The Return, Chapter Ten
From: "Little Slayer" <little_slayer@hotmail.com>
Author: Little Slayer
Email: little_slayer@hotmail.com or little_slayer@buffymail.com
Title: The Return
Distribution: Anyone can have it. Just ask.
Rating: PG.
Author’s Note: Sequel to The End.
Feedback: If you don’t send feedback, I’ll sick
Faith on you like a dog on a bone. Or in her case a dog on
a…okay, I’m not going to finish that, but you all get
the point. Actually, no, I can't sick her on you because of
one really important reason…
Disclaimer: I don’t own him! Uh, her. Or
Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, Joyce, and everyone else. They’re
all in here. I don’t own Angel’s nickname of
Peaches. The only thing I own is Mya. She’s mine.
I created her. And so I can easily destroy the skanky
little…uh, oops. All the Buffyverse people belong to
Joss Whedon and anyone else who legally owns them. Anybody
who has been either A) mentioned on BtVS, or B) seen on BtVS, I
don’t own. I do own a few people but am too tired to
name them.
Dedication: To Paul. I’m an evil bitca. *EG*
Chapter Ten, The Untitled Chapter
Angelus paced in
the library. Buffy was supposed to be there ten minutes ago
and frankly, the people he was surrounded by were creeping him
out.
“Could this be
any more boring?” he muttered.
“Well, you could
stand over there and we could use you for a dart board,”
Xander suggested and pointed by the doors.
“Or you could
stand over here and I could break your neck,” Angelus
retorted.
“You wouldn’t
touch me,” Xander said confidently. “If you do,
Buffy’ll kill you.”
“Really?
Would you care to make a wager on that?” Angelus asked.
“I think that she could care less. But then again,
spending three hundred years with someone really helps you forget
all of the little people you used to know.”
“So, were you and
Buffy close?” Willow asked.
“If we weren’t,
I wouldn’t be here. I’d be out helping Kelvin and
you’d all be dead,” he told her matter of factly.
“Where did Buffy
say she had to go?” Giles asked.
“I’m not
sure. She said her spidey sense was going off the charts
and that she was going on a scouting mission. She took
Spike and Dru with her and sent me here.”
“So…what did
you two do in hell?” Cordelia asked.
“Stuff.”
“Like…”
Cordelia said with a small movement of her hand.
“Well, whenever
we saw each other we’d drop to the ground and fuck like
bunnies,” Angelus said in a serious tone. Angel
dropped a book and the library was silent, everyone looking at
him. Xander coughed. “I’m lying. We’ve
never done that…not that it wouldn’t be fun, but she’s
not my type. She’s too arrogant and stuck-up, not to
mention irritating. Everything she does it right. And
everything I do is wrong. Well, that and the whole Slayer/vampire
thing.” He looked directly at Angel. “Not
that that’s ever stopped her before.”
“What’s
never stopped me before?” Buffy asked as she, Dru, and Spike
walked into the library. Angelus smirked at her.
“What have you been telling them?”
“He said that you
guys…slept with each other in hell,” Cordelia supplied.
Buffy raised an eyebrow.
“No, she’s
got it all wrong,” Angelus protested.
“Oh really?”
Buffy asked, not able to keep the sarcastic tone from her voice.
“Yeah. I
never said we slept with each other. I said that we dropped
to the ground and fucked like bunnies,” Angelus told her
with a grin.
“Numerous times,”
Angel said.
“Lies, all lies,”
Buffy said. “The closest he’s ever gotten to me
was when I kicked him between the legs after my 17th birthday.”
Angel and Angelus winced at the memory.
“Don’t
remind me,” Angelus muttered. Spike cleared his throat.
“Are we going to
get on with this already? We’ve wasted enough time as
it is,” he grumbled. “I want to go and kill the
bad guys. I don’t really fancy your mate sucking us
into hell for all eternity. The fact he hates you is enough
to get my bloody balls chopped off!”
“Okay, okay, we
can go now,” Buffy said with a bored tone.
