The Journal of Buffy Summers
folder
AtS/BtVS Crossovers › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
16
Views:
4,556
Reviews:
74
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
AtS/BtVS Crossovers › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
16
Views:
4,556
Reviews:
74
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) or Angel, the Series (AtS); nor any of the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Page 13 - The Enemy of My Enemy….
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This chapter is not Spuffy - that will be my next chapter. This chapter lays the foundation for what is to come. My thanks to “whenbuffysmiles” for beta’ing my chapter. You’re the best! HUGS!
To view my latest manipulation that goes with this chapter, copy and paste the following address:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vettehayden/detail?.dir=8325&.dnm=4600.jpg
I have set aside a photo album for the manipulation for this story at Yahoo
Page 13 - The Enemy of My Enemy….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There we stood like mannequins frozen in place as we stared at the devilishly handsome man…no, not a man but an immortal being standing by the entrance. Tall, blonde, blue eyed with the body of a swimmer and skin as white as alabaster and lips that made me blush just thinking of what he could do with them.
He patiently waited to be invited in further into the lobby as he gracefully stood there surrounded by his ever present entourage of assistants and associates. His ageless handsome features belied the evil that he wielded at his command.
“Ram?” I whispered as he stood there looking at me with a longing and hunger that made me flinch from its intensity.
Ram was short for “Rameel” and I was one of the very few that knew his real name. Everyone else just referred to him by his moniker, which is “The Immortal”. Ram asked me to call him “Tim” in front of others it was short for “The Immortal” I thought it was cute at the time and figured that he didn’t like his ancient name. He told me that he just wanted to blend in with humanity and appear normal.
“You’re a senior partner?” I gasped in utter disbelief. I stood glued to the floor unable to move as my skin crawled at the very thought of being a consort to the epitome of evil here on Earth. Of course now it all made sense. I was never one for research and with the knowledge having, hence never been given a “Slayer’s Manual” by Giles to study. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a fog was beginning to lift and I knew who he really was but I wanted to hear it from his own lips to confirm my suspicions.
“Don’t look into his eyes, he is a seducer,” Illyria growled as she stood in front of me breaking me out of my trance.
“Begone from my sight abomination before I smite thee down,” Ram threatened as his eyes began to glow with an eerie light.
Illyria’s body stiffened as she cocked her head to the side and bitterly spat out, “you have no power over me like you have over these lowly humans fallen one.”
It was then that I noticed that everyone was frozen as if time stood still and the only ones moving were Ram, his entourage, Illyria and myself.
“What the hell?” I mentally thought. Rammy and Illyria talking once more broke me out of my inner monologue.
“Even the fallen are offended by your presence ungrateful child. Your sin is a stain that we cannot erase. To call yourself a god amongst god’s is blasphemous and you deserve to be a bug living in squalor among the human pestilence as you so love to call them. Dressed in armor that looks like the body of a cockroach displaying to the world just what an insignificant insect you really are.”
“I’m not the only one born from the loins of the fallen that called themselves a God so why must I be punished and humiliated to exist among those that I detest.” Illyria’s voice took on the tone of a petulant child as she said this.
“To atone Illyria. To atone even though we are damned for all eternity.” Ram’s face softened as he held out his arms and Illyria quickly ran into his embrace like a child seeking the comfort and security of a parent.
To say that watching a hardened creature like Illyria behaving like a wounded and abandoned child is disconcerting to say the least!
They stood there hugging each other as Ram patted her back in a soothing and comforting gesture. Softly he kissed the top of her head and pushed her back as his eyes looked upon her tear stained face.
“You were rejected by Angelus to join him in the new circle weren’t you child?”
“Yes, he used me to eliminate the old members and then he abandoned me during the battle,” Illyria whispered as Ram used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. (This I filed away for later to ask Illyria on why she had not disclosed this to us.)
“You know now that you must now help Buffy fight him don’t you?” Ram raised an eyebrow verbally emphasizing the lack of options left to Illyria.
With a look of resignation on her face, Illyria simply nodded her agreement.
“Why don’t you let me talk to Buffy then,” Ram placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. “Remember child, your pledge to help her, now go.”
Illyria turned to leave giving me another quizzical look as she silently walked up the stairs to her room.
“May we come in Buffy?” Ram gestured toward his entourage as he addressed me once again.
“Come in,” was all I responded with as I tried to absorb the events as they were unfolding in front of me.
“I have suspended time to allow us time to talk without any interference from your associates,” Ram casually said as he slowly walked towards me.
“So you need all of your associates with you to witness my seduction?” I raised my eyebrow at him making sure that my tone reflected my sarcasm. I was feeling outnumbered and off balance by this time and I did not want witnesses to our private discussion.
