The Ghost of Angelus Past

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Chapter 3: Bonds


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BACK TO THE PRESENT

Angel hadn’t slept all night. He just kept reliving those weeks with Devin. He never knew what had happened to her. He was ashamed to admit that after he had gotten out of hell he’d barely even thought of her. Now she was here and his Demon was constantly rattling its cage and calling to his mate. He entered the lobby to find Willow tapping away at the keyboard. As soon as she saw him she jumped up and ran to him.

“Angel. Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick. What happened last night?” The sentence was said so quickly he couldn’t help but smile at the Willow-babble.

“She’s back. Devin.” He said after a moment.

“What? I thought she was dead. I mean after you came back you never mentioned her and neither did Spike so I just assumed. . .” she trailed off.

“No.” Spike said as he entered the room. “I took her with me and Dru when we left Sunnyhell. I dropped off with some allies then continued to Brazil. I didn’t want her going back there, she would have let the slayer kill her. She felt your soul return and was in so much pain. I had to take care of Drusilla and didn’t know what to do with Dev.”

“What’s she doing here?” Willow asked, sadly and guiltily thinking of the girl and vampires that had become her friends.

“She’s the master of that clan from the club.” Angel told her.

“How? You never turned her.”

“But she’s the mate of Angelus. If she had stayed in Sunnydale she would have taken over my clan. Her position was as high as Spike’s. Even though she is still human she’s considered a master. A lot of power came with the bond we, err, they shared. She has the strength and speed of a vampire but not the healing ability or bloodlust.”

“So what are you going to do?” Willow asked.

“I don’t know.” Angel said.

“What do you mean? We’re going to go get her.” Spike said.

“Why should we? I’m not Angelus, Spike. I have no claim on her.”

“Like hell you don’t. She’s as much yours as his and you may not be Angelus but I’m still Spike and I want her back!” He shouted.

“Then why didn’t you go get her?” Willow asked softly. “You said that you had left her with allies. Why didn’t you go back for her?”

“I tried. She had already runaway by then. That’s why I came back to Sunnydale, Luv, when I kidnapped you and the whelp. I thought she might have gone back there. But she didn’t so if I couldn’t get back Dev I figured I’d get back Dru.”

“Do what you want. But don’t bring her here or tell her I’m here. She won’t want anything to do with me.” Angel said.

“You could be wrong. She wasn’t evil. She has a soul.” Willow said.

“That doesn’t matter. I’m not Angelus. Angelus is who she fell in love with.”

“And Angel is who fascinated her. She told me.” The witch said.

“What are you talking about?” Angel asked.

“Whenever we were alone she would talk to me. Yes, she was in love with Angelus but whenever Angelus or I told her about Angel she was intrigued. She always wondered what you were like and if she could love you like she loved him. She always wanted to know what it would be like to have him touch her gently or say he loved her like she knew you would. Angelus had made her feel aroused, and passionate and evil. But every once in awhile she wanted to feel loved and cherished and good.”

“But I can’t. I can’t make her feel any of those things without risking my soul.” He turned to Spike. “Go see her if you want, but leave me out of it.” With that he turned and walked out into the night.

“Do you want to come?” Spike asked after Angel had left.

She just nodded her head and let Spike lead her out of the hotel.

After walking silently for a while Willow spoke up. “Is she going to be angry with you?”

“No. I talked to her once before she ran. I twisted the truth a bit. Said one of the slayer’s twits knocked her out and I came to the rescue but couldn’t save Angelus.”

“Oh.”

“What is it, pet?” Spike asked.

“Well, I am one of the ‘slayer’s twits’. Do you think she’ll want to see me?”

“Of course. The girl adored you! Plus she thought you were the sexiest little witch she’d ever seen.” Spike said with a wink.

Willow couldn’t help but blush as she thought about the kiss she had shared with Devin so long ago and what could have happened between them if they hadn’t been separated. And now she was going to see her again. Had Devin wanted her? Did she still? Willow was forced to stop her internal musings as theme ume upon a warehouse.

“She’s here. So is her second in command but that’s it. Come on, pet.” Spike said as he took her hand and entered the warehouse. He led her threw room after room and Willow’s stomach began to flutter with butterflies that soon turned to cold stone knots.

