Category: Crossover (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer/New Series Tomorrow People), drama, angst
Rating: PG-15/TV-MA (This one definitely has its darker moments. Mild language, violence, dark themes, character death; about what you would see on your typical episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Angel, but it's not for those who want bunnies, kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens)
Summary: Angelus strikes at Buffy - through one of the Tomorrow People.
Disclaimer: Chances are, if you recognize them, then they sure as heck ain't mine, okay? Ami Jackson and the Tomorrow People belong to Roger Damon Price, Thames Television, Tetra Television and ITV. Angelus, Spike, Drusilla and Buffy are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox Productions.
Archive: Wendy, it's yours. Caroline, it's yours too. Anyone else, please ask.
Dedication: To TPFICT, Happy Belated 6th Birthday.
Thanks: To Caroline, again, for the last minute beta read. Also an extra-special thank you to Anne, Caroline, Kristin and Wendy, in no particular order, for always being there and always offering support, enthusiasm and feedback when I have needed it most; and for support of my madness in whatever incarnations it may have. Wendy and Caroline, it's been quite a long haul and I probably would have thrown my hands up in surrender long ago and quit writing if not for the two of you; Anne and Kristin, we're newer at this, but your aid has not been unappreciated. I love you all and you really don't know how much you are appreciated. Virtual chocolates and chocolate chip cookies to all of you.
Notes: First of all, apologies for the lame summary. It's the best I could do. Really.
Second, this story has a purpose and a history, and if you don't read this part of the author's notes, you're probably going to think that I was drugged when I wrote this and/or wonder if I need psychological help. (Well, you might still think that *after* reading the story and the author's notes, but I'm hoping this will clear some of the fog.)
This story is part of a crossover series/universe developed by Caroline Fales and myself called "Dark Horizons." We probably began work on Dark Horizons two to three years ago, in bits and pieces and tiny spurts, with fragments of stories appearing here and there. Dark Horizons was intended to be a darker counterpart to Shadows & Light, and while it is definitely darker, it is in no other way related to Shadows & Light other than by being a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer/Angel/New Series Tomorrow People crossover universe.
The premise and background of Dark Horizons is as follows: Beginning in the summer between season two and season three of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and following a year or two after The Living Stones, the Damon family moves to Sunnydale. Naturally, the Tomorrow People meet up with the Scooby Gang and learn all about the beasties of Sunnydale and the Scoobs learn about our Tomorrow People. Buffy returns to Sunnydale, Angel is returned from hell, and then the universe gets even more AU than ever before. Spike and Dru arrive in "Sunnyhell," Angel loses his soul courtesy of a spell by Dru and . . . well, the rest is history as is portrayed in this fic.
This fic is meant to basically be a teaser for Dark Horizons and a hint of what is to come. As I said above, if you don't like it dark, then don't go any further.
Michele Mason Bumbarger Posted: 11.03.2001
She wasn't broken yet. That fascinated Angelus more than he would have ever admitted. It fascinated him and gained her a notch of respect - and very few, particularly few mortals earned that from him. The last one had been the Slayer; she bounced back incredibly well too.
But Ami was a different story. The Tomorrow Person should have broken easily. She should have been a sobbing and whimpering form by this time. She should have huddled against the wall a useless, mindless thing after the tortures he had inflicted upon her. There should have been nothing left for Buffy find, nothing left to remind the Slayer of her failure beyond a used up husk.
But, she wasn't broken. The large dark eyes that stared back at him still held sanity and reason, still flickered however faintly with defiance. It was as if she screamed at him, "You didn't break me. You didn't break me."
It was enough to make him want to snap her fragile neck.
Instead, Angelus curbed that initial reaction staring at her from the opposite side of the room. She didn't look away, meeting his gaze as though resolved and resigned to whatever he would do to her next. "Are you still hanging onto the hope that Buffy will come and rescue you? Or that maybe Angel is in here somewhere?"
"No," Ami shook her head, licking her lips. "I don't think Angel's inside you anywhere."
"At least you realize it."
"Because you're a bloody bastard that I hope that Buffy stakes at the first opportunity."
Angelus laughed at her brazenness. Here she was - vulnerable to him on all levels and still she tried to provoke him with words? It was almost as if she didn't realize how dangerously close she was to losing her very weak, very fragile, very mortal life.
Or maybe she did.
Maybe she did realize it and was hoping to provoke him into killing her. Because if she was dead he couldn't torture her anymore. If she was dead, that would be all the more reason to hope that the Slayer would be able to finally raise her stake and kill him.
He hadn't given Ami enough credit.
"I'm not going to kill you, Ami." Angelus crossed the room in three quick strides, grabbing her by the arms and lifting her from the bed. He felt himself shift into his demonic visage and smiled down at her dangerously. "So, you can stop trying to provoke me. You're far more entertaining to me - alive and pathetic."
"Well, I'm the only play thing you have around here, aren't I? Why kill me? How will you entertain yourself then?"