“Go outside and wait for me,” Ram turned to his associates and commanded.
“But your eminence, you’ll be unguarded alone with this…” his associate could no longer continue his sentence as Ram held him up in the air by the throat.
“Are you questioning my command? Hmmm? Do you presume to insult such a pure being of light you unworthy worm?” Ram’s face was hard and cold as he began to glow with a golden shimmering aura.
The building started to shake and the room darkened as Ram held the squirming man off the ground.
“NO! Your eminence, please forgive my insolence, we are not worthy of being in the presence of such a divine creature.” (Huh?)
“Creature?” Ram growled in disapproval.
“A being of pure light!” The man backpedaled as his eyes began to roll back into his eye sockets.
Ram released his hold and the man fell limply to the floor where the others bodily picked him up and proceeded out the doors.
I at this point rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest as I posed in my bored stance at the little display of masculine testosterone of biblical proportions.
“Uh, was that little display for my benefit? Rammy?” I casually asked, as I tapped my foot on the floor.
Ram’s face broke out with incredulous laughter as he took in my pose and the blasé look on my face.
“How I’ve missed you Buffy,” he shook his head as the smile began to fade and the look of unadulterated lust took its place.
“Really? Missed me? Does that mean that you’re not done making a notch on your bedpost by using me to get back at Angelus?” My lips were set in a straight line as I felt the anger wash over me at being used so callously even if it was at the hands of a senior partner.
His mouth fell open as the words barely left my mouth and a look of pained longing washed over his face as he pierced me with those blue eyes of his.
“No one besides you can understand what it is like to have heaven taken away from them. To know his love and warmth only to be cast back down here in the cold and harsh cruelty of this existence. Every time I am near you, touch you, be with you it is like being in heaven once more. You’re the closet I’ll ever get to heaven again and to a damned creature like me, you are everything I could ever want and never resist. You are the one Buffy – you are heaven on earth personified. You carry the weight of all our sins and make all the sacrifices as the champion to the people.”
Tears began to form in both our eyes as we shared a mutual understanding of what was lost to us both. It now made complete sense to me why he sought me out. It was not for revenge against Angelus, it was to feel a little bit of heaven again. This was leaning heavily toward my suspicions on “who” he really was. But I still wanted him to verbalize it.
Rammy stood close to me as he lovingly brushed my cheek with his hand. His eyes devoured me as I leaned in closer to him, to his touch. Just as quickly as I started to swoon into his embrace I pushed him away.
“Stop it! Don’t use your powers on me to seduce me Rammy. Illyria was right you are using your whammy on me.”
Straightening back up, Rammy’s face took on a business like expression as he walked around the frozen figures in the lobby and stopped in front of the tied assassin lying on the counter.
“Very well have it your way Buffy, business it shall be between us for the moment. The reason I’m here is to warn you that you’ll be under attack by not only dark forces but misguided light ones as well. Take this creature for example, he was created with the best of intentions for good but he serves a master who is corrupted by power and can no longer distinguish the line between good and evil.”
“Well duh, with that late bit of info Rammy, I mean tell me something I don’t already know...like the touching tableau between you and Illyria. So what’s up with all the archaic talk calling her child and stuff...huh? I mean are you her daddy? And I just realized how strange that just sounded but feel free to enlighten me anyway.” (Come on spit it out!)
“You should already know all of this from having been in heaven Buffy but you are blocking most of it. Once you regain your memory back only then will you understand all the events that are happening and why you chose to sacrifice your eternal peace to return.”
“Uh, huh, again with what is with the child stuff?” I exaggeratedly shook my head from side to side to emphasize my point that I expected a straight answer.
“I think it is very clear to you Buffy but if you insist on wasting our time verbalizing the obvious, then fine, if you insist.” (Can we say power play?)
Getting my ire up, I started to turn and walk away considering that I had just been told that I was a dumb blonde in a very polite way by Rammy.
“WAIT!” Ram desperately called. “My full name is Rameel and I’m a fallen angel thrown out of heaven. I was one of the leaders who followed Azazel and had taken a human woman for a wife. Hybrid children were born out from our union with our human wives. Illyria is the offspring to one of my brethren. Okay? Does that satisfy your curiosity?” There he finally confirmed what I suspected; it didn’t make my dealing with it any easier though or the fact that he deceived me by withholding this bit of information from me.
Interesting I thought, that explains a whole lot about the scenario earlier between him and Illyria. “Yes, but how come Illyria talks about the Senior Partners as though they had no real power on Earth during her time?” I asked.
