Tyger, Tyger

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Disclaimer: Wish as I might, most of these characters aren’t mine, not even Mr Pointy. If they were, I’d look after them better. The ones you’ve never heard of? They’re mine. No money will ever be made from this fic.
Distribution: Angel Elders. You want it? Really? Gosh. Just tell me where it’s going please.
Spoilers: BtVS season 2. Angel never got his soul back. Oz isn’t a werewolf – yet. Do not get me started on who sired Spike – it’s exactly as it says in this story.
Rating: NC17 for sex, some of which is non-consensual, the odd bit of bad language and some violence.
Content: B/A(us) Alternate future reality

Summary: The follow-up to ‘To Kill a Cat’. If you haven’t read that, it might be best if you do.

'The Nature of the Beast' story cycle won Best Buffy/Angel series at the Shades of Grey Awards, round 9.


TYGER, TYGER

The third story in 'The Nature of the Beast' story cycle.


Angelus awoke to the setting sun, savouring the naked female flesh in his arms. She had been willing and compliant last night. As always. She had catered to his every appetite. She had given him pleasure. She had given him release. But she had not given him satisfaction.

Damn.

He rolled out of bed quickly, pushing Drusilla away, refusing for the moment to think about the woman who would have given him satisfaction. He wouldn’t think about her. He simply wouldn’t.

He showered and dressed quickly. The leather suited his mood. Dark. He set off to find a kill that would also suit his mood. In the end, he settled on a male witch practicing some dark magic in the Cemetery of Eternal Rest, the cemetery he had come to regard as peculiarly his own. Well, his and…NO! He was not going to think about that. The spell-spiced sweetness of the blood as he tore into the man’s throat was a welcome, if brief, distraction.

He had thought about the Slayer every night for the ightights since he had let her return to her home after their stolen weekend. Now he wondered if she had infected him, rather as a vampire infects a human. Had possessed him. NO! He had already had too much experience of possession. A century of being possessed by that whiney soul was definitely a hundred years too long. Nothing would ever possess him like that again. *Nothing!*

But that weekend bee been one of the most erotic of his life. Unlife. Any of them, really. Oh, she was innocent – that had only made it better. Of course, he hadn’t introduced her to any of the darker pleasures. An innocent such as she would not have been ready for thoset; wt; would not have enjoyed them. He scowled at that thought, as he allowed the cooling, emptied body to drop from his deadly embrace. NO! He was simplvingving those until later, for when he wanted variety –re wre was no need to rush into everything at once. Time was something he had plenty of. There would be time enough before he tired of his toy.

At first he had stayed away from her because there were plenty of other pleasures in life, weren’t there? Other things to do, places to be, people to sample. Weren’t there? Then he had decided that what he was really doing was playing a game. The teasing game. Give them – her – a taste and leave her wanting more. Make her desperate for his attentions. It would spice the next encounter, wouldn’t it? But now he was afraid. Afraid that he might actually be hunting in earnest. And he was even more afraid that he didn’t know, even in the innermost depths of his demonic mind, what the truth of it really was.

Damn!

He flung away from the site of his latest kill in what, had it been Drusilla, he would have described as a childish tantrum. He was just understandably pissed, of se. se. Time to find the Slayer, and do what he had done for the last 21 days. Watch her from afar, relish the pure animal grace of her, make sure she wasn’t taken unawares and…damaged. Well, unless it were by him.

*******************

Buffy dusted off the remnants of her latest kill and headed out of the Shady Elms Cemetery, making for the next one on her patrol route, the Cemetery of Eternal Rest, the one she had started to think of as peculiarly her own. Well, hers and…NO!

Don’t go there, she thought. Not again. But it was too late. Her thoughts had already travelled the road to that weekend in the mansion, just as surely as her feet were travelling the road to Eternal Rest. She could never imagine anything more…more, well just *more*, than that weekend with her demon lover. That was what he had become. Not the demon who raped her in cemeteries. Her lover. He had been so gentle, so tender. No. Those weren’t the right words. After all, at times he had been almost aggressive, almost violent. It was just that he had been unfailingly…considerate. That was the word. Everything that would please her, he had known about. Had done. He had done nothing to hurt or displease her. She was sure that he had held ba he he was a demon, after all, a demon of passion and excess, and she was an innocent, an almost virgin. But the things he *had* done – she blushed now, to think of them, swiping her hand angrily across her reddened cheek, as if anyone could see her in the darkness. She was even more angry that she had wanted him to do those things again. And other things, perhaps, that she as yet knew nothing about.

