night, the vampire had found some way to do exactly as she had suggested. He found a way to separate the good vamp from the bad.

Angelus smirked at the angry expression on the cheerleader’s face. Her mouth tightened and her nose crinkled just a bit. No doubt she was thinking about the other day in the library. He certainly was. Even though Angel was in the driver’s seat, Angelus had been able to influence his behavior just enough to get a little something out of the encounter. It helped when the Soul’s thoughts were heading in the same direction. Lately, his souled self had been fighting against his sexual urges. Angelus had found that the tighter Angel tried to control things, the easier it was to break through.

“Cordelia,” the evil vampire raked his eyes over her adding his trademark leer, “I never thanked you properly the other night for your advice. Looks like you’re responsible for my return.”

With the direct attention of Angelus, the angry bravado Cordelia had put on suddenly vanished. Deep down she was shaking in fear. She thought she had put her fears behind her after Angel returned and forgotten about Angelus’ many threats. The vampire had threatened all of Buffy’s friends, but this was personal. Cordelia found that her heart was racing as she meet Angelus’ gaze.

Recognizing that the vampire next to him was letting out an almost imperceptible growl of pleasure at the scent of fear in the air, Angel hoped this wasn’t an aftereffect of their encounter here in the library four days ago. The last thing he wanted was Cordelia to be afraid of anything because of him. Then again, the vamp standing next to him was not really him anymore. Angelus was his own person and there were very legitimate reasons for the others to fear him.

“Don’t put this one on Cordelia,” he turned on Angelus with a swift glare. “This was our decision. Yours and mine.”

“Her idea,” countered the vamp who crossed his arms over his chest. “Just being polite and trying to be grateful.”

“Pfft!” Cordy uncrossed her arms realizing that he was mirroring her stance. “I can do without any gratitude from you.”

“What is going on, Angel?” Oz attempted to be the voice of reason figuring that this was a legitimate question. He could sense the fear coming off of the other members of the Scooby Gang. Seeing Angelus again had them spooked.

Giles finally came out of his stupor. Calmly, he placed his book on the countertop and walked directly toward the open book cage where the weapons locker was kept. Both vampires eyed his actions warily, but did not move against him.

Before answering, Angel called out to the Watcher. “There is no need for the crossbow. Angelus can’t hurt anybody. Give me a chance to explain.”

The Brit’s response was to lift the crossbow into a higher position taking careful aim. “I am listening, but I don’t plan to do it for long.”

“Did you enjoy the champagne and roses?” Angelus cut in with a query. He had to ask. It was just too tempting to ignore.

Thwack! The crossbow bolt shot out in instant response only to be caught by Angelus as he used his vampiric speed to grab it. The Watcher was just too predictable at times. Poor Giles. Still so sad over Jenny Calendar’s death. The gypsy bitch! Deserved what she got. Angelus relived the memory of the satisfying crunch of her neck in his hand. Leaving her nude body in a lover’s pose upon the Watcher’s bed covered in scattered rose petals had been the only thing more satisfying.

Letting out a cry of rage, Giles threw the crossbow to the floor. “This is not happening! I want to know what is going on here. Right now.”

“I’m back, Watcher,” Angelus let out a dark laugh. “What more do you need to know?”

Perturbed, Angel reminded the other vampire, “Let me do the talking.”

“Buh-buh-but this is impossible,” Xander finally got it out.

“Shut up, Xander,” Cordelia yanked him toward her not wanting any interruptions before she heard what Angel had to say.

Xander stared at her in shock and pointed. “There are two of them.”

“We’ve already established that, Xander,” sighed Giles. “Keep your mouth closed until further notice.”

“Hey!” Willow complained. “That was mean, Giles. He’s just as surprised as we are and there is no need to yell at him.”

“You shut up too, Willow.” That had the redhead’s mouth dropping open.

Oz put his arm around his girlfriend who looked quite put out that her mentor talked back to her. “Let’s just listen to what the vampires have to say.”

Angel was starting to get a little anxious. Any second now he was going to have to tie all five of them up and gag them in order to get this explanation out. Next to him, Angelus was openly amused at the situation. He flashed Angel a wide grin and chuckled. Stupid humans, Angelus thought. He could have killed them all twice over by now.

“Why don’t you all sit down,” Angel suggested hoping that would make the situation a little easier.

Willow and Oz were the only two to take him up on it. Giles remained near the weapons locker, his gaze never leaving Angelus despite the fact that Angel was talking. Leaning against the edge of the table, Cordelia and Xander were already situated.

Taking an unnecessary breath, Angel delved into his practiced explanation. He told them that he had found a way to ensure that his soul would be permanent. That he made a deal with the Moirae. Giles instantly recognized the term and turned his head to give Angel a amazed stare.

“The Fates?” The Watcher gasped in shock. “You made a deal with the Moirae to secure your soul.”

Nodding, Angel told them, “I also wanted to be rid of Angelus. There was an asking price and I paid it.”

“That was actually a lot of fun,” Angelus pointed out only to have his double issue a deep growl. “Let me tell you—.”

“I’m doing the talking,” Angel reminded again wanting to keep that part of the bargain to themselves. “Obviously, the Fates gave Angelus his own existence. Now he is bound by the rules of our agreement.”

Xander snorted. “You expect Killer Vamp Boy to follow the rules?

“Only if I have too,” sneered Angelus who suddenly moved away from Angel’s side to roam around the room. “Those fucking bitches shackled me to the Powers that Be. I have to fight-the-good-fight. To behave or they’ll have warning bells going off in my head.”

Angel added with grim satisfaction, “He can’t kill humans anymore.”

Perking up at the idea, Xander stepped up to Angelus who had moved within a short radius of the group. “So if I do this—,” the teenager whacked the vampire upside his head, “you can’t kill me?”

Angelus released a roar of outrage. His eyes turned ochre as he glared down at Xander, his hands balled into fists. “No,” the vampire revealed, “but I can make you regret it.”

Everyone moved at once. Angelus lunged at Xander who was unfortunately too slow to avoid the attack. He grabbed the boy by the shirt and raised him up off of the floor while flashing his fangs. Xander let out a scream followed by a whimper as he was tossed to the ground.

The witch and the werewolf leapt in side-by-side to pull Xander to a safer distance giving Angel the extra time to run across the rest of the distance separating them. Giles headed back into the weapons locker searching for a stake. Angelus was too close to the Scoobies for any more crossbow bolts. Not that that had worked the first time.

Before Angelus could move in closer, Cordelia leapt onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tight in hopes of preventing him from moving. Angelus’ muscular strength allowed him to ignore the sudden action. The sensation of Cordelia’s body pressing against his back proved more of a distraction than the move itself. As he paused, Angel caught up with him grabbing his arm and swinging the other vampire around to face him.

Still hanging on, Cordelia let out a shout as she swung around with them. “Angel, stop!”

Angelus’ hands moved down to hold on to the pant-covered legs tucked into his sides. Meeting Angel’s gaze, he smirked a bit as he ran his hands down the supple thighs. “Shouldn’t that be my name you’re calling?”

“He was going to hit you,” Cordelia pointed out with exasperation.

“Defending me?” The vampire chuckled at the idea wondering at the real explanation.

“No, I just didn’t want him to miss you and hit me instead.”

Cordelia tried to extract herself from Angelus, but he still had a firm hold on her thighs. As she sent Angel a pleading look, he issued Angelus an order to release her. The other vampire only laughed. “I don’t answer to you, Soul. As long as I toe the line for the Fates I can do anything I damn well please.”

Now Cordelia whacked Angelus across the head hoping to rile the vampire up enough for him to drop her. She heard a soft growl of warning at the back of his throat. It rumbled in his chest and carried through to his back where her torso was squashed against him. The short vibration sent a shock wave through her body.

Angelus felt the surprised pant of hot breath against his ear, but it was followed by the increasing scent of fear. He loved that smell. “Do you see her screaming in pain? Do you see my fangs biting down on her throat?”

“Angelus,” warned the souled vampire, “I won’t have you scaring Cordelia just because you enjoy tasting her fear.”

“You’re still a vampire,” Angelus countered. “Don’t you get off on the smell of fear? I know you do. I could wallow in the scent of her.”

She asked in a small voice, “Let me go?”

Uncurling his hands, Angelus released her and Cordelia slowly slipped down to the floor cognizant of her body’s reaction to sliding along his muscular back. Her legs were a little shaky and she was grateful when Angel pulled her around beside him effectively telling the evil version of himself to lay off.

“There are a few more rules you are going to have to deal with,” Angel stipulated firmly.

“Angelus, don’t ever touch what’s mine— important to me again. That goes for Buffy, the Scoobies and my stuff.”

“Empty threats,” returned Angelus with a sneer. “You can’t harm me anymore than I can harm you. You’ll just have to get used to sharing and that goes for everything.”

Handing Cordelia over to Xander who walked her back to a chair so she could sit down, Angel hated the fact that she was visibly shaken by the incident. Looking back at Angelus with a harsh expression, he informed the vampire, “I am going to fill the Watcher in on the rest of the Fates’ agenda. Can I trust you to behave?”

Angelus shifted back to his human face and batted his eyelashes innocently. “Like an Angel.”

Ignoring the dig, Angel caught Rupert Giles’ gaze, “We’ll need to use your office.”

“Certainly,” Giles moved in that direction despite the fact that he had to cross Angelus’ path. Everything seemed a little hazy, which he attributed to shock. This experience was rather nightmarish. Nevertheless, he was intrigued to find out why Angel needed to talk to him in private.

“You’re leaving us?” Willow gleeped at the thought of being alone in the same room as the evil vampire.

Xander headed for the weapons locker. “I’m grabbing a few stakes.”

“Go ahead,” Angelus encouraged him. “Not that they would do you any good.”

The vampire circled the table pausing when Oz gave him a feral sneer. Angelus glared back, “There’s no full moon tonight, werewolf, so relax. I have no designs on your little bitch.”

“That’s pronounced witch,” Cordelia put forth with a glare forcing herself to meet his gaze. “Willow doesn’t deserve your insulting remarks.”

“Cordy,” Angelus ran a finger along her shoulder as he came up to her position at the table. “Clamoring for my attention, already? Did you miss me?”

Xander returned with the wooden weapons dumping them on the table. Grabbing one of them, Cordelia pushed out of her chair so quickly that it tipped over behind her. “Keep away from me or I’ll stake your evil ass.”