“Illyria, Glorificus and others abused their powers during their time. Wolfram and Hart were given power by higher powers or “The Powers That Be” as they are commonly called to push back the tide of the impending apocalypse. No one wants the apocalypse to happen and balance had to be maintained. So yes, we dispatched all threats and some were entombed in the well and others like Glorificus within a human body. So you see we three were the lesser evil of the time. Plus we were responsible for those that we had begotten and it was our mess to clean up.”
I could only feel pity for him knowing that I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice Dawn in order to save the world. He had endured great punishment for his sin and the look on his face reflected the burden of that sadness.
“So is Angelus going to bring about Armageddon? Is that why you decided to expose your true identity to me?”
“No Angelus has learned his lesson on Armageddon from the Acathla incident. The 100 years he spent in the hell dimension, taught him to not mess with the master plan. (Hmmm, I wonder who jerked him out!) It is the dissident factions on both sides that are the problem, for the moment order has been maintained but it is a few loose cannons that need to be reined in.”
Turning on his heels, he now faced me and he had a look on his face that I could not interpret. I was beginning to get a fluttery feeling in my stomach from the way he was building himself up to say something.
“I fear for your safety Buffy….I would be very displeased should any danger befall you. Even though I am a senior partner, my hands are tied and I cannot help you or interfere in any way in the events that are to come. So I am here to make you an offer and all I ask is that you consider it before turning me down.”
My response was to simply wave my hand motioning for him to continue. I was simply too intrigued and cautious to verbally respond.
“Join me Buffy, be my wife and I will protect you from Angelus. But you must stop looking for Spike and promise to never see him again. In return, I will protect you, Dawn, Spike and Connor from Angelus if you agree to this.”
“I don’t love you,” was all I could think to say as I was caught off balance with his offer. To his credit he did not flinch when I said those words.
“I love Spike and I find it rather curious that you want to keep me from finding him considering that you are one of the bad guys.”
“I am what I am Buffy and I’m sorry for having deceived you before but know this, that I will always want and need you,” Ram sighed as his eyes searched my face for any sign of sentiment for him.
“But you don’t love me Rammy, do you?”
“I do, only not in the way you are used to. Being immortal tempers your emotions to where love is what you are willing to fight and sacrifice for. And I am willing to fight my partners and hell itself to keep you with me.”
Rammy’s eyes were hooded as he looked upon me and I began walking towards him heeding his siren call. He was doing it again, using his power of seduction in a desperate attempt to sway my decision. Quickly I shook off the affects of his thrall and noticed how his face fell when I stopped walking towards him.
“Rammy that is not love. That is obsession and stop using your powers on me. My answer is still no.”
Sighing, Rammy smiled and shook his head. “I always knew that humans’ possessing the power of free will was a weapon they were given against my kind. Lucifer thought so too when he didn’t have much luck with Jesus either. I do mean every word though Buffy, I will always want and need you, just so you’ll know in case you change your mind.”
I felt shivers run up and down my spine from the smoldering looks he was giving me. “You are so bad with the temptation, you know that?” I shook my head at his persistence to change my mind.
“Can’t blame a fella for trying can you?” Rammy grinned in a devilish way that only enhanced his beautiful features.
Shaking my head I smiled back, “So is that all you came for? To tempt me to the dark side?”
“I’m not Darth Vader and yes that was the one of the reasons I’m here, the other was to give you a cryptic message because I can’t help myself.” Regally motioning toward himself he said, “Evil here you know.”
I burst out laughing at that and Rammy joined me as we relaxed and became comfortable with each other again.
“So what is this big mysterious cryptic message then? And don’t think that I don’t know that you are stalling so out with it Mister!” I knew that Rammy was enjoying being with me. Having been in heaven must’ve altered me in some way that was addictive to him that I have no understanding to. I guess I did not come back wrong after all.
Rammy started pacing around the room looking at everyone’s face frozen in time. “Before I give you this message we need to discuss a few important matters. Starting with the reason I told you about my past history with Angelus and Spike. My motives were to show you that I wanted to be completely honest with you in our relationship. Of course, what I did not anticipate was that you would end our relationship in an attempt to go and find them.”
“What you don’t know is why I have a grudge against Angelus. He repeatedly raped, tortured and murdered someone I loved very much when he turned Drusilla. A nun in the monastery where Drusilla took her vows died cruelly at his hands and for that he must pay. So let’s just say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and whatever I can do to upset Angelus would give me the utmost satisfaction.”
He stopped in front of Suzy and lovingly caressed her face with the back of his hand. “Be wary of those bearing gifts Buffy for they may not have your best interests in mind.”
He then walked back towards me and stopped within inches from me as he whispered in my ear, “The Wolf and the Hart wanted Angelus to head The Circle of The Black Thorn against my protests knowing what he had done to someone I loved. That alone made him the perfect candidate to head the circle. My partners knew of my love for my descendants and they saw my love as a weakness. With her gone there was nothing to tie me to humanity any longer.” (Well that explained who jerked him out of hell.)