“I find it very
comforting that you think of this as a walk in the park,”
Giles commented.
“It’s not
that…it’s just, when we were on our way here, my spidey
sense was going off the charts. So we went on a little
scouting mission, and, well, we saw what looked like Mya meeting
with a group of vampires.” Everyone looked at Buffy,
and she continued. “So we went closer to see what was
up, and saw it was our little friend Trick that was with her.”
“But,”
Drusilla said. “We never got a good look at the girl
he was meeting with. All we know is she’s about the
same height and build.”
“A lot of people
have the same height and build,” Angel pointed out.
“You look a lot like Mya. Same height, same weight,
same hair color.”
“That’s the
problem,” Buffy said. “We can’t be sure.
Just, be on the alert when she’s around. Something’s
up and I intend on finding out what.” Quickly, the
group gathered their weapons and left the library.
*****
Buffy paced in the
library. Her arm throbbed and her hair was dancing across
her face; she ignored them both and glanced again from the clock
to the doors. It had been almost ten minutes since they had
escaped. She still couldn’t figure out how the
vampires knew that they were coming. It was as if someone
had told them. Buffy shook her head, she didn’t like
the idea of a traitor in the group. She turned her back to
the doors and peeled off her jacket. Fresh blood oozed down
her arm and she noticed several bruises on the other arm.
Her wrist was sore and she could barely use her right shoulder.
*I got hurt worse than I thought,* Buffy thought to herself.
She knew she should probably bandage everything quickly before
the others saw; they always went nuts when she hurt herself badly.
Taking in a deep breath, pressed her left hand against her
shoulder to see if it was broken. Tears fell from the
corners of her eyes from the pain and she pulled out some
bandages from t!
!
he first aide kit on the counter. Since it wasn’t
broken, she wrapped it carefully and then made it so her arm
would sit against her side. Then she slipped her jacket
onto her shoulders and began to pace again. The first to
enter the library were Spike and Dru. Buffy went over to
them and looked them over for any serious damage.
“You two okay?”
she asked.
“Yeah. And
you?” Dru asked. Buffy sighed and decided she shouldn’t
hide anything from the two vampires.
“I’ve been
better,” Buffy said and let her jacket slip off of her
shoulders.
“My god, are you
alright?” Spike asked.
“Nothing’s
broken, at least, I don’t think anything’s broken.
My shoulder hurts like hell and I can barely move it, other than
that, just a few cuts and bruises,” Buffy told them.
“Don’t tell the others.”
“Then you’d
better be putting on your coat, ducks,” Spike told her.
“They’re almost here.” Buffy put on her
jacket again and stood silently as her battered friends walked
into the library. She looked over them and realized it was
a miracle that they made it with their lives. She made a
quick head count to see if everyone was there. *Okay, I’m
here, so’s Spike, Dru, Whistler, Giles, Xander, Cordy,
Willow, Oz, Angel, and…* Buffy frowned and looked counted
again. *Me, Spike, Dru, Whistler, Giles, Cordy, Willow, Oz,
Angel, and…*
“Has anyone seen
Angelus?” Buffy asked quietly. Several heads shook no.
“We were talking
Buffy,” Giles said. “Nobody has seen him since
earlier tonight. He wasn’t in battle with the rest of
us.”
“In fact, he
disappeared right before we left,” Angel said. She
looked at them.
“What are you
saying?” she asked.
“Buffy, they knew
we were coming,” Giles told her. “Someone told
them.” She looked at him and then at the faces who
refused to meet her gaze.
“If you’re
going to accuse my *friend* of something, come out and say it
Giles,” Buffy told him. Her voice lost the tenderness
it held moments earlier when she was making sure Drusilla and
Spike were safe.
“We think he
warned them,” Angel told her.
“He wouldn’t
do that,” Buffy protested.
“He’s a
demon,” Xander said.
“He’s my
friend,” Buffy said again. “He wouldn’t do
that to me.”
