Dies Irae

By Medea

Chapter Seven

Although weary, they recovered before any unfortunate passersby noticed them.

Wanting to minimize their visibility, Spike broke into a car, hotwired it, and had them at their Southwark flat in no time. They abandoned the car several blocks from the building, before meeting the agent who was waiting to hand them the keys. The young man, who appeared to be Indian or Pakistani, showed them into a spacious, furnished flat, which he assured them had thick drapes and was already wired with Ethernet cable. Once he was persuaded that they found the arrangements suitable, he let himself out.

"I'm bloody drained after that trip. Who's up for a hunt?" Spike asked.

"A childe after my own heart," Angelus voiced his approval, before adding snidely, "How about you Rupert? Care to join us?"

"Thank you, but no," Giles answered, too weary to rise to Angelus's bait.

Willow opted to stay behind with Giles. As her vampire companions started to leave, she cautioned, "Try not to attract too much attention. Remember that your reputations precede you. Anyone associated with the Watchers Council would easily recognize you, especially if you're together."

"How did I ever survive all these centuries without you?" Angelus drawled condescendingly.

"Care to join us, luv?" Spike offered.

Before Willow could answer, Angelus taunted her further. "With that fiery mane of hers? Hell, then we'd really be a matched set. We might as well phone ahead to let them know we're coming."

Willow shot daggers with her eyes and answered sweetly, "No thanks, boys. I think I'll stay with Giles and work on our strategy. But, Angelus, darling..."

She paused for effect, waiting until she had his full attention. Then she waved her hand before her, shimmered, and reappeared with curly brown tresses, sable eyes and honey-gold skin, and continued, "...I know how to keep a low profile. We'll see how well you--"

Before Willow had finished speaking, Angelus crossed the room and delivered a savage, back-handed blow to her face. The impact drove her to the floor, where she shakily clutched her hand over a bloody nose. She annulled the glamour spell. Angelus crouched down, grasped her hair, and pulled it back until she was forced to look up at him.

His eyes were cold.

Spike growled angrily and moved as if to intercede. A low, menacing growl held him back.

"William, *stay*!"

Angelus addressed Willow with the same, deadly voice which brooked no disagreement.

"Never mouth off to me. This is your first and last warning. I'll deal with you later."

Although the air was thick with tension, Giles found the resolve to speak.

"We're supposed to be fighting the Council, not each other."

Without diverting his piercing gaze from Willow, Angelus replied, "I haven't lost sight of that, Rupert. But someone has forgotten her place."

As much as her dignity rebelled, Willow knew that she must salvage their alliance so that they could complete the mission. Lowering her eyes in submission, she murmured, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me, Angelus."

He gave her a smug half-smile and said, "That's better."

Without warning, Angelus pulled her roughly up to him and captured her mouth in a harsh, dominating kiss. When he released her, he winked and added, "You can persuade me to forgive you...later... Let's go, Spike. It's probably been ages since you've been hunting with an equal."

Rising to his feet, Angelus walked back to Spike. The blond vampire cast an anguished glance at Willow. He was torn. Inwardly, he felt a twinge of shame at how closely his sire's last remark had hit home. While he did love to hunt with Willow, and found her absolutely enchanting when she was stalking her prey, she didn't thrive on drawing out their fear. At the same time, Angelus's cavalier domination of Willow evoked some of Spike's more bitter memories of the dark vampire's previous return. Mission or no mission, he'd be damned if he was going to tolerate a repeat performance.

However, Spike eased slightly when Willow managed a slight smile for him. He returned it, knowing that this must be equally difficult for her. Nothing in her unconventional existence had prepared her for a vampire like Angelus. Familiar impulses, forged from many an incident with a tearful, broken Drusilla, welled up in the blond vampire. He prepared himself to put himself in Angelus's way and keep him from dissecting her, one vulnerable spot at a time, as only Angelus could.

He wasn't in a wheelchair this time, and could handle whatever Angelus dished out.

Might even enjoy it.

Saying nothing further, Angelus and Spike left to hunt.

When they had gone, Giles helped Willow to her feet.

"Did he hurt you?" Giles asked gently.

"Nothing permanent," Willow assured him. "Mostly my pride."

Clenching his jaw, the ex-Watcher muttered, "Ten days and counting..."

Willow tried to keep up with Giles's discussion of their strategy for ensnaring the seven conspirators, but found herself numbly retreating into her own mind. At one point, Giles noticed her withdrawal and diplomatically proposed that they should continue this later, since he was tired and needed his rest. Willow smiled at him gratefully.