The library door opened with a bang as Buffy Summers swept into the library, her blond hair bouncing against her shoulders. Catching sight of the Scoobies, the stakes and the vampire, she asked, “What’s up? Stake sharpening?”

Willow realized that Buffy still had no idea of the truth. “Buffy, this is—”

“I know!” The Slayer shuddered. “Research. I can see the books and the stale pizza.”

As Buffy walked up to them, Xander attempted to gain her attention. “Vampire present.”

“Yeah,” she said flashing an intimate glance at said vamp. “We’ll take attendance later. I need to talk to Angel.”

“Then you might want to check out the office,” Oz suggested.

Buffy shook her head, “Here is just as good.”

Grabbing his hand, Buffy pulled the vampire toward the stairs. Cordelia called out, “Get away from him.”

“Jealous much?” Buffy thought that was over ages ago. Joking, “Geez, Cordy. Can’t the Boy Slayer get her own vampire?”

With a grunt of frustration, Xander was about to yell out the fact that the vampire she was holding hands with was Angelus. Just as he opened his mouth, Cordelia clamped a hand over it. Glaring at him, she ordered him to keep silent and then passed on the message to Willow and Oz who both looked at her with reluctant acceptance. The fact that Buffy had barged in unaware of the truth was one thing, but ignoring them all just so she could cozy up to her vampire boyfriend was not acceptable.

“I thought about what you said, Angel,” Buffy told Angelus. “That’s why I’m late. I have really given this a lot of thought and I decided that it is just too risky.”

“Too risky for whom?”

“You. Us.” Buffy toyed with his hand running her fingers across the palm and over his fingers. “I want you so much, Angel, but I can’t risk losing you.”

“Never worry about that,” he told her. “I’ll never be too far away from you, Buff. I’ll be there at the very end, I assure you.”

Giving him a puzzled look, Buffy figured that he was trying to be reassuring. “Angel, I’ll try to behave. No more post-Slayage kissing. I know it’s my fault. Giles says it has to do with my primal instincts coming into play.”

“Behave? Who the hell wants that?”

“Huh?”

Angelus closed his fingers around hers and leaned a little closer to ask, “What would you say if I told you that the decision was already a done deal?”

“You’ve signed a contract?”

“No, it’s done.”

Buffy licked at her suddenly dry lips. “Done? Meaning Angelus is roaming around the streets of Sunnydale?”

“Guess again, lover.”

A scream erupted from the Slayer’s throat as she realized this was not her boyfriend she was holding hands with, but the demon that stalked and threatened her, the vampire who murdered and tortured her friends, and the bastard who plotted to have the world sucked into hell.

Yanking her hand out of his, Buffy ran over to the spot where the Scoobies had gathered to watch. Eyeing the stakes on the table, she reached for one only to hear Angel’s voice cry out from the now-open office door. “Wait! Killing Angelus may kill us both.”

Xander listened to that with a gleam in his eye. “Two for the price of one stake. Bargain slaying. I like it.”

“Zip it, Xander,” Cordelia grabbed the stake out of his hand and put both his and hers on the table. Then she saw Giles emerging slowly from his office with a dazed look on his face. He was worse now than when he went in. Whatever Angel had told the Watcher in private, it had only added more concern to the layers of trouble already there.

She was about to walk over to him when Angelus crept up behind her and commented, “Just watch this. Give them thirty seconds and you’ll see fireworks.”

Cordelia glanced over her shoulder at the vampire. Fireworks? Did he expect Buffy and Angel to go at it right here? Just because Angel’s soul was permanent didn’t mean he was going to jump on Buffy the second he saw her. Although Cordy admitted that she wasn’t one hundred percent certain if the theory worked the other way around. Angel was definitely jumpable in almost any woman’s eyes— except hers of course considering that he she knew he was a vampire.

Standing close to him, Buffy stared back and forth between Angel and Angelus amazed at the fact that they were exactly alike. She couldn’t tell them apart. Assuring herself that was only because Angelus was acting and pretending to be Angel, she wasn’t going to get too worried about that right now.

Looking back at the souled vampire, Buffy accused him of the obvious, “You actually did it. I thought you were going to wait until we talked.”

“We did talk,” Angel’s confusion started there and continued to escalate.

Buffy put her hands on her hips expressing her irritation. “Not after I had a chance to think about what you said. I told you I needed to think.”

Countering, Angel argued louder, “But not that you wanted to debate the issue.”

From Cordelia’s side, Angelus watched in amusement. Soto voce, “Looks like trouble for our lovebirds and it hasn’t even been five minutes.”

Whipping around to face him, Cordelia wondered why she was so lucky to be the one the vampire was focusing on. Complaining to him, “Go away, Angelus. I don’t want to share your evil perverted thoughts.”

“C’mon,” he nudged her with an elbow. “Can’t you see the fun in it? Angel is so Slayer-whipped he can hardly see straight.”

“Stop sharing.” Just being near the vampire made her spine tingle. Fear, of course. She couldn’t help but react that way and Cordelia knew that he could sense it.

The rest of the research session went downhill from there. Giles finally declared that the remainder of their course of study would wait until tomorrow. This was for an upcoming event scheduled to take place within a couple of weeks. Nothing apocalyptic, but rather a demon that merited a mention in a prophesy.

“I think we should take Angelus out on a test drive,” suggested Xander. “I wanna see him do the fight-the-good-fight thing.”

“Test drive? I’m a vampire, not a Volvo.”

Buffy grumbled, “It’s not a bad idea.”

Now that Angel had explained to her that Angelus was bound by specific guidelines and expectations, she was grateful that these Powers that Be had effectively leashed the evil vampire. If he wanted to have his own existence separate from the souled vampire, then Angelus would have to fight at her side along with Angel and the Scoobies. Giving him a simple test now might hint at his reaction when a real threat came along.

“For once, I have to agree with Xander,” commented Angel feeling a little strange about that fact. “A test is exactly what Angelus needs and I have just the thing. There is a new cadre of vamps holed up in an old warehouse downtown. My— our— business with the Moirae hasn’t given me the time to tell Buffy or take them out myself.”

“A vamp nest?” Willow gulped. Taking out a vampire or two was one thing, but a whole nest might include up to twenty individuals including their master. Buffy normally kept the numbers of these pared down, but the presence of the Hellmouth kept drawing more and more to Sunnydale.

Angelus frowned at the idea of staking his fellow vampires. “We should start with the sewers. Clear out some of those demons down there.”

“This is your challenge, Angelus,” his double informed him. “We don’t always get to choose who we come up against. Sometimes that means fellow vampires. Now that you have agreed to this bargain, it’s time to start living up to it. The Powers that Be are not going to let you sit idly by when they have charged you to help in this fight.”

“Killing my own kind was not part of this agreement,” Angelus countered sharply.

“What do you think the Fates meant for you to do, Angelus? Fighting the good fight doesn’t mean you get to sit around every time a vampire pops up trying to kill us,” Buffy couldn’t believe that she was having this conversation.

Xander broke it down for Angelus. “Vampires are evil. Fighting the good fight means doing away with evil which means killing vampires.”

As the entire group walked outside toward Angel’s Plymouth convertible and Cordelia’s Corvette, Angelus realized that by agreeing to the Fate’s terms he had set himself up for group torture sessions with the Scoobies. Glaring silently at the dark-haired teenager, he decided the verbal and mental torture could probably go both ways. The Moirae had said nothing about verbally bashing the irritating shmuck. Yeah, he’d keep that in mind.

“If you need an example of how it works, I’ll be happy to show you personally. Just stand still for about five seconds,” Xander gripped his stake in his hand.

Angelus encouraged Xander, “Keep up the snide comments, X-boy and you’ll find that I have more tricks up my sleeve than you can possibly imagine. The physical limitations given me by the Fates are just a roadblock and sooner or later I’ll find a way around them to get what I want.”

“It’ll be painful,” Xander reminded him of the conditions the two vampires had told them about.

“For you, maybe.” Then Angelus reminded him, “Vampires enjoy pain. It might be worth a little to see you suffer.”

“Get in the car,” Angel ordered them.

“Shotgun!” Buffy grabbed the front seat of the convertible so she could sit next to Angel.

Willow and Oz had already climbed into Cordelia’s Corvette, so that left both Giles and Xander sitting in the back with Angelus who thoroughly enjoyed their discomfort at his close presence.

Passing through the main downtown area, Angel pulled over a couple of blocks away from their destination. There was no reason to give their prey a heads up that they were coming. “We’ll let Angelus take the lead,” Buffy announced to the group. “But I want us to stick together in pairs. There is no telling how many vamps we’ll be up against.”

“Good idea,” Giles nodded his consent for the Slayer’s plan. From a purely observational standpoint, this was actually an interesting prospect. A souled vampire and his evil alter ego existing as two separate beings. If it wasn’t for the fact that Giles found it difficult not to stake Angelus every time he looked in the vampire’s direction, this might actually be amusing to watch.

Angel suggested that they split up the group by pairing the weaker fighters with the stronger ones. “What do you think, Angelus? Set up the teams.”

He got to pick? That surprised the vampire who perked up a bit at the idea. “Buffy, you can stick with the X-boy. He needs all the help he can get. The witch can team up with Angel while the Watcher and the werewolf back each other up.”

Realizing that her name hadn’t been called, Cordelia asked with a growing sense of dread, “What about me?”

“Babe, you’re with me.” Angelus’ mouth curled into a leer. “You always did make great vamp bait. That hot little body and your big— smile.”

Catching her angry glare, Angelus changed his comment at the last second. Cordelia was not happy with this assignment. Sure, she’d been bait before, but never had she strolled into a vampire lair with the master of evil himself at her side. Sending a pleading glance in Buffy and Angel’s direction, Cordelia waited for one of them to get the hint. Then she realized they were too busy staring into each other’s eyes.

Cordelia’s growing anger overshadowed her fear and she grabbed the arm of Angelus’ black leather jacket in order to drag him down the sidewalk at a faster pace. He willingly allowed her to move him. “Let’s get one thing straight, vampire. Part of being one of the good guys means that you look out for your responsibilities. When we walk into that place together just keep in mind that I’m yours.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Angelus responded, “Mine. I could go for that.”

“Responsibility, dumbass! Not ‘YOURS’ yours,” Cordelia let go of his sleeve in disgust.

