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snoggedIt's Monday! And that means I have a new chapter for you. :)
Title: Holding Her Own (6/10)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Angelus, Willow/Tara, Willow/Angel (friendship)
Word Count: 1865
Overall Rating/Highlight for Warnings: FRAO/NC-17; *angst/dark themes, character death, drug use, crude language (including sexual swearing) violence, sex*
Setting: Set Post-Season 5 of BtVS/Season 2 of AtS.
Summary: Still struggling with Buffy's death, Willow gets an unexpected visitor that brings a whole new set of problems to Sunnydale.
Beta: the unmistakable![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velvetwhip and angelskuuipo. All other mistakes are mine.
A/N: Several years ago, I started a WIP that never went further than the first chapter. This is my attempt to fix that. Enjoy!
A/N 2: This story is completed and chapters will be posted weekly.
Previous Chapters
Featuring artwork byrua1412 any spikesredqueen
Willow didn’t need a translator to understand the implications of Angelus’s demand. She could tell by the stroke of his palm across the side of her face and the curl of his lips that he was looking for her to give him a happy. It made sense, of course – all of the events leading up to this moment…Tara’s kidnapping, that poor woman’s murder…they were just his messed-up attempt at courting her.
Except that…it didn’t make any sense as to why he wanted her. Sure, the first time they had met, Angelus had whispered that it was a turn-on to see her so cute and helpless as his fingers curled around her throat. But in the end, she hadn’t been the woman he really wanted. That had been Buffy. Buffy was pretty. Buffy was powerful. Buffy had been Angel’s one true love before she….
But insteading of following the wrecking ball of her thoughts, she decided to go through the list of other women who had caught Angelus’s eye a time or two. Willow felt it fair to say that she wasn’t as fashionable as Cordelia nor was she as crazy as Drusilla. Admittedly, she was beginning to rethink the crazy part a little since she hadn’t done much in the way of getting the hell out of Dodge yet. She was free of Rack’s magic after suffering at his hand for the last few hours and she was still hanging around in Angelus’s lair like it was story-time at the library.
She had come of here of her own free will, determined to release Tara and Dawn from his clutches and she knew that there was no way she was leaving without them. But she was starting to believe there might be a different reason. One that softened the edges of her intial anger. Angel needed to be saved too, needed to be rescued from this hell that his demon forced him to maintain.
Taking a sharp breath, Willow stepped backwards, breaking Angelus’s grip on her, and spoke a word that she knew had a high probability of getting her killed or maimed: “No.”
“Excuse me?” Angelus asked, arching an eyebrow and flaring his nostrils. Instead of trying to get into her personal space again, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and tightened his jaw, setting his expression in the style of ‘like you have a choice in the matter.’
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rack rise to his feet, steepling his hands. If Xander would have been here, he would have cracked a joke about the wizard looking like Monty Burns from The Simpsons, but there was nothing excellent about the haggardness of Rack’s appearance or the crackle of dark magic flickering above his fingertips like the flame on Spike’s favorite Zippo lighter.
Willow steeled her nerves, feeling the fatigue, which had become dormant after discovering Tara was missing, creep in behind her eyelids. Yes, she was tired. Yes, she hadn’t seen the comfort of a warm bed for at least twenty-two hours now. Yes, she had already exhausted herself by maintaining telepathic links with the Scooby Gang during patrol earlier. Yes, she had already used magic to blow Angelus right out of her bedroom. But she wasn’t about to let that stop her. After all this wasn’t the first time that she had sacrificed sleep to prevent an apocalypse (or you know, her death) and it wouldn’t be the last time. There was no way she was going to let Rack best her again, no way she would let him take her by surprise again. Her mental and magical capabilities were strong enough that she was certain she had something that would keep her cool if the fire got too hot to handle and a brief check through the files of her mind helped her discover something that would do the trick rather nicely. It was simple too. Wouldn’t take too much of her remaining reserves to pull it off. That is…if it was necessary.
Which it wasn’t…necessary, that is…because Rack didn’t move. He didn’t peel his eyes off of her either, however. “Careful, little Strawberry. Wouldn’t want a pretty little hair on your head getting hurt, now.”
“I said, no.” Willow repeated, ignoring Rack’s warning. Admittedly, she felt almost grateful that Rack wasn’t posing a threat right now though she would prefer that he left the room entirely. She really didn’t need an audience for this. “I’m not going to help you achieve your desired state of permanent no soul-ness. I’m far more likely to be the girl who chains you to the bed until you get over this darn drug addiction.”
After realizing the double entendre hidden in her words, Willow wished she could retract the statement. She would have been better off telling him that she would be the girl who would find his pills and flush them down the toilet.
Of course, it was too late for that. Angelus’s eyes were already gleaming with wicked ideas and he shifted the weight on his feet, thrusting his pelvis into the space between them.
“Been a long time since I’ve played with chains. But I recall they did wonders for making me feel quite euphoric. Promise to ride me like a pony?”