"You're right. I will kill you." With those words, Angelus relished the fear that surged through her body and he embraced it. Without another thought he pulled her forward, sinking his fangs into her neck, delighting at the taste of her as her blood spilled down his throat. Rich and pure, full of so much power - so potent. Her fear added to it and he drank greedily - as if he were devouring a fine wine. He'd never tasted anything quite like it before, and was a bit saddened that he wouldn't taste it ever again. He liked the way she panicked and fought against him, tiny fists and feet lashing out at him. She fought vigorously at first, then slowly as he felt her life ebbing away - ebbing into his mouth, the struggles became fewer and fewer.
It was too bad that Buffy wouldn't appreciate the perfect eloquence of this moment. It was poetry in motion - her ineptitude had delivered yet another of her friends into his hands.
And it was a shame that Ami would be so wasted. After all the work he had done to make her suitably weak, suitably broken to punish the Slayer. To hurt her and those around her. All that work and nothing to show for it.
Angelus stopped in mid-drink, holding the Tomorrow Person close. She was near dead, but not quite there. He could still hear the faint pounding of her heart, feel the taint of death all around her.
Maybe he wouldn't waste her after all.
Using his nails he quickly raked open his wrist and brought it to her mouth. Some part of her mind recoiled and fought, recognizing his attempt and Angelus had to once again admire her spunk. Even on her death bed, she attempted to throw his plans back in his face. Yet, she was too weak to fight for too long; he held her head still, forcing his wrist to her mouth, nearly shuddering with pleasure as she finally latched onto him - drinking hungrily and with pleasure.
It had been too long since he'd done this. Too long since he had created another. He had forgotten the pleasure that came from it, forgotten that intangible moment when the lines blurred and there was nothing but the bite, the kiss and the joining. It was easy to lose touch, to float away with the moment - to let her drink too much.
She protested, eyes flaming yellow when he withdrew his wrist and pushed her forcefully away.
"Enough," Angelus barked, cradling his wrist. "You'll kill us both." It wasn't the truth, but she didn't know that.
She licked her lips, eyes changing from yellow to brown, a sickened look falling over her face as he watched reality dawn in her eyes. As realization flickered and she recoiled from him yet again. "I hate you."
Angelus shook his head and didn't bother to rise to her bait. He was too tired - drained by the blood necessary to start the process of her change. In a few hours, she wouldn't care anymore, the demon would fully destroy all remaining vestiges of her humanity. Instead, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to him, cradling her slight form against his. He lowered his head so that he could whisper in her ear, the last words her dying, human soul would ever hear. "You're mine now, Ami. I made you. I claim you.
"Welcome to the family."
*****
The silence was deadening. It was an eerie, uncomfortable silence that made Spike raise his head curiously and stare towards the ceiling as he wondered how he had ever allowed himself to get caught up in one of Angelus's schemes yet again.
Damn Dru and her bloody spells. He was half tempted - more than half-tempted really to go in there and destroy every one of her spell books. When and why she had gotten it into her head to begin studying these things, he didn't know. At first, he had thought it would be just another whimsy, another distraction to fill her idle moments. But she hadn't lost interest in those spellbooks - in fact, the more time she spent reading one only made her gain an increased hunger to read another. And the thought of Dru playing around with more advanced magicks. . .
Spike shuddered and refused to allow himself to even finish the thought. What were considered mild magicks had delivered Angelus back into their midst and that was terror and horror enough.
The problem with a wanker like Angelus was that he simply didn't think. He never looked ahead, never considered the big picture. With him it was always action and motion with nary a heed to the consequences. Which was why rather than keeping things on an even keel with the Slayer was important. As long as she didn't know they were there, she wouldn't have bothered them at all. They couldn't afford to have the Slayer breathing down their necks, not when they were so close to discovering the ritual to revive the Kallstrom demon and take down the Slayer - and her friends -- once and for all.
No, Angelus couldn't think far enough ahead to follow a simple directive. He saw an opportunity to strike the Slayer and her friends and he took it. And rather than allowing Spike to deliver the Tomorrow Person - what sort of name was that anyway, a Tomorrow Person? Made them sound like space travelers rather than the true freaks of nature that they were. Yes, teleportation was fine and dandy, but they were weak and not even a viable threat to vampires.
Or anything else for that matter.
But the bloody wanker had other ideas.
"I'm going to break her and deliver her to Buffy. I think it makes a nice Valentine's Day gift, don't you think?" Angelus had made the announcement casually, as they watched Dru weave the spell that would hold the Tomorrow Person in the mansion, unable to teleport or do much else either.
"What's the point?" Spike countered. "They're weak and spineless. It'll take you a day. Maybe less. Why bother?" Spike had taken that moment to light a cigarette and drew a few puffs.
"Because, she's mine. Buffy's friends? They're all mine." Angelus glowered at him. "And I will slowly destroy everyone of them while she stands by helpless."
