fic From These Seeds (Chapter 3)

This entry is part 3 of 11 in the series From These Seeds
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Title: From These Seeds (Chapter 3)
Rating:
R to NC-17 mostly for violence, some non-con and allusions to rape, very, very dark in places.
Summary: Angelus decides to take Buffy back to the mansion to begin his revenge upon the Slayer who made him feel human. Captive Buffy gets a close-up introduction to this dysfunctional vampiric “family” that gives her new insight into Angel(us) as well as Spike.
Will Spike be able to sit back and watch this Slayer he grudgingly respects be destroyed by the same vampire who created the tragic mess that is Dru?
Can two enemies, now vulnerable to the greater evil of Angelus, become allies and maybe something more?
Setting: S2 goes AU toward the end of “Innocence”.
Disclaimers: Joss Whedon, ME, WB, Fox are the sole owners of all aspects of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”. Thanks to Joss; he allows us to play in his sandbox. I derive no compensation for these flights of fancy. The story concept is my “creation”, as is all dialogue not in the original story scripts. Some dialogue from episodes, (specifically Innocence, Passion, Becoming parts 1 and 2) at times altered for my purposes.

~*~
Chapter 3
~*~

Buffy awoke disoriented and with a pounding headache. As she began to get a sense of things around her, she realized at once that she was bound in chains, quite painfully too. She didn’t see anyone at first, only her surroundings. She was in a big pantry in a place she didn’t recognize. As her pain-clouded gaze swept the room, her eyes at last landed on Angel.

“Angel! Were we attacked by something? Are you alright?” She had no idea why Angel just seemed to be staring at her with an odd smile on his face instead of trying to free her. He didn’t seem to be injured. It must have been some very powerful demon to get the best of both of them this way!

“At last, the fairy princess wakes.” Angel moved in closer but still out of reach. “Thought I was going to have to toss water on you or something, Buff.”

This was wrong. Why wasn’t Angel acting concerned for her? She could feel blood dried on her neck and from the pain throbbing in the back of her head, she was pretty sure she had been bludgeoned. If that were so, why was Angel acting like this towards her? Surely he should be worried, trying to release her and get her help. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

“Looks like I have to try to get you up to speed, even about the obvious. I can’t believe you’ve survived this long as stupid as you are, Buffy.” Angelus thrilled as he saw her flinch at his barb.

“You might lack a lot in the sack, but you sure do give great parting gifts. Fucked the soul right out of me.” Buffy’s eyes widened in horror at what she was hearing. “Set me free at last. I should thank you, but I’d rather torture you a bit … it’s a thing.”

Buffy refused to let herself believe that the vampire in front of her had no spark of the man she loved in him. “This can’t be you.”

“Wow, you are really dim! Gee, we already covered that subject.” Angel shook his head at her blind faith in his love for her.

Buffy carefully shook her own head in denial. “Angel, there must be some part of you inside that still remembers who you are.”

“That’s just it, sweetheart, I DO remember who I am … finally!” Angel moved in closer to her and touched her cheek with false tenderness. “I’m Angelus, the biggest, baddest, meanest vampire ever to rampage and kill. You just think you’ve dealt with powerful vamps before, sister. That weak, whiny brooder you’ve been lusting after all this time is a thing of history. I am what is inside, Buffy. Now I’m out.”

“Oh, God!” Buffy was horrified at the evil she could nearly feel come off him in waves. She had never feared Angel before and now she felt like she was looking into the very face of the devil himself. The fact that the face was the one worn by the love of her life made it all the more heartrending.

“That’s right, you’re starting to catch on. Good girl.” Angel nodded in approval. “Oh, and your God won’t be able to help you at all from now on, so I wouldn’t bother him with calls for help. You belong to me, remember. Just yesterday you didn’t mind the idea. Get used to it.”

“Wh–wh–what are you planning to do?” Buffy refused to let the tears gathering in her eyes slide down her face.

“Oh, I have lots of plans. First though, I think I should go find your buddies and reassure them you’re in good hands. Well, my hands anyway.” Angel leered at her then began to whistle a tuneless melody as he turned and left her hanging.

“NO!” Buffy shouted at Angel’s retreating back. “Leave them out of it! It’s me you want to kill…well here I am, kill away.”

Angel had already left the room but smiled to himself as he heard the panic in her voice. She was trying to deflect his evil onto herself and away from her loved ones. All his best projects did that! He’d spent years playing that game with Spike and Dru. He’d threaten one only to get the other to offer themselves to suffer the pain instead. This was going to be great fun. It almost would make up for all those years he was chained inside that namby-pamby Angel.

“Not gonna kill you, pet. Not just yet anyway.” Spike had entered unnoticed as his grandsire began to do his work on the Slayer.

