Spike hissed in pain. 

The pleasurable kind of course, the kind his Drusilla was inflicting upon him in wave after wave. She hadn’t quite forgiven him for his past transgressions; helping Buffy against she and Angelus and that stupid stone demon Acathla, choosing Buffy over her, getting a bloody soul for the purpose of winning the slayer’s love, HELPING the slayer in her fight for good, sleeping with the little witch…the transgressions went on. 

Ironically enough, most of the transgressions for which he was being punished centered around the slayer: Buffy had already been accepted by Drusilla as part of her family, as her new mummy. It was really only Spike who lacked his princess’ forgiveness. 

Her cool mouth ran up his bleeding chest, lapping the blood that pooled there from her clever hands and mouth. Her dark eyes sparkled up laughing at him as she settled over his raging erection. But she didn’t move. 

“You’ve been a naughty boy my William,” she said and kissed his lips hungrily but, despite the desperate bucking of his hips, still refused to moved. Spike knew he was in for more when she called him William; she only did that on either especially tender moments or when she was especially angry at him. 

“I know, luv,” he replied, hoping to have just a little friction, just a bit, please. 

“Why do you care for the little witch? She’ll never be able to give you all I do, never be able to please you the way I do.” 

Spike was silent for a long moment as he thought that over. “I love you, my dark flower, but you weren’t around for so very long. Willow was and she helped to fill in the empty spaces.” 

It was as honest as he could get, he honestly cared for Willow; she was wild and passionate and not interested in beyond the moment much like he. She made him laugh and made him want to protect her. Strangely enough she still brought out those things in him. He was wildly jealous about her relationship with Paul but knew in his dead heart only Drusilla ever had a firm hold. 

Drusilla smiled, a real sweet innocent one, which Spike had long ago dubbed her ‘William smile.’ She was loony tunes, there was no mistaking that, but she had moments of clarity that rivaled the most sane person’s reason. Most times it was a combination of an act and honest craziness that helped her to ferret out information much more easily than the others could. 

Darla always hated that about her, but then again Darla hated anyone who took away time with her precious Angelus. Briefly Spike wondered what the old bat would say if she found out that her ‘dear boy’ was Joined through the Union Ritual to the slayer…made him almost wish the bitch was resurrected (again) just to see her reaction. 

But then Dru began to move and he hissed a sigh of relief tinged with pleasurable pain and arched into her willing body. His eyes glazed as she lapped at his blood again and bared her throat to his waiting fangs. 

Hesitating for only a second, Spike sank his teeth into her neck and knew that she had finally forgiven him with this sharing of blood. Screaming her name with his release, Spike found himself catapulted into a wash of orgasmic light that all centered on Drusilla. 