“If you need any more information just ask Illyria, she should help you now. I must now go before I am missed by my partners. They don’t know that I am here and my associates would know what would happen to them should they betray me.”
“So this frozen moment in time is cloaked to them?” I asked.
“Yes, I am taking a big risk coming here to see you. They thought that I was getting revenge against Angelus when we started seeing each other. They must never know how I feel about you because that too would be seen as a weakness. They feel that since we can never be redeemed that we should not desire that which we can never have again.”
Begging with his eyes he then opened his arms beckoning me for a hug which I gladly gave to him.
“A kiss goodbye then? For old times sake?” Rammy asked. His eyes misting as he gazed into mine.
“Yes a kiss,” I replied as I raised my mouth toward his.
He then kissed me with so much passion and longing that my legs gave out from underneath me and he held me tight against him.
It was bittersweet and I felt a deep sense of loss knowing that he longed for heaven and that was a feeling I knew all too well.
Walking toward the door, Rammy looked over his shoulder up at the stairs and said, “You can stop hiding up there eavesdropping Illyria and stand in the spot you were at before I froze time”.
“They won’t remember anything past the flower delivery man entering Buffy so don’t worry about explaining anything beyond that. Goodbye my love.”
Illyria entered and resumed her position in the lobby and as soon as he left, everyone came back to life unaware of what had just happened.
“Wow B, more flowers!” Faith exclaimed as she took the latest bouquet from the delivery man and looked at the card.” “Doesn’t say who they are from “B”, I guess we may never find out who your secret admirer is,” Faith muttered as she sniffed the bouquet before setting it down on an available spot in the room.
“No, I guess it’ll remain a secret,” I replied as I discreetly wiped my eyes.
Turning to the prone figure tied on the counter, I looked at Willow and wondered what the hell we were going to do. Faith was going to interrogate him and he would probably tell them that we were in the sewer tunnels. I couldn’t afford to have him expose our presence in the sewer to the others yet, not with a mole nestled in our ranks. Willow and I needed to interrogate him alone to see if he could expose the identity of our mole.
I was distracted from my contemplation on what to do next when I heard a commotion by the entry doors. Turning around I saw Giles, Xander and Dawn standing there being greeted by Faith, Robin, Kennedy and the rest gathered in the lobby. Willow and I quickly made our way over to them to greet and embrace them one by one.
It felt so good to have them here. It was almost as if they knew that I needed them for emotional support and to keep them safe. Their presence eased my mind especially after reading Angel’s letter and Rammy’s warning about the factions for good and evil out to upset the balance. Things felt like they were starting to go in the right direction for me.
Xander hugs…loveable, huggable Xander was here and mama mia was he ever looking fit and tanned. The weight he had put on was now gone and replaced with lean muscle. He appeared to be more at peace with himself than the last time I saw him. I noticed that Faith and some of the other girls were really giving him the once over as they took in the new and improved Xan man.
Dawn was squealing with delight, no matter how mature she tried to act, she always was very vocal and child like in expressing her feelings.
“But how did you know to come here?” I finally got an opportunity to ask Giles. I was astonished. I had just finished emailing my summons to him before coming downstairs. I was amazed that they had timed their arrival just when I needed them here the most.
“I got a call from Tim asking me to bring Dawn here to you,” Giles replied.
“Yeah Buffster, I got the same call too,” Xander chirped in as he assumed his patented big brother look. “I would’ve come earlier but someone still has a habit of not staying in touch,” he chided with mock disapproval.
“Tim? Tim called you and told you this?” I couldn’t believe it. He really does love me doesn’t he? Even if it is just obsession, at least he cared enough to place my welfare and that of those I care about before his allegiance with the firm.
“I’m so glad that he called all of you. I’ve been missing you guys terribly,” I sniffled, as I began hugging them all over again.
“This was the first time we’ve all been together since Sunnydale and I hadn’t realized just how bad I’ve missed all of us being together,” I said.
Well almost everyone, my mind told me, Spike should be here with us and just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard a scream from the back of the room.
There on the counter lay the cyborg with a pencil shoved through his ear as blood trailed down from the wound into a puddle on the counter. Someone had killed him while we were distracted.
Well I guess I won’t have to worry about him divulging our presence in the sewer tunnels now that he’s dead. Damn that only confirmed that the mole was among us and that scared me even more now that Dawnie had just arrived.
“Did anyone see anything?” I asked. All I got were heads bobbing no.
To quote my favorite vampire, “Oh balls!”
