Children’s
Hour
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Author: Dark Star Website: Dark Star's
Portal Timeline: The start of Angel’s Season 2 Disclaimer: All characters, situations, etc, belong to
Joss Whedon; I’m just playing with them. Rating: 13 plus Summary: Buffy and Angel must join forces to save the
lives of three children Notes: The poetry extract used is from ‘The Destruction of
Sennacherib’ by Lord Byron *********** "Do you like my shoes?" Angel blinked. Judging by Cordelia’s expression, the shoes were probably
new. "They’re…nice." He offered. "And expensive?" "They certainly were." She confirmed, pleased that he’d noticed.
"And more than I can afford on what you pay me." She looked at
Angel hopefully. Apparently, no raise was forthcoming and she sighed
dramatically. Wesley arrived with coffee for everyone. "Perhaps you should buy
cheaper shoes." He commented, sipping his coffee. "I have no intention of …oh, no…" Angel recognised the pained expression and bounded to her side. He caught
her as she toppled forward, dimly aware that Wesley was saying,
"Vision!" Pain… She saw children, pitifully huddled together in a dark dungeon or
cavern... Paaiiiin…Oh God… She felt sheer terror from the children, a terrible sense of
hopelessness and dread… Pain, slicing through her skull with every shifting image… She was awash with the smell of decay; the stench so overpowering it
made her want to gag… Pain, hammering away at her brain, punctuating every horrifying scene… An impression of something huge with glowing green eyes and death in
its jaws… Oh… Angel held her firmly against his chest, her body squirming in agony. He
waited for the vision to pass, his grip on her arms firm and gentle, and his
eyes echoing her pain as he wished he could do more for her. Finally, the
vision passed, and she sagged, exhausted, back into his embrace. He heard the phone ring as he carefully steered her towards a chair. He
ignored the incessant ringing, more concerned with Cordelia’s welfare than
with clients. Wesley snatched up the receiver as Angel fussed over Cordelia,
trying to make her more comfortable. "What did you see?" He asked softly, when she had recovered
enough to understand him. "Children." She managed to say, her voice raw from
screaming." Three children. Angel, they were so scared…" "Ssh." He soothed her. "We’ll help them, Cordy, I promise.
Can you tell us where they were? Anything to go on?" Cordelia looked distressed. "I’m sorry, I…I don’t know where they
were. Somewhere underground, I think. Somewhere cold…and…" "It’s okay." Angel assured her, with more confidence than he
felt. "We’ll find them." "I may have a lead there." Wesley walked over to join them.
Angel looked up enquiringly. "That was Mr. Giles on the phone. He’s coming here to Los Angeles. It
seems he needs our help. Something about lost children…" Cordelia’s face darkened even further as she stared at him. "And
is…Buffy coming too?" "Yes, Buffy and Willow will be coming with him." "Great." Cordelia glanced at Angel, whose expression was
unreadable. "The day just gets better and better." * * * * * The group arrived from Sunnydale later that afternoon. Angel offered them
accommodation at the Hyperion, since there was plenty of room. Cordelia
organised everyone, making sure that Buffy’s room was as far from Angel’s as
she could find. "Just in case." She insisted. Giles filled them in on their problem. They had discovered that three
local children had mysteriously vanished, one right in front of their
parents’ startled eyes. Research had led them to Los Angeles, but it was a
big city and they’d felt the need to contact Angel for assistance. Further
research had revealed other disappearances in previous years from LA and the
surrounding areas, and they had uncovered several promising leads. At nightfall, Angel said, "I’m gonna hit the streets. See if I can
find anything else out." "Good idea." Wesley agreed. "We ought to try all
avenues." Angel grabbed his coat, and hesitating for only a moment, he turned back
to Buffy. "Would you…" He began. "Thought you’d never ask." She grinned back at him. She paused
only long enough to pick up her jacket, and she followed him to his car. The journey to find Angel’s contact was incredibly uncomfortable.
Conversation was stilted, even by Angel’s standards, and was spaced with
awkward silences. By the time Angel stopped the car and they got out, they
were both tense and irritable. They found Angel’s contact – a small green
skinned demon – drinking alone in a dingy bar. He jumped, startled, when
Angel appeared unexpectedly beside him. "Hello, Sam." Angel said pleasantly. "What do you want?" Sam snapped back, trying to sound annoyed.