Later, once she had unchained him and his wounds had mostly closed, Drusilla curled onto his side, sleeping as soundly as a babe. Spike caressed her hair, placing a kiss on her forehead before dropping off into contented sleep himself.
~~~~~~~~~~
Willow was wild under Paul. 

He brought out feelings she thought long dead and buried with his whispered words, which demanded and cajoled in turn, and skillful hands. She thought, for just a moment, that he was going to flout this one tradition and drink from her without Buffy’s permission, but he restrained himself much to the disappointment of both of them. 

Damn it, with everything else going on they had forgotten to ask. Willow had no doubt, as she moaned Paul’s name, that Buffy would allow it; Paul was now family after all and Buffy certainly wasn’t a stickler for rules and regulations. Willow hadn’t cared; she and Spike had never needed permission when she was human. But Paul didn’t want to anger his new ally so soon into their alliance. 

And a phone call didn’t seem the way to go for something like this. 

“Ah, yes…Paul!” He had entered her back passage so slowly, too slowly for her tastes, teasing her with little caresses and nips on her neck and back. Suddenly he thrust in, simultaneously thrusting three fingers into her wet core. For a brief wonderful moment he held still, teasing her all the more. 

“What do you want, my Willow?” He asked, curling his fingers up just a bit. At her whimper he did it again, licking her neck over the dead artery there. 

“Please, Paul,” she begged, beyond caring about alliances or family or anyone else but he and she and the rainbow of feelings he somehow brought out in her. “Please…finish. Fuck me; make me feel so full that I almost can’t stand it.” 

He began to move but slowly, long rhythmic strokes that continued to taunt her aching, humming body. Willow thrust her hips backwards in a swift move, a silent plea for what she so desperately wanted. She could feel Paul’s smile on her neck as he picked up the pace. Moving quickly in and out of her, circling her clit with his thumb but never losing their rhythm. 

Willow crashed over the edge in a violent storm of desire and shouted his name, dimly hearing hers echo around the room as she collapsed onto the bed, to sated to even think about moving. 

When Paul scooped her to his side, Willow didn’t think about it, she just curled up there, falling into a deep sleep as the sun rose higher in the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~
Saffir had been right; Giles was a force to be reckoned with. 

He was passionate and skilled, teasing or acquiescing to her demands, pleas, and sobs of need at his own whim. Things had started out easy enough, a kiss, a nip along the neck, hands molding to flesh and divesting bodies of clothing. But then Giles had entered her and things changed. 

He moved hard and fast, thrusting in and out of her body as she kept pace with him, loving every single second of what he did to her of the feelings he brought out in her, of the responses he demanded…when suddenly he stopped. Saffir watched as he grit his teeth and stilled, looking down at her, saffron eyes glittering dangerously. 

Slowly he removed her hands from his bloody back, licking each digit clean before pulling her wrists taunt above her head. The movement thrust her breasts higher and Giles took a moment to taste each globe before moving back to her mouth. She tasted like all things forbidden, Giles thought as her legs wrapped tighter around his waist and he slammed into her again. 

Their coupling was rough as they rolled over the bed each trying to gain the upper hand. Neither seemed to hold it for long, but that, too, was part of the fun. 

Rising over him, Saffir sank onto him, raking her nails down his chest and ridding him faster, bringing them both to completion. She shouted his name, amazed that he could cause her to do so, to lose all sense of control. 

Giles roared her name, rearing up to capture her mouth as he fell over the edge. How strange, he thought as he collapsed onto the bed, bringing Saffir down with him, that he could feel so…alive. He felt Saffir stretch out beside him, close enough to feel the humming of her skin but not curled into him. Closing his eyes Giles wondered at the need for her that was banked but not extinguished…and didn’t realize that in sleep they both turned to the other.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Hmm, more,” Buffy said as they made their way to their rooms. 

Angelus was teasing her, deliberately arousing her when they both knew he would wait until the privacy of their rooms before actually quenching the fire that raged between them. Their one dance had lasted through several songs as they let their bodies slide over the other, teasing and arousing. 

Guests that had still littered the ballroom ignored the couple, more in favor of their own pleasure than in Angelus and Buffy’s. Still, Angelus was a possessive creature by nature and refused to share anything of his beloved with others. So he had teased her, caressing through silk, whispering dark words of love as they glided around the dance floor. 

Breathing heavy, Buffy was amazed at the swiftness with which he could arouse her; amazed, though she really shouldn’t have been all things considered, that after all they had done to and with each other that she wanted Angelus again as if it was that first time so many years ago. The beat of music throbbed through her, adding another layer to her lust. 

Finally, knowing what he was doing and what she was as well, Buffy pleaded, “Angelus, baby, please…” 

With a triumphant smile her lover leaned closer and asked, unneeded breath tickling her ear, “Please what, love?” 

Eyes locking with his, Buffy pulled him down to attack his lips, loving the feel of his cool tongue as it invaded her all too willing mouth, as those large hands clutched her closer and his erection pressed urgently into her pelvis. Those immensely high heels were well worth it as she cradled him perfectly, sliding up just a bit to remind him of the pleasure to be had… 

A whimper escape her lips as he pulled away, waiting for her response. 

Buffy couldn’t find the words needed to express just how much she truly wanted him so she didn’t. Through their Mating Bond they had discovered that strong emotions could be shared, anger, fear, lust and even love. Now Buffy opened that bond wide and poured every emotion she felt for Angelus through it, letting him know, without words, what she wanted. 

Growling deep in his throat, Angelus’ eyes flashed gold. He knew and returned those emotions, wanting to join with her just as much as she. “Say it, love, say the words…” 