Buffy twisted her head at the direction of Spike’s voice and spat her anger his direction. “You did this somehow! How did you get rid of Angel’s soul, you bastard?”

“Think I want that wanker around, pet? You’d better think again. No, this one’s all on you,” Spike threw back at her, feeling a bit smug when he saw the truth register.

“Better off sticking with the heartbeat positive crowd, luv. Good to remember that ‘S’ in the beginning of your title too.” He relished the hurt look on Buffy’s face as she got the joke at her expense.

“Are you here to gloat, or start the torture Angel threatened me with?” Buffy looked at the vampire in the wheelchair and wondered what sort of damage he would be able to do and how she could stop him if he tried.

“Neither, actually. Never was one for the whole torture scene. Too much of a waste and bother, if you ask me. Rather a good brawl with fists and fangs.” Spike looked at her now bleeding wrists with ill-concealed hunger.

Buffy noticed the direction of his gaze and drew back in fear. Spike didn’t have his bumpies showing, but his obsessive stare at the trickle of blood unnerved her. Even a handicapped vamp could drain her and she couldn’t stop him.

“Don’t worry, pet,” Spike offered. He noticed her increased pulse rate and was gratified that he could still instill a bit of fear in the Slayer, even if it was only because she was manacled to the wall. “Not worth the reaction from the Poof if I take a sip without permission. You’re not bleedin’ near enough to chance getting on the old bastard’s bad side. Not a pretty sight.

“I wouldn’t have done it to you this way, luv. No dignity in it.” Spike wheeled out on that remark, leaving a confused Buffy to ponder what he meant.
~~~

Angelus tracked the Scoobies to the library at the school. Really, tracking wasn’t necessary. The group was as predictable as the seasons. The annoying boy had just stormed out, followed by a desperate sounding Willow. They seemed to be arguing about something other than their missing friend.

Angelus hit the breaker, throwing the school into blackness.

Xander stopped in mid-comment when the lights went out. “Now I’m having a wiggins.”

Willow looked equally startled by the sudden darkness. “What’s going on?”

Just as Xander began to guide Willow back into the library, Angelus appeared behind them at the end of the hallway.

Xander recognized the dark form instantly as Angel and called out his name.

“Thank God you’re okay. Did you see Buffy?” Willow asked. She knew that Buffy had been terribly worried when she woke to an empty apartment after finally making love with Angel. No one else knew that deep secret shared between best girlfriends. It made Willow feel special.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve seen Buffy. Just come from seeing her actually,” Angel answered. “What’s up with the lights?”

“I don’t know. Listen, I think I have an idea.” Xander was delighted to have someone with whom to share his idea for destroying the Judge. Xander knew that Angel dismissed him as unimportant to the group and to Buffy; maybe this would earn him a bit of respect from the brooding undead.

Angel acted just as uninterested as Xander expected. No way would the vampire with a soul ever credit Xander Harris with being able to come up with the winning solution to their Judge problem. Angel looked at the boy and said, “Forget about that now. I’ve got something to show you. Go get the others.”

Xander went to call the rest of the group, more out of habit in obeying the warriors of the group. Angelus then tried to lure Willow to his side. “And Willow, come here.”

Willow had a prickly feeling on the back of her neck that made her walk very, very slowly towards Angel. She had always found him a bit creepy, but Buffy loved him so he had to be all right. Still there was something about him tonight that just felt different … offwrong.

As if sharing the thought, Xander stopped and turned around.

Before either of the Scoobies had a chance to say a word, Jenny Calendar appeared at the end of the hall opposite Angel. She held up a cross and spoke in a businesslike voice to Willow, “Willow, get away from him. Walk towards me.”

As Willow looked from Angel to her teacher, she stopped moving altogether in her confusion.

Angelus used the brief hesitation to sneak up behind Willow and grab her by the throat.

Willow cried out in fear and confusion, “Angel!”

Miss Calendar was the one to reply, however, with the chilling information that he was no longer the Angel they knew. His soul was gone and they were dealing with the most vicious vampire in the annals of his order.

Miss Calendar crept forward, holding the cross aloft until she made a lunge for the vampire, allowing Willow to escape his grasp.

Angelus sneered at the gathered Scoobies and said in a chilling tone, “I’ve got a message from Buffy.”

Giles had entered the hallway upon hearing the commotion caused by the scuffle. “I don’t believe we need to hear anything YOU have to say. Buffy is perfectly capable of speaking for herself.”

Angelus chuckled and looked the Watcher in the eye. “Well, now, that is true. Buffy is still able to talk… for now. The thing is she’s rather tied up right now, or perhaps I should say chained up. She’s a bit worried about all of you at the moment, silly girl. Doesn’t seem to understand that she’s the one with the most to lose.”

Xander started to charge this harbinger of evil, shouting, “What have you done to her, Dead Boy?” Only Willow’s firm grip kept her friend from handing himself over to the eager predator.

“You mean aside from our one night of bliss?” Angelus reveled in the look of disgust and horror that crossed the faces of Giles and Xander at that bit of news. “I’ve just, shall we say, relocated her for now. Can’t take a girl’s maidenhead and not bring her presents, after all. I’m thinking the bodies of all her friends might make a statement.”

Xander glared at Angelus and snarked, “And what statement would that be? ‘I’m a pathetic insano-demon with a bad case of the stupids.’ ‘Cause I’m thinkin’ that Buffy is gonna kick your undead ass from here to Nevada before she sends your dust to hell.”

Angelus did laugh at that. “More likely Dru’s finally going to have a playmate who’s on the same level she is before I’m through. By the time I’m done with her, she’ll be begging me to send her anywhere but the hell I’ve made for her here.” Angelus stood tall and stared down the gathered group before declaring, “The only pathetic part of me was that soul and it’s long gone. Time this hellmouth saw what a real Master Vampire is like. You are lucky; you get front row seats. Some of you will even get to be part of the play.” Then, with a speed that none of them had ever seen Angel exhibit, Angelus was gone.