But he was afraid of the vampire, and knew from experience what Angel could
do if he was in the mood. "Just looking for some children, Sam." Angel said, in a conversational
tone. "Taken from their homes; I’m thinking maybe by magic." Sam rolled his eyes, and decided to go for innocent. "I don’t know
nothin’". Angel sighed. He grabbed the frightened demon by his collar, and hauled
him to his feet. "Outside." He growled. "Now." Slowly, Sam made his way out to the back alley, Angel and Buffy right
behind him. When they reached the alley, the little demon decided to make a
run for it. Which way? He’d tangled with Angel before, and still remembered
how painful that had been. The little blonde didn’t look so tough, so he
decided to go for the easier option; all he had to do was push her out of the
way and sprint past. He grabbed her…and found himself flat on his back in the
filthy alley with the blonde standing over him. "Now that wasn’t very friendly." Buffy admonished. Angel strode
up and Buffy teased, "You’re slowing down, Angel." "Well, you know…I’ve got a few years on you." "You got that right." Buffy agreed, moving out of the way so
that Angel could tower over the hapless Sam. He placed his foot on Sam’s
chest, and exerted just enough pressure to make the demon gasp. "Now. Missing children. What do you know?" "I don’t know anything…" Angel’s foot came down harder and Sam cried out. "If you don’t talk to me Sam, you’ll be eating that spleen of
yours." He warned. Sam’s hand came up, to indicate surrender, and Angel released the pressure
a little. "I heard that the kids were being sent to the demon Egraih." "Why?" "I don’t know." He watched Angel’s jaw clench, and he added hastily,
"Really, man, I don’t. I heard he’s got a colony outside LA. I don’t
know why he wants the kids, but I’m betting it ain’t healthy." Angel removed his foot, and watched as Sam scurried off into the darkness. "We’d better get this information back to the others." Angel
said. He frowned at Buffy’s expression. "You okay?" "Fine." She caught Angel looking at her oddly. He knew her too
well to be fooled like that. "I’m kinda tense; I really need to pummel
something. You got any vamp territory round here?" "Yeah." Angel grinned at her. He knew that feeling well.
"Look, I’ll just get this info back to Wesley…" He pulled out his
cell phone as he spoke "…and then we’ll go find some action. Deal?" "Deal." After dusting several vampires and using up some of her excess energy,
Buffy cheered up noticeably. On the way back to the Hyperion in Angel’s car,
she kept stealing little glances at Angel’s profile. Finally, she said,
"You’re not going to ask me, are you?" Puzzled, he glanced at her. "About what?" "Riley." Angel shrugged, and returned his attention to his driving. "I figured it was none of my business." "None of your…does that mean you don’t care?" Angel sighed. "Buffy…" He started to say, but something in her expression
made him ask, "Is everything okay?" After a long pause, Buffy murmured quietly, "We…split up." "I’m sorry." Buffy shot him a quick look to see if maybe he was being ironic, or
secretly pleased, and immediately felt bad for even thinking such a thing.