Another whimper escaped her as Angelus let his hand wander between their bodies, cupping her mound through the silk and pressing all too gently, rubbing for a fraction of a second before pulling away. 

“Fuck me…” 

“And…?” 

She knew the words, when he was in this kind of mood nothing less would appease him. “I am yours, my lover, do with me as you will.” Angelus usually preferred ‘dominate,’ but Buffy refused to say that, knowing that he would never truly, could never truly, have total domination over her. They were too evenly matched, in all areas, for that to happen. 

Still, the smirk he sent her was enough to let her know that he would comply and he swept her out of the ballroom and up the stairs with only a quick word to the minion standing guard at the base of the grand staircase. 

The second they entered their rooms, Angelus slammed her into the wall, savagely attacking her mouth though his hands were gentle as they pulled the silk off her body. When she was standing before him in nothing but the jewels he gave her, thigh high stockings and those wonderful heels, he stopped, for just a moment, to admire her body. 

“Perfection,” he said, running hands over soft flesh that quivered at his touch, “Mine.” 

Buffy nodded, “Yours,” she said as she awaited his next words. 

But words weren’t needed between them. Angelus led her over to the bed; spreading her legs and leaning her forward over the foot of the immense mattress, exposing her perfect ass to his hungry gaze, his seeking touch. Without warning his fangs sank into that flesh and Buffy cried out, moisture seeping onto his fingers as they played with her clit. 

Stripping his own clothes in a matter of seconds, Angelus rammed into her from behind, hissing in pleasure as her cool walls gripped tightly around his hardened shaft. One hand held her tight against him as he slammed in and out of her, growling as she thrust her hips back against him in a demand for more. 

“Ah, ah, love, that isn’t how we’re going to play this…” he murmured in her ear as he stopped his movement to the exquisite agony of both. 

“Please…” she sobbed, too aroused to care about anything other than completion. He knew each and every way to take her to the breaking point and reveled in that knowledge. 

“What was that, love?” He thrust home again and she cried out another plea. 

Wondering where all his control had gone and if it was only around this woman, Angelus watched as Buffy tilted her neck, exposing her mark to him in a show of submission. Again she whispered, begged, thrust her hips back against his and was finally, finally, rewarded when he began to move again inside her. 

Swiftly Angelus pumped in and out of her, delighting in her cries and pleas, teasing her breasts, flicking his long fingers against her swollen clit. He could feel the beginnings of her orgasm thunder through her and sank his teeth into her neck, allowing them both to feel the piercing pleasure roll over them.

Long minutes passed before they moved again, Angelus pulling out of her with a sigh of regret only to build them both up to the peak again and again and again. Much, much later, they lay in their bed, curled around each other as if afraid the other would disappear if they didn’t hold tight, the sun high in the sky. 

“Mine,” Angelus said on the verge of sleep, “My Buffy, mine.”
**********
As gently as she could Cordelia dabbed antiseptic on Riley’s forehead. 

They had gone with Carisa to a bar Cordelia had remembered from her original stay in LA to ‘talk’ about what they had in common. It was deeming, so far as the seer was concerned, to work with a member of the very company she had fought for so very long. But the other woman was buying and Cordelia Chase was in desperate need of a drink. Though why she was so surprised to find out that Buffy was a vamp and with a soulless Angelus was anyone’s guess. 

On their way out of the bar – more rundown than it had been even before – they were attacked by a group of vamps. 

Carisa, naturally, couldn’t fight and it was up to her and Riley to deal with the six demons. Or, it was up to Riley to deal with four and her to deal with two. Well, she was the seer, not the warrior of their group, what did one expect? 

“Thanks, Cordy,” Riley said as she finished up. “You know, Buffy never really talked about you…before.” 

Cordelia snorted as she packed the medical supplies away. “I’m not surprised. After I moved away things between us were never really the same.” 

Curious, he asked, “What were they like before you left Sunnydale?” 

Pausing in her menial task, she stared blankly at the box in front of her, a far off look in her eyes. “We were well on our way to becoming good friends. We had always competed against each other, but after a while it kind of turned into an almost friendly competition. Things happened…” too many things for her to comfortably accept a place in the slayer’s group so she had stayed on the fringes, only helping with the big demon killing shindig at the end of high school. 

“Then I moved away and we never really kept in touch. I worked with Angel, became friends with him and…and it was never the same.” 

“I guess I didn’t know her as well as I though I did. I mean she talked about slaying and a bit about Willow and Xander, but I never heard about high school or anything, really, before we met.” 

“No one really knew her, Riley. With the exception of Angel; he was the only one to understand her, to know what she went through, to know how difficult her life was.” 

“I met him once; he didn’t seem all that understanding to me.” The words were out before Riley could stop them. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of them just that they no longer mattered. 

“Yeah, I believe it.” At his look Cordelia continued, “Angel went to Sunnydale after that whole Faith thing that I know. He never said what happened when he was there, only that he met ‘Buffy’s boyfriend.’ Kicked your ass, didn’t he.” It wasn’t a question. 

“What makes you say that?” It was the truth but Riley really believed that he could have – eventually – gained the upper hand. 

“Oh, please! Angel meets the love of his life’s new man and doesn’t go ballistic? What fantasy were you in? But you’re still alive and I detect no limp or deformation so he must have restrained himself.” 

“I held my own.” Pride was now a part of his voice though Riley was only partly sure he could have held his own. 

“Right, let me break this down to you, buddy. The only reason you walked away was because if he had hurt you in any way Buffy would have been upset. Angel NEVER wants Buffy upset in any way; he’d rather cut off his own arm or erase a whole day than see her hurt. And that includes hurting you.” 

“What happened between the two of you?” 

“I thought I was in love with him.”

 “You weren’t?” 