Tbc…
To my reviewers – thanks so much for taking the time to review. Hope the journey to Spuffy has not been too drawn out and frustrating. I live in Paso Robles (earthquake country) so please understand if I do not address reviews one by one. At the moment I’m enduring what Mother Nature is throwing our way. Thanks for reading my story.
To view my latest manipulation that goes with this chapter, copy and paste the following address:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vettehayden/detail?.dir=8325&.dnm=4600.jpg
I have set aside a photo album for the manipulation for this story at Yahoo
Page 13 - The Enemy of My Enemy….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There we stood like mannequins frozen in place as we stared at the devilishly handsome man…no, not a man but an immortal being standing by the entrance. Tall, blonde, blue eyed with the body of a swimmer and skin as white as alabaster and lips that made me blush just thinking of what he could do with them.
He patiently waited to be invited in further into the lobby as he gracefully stood there surrounded by his ever present entourage of assistants and associates. His ageless handsome features belied the evil that he wielded at his command.
“Ram?” I whispered as he stood there looking at me with a longing and hunger that made me flinch from its intensity.
Ram was short for “Rameel” and I was one of the very few that knew his real name. Everyone else just referred to him by his moniker, which is “The Immortal”. Ram asked me to call him “Tim” in front of others it was short for “The Immortal” I thought it was cute at the time and figured that he didn’t like his ancient name. He told me that he just wanted to blend in with humanity and appear normal.
“You’re a senior partner?” I gasped in utter disbelief. I stood glued to the floor unable to move as my skin crawled at the very thought of being a consort to the epitome of evil here on Earth. Of course now it all made sense. I was never one for research and with the knowledge having, hence never been given a “Slayer’s Manual” by Giles to study. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a fog was beginning to lift and I knew who he really was but I wanted to hear it from his own lips to confirm my suspicions.
“Don’t look into his eyes, he is a seducer,” Illyria growled as she stood in front of me breaking me out of my trance.
“Begone from my sight abomination before I smite thee down,” Ram threatened as his eyes began to glow with an eerie light.
Illyria’s body stiffened as she cocked her head to the side and bitterly spat out, “you have no power over me like you have over these lowly humans fallen one.”
It was then that I noticed that everyone was frozen as if time stood still and the only ones moving were Ram, his entourage, Illyria and myself.
“What the hell?” I mentally thought. Rammy and Illyria talking once more broke me out of my inner monologue.
“Even the fallen are offended by your presence ungrateful child. Your sin is a stain that we cannot erase. To call yourself a god amongst god’s is blasphemous and you deserve to be a bug living in squalor among the human pestilence as you so love to call them. Dressed in armor that looks like the body of a cockroach displaying to the world just what an insignificant insect you really are.”
“I’m not the only one born from the loins of the fallen that called themselves a God so why must I be punished and humiliated to exist among those that I detest.” Illyria’s voice took on the tone of a petulant child as she said this.
“To atone Illyria. To atone even though we are damned for all eternity.” Ram’s face softened as he held out his arms and Illyria quickly ran into his embrace like a child seeking the comfort and security of a parent.
To say that watching a hardened creature like Illyria behaving like a wounded and abandoned child is disconcerting to say the least!
They stood there hugging each other as Ram patted her back in a soothing and comforting gesture. Softly he kissed the top of her head and pushed her back as his eyes looked upon her tear stained face.
“You were rejected by Angelus to join him in the new circle weren’t you child?”
“Yes, he used me to eliminate the old members and then he abandoned me during the battle,” Illyria whispered as Ram used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. (This I filed away for later to ask Illyria on why she had not disclosed this to us.)
“You know now that you must now help Buffy fight him don’t you?” Ram raised an eyebrow verbally emphasizing the lack of options left to Illyria.
With a look of resignation on her face, Illyria simply nodded her agreement.
“Why don’t you let me talk to Buffy then,” Ram placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. “Remember child, your pledge to help her, now go.”
Illyria turned to leave giving me another quizzical look as she silently walked up the stairs to her room.
“May we come in Buffy?” Ram gestured toward his entourage as he addressed me once again.
“Come in,” was all I responded with as I tried to absorb the events as they were unfolding in front of me.
“I have suspended time to allow us time to talk without any interference from your associates,” Ram casually said as he slowly walked towards me.
“So you need all of your associates with you to witness my seduction?” I raised my eyebrow at him making sure that my tone reflected my sarcasm. I was feeling outnumbered and off balance by this time and I did not want witnesses to our private discussion.
“Go outside and wait for me,” Ram turned to his associates and commanded.
“But your eminence, you’ll be unguarded alone with this…” his associate could no longer continue his sentence as Ram held him up in the air by the throat.