“There was a time you might have been mine,” Angelus reminded her. “If the Slayer had been late in arriving, I might have had time to do those things we talked about that night.”

“Don’t ever mention that to me again, Angelus, because I will make you regret it.” Cordy was trembling at the memory of it. When he had told her in vivid detail how he planned to take her and when and where he was going to bury his fangs in her tender flesh. Then he had considered turning her, but had taken too much time weighing his options. Buffy’s arrival brought an end to his plotting and she had saved Cordelia from the vampire.

“Yes, I know,” Angelus sounded a little bored. “You already warned me about staking my evil ass. Surely you could be a little more imaginative than that. We could arrange a little mutual punishment session if you like.”

Cordelia shuddered. “Pervert!”

“What the heck are you two talking about?” Buffy strolled up beside them. She had a few words to say to the vampire before they got any closer to their destination.

“He’s a perv,” Cordelia told the blonde.

“We were just discussing the fact that Cordelia would love to get her hands on my ass.”

“Was not!”

“Oh, yeah. You were thinking about it,” the vampire retorted.

“Was not!”

“Liar.”

Buffy gritted her teeth. This was a nightmare. How in the world were they going to live with Angelus around? Maybe they would only have to see him during major battles. Then they could call him up, he could kill a few demons and that would fulfill his agreement with the Fates.

Unfortunately, that would also leave the evil vampire a lot of free time to wander around Sunnydale causing all kinds of havoc. Between Angel and the Scoobies, they were going to have their work cut out to keep an eye on him. “You *are* an ass, Angelus. If anyone is going to get their hands on your ass it will be me and that won’t be in any way shape or form something you’ll enjoy. Try to hurt my friends and I’ll kick you into next week.”

The Slayer stared at him with those huge eyes that carried the seriousness of her words behind their unblinking gaze. Angelus squared off and stared back. He felt the pull of her supernatural being. It called to the demon half of his vampire nature that recognized its ancient enemy. Visions of breaking her neck danced in his head as he looked at her.

“Save the threats, Buff,” he suggested. “I’ll try to save mine. They’re just words.”

“Words can hurt. So I highly suggest you control your nasty tongue before I gag you and chain you to the wall in my basement.”

“Sounds like fun,” Angelus let out a laugh. He loved it. Even the Slayer was stirred up enough to threaten him, but no one could touch him. At least not to kill. Not if they were going to let their precious Angel stick around. He said as much causing Buffy to remind him, “I already sent Angel to hell because of you Angelus. Trust me, there’s one helluva payback coming and I’ll happily provide it.”

Angelus’ amusement died. The Slayer was not joking and the vampire knew that she was capable of following through with her threat. “Just stay out of my way, Slayer. I’ll try to leave your little Scooby Gang alone.”

Satisfied for the moment, Buffy cast a glance in Cordelia’s direction and noted that she actually appeared grateful for the support. Though they had never been the best of friends both teenagers respected that they had their own place in the world. According to Cordy, the blonde Slayer was the super-chick freak of nature. Buffy thought still thought of her as the defending champion for the Bitch-of-the-Year Award. It just came so naturally to Cordelia that it was hard to think of her as having other qualities.

Moving on to the warehouse containing the vampire lair, Angelus assessed the situation with a sharp eye before issuing orders to the various teams. They moved into position as ordered and were to wait until Angelus returned. Facing Cordelia, the vampire told her, “When we go in there, I want you to be that saucy temptation that came into the library the other day. Distract them. I want you practically hanging on to me. Your job is to act like you can’t get enough of me. You’re my pet. Got it?”

“I’m nobody’s pet.” Scrunching up her nose, Cordelia complained, “I usually just bait the trap and run, Angelus. You’re asking for an Oscar-worthy performance.”

“That’s what this is gonna take, babe,” Angelus gave her a low growl. None of the others had questioned his orders. Why was Cordelia mouthing off at him? “If you want to come out of that building alive, I suggest you do as I say. Just try not to scream when I touch you.”

“What do you mean *when* touch me?” Cordelia’s hazel eyes popped open wide at the idea of Angelus touching her even if she was acting as bait. God, she really hated that. Why did it always have to be her? “They’ll be no touching. Just remember what I told you.”

“Are we back to discussing my ass again?”

“My stake is ready,” she warned holding up her weapon to prove she was ready.

Grabbing it out of her hand, Angelus told her, “You can’t go in there with that.”

He tucked her stake into the pocket of his jacket and watched Cordelia start to look a little panicky. Angelus moved them behind the shadowed cover of a stack of old crates placing them out of view of the rest of the gang. Cordelia was looking far too nervous and wouldn’t fool a fledgling into thinking that she would die without his touch.

“This is the part where you don’t scream,” Angelus told her as his hand pressed her back against the brick wall of the warehouse.

Cordelia had only a second to react to the warning before the vampire’s mouth came down to cover hers in a hard, demanding kiss. There were no warning bells going off in his head despite the fact that he had sprung this on Cordelia, so Angelus continued. She was grabbing onto his shoulders and beating her fists against him trying to get him to stop. Without lifting his mouth away, the vampire changed the tempo of the kiss making it softer, feeling her lips swell beneath his.

The struggling slowed and Cordy opened her mouth to take in a breath of air finding that it only gave him the opportunity to move his tongue inside her mouth. Her head was spinning at the sensation of his kiss, of his tongue massaging hers. Then remembering who he was, Cordelia bit down. Angelus only let out a low growl of combined pain and pleasure. Cordy tasted blood, but the sensual kisses continued until she was nearly shaking with her response to them.

“That’s better,” Angelus pulled back.

Cordelia punched him in the gut, which only seemed to hurt her hand as it came into contact with his hard body. Whispering madly, she let out a soft complaint, “Ouch! What the hell was that for? Eew! I have vampire blood in my mouth. That is so gross.”

“You need my scent on you before we go in there,” Angelus told her. “Otherwise they’ll figure out we’re lying. I can take out quite a few on my own, but I can’t handle all of them and protect you at the same time.”

“Couldn’t you let me wear your jacket for a couple of minutes? That would have done the same thing.” The vampire shrugged replying that this was just as effective and way more fun. She retorted, “For you.”

Cordelia still felt more than just a little nervous to be standing alone in the shadows with Angelus after he just had his tongue in her mouth. Then there was no more time to think or worry about it as Angelus led them into the building. Doing her part, Cordelia walked close to the vampire and added a sashay to her hips.

Almost immediately they were stopped by a vamp in jeans and a faded black t-shirt. “Who the hell are you?”

His eyes left the male vampire to wander over Cordelia’s curves. Only when his question was answered did his head jerk back up.

“Angelus.” A look of awe came over the other vamp’s face. “I’m here to see your master.”

Within a couple of minutes, the entire cadre of vampires had gathered in the room. When their leader entered, it was apparent to Angelus that this would be easier than he thought. He formulated a new plan within seconds of watching the other vampire’s approach. “I am Angelus,” he told the vampire. “Forgive the intrusion, but I was planning on moving into the neighborhood when I found your lair.”

“I am Trudzinski. This is my territory,” claimed the other vamp. Angelus noted that he continually stole glances at Cordelia who stood with her hands on her hips making her chest stick out even more prominently than usual. “You won’t be moving in on my turf.”

“Maybe we should negotiate.” Angelus suggested and reached out to pull Cordelia closer to his side. He heard her heartbeat increase, but outwardly she snuggled closer into his embrace.

“So is she your pet or your peace offering?” the master vampire let his gaze travel across her from head to toe. He even licked his lips in anticipation at the thought. Now Cordelia was feeling even more nervous and dropped the fake smile. Questioningly, she shifted to look up at Angelus. What the hell was he doing?

Angelus lifted his other hand to curl around Cordelia’s jaw keeping her there so she could not turn her gaze away. Those mercenary eyes were trimmed with gold and stared back at her with hidden depths. She had no clue what he was thinking except that he seemed to be considering the leader’s question.

“I think Cordelia is anything I want her to be,” Angelus commented adding an evil laugh that made her skin crawl.

Trudzinski suggested, “Well I think she’d make a tasty snack.”

Angelus eyed the vampires standing on either side of their master acting as bodyguards. The other fledglings were scattered around the room. “Would you like a taste?”

“What?” Cordelia gasped aloud. “Angelus, are you crazy?”

He yanked her hard against him. “Don’t disrespect your master. You do as I say, got it, babe? If I want you to bare your neck or go down on your knees for me or anyone I say, that is exactly what you will do.”

The master vampire of the warehouse cadre seemed amused by Angelus’ need to control his curvaceous pet. Trudzinski watched as the great vampire had to temper her with soft caresses. These humans were such malleable creatures. With Angelus reputation with the ladies, he figured the brunette was so into her master that she didn’t want to be shared. It was certain that she was a succulent specimen.

“No!” Denial screamed from Cordelia’s throat. Angelus seemed determined to throw his chance at a separate existence out the window. This wasn’t part of the plan. This wasn’t in any way, shape or form him being good. “I-I don’t want too.”

Angelus used his strength to pull her struggling form toward Trudzinski. There were tears on her face and fear in her eyes as they come closer. The other vampire scented her fear and his lips curled into a smile. He also scented Angelus on her clothes and smooth skin. Her lips were bruised and swollen, but he noted nothing to indicate recent sex. Maybe the Scourge of Europe wasn’t as much of a stud as his reputation suggested. If this was his pet, Trudzinski figured he wouldn’t even let her get out of bed.

“Please, Angelus,” she was gripping at the edge of his jacket. “Let’s go. Don’t do this.”

Fisting her hair in his hand, Angelus shushed her. “It will all be over soon, Cordelia. Just relax.”

As he vamped out in front of her, Cordelia refused to whimper. Tilting her head, Angelus pressed a trail of cool kisses along her heated neck pausing to lick at the thrumming pulse point. She could feel the pointed scrape of his fangs on her flesh. Cordelia gripped at his jacket, and then moved her hand down into his pocket extracting the stake he had tucked away. A large hand covered hers as Angelus wrested it from her before suddenly turning to plunge the stake into Trudzinski’s heart.

Ptooey! Cordelia coughed as the cloud of vampire dust settled around her.

Angelus pulled Cordelia behind him as he took out two more of the vampires that had been standing close by as bodyguards. The other vampires were slowly surrounding them. “This is so not good,” he heard Cordy whisper as she saw the encroaching vamps.