“Oh, I loved him alright, but not in that way. He was my dearest friend, but I realized too late that we were only meant to be friends and it destroyed our friendship. I couldn’t accept a few basic things about him that I thought I had long ago accepted; I was wrong and whatever we had before…it took us a long time to get back to there.” 

Cordelia smiled slightly, trying to dispel the gloom and sadness that had invaded her heart. “I really don’t think we ever really did, the battles started before anything was definite and he and Buffy had that night…and I went off to Russia with him. We didn’t think breaking up the team was the right way to go and thought that we could get past whatever awkwardness was between us.”

“And did you?” 

“I don’t know. There isn’t really a lot of time for heart to hearts when it’s a constant fight just to stay alive on a daily basis.” Shaking off the mood, Cordelia smiled and said, “Still, back to your original question, I think you knew Buffy as well as anyone did; like I said, only Angel really knew her, well, Angel and…Giles…” 

She trailed off, going still as that thought fully registered. “Giles, oh, I’m such an idiot!” 

“I’ve been telling you that for hours now,” Carisa said from her place in the corner where they had chained her to the chair upon returning to the ‘base’ after the vamp attack. 

“Shut up you, I don’t need anything from the peanut gallery. And you didn’t know this either so just stay out of it!” Though would it have been more helpful if the other woman had known? Probably wouldn’t have mattered in the end. 

Whirling back to Riley, she said, “Giles, he-he was her rock, she always depended on him, they had this weird relationship, it was like trainer, watcher, teacher, mentor, friend, father all rolled into one. She didn’t kill him, she TURNED HIM! Oh, why didn’t I think of that before? Buffy could never kill him, she’d want him by her side and since eternity is kind of a new concept to a slayer…oh, I’m an idiot!” 

Riley just stared at her during the monologue trying to take it all in. “You really think so?” At her frantic nod he asked, “Well I understand that he’s well versed in battle techniques and I’m sure he can hold his own in a fight, I’ve seen him in action, but how bad can he be?” 

“Wow,” Cordelia said in something akin to awe. “She never told you anything about the past, did she?” Without waiting for a reply the seer started to pace, her movements agitated. How could she have missed this? 

Idiot, idiot, IDIOT! 

“Giles wasn’t always a watcher and he was NEVER a mild manner librarian contrary to the image he tried so hard to portray. His nickname when he was younger was ‘Ripper’ and it wasn’t as in Jack, either. Heavy black magick was more his style; he once raised a demon or created one or something. Still my point is that without him Buffy never would have made it as far as she did. Which also means that she probably turned Willow, too.” 

Banging her hands against her head, Cordelia almost missed Riley’s question. “What about Spike? I understand he was in Vegas with Willow.” 

“Spike? Ugh, great they’re probably all together; Spike is Angel’s childe, he’d either want to torture him but good forever or torture him then make sure he was on their side.” 

“His sire, really? I didn’t know that.” Yet another thing he didn’t know about his ex and her group of friends. 

“Yeah, well, what can I say? Some things aren’t worth knowing. Things just got a whole lot worse. If you thought the beating you had from Angel all those years ago was bad you haven’t seen Angelus. He’s a thousand times worse, no restraint, no pulling punches, no letting you off easy. And since you slept with Buffy and he’s pretty possessive about her…man, he’s never going to let you live.” 

“All the more reason to find them and stop them.” 

“Oh, no, there is nothing in this world or the next that could induce me to do that. Angelus and Buffy were bad enough, but add in Giles and his magick and rage and Willow and her magick and rage? You have got to be kidding me.” 

“Look, Cordy,” Riley grabbed her shoulders to ensure she was listening. “What do you want us to do, no one else really knows what’s happened and no one can stop them. We’re it, there is no one else. And okay, that sounded very last stand-ish, but you get my point. We have to stop them.” 

Her head fell forward onto his chest and she didn’t say anything for a while. She was right the first time; the Fates were out to get her but good.

”Alright, lead the way John Wayne. But don’t say I didn’t warn you…. And we need a plan, a good one. Not just a charge in and see what’s what, knowing full well that the likelihood of escaping is slim to none plan. I mean it, Riley,” Cordelia reiterated when she felt him stiffening. 

“I know you’re angry and that that rage has no place to really go and that you miss your wife but you’re alive and I swear to God I’m going to keep you that way for as long as I can. This has just ceased to be about Buffy and Angelus and their plans and has become what we’re going to do to ensure that there is a world left and one that’s recognizable. And when did I become the optimist of the group?”

He looked as if he wanted to disagree, like he intended to not go along with what Cordy was saying. But eventually he nodded, “Okay, I agree.” 

“Not good enough, soldier boy. I want your word that you will do nothing stupid enough to get yourself killed in the pursuit of information and or of Buffy and Angelus themselves.” 

For knowing him such a short time she knew him pretty well. “I promise…”
**********
She was absolutely beautiful. 

Her long golden hair was spread out on the pillows and tangled around her face and her small body took up most of the bed. Angelus looked down at his love and wondered if he could forego the next round of politeness with his houseguests in favor of staying with her. They had been up most of the day indulging in their mutual pleasure and Buffy had finally dropped off to sleep only a few hours ago. 

She hadn’t eaten much during the party, too busy with other duties, and he worried about her. He planned on keeping her around for eternity and only a few months together didn’t nearly constitute that. Setting the tray he had one of the minions – he had missed others doing such tedious work and was more than happy to have them running around again – bring up onto the nightstand, Angelus sat on the bed and gently brushed the hair off her face. 

“Buffy…baby, wake up.” She moaned once before her eyes shot open and a fist came out of nowhere. Angelus blocked the swing easily, well used to her penchant for hitting first and asking questions later upon fully awakening.

“Hmm…Angelus?” Her eyes focused on her lover as he leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss. This had to be the best way to wake up, Buffy thought as her hands tangled in his hair, holding him closer.