“Are you questioning my command? Hmmm? Do you presume to insult such a pure being of light you unworthy worm?” Ram’s face was hard and cold as he began to glow with a golden shimmering aura.
The building started to shake and the room darkened as Ram held the squirming man off the ground.
“NO! Your eminence, please forgive my insolence, we are not worthy of being in the presence of such a divine creature.” (Huh?)
“Creature?” Ram growled in disapproval.
“A being of pure light!” The man backpedaled as his eyes began to roll back into his eye sockets.
Ram released his hold and the man fell limply to the floor where the others bodily picked him up and proceeded out the doors.
I at this point rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest as I posed in my bored stance at the little display of masculine testosterone of biblical proportions.
“Uh, was that little display for my benefit? Rammy?” I casually asked, as I tapped my foot on the floor.
Ram’s face broke out with incredulous laughter as he took in my pose and the blasé look on my face.
“How I’ve missed you Buffy,” he shook his head as the smile began to fade and the look of unadulterated lust took its place.
“Really? Missed me? Does that mean that you’re not done making a notch on your bedpost by using me to get back at Angelus?” My lips were set in a straight line as I felt the anger wash over me at being used so callously even if it was at the hands of a senior partner.
His mouth fell open as the words barely left my mouth and a look of pained longing washed over his face as he pierced me with those blue eyes of his.
“No one besides you can understand what it is like to have heaven taken away from them. To know his love and warmth only to be cast back down here in the cold and harsh cruelty of this existence. Every time I am near you, touch you, be with you it is like being in heaven once more. You’re the closet I’ll ever get to heaven again and to a damned creature like me, you are everything I could ever want and never resist. You are the one Buffy – you are heaven on earth personified. You carry the weight of all our sins and make all the sacrifices as the champion to the people.”
Tears began to form in both our eyes as we shared a mutual understanding of what was lost to us both. It now made complete sense to me why he sought me out. It was not for revenge against Angelus, it was to feel a little bit of heaven again. This was leaning heavily toward my suspicions on “who” he really was. But I still wanted him to verbalize it.
Rammy stood close to me as he lovingly brushed my cheek with his hand. His eyes devoured me as I leaned in closer to him, to his touch. Just as quickly as I started to swoon into his embrace I pushed him away.
“Stop it! Don’t use your powers on me to seduce me Rammy. Illyria was right you are using your whammy on me.”
Straightening back up, Rammy’s face took on a business like expression as he walked around the frozen figures in the lobby and stopped in front of the tied assassin lying on the counter.
“Very well have it your way Buffy, business it shall be between us for the moment. The reason I’m here is to warn you that you’ll be under attack by not only dark forces but misguided light ones as well. Take this creature for example, he was created with the best of intentions for good but he serves a master who is corrupted by power and can no longer distinguish the line between good and evil.”
“Well duh, with that late bit of info Rammy, I mean tell me something I don’t already know...like the touching tableau between you and Illyria. So what’s up with all the archaic talk calling her child and stuff...huh? I mean are you her daddy? And I just realized how strange that just sounded but feel free to enlighten me anyway.” (Come on spit it out!)
“You should already know all of this from having been in heaven Buffy but you are blocking most of it. Once you regain your memory back only then will you understand all the events that are happening and why you chose to sacrifice your eternal peace to return.”
“Uh, huh, again with what is with the child stuff?” I exaggeratedly shook my head from side to side to emphasize my point that I expected a straight answer.
“I think it is very clear to you Buffy but if you insist on wasting our time verbalizing the obvious, then fine, if you insist.” (Can we say power play?)
Getting my ire up, I started to turn and walk away considering that I had just been told that I was a dumb blonde in a very polite way by Rammy.
“WAIT!” Ram desperately called. “My full name is Rameel and I’m a fallen angel thrown out of heaven. I was one of the leaders who followed Azazel and had taken a human woman for a wife. Hybrid children were born out from our union with our human wives. Illyria is the offspring to one of my brethren. Okay? Does that satisfy your curiosity?” There he finally confirmed what I suspected; it didn’t make my dealing with it any easier though or the fact that he deceived me by withholding this bit of information from me.
Interesting I thought, that explains a whole lot about the scenario earlier between him and Illyria. “Yes, but how come Illyria talks about the Senior Partners as though they had no real power on Earth during her time?” I asked.
“Illyria, Glorificus and others abused their powers during their time. Wolfram and Hart were given power by higher powers or “The Powers That Be” as they are commonly called to push back the tide of the impending apocalypse. No one wants the apocalypse to happen and balance had to be maintained. So yes, we dispatched all threats and some were entombed in the well and others like Glorificus within a human body. So you see we three were the lesser evil of the time. Plus we were responsible for those that we had begotten and it was our mess to clean up.”