"This isn't going to be easy," Giles acknowledged soberly.

"I know," came Willow's soft reply. "I'm not ready for this...It's still too raw. I just want to stop everything and cry it all out. But I can't...not with *him* around..."

"No, he would certainly find a way to exploit any weakness. I, as well as anyone, know about his talent in that area," Giles agreed. "Just remember, Willow, that as dubious as this alliance is, it is *still* an alliance. You quite rightly pointed out that Angelus is operating under certain constraints. So, for what it's worth, I believe we are relatively safe for now."

Willow nodded and closed her eyes. For a few moments, she remained silent as she struggled with powerful emotions. Emotions she knew Angelus would ridicule her for feeling. After all, it was because of her weaker demon that she cared for the select group of humans who had been her companions during the past ten years. To Angelus, her grief over the death of a Slayer would be one more sign of her inferior status.

Opening her eyes once more, Willow looked at Giles with a vulnerability that she couldn't safely reveal in the dark vampire's presence.

"I wish Angel were here..."

*****

Angelus and Spike walked together in silence for a while, until Angelus finally spoke.

"Don't sulk, William. She'll get over it."

Not looking at his sire, Spike muttered, "Leave her alone, Angelus."

Angelus quirked an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me, boy?"

"Don't want to...but I will..."

"I can still beat the crap out of you, and you know it."

"Fine. Get it out of your system."

The dark vampire halted in his tracks; Spike followed suit. They faced off for several moments. It was a dance of defiance and authority they had shared since the night Angelus had wooed and turned a beautiful, cocky Englishman so many ages ago.

Spike refused to be played. No doubt his sire had already sized-up his devotion to Willow and was devising creative ways to manipulate both of them with it. It went beyond establishing his authority as senior vamp. Bloody prick considered it seduction of a sort: tear down his childer's intimacies and remind them that *everything* went through him. Remind them that he was the Alpha and Omega of their existence, and that no desire was more powerful than the bond of blood.

Well, let him play his fucking games. Spike was willing to be seduced this time. He was strong. And if it kept the bastard's attention away from Willow, so much the better.

Angelus read his childe, savoring the inner conflict that Spike so beautifully wore on his face, just as he always had. So much agitation, barely restrained. That he loved the little minion was obvious. But even more delicious was the fact that, as much as Spike's willingness to defy him could be attributed to his affection for Willow, Angelus knew that it was also part of their own, dark mating ritual. Knew it even though his childe hated to admit the truth. So many times, Angelus had watched through the Soul as Spike baited him, taunted him, gave him every excuse for a fight. And he knew that whatever discipline and passion the Soul had meted out, it hadn't been quite enough.

The Soul was too squeamish to satisfy his all of childe's appetites.

Abruptly, Angelus threw his head back and laughed.

"You've really got it bad, haven't you, Spike? First your Dark Princess, now a Red Princess."

"Sod off!" Spike glared at him.

"Don't push me..." Angelus warned darkly, before easing back into a conversational tone of voice. "We don't have much time, and there are other things I'd rather do with it than fight you. It's been over a century since things were right between us."

"Yeah, well, things change..." Spike shrugged dismissively.

"I know you and the Soul renewed the claim," Angelus continued seductively, "But don't tell me that you didn't think about this the minute I came back. He's left you wanting..."

The silence stretched out for several moments before Spike answered truthfully, "I thought about it. I'm bloody well thinking about it now. But...fuck it all, Angelus, she hasn't properly learned our ways. *Angel* saw to that."

Angelus nodded curtly. "I know. It's the only reason I let her off with a slap. You know I could have done worse...and *have* done worse to you on a number of occasions..."

"No shit," Spike chuckled ruefully.

"You learned. So will she. She'll think twice next time."

"I don't always think twice," Spike reminded him.

"You like a sound thrashing," Angelus corrected. "Does your little minion? Could be interesting..."

Spike bristled. "Don't."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Nothing permanent, Angelus...*please*..." Spike formed the last word with difficulty, hating to voice even a tacit submission to his sire.

His Willow was worth it, though.

Angelus's eyes flashed in triumph. The look put Spike in his place, and the two vampires abandoned their conflict. Spike knew that Angelus would still discipline Willow later, but he also trusted the unspoken promise that had passed between them: his sire would exercise restraint, for Spike's sake.

"Fancy a stroll through the Borough, mate?" Spike suggested, tapping out a cigarette and lighting it.