Letting her hand drift over his robe covered thigh to rub his erection, Buffy squeezed him gently, chuckling at the moan that escaped him. She knew that the only reason he’d fully wake her was because of business – if he wanted sex there were more pleasant ways to ensure her cooperation. She was curious to see if she could distract him; actually Buffy knew she could. 

Still caressing him Buffy moved her mouth from his wonderfully cool one to nibble along his jaw, down his throat to suck hard on the raised scar that branded him hers, all hers. 

The growl that escaped him made her smile and that smile only broadened when he dragged her naked body up so she straddled his lap.  

“Trying to distract me, my love?” He asked around his elongated teeth as they scrapped along her throat. 

“Is it working, baby?” The question ended on a gasp as his fingers found her wetness. 

“We have to get downstairs, they’re beginning to stir and I don’t want them alone for any length of time.” Yeah, that whole trust issue was a bitch. 

Pushing him down onto their bed, and running her hands inside the opened silk of his robe, Buffy placed nipping kisses on every inch of exposed skin she could. “We’ll be fast, love. I don’t think anyone’d begrudge us a little fun, do you?” 

She had untied his robe by this time and sucked his erection into her mouth, swirling her tongue over the uncircumcised tip before taking him as far down as she could. Her teeth scraped over him and Angelus jerked his hips in response as those little hands of hers cupped his balls. Purring in the back of her throat, Buffy teased him for a moment longer before releasing him with one last flick of her tongue.  

“Fuck me, baby,” she said as one of her hands roamed over her breasts. “Show me…” 

She never got the rest of her sentence out because Angelus had reached up, pulled her down and rolled them over all in the space of a blink. His hands brushed her fingers away from her body, taking over the pleasure of touching her. His vampiric face had long since formed and he scrapped the edges of his fangs over a nipple.  

“Show you what, love?” He asked as his lips tugged her nipple into the cool recess of his mouth. “Show you to whom you belong?” One hand found her core and teased the wet opening. “Show you what I can do to your body?” Spreading her legs wide Angelus looked down at her, the tip of his cock poised just outside her entrance. 

“Yes, yes!” She shouted, hands trying to pull him closer, guide him into her body but he refused to allow that. “Yes, all that...please.” Eyes locked with his, saffron shinning into saffron. “Show me how much you love me,” She finally whispered. 

With a roar he plunged into her, claiming her as his once again. The pace was fast, brutal, and so very enjoyable. Buffy’s legs wrapped high around his waist drawing him deeper into her. Within moments she was spiraling out of control, shouting his name and sinking her teeth into his neck. Just as the feelings of ecstasy began to recede, Angelus drank from her, shooting his cool seed into her body, sending Buffy into another tide of feeling. 

Long minutes passed before he finally rolled off her. Holding out a hand Angelus watched as she took it without opening her eyes. Pulling her upright, he took another moment to appreciate her naked form before leading her to the bathroom. 

“What,” Buffy said, surprised, “We’re showering? No this is my woman and I want everyone to know it because my scent’s all over her?” 

Growling, Angelus pushed her roughly into the wall next to the shower stall. “No one touches you. No one breathes the exquisite scent of you. No one gets to know what I and only I will ever know. Understood?” 

The silky smile that graced her features was enough to let him know she understood but Buffy couldn’t help rubbing her body against his. His sheer possessiveness towards her never failed to turn her on, the growl only served to make her crave his touch all the more. Whenever he went all obsessive on her like this, vowing to eviscerate anyone who so much as caught her shampoo scent, it drove her wild. 

“I love it when you’re like this, love; all possessive and growly.” Hooking a leg along his hips, feeling his erection throb against her, Buffy drew in an unneeded breath. He still held her captive against the wall with his body, his eyes flashing almost hypnotically between brown and gold, one hand gripping her wrists, the other slowly trailing down the sensitive underside of her arm. 

“What have you done to me, my love?” Angelus asked though it was obvious he didn’t expect an answer. 

He released her wrists and grabbed her waist, allowing Buffy to wrap both legs around him, engulfing his erection in her tight sheath. Carrying her to the shower, he turned the taps to the right temperature before stepping into the glass stall. Buffy had been moving slowly in his arms, taking him deeper into her body with her every movement. 

The water had long cooled before they finally got out, Angelus wrapping her in a huge fluffy towel. 

“So the Americas…three months?” Buffy asked as she slathered lotion on her bare legs knowing Angelus was watching her with a glint in his eye. Just because she was technically dead, Buffy thought as she switched legs, was no reason her skin should look dead. 

“Three? Perhaps, it depends on who stays once the sun sets; Spike said some expressed an interest in our ‘New Vampire Order’ as they’re calling it. I want to talk with them, see what they know and who they command. Naturally we’ll accept them,” Angelus said as he found a clean shirt make from the finest silk and buttoned it. 

“Naturally,” Buffy said as she slipped her dress over her head, humming for a moment as Angelus hands caressed her bare shoulders. “I guess whether they join us willingly or not the result is the same. We control everyone.” 

“That we do, my love,” Angelus said as his lips captured hers on last time before they made their way out of their rooms, Buffy’s arm curled securely through his, and onto the main floor where they could hear several beings roaming around. “That we do.”
**********
They looked like a king and queen waiting to greet their lowly subjects as they stood at the far end of the dining room, regal, calm, confident. 

“Together or separately?” Buffy asked as they watched the various demons and human conspirators wake and head for the food table. The long dining room table was still piled with an assortment of foods, solid and liquid, and it was everyone’s first stop. 

Angelus looked at her for a moment, wondering what she meant. Buffy had this habit of speaking the tail end of her thoughts aloud and expecting an answer. Usually he could discern what she meant, but now he wasn’t so sure; there were so many undercurrents running through the house it was hard to tell. 