But he hadn’t. She hadn’t seen him since. Oh, he’d left plenty of bodies around, almost as a calling card. Just to remind her that he was still there, and what she was missing. Just like all men, once he’d had his way. Why should vampires be different?

Bastard!

*************

He could smell her anger and arousal from where he lurked behind the mausoleum. Good. He was a demon, dammit!

He shadowed her along the rest of her patrol route, watching with unacknowledged pride the ease with which she had taken out a newly risen fledgling in the Golden Memories Garden of Rest. He smiled, fondly. He’d left that one just for her. A present for her, like the half-dead birds and mice that a cat will leave its human, a training aid to teach them how to hunt and kill for themselves.

She returned to Eternal Rest. For some reason, she always finished off here, sitting in the doorway of the mausoleum for a few minutes.e hae had done for the last 21 nights. Having satisfied himself that the night now held nothing more dangerous to her than himself, he quickly headed back to the mansion. Drusilla could take care of the painful erection he’d had for the last two hours. Had had for the last 21 nights.

****************

She stayed sitting in the mausoleum doorway for a few moments longer, leaning her back against the coolness of the bronze cladding, cool and firm as his…NO! Don’t go there!

Sighing, she stood up, tucking her stakes away, preparing to go home. She could feel that there was no threat in Eternal Rest tonight. What she didn’t expect was the small, neat portal that opened several yards away, disgorging the unwelcome but familiar form of the Keeper, and then winking out of existence.

What the…?

She stood her ground as the Hylekian demon approached her, surreptitioudrawdrawing one of the stakes out of the back of her waistband. She probably wouldn’t need it – the Keeper had never represented a threat to them, but there’s always a first time… The Keeper smiled in welcome.

“Slayer! I am so glad I found you. Your mate is here, too?”

“No! He most definitely isn’t!” It came out almost as a snarl.

The Keeper looked puzzled, and glanced down at what he held in his hands – two sets of clothing and a scrap of paper.

“Oh? I felt sure that the two of you were here. Never mind.” He smiled again, trying to be at his most charming. “He can join us later, I suppose. I have a proposition to negotiate with both of you.”

“What!”

*************

Giles had just told everyone to wrap up what they were doing. It was late enough, and they were too tired to carry on. Whilst Buffy patrolled, the rest of them were trying to find more information on a current planetary conjunction that he was concerned about, but all they had managed to uncover was the worryingly familiar ‘Trouble ahead’ signals. Nothing more specific. Well, tomorrow was another night.

He was slightly worried about Buffy, too. She hadn’t seemed quite the same since her stay in Hylek. He knew that three weeks ago, she and Willow and Cordelia had had a girls’ weekend together – Buffy had rung him that Friday night to say she needed some time with her girlfriends, and would be out of touch until Monday – although, unusually, all three of them were saying nothing about what had happened. He assumed that they had shared some of their teenage woes. Buffy’s woes, of course, were in a different league to other teenagers, but he’d hoped the girls’ weekend would give her a bit of space, a bit of normality; that sharing with them about her experiences in Hylek, with *that thing* - no, he amended reluctantly, with *him* - would lighten her burden a little. And it had. For a few days. She had smiled more, looked almost happy. Then the load had seemed to settle more heavily than ever before.

He was probably worrying for nothing. What did a middle-aged man know of the cares of a teenage girl? At least Angelus hadn’t been around after that extraordinary night when he had almost died returning her from the demon dimension. Buffy had given him what was clearly an abridged account of what had happened in Hylek. Equally clearly, the vampire had protected her. Had not forced himself upon her. Had acted almost as …Angel… would have acted. Giles didn’t like to think about the implications of that. It was a good thing that Buffy hadn’t seen him since, despite the demon’s claim that Buffy was his. He could only cut up her peace even more, and lacerate her soul.

Of course, there had been the bodies. Angelus seemed to be in a particularly destructive mood. True, most of the bodies had been those of drug users, pushers, muggers and other assorted lowlifes, which in itself was strange – Angelus usually chose the more affluent or more innocent. Not all were lowlifes, though. In one apparent fit of whimsy or temper – who knew, with that demon – he had turned fully a quarter of the high school football team in a single night. Some of them were still around, but Giles was sure Buffy would find them all eventually.