"I never could resist a chance to hunt with you, Spike," Angelus grinned. Stepping closer, he plucked the cigarette from Spike's fingers and held it aside as he covered his childe's mouth with his own. Languidly, their tongues caressed each other, soon smoothed by the sweet nectar of their blood as their demonic faces emerged and fangs danced along lips.

At last, Angelus pulled away. The cigarette had long since burned down to a column of ash. As the dark vampire discarded the remains, he purred at his childe, "I only hope this hunt ends like all the others did."

Spike's taut, muscular form quivered with desire. "Who the bloody hell needs a stroll any more..."

Angelus chuckled and drew near to Spike once more. He brought his face close to Spike's and brushed his mouth sensually over the sharp curves of his cheeks, the smooth skin of his brow, and down the enticing column of his neck. An appreciative growl rumbled in Spike's throat and his eyes slipped shut. Angelus whispered seductively in his ear, "But it's so much better after you've been serenaded by their screams...warmed by their blood...felt your lips swell at the vibrations of their pulse..."

"Someone young..." Spike hissed, painfully aroused by his sire's mesmerizing voice.

"Come...I know what you need...we've only to find her..." Angelus urged Spike to follow him.

"Her?" Spike's confusion took the edge off his arousal, and allowed him to focus.

"You'll see...you'll understand..." Angelus smiled cryptically.

The two vampires began a leisurely stroll through streets they hadn't prowled together in over a century. They laughed over memories summoned by the locale -- a familiar alleyway that had been the site of a drunken kill, a refurbished building where Spike had discovered that morphine did indeed affect vampires the same way it did humans...

"I still can't believe that little chit believed me when I told her they were *needle* marks," Spike roared, as tears of mirth squeezed from his eyes. He was so wrapped up in his story that he was caught off guard when Angelus paused and motioned for him to be silent.

The dark vampire's eyes glinted with a look Spike knew well, and he scanned the region for whatever prey had tempted his sire. His skin tingled with anticipation when he saw her walking on the other side of the street.

She was trim, almost boyish, and couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen. Her skin glowed under the light of a street lamp with that ethereal pallor so characteristic of English girls. Wide, curious eyes were softened by eyebrows that arched with a seemingly-timeless wisdom.

And tousled red hair cascaded down just to her shoulders.

"Striking resemblance, isn't it?" Angelus remarked quietly as they stalked the girl, maintaining a discreet distance.

"Absolutely exquisite," Spike agreed, entranced.

"I know what you've wished all these years," Angelus continued, "You've kicked yourself for not getting to her first, while you still could. You've wished that it had been *you* to embrace her, savor her warmth, taste her fading heartbeat...you dream of what it would have been to sire her...you wish that *you*, not some pathetic minion, shared that bond with her..."

"Yes..." Spike rasped, closing his eyes briefly.

"Then let the games begin," Angelus declared with a devilish wink.

It wasn't long before they made their move. When she reached into her handbag and fumbled for her apartment keys, Angelus knocked her unconscious, and slung her over his shoulder in a blur of motion. Within ten minutes, he and Spike had located a decrepit, unattended multi-story car park where they ensconced themselves with the girl.

As was his right, Angelus drank from her first, but didn't drain her. Unbuttoning her blouse, he ran his hand appreciatively over her bare chest. Smirking at his childe, who looked on, mesmerized, Angelus encouraged him to indulge his fantasies about Willow with their captive. Angelus pushed the girl into Spike's arms, and removed her blouse.

Spike struggled with temptation.

He closed his eyes and nuzzled the girl's neck, growing hard at the feel of her pulse against his lips.

But he couldn't do it. Shame at what Willow would feel if she knew shattered the fantasy.

Biting deep into her neck, he drained her swiftly.

When he raised his head, he saw disgust in his sire's eyes.

"What the hell was that?"

"Got carried away."

"Some things never change. She's got you whipped," Angelus sneered.

Spike shrugged, feigning indifference. "Still hungry. The chit didn't quite satisfy. Let's go find another."

He moved to get up, but Angelus stopped him. "Satisfy me, first."

With her blood trickling down his chin, Spike looked at Angelus and fire shot straight to his groin at the look of hunger in those sable eyes.

When he hesitated, Angelus taunted, "You used to have more fight in you."

Their mouths came together with brutal force as they stripped each other in a tangle of hands and clothing. The dark vampire moved behind his childe and ran admiring, possessive hands over his wiry form. Roughly, Angelus pinned Spike against his chest with an iron grip as he reached around and deftly undid the younger vampire's fly. With firm, practiced strokes he summoned forth an appreciative moan from Spike's lips.

