"Immortal Beloved..."

A shortie...

PG-13

Disclaimer: No, Joss, no...I make no claims, put that thing down! It's all yours and ME's

Spoilers for Angel to this week...Flee at once!...

Summary: A quickie exploit of upcoming rumors before Joss does something stupid like pair Buf off with some jerk we've never heard of...

Rome, May 2004...The underground catacomb lair of 'the Immortal'...A sort of vamp Jude Law clone...Very much full of himself...Perhaps with reason as he appears to have the Slayer in his grasp...

"And tell your dear old loves, my Buffy..." the Immortal sneered at the thrall-bound Slayer... "Who I have to thank for my triumph..."

"William and Angel..." she murmured, blank-eyed...

"And why?..."

"I loved them...But I failed them...I didn't help them..."

"That's not true, love..." William called to her...Struggling against the grip of the enslaved bondsmen holding him and Angel...

"And, so...When I appeared...The First of All Human Vampires...Showing myself a noble creature, able to fight-off my blood lust...Pleading for help with my dreadful curse..."

"I wanted to help you..." Buffy finished... "And I didn't want to care about the consequences..."

"Such compassion...Pity it was so misplaced...William..." The Immortal turned back to him... "It is you I have most to thank...I took my cue from your pathetic romantic sniveling...And her guilt over you did the rest..."

Not to slight you, Angelus...he smiled...

"It was so easy...A few heroics to convince her I was sincere in my desire for redemption...A few romantic gestures...Rescuing her sister from my own agents...Ha!..."

Hard to believe this simpleton defeated the First...he gave Buffy a contemptuous look...But then, the First always had a built-in sense of defeat...

"And now, a final taste...And she will join me as my Consort...And we will rule all...Including your Wolfram-Hart, Angel..."

I'm sure they will much prefer us as their masters...Eh, Buffy...He turned...

"Nah..." she shook her head...The blank-eyed stare gone...He stared at her...Angel and William exchanging wry grins... "I don't like the idea of being cooped behind a desk all day...Or night...Lets leave W-H to Angel..." She staked the Immortal before he could make a move...

Angel threw back his shaken guards, Will joining in in a moment...Within five minutes it was over, Buffy having taken down several herself, the others not done in by the boys fleeing down the cavern...

"Thanks for coming guys...Knew ya would..." she grinned... "What a loser..." she stared at the ashes... "Dracula had more appeal...and lots more class..."

"Hey, Angel...Sorry Giles handled that thing with Winifred so badly...Though Willow did say nothing could be done except maybe time-travel...She'll look into it..."

"I want you to know I gave him a piece of my mind over it...He's still skittish around you, I'm afraid..."

And as for you...she frowned at Will...Then a beaming smile...

"The things a girl has to do to get her own true to finally show..."

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