“I lived with him
in my head for a hundred years Buffy,” Angel said quietly.
“You have no idea what he’s capable of.”
“He’s
changed.”
“Obviously not
enough,” Angel said. Buffy lifted her face and stared
him coldly in the eyes. She then let her gaze travel around
the room and found nobody looking at her.
“Do you have any
proof?” she asked.
“The prophecy,”
Oz responded.
“Do you care to
elaborate or are you just gonna leave it at that?” Buffy
asked sarcastically.
“‘And one
the Slayer is connected to shall betray her and she shall die,’”
Angel said, quoting the old book. She raised an eyebrow.
“‘And one
the Slayer is connected to,’” she said. “And
in rough translation, it means someone I know who knows that I’m
the Slayer.”
“It could mean
that,” Giles murmured after a few moments.
“‘But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell
you everything,’” Buffy whispered. “The
Master told me that before he killed me. If I hadn’t
gone down there, he wouldn’t have been able to leave.
Now you are accusing my friend of doing something that anyone
could have done. We barely got away with our lives. I
suggest that you read more thoroughly about this prophecy, then
get back to me. That is, if I’m still talking to you.”
“You can’t just do that,” Giles protested.
“Watch me,”
Buffy said and pushed her way through Giles and Angel.
Angel reached out to stop her and grabbed her right shoulder.
Buffy cried out in pain and whipped her body away from Angel.
He recoiled, shocked that his touch could cause her so much pain.
Unsure if her tears were from pain or betrayal, Buffy ran from
the room. Angel took a few steps to follow her, but Giles
stopped him by placing his hand on Angel’s shoulder.
“No Angel, let
her go,” he told him.
“But Giles, what
if we’re wrong,” Angel protested. “What if
he’s not responsible. She’ll never trust us again.”
“All the facts
point to it,” Giles said. “Soon, she’ll see
it also.” Angel let his gaze flow out the library
doors and sighed.
“I hope so,”
he whispered quietly. “I hope so.”
*****
Angelus slowly
regained consciousness and the memories of what happened flooded
back to him. He had heard a strange noise and pulled away
from the group to investigate. Then he was surrounded by
vampires and hit over the head…repeatedly. Growling,
he stood only to find he was chained to a wall. *Oh this is
just great,* he thought. Mya stalked in front of him,
holding a bottle of holy water.
“Why hello
sleepyhead,” she greeted. “How are you?”
“If you’re
going to threaten me with that holy water…I’ve had
worse,” Angelus spat. She glared at him and threw the
bottle at his feet. It shattered into the wall and slashed
up his legs. Angelus clenched his teeth together.
“You see, if you’d
been nice, I would’ve just staked you and got it over with.
But now, now I’m gonna have to make you scream,” she
said.
“Good luck, not
even the Slayer could do that,” Angelus replied.
“I’M THE
SLAYER!” she yelled. “Not that *BITCH* Buffy.
Me.”
“No, actually,
you’re not. You seem to forget that small thing where
you sent her to hell for three hundred years and had your powers
revoked. You are helpless,” Angelus replied calmly.
“There’s nothing you can do to me.” Mya just
grinned wickedly.
“Already done,”
she said and sauntered over to two vampires Angelus hadn’t
noticed. She handed him a set of keys. “Wait
five minutes then let him go.”
“But –
” one started.
“DO IT!” she
screamed then stalked out of the room where he was being held.
After five minutes, the vampire who had the keys walked over to
where Angelus was chained.
“Now I’m
just following orders,” he said. “You aren’t
going to kill me, are you?”
“Nah, just let me
out of here and I’ll forget I ever saw you. If you
cross me a second time though, or the blonde Slayer, you won’t
live to cross us again,” Angelus threatened as his chains
were unlocked. As soon as they dropped from his body,
Angelus jumped forward at the two vampires; they flinched.
Shaking his head in disgust, the angry vampire stalked from the
mausoleum and off towards the abandoned warehouse where the
others were supposed to be.