Angelus took him hard and fast against the cold concrete. Looming over his childe's kneeling form, almost engulfing him, the dark vampire grabbed his lover's hips and plunged forward. Joined, they thrust powerfully against each other, growling as they felt their ecstasy rising. With a roar, Angelus came, sinking his fangs deep into the nape of Spike's neck. Every nerve ending in Spike's body flared, and he screamed as his sire's hand squeezed the release from his shaft.

The first rays of sunlight were just breaking over the horizon when sire and childe staggered into their temporary lair, having finished their hunt with a couple of street cleaners. The vampires could sense Giles' slow, measured heartbeat behind the closed door to one of the bedrooms, while Willow slept serenely on the couch in the main room.

Spike gazed at her and whispered to Angelus, "I'd rather she not know about tonight...about that little chit."

Angelus chuckled and lapsed into the soft brogue he used when he wanted to taunt his childe. "Goin' soft on me, are ye William? Just think of the things I could do with that dirty little secret."

"Sod off," Spike murmured, scowling peevishly at his sire.

"Oh, I'll show you the meaning of sod off, boy..." Angelus promised as he wrapped strong arms around Spike and tugged him into the spare bedroom.

*****

The following evening, just after dusk, found Willow and Giles sitting at a table in the main room discussing strategies for their initial assault on the Council. During the day, Giles had purchased a computer and had found out what he could about the seven conspirators' recent activities.

"The Council's manor is protected by some powerful Druidic runes...very ancient, and likely to keep the three of you out even if I were able to invite you in," Giles explained. "Which I probably can't, if they have formally removed my name from the roster of Watchers."

"Wouldn't they have, since you broke contact with the Council years ago?" Willow asked.

"It would have been the most likely course of action, although sometimes the Council has been known to hold off if they want someone back badly enough," Giles agreed.

"Are there any counter-spells that could override the runes?" Willow pressed further. "I did bring my faroe stone with me, but I don't want to waste it."

"I'm afraid there aren't. That is precisely the reason that these runes were chosen for--"

Giles was interrupted by a command from across the room.

"Willow...come here."

The redheaded vampire froze at the sound of Angelus's voice.

She turned slowly and saw him standing in the doorway to the bedroom he had shared with Spike that morning. He regarded her dispassionately, his face void of any expression. She knew better than to resist.

Spike had slipped out of the bedroom and was standing to one side of his sire. From the tic in his jaw, Willow could tell that he wasn't happy; he managed to flash her a supportive glance. As she began walking toward the dark vampire, she said to Giles, "Why don't you go over the plans we've discussed so far with Spike...We can pick up where we left off later."

With barely-suppressed rage, Giles watched her go. He wanted to leap up and shout at the arrogant bastard not to touch Willow, but a stern look from Spike cautioned him not to interfere. The ex-Watcher knew how deeply Spike cared for her, and couldn't imagine him allowing Angelus to do any serious harm unchallenged. So, contrary to every impulse that screamed at him to protect Willow, Giles held his peace and watched Angelus close the door behind them.

"Watcher...let's you and me go discuss the game plan over a pint in a nice, discreet little corner of the local pub," Spike proposed in a tone that made it clear he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Giles took a long, sad look at the closed door before donning his jacket and accompanying the blond vampire out into the night.

*****

Willow found herself naked, face-down on the bed, her arms secured to the bed posts. For a good fifteen minutes, Angelus lashed her with his belt. Yet aside from the angry cracks of the leather against her skin, which eventually began to draw blood, the room was silent. Angelus said nothing as he whipped her, and Willow refused to cry out. It had been over a decade since she had been treated this way, and in that time she had grown stronger and more resilient. But it hurt. The punishment was even more painful emotionally than physically, for never, *never* had Angel raised his hand to her, except in sparring bouts.

At last, Angelus stopped and sat down on the bed beside her. Almost tenderly, he released her from her bonds and waited until she rolled to her side and looked him in the eye.

"Don't presume to tell me what to do ever again, and do not mock me," Angelus warned sternly. "I brought half of Europe to its knees long before you were ever turned, so I think we've established that I know how to take care of myself."

Willow nodded and lowered her gaze, silently chanting her mantra, <we have to work together, we have to work together...>, to bolster her resolve. When she had subdued her desire to turn him into a toad, she looked up at him again and said, "I apologize for my behavior. The Powers appointed you to lead this mission, and I should have acknowledged that they wouldn't give you that authority without good reason."