It was during these musings that he heard Buffy coming back down the corridor – he could distinguish her footsteps now, in the late night silence. He sighed. There was a certain quality of…stomping…perhaps, that he was sure boded no good. He was even more certain of it when she burst through the library doors, followed by a strange demon. A smiling, personable one to be sure, but a demon nonetheless. Oh dear. Trouble ahead.

“Giles. Guys. Here’s someone I so want to introduce you to.” The sarcasm positively dripped from her voice. Oh dear. Definitely trouble ahead.

“This is the Keeper. He’s the guy from Hylek who kept our cage clean! And who painted us up – when *are* these things going to wear off, by the way?” She glowered at the hapless demon, who stood clutching a bundle of assorted clothing and a scrap of paper.

There was an astonished silence, and then all the teenagers started talking at once. Or shouting, in the case of Xander. Giles moved in to quell the noise.

“I’m Rupert Giles. You are…?”

“I am Ezrafel, Keeper of the Great Games, currently assigned to House Orbath. Are you the Slayer’s Watcher? Is her mate not here?”

The silence was deafening. And even more astonished than the last one. For a few seconds. Then Xander became even more strident.

“Mate? MATE? You don’t mean that blood-sucking fiend who ought to have been left in Hylek?” Giles shushed him.

Ezrafel looked shocked. “The Master Vampire, yes. Both he and his mate should have stayed in Hylek. I have come to speak to them, to negotiate with them, about returning to finish the Games. It is necessary. In exchange, I have important information for you.”

The pandemonium was absolute.

*************

Giles could feel the beginnings of a headache. Were all young people so …loud? Just when he needed to be able to think particularly clearly, he had that ominous throb in his temples. Just ignore it.

He had managed to get everyone quietened down, and was now making tea. Tea always helped. He looked out into the main library, and saw the demon, sitting uncomfortably at the table, surrounded by a group of hostile teenagers. Maybe tea wouldn’t be enough. He sighed again.

Ezrafel could sense every hostile emotion from the people around him. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising. He knew that the Slayer had originally been taken without her consent. Well, at least he had come with something in his pocket for the negotiations. The Watcher seemed a man of wisdom – there was something of interest for him. And when the Slayer’s mate came, Ezrafel hoped he would have something of interest for him, too. He had been pleasantly surprised by what he had seen of this world so far. He had expected it to be far more primitive. Perhaps the trade would be easier than he had initially supposed. He didn’t mind the young ones staying – they were undisciplined, but surely they would learn something from their elders. He just wished they would find the vampire. Time was pressing.

Giles returned with the tea and made a small ritual of pouring it – it gave him a little more time to think. Just as he was finishing, Buffy broke the silence.

“You didn’t answer my question. When does this blue stuff wear off?”

“Oh, when the Games are finished, of course. After that they will fade naturally, unless you choose to keep them.”

“No, I don’t think so!”

“Then they will fade. But not until the need for them has ended.”

Buffy had to be satisfied with that.

“Where is your mate? I must speak to both of you together. And your Watcher, of course.”

Giles interrupted hastily. “Do we need Angelus? Can you not say what you have come to say without him?”

Again, the demon was shocked. “No! The offer I have is for the mated pair.”

Xander could restrain himself no longer. “You keep saying that. Mates, mated pair. No way! That *thing* is her mortal enemy. No mating here.”

It was Buffy who hurriedly interrupted, deflecting the demon who had started to speak in puzzlement, and deflecting Xander who looked as if he would continue his rant. One of them might start asking the wrong questions. The right questions, really…

“Even if we ask Angelus to come, he might decide not to.”

“Why would he not answer the call of his mate? Besides, I have information for him, too.”

Giles sighed. He really wanted this demon to go away and leave them alone. But he said he had information. Ignoring information was often unwise. And there was this wretched planetary conjunction… If the two things were tied up, he would be foolish not to at least hear what the Hylekian had to say. And the only way to do that seemed to involve getting the vampire here. Giles could hardly bear to think his name. Well, if something hurts, get it over quickly.

“I suppose I could go over to the mansion, see whether he’s there,” he offered.

“Erm…I’ve got his ‘phone number.”

Everybody looked hard at Willow. “Um, you remember, he ‘phoned me for Buffy’s clothes. I made a note of the number. Just in case.”

Giles dialled it. Angelus was at home to callers.