“Talking with everyone?” At her nod he smiled to himself, taking her hand and kissing the palm knowing it made her tremble. Buffy did not disappoint. “Separately, I think. While we are Joined, I think some of the older vamps will be more apt to talk with me, they know me or my reputation at least and have this irrational mistrust of slayers.” 

Buffy smiled at his last comment, curling her fingers around the ones that held her. With just a look, a smile, the brush of those sensual lips he could make her want him, make her want to forget everything she had been doing and attack his sculpted body. Then again, he always could. 

“That’s what I thought; I’ll wander around for a bit then, see what everyone else heard. I’m sure Drusilla will know something in a few hours; she has this remarkable ability of finding out the strangest things even without her visions.”

Chuckling at her statement, Angelus nodded, handing her a flute of blood wine. He was still worried about her, usually Buffy had a voracious appetite, yet the past few nights she had barely eaten. She couldn’t be ill; vampires didn’t get sick. He’d have to keep a better eye on her. 

“Plus,” he said, watching her as she drank, “I want to see how other’s respond to you. If they seek you out or stay away. Hostile looks, overt threats, things like that; we need to know who will join us and who we’ll need to otherwise persuade.” 

Again she nodded, and finished her glass, smiling when Angelus handed her another one. “Good idea,” she said, finishing the second glass and hiding a smile at his satisfied look. Leaning up she caught his lower lip between his blunt teeth biting hard enough to draw a few drops of blood. 

Licking it clean, she whispered, “Later, baby,” and sauntered into the awakening crowd, a third glass in her hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy stood, showing no emotion, as she watched the assembled group. 

The sheer power she exuded was enough for most of them to want to bow before she and Angelus, and the ones that didn’t…they’d be taken care of later. There was plenty of time to subjugate those orders or clans or individuals that refused to get with the new program. Force was the one thing that all demons respected; it was definitely a winner take all mentality. 

Angelus was speaking with several of the childer from the previous night who had privately expressed an interest in joining their group. He and Giles seemed to make a good team when it came to…coercing others to follow them. The best part was…no one really suspected the rest of their plan. It was all well and good to want to rule the demon community and with the current war creating chaos out of everything, that much simpler to do so. Ruling the human as well as the demon world…well that was unheard of. 

Following them now would ensure a decent place on the pecking order later on. Bringing strength and numbers to their cause would ensure the ‘gratitude’ of Angelus and Buffy. 

The woman from the night before, whom Buffy had dubbed ‘Tigerwoman’, was again dressed in a tight fitting one-piece animal print dress that showed more skin than was necessary on the too skinny woman and was snug enough for Buffy to be able to count her ribs…was it possible for vampire’s to get breast implants? She was speaking with a friend, laughing at her if their expressions were any indication. 

Sliding up behind them, Buffy eavesdropped on the conversation. Her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk was firmly in place. It was unbelievable that they couldn’t sense her presence; what kind of predators were they? The kind from Sunnydale? 

“I’m surprised at you, Valda.” Tigerwoman said with an annoying trilling laugh. “You’ve always wanted Angelus, what’s to stop you now?” 

Valda looked at the woman next to her as they watched the goings on around them. “You have got to be kidding me, I know, Jaclyn; okay, sure I’ve always wanted Angelus because hello! I’m not dust, I have two perfectly working eyes and they appreciate great beauty in all forms.” 

‘Jaclyn’, though Buffy still preferred Tigerwoman, snorted. “You’ve never backed away from a challenge before, what’s stopping you now?” 

“Are you stupid? Never mind, don’t answer that. I’m backing away because Angelus has MATED with the slayer. The whole thing, Union Ritual, mating mark, sharing of blood, you know what that means; I explained it to you last night. Twice. There is nothing and no one that will separate them, and I’m not going to waste my time or my life trying.” 

Suddenly suspicious Valda asked, “Why are you trying to push me, Jaclyn? What’s in it for you?” 

Jaclyn laughed again, a loud sound that actually hurt Buffy’s ears. Valda’s too if her wince was any indication. “Just wondering, dear, that’s all.” And sauntered off, heading for the refreshment table. 

Valda took a moment to watch her, making sure she was out of even a vampire’s earshot before saying, “I really don’t have any designs on your mate, Buffy.” 

Buffy smiled, quickly reassessing her original ‘stupid vampire’ thought. “So it would seem,” She agreed, walking the few steps separating them to stand directly in front of the other vampiress. “But is that because you knew I was there or because you have a burning desire to retain your life?” 

Valda laughed; a genuine sound that felt really good considering she had been forced to endure Jaclyn’s company for close to three months now. “Both, actually. I’d have to be in a different dimension and never set eyes on Angelus to not want him, but I respect the Union Ritual and the power that you command. I’d be a fool not to.” 

Buffy stared at the much taller woman for a moment more, searching her bright blue eyes for signs of deception, expanding her senses, but there was nothing there. Only faint amusement and a quiet confidence that showed in her stance. Nodding once Buffy turned back to survey the dwindling crowd. Most of the guests had left the moment the sun set, the remaining ones either wanting more free food or to take measure of their hosts. 

“And Tigerwoman?” At Valda’s laugh Buffy smiled back and clarified, “Jaclyn, then, what’s her deal?” 

“Same sire, Zanita of Greece.” At Buffy’s raised eyebrows Valda clarified with a smile, “It means long teeth; I think her real name was Mary or something but that’s not nearly as intimidating.” 

“It’s not in the name.” Buffy pointed out. 

“Oh, I know, but many others don’t.” Valda agreed readily enough before answering Buffy’s original question. “Jaclyn is…” She tried to find another way to tell the vampiress the truth but couldn’t think of any and decided she didn’t care enough to even try, “stupid.”

“So if she suddenly disappears no one will miss her?” 