Spike knew that Cassandra d fed feel him and he didn’t want to alarm Devin so he made his presence known by masking his growing nervousness with familiar cockiness.

“Oh little red riding hood, come out and play with the big bad wolf.” Spike said loudly upon entering the room before Devin’s bedroom. In a flash her door was pulled open and Devin stood there staring at the pair.

“Spike.” She whispered before launching herself into his arms.

Willow watched as they embraced, Devin clinging to him like the child she truly was. When they reluctantly let each other go Devin turned toward Willow.

“Willow? Is that you?” she asked cautiously.

“It’s me Dev.” Willow replied with a small smile. Any doubts the redhead had about Devin wanting to see her vanished as the girl hugged her with the same excitement as she had done with Spike. Willow readily accepted the embrace and hugged the other girl tightly.

“You look amazing.” Devin said when they finally separated.

“Me? Look at you. Goddess, you look like a dark faerie. Beautiful, Devin. Absolutely beautiful.” Willow said.

“Thanks Will.”

“Oh, this is Cassandra. Cassandra, this is Willow and Spike.” Dev said as she grabbed Cass’ wrist dragging her away from the doorjamb.

“Spike? As in William the Bloody?” Cassandra asked.

He nodded the affirmative.

“Wow. I’ve never met an actual Master, besides Mistress Devil.” She said.

“Cut the Mistress Devil shit, Cass. These are friends.” Dev said as she smiled. “Let’s go to the main hall and sit down.”

When they were all seated, Spike and Willow on a couch together, Devin in a throne-like leather chair with Cassandra at her feet as they caught up on things. Spike carefully avoided talking about Angel and Dru while Willow avoided talking about Buffy.

“So, what brings you to LA?” Willow asked.

“Dru.” She said simply.

“What?” Spike asked.

“She’s here.” Dev said.

“I know that, Luv. What do you want with her?”

“I want her out of LA. She and Darla make a deadly combination. I can handle Dru but not Darla.”

“Wait a bloody second. What are you talkin’ about, pet?”

“It’s hard to explain. The balance between good and evil is tipping because of them. I need to separate them.” Dev said.

“How do you know that?” Willow asked.

“The damn Powers That Be decided to visit my dreams a few weeks ago. They said I need to separate them or they will lead some great warrior of light to the dark side. He’ll be tempted by Darla then fall into some spell of Dru’s. I’m sort of on a redemption binge right now so I figured I better do as they told me.”

“What brought that on? The whole redemption bit. Last time I saw you, you were hell bent on destroying all human kind.” Spike said.

“I’m not really sure. It was a few weeks after I ran. I woke up in the middle of the afternoon and it felt like something had lifted a veil from my eyes. Like my conscience, my soul, had been covered with cobwebs and someone had brushed them away.” She said.

“When?” Willow asked.

“I don’t know. Late August, early September. Why?” she asked.

“Just wondering.” The witch murmured.

Dev was about to say something but Cass stopped her by getting to her knees and whispering something to her.

“Myn win will be coming back soon. Will you come back tomorrow?” Dev asked.

“Of course.” Willow and Spike said simultaneously.

She smiled and bid them farewell.


“Angel returned from hell in early September.” Willow told Spike as they walked back to the hotel.

“And he told me that the Oracles referred to him as the Warrior of Light.”

“So what does that mean?” Willow asked.

“It means we have to help Dev. We have to make sure Angel stays away from Darla.”

“You mean you actually wanna help?”

“Of course, it’s Dev after all.” Spike said matter-of-factly.


When they got back Angel was sitting in the lobby brooding.

“How is she?” he asked quietly.

“Fine.” They both said.

He looked at them strangely but didn’t comment.