Angel loved her, she knew that; and he would be genuinely upset for her. "Hey, it’s no big." She tried to sound perky. But she added
under her breath, "I never could keep a man, anyway." "Buffy, I didn’t…" "…Want to stick around. Yeah, I got that." "That’s not true." Angel shot back, trying to ignore the pain in
her eyes. "It killed me to leave you, but it was the right thing to
do." "For who?" Buffy blazed at him. "For me? You think it was
right to tear away my support? To take away the one person I could lean
on?" "You didn’t need me. And you had Giles and Willow to lean on." "It wasn’t enough." Buffy’s voice was so quiet that Angel almost
didn’t hear her. "It was you I wanted, and you didn’t care enough to
stay." "It’s because I care, that…" "Don’t." Buffy snapped. "Just don’t, Angel. I don’t want to
hear any crap about it being for my own good." "It’s true." "Says who? You always think you know what’s best for me. What about
what I want? Don’t I get any say in who I spend my life with?" **** The lobby of the Hyperion was the scene of hushed research, until the door
slammed open, and the whirlwind that was Buffy stormed in. "Tell me that you guys have found something. Because I really,
really, don’t want to spend another day with him." She gestured to Angel
who had followed her dourly in and was standing beside her. "Then how about three days?" Giles asked quietly. "Huh?" Buffy blinked in surprise. "What have you found?" Angel asked, moving closer. Wesley and Giles looked at each other, and Wesley took up the narrative. "We’ve located the colony. It’s a sect that worships the demon
Egraih, and they’re taking in new members. Willow’s managed to hack into
their computer system, and thinks she can get someone in; undercover, so to
speak." "So, what’s the prob?" Buffy asked. "Get me in, and let me
do what I do." "It’s not that simple, I’m afraid." Wesley replied. "The
sect will only accept couples. If you go in, you have to go together." Buffy took a sideways glance at Angel. Three days alone with him? Oh my
God… "I told them, bad idea." Cordelia put in helpfully. "Yes, It is." Angel agreed. "There must be another
way." Buffy glared at him, irrationally hurt that Angel didn’t want to be with
her. Wesley shook his head. "We don’t like this any more than you do. But
there’s no other way." **** Angel pulled his black convertible into the spacious parking lot. In front
of them, the darkness was broken by a myriad of lights from a very
gothic-style building. Buffy and Angel removed their bags from the car, and made their way along
the gravel path toward the building. "Why is it," Buffy muttered ruefully, "That I have a bad
feeling about all this?" Angel exchanged a glance with her, and they stepped into the brightly lit
Reception area; empty, save for an attractive blonde girl at the desk. On seeing them, she came from behind the counter, smiling a greeting. "You must be Buffy and Angel. My name is Karen. Welcome." After a brief exchange of greetings, Karen said, "I have all your
details on the desk. We always appreciate new members. There is, however, one
formality to go through." Karen led them through into an adjoining corridor. "We’ve had people trying to infiltrate our group before. Because of
this, we ask that you have a brief meeting with Charlotte. She’s an
empath." Following behind Karen, Buffy dropped back a couple of paces, and hissed
to Angel, "She’ll know! She’ll read our minds, and…" Angel shook his head. "She’s an empath, Buffy. She senses things, she
can’t read our minds." "But…won’t she be able to sense our intentions?" Angel’s eyes met hers; he had no answer to give her. Buffy sighed, and
quickened her pace to catch up with Karen. After entering Charlotte’s tiny office, Karen withdrew and left them
facing a middle-aged woman, dressed formally in a suit. Charlotte rose from behind the desk and came toward them. "There’s no
need to be nervous," She told Buffy, which for some odd reason seemed to
make her more nervous. "All you have to do is let me hold your hands." Charlotte held out her own hands, trusting them to do the same. Buffy
glanced at Angel, and shrugged. They held out a hand each, and allowed the
empath to grasp them. Instantly the woman’s body stiffened, and she let out
an involuntary gasp. She blinked several times, trying to focus, and then she
released their hands, with a warm smile. "Your love is strong." She informed them. "That’s
good." When Buffy and Angel left the office, Charlotte watched them go; a
thoughtful expression on her face. They certainly made a handsome couple; but
it was the chemistry between them that intrigued her. Contact with them had
produced a wave of energy so powerful it had taken her breath away. They
would be perfect to serve the master. Karen showed Buffy and Angel to their room, which turned out to be a small
cabin situated in the grounds of the building. She left them to settle in,
and said there was a gathering in the main hall in two hours. Buffy perched herself on the edge of the bed and looked around. It was a
room designed for comfort, with soft sheets and huge overstuffed chairs.
Under other circumstances, the opulence of the room would have made a lovely
place to spend time with Angel. Right now, it was just making her nervous. "Did you see anywhere that they might have stashed the
children?" Buffy asked, more to take her mind off being alone with Angel
than anything else. "Not so far." He replied, taking off his duster and laying it
over the back of the chair. "So, what’s the plan?" "We find monster, I slay it, we collect the children and go
home." She grinned at him. "I like it." He replied. "A little simplistic,
perhaps." "That’s me." Buffy got up off the bed. "Simplicity
girl." **** At the appointed time, Buffy and Angel made their way over to the hall. It
was full of people, eating, talking and laughing. And apparently having a
good time. "Let’s mingle," Buffy suggested. "See if we can find out
anything." Behind her, Buffy heard an odd gurgling noise. Curious, she turned and saw
a woman clutching a very small baby. "He’s beautiful." Buffy couldn’t help saying. "Thank you." The child’s mother replied proudly. Buffy wiggled her fingers over the tiny baby’s face, and tried to ignore
Angel’s little smirk at her antics. "Does he have a name?" "Ben." The woman eyed Buffy and smiled. But somehow her smile
didn’t seem to reach her eyes. "My name’s Mary. You’re new here, aren’t you?" "Buffy. Yeah, Angel and I only just arrived." Buffy’s eyes were drawn back to the child. She had always wondered, if she
managed to live long enough, if she would have a child of her own, one day.