“Stay where you are,” ordered Angelus in a commanding tone that had the others taking notice. “If your master was worth his salt, then you’ll know who I am. Who was second in charge around here?”

“You dusted him too,” one vamp pointed out.

“That makes it easier on the rest of you,” Angelus commented. “If you’re interested in a chance of surviving the Hellmouth, then you’ll do as I say. This is my town and I know the Slayer’s little tricks all too well.”

After a couple more minutes, the remaining vampires agreed to join Angelus. “Since your leaders are dust, I’ll need a chance to evaluate the rest of you. To see if you deserve to be in my crew. I don’t tolerate weakness. My fighters need to be strong.”

A female vampire sauntered up to Angelus and sent a glare in Cordelia’s direction. “Are there any other skills you’re interested in testing? I bet I could please you better than that human bitch.”

Angelus backhanded her causing the vamp to fall to the ground.

Addressing the entire group, he told them, “As your new master, I will set down rules for you to follow. The most important of which is— do not interfere with my pet. Cordelia is mine. Your old master was fool enough to believe that I would share her. So don’t presume to want her or to take her place in my bed.”

His bed? Talk about presuming too much.

Listening to Angelus’ speeches, Cordelia found herself swimming in a state of confusion. She no longer knew whether this was still part of some plan to take out this vampire nest or if Angelus was setting himself up as the vampire kingpin of the warehouse district. If that was the case, Angel was gonna be pissed. His evil alter ego was not playing by the rules.

With the entire room focused on her, Cordelia figured that she wasn’t going to be seen cowering in the corner. She took a confident stance a little closer to the vampire. At least Angelus acted as though he didn’t want her hurt. Unless he was just saving her up as his own tasty dessert.

If Angelus was really setting himself up as their new leader, he would be leaving the building with seventeen vampires to back him up.

Could the others handle that? Buffy and Angel could take out a lot on their own, but a whole cadre of vampires swarming around? With Angelus leading them? Cordelia was getting nervous again.

“Everyone outside,” Angelus clapped his hands loudly to usher them along. “Let’s find out who is worthy of being linked to the Order of Aurelius.”

Almost eagerly, the vampires filed out of the building with Angelus and Cordelia waiting until the last vamp had passed through the door. Before she could pass through, Angelus held her back. Noting her worried look, he winked and held out the stake he had taken. A relieved sigh left her lips as Cordelia realized he wasn’t going to betray Angel or the deal they had made with the Fates.

While Cordelia reached for the weapon, Angelus used the distraction to push her back into the room. Stumbling back, she landed on her bottom on the hard cement floor. The door shut soundly behind Angelus as he followed the vampires out of the building.

“What are you doing?” Cordy called out.

Jumping up, Cordelia ran to the door and tugged at the handle. It was jammed. Angelus had jammed the door shut preventing her from joining the fight. Already, she could hear the sounds of the battle outside. Not that she wanted to fight for her life against a large group of evil vampires, but Cordelia didn’t want her friends to be out there without her.

Cordelia had learned a lot about fighting vampires the summer that Buffy ran away. The Scooby Gang conducted their organized bait and trap missions. It was mostly one vamp at a time and usually by group dusting, but it was more than Cordelia had done before. Until then, her job had simply been cheerleading from the sidelines.

She supposed that was all Angelus remembered. Angel hadn’t really seen her involved in any big vampire dustings or demon battles since the Slayer had returned to pick up the slack. Truthfully, Cordelia was happy to hand over the mission to its rightful owner. She thought the Good Fight was important, but it still interfered with her social life.

“Stubborn vamp,” Cordelia muttered under her breath as she kicked futilely at the steel door. “Just see if I don’t stake you when I get out there.”

Tucking the stake into the belt loop of her pants, Cordelia trudged over to the nearby windows which had been painted black. She couldn’t see outside, but they had handles on them so she figured to try to squeeze outside. “Dammit! They’re painted shut.”

As Cordelia wandered around the warehouse looking for another way out, the group outside was in the thick of battle against the Trudzinski vampires. Angelus had actually thought about trying to convince Angel to let him keep the vamps under his leadership, but figured the Soul wouldn’t go for that one. Reasoning that he had gotten himself into this deal with the Fates by agreeing to be spilt away from Angel, the vampire saw that he had little choice but to comply. Besides, his little show had actually been rather fun.

Half of the vamps were already dust. The working pairs shifted around during the actual melee. Giles and Oz continued to fight together and were quite effective against a duo of the vampires considering that the Watcher was heavily armed with crossbow and stakes. Willow gravitated over toward Xander who found himself the target of a larger number because he was paired up with the Slayer. She used her levitation spell to dust one of the vamps while Xander accidentally fell on a second with his stake after Buffy had knocked him to the ground.

Buffy, Angel and Angelus were more effective as solitary fighters against the crowd. The Slayer tucked, twisted, flipped and quipped her way through four vampires in succession without more than a bruised cheek. The presence of Angel and Angelus cast confusion into the midst of their foes. Legends said a lot about Angelus. Recent rumors down at the demon bars had even suggested he had a soul. Neither legend nor rumor said anything about him having a twin.

The distraction proved deadly as the two vampires laid waste to the remaining vamps that dared to stay behind. Two or three of them had opted to escape. Angelus saw one running down the alley between the warehouse and the building next door. He considered going after him when suddenly the fleeing vampire tripped and fell flat on his face. Cordelia appeared from behind a stack of crates and staked the vamp.

Angel stepped up next to Angelus to watch the brunette jog up the alley to meet them. A perturbed look settled on her face as she realized that the battle was over. As the rest of her friends gathered in a haphazard circle, Cordelia heard Buffy ask, “Where have you been?”

“Having a manicure,” Cordelia responded sourly still glaring at Angelus.

Sensing an argument coming, Angel commented, “Looks like the test worked, Angelus. You passed with flying colors.”

“Hah!” Cordelia countered, “You don’t know how close he came to deciding differently.”

As she watched, the corners of Angelus’ mouth quirked up for a brief moment. Oh, yeah. Cordelia knew it. “You’re nothing but a wolf in Angel’s clothing. Evil scum of the vamp world. Don’t you ever do that to me again. I’ll be bait if I have too, but don’t ever pretend to want to bite me again.”

“I do want to bite you,” Angelus told her. “I only pretended I was going to let Trudzinski have a taste.”

“What?” Angel turned to his double with a fierce stare.

“I had to get close enough to the master vampire to stake him,” shrugged Angelus as if the fact was nothing to be concerned about.

“Are you okay, Cordy?” Even Buffy sounded concerned. She knew what Angelus could be like. Although it was interesting that the evil vampire had locked Cordelia up rather than letting her join the fray.

“She’s fine,” Angelus barked at the Slayer. Then he stepped up to make certain of the fact for himself. “Aren’t you?”

Cordelia nodded, but flinched slightly as his hand came up to her face. It was smudged with dirt from the duct she had used to escape. Turning her head, Angelus saw a thin line of blood where his fangs had superficially scraped against her throat. It must have welled up afterward because he hadn’t even gotten a chance to taste her.

“Get your vamp paws off me,” Cordelia slapped his hands away. “I’m going home now. I’m going to take a long hot shower and scrub every inch of skin that you touched.”

Pushing past the vampire, she headed off in the direction they had parked the cars. Since there were still a couple of unaccounted for vampires on the loose, the group followed behind her. Willow called out, “Cordy don’t forget us. You’re our ride.”

Oz and Willow ran to catch up since Cordelia was setting a fast pace down the sidewalk.

“You’ve got some nerve, vampire,” Xander frowned at Angelus. “You’re here because of a deal you set and have specific rules to follow, yet you push the edge.”

“That’s what existence is all about,” the vampire answered him before walking away. He called over his shoulder to Angel, “I’ll be back at the mansion before sunrise.”

Giles let out a long sigh as Angelus departed. “Thank goodness he’s gone. That was the most nerve-wracking experience.”

As Xander and Giles walked ahead, the Slayer and her souled vampire boyfriend lagged behind. Angel was quite pleased with Angelus performance with the exception of how he had used Cordelia as bait. No doubt this was going to be a challenge to manage, but he would rather deal with Angelus face to face knowing that he had behavioral restraints than going back to the way it was before.

“I still can’t believe that you did this,” Buffy ranted at Angel. “You’ve given Angelus his own life. Do you have any idea what babysitting him is going to be like? He’s out there right now doing who knows what.”

Angel took her hand. Reminding her, “I did this for us, Buffy. There are risks, but I hope it’s worth it. We can be together without the pressure of losing my soul.”

“There’s a difference?” Buffy huffed. “I suppose there is. I still get to have you around, but I get the torture of Angelus at the same time.”

“Angelus won’t be back home until the last minute,” guessed Angel. “He’ll want to check things out. Make contact down at Willy’s place.”

“So not a good idea to let him loose like this. We should lock him up and throw away the key.”

Angel almost laughed. “That was what Cordelia told me.”

“When was that?”

“In the library,” Angel admitted seeing nothing wrong with telling her the truth. “She was there while I was researching the curse.”

“Oh?”

Noting the fact that Buffy had stopped cold and was facing him, Angel realized that she was looking a little jealous. “What’s that look for?”

“Nothing. It’s just that Angelus seems to have taken an unhealthy interest in Cordy rather quickly. He’s barely looked at me except to snarl at me,” Buffy pointed out.

“Angelus thinks of you as the enemy.”

“He paid a lot more attention to me the last time he got loose,” she frowned at the thought of it. “God, I sound jealous of Angelus. See how wrong that is? He’s not even you. Never was. Just looked like you.”

Angel watched her inner struggle as it showed in her face. “Angelus has my memories as he has mine. He was obsessed with you, Buffy. All he thought about was revenge.”

She asked, “What’s to stop him from trying it again? The last time wasn’t pleasant.”

As they started walking again, Angel had to admit, “I can’t predict his behavior, Buffy. There are a few things I can guess at because I remember how he thinks, but as to what he’ll do now that he has a totally separate life from mine— I just don’t know.”

Buffy wondered, “Do you think we should follow him?”

“I have a better idea,” Angel suddenly realized. “We have the mansion to ourselves until dawn.”

Now that her anger over Angelus was subsiding a bit, Buffy realized that her body was still singing its post-Slayage song. “How fast can we dump Giles and Xander?”

“Fast.”