She had heard her doppelganger use that same phrase before, and yet somehow, it sounded way less repulsive coming from her twin’s lips than it did coming from Angelus’s. She guessed that had something to do with the fact that she had felt a more magnetic connection to her vampire counterpart, had felt able to see the reflection of herself in those feral, green eyes, and had been able to care enough to make sure the vampire had gotten back into her own dimension safely.
Speaking of alternate dimensions…
If Angelus kept up with this disgusting tirade, she would have no problem sending him to the world without shrimp for a few days. At least, then the pills would leave his system and he would be back to normal.
“You don’t want this, Angel. You think this is what you need to break the curse, but it’s not going to work,” Willow said, opting to give the intellectual high road a try instead of the ‘eww, gross’ pathway off the low one.
Unfortunately, Angelus wasn’t buying it and he stepped forward, closing the gap that separated them.
“You have no idea what I want, do you?” Angelus hissed, his hands settling onto the jut of her hip bones. In his eyes, she could see dark storm clouds brewing, and she knew the demon was close, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “You think my needs are the same as his? Think I get all mushy inside when he broods endlessly about some dumb whore that he was so in love with? Do you wanna know what puts a smile on my face, witch? Massacres. Cities going up in flames. Women screaming as they’re fucked into a shattering oblivion.”
His eyelids fluttered and he moaned as if he had just recalled a particularly vivid memory.
“It won’t work. The curse doesn’t operate like that,” Willow replied; eager to change the subject as her fingers itched to use the spell that she had put on delay before. “It doesn’t work on power and control. It works on…”
Angelus moved his right hand off her hip and covered her mouth, effectively silencing her. “I’m really not interested. I’m far more interested in you fixing this like a good little bitch.”
Willow made a muffled protest into the palm of Angelus’s hand, but it wasn’t enough for him to release her.
“And if you do exactly what I tell you to do, I’ll let your little girlfriend go. Or you know I could always make her watch…or make her join.” Angelus licked his lips, excited by the new twist to his plan.
“Rack, fetch the blonde.”
Willow’s eyes widened in disbelief. Was he really doing this? Was he really going to release Tara? Was he even remotely aware of what it would mean to have two witches in the same room together? There was no way he would stand a chance. With Tara by her side, they could magically wipe the drugs from his system and Angelus would be Angel again in no time.
Rack nodded subserviently and Willow took notice. Guess he was just as much a puppet to Angelus as she had been to him. Either that or he was just really good at faking it, bearing in mind that the wizard had been present for the story where Angelus had revealed his power source.
With bated breath, Willow watched Rack turn back towards the divan and raise his hands in the air. A dark, forgotten language rolled off his tongue and the pillows vibrated, shaking as if an earthquake was rocking the Earth beneath them.
Rrrrrriiiiiiippppp…
The divan split open with an earth-shattering tear and white, fluffy stuffing littered the floor. Or what was left of the floor anyways. Mostly, it just looked like a big hole with a weird greenish light shining out of it.
Although she couldn’t see much more than the jagged edge on account of Angelus blocking her way, she could hear the same whimper from before. The same whimper that had nearly cost her a finger in her attempt to investigate the source of it. But unlike before, the whimper quickly turned into a mournful wail, knowing that it would be heard this time.
Willow’s heart lurched in her chest as her brain matched the wail to one of two victims. It was Dawn and she was doing exactly what a teenage girl should do when survival kicked in.
“I want Dawn out too,” Willow insisted, though it made no difference as it sounded more like: “Mmmhmmmphhooo.”
Rack lowered his hands, changing his aim to shoot inky black tendrils into the pit, Willow heard another piercing scream. This time it belonged to Tara and before she could control herself, her own instincts took over and she sank her blunt teeth into the loose flesh of Angelus’s palm.
Angelus snarled with rage, his fangs dropping as Willow raced towards the edge of the pit. She was rewarded with the sight of Tara’s wavy, golden-blonde locks coming into view. But she also caught a glimpse of the thick ropes crisscrossing over every square inch of Tara’s nude form. Maybe this wasn’t going to be quite so easy after all.
Before she could get too lost in the worry about how to release Tara from her bonds, Willow heard Rack begin to mutter the reversal spell and she could hear the clomp of Angelus’s boots rapidly coming towards her. If she wanted to get Dawn out of there, she was going to have act fast.
“Hades, lord of night, free this child from thy clutches. Release her from your underworld.”
A burst of silver light burst from Willow’s hands and flew into the hole just as Angelus’s took hold of her shoulders. It didn’t matter though. The magic had returned, taking on the appearance of an eagle, and holding Dawn in its protective talons.
Willow: 1. Rack: 1.
But before she could break the tie, she was swallowed up by darkness.
Title: Holding Her Own (6/10)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Angelus, Willow/Tara, Willow/Angel (friendship)
Word Count: 1865
Overall Rating/Highlight for Warnings: FRAO/NC-17; *angst/dark themes, character death, drug use, crude language (including sexual swearing) violence, sex*
Setting: Set Post-Season 5 of BtVS/Season 2 of AtS.
Summary: Still struggling with Buffy's death, Willow gets an unexpected visitor that brings a whole new set of problems to Sunnydale.