"Oh, that's right. I forgot. You're obsessed too."
Angelus of course hadn't been willing to listen to reason. Rather he set about his task of 'breaking' the girl with a fanaticism that truly did border on obsessed. Only he didn't seem to be having much luck. He'd tortured her, raped her and taken everything from her and yet Spike had laughed aloud when she still found the heart to spit in his grand-sire's face. In a way, it earned her a grudging respect from him. He knew that she was only trying to end her misery, hoping to provoke Angelus into killing her; sparking him to anger was certain to work more readily than pleading for death. And in the end Spike knew that Angelus was just blind enough to stumble right into her trap and give the girl the very thing that she wanted.
Wanker.
Still, the silence from the upstairs bedroom unsettled him. Usually there were sobs and screams; usually Angelus didn't stay around once he'd ended his daily amusements with the girl. Unless he had finally snapped . . .
Spike shook his head. The Slayer wouldn't be happy about burying another of her friends. But he wasn't the cause of it, so he could rest assured that she wouldn't be coming for his heart; he only hoped that Angelus could wait to show off his trophy until after the revival.
"Like that would happen," Spike muttered to himself.
Dru's soft low keening drew him from his thoughts. "Ooh, it's so dark, so evil. There's another princess."
Spike turned his head to stare at his half-crazy lover for a long moment. It was often hard to tell if Dru was simply falling into one of her insane rants or if she truly was having a vision. "What is pet? What do you see?"
"It's so powerful and rich, he can't resist," Dru crooned, closing her eyes. She rocked on her heels, a half-smile on her face as she hugged herself. "He'll lose himself if he isn't careful."
"Dru, luv?" Spike approached her slowly, resting his hands gently on her arms. "Is this about the demon?"
"Oh, yes, there is a demon," Dru breathed almost reverently. Her eyes opened slowly, barely slits revealing large, dilated pupils. "It's a terrible menace. It's so pretty in its wickedness."
"Right Dru," Spike shook his head and turned away. Dru would snap out of it eventually; as long as whatever world she was visiting wasn't giving her any warnings about the revival, he wasn't going to concern himself with it. No, he was far more concerned with Angelus and the girl - he'd been up there quite a long time. Longer than normal for one of his usual visits.
Damn and bloody double damn. If he'd already killed the girl it was going to take an army to stop him from bringing the Slayer down on them.
"Ooh," Dru's keening changed, almost pained now and Spike returned his attention to her. Her eyes were open wide now, staring at him sadly. She sang softly. "Daddy has a new princess in the castle. I'm not princess anymore."
"Yes, Dru, you are," Spike crooned to her softly. "You're my princess. You'll always be my princess."
Dru smiled at his touch, his soft ministrations. "That's because she's a naughty princess."
"Yes, Dru, she's a naughty, naughty princess." He hated when she got like this. The only thing to do was humor her until she snapped out of it; sometimes that took minutes, other times it took hours. And he really didn't have hours to spare, he needed to find out what Angelus was up to. Keeping an eye on the elder of the vampires was the only thing keeping them undead.
Her smile faded and she pouted suddenly. "He likes her more. His new princess is better." She began that terrible, horrible keening again and Spike sighed heavily. Something told him that this was not going to be one of those spells that Dru broke free of in just a few minutes. "Ooh, he likes her more. I'm going to be alone all alone now. All alone. It makes Miss Edith unhappy."
"Nonsense, Dru," Angelus' voice drew Spike's attention to the top of the staircase. "You still have a very special place in my heart."
Spike quirked an eyebrow, watching as Angelus slowly descended the staircase actually holding onto the banister for support. His grand-sire looked like he'd been to hell and back, his complexion unnaturally pale even for a vampire. Large gouges raked his face and his shirt was torn and bloody. Again he felt a nudge of respect for the Tomorrow Person - after three days at Angelus's hands she could still put up that sort of fight. "Looks like your hellcat got the best of you again."
"Not this time," Angelus remarked with what appeared to be the hint of a smile turning up his mouth.
"I'll still be your special princess?" Dru crooned as she interrupted them, joining Spike by the staircase. "I don't want to be alone. It's soo cold and lonely alone."
"Yes, Dru, you will still be my special princess," Angelus reached out to stroke her cheek and the delighted purr that she gave made Spike's stomach lurch. He lowered his voice softly, drawing Dru closer, dark eyes flickering toward Spike and daring him to interfere. "But right now, I need you - and Miss Edith - to help me. I need you to take care of her for a while, all right? She's part of the family now and you have to help make her feel at home or I'll be very disappointed in you."
If he hadn't already been dead, Spike's heart would have stopped and his blood would have congealed in that very moment. The world ground to a complete halt as he the truth and meaning behind Dru's frantic words came to light.
Angelus hadn't killed the girl. He'd gone one further - he brought her over.
Stupid, bloody wanker.
*** End ***