***********

The phone call took him quite by surprise. He was unaware that the little gang even had his number. Giles had been extremely cryptic, and that alone had piqued Angelus’ curiosity. He had been waiting for Drusilla to get back from hunting, but perhaps it would be amusing to visit the Watcher, find out what he wanted. So he agreed.

When he arrived, he was even more surprised by the size of the reception committee that awaited him. Giles was frosty, Xander was openly hostile, Cordelia was angry, and Oz and Willow were frankly interested. He found to his surprise that he liked those two. Buffy. Ah, Buffy. She was what she always was…a melange of the most delectable teenage hormones laced with the power of the er. er. With his mark on her. He’d made sure of that, on that dreadful night in the park, when he’d thought he might die. His reasons had been complex, but his scent was there. He wondered, not for the first time, whether perhaps he ought to ask himself just why he wasn’t taking full advantage of her delights as often and as thoroughly as possible.

And the Hylekian Keeper. My, my, he thought sourly, what a surprise.

He stood and surveyed the assemblage, and their varied reactions to him.

“Tea?” Trust Giles to try to normalise everything.

“Thank you, yes.” He would add a touch of normality himself – until he found out what was going on.

The Keeper, unable to wait any longer for formalities to be observed, rose and bowed elegantly to both Master Vampire and Slayer. Then he handed to Buffy the clothes she had worn when she had been taken to Hylek, and to Angelus those he had given up in cagecage. And the slip of paper. It was the incantation that Willow had written down.

“I return these to you as an act of good faith.” He was addressing himself to Angelus now.

“I am here to negotiate with you both for your return to Hylek, to complete the Games.”

Angelus blinked in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear. He shuddered at the memory, though, and his reply was unequivocal. He hoped never to go near Hylek again. If he did, there was a pair of Hylekians and a keeper who would never see the light of day again. That would be just for starters.

“No. Not under any circumstances whatsoever.”

Buffy voiced her agreement to that, in no uncertain terms. Giles breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, he had worried that she might actually go. Foolishness. Then the Hylekian dropped his bombshell.

“I am authorised to speak to you of a new Hellmouth, to tell you that we can give you information about where and when it will open, and who is performing the opening, so that you can prepare for it, or, indeed, prevent iYou You do not have the means at your disposal to anticipate it yourselves, and it is imminent. We will tell you this if you agree to come to Hylek, and are successful in promoting the interests of House Orbath.”

Oh dear. Trouble ahead.

The Keeper turned his attention from the Watcher to the vampire.

“You will find that information of interest, too, since the new Hellmouth will threaten your mastery of this one. Additionally, I am authorised to offer you this.”

He reached into his travelling scrip and pulled out a small, cloth-wrapped bundle and a scroll of parchment. He put both on the table, and unwrapped the little bundle. It was a blue-white diamond of the first water. A large one.

“I am instructed to leave this here, as payment for your time already spent in Hylek, and to offer you 5,000 similar diamonds in the event that you agree to come to Hylek and are successful in promoting the interests of House Orbath. I understand that these have some substantial value on this world.” That was an understatement of massive proportions.

“I also offer this.” He unwrapped the scroll. The language was unfamiliar to Angelus, and he said so.

“It is land and title in Hylek. It was the estate of one of the smaller Houses, now defunct, and will come into the possession of House Orbath, if they succeed in the Games, since that is the most closely related House. The House of Hantar became defunct because of their inability to breed, not because of lack of wealth and assets. This will make you a substantial landowner, although you would be subject to House Orbath. I am also authorised to offer you the wherewithal to come and go between our dimensions as you please. This estate would make an ideal retreat for you and your mate, and has excellent income earning potential.”

Angelus’ nostrils flared at that. So did Giles’. For different reasons. Xander had to be physically restrained by Oz and Cordelia.

“All of these offers are made contingent upon you, both of you, that is, returning willingly to complete the Games, and completing them successfully. Except for this, which is now yours by right.”

He held out the diamond to Angelus, who took it, and examined it in silence. The whole package was a king’s ransom. Well, it would put a new king on the throne, so perhaps it should be. He was, indeed, tempted. With the wealth and influence offered here, he could begin to establish an unassailable power base on Earth. Even when he had spent some of the wealth on Buffy. And if he could prevent another Hellmouth from diverting demonic power away from Sunnydale… The world would not be enough to contain him. But Buffy…

He looked at her, and saw that she was frowning in thought. Ah, at least it wasn’t an immediate no, then. He tested the water.