Part 4

 Later in the week, Angelus grabbed his favorite jacket and headed out of the mansion before his overzealous twin could interrogate him about his plans for the evening. So what if it was also Angel’s favorite jacket. He’d just have to get used to the idea and buy another one. Having set up his own suite of rooms on a separate floor, Angelus had not been pleased with Angel’s possessive attitude to items that clearly belonged to him.

Finally, they had come to an agreement, but only after the argument had nearly caused them to come to blows. The only thing that they had not settled on was the Plymouth. Its fate was still up in the air, but since Angel had the keys hidden there was no chance of stealing it unless he hotwired the car. He’d never do that— might damage something accidentally.

Making his way to the Bronze, Angelus decided he needed a little fun. The demon bars were hopping, but there was only so much gaming and gossiping he could handle without wanting to kill someone. Besides, it was about time he got lucky. Being shrouded with a soul for decades, Angelus felt as if he’d been missing something. It had been too damn long since he had been free to choose whom to bed and how he wanted to take her. Not counting Buffy’s innocent little games or her recent pheromone-driven bouts of tongue-wrestling, Angelus hadn’t had any in over a year.

Except for the Furies, Angelus grinned at the memory. He was certain that higher beings didn’t count. They made the demand as a way to seal the deal. Not his choice. Besides, it wasn’t exactly his thing. Way too much frolicking.

He perused the crowd checking out the possibilities. His vampire senses were thrumming as the heat, scent and beating hearts surrounded him. What he wouldn’t do just to bite and drain the lot of them. Angel had him on a diet of O-positive and pigs blood in an effort to wean him off the real thing. It was swill. Yet another constraint the Fates had placed upon him. No killing humans.

“Not like most of them would be missed,” Angelus muttered to himself as he walked over to the bar.

He heard a familiar laugh and turned to see Cordelia Chase standing with several of her usual hangers-on. She was in Queen C form tonight, dressed in a hot red dress that clung to every curve. Definitely an attention-grabber. One or two of her groupies caught his eye as well. Well, he supposed Cordelia was a magnet for attracting beautiful people into her life even if they were brainless nitwits who hoped to hang on her popularity.

Cordelia felt someone brushing against her back. She was about to turn around to yell at the creep when the Cordettes started to giggle flirtatiously with whoever was standing over her shoulder. Both Aura and Harmony preened themselves as the tall figure stepped up to greet them.

“Hello, ladies,” Angelus smiled sensually. His gaze passed over each one of them until it settled on Cordelia.

Whereas the others had been giving him engaging looks, Cordelia flashed only irritation at this interruption. “Why are you here?”

“Don’t be so rude, Cordy,” Aura pleaded hoping that he wouldn’t leave. “Introduce us.”

“I already know who you are— Aura,” Angelus told her. Lurking provided information that could always be used to one’s advantage. She looked rather pleased at the fact.

Cordelia’s blond friend nearly jumped into his personal space. “I’m Harmony.”

As she giggled, Angelus put a hand on her shoulder running his thumb across her bare collar bone. “I know that too.”

“You’re— Angel?” Aura confirmed since Cordelia was glowering at them all. “Buffy Summers boyfriend.”

“No,” the vampire shook his head. “I’m his evil twin.”

“Riiiight!” The other girls were giggling like they didn’t believe him.

Angelus’ eyes were sparkling with mirth as he silently dared Cordelia to tell them the truth. He added for their benefit, “Call me Angelus.”

Harmony giggled at Aura nudging her with an elbow. “Evil twin! Tee hee! Imagine if there were really two of him.”

“I’m here to dance, ladies,” Angelus revealed. “Who wants this body tonight?”

There was a brief struggle as the small group of six girls jockeyed for position in order to claim a dance. It was all highly amusing, especially as the more her friends cooed for his attention, the angrier Cordelia got.

“Shall I take you all on?” Angelus asked flirting outrageously.

Pissed that he was toying with her friends, Cordelia finally decided to put an end to this foolishness. “Not before you take on me.”

The Cordettes suddenly fell silent. Cordelia always won. She said a few words to the group and they scattered quickly. Once they were alone, Cordelia turned to demand, “Leave them alone, you bastard.”

“What happened to taking you on, baby?”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not your baby. Not anything remotely yours.”

Angelus’ gaze dropped down to the pointed nipples thrusting against her dress. “Then tell me why your skin is flushed, why your body is reacting to me, why your heart is racing.”

“That’s fear,” Cordelia snapped.

His white teeth flashed as he grinned back. “Don’t fool yourself. Surely you know the difference between fear and arousal.”

“Shut up!” Cordelia pushed on his chest so that he moved onto the dance floor. “If you are here to dance, then you’ll dance with me. I don’t want you corrupting my friends with your evil vamp paws.”

The vampire yanked her up against him. “We’ll dance, Cordelia. If that’s what you want. Keep in mind that I don’t plan to leave the Bronze alone. Someone here tonight is going to end up in a horizontal position in my bed at the end of the evening.”

With a gasp, Cordelia automatically tried to push herself out of his arms. To her surprise, he actually let her go without argument. Angelus gave her a meaningful stare. “Leave me and your friends are fair game.”

The vamp was actually attempting to blackmail her into sleeping with him. “I didn’t think the great Angelus would have to resort to threats to get girls to fall into bed.”

“I don’t, baby. Just giving you one last chance to be the first to try out this brand new body of mine,” he leered.

“Pfft! You are such a perv, Angelus.” Cordelia told him. “My friends may fall for your false charm, but I know you can’t hurt them. If they choose to be seduced by you, then that is their problem.”

She left him standing there on the edge of the dance floor. Angelus watched her stride away on those high heeled shoes and found himself thinking that Cordelia Chase looked just as good going as she did coming. Despite her denial, he knew that she was aroused by his presence. It might be residual effects from the old days when she had the hots for Angel who was too righteous to take advantage of the fact that the cheerleader had a crush on him. That didn’t bother him.

Angelus found it interesting that Cordelia seemed so determined to fear him. It was as if she refused to believe anything else was possible. While part of that— fear itself— delighted his demon nature, another part was determined to make her eat her words, to make her want him. Someday soon, he promised himself. Tonight he just needed to get laid.

Catching sight of Harmony as she waved at him from the bar area, Angelus crooked a finger in her direction waggling it so that she practically jumped up and down in delight that he had noticed her. Perky, idiotic little cheerleader. She’d do.

Cordelia paused at the exit door trying not to look over her shoulder at the vampire who irritated her as much as he scared her. She couldn’t resist the urge and found that Angelus was still on the dance floor, but was now wrapped up in Harmony’s arms. A hot flash of anger burst from her solar plexus as she saw him pull her close.

“Figures,” she muttered. “He would choose a blonde.”

At school the next day, Harmony was all too eager to tell her friends about her encounter with ‘Angel’. She continually gushed and blushed her way through the story. “He makes the football players look like little boys.”

By lunchtime, rumors had already spread to Buffy Summers that her handsome boyfriend was cheating on her. Several people saw him dancing at the Bronze and he reportedly left with Harmony. Deciding that she had to talk to the other blonde, Buffy confronted her in the afternoon between classes. Cordelia was standing there as witness at the time trying to get the books for her next class out of her locker.

“That wasn’t Angel,” informed Buffy determined to make Harmony understand.

Giggling at the fact that Buffy Summers was trying to pretend it didn’t happen, Harmony told her details about the tattoo on Angel’s back. Only the fact that she wasn’t certain that Angelus would have a duplicate tattoo made her worry. It was stupid to think that Angel was cheating when he went through all of this to be with her.

“Angel wasn’t at the Bronze last night, you bimbo,” Buffy scoffed. “He was with me. If you slept with someone, it was only his evil jokester of a— twin.”

Harmony glanced at Cordelia questioningly. “Angel really does have an evil twin?”

With a long sigh, Cordelia closed her locker before telling her friend, “Angelus is not to be trusted. I know him, Harmony. That’s why I didn’t want you dancing with him last night.”

“You left fast enough,” Harmony pointed out giving Buffy the new information that the vampire had also interacted with Cordelia at the Bronze.

“He— made me mad.”

“Well don’t expect me to lay off just because you don’t like him,” warned Harmony. “He makes my toes curl just by looking at him. Oh, Cordy. Remind me never to go out with a high school boy again. These college guys really know what they’re doing.”

Buffy felt like punching the blond cheerleader. Even if it was the evil Angelus they were talking about, he still looked like her Angel. Watching her leave, Buffy placed a hand on Cordelia’s arm to hold her back. “I never liked that girl.”

“Harmony is a little ditzy,” admitted Cordelia. “Sounds like Angelus didn’t hurt her. I was worried about that.”

“You knew Angelus had plans to sleep with Harmony?”

Cordelia shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? Tell Harmony that Angelus was an evil vampire and she should stay away? I’d sound like a jealous fool.”

“I see the point,” Buffy agreed with a frown as she recalled why she had stormed up to confront the blonde. Just as the class bell rang, Buffy added, “Giles has a Scooby meeting set up for six o’clock tonight.”

“I have practice tonight, so I may be a little late.” Cordelia hardly noticed Buffy leaving as she thought about what Harmony had said.

Angelus made her toes curl.

Was that how she looked to Angelus last night? When her body literally perked up to take noticed of the fact that he was there? No, no, no! The thought of it had her quivering. But was it really fear? He was a vampire. Angelus had no business making anyone’s toes curl in pleasure just by looking at him, especially if the toes belonged to her.

Part 5

 Angelus pushed open the library door and walked in with a confident swagger. There was going to be some kiss ass fun in the old town tonight. The Slayer and her Scooby Gang were gathered together along with Giles and Angel at the central table pouring over a pile of books.

“Here I am to save the day,” Angelus held out his arms awaiting the flurry of grumbling insults and recognitions he expected.

“C’mon in Mighty Mouse,” Xander encouraged with a grumble. “Without our resident evil vampire, werewolf and cheerleader, research has been a bore.”

Willow looked up from the computer terminal she was sitting at. Seeing Angelus always gave her the shivers. She reasoned that as long as he stayed over there, it would be okay. Then the redhead found herself explaining, “Oz is with the band tonight and Cordy is at cheerleading practice. She’ll be late.”

“I’m missing practice?” Angelus thought of all those ripe teenagers bouncing, bending and gyrating. Glancing at the door, he wondered if he could still make it.

“Yes,” Angel confirmed giving him a hard stare. “You’ll continue to miss it. We could use another set of eyes on this demon we’re trying to find.”