~~~
Dru had gone out to meet her daddy, to hunt and feed, leaving Spike with a mansion containing bored minions and The Judge.

Spike wheeled himself into the large living room, more out of boredom than for any other reason. He had been working on walking in his room. He had no plans for any of his “family” to know ahead of time that he was strengthening and healing. Knowing Angelus, he’d find a way to make Spike’s injuries permanent.

The Slayer still hung in chains where Angelus had moved her the night before. The girl looked to be asleep as only one who had been taken to the edge of exhaustion and then flung over could be.

Spike was easily able to imagine her little band of wannabes frantically out looking for her to no avail. Her Watcher likely thought his Slayer was dead at the hands of the Great Poof. They didn’t know Angelus like Spike did. Killing the Slayer was the absolute last thing the wanker wanted to do.

No, Angelus would have plans to surpass the job he’d done on Dru all those years ago. Nothing he liked better than to completely destroy a lovely and strong woman and then turn her. Spike had never heard of a turned Slayer, but there was no reason Angelus wouldn’t at least try. That would be his masterpiece.

The girl was too wrapped up in the misery that came from having her love turn evil on her to suspect the full depths of his depravity yet. The fun for Angelus would be her slow awakening to what he was not only capable of doing, but planning to do. Only then would the true fun and games begin.

Spike felt as if he were about to witness what had been done to his princess all over again and he hated the idea. True, the Slayer was his enemy and not the object of his love, but he had lived with the results of Angelus’ “art” for over a century and knew this little girl would have it even worse.

It almost felt as though he were thrown back in time and put in a position to effect the outcome with Dru in some way, to somehow make things better. That thought bothered Spike and confused him. He had never felt the weight of responsibility more, and from such an unlikely source at that.

He wheeled himself closer to Buffy and reached a tentative hand to touch her side. The scratches and abrasions she had displayed just the previous night were rapidly healing and the small amount of bleeding had long since ended. There was still caked blood in her hair from the blow to the back of her head.

Buffy stirred, the slight rattle of her chains alerting Spike that she was coming round. “Wakey, wakey, Slayer,” he murmured softly.

Buffy come to painful consciousness, keeping her eyes firmly shut as she let her mind catch up to her waking body. Her first awareness–that she was chained and in pain–made her determined to be clearheaded before her captor could realize she was awake. She was going to have to be very, very smart to survive this mess.

She heard the soft, recognizably accented voice of Spike and began to remember the events of the previous day. ‘Angel! No, not Angel! His soulless self, his evil self.’ The genie was out of the bottle and Buffy had no idea how to shove him back in!

She remembered being moved to the large room and displayed like a sick trophy in front of a group of vamps that seemed to look to Angel as their leader.

She remembered loony Drusilla, now quite healthy except in mind, hanging on Angel’s arm and bouncing in excitement. She remembered a gaunt, wheelchair-bound Spike glowering at his girlfriend and looking daggers at Angel, the only vamp that didn’t seem to pay any attention to the captured Slayer. No, even with her eyes closed, she knew it was Spike’s voice she was hearing.

“Slayer, I know you’re awake. You need to stop playin’ here if we’re gonna figure a way out of this mess you got yourself into, yeah?” His voice was still low, as if to keep from being overheard. “The Poof’s out tormentin’ the natives, and the half-wits he’s surrounded himself with are in the kitchen playin’ poker. Don’t think we’ll have lots of time for heartfelt chats, so you need to open those green peepers and work with me here.”

“What do you want, Spike?” Buffy had bitterness far beyond her seventeen years in her voice. “Come on, you gotta be loving this. Maybe if you’re a good boy, Angel will let you have a piece of me and you can pay me back for that chair!”