“If a new Hellmouth is to be opened, that could create difficulties for all of us. Perhaps you and I and Giles should discuss this, think abour rer response? We could gather again tomorrow night after sleeping on it? It might be foolish to turn this offer down out of hand.”

It was the Keeper who answered him.

“My apologies. I have failed to make everything clear. It has taken all this time for the Council to agree to these negotiations, and those contests involving House Orbath have been suspended during deliberations. It is the Council’s decision that the Games cannot be delayed – House Orbath must compete in tomorrow’s contest. If you agree, I need you to come with me now. That is why I have not held back in the negotiations, not bargained as you might expect. I have offered all that I have to offer so as not to waste time. If you do not return with me, House Orbath will be eliminated from the Games, and may not contend until the next Heptad – in seven years time.”

Oh.

Buffy walked over to the Keeper until she was almost nose-to-nose with him. “Is this true? About the Hellmouth?” He assured her that it was. She looked askance at Angelus. Reluctantly, he nodded. The scent coming from the Keeper told him all.

“He’s telling the truth – or at least the truth as he knows it.”

Buffy turned to Giles. “Then we have to go. We can’t have another Hellmouth popping open without any warning. I have no choice.” She glowered at Angelus. “What about you?”

He frowned in thought as Giles, then the teenagers, remonstrated with her. Eventually, everyone was silent again. Giles looked drawn and grey. The Watcher had accepted it then. He made his decision. But some things must change.

“We would require different accommodation than before.”

The Keeper thought for a moment. “You will be required to enter the arena from the cages, and to return to there. However, there should be no difficulty about providing different, more private accommodation at all times other than during each session of the Games. You have my word.”

That would do. And something else. His voice was pitched so softly that it was hard for the others to catch, but had steel in its inflection.

“There will be no more Hiring. None.”

The Keeper was honestly perplexed. “But there is much demand for both of you. You could choose whoever you wish…”

Angelus ruthlessly cut him off before he could say more, before he said too much.

“That is non-negotiable and you will not discuss it further. Yes or no.”

Buffy, too, was honestly perplexed. “What do you mean, ‘No more hiring’? I don’t understand.” Angelus stared at her, his eyes flashing amber in warning. Giles, looking just a little greyer, squeezed her wrist, and shushed her. The teenagers were looking from one to another in puzzlement. It was Willow, seeing Giles’ grim expression, who finally understood, although she said nothing, just clapped her hand to her mouth in shock. Since Buffy’s return, Willow had, from interest, read a little of the practices in Roman arenas. Just for comparison. Clearly Buffy didn’t understand. Had they…to Angelus…? If so, why hadn’t Buffy…? Dear Lord. She felt an unwonted rush of sympathy. Looking at Giles so did he.

Angelus felt anger roiling through him. This was not a matter for public consumption. Already the witch and Ripper had understood. He looked at Willow. She gave a tiny shake of her head. Oh? She wouldn’t tell. And he believed her. If she was true to her word that was another debt he owed her. She was rapidly building up an account with him. He looked at Giles. Ripper looked vaguely sickened, but he, too, gave a tiny shake of his head. Good. His word was trustworthy. Especially given the circumstances.

The Keeper felt the vampire focus all his attention onto him. He did not understand. Vampires were creatures of sexual excess, surely? Yet he knew that this one had not taken his mate during the 26 days they had both been in Hylek. And his fury, after that one and only hiring, had been palpable. Perhaps vampires were more complex creatures than he had been led to understand? He had certainly thought so, during his dealings with this one. He could not give his word on this, though. He was not authorised. The codicil on Hiring the mated pair, separately or together, had the full weight of the law behind it. Clearly, none of those here had known of the Hiring, not even the Slayer, the vampire’s mate, which was a surprise. Perhaps it was a taboo? He hadn’t thought that vampires had any. Oh, he would dearly love to study this one, write an academic treatise on him and his Slayer mate. It would surely earn him a place in the Society of Merit.

But it was not his intention to conclude these negotiations fraudulently. That would be beyond the pale.

He chose his words with care. “I am not authorised to make any agreement with you on this, and the codicil is now part of our statute. However, if you choose to return with me, leaving our agreement inconclusive until my seniors are able to give you a response, you have my guarantee that I will return you immediately if that response is unacceptable to you.”

The vampire considered carefully. Buffy watched, still mystified. “Done.” And it was.

*************

On to Chapter 2
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