Angelus strolled up to the table and picked up a book to glance at its title. Tossing it back to the surface, it landed with a hard thump. “This is a waste of time.”

“Proper research is never a waste.” Giles defensively pulled the book across the table. “It provides us with invaluable information about our enemies.”

“Well, I’ve heard a helluva lot about a certain demon-gathering scheduled to take place tonight,” Angelus revealed with a triumphant smirk. “If you’re interested in hearing about something that didn’t come out of a book.”

Giles looked very interested. “Oh? Where did you hear this information?”

“Willy’s.”

Buffy snorted, “Like that’s reliable.”

“I’d say it was pretty close to the truth,” Angelus promised. “Almost as good hearing it from the horse’s mouth. After I beat a little sense into the demon that was trying to hold back on the details, he was quite willing to share.”

Angelus gazed down at his reddened knuckles. They were almost healed from the gashed, bloody state resulting from his tête-à-tête with the Baraska demon. If he was going to be forced into joining the Slayer on her little do-gooding sessions, Angelus was determined to do it his way. He informed the group of his findings and was pleased to note that they all had to suck up afterward.

“That is very useful information,” Giles grabbed for another one of his books and was flipping through pages to follow up on an idea the vampire’s findings had given him.

Xander was doing a little happy dance at the end of the table now that research was over. “Free at last.”

“That’s my line,” Angelus joked.

Willow exchanged a look with Xander and then commented, “Thanks, Angelus. You just made our night a whole lot simpler.”

Giving Angelus a suspicious glare, Buffy told him, “We’ll see how this works out. If half of it is true, the Fates will have to give you a gold star.”

“Good job,” Angel was forced to admit the fact that Angelus had come through for them. The other vampire could easily have kept the information to himself. “I can’t fault your tactics despite the brutality factor.”

“There was a time when you would have done the same,” Angelus derided him. “Playing lap dog to the Slayer has softened you. I think Buffy must have swallowed your balls the last time she went down on you.”

Angel was on his feet in seconds and standing nose to nose with his double just before he let his fist crash into Angelus’ face. “You fucking bastard!”

“Don’t talk about mom that way,” Angelus laughed while curling his hand into a large fist. He rammed his sore knuckles across the other vampire’s jaw.

Deciding that his evil half deserved it, Angel figured to give Angelus the ass-kicking of his undead life. Being evenly matched this idea was not as easy to accomplish as it had sounded in his head. Soon, the two vampires were brawling on the floor. No amount of pleading from Giles or the gang had any effect. Even Buffy’s threats against Angelus had no marked response from the vampire.

Buffy was on her feet trying to get in close enough to break up the fight. If only she could tell which vampire was which, she’d jump right in to lend a hand, but both of them were similarly dressed tonight. The usually more colorful Angelus was still dealing with the dark wardrobe of his souled counterpart.

“What’s this?” Cordelia’s voice sounded from the doorway. She had her hands on her hips and consequently her pom poms were positioned so that she looked like she was about to lead a cheer for the home team. “Vampire wrestling?”

“Hey there, babe,” one of the vampires called out. Obviously Angelus, but the scuffle continued so that by the time Buffy glanced down again she still couldn’t tell who was who.
Cordelia walked closer trying to gauge what was happening other than the fact that both vampires seemed determined to beat the crap out of each other. Staring down at them, she met Angel’s gaze for a moment.

“That’s really mature, Angel,” she huffed. “I’d expect this of Xander, maybe. Not you.”

“Hey!” Xander protested from the sidelines.

Buffy glanced up at Cordelia with surprise. Was the cheerleader just guessing which one was Angel? While her eyes were turned away, Angelus was pushed onto his back. Taking a moment, he gazed up the long expanse of Cordelia’s bare legs. “Great view from this angle.”

“Leave Cordy out of this,” Angel growled as he snuck in another punch.

Cordelia asked the Slayer, “Aren’t you going to stop this?”

Shrugging helplessly, Buffy wasn’t certain how to handle it. Angelus deserved whatever Angel could dish out, but neither did she want her boyfriend to be on the receiving end.

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia tossed her pom poms to the floor. Jumping into the fray, Cordy grabbed the first vampire. “Get off of him, Angelus.”

Just as she curled her hands around his bicep attempting to pull him away from Angel, he released another forward punch. The move swung her body down unintentionally sending Cordelia crashing directly on top of Angel.

“Oof!”

Cordelia let out a whoosh of air as she connected with the hard body beneath her. Out of breath, she couldn’t speak for a moment as both of the vampires called out her name in obvious concern as the fight came to a sudden end. Gasping for air, Cordelia stared into Angel’s concerned eyes. For a moment, all she could do was react to the sensations that were strumming through her body as she realized she was sandwiched between the two of them.

Her one free hand moved to brush her fingers over the dark swelling bruise that marred Angel’s cheek. Then she glared over her shoulder at Angelus, “Would you get your big hulking body off of me?”

Sensing the quickening of her heartbeat, Angelus bent his mouth to her ear. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Angel pushed at the vamp’s shoulder lifting him away from Cordelia. “Move!”

“You’re no fun,” Angelus complained and shifted back to his feet. That left Cordelia pressed flat against Angel, their legs were tangled and the back of her short skirt was squashed around her waist.

Xander couldn’t help but stare at the sight of Cordelia’s rounded bottom in those dark red panties. It reminded him of things she’d told him he was no longer allowed to think about since their relationship was long over.

Looking down at them, Buffy realized that it was her boyfriend the cheerleader was now plastered over, “You can move anytime, Cordy.”

Angel’s hands automatically moved to support Cordelia so they could get up. Awkwardly moving her legs out so that her knees moved to either side of the vampire, she used her arms to push up. He had his hands high on her waist curling up to her ribcage just inches from the plump breasts that swayed so close to his mouth. The realization that his mouth was actually watering at the thought made Angel slide his hands down to her hips setting her onto the tops of his thighs with a swift move.

The effort to make this an easier way of extracting Cordelia from him only made things worse as he moved them into a sitting position. Now she was straddling his lap and their loins were in full contact through the barrier of their clothes. Her weight felt so good pressing down on him and for a second Angel didn’t care if Buffy, Angelus and the whole Scooby Gang looked on.

It would be so easy just to slip open his zipper and tug her panties aside. To lift her onto his rigid cock and tug her down until that hot little core hugged every solid inch of him. There was no hiding her arousal from him as he caught a heady whiff of the delicate scent that signaled she would be wet and ready to take him in. Cordelia. Her name echoed silently in his head as he imagine how tight she would feel surrounding him, how her bare breasts would feel in his hands, how her silky hair would feel cascading over him as she rode him hard.

Only a second or two had passed by as Angel felt the almost imperceptible squeeze of her thighs against his. The reality of it snapped him out of the fantasy his mind had slipped into. The first question that hit him was: did she want it too? Then Angel caught the red flush creeping up Cordelia’s neck and he realized instantly that this was going to be a highly embarrassing situation for both of them if things didn’t cool off immediately.

He’d done it again, Angel realized. This time he didn’t have the excuse of recent Slayer-induced frustration. If anything, he shouldn’t even be capable of moving much less acting like a walking hard-on every time he came within two inches of Cordelia Chase. Nor did he have the excuse of having Angelus sounding off in his head encouraging him to go for it and take what he wanted.

<i>I’m a selfish prick.</i> Angel found it highly ironic that the behavior he had blamed on his demon had nothing to do with Angelus and everything to do with Liam. Without the demon overshadowing the human side of his nature, Liam’s personality now acted as his inner voice. The Fates hadn’t warned him about that. <i>I have learned nothing in the past two hundred fifty years. Is that how it’s going to be? Once a selfish lustful prick, always selfish?</i>

Cordelia grabbed for her pom poms which were fortunately lying right next to her. She was about to thrust them at Angel and suggest he hold onto them while she got up, when suddenly she was snatched off of Angel’s lap. Dropping the fluffy cheerleading gear, she let out a squeal as Angelus brought her to her feet.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Angelus demanded to know.

Glancing back at Angel, she saw him get to his feet holding the pom poms in a strategic position in front of him. Licking her lips, she looked up at Angelus guilelessly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Putting yourself in danger like that,” the vampire growled out his anger. “You could’ve been hurt jumping on us the way you did.”

“Since when do you care?”

That got him. Angelus gave her a little shove so that she moved away from him taking her intoxicating scent with her. “I don’t. Your friends might have a different opinion.”

“That was kind of dangerous,” Willow pointed out.

Xander added, “Even Buffy didn’t dive in like that and you’re no super-chick.”

“I’m not the problem,” Cordelia let out a surprised gasp as everyone seemed to be mad at her for trying to break up the fight. “Tweedle Dork and Tweedle Dumb over here are the ones you need to worry about.”

A snort of laughter came from Giles direction, but he quickly covered it up by removing his glasses for a vigorous cleaning.

Buffy wasn’t as amused as her Watcher. Standing so close, she had noticed the looks on Cordelia and Angel’s faces and found herself pouting at the unspoken connection that was apparent in their eyes. She couldn’t tell exactly what they were communicating, but it was clear some message was getting across. Mutual surprise? Concern? Something else that she didn’t even want to think about because it would mean that she would have to kick someone’s ass?

It was the jealousy again, Buffy realized she was feeling it rise within her. Being with Angel last night had been frankly incredible. Though Harmony had been referring to his evil twin at the time, her words had certainly applied to Angel as well. The vampire certainly knew what he was doing when he touched her. Strangely, it was different. Each time was different. Maybe that was to be expected considering the whole splitting of his life thread to create Angelus and secure his soul.

“Cordy has a point,” Buffy paced back and forth between the two vampires.

“I do?” Surprised to find the Slayer agreeing with her, Cordelia blinked in shock.

“Yes. The Tweedle Twins, remember?” Buffy quipped. “Fighting each other is getting us nowhere. We have a real battle ahead of us tonight and I would prefer to go in with both of my vampires capable of offering some resistance.”

“Your vampires?” Cordelia caught onto the words.

Buffy stared at her for a second before clarifying, “Vampire team members.”

“Careful how you phrase things,” Cordy commented. “The evil version of your boyfriend may start to get ideas.”

Angel caught her emphasis of the word boyfriend. As if he needed another reminder of that right now. At least Cordelia had not gotten the notion of using her knee or foot to get her point across. He probably deserved that too. He felt like he needed to sit down in a dark room and figure out why the hell he was being such an ass. Except that Angel knew if he stopped to brood about this, he would only find himself fantasizing about Cordelia again.