Definitely not if you’d stayed with Angel… Aloud, she said, "You’re very lucky." "Yes." Mary replied simply. "He is my gift." "He is that." Buffy agreed. Mary moved away, and Angel lightly
touched her arm. "Buffy, something’s very wrong here." She looked at him questioningly. "Have you seen their eyes?" Angel indicated the surrounding
crowds. "Blank, like empty vessels." "Nobody’s home." Buffy murmured, thinking of Mary’s vacant look.
She glanced around, Angel was right. Nearly everyone had the same distant
look, and Buffy shuddered. "This is creepy, Angel. Let’s get out of here." She led Angel to a side door that she had seen other couples using, and
knew that it went outside. A set of wooden steps wound downwards and together
they followed its path, gently illuminated by the moon. The steps came out
onto the beach, and they walked slowly along the sand. "Did you hear anything else?" Buffy asked, enjoying the peace
after the noise in the hall. "Only that the meeting for Egraih is tomorrow night." Yeah, I got that too." Buffy, paused, realising that they had walked out of sight of the complex.
She didn’t mind that, the place gave her a major wiggins anyway. But it also
occurred to her that she and Angel were alone on the beach. She blinked.
Alone. With Angel. On a romantic moonlight beach… Angel was looking at her oddly. And he was so damned close… "Are you all right?" He asked her with concern. Without a word, and she had no idea why she did it, she stepped forward
into Angel’s embrace. His arms felt wonderful round her. It’s been so
long… "What is it?" Angel asked, gently stroking the back of her head.
"What’s got you so spooked?" "I don’t know. This whole place is just…creepy?" She looked up
at Angel for confirmation, and her eyes instantly locked on his. Uh-oh.
After moments that felt like forever, Angel’s lips finally came down on hers.
Oh yess…she responded to him with a passion she hadn’t felt in a long
time; her desire for him spreading through her body. She revelled in the
feeling of being so close to him – just as he broke the kiss and pulled away,
panting heavily. "This isn’t a good idea." He finally managed. Buffy’s whole body cried out at the lack of contact, but she ruthlessly
pushed her thoughts away. She knew Angel was right. "I know." She agreed sadly. "No touching." "Buffy…if you need my…support, I’ll give it, as always. It’s just
that we can’t…" His words trailed off. She knew the score as well as he
did. Buffy sighed. "We’d better get back anyway, before they miss
us." "Maybe we should split up." Angel suggested. "Take a look
around separately." "Yeah, " Buffy agreed. "Covers more ground that way."
But she knew that Angel was really suggesting they put as much space between
them as possible. **** Angel returned to the cabin, shortly before dawn. He had deliberately
stayed out all night, to lessen the temptation. Being with Buffy, yet not being
able to actually be with her had opened up a lot of old wounds, and he didn’t
really want to deal with them right now. Watching her as she slept, he couldn’t help thinking how beautiful she
was; She deserved so much more than he could ever give her. She stirred
restlessly, and Angel had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms. He
made himself move away from the bed, and he settled himself in one of the
huge armchairs, where he could observe her until daybreak. The following morning, Buffy slowly surfaced from a dream where she and
Angel were together, and very much in love. Even before she opened her eyes,
she could feel him, she knew he was in the room with her. "Hey." Angel’s soft voice was the first thing she heard. "Hey, yourself." She replied, feeling a little shy with Angel’s
attention on her. Had he watched her all night? Oh my god, I must look awful… Angel watched her as she sat up, and swung her legs out of bed. She looked
gorgeous; he could watch her all day. Or all night…Buffy stretched, and went
off for a shower. When she returned, they discussed what they’d discovered
the previous night. "Not much," Buffy said. "I found a restricted area, but
before I could find out anything they discovered me, and ever-so-politely
insisted I leave." Angel nodded. "Heat sensors." He told her. "I found it too.