"I'm glad we understand each other," Angelus replied evenly. He rose to his feet. Willow moved to do likewise but stilled when he commanded, "Stay. I'm going to get some water and a cloth to clean you up."

She was still staring at the door in shock when he returned a few moments later with a wash cloth, a towel, and a bowl which he set on the nightstand. He sat down next to her.

"Turn over," Angelus instructed. When Willow hesitated, he continued his preparations as if nothing were amiss. Submerging the wash cloth in the bowl and soaking it, he asked as he wrung out the excess water, "Must I repeat myself?"

Willow blinked at him warily but moved to comply. Angelus drew the damp cloth in long, gentle strokes across the stripes he had inflicted. In spite of herself, Willow felt herself relaxing into his soothing touch. Angelus chuckled.

"I'm not such a monster, Willow...Well, actually, I *am* a monster. But for what I have planned, I need you strong, not broken. Besides...you're under my protection, even if it was the Soul who initiated it. And I take care of my own."

As Angelus set aside the wash cloth and patted Willow's back dry with the towel. She winced slightly at the feel of rough cotton on her raw skin, then glanced at him uncertainly over her shoulder.

"You find this confusing," Angelus observed.

"I expected as much when you...disciplined me," Willow agreed, "This...nurturing...this is the part I don't get."

Her choice of words elicited a wry grin. Angelus placed his powerful hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. "It will be hard for you to understand, since you never had a proper sire. Punishments and...*nurturing*, as you like to call it...are all part of the bond. My childer are just that, *mine*. Mine to correct when they disobey me, mine to heal when they're wounded...even if I gave them those wounds. And unless they've provoked me into staking them, I'll always heal them. I don't want them incapacitated for long. I want them strong. So, you aren't my childe, but *nurturing* isn't beyond my abilities."

"Oh...well, thank you, then..." Willow stammered, still perplexed by his behavior, and somewhat hurt by the reference to her sire. But she accepted his explanation.

"Speaking of which..." Angelus drew her closer, "...you haven't fed in nearly two days."

<Hoo boy...> Willow choked back her panic. She didn't know if she could handle feeding from him...

Angelus was in no mood to give her a choice in the matter. Brushing his lips against her ear, he whispered, "Feed...or I'll force it down your throat..."

Well, if he put it *that* way...

Willow brought her mouth to his neck and nuzzled briefly before sinking her fangs into his flesh. His potent blood burned through her veins and left her dizzy with the taste of power, ruthlessness, and lust. She clutched at him fiercely, too drunk with his essence to care that this was leading where it always did...that she was about to succumb to the same, vicious bastard who had just whipped her.

Spike had said it long ago.

<*Blood* is your truth. The only truth for any of us...>

Giving into the frenzy, Willow eagerly assisted Angelus in removing his shirt, all the while suckling at his neck. Soon his clothes were fully discarded and Angelus thrust violently into Willow, who matched him with a ferocity of her own. Occasionally Willow hissed when Angelus's weight crushed her wounded back too deeply into the bed, but the pain was quickly replaced with the pleasure of his skilled ministrations. They ground their hips together in an erotic dance as Angelus nipped and sucked his way down Willow's neck toward her breasts. Teasing first one, then the other, taut peak with his tongue, Angelus eventually planted an open-mouthed kiss over her entire areola. Letting his fangs drop, he pierced the tender flesh and drew her blood into his mouth, tearing an ecstatic scream from Willow's lips.

Their movements grew increasingly frenetic, and suddenly Angelus pulled up, hoisted Willow into his arms and slammed her against the head board. She was so aroused that she scarcely noticed the pain in her back. Her body was desperate for release and a low growl rumbled in her throat. Angelus answered with an equally-feral growl as he pounded her against the wall, his cock hard and insistent. It wasn't long before both of their bodies tightened with the brief, ultimate contraction of pleasure that precedes the explosion of all tension. Willow sank her fangs into his shoulder as she rode the waves of her release.

They rested against the head board for several minutes as they came down from their climax. Angelus then withdrew from Willow, lay back, and cradled her against his chest. At last he broke the silence.

"Spike and Rupert will be back soon. Are you ready to get back to the business of murder and mayhem?"

"Yeah..." Willow muttered, still dazed. "Just...give me a moment..."

Her head bobbed slightly as Angelus chuckled deeply. After another minute or two, he pushed her up and handed her her shirt.

"Get dressed...You can tell me what you and Rupert have mapped out so far..."

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