Putting his glasses back on, Giles told them, “Now that the petty bickering and fighting is over let’s concentrate on tonight’s demon-gathering. We need to come up with a strategy to stop this from happening.”

Cordelia excused herself to shower and change clothes. The others could fill her in on the details later. She figured no matter what they came up with her job as bait would still be the same. As long as that didn’t involve Angelus using her as his pet again, Cordelia was fine with the arrangement.

Entering the girl’s locker room, Cordy found that it was dark and quiet. Apparently, the others had already headed home directly after practice. She had gotten into the habit of bringing extra clothes because she usually met up with either Giles or the gang afterward. Opening her locker, Cordy pulled out her clear plastic shower caddy with her shampoo, conditioner, body wash and loofah. Setting it on the bench next to her, she undressed and headed into the shower stalls grabbing some towels along the way.

As Cordelia stepped under the hot spray of the shower, she could not help but think of the events of the past few minutes and the things Harmony had shared with her earlier in the day. Letting out a sigh as the water sluiced over her body, she ran her fingers through her hair to soak it with the hot spray. Felt so good, relaxing her muscles and taking away the tension in her shoulders. Not from practice— the tension had crept in during the last few minutes straddling Angel’s erection. It worsened as Angelus and yanked her away with his possessive move.

Opening up her shampoo bottle, Cordy squeezed a dollop into her palm and proceeded to massage it into her hair and scalp. Thinking back to last night, Angelus had a lot of nerve going to the Bronze. Talking up her friends. Flirting with them— and her. The vampire had clearly followed through with his plans to get laid if everything Harmony had to say was close to the truth. Cordelia had never had reason to doubt her. Harm was too much of a ditz to lie about sex.

Though Harmony had not yet had the time to give her all of the details as she normally did after a hot date, her teammate did share a few tidbits that had left Cordelia squirming in her chair the rest of class. She had been glad for the workout at practice after school.

As she rinsed her hair, Cordelia couldn’t stop thinking about what Harmony had told her. About the commanding way Angelus had taken the lead and never let it go, about the hot kisses that were like no other she had experienced. Harm had gone on and on about the damn kisses. Then she started in on describing Angelus’ hard body. Every inch of it. And the description combined with what she already knew of his physique had left Cordelia silently screaming in denial.

After repeating the shampoo, she reached for the conditioner going through the motions automatically. While Cordelia was not a virgin, she had nowhere near the experience that her blonde friend had. Harmony was a pal when she wasn’t being a snob. Admittedly, she was the embodiment of every nasty cheerleader stereotype that Angel playfully suggested the other day in the library. In getting Angel to talk, Cordy hadn’t lied to him— just done a little truth-stretching.

<i>If I haven’t done it, I’ve heard about it.</i>

Well, she hadn’t done much, but Harm certainly told her a lot. Cordelia had always found high school boys so immature, which was really ironic considering that she had dated Xander Harris. Their relationship hadn’t gotten to the point where Cordy was willing to give up everything to him though their groping sessions in the closets of Sunnydale High were certainly exciting. After their Buffyless summer, Cordelia no longer thought of Xander in a romantic way at all. He was too much of a goofball and they had fallen into a steady friendship instead.

Cordelia hadn’t walked away from Angelus last night just because she was afraid of him, she had to admit to herself. Yes, he was basically an evil blood-loving corpse who would probably just as soon snap her neck as kiss her as he had done before they entered the warehouse that night. Even Angel, despite being the souled good guy, was also a creature of the night. Cordy had never gotten over the fact that he was a vampire. Never forgiven him for it, she supposed.

Rinsing out the conditioner, Cordy picked up her loofah and the container of vanilla-scented body wash. She squeezed the loofah under the hot spray until it bubbled up and then ran in from her wrist to her shoulder. The clean scent permeated the steamy air of the shower as she followed through the motions by habit.

Right arm. Shoulder. Left arm. Shoulder. Squeezing the bubbles down her back.

Closing her eyes, Cordelia let the water sluice over her skin washing away the bubbles before lifting the loofah to her chest. The gentle scrub with one hand was followed by the soft motion of the other against her spreading the soapy bubbles around and letting the water rinse them away.

Angel— what was with him lately? He was acting like a fallen monk locked in a room with her as the only company. Scratch that. He was the tiger in her cage during mating season. This deal was supposed to let him and Buffy be together and put an end to the old frustrations of his self-enforced celibacy. She had no idea why he kept reacting to her if things were now hunky-dory in Buffyville. Whatever was causing it, Cordelia could not deny the reaction of her own body despite the fact that he was a vampire.

Today, straddling his lap and feeling him hard and ready underneath her, Cordelia had a moment where she didn’t care about her vampire phobia or the fact that Buffy was less than three feet away. The way Angel had looked at her, the lust apparent in his gaze was breathtaking in itself. She could almost read his thoughts they were so obvious as Angel dropped his gaze to her cleavage and held it there like a firm caress.

Cordelia brushed her hand under the curve of her right breast sweeping up the bubbles that were clinging there. She let out a little gasp as her fingers ran over the sensitive tip of her distended nipple. Was that why Angel had been staring? She imagined that he’d done more than stare at her. He lifted her knit top over her head and tossed it at Buffy’s feet. Yanked down the straps and cups of her bra exposing her plump breasts.

The loofah’s string slipped around her wrist as Cordelia lifted her hands to curl around her own curves brushing her thumbs along the outer curves as Angel had done the other night in the library. Would he touch her that way again in this little mind trip? Take her into his mouth and use his tongue on her skin? A rush of pleasure shuddered across her flesh as Cordelia tweaked her nipples before releasing the swell of her breasts in favor of trying to finish her shower.

The loofah was circling her abdomen and Cordelia felt the pull of need deep in her loins. <i>Not fair. Not gonna. Ignore it.</i> She bent down to cleanse her right leg. Front. Back. Inner thigh. Repeating the action with the left leg. Front. Back. Inner thigh. The naughty nature of her thoughts had her tingling all over. <i>Not gonna. Ignore it.</i>

Only when lifting the loofah to the wet curls at the apex of her thighs, did Cordelia finally give in to her desires. <i>Not gonna ignore it.</i> There was no one around to see or hear. This was just her alone with a harmless little fantasy that wouldn’t hurt anyone. Having Angel beneath her and Angelus sandwiching her from behind. Omigod. No, no, no. That was so wrong.

Don’t start there. Not there. Cordelia breathed out a shaky cry as her fingers delved into the heated crevasse of her thighs to brush against her swollen clitoris. Moving her hand, she let her fingers slide into the slick folds without penetrating. Just moving back and forth as she imagined herself doing what she had wanted. Leaning back far enough to unzip Angel’s pants. To lift out his rigid penis and let him see her reaction to its towering girth.

Maybe that was a stretch considering Harmony’s tendency to exaggerate, but her detailed description of his double was the only thing she had to go on other than the sensation of sitting atop the vampire.

Pushing Harmony out of the picture, Cordelia returned to thoughts of Angel. This was not the first time she had done this with him in mind. Just so long ago, before she knew he was a vampire. Now, just this second it didn’t matter. All she felt was her increasing need and the tempo of her fingers. Angel lifted her up using his strength to maneuver her onto his tumescent staff. He stretched her, Cordy imagined as she plunged two fingers inside her hot core.

Nngh! A cry left her throat and her free hand slapped against the shower wall to support herself. He felt so good filling her up moving his hips beneath her as she moved down against him. Cordelia imagined herself running her hands over his chest. She’d seen that chest and knew the shape of him. He was calling out her name, but there was something in the voice that caught her attention making her take notice.

No— Angelus! It was Angelus now and not Angel inside her. Omigod. Not him. This was so wrong, but it felt so good. Just thinking about him thrusting inside her nearly brought Cordelia close to the edge. Touching her with a thousand caresses, kissing her breathless, making her come— and biting. He’d want to bite. Angelus would prime her neck with kisses just as he’d done that night. Lave her throat with his tongue, nip at the pulse point there and bite down with his fangs.

“Angelus!” She screamed his name causing it to echo in the empty shower chamber.

Cordelia felt her body jerk as her fingers brought her an orgasm that left her shattered in its wake. Pleasure shuddered across her wet body, the cooling spray of the shower still spritzing over her skin. She sank to the floor of the shower, stunned at her own behavior and the fact that her fantasy vampire had been replaced by his own evil twin. Angelus who had threatened her with all the things she had imagined and more now brought her pleasure in this wild wicked fantasy.

Hugging her arms around her bent knees, Cordelia buried her head and let the water beat against her back. She sat there trying to understand what she was feeling. Shame floated its way to the top of the list. She wasn’t a slut. Not like the Harmonies of the world. Just thinking about Angel— Buffy’s boyfriend— put her in a not-so-nice category much less fantasizing about his evil alter ego. Kissing and touching were certainly normal enough subjects for any teen fantasy, but what was with the biting. That was so not right!

For God’s sake, she had actually cried out Angelus’ name.

Cordelia determined that she would forget the whole incident. Never happened. Despite the fact that her body still hummed with the aftereffects. Twirling her loofah back into her hand, Cordy added more soap and washed off again. This time she kept her eyes open and her thoughts focused on getting out of this shower before she turned into a prune.

“Where have you been?” Xander asked as Cordelia crept into the library to find everyone gathered around the table still discussing strategy. “Did you decide to go home for that shower?”

“No. I just felt— extra icky after practice,” Cordy lied.

She had eked out every second in the locker room completely drying and styling her hair and putting on her makeup. When there was nothing else to be done, Cordelia decided it was time to face the music. Not that any confessing was going to take place. Omigod, no! She was just going to look both vampires and Buffy in the eye without feeling a shred of guilt.

Buffy commented, “Well, you can tell Mr. DeMille that you’re ready for your close-up. If he isn’t impressed, the demons we’re fighting tonight certainly will be.”

Maybe she’d gone a little overboard. Cordelia lifted her gaze to meet the Slayer’s finding that she did not shy away from the other girl’s direct stare. Her trampled confidence was renewing itself at a fast pace as Cordy remembered that she took crap from no one— even herself. “I’m the bait again, right?”

“Right,” everyone answered simultaneously.