There’s an entrance leading underground. Something big’s down there, Buffy,
but I couldn’t find out what." Buffy shuddered. "It’s not looking good for the children, is
it?" "I think they’ll be safe for a while." He told her, moving
closer. He was drawn to her anguished expression, wanting so badly to comfort
her. "Until tonight, at least." He added. He stopped, just in front
of her. Not trusting himself to go any closer; the need to touch her was
overwhelming. Buffy’s eyes met his, and he swallowed. She slowly closed the
distance between them; she was breathing fast, and her skin itched, she
wanted him so badly. After an age where neither dared to move in case the unthinkable happened,
Buffy finally turned away. "I think I need to be elsewhere." She edged towards the door.
"Maybe you should get some sleep, Angel." Some chance of that, Angel thought. Aloud, he said to her retreating form.
"Good idea. But I think I’ll have a shower first." A cold one… ***** At dusk, Buffy returned to the cabin. She could sense Angel pacing
restlessly inside. "It’s crazy out there." She informed him, trying to keep her
tone light. "Things are really tense." "Yeah, I can feel it in here." Angel said, curtly. Buffy frowned as he continued to pace, keeping his distance from her. His
movements reminded her of the restless pacing of a caged tiger. "Did something happen?" She asked worriedly, moving toward him. "Like what?" He growled at her. "With me stuck in
this…prison all day?" Buffy winced at the venom in his voice. His whole
body was tense with barely controlled fury. "Angel, you couldn’t go out, it’s daylight…" She said, hoping to
placate him. She had never seen him so edgy. Instinct drew her to his side,
but his agitated pacing was starting to irritate her. She grabbed his arm.
"Stop…" Her words were cut off abruptly as Angel whirled, grabbing her arms
roughly, and pulled her against him. His mouth came down on hers in a harsh
kiss; startled, Buffy started to pull away, but somehow she couldn’t. Her
rebellious arms snaked round his back as she hungrily returned his kiss. "Angel…" She whispered against his neck, her skin on fire for
his touch. But it was only when Angel slid his hands up inside her shirt, and
she felt his cool touch on her inflamed skin, that reality set in. Oh my god… "Angel…we can’t…"Buffy forced herself to gasp out the words, but
he didn’t seem to hear her. His hands continued their frenzied assault on the
smooth flesh of her back. Panicking slightly, Buffy used her strength to push
him away… and gasped in shock. For, although Angel’s face was human, his eyes
blazed amber. Buffy took an involuntary step back. "Angel?" Angel stared back; he took a step toward her, his eyes still the colour of
the demon. "Angel!" Buffy cried, her body instinctively on the alert. She
didn’t dare touch him, afraid that it would make him worse.
"Angel!" Angel hesitated, and forced away the demon’s eyes. "Buffy?" He blinked in confusion. "What happened to you?" "I… don’t know," He replied, confused. "God, Buffy, I’m
sorry." "What the hell’s going on?" Buffy exclaimed. "We can’t keep
our hands off each other, half the residents are wandering around like
zombies…" She broke off, at a loss to know what to say. "Maybe it’s all connected," Angel offered, rubbing his eyes,
tiredly. "Something in the food?" Buffy suggested. "I didn’t eat the food." Angel reminded her. "Well, I say we go find out." Buffy expression turned grim.
"I don’t know about you, Angel. But I’m in the mood for some serious
butt-kicking." "I’m with you on that one." The meeting for the summoning of Egraih was held underground. As Buffy and
Angel picked their way through the crowd, they could feel the expectancy in
the air. Several of the couples were engaged in heavy make out sessions, and
these Buffy ignored. The last thing she needed right now was watching other
people do what she couldn’t. At the far side of the room was a huge pit, surrounded by iron railings.
