The terror in Darien grew as the large vampire slowly
began moving, but as much as he wanted to bury his
face in Bobby's shirt until the fear vanished, the
almost graceful movements hypnotized him. He watched
as Angel carefully sat up and looked around at
everyone. He hoped that he would be overlooked, but
the second those dark eyes rested on him, he knew he
had no chance of escaping from the older vampire now.
A cool tingle preceded the rush of quicksilver as the
gland responded to his fear with its own instincts,
and he barely registered Bobby's yelp of surprise
before the quicksilver solidified and rendered him
invisible. Scurrying away from Bobby, he huddled near
the bed and wrapped his arms around his knees as he
tried desperately to sink into the wall behind his
back. There was a hushed conversation but the terror
had a firm grip on Darien, blocking everything around
him except the power radiating from the various
vampires gathered in the room.
Something dark passed before his eyes and he glanced
up out of reflex and instantly regretted it. Standing
there with an emotionless mask for a face was Angel,
and a whimper escaped from Darien before he knew it
had been formed. The mask softened slightly as a large
hand was extended, patiently waiting for Darien to
take it, but he was paralyzed by his fear.
"Darien, reveal yourself and take my hand." The voice
was soft with a hint of an accent that was like a balm
to Darien's nerves and his terror slipped a bit away.
The soft tinkling of silver bells accompanied the
color returning to Darien's sight and he hesitated for
a few moments before grasping the offered hand. Angel
helped him to his feet and with a start, Darien
discovered that while Angel was built like a brick
wall, he was only an inch or two taller than Darien
himself. Before the lanky vampire could say or do
anything, he was pulled against that hard body and his
head was pulled to one side, exposing his neck. He
struggled slightly, expecting the older vampire to
kill him, but stopped when the twin pricks of fangs
sliced through his skin, releasing a gush of borrowed
blood and dismissing the rest of Darien's fear. A
surge of pleasure unlike any he had felt before either
as a human or a vampire swept through him and he
moaned, reflexively jerking his hips towards the hard
body he was pressed against when another wave of
pleasure followed the first.
After only a few seconds that seemed to last for
years, the fangs were retracted from his neck and a
gentle tongue cleaned the skin before Angel stepped
back, his human face on. "Wha." Darien tried to talk,
but that wonderful feeling still had him, making it
hard to think.
"What was that all about?" demanded Bobby, his voice
bordering on a growl.
"Simple mate," stated Spike's voice, which seemed
incredibly far off. "Darien attacked the head of our
Order, so Angel had to reinforce his dominance over
Darien."
The pleasure was fading now, replaced by a throbbing
ache in his chest and Darien swayed a bit,
light-headed. Strong arms grasped his upper arms,
keeping him upright as he sagged against that large
body once more, and he looked up into Angel's face,
his confusion clear on his face. "What happened? Where
are we?"
"Everything will be explained when you wake up this
evening," announced Angel, helping the lanky vampire
back to his bed. Darien sat down as a bolt of pain
exploded from his chest and he gasped, his face
rippling into his demon's. "What's wrong?"
"Chest hurts," whimpered Darien, putting his hands
across the aching flesh and curling forward to
instinctively protect it. He was a bit surprised to
feel bandages beneath his fingers, but the throbbing
pain was all he could concentrate on as he tried to
use the exercises he had used when he had to deal with
a quicksilver-buildup headache. Those same gentle
hands eased him back until he was lying on the pillows
before the sharp scent of blood filled the air,
distracting him. He looked up as a bloodied wrist was
put before his face and he glanced up at Angel's
unreadable face.
"You need it to heal," he stated, his face concerned.
Darien grasped the offered wrist tightly as another
bolt of agony flashed through him and without
thinking, drove his fangs into the injured flesh,
releasing a stream of blood. It flooded down his
throat, tasting of power and age, and a delighted moan
slipped past his lips. Never had anything tasted so
good, not even that box of Godiva chocolate that Liz
once stole and split with him after a heist. Forgotten
warmth settled in his stomach and spread outward to
the rest of his body, curling around the pain in his
chest and soothing it, like the half-remembered chill
of counteragent quieted the pain in his head from the
gland.