The demon battle went off without a hitch. The group was organized in battle and the two vampires actually worked well together. Angelus cut a bloody swath and enjoyed every second of time spent in the heated fray. Finally, the threat was over. The prophesy that portended the rise of a master demon was forestalled and once again Sunnydale would exist in relative peace at least until the following sunset.

Buffy and Angel were in a close clutch after the battle ended. As Cordelia looked on with interest, the Slayer could barely keep her hands off of her boyfriend. That was what was supposed to happen, she lectured herself. The Fates themselves had done their thing with Angel just so they could be together. So why did that leave her with an unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach?

“We’re going to do a quick patrol of the cemeteries on the way home,” Buffy called out to the group and darted away before anyone could volunteer to help.

Angel took the hand that she stretched out to him and they walked hand in hand into the still darkness of the night. The rest of them were left to clean up.

“Did I always leave you with the mess?” Angelus asked as he disposed of severed demon parts in a nearby dumpster.

“Yes,” Cordelia commented wryly. “Buffy always drags Angel off on patrol, but I guess you know that part.”

“Patrol? Is that what you think?” Angelus chuckled.

Cordelia finished wiping off the sword that he had used and placed it back in its scabbard before putting it into the trunk of Giles’ car. She preferred weapons clean up rather than demon duty. That was just— eew!

“It’s what I prefer to think.”

Willow ran around afterward passing out hand wipes. When Angelus tossed his used wipe on the ground, she protested, “No littering.”

Grabbing it, he threw it in the dumpster, but only after sending her a dark glare that gave her the willies. It looked like Angelus might prefer to toss her in with the demon remains.

Finally finished, Giles pulled out his car keys and asked the group, “Who’s riding back with me?”

Cordelia waited as she had her own Corvette. Xander and Willow both raised their hands and walked over to Giles’ car. Then she realized that Angelus had said nothing. “Are you walking back to the mansion?”

“I thought you’d give me a ride,” Angelus shrugged. “It’s on your way.”

That would leave her alone in her car with him. “Xander, why don’t you drive with us so I can tell you about the game tomorrow.”

“Nah! I live too close to Willow. You’d have to double back.” He opened the back door to Giles’s car and was about to climb in when Cordelia whined loudly.

“Why do I have to have the evil vampire?”

Angelus had thought she was getting used to him. Now she was whining about being alone with him? What the hell was that about? He’d done something to frighten her again, because he could see her shivering in her shoes at the thought.

“Oh, he can’t do anything to you,” Xander reminded her that Angelus could no longer harm humans. “He’s impotent— fangless.”

Grinding his teeth, Angelus held back the urge to accidentally crush Xander between the open door and the car. He would love to show that boy exactly what pain was, except that he couldn’t. Instead, he might have to show him a few things he could do to Cordy Chase without ever making her cry out in pain. Wonder if that would set of the Fates’ warning signal?

“Fangless. Yeah, right,” Cordelia muttered as she got into the front seat of her car.

Angelus was standing outside having not budged. Pressing the button to lower the front window, Cordelia asked him, “Are you going to get in anytime soon?”

“Just waiting for an invitation.”

“Do you really need one for my car?”

“Not unless you’re living in it,” countered Angelus. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured to drive me back to the mansion.”

Seeing that the vampire was still not in the car, Giles called out, “Is everything settled?”

Cordelia answered, “Yes, Giles. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” he called back adding a wave.

Willow waved at them both from the safety of Giles’ front seat glad that she wasn’t with Cordelia. Before climbing into the back seat, Xander also gave a wave, “’Night Cordy. “’Night Mighty Mouse.”

Cordelia snickered as she heard Xander giving the big bad Angelus his nickname of the day. “Mighty Mouse? Where did he get that one?”

“I’m clueless,” Angelus admitted and climbed into the passenger seat of the Corvette. “If he keeps that up, Xander will discover that I can be mighty pissed off for a mouse.”

Cordelia put the car in motion and tried to control her mirth as she drove them back toward Crawford Street. It was essentially on the opposite side of the cemetery that connected with this little demon den. If Angelus’ suggestion was correct, then Buffy and Angel had headed directly there using the cemetery as a short cut.

Arriving at their destination, Cordy put the car into park and waited for Angelus to leave. He paused reaching for the door handle. “You’ve never seen the mansion, have you?”

“What’s this? You’re inviting me up to see your etchings?” Cordelia responded drolly.

Angelus laughed. “Those are actually Angel’s etchings. You can see them if you want, but I was thinking of something along the lines of trying to get you to stop quivering every time I come within five feet of you.”

Flashing a wary-eyed glare, Cordelia questioned, “And how did you intend to do that?”

“Not by dragging you to my bedrooms, if that was your concern. I thought you might be thirsty after our little workout back there at the demon-gathering. Angel keeps some stuff for the Slayer in the refrigerator.”

She sat staring at him for ten seconds, thinking that this was a bit surreal. Angelus— evil vampire extraordinaire— was trying to be nice to her? There had to be a catch. Cordelia reasoned that she would not walk into the home of any actual first dates, especially if they were psychopathic killers. So, why was this offer intriguing her?

Curiosity, dammit. Her stupid curiosity that always got her into trouble. “Okay, but just for a few minutes. I do have a game in the morning.”

Angelus was surprised that Cordelia had agreed to come inside. He could scent the fear rising from her in waves. What was driving her to follow him if she was so fucking frightened of him? “I’ll show you around the ground floor and then we’ll hit the kitchen. I could do with a snack myself.”

“Eew!”

“It’s a bag of O-positive not a chained captive, so relax,” Angelus opened the front door and let her walk in ahead of him.

“I repeat— eew!” Cordelia shuddered.

As promised, he showed her around the bottom floor of the mansion which was actually habitable. Parts of the place were boarded off from the fire that had gutted the entire east wing. Fortunately, the kitchen was still in working order. Cordelia watched with horrified interest as Angelus prepared a mug of blood and placed it in the microwave. She opted for a glass of ice water.

“You did well tonight,” Angelus told her from across the kitchen island. “I only had to save you the one time. Otherwise, you kicked a little demon ass.”

Cordelia propped herself up on the stool facing him. She flashed him a huge grin which had the vampire frozen at its megawatt power. “I kick ass with the best of them.”

“Seriously,” he added, “you actually got in a couple of moves before you resorted to screaming.”

“Giles said the demons were susceptible to high-pitched noises,” Cordelia revealed one of the Watcher’s research finds. “I was just testing out the theory.”

“It didn’t do my hearing any good,” Angelus joked.

After the microwave beeped and he took out the mug containing his snack, Angelus led her into the dining room where they both took a seat at the table. Almost immediately, Cordelia noticed something strange about the chandelier overhead. It started to move. The hundreds of crystal pieces tinkled as they dinged together.

“What is that?”

Angelus glanced upward reasoning the cause within seconds. “Two guesses.”

“An earthquake?” She didn’t see anything else shaking.

“Guess again.”

The look on his face told her everything. Not that she couldn’t have guessed. Buffy and Angel were in the mansion and ensconced in one of the bedrooms upstairs. Either the floors and ceilings in this place were really thin or they were definitely going at it with a gusto that would normally be back-breaking.

Cordelia gulped down the remainder of her water. Then she gave Angelus a naive stare. “It’s really a herd of wild elephants trumping around upstairs?”

“Try my soulful alter ego and his blond bedmate— the Slayer.”

“Oh. I really didn’t want to know that.”

“Then why ask?” He got no response, but realized, “You knew all along. Cordelia, you’re in denial. Why are you so afraid to admit that thoughts of sex and vampires aren’t exactly the turn offs you pretend them to be?”

“What?”

“Don’t shy away from the question,” Angelus demanded her response. “Tell me why you followed me in here tonight, Cordelia.”

“I was curious about the mansion.”

“You mean you were curious about me.”

Curious about Angelus? God, yes. After everything Harmony had told her who wouldn’t be curious. Not that she had come here with that in mind, precisely. Hell, she didn’t know why she had come in except that her feet just moved to follow him. Maybe she was also a little curious about Buffy and Angel, but it was all too apparent how that was going. Now she was left with facing Angel’s evil alter-ego and wondering how it was possible to be attracted to someone who frightened you.

“I-I thought you were supposed to be trying to make me less afraid of you,” Cordelia was getting antsy and kept looking up at the ceiling where the chandelier kept tinkling and shaking madly. “If this is your technique, it isn’t working.”

Rising out of his chair, Angelus set his empty mug on the table. “If it’s my technique you’re interested in, Cordelia, then come over here and you’ll forget all about being scared of me. I promise you that.”

Her heart was pounding in her ears. The chandelier suddenly stopped its rhythmic sway and the only sound in the room was her heaving breath as she panted out her confusion.
“I— I have to go. This was a mistake.”

As Angelus approached her, Cordelia leapt out of her chair. She looked like a frightened deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. “Come here,” he repeated his words this time sounding them as a command as he stopped only two feet away.

“No,” Cordy responded defiantly while standing her ground. “That isn’t why I’m here.”

The vampire closed the space between them in a second standing directly in front of her, but not grabbing her as she expected. Cordelia let out a frightened gasp as his eyes turned a dark amber. None of his other vampiric features appeared; just the color change which she had learned was a sign of losing control.

“You think I can’t tell when you’re aroused?” Angelus let out a rumble from his chest that sent shivers down her spine. “The fear is there too, but it can’t overshadow the fact that you want me.”

“No! Stay away from me.” Cordelia tried to take a step back, but was trapped by the chair.

Lifting a hand, the vampire reached up to touch her face. “You’re so beautiful, Cordelia.”

“W-What do you want from me, Angelus?”

Stroking her skin with his fingertips, he gave her a sensual smile. “You already know the answer to that, baby. I told you what I want from you in vivid, striking detail. Except now I want more.”

The sound of his voice nearly had Cordelia leaning into him. Her entire body was focused on Angelus and she knew that he sensed it. From her flushed skin and the obvious perky betrayal of her nipples to the scent of her arousal. There he was with his handsome Angel face and his hard body just as aroused and ready as in her fantasy earlier today.

Reaching behind her, Cordelia moved the chair aside and took two steps back. “I told you to stay away from me, Angelus. Maybe you confuse me a little, but I still remember the fact that you tried to kill me.”

Turning, Cordelia fled the mansion never once glancing over her shoulder. Only when she reached the door and slammed it shut behind her did she realize that Angelus was not going to follow her.

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