To the left of this was a platform, and it was to here that Karen, dressed in
white robes, climbed. "Followers of Egraih, rejoice!" Her voice boomed out across the
room and everyone grew quiet. "Today is the Time of Summoning, and the
Master will be with us!" Standing a couple of rows back from the front, Buffy and Angel scanned the
group. Everyone had a kind of dazed expression: all waited patiently for
Karen’s next exalted words. "Buffy." Angel’s quiet voice sounded oddly troubled. Buffy
glanced at him, and he nodded over to an area behind an opaque screen. Buffy
followed his gaze. Three women, including Mary, stood rigidly. They were all
dressed in white, and all clasping their babies, who were similarly clad in
white. Buffy frowned, not understanding, and looked back at Angel. She was
disturbed by his grim expression. But before she could ask what was wrong,
Karen’s voice rang out again. "In this time of joy, we must welcome the Master with joy. Bring
forward his gifts." It was then that Buffy understood. ‘He is my gift…’ A chill began at the back of her neck and spread down her arms and across
her chest. Totally shocked, she gasped, appalled, to Angel, "They’re
going to feed it their own children?" Angel’s expression told her he’d already reached that conclusion. Shock
turned to anger as she started forward, heading for the platform. "Not
if I can stop it." She vowed. "We praise these gifts…" Karen was droning, when Buffy pushed in
front of the children and said, "I don’t think so." She sensed
Angel moving into place beside her. "This isn’t appropriate," Karen admonished. "The
Master…" "…Will have to go to bed without his dinner." Buffy grinned at
her. Karen stared at her, apparently not believing what she saw. "You
should not be resisting us. It’s not possible…" "Why?" Buffy asked. "What did you do to us?" "I did nothing. Your own lust should have incapacitated you." "Huh?" Beside her, Angel swore. He said, "So that’s it. We were meant to
make love? And then what? Your master feeds off our…energy?" "Yes, he is attracted to courting couples. He feeds on their sexual
energy, and rewards his followers with bliss." Bliss? Oh, my God… "More like Zombies." Buffy snapped. That had been close… "I don’t understand." Karen glared at them. "There is no
way you should have been able to resist each other." "Yeah, well…" Buffy muttered. "We’ve had a lot of
practice." Then, everything seemed to happen at once. Karen raised her arm and guards
began to flood into the chamber. Buffy started to usher the women and babies
backwards, when a huge rumble shook the chamber and a massive snake like head
erupted from the pit with a deafening roar. Angel moved in front of Buffy, who had positioned herself between the
women and the approaching guards. He instantly morphed into the stronger
countenance of the vampire, relieved to finally have an outlet for his pent
up frustration and anger. Behind him, Buffy fought the guards with a fury she
rarely felt, and they fell like flies around her. She stole a glance at
Angel, and even she was stunned by the violence in his assault. Several of
the guards were picked up, and hurled bodily into the pit. Egraih latched
onto the unfortunate victims with its forked tongue and sucked them back into
its huge jaw. The screams of the men mingled with the roaring of the beast,
creating terror in the chamber. People began to flee from the chamber, until
finally, Buffy and Angel were alone with the monster. Angel eyed the creature, wondering if he could climb on the enormous back
and do some damage to it before he got himself killed Buffy, however, had a better – and simpler plan. Vaulting up onto the
platform she snatched a flaming torch from its rest on the wall, and hurled
it down the throat of the beast. Egraih bellowed in agony, its sinuous form thrashing in pain. Angel waited
for the mouth to open again, and he threw a second torch down the gaping
hole. The creature gave a bloodcurdling scream, much higher pitched than the
others. Angel staggered back, his hands clapped over his ears to shut out the
shrill sound. Egraih snaked back it the pit, its screams still audible long
after the body had disappeared back into the earth’s interior. Buffy bounced to Angel’s side, much more her old self now that her
frustration had been channelled elsewhere. Angel half-smiled at her, his ears
still ringing, but he knew that would soon pass. The room was darker since
half the torches had gone down the monsters throat, but Buffy figured that
was okay, since she was still breathing. "Think we’ve blown our cover?" She asked Angel with a grin. "I’d say that’s a given." "Okay, then." Buffy’s expression grew serious, "Let’s go
find those kids." She led the way from the chamber, and started toward a set of stone steps
that led downward. Angel caught her arm. "I think they would have been brought up here – be nearer for the
ceremony." Buffy nodded. It made sense. She changed direction into a side corridor.
Several doors led off from it. Buffy groaned. Searching them all would take
forever. Angel went past her, concentration etched on his face. Was he
sensing something? Then she realised that he was smelling the children’s
fear, and judging by his expression, there was a lot of it. He stopped by the
fifth door along, and nodded briefly at it. Without a word, Buffy stepped
past him, pulled back the bolt and gently pushed the door open. Two small girls huddled together in the shadows at the back of the room.