They made sure that Angel never went out alone eff effectively eliminating any chance meetings with Darla. Angel didn’t really understand why his two friends were coddling him but he figured why complain. They had continued going to see Devin and one night they arrived at the warehouse to hear the sounds of fighting. Spike cautiously led Willow inside and they saw Devin and all her minions fighting vamps Spike recognized to be from Wolfram and Hart. On a walk one night Angel had told him about the law firm and showed him some of the workers. Spike jumped in to aid Dev while Willow found a dark corner and began doing spells to disable or kill the enemy. Slowly numbers of both sides began to decrease. Finally the remaining members of Dev’s clan took the upper hand and just as Willow began to think everything would be ok Dev let out a piercing scream. Willow and Spike turned in time to see Cassandra turn to dust and a vamp slice open the Devin’s stomach. Spike made quick work of the offending vampire and Willow rushed to Dev’s side as the girl collapsed in a heap. The remaining members of Devin’s clan finished off the wolfram and hart lackeys then they too came to her side. Willow performed a healing spell that didn’t heal the deep wound completely but took Dev out of the life threatening danger the cut had caused. Of her entire clan of 30 vampires only 6 were still standing.

“Go.” Spike told them. “As her elder I release you of her claim.”

After the vamps reluctantly departed Willow asked, “What should we do?”

“We are taking her with us, back to the hotel.”

“But what about Angel?”

“I don’t bloody well care what the poof has to say. She’s hurt and I’m not leaving her here.” Spike said as he scooped the girl up into his arms.


She was still unconscious when they reached the Hyperion and thankfully Angel wasn’t there. News reached them yesterday, via Devin, that Drusilla had left town so Angel no longer needed to be shadowed. Spike took her upstairs and placed her in the room farthest from Angel’s. He knew Angel would sense the girl but it was best to keep them as far from each other as possible. He begged the Powers That Be that Dev wouldn’t sense Angel. Willow stayed by her side while Spike went down to the lobby to await Angel’s arrival and probable anger.

He wasn’t disappointed. As soon as the elder vampire came in his nostrils flared and he sent Spike a glare and a warning growl.

“She’s hurt.” Spike said almost mockingly knowing it would cool his sire off faster than a bucket of ice water.

As he suspected Angel’s features softened.

“What happened?” the dark-haired vampire asked.

“You know Dev. She pissed off the wrong people. She’s stable physically but I don’t know about here.” Spike said as he tapped his temple.

“What do you mean?”

“Her second, Cassandra, is dust. They were very close.”

“Lovers?” Angel asked.

Spike smirked at the jealous tone but wisely only nodded.

“She’s awake.” Willow said from the top of the stairs. “She wants to see you, Angel.”

“How did she know?” Angel asked.

“She felt you as soon as you walked in. I explained that it’s you, not him, and how it happened.”

Angel looked torn. “Should I?” he asked.

“She needs you.” Willow said softly.

He was about to argue but Spike stopped him.

“Go. Now.” The blonde said roughly.

Angel nodded and headed for the stairs. Willow joined Spike in the lobby knowing Angel would find her.

Devin’s eyes snapped open as soon as he entered the room. She silently watched as he made his way to the bed and sat down in a chair Willow had moved to the side of it. She shut her eyes for a moment and when they reopened they were cold.

“You didn’t want to see me.”

“I’m not Angelus, I figured you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. You’ve never actually met Angel.”

“Don’t you remember what he said to me the last time we saw each other. He said nothing could keep us apart, not hell, heaven, or his own soul. He promised I’d be taken care of, no matter what.”

“Angelus made that promise, not me.” Angel said.

“And I thought you had the soul.” Dev said as she turned her head away from Angel.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Angelus, Spike, and Dru treated me a hell of a lot better than you are now. And if I could, you bet you ass I would storm out of here right now.”

Angel shuddered when he realized she was right. He was coldly treating her like a stranger although he was inside Angelus, locked away, when Dev was with him. Wordlessly he got up and walked out of the room. His demon strained at its cage, aching for his mate.


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It had been a week since he had walked out of Dev’s room. He hadn’t gone anywhere near it since. He’d set up a cot in the basement just so he could sleep at night. His demon constantly fought him and it was getting harder to ignore the urge to see her.

“Angel?” Willow said softly breaking the vampire from his thoughts.

When he looked up at her she sat down on the lobby’s couch next to him.

“Something’s wrong.” The witch said. “Devin isn’t getting any better. In fact she’s getting worse. The wound is healing fine but she’s getting paler and she won’t eat. She says its hurts when she does.”