I could only feel pity for him knowing that I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice Dawn in order to save the world. He had endured great punishment for his sin and the look on his face reflected the burden of that sadness.
“So is Angelus going to bring about Armageddon? Is that why you decided to expose your true identity to me?”
“No Angelus has learned his lesson on Armageddon from the Acathla incident. The 100 years he spent in the hell dimension, taught him to not mess with the master plan. (Hmmm, I wonder who jerked him out!) It is the dissident factions on both sides that are the problem, for the moment order has been maintained but it is a few loose cannons that need to be reined in.”
Turning on his heels, he now faced me and he had a look on his face that I could not interpret. I was beginning to get a fluttery feeling in my stomach from the way he was building himself up to say something.
“I fear for your safety Buffy….I would be very displeased should any danger befall you. Even though I am a senior partner, my hands are tied and I cannot help you or interfere in any way in the events that are to come. So I am here to make you an offer and all I ask is that you consider it before turning me down.”
My response was to simply wave my hand motioning for him to continue. I was simply too intrigued and cautious to verbally respond.
“Join me Buffy, be my wife and I will protect you from Angelus. But you must stop looking for Spike and promise to never see him again. In return, I will protect you, Dawn, Spike and Connor from Angelus if you agree to this.”
“I don’t love you,” was all I could think to say as I was caught off balance with his offer. To his credit he did not flinch when I said those words.
“I love Spike and I find it rather curious that you want to keep me from finding him considering that you are one of the bad guys.”
“I am what I am Buffy and I’m sorry for having deceived you before but know this, that I will always want and need you,” Ram sighed as his eyes searched my face for any sign of sentiment for him.
“But you don’t love me Rammy, do you?”
“I do, only not in the way you are used to. Being immortal tempers your emotions to where love is what you are willing to fight and sacrifice for. And I am willing to fight my partners and hell itself to keep you with me.”
Rammy’s eyes were hooded as he looked upon me and I began walking towards him heeding his siren call. He was doing it again, using his power of seduction in a desperate attempt to sway my decision. Quickly I shook off the affects of his thrall and noticed how his face fell when I stopped walking towards him.
“Rammy that is not love. That is obsession and stop using your powers on me. My answer is still no.”
Sighing, Rammy smiled and shook his head. “I always knew that humans’ possessing the power of free will was a weapon they were given against my kind. Lucifer thought so too when he didn’t have much luck with Jesus either. I do mean every word though Buffy, I will always want and need you, just so you’ll know in case you change your mind.”
I felt shivers run up and down my spine from the smoldering looks he was giving me. “You are so bad with the temptation, you know that?” I shook my head at his persistence to change my mind.
“Can’t blame a fella for trying can you?” Rammy grinned in a devilish way that only enhanced his beautiful features.
Shaking my head I smiled back, “So is that all you came for? To tempt me to the dark side?”
“I’m not Darth Vader and yes that was the one of the reasons I’m here, the other was to give you a cryptic message because I can’t help myself.” Regally motioning toward himself he said, “Evil here you know.”
I burst out laughing at that and Rammy joined me as we relaxed and became comfortable with each other again.
“So what is this big mysterious cryptic message then? And don’t think that I don’t know that you are stalling so out with it Mister!” I knew that Rammy was enjoying being with me. Having been in heaven must’ve altered me in some way that was addictive to him that I have no understanding to. I guess I did not come back wrong after all.
Rammy started pacing around the room looking at everyone’s face frozen in time. “Before I give you this message we need to discuss a few important matters. Starting with the reason I told you about my past history with Angelus and Spike. My motives were to show you that I wanted to be completely honest with you in our relationship. Of course, what I did not anticipate was that you would end our relationship in an attempt to go and find them.”
“What you don’t know is why I have a grudge against Angelus. He repeatedly raped, tortured and murdered someone I loved very much when he turned Drusilla. A nun in the monastery where Drusilla took her vows died cruelly at his hands and for that he must pay. So let’s just say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and whatever I can do to upset Angelus would give me the utmost satisfaction.”
He stopped in front of Suzy and lovingly caressed her face with the back of his hand. “Be wary of those bearing gifts Buffy for they may not have your best interests in mind.”
He then walked back towards me and stopped within inches from me as he whispered in my ear, “The Wolf and the Hart wanted Angelus to head The Circle of The Black Thorn against my protests knowing what he had done to someone I loved. That alone made him the perfect candidate to head the circle. My partners knew of my love for my descendants and they saw my love as a weakness. With her gone there was nothing to tie me to humanity any longer.” (Well that explained who jerked him out of hell.)
“If you need any more information just ask Illyria, she should help you now. I must now go before I am missed by my partners. They don’t know that I am here and my associates would know what would happen to them should they betray me.”