They were clearly terrified, their tiny bodies looking frail and distressed.
The children’s plight pulled directly at Buffy’s heartstrings, and as she
hurried forward, a howling shape darted from behind the door, an arm raised
to strike her. Angel grabbed the figure by the scruff of its neck and hoisted
it effortlessly into the air. "Let me go, let me go!" Fear hit Angel’s senses full blast, and his stomach clenched in hunger.
Pushing the dark hunger ruthlessly away, he studied his prize with interest.
A boy, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, thrashed and writhed helplessly in
Angel’s grasp. Buffy’s hand rested gently on Angel’s arm. "Put him down, Angel. You’re scaring him." "I think he was scared before we showed up." Angel replied, but
he released the boy. Guessing that she would be less threatening than Angel to the frightened
boy, she stepped closer. "We won’t hurt you." She said softly. "We’re here to
help." The boy’s eyes darted about frantically, his demeanour that of a trapped
animal. "You won’t take me," He hissed. "I won’t let you." Buffy studied the boy’s terrified expression, wondering how best to reach
him. "You know, you’re kinda hurting my feelings here." She said
conversationally. The boy blinked, it wasn’t what he’d expected to hear, and
Buffy added, "No wonder I can’t get a date if I scare you guys so
badly." The boy stared back at her. Slowly it dawned on him that she was trying to
joke with him, and he couldn’t help giving her the ghost of a smile in
return. He liked her, and she was kinda pretty, too. He gazed from the small
blonde to the big scary guy. He hadn’t seen either of them before, so maybe…? With the boy calmer, Buffy returned her attention to the girls, who were
watching the proceedings with interest. "Hey." She crouched down in front of them. "My name’s
Buffy. What do you say we get out of here?" Buffy swallowed quickly, when she saw hope surge through the girls. Who
knew what terrible things they had been through, what horrors they had
witnessed? Scooping up the smallest child, Amy, in her arms, Buffy led the way from
the chamber and back into the corridor. Picking her way through the maze of
tunnels, they eventually made it outside. Twice guards stopped them, and
these Angel despatched in short order. They made their way along the beach, eventually finding a path that led
upwards. Progress was slow until Angel picked up Mandy and settled her on his
broad shoulders. The path was long and steep, but both Buffy and Angel were
sure-footed in their ascent. Peter managed the track as best he could,
doggedly refusing assistance, but generally doing quite well. When they had covered a respectable distance, and the track had begun to
level out, the girls were allowed to walk. They skipped ahead happily,
pleased at the new freedom, and navigated the undergrowth with childish
enthusiasm. There was the slightest of tremors in the ground, and without warning,
Mandy disappeared from sight when the ground under her caved in. Buffy and Angel both dived for her in the same instant. But Angel was
closer, and he threw himself forward with inhuman speed. He managed to grab
the girl’s shirt as she plummeted over the edge. The child was screaming in terror as she dangled in mid-air, her eyes wide
with horror as she stared down at the black abyss yawning underneath her.
Angel hauled her up by the collar on her shirt, praying that the thin fabric
would hold up under the strain. He cradled the distraught child against his
chest, where he murmured soothing noises and waited for the crying to stop. Except it didn’t. Her sobs went on and on, and he shifted uncomfortably as
her tiny body clung to him in desperation, her pitiful sobs soaking his
shoulder as she wept. He could smell her fear, and sense the adrenaline coursing through her
blood. He tried to release the girl’s grip on his neck, but she only clung
tighter and sobbed louder. Damn, he was hungry. Then, thankfully, Buffy was there, gently prising Mandy’s fingers from
Angel’s neck and pulling the distressed child against her body where she
rocked her gently. Angel led the way along the track, scouting ahead to find a safe place to
hide the children. Buffy brought up the rear, Mandy perched uncomfortably on
her hip, Amy clutching her hand fearfully in case the ground opened up and
swallowed her. Amy yelped when Angel suddenly appeared out of the bushes. "There’s a small cave up ahead." He said to Buffy, veering off
the path and leading up through the undergrowth. The cave wasn’t all that
deep, but it was well concealed by the undergrowth and couldn’t be seen from
the path. Buffy ushered the children inside. Angel turned to Peter and said,
"Buffy and I need to check that we haven’t been followed, but we can’t
leave the girls unprotected. I saw how brave you were when we rescued you.