Dimly he was aware of Angel removing his wrist and he
was eased back on the bed with the blanket pulled up
over his chest. He blinked a few times and the
pleasant feeling receded enough for him to focus on
the rest of the room. Bobby was standing next to
Willow while Spike stood near the door, radiating
controlled power as he kept his eyes on Darla who was
naked and dripping wet as she stood in the door.
Druscilla was humming to herself as she swayed on her
feet, water running down her pale skin as her dark
hair created interesting designs on her skin. Angel
brushed a stray lock of hair off of Darien's forehead,
causing him to automatically slip out of game face as
his eyes drooped under the caress. "Sleep. All your
questions will be answered in the evening," soothed
the deep voice, and before he could protest, Darien
slipped into a dreamless sleep.
*********************************************
Willow felt a bit of tension drain out of her as
Darien fell asleep again and Angel turned away from
the bed. It was still hard to tell who was dominant in
the powerful vampire as he made his way across the
room, but when he drew closer to her, the redhead was
able to see the gentleness in that dark gaze that she
had seen each time Angel appeared at the library back
in high.
"He'll be fine," stated Angel in a gentle voice, as if
he was afraid of waking Darien.
A snort from the door broke through the last of the
tension in the room. "Well now that everyone's all
lovey dovey again, I'm going to finish my shower,"
announced Darla in that superior tone of hers. Willow
felt Spike stiffen next to her and realized whatever
was going to happen was not going to be nice.
Angel was a blur as he moved to grab Darla's neck and
lift her off the floor to gaze into her eyes without
bowing his head. "Apparently ye've forgotten who's th'
Master, lass," purred the dark vampire, his voice
thick with an Irish accent. Darla's eyes widened in
recognition and Spike placed a hand on Willow's
shoulder as if the contact was the only thing keeping
him grounded. "After all, yer th' one who wanted yer
Darlin' Boy back, an' now yer tellin' me that yer not
happy about it?"
"Angelus," whispered Spike, his voice no louder than a
breath of air. Willow frowned in confusion. When he
had crossed the room, he had been Angel, but now,
dealing with Darla, he was Angelus. Did that mean that
the soul and demon were in harmony in that large body?
"Yes, m'boy, Angelus," agreed the vampire, not
removing his eyes from Darla's terrified ones. "We are
one, and it's rather nice." He glanced around as he
dropped Darla on the floor where she sat in a crumpled
heap. "It's late and tomorrow is going to be a long
day and night, so I suggest we all go to bed. Spike
and Willow, you can have the next bedroom over. Bobby,
I'm sure you'd rather stay here with your childe, but
I'll be in the room on the other side of you. Darla
and Dru can sleep across the hall if they wish." He
turned his back on Darla as if dismissing her and
approached Spike for some reason when with her face
twisted in fury, Darla leaped to her feet with a stake
in her hand that she found somewhere.
"Look out!" cried Willow as Darla lunged for Angel's
back. Faster than she could see, Angel spun to one
side, avoiding the fatal strike and grabbed Darla's
arm, twisting it behind her back.
"That wasn't very nice Darla," tisked Angel, forcing
the blond vampiress to her knees. "Willow, I have a
request to make of you. Will you cast a spell that
will tie her existence to mine?"
Frowning slightly, Willow thought over the various
spells that she had seen in numerous books over the
years. "I'm assuming you want this link one way," she
said, drawing a single nod from the dark vampire. "Off
hand, I can't think of any spell like that, but let me
talk with Giles and Anya. They might have heard of
something."
Angel nodded again. "Fine," he replied before hauling
Darla to her feet. "And since you refuse to act like a
civilized guest in my house, I will treat you as
such." Willow watched as all remaining color drained
out of Darla's face and she felt Spike shake with
silent laughter. "We'll talk to you later. Good night
everyone." With that, Angel dragged Darla from the
room and Willow looked up at Spike.
He placed a kiss on her forehead and threaded his
fingers through hers. "Let's get some sleep, luv," he
whispered as he gently tugging her out of the room.
Willow nodded and waved a quick good night to everyone
before the door closed behind her.