Spike let out a short burst of laughter in reply. “Don’t know the old man very well, Slayer. No way would I get so much as a lick no matter what I do. Only one he likes tormentin’ more than me right now is you. In fact, I gotta be crazier than Dru to even think of helpin’ you out. Oughta just sit back and enjoy the break, watch the show.”

“Come on, Spike, you can’t expect me to believe you have any idea of helping me.” She raised her head and looked the vampire in the eye, surprised to see the sincerity there. “Why would you care what Angel does to me, except to enjoy the view?”

“Don’t fancy seein’ a strong warrior taken this way. Doesn’t seem fair. Fighter like you comes around only once in decades. Need to go out fightin’, not tricked because you got a warm fuzzy for the wanker.” Spike grinned at the chained girl. “Really, Slayer, didn’t you notice how many times I could have had you but didn’t? I want to take you out when you’re in top form, not when you’re under some spell or gift wrapped by an old friend.”

“As if you could have ever taken me out,” Buffy snorted. “You’re the one that’s gotten lucky not to be dust. I had you more than once and decided you weren’t worth my effort.”

“Whatever. Look, point is, this isn’t right. Why do you think I called off the hit with the Order of Taraka? Surely your Watcher explained that they don’t stop when they have a contract. Didn’t seem right doing you that way. Want to take you out one on one, fit and fightin’.” Spike actually smiled at the thought.

“Suppose I believe you for now. What’s Angel’s plan?” Buffy hated the vulnerability in her voice as she asked.

“Not that the bugger actually consults with me, but judgin’ from hints he’s dropped, he’s plannin’ on relivin’ the Dru years, only one better. Not plannin’ on turnin’ you ‘til you’re batty as Drusilla and as much his girl as she’ll always be.” Spike had a look of disgust along with pain as he thought of his destroyed dark princess.

Buffy’s face lost all color at the realization that Spike was most likely right in his guess about Angel’s plans. She had been expecting Angel to beat her or bleed her the night before and was confused that he had not. The memory of what he HAD done and said, however, caused tears to pool in her eyes.

“Look, Slayer, I don’t know how to make this right, but don’t give up yet. Give me too much pleasure to bugger up the wanker’s plans not to help get you out of this. Haven’t got a plan put together yet, but we’ve got a bit of time.” Spike began to run different scenarios through his mind for how to let the girl’s Watcher know where she was being held.

“He’ll work on your mind first, pet. Gotta prepare for that. Don’t listen to anything he says to you– it’s all rot. Don’t go trustin’ him either. None of that Stockholm Syndrome crap.” Spike had read of kidnapping victims who became willing followers of their captor because of this unusual survival instinct. The last thing Spike wanted was to try to help the Slayer only to have her shift her loyalties to Angelus and turn on him.

“He’s going to kill my mom and my friends.” Buffy couldn’t keep the sob from her voice. “I’m supposed to protect them and it’s because of me that they’re gonna die.”

“No, it’s because of Angelus. ‘Sides, don’t know that he’ll manage to do it at all,” Spike sought to reassure her. “You lot have managed to foil my every effort so far. No reason to think they can’t take on Angelus and win.”

Spike had an ugly thought pass through his mind at that point and had to ask, “Wanker have an invite to your house?”

Buffy let out a low wail of misery. “Yes.”

“Right then. Good place to start,” Spike muttered. “I’m gonna be out for a while. Takes a bit of time bein’ in this chair, so don’t expect me to roll back with a quick report. Your mum good at dustin’ vamps?”

“Mom doesn’t believe in vampires or demons. She doesn’t know about me.”

Buffy lifted her eyes to look into the surprised vampire’s face.

How long have you lived on the Hellmouth?” Spike was stunned by the numbers of humans that managed to not see what was right in front of their eyes in this town. “Just what did she think she was takin’ that axe to at your school?”

“A gang on PCP. That’s what the principal and the police told everyone.” In spite of her circumstances, Buffy had to smile slightly at that memory. “Yeah, I know. Still, denial is a nice river.”

Spike and Buffy both chuckled a bit at that.

“Try not to pull too much on those wrist manacles. You won’t be able to break them. Knowin’ the Poof, he’ll have had them magically reinforced. Save your strength for when it’ll count.” Spike began to wheel away then turned back for one more bit of warning. “When they get back, Angelus is likely to start in on you. He’ll want you awake so you can buy a little time by pretendin’ to be unconscious. Be a good idea if you don’t say anything about our little chats. Less they know, the better. Oh, and Dru may sound crazy, but she’s psychic. Don’t underestimate her.”

With that last bit of information, Spike wheeled himself out of the mansion in the general direction of Sunnydale proper.
Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/43627.html

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