Think you can handle it?" Peter swelled with pride, standing as tall as his fourteen years would
allow, and said, "I can do that." Angel smiled at him and handed him a thick branch to act as a makeshift
weapon. "Buffy and I won’t be far. Call us if there’s any trouble." Peter took the weapon and tried to look threatening. He watched as Angel
followed Buffy from the cave, and then stood guard close to the entrance. When Angel returned a short time later, he was disturbed to find the two
girls crouching at the back of the cave, and Amy crying softly. Peter stood
nearby, looking out of his depth and totally uncomfortable. "What happened?" "Dunno." The boy shrugged. "She started just after you
left." Angel went over to the girls and hunkered down in front of Amy. "Are you okay?" The little girl didn’t look at him, didn’t answer, she just carried on
crying. "Are you hurt? In pain?" No answer. "Hungry?" No answer. "Uh, tired?" No answer. Frustrated, Angel turned to Mandy and asked if she knew what
the problem was, but the girl just shrugged. A soft rustle at the cave
entrance announced the arrival of Buffy and Angel gratefully moved out of the
way to let her deal with it. She shot a questioning glance at him, and he
shrugged back. "Hey." Buffy murmured to Amy. "You want to tell me what’s
up?" The girl flung her arms round Buffy’s neck and whispered in her ear. A
tiny smile quirked at the corner of Buffy’s mouth, and she said, "Well,
we can sort that out." She said something to Mandy, who shook her head.
Buffy stood up, hefting Amy onto her hip, and moved toward the cave entrance. "Excuse us, guys." Buffy grinned as she passed by, "But we
have to go and find a bush." Ah… "You could’ve told Angel, you know," Buffy’s voice drifted back.
"He’s really quite broadminded." **** Later, waiting for the general chaos at the complex to die down, Angel
found Buffy standing on the edge of the hill, staring down into the darkness.
He went to stand beside her; she was worried about something, he knew that
from her expression. He waited for her to speak. "All those children, Angel." She said sadly. She hadn’t turned
to face him, but he knew she was upset. "How many have died down there?
How many couldn’t be saved?" "I don’t know." He replied honestly. "But it ends tonight,
Buffy. There’ll be no more." "Yes." Angel studied her profile in the dark. She seemed distracted, and he knew
something else was bothering her. He waited in silence. Finally she turned to
face him. "What happened between us down there, Angel? Was it all…
artificial?" Angel stared back, confused. What did she want him to say? Did she doubt
him? Herself, perhaps? "Karen said that the attraction between us was strong." He said,
carefully. "And… you know how much I…" he faltered, not knowing how
much he ought to say. Buffy looked up at him, anguish evident in her expression. "If you still feel it, Angel, say it." Her eyes caught his.
"I really need to hear it." Angel moved closer, drawn by the intensity of her eyes. Then, without the
slightest trace of embarrassment, he said, "I love you, Buffy. That
won’t change; it doesn’t matter how far apart we are, I will always love you." Buffy held his eyes, searching his face for what she most wanted to
believe. Pulling her gaze from his, she laid her head on his shoulder,
effectively deflecting the kiss that hung in the air between them. "I knew that, really." She sighed. "And I love you. It just
got kinda… muddled, there." "Yeah." He held her gently, his fingers stroking her hair.
Eventually, Buffy stepped back from Angel’s embrace. "Take the children home, Buffy." Angel suggested. "I’ll go
down to the complex and finish this." "I think you’ve got this Slayer thing all wrong, Angel. Scary
monsters… that’s my job." Angel shook his head. "Not this time. They’ve got Thermal Sensors down there, you won’t be
able to get in without being seen." Buffy scowled, and looked as if she was going to object. Then she nodded,
reluctantly. "I’ll come back for you," She promised. "No need. I’ll make my own way back." Buffy reached over, resting her hand on Angel’s arm. "I’ll be
back." She promised, and he nodded in acceptance. *** The explosion ripped apart the fabric of the Gothic building, sending
flames shooting into the air and showering burning debris down into the
courtyard. On the hill overlooking the complex, the dark clad figure surveyed his
work with grim satisfaction. Content with the result, he spun on his heels,
and with his coat billowing out like wings behind him, he strode purposefully
back down the hill. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still The End Return to Fiction Index
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