Angel thought for a minute. He knew Dev was anxious to leave and wouldn’t starve herself on purpose. “Ask her if she’s ever been seriously hurt before.” Angel said an idea forming in his head. He hoped he was wrong.

The girl nodded and went back up stairs. Spike came down a few minutes later. “She hasn’t.” he said. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we can’t save her.” The older vampire said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I think that the bond between her and Angelus was a lot stronger than any one imagined.” Angel said.

“Explain.” Spike demanded.

“Think, Spike. She’s never been hurt since before she was mated.” He said.

“That’s not true. The slayer staked her. She still has the scar.” Spike pointed out.

“Yes, but after that I was still Angelus. We were feeding from each other almost every night.”

“So what your saying is that unless you two start feeding off one another again, she’s going to die.”

“Yes.” Angel said.

“But the bond was broken. Angelus is dead.”

“No he’s not. He’s still inside me.”

“Can’t you just do it the artificial way?” Spike asked, meaning Angel could cut himself and bleed into a mug for her.

“That’s still not possible.”

“Why?”

“You’ve never mated to a human so it’s hard to explain but part of the mating is sex. And I can’t without risking my soul. The pull is so strong that if we feed from each other Dev and I wouldn’t be able to control our other reactions.” Angel said.

“What if I fed her? I’m directly from you blood line.” Spike asked.

“If you were older than me yes, but since you’re not it wouldn’t work. Your blood would have to over power mine.” Angel said.

“So that’s it? There’s nothing we can do to save her?”

“I’m afraid not, Spike. I’m sorry.” The dark-haired vampire said quietly.


That night Willow and Spike went to an antique bookshop to look for a book Willow had heard about. She thought it might contain somethinghelphelp Dev.

While they were gone Angel slowly walked up to her room. He cringed when he saw her. She was so pale and thin. She was awake but her eyes remained closed as her entered and sat down next to the bed.

“Dev.” He said softly, urging her to look at him. When she didn’t he gently traced hew liw line with a finger.

“Kitten, look at me.” At his words her eyes snapped open.

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” She said harshly. “Kitten,” she spit the word at him like venom. “Died the same day Angelus did. Just go away, Angel. You’ve been content to avoid me so far, why did you come here now? Because I’m dying? Is that it? All I have to say about that is its about time. Because when I die I’ll finally be with him again. Him and Cassandra. I’ll be with the only two people who ever loved me. It won’t matter if we’re in hell, because I’m in hell without them.”

He thought the speech and the passion with which she spoke would wear her out but she seemed to be getting better by the moment. Her skin was naturally pale but now it was no longer the deathly pallor it had been when he’d first gotten there. Her eyes, which had been dull and pale, were now bright and shining.

“What just happened?” she asked.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, still a little weak, but much better.”

“Did Spike explain why you’re so sick?” Angel asked. When she nodded he continued. “I think that the closer we are, physically, the better you become because of the bond.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t be near me 24/7. Eventually you’ll hao leo leave for something, so please, just go now.” She said.

“I’m not going to just let you die.” He stated.

“I have nothing left to live for. My clan is gone. They were all I had.” Dev said.

“What about Spike and Willow?” Angel asked. “They care about you very much.”

“And soon Willow will have to go back to Sunnydale and even if Spike decided to stay with me it wouldn’t last. He’d miss Willow too much or you and he would get into a fight.”

“Angelus isn’t dead. He’s not in hell. He’s still inside me, trapped by my soul. You wouldn’t be with him and you knew that he didn’t love you. All he felt for you was lust. I loved you. The soul did, not the demon. He wasn’t capable of it.” Angel stopped himself quickly, realizing he’d said too much.

She looked at him for a moment but didn’t comment. When she remained silent he spoke again.

“Willow is looking for a spell to help you. I’m sure she’ll find something eventually but until then I’m afraid you stuck with me.”

“I don’t understand.” She said quietly. “I felt him die.”

“No, you felt my soul return.”

She gazed into his eyes for a moment. He knew she was searching for Angelus. He saw her disappointment when she only found Angel. She turned her head away from him.

“Spike and Willow are back.” She said. He nodded but didn’t get up to leave.

“What are you doing in here?” Spike asked Angel when he walked in.

Angel explained the situation to them after Willow came in.


~TBC~