Possessiveness cursed through her dead veins as Buffy watch ‘Tigerwoman’ look hungrily at her mate. Anger flashed in her eyes as she caught Angelus’ gaze, flicking hers to the woman they had been discussing the previous night. He smirked and shrugged, letting Buffy know that whatever she did to the other woman was fine with him, before turning back to his conversation. 

“I won’t, and since I’m the only one here…nope.” 

“Excellent,” Buffy said as she tracked Jaclyn across the floor through narrowed eyes, already planning the other vampiress’ last few days. “So, Valda…where are you from, originally?” 

“Scandinavia…”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Angelus watched as Buffy laughed with the tall dark vision in green. She looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place her. Still, she didn’t hold a candle to his goddess and he took a moment more to study her before turning back to the conversation at hand. 

“So the Order of Axum is fragmented because of the wars?” Giles asked after hearing the other vampire’s explanation of things within his Order. It wasn’t unheard of to have childer of one Order leave for another, just rare. One’s Order was one’s Family. For this vampire…Malcolm Angelus thought his name was, to so openly want to join him and Buffy made him…suspicious, 

“Yes,” Malcolm said, “Our Master has become complacent, conceding more and more territory to Liguria without much of a fight.” 

“And what,” Angelus asked before further comments could be made, “Is he getting out of it?” 

“Money.” 

That gave him pause. “Money? He’s giving up power and land for…money?” That couldn’t be right. 

Giles snorted, “What has become of the demon world today? No dignity. Is that all?” He asked in a deceptively calm voice. 

There was something the vampire wasn’t telling them. Vampires weren’t always the smartest of demons, and some did value money, status, luxury, but this was all so…easy. Things fit together too well. 

But they dropped their questions for now, willing to let Malcolm think they believed him while doing more research into the matter. Maybe they were just overly paranoid, having seen and done too many things to take anything at face value. Maybe his desire to join their little takeover was genuine and he was simply dissatisfied with the way his Order was handling things. 

Maybe, but probably not. 

Buffy sauntered over to them just then, twining her arms through Angelus’ as she smoothly joined the conversation, which had changed to rumors in the east about the wars.
**********
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” 

Gunn looked up from where yet another ally had fallen. The ground was littered with them, fallen comrades, fallen enemies, sometimes indistinguishable from each other. Magickal burns, deep sword gashes, hack jobs, or teeth and claws. Sometimes a combination of wounds but the end result was always the same. 

Death, destruction, who really won when so many died? 

“What was that, Wes?” He asked as the older man helped him to stand, handing him the cane someone had dug out from somewhere. Gunn hadn’t been able to participate in the day’s battle having been wounded several weeks ago; his right leg was broken in two places and his right arm had an ax cut from shoulder to elbow. 

Frankly it was a minor miracle he was still alive let alone standing. Even the healers had been hard pressed to help, exhausted as they were from the long years of fighting. 

But he didn’t feel lucky all he felt was rage. Rage that someone else died when he could have been there, rage that they were winning a battle but the war could never truly be won. Rage that he had let his friend down though Angel’s turn into Angelus had absolutely nothing to do with him; Gunn had given his word to the vampire that he’d stake him the first chance he got should something like this happen.

And rage that he couldn’t help Connor. 

The boy (young man) was sullen, brooding. Much like his father and that resemblance did nothing to ease Gunn’s conscience. While the boy wasn’t trying to kill them all (again) he wasn’t being as…helpful as one might otherwise assume a warrior for the light would be. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Connor got little to no sleep and when he did he awoke screaming… 

“George Santayana,” Wesley said, interrupting Gunn’s thoughts. “In his “Soliloquies in England,” ‘Tipperary’ I believe was the title, he wrote, ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war,’ though for some reason completely unfounded so far as I have been able to tell, it’s been attributed to Plato.” 

Gunn nodded absently as they made their way back to camp, turning backs on friends and allies. Turning his back on his dead second in command. He had sent Tripp (the name the demon had given him was unpronounceable as far as Gunn was concerned so he shortened it) in his stead, knowing that if anyone was trained to lead his section it was the Voraacc Demon. Now he lay with his insides streaming out, his blue blood soaked into the ground. 

Damn but Gunn hated losing.

“Any word from Cordy?” 

Wesley shook his head. Gunn had been delirious for days after the battle and missed most of the discussion that had revolved around the seer. Not that they had a lot to discuss, but the wounded man had missed it anyway. 

“She’s still missing. After her initial communication when she arrived in Sunnydale there’s been nothing. I don’t know if it’s because she’s busy fighting with the army there or if…” He didn’t finish the sentence and he didn’t have to. Everyone knew the risks going into this; though some had a choice and some didn’t. Cordelia knew what the chances were of her and America surviving each other. 

“And…Connor?” 

“The same. He doesn’t sleep; when he does his nightmares must be horrible for he wakes screaming. He never talks about them with you?” Wesley had sincerely hoped that the boy talked with Gunn. They had developed an affinity with each other since these battles had begun and it seemed once Angel…left that Gunn was the only one the child was willing to spend any time with voluntarily. But now, from Gunn’s expression, talking didn’t seem to be the case. 

“No and I don’t ask. There are some things that are private; too private to share.” 

Slowly Gunn and Wesley made their way across the once green field. But there was nothing they could do about the dead, nothing to be done for them except to see that they didn’t die only for the rest of their army to lose the war. 

“I’ll try and talk with him, see if maybe he…maybe he’ll talk with me.” Gunn didn’t hold high hopes for that but he owed to his friend, both his friends, Angel and Connor to try.
~~~~~~~~~
Connor stared out at the expanse of white before him. The rock on which he was sitting was cold but he didn’t notice. Indeed, he barely noticed the snow covering the ground or the sun just beginning to rise. 