“So this frozen moment in time is cloaked to them?” I asked.
“Yes, I am taking a big risk coming here to see you. They thought that I was getting revenge against Angelus when we started seeing each other. They must never know how I feel about you because that too would be seen as a weakness. They feel that since we can never be redeemed that we should not desire that which we can never have again.”
Begging with his eyes he then opened his arms beckoning me for a hug which I gladly gave to him.
“A kiss goodbye then? For old times sake?” Rammy asked. His eyes misting as he gazed into mine.
“Yes a kiss,” I replied as I raised my mouth toward his.
He then kissed me with so much passion and longing that my legs gave out from underneath me and he held me tight against him.
It was bittersweet and I felt a deep sense of loss knowing that he longed for heaven and that was a feeling I knew all too well.
Walking toward the door, Rammy looked over his shoulder up at the stairs and said, “You can stop hiding up there eavesdropping Illyria and stand in the spot you were at before I froze time”.
“They won’t remember anything past the flower delivery man entering Buffy so don’t worry about explaining anything beyond that. Goodbye my love.”
Illyria entered and resumed her position in the lobby and as soon as he left, everyone came back to life unaware of what had just happened.
“Wow B, more flowers!” Faith exclaimed as she took the latest bouquet from the delivery man and looked at the card.” “Doesn’t say who they are from “B”, I guess we may never find out who your secret admirer is,” Faith muttered as she sniffed the bouquet before setting it down on an available spot in the room.
“No, I guess it’ll remain a secret,” I replied as I discreetly wiped my eyes.
Turning to the prone figure tied on the counter, I looked at Willow and wondered what the hell we were going to do. Faith was going to interrogate him and he would probably tell them that we were in the sewer tunnels. I couldn’t afford to have him expose our presence in the sewer to the others yet, not with a mole nestled in our ranks. Willow and I needed to interrogate him alone to see if he could expose the identity of our mole.
I was distracted from my contemplation on what to do next when I heard a commotion by the entry doors. Turning around I saw Giles, Xander and Dawn standing there being greeted by Faith, Robin, Kennedy and the rest gathered in the lobby. Willow and I quickly made our way over to them to greet and embrace them one by one.
It felt so good to have them here. It was almost as if they knew that I needed them for emotional support and to keep them safe. Their presence eased my mind especially after reading Angel’s letter and Rammy’s warning about the factions for good and evil out to upset the balance. Things felt like they were starting to go in the right direction for me.
Xander hugs…loveable, huggable Xander was here and mama mia was he ever looking fit and tanned. The weight he had put on was now gone and replaced with lean muscle. He appeared to be more at peace with himself than the last time I saw him. I noticed that Faith and some of the other girls were really giving him the once over as they took in the new and improved Xan man.
Dawn was squealing with delight, no matter how mature she tried to act, she always was very vocal and child like in expressing her feelings.
“But how did you know to come here?” I finally got an opportunity to ask Giles. I was astonished. I had just finished emailing my summons to him before coming downstairs. I was amazed that they had timed their arrival just when I needed them here the most.
“I got a call from Tim asking me to bring Dawn here to you,” Giles replied.
“Yeah Buffster, I got the same call too,” Xander chirped in as he assumed his patented big brother look. “I would’ve come earlier but someone still has a habit of not staying in touch,” he chided with mock disapproval.
“Tim? Tim called you and told you this?” I couldn’t believe it. He really does love me doesn’t he? Even if it is just obsession, at least he cared enough to place my welfare and that of those I care about before his allegiance with the firm.
“I’m so glad that he called all of you. I’ve been missing you guys terribly,” I sniffled, as I began hugging them all over again.
“This was the first time we’ve all been together since Sunnydale and I hadn’t realized just how bad I’ve missed all of us being together,” I said.
Well almost everyone, my mind told me, Spike should be here with us and just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard a scream from the back of the room.
There on the counter lay the cyborg with a pencil shoved through his ear as blood trailed down from the wound into a puddle on the counter. Someone had killed him while we were distracted.
Well I guess I won’t have to worry about him divulging our presence in the sewer tunnels now that he’s dead. Damn that only confirmed that the mole was among us and that scared me even more now that Dawnie had just arrived.
“Did anyone see anything?” I asked. All I got were heads bobbing no.
To quote my favorite vampire, “Oh balls!”
Tbc…
To my reviewers – thanks so much for taking the time to review. Hope the journey to Spuffy has not been too drawn out and frustrating. I live in Paso Robles (earthquake country) so please understand if I do not address reviews one by one. At the moment I’m enduring what Mother Nature is throwing our way. Thanks for reading my story.