The nightmares were getting worse. 

Every time he closed his eyes all he saw was carnage, people he couldn’t help, allies he let down, friends he disappointed. In some all he could do was stand by, watching the slaughter of hundred, thousands; in others he was actually…helping with it. And that was what frightened him the most. 

When he dreamt of people dieing around him, he was usually a bystander, physically unable to help the innocents. But when he participated in the killing, he did so with a joyous heart, reveling in the blood and power, thriving in the force and energy he controlled. 

And he controlled quite a lot. 

The feelings coursing through him were unlike any he had ever felt before, even in the hell dimension. He felt alive like he never had before, the blood pumped through him, his breath was short with exertion, adrenaline running high…but it was the most addicting feeling. Some days he went to sleep hoping for the dreams to come just so he felt something. When he realized what he was doing he couldn’t believe it. 

He was actually taking pleasure in such a massacre, actually wanting more, wanting the rush that came with it, the high, the…everything that seemed to draw him deeper and deeper into that dark world. 

His father was there. 

Since changing back into Angelus, losing his soul and deserting his friends and family, Connor had dreamt of the vampire…too often. Angelus was beckoning him, drawing him closer to that line that separated good from evil. He wanted Connor to join his new family, to have a mother in Buffy, siblings in Spike, Drusilla, Giles, Willow. And Angelus as his father, his real father like Connor had only just recently accepted him to be. 

Connor supposed he could have told the others that Buffy had indeed been turned as had Giles and Willow whom he had only met on a few occasions when the battles first started. But he didn’t. He could have told Wesley and Gunn that Spike had lost both his soul and his chip and that Drusilla, whom he had never seen but seemed to know instinctively who she was, had rejoined her family.

And that Angelus and Buffy were about to become the most powerful vampires in the world. 

But he didn’t. 

If asked, Connor wouldn’t be able to tell why he kept such momentous news a secret, he only knew he did. He should. And that was the source of another problem he had. 

He wanted to join them. Wanted to be accepted as he hadn’t been since the birth he couldn’t remember. He wanted to follow his father, to have Buffy as the mother he never knew and probably wouldn’t have wanted to. He wanted to be accepted by their childer, to have that kind of power, and to know that he hadn’t a care. 

Holtz had instilled into a young Steven the concept of a soul but he never really believed him. What kind of god would give a being the capacity to care, to know right from wrong, then abandon him in a literal hellhole? Holtz firmly believed that a human’s soul was what separated the good guys from the bad, that humans had souls and monsters such as vampires, demons…his father, didn’t. 

Holtz had been wrong. 

Having a soul wasn’t the end all be all of being good. Connor had learned that his first days on Earth. And Holtz had been wrong about Angel, too. But then in the past years, Connor had learned that a great deal of what Holtz had taught him had been the skewed views of a bitter man. 

It was a shame that neither those views nor the things he had learned since returning to earth could help him now. 

The sun rose higher in the sky, casting its pale glow across the still frozen Russian land. He needed to sleep; Connor knew that, he hadn’t had more than a stolen few minutes in months. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. Everyone was worried for him, he knew that, too, but that still made no difference. Because, in some deep part of his heart, the part he didn’t want to acknowledge but that grew stronger with every passing moment, Connor wanted the dreams to come. He wanted to dream about death and destruction at his own hands, wanted to find his father and his father’s mate and live with them. Rule with them. 

And he didn’t know which was worse, the idea itself, or the fact that he craved it like he had nothing else in his life.

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