Beta: the unmistakable
velvetwhip and angelskuuipo. All other mistakes are mine.A/N: Several years ago, I started a WIP that never went further than the first chapter. This is my attempt to fix that. Enjoy!
A/N 2: This story is completed and chapters will be posted weekly.
Previous Chapters
Featuring artwork by
rua1412 any spikesredqueenWillow didn’t need a translator to understand the implications of Angelus’s demand. She could tell by the stroke of his palm across the side of her face and the curl of his lips that he was looking for her to give him a happy. It made sense, of course – all of the events leading up to this moment…Tara’s kidnapping, that poor woman’s murder…they were just his messed-up attempt at courting her.
Except that…it didn’t make any sense as to why he wanted her. Sure, the first time they had met, Angelus had whispered that it was a turn-on to see her so cute and helpless as his fingers curled around her throat. But in the end, she hadn’t been the woman he really wanted. That had been Buffy. Buffy was pretty. Buffy was powerful. Buffy had been Angel’s one true love before she….
But insteading of following the wrecking ball of her thoughts, she decided to go through the list of other women who had caught Angelus’s eye a time or two. Willow felt it fair to say that she wasn’t as fashionable as Cordelia nor was she as crazy as Drusilla. Admittedly, she was beginning to rethink the crazy part a little since she hadn’t done much in the way of getting the hell out of Dodge yet. She was free of Rack’s magic after suffering at his hand for the last few hours and she was still hanging around in Angelus’s lair like it was story-time at the library.
She had come of here of her own free will, determined to release Tara and Dawn from his clutches and she knew that there was no way she was leaving without them. But she was starting to believe there might be a different reason. One that softened the edges of her intial anger. Angel needed to be saved too, needed to be rescued from this hell that his demon forced him to maintain.
Taking a sharp breath, Willow stepped backwards, breaking Angelus’s grip on her, and spoke a word that she knew had a high probability of getting her killed or maimed: “No.”
“Excuse me?” Angelus asked, arching an eyebrow and flaring his nostrils. Instead of trying to get into her personal space again, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and tightened his jaw, setting his expression in the style of ‘like you have a choice in the matter.’
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rack rise to his feet, steepling his hands. If Xander would have been here, he would have cracked a joke about the wizard looking like Monty Burns from The Simpsons, but there was nothing excellent about the haggardness of Rack’s appearance or the crackle of dark magic flickering above his fingertips like the flame on Spike’s favorite Zippo lighter.
Willow steeled her nerves, feeling the fatigue, which had become dormant after discovering Tara was missing, creep in behind her eyelids. Yes, she was tired. Yes, she hadn’t seen the comfort of a warm bed for at least twenty-two hours now. Yes, she had already exhausted herself by maintaining telepathic links with the Scooby Gang during patrol earlier. Yes, she had already used magic to blow Angelus right out of her bedroom. But she wasn’t about to let that stop her. After all this wasn’t the first time that she had sacrificed sleep to prevent an apocalypse (or you know, her death) and it wouldn’t be the last time. There was no way she was going to let Rack best her again, no way she would let him take her by surprise again. Her mental and magical capabilities were strong enough that she was certain she had something that would keep her cool if the fire got too hot to handle and a brief check through the files of her mind helped her discover something that would do the trick rather nicely. It was simple too. Wouldn’t take too much of her remaining reserves to pull it off. That is…if it was necessary.
Which it wasn’t…necessary, that is…because Rack didn’t move. He didn’t peel his eyes off of her either, however. “Careful, little Strawberry. Wouldn’t want a pretty little hair on your head getting hurt, now.”
“I said, no.” Willow repeated, ignoring Rack’s warning. Admittedly, she felt almost grateful that Rack wasn’t posing a threat right now though she would prefer that he left the room entirely. She really didn’t need an audience for this. “I’m not going to help you achieve your desired state of permanent no soul-ness. I’m far more likely to be the girl who chains you to the bed until you get over this darn drug addiction.”
After realizing the double entendre hidden in her words, Willow wished she could retract the statement. She would have been better off telling him that she would be the girl who would find his pills and flush them down the toilet.
Of course, it was too late for that. Angelus’s eyes were already gleaming with wicked ideas and he shifted the weight on his feet, thrusting his pelvis into the space between them.
“Been a long time since I’ve played with chains. But I recall they did wonders for making me feel quite euphoric. Promise to ride me like a pony?”
She had heard her doppelganger use that same phrase before, and yet somehow, it sounded way less repulsive coming from her twin’s lips than it did coming from Angelus’s. She guessed that had something to do with the fact that she had felt a more magnetic connection to her vampire counterpart, had felt able to see the reflection of herself in those feral, green eyes, and had been able to care enough to make sure the vampire had gotten back into her own dimension safely.
Speaking of alternate dimensions…
If Angelus kept up with this disgusting tirade, she would have no problem sending him to the world without shrimp for a few days. At least, then the pills would leave his system and he would be back to normal.
“You don’t want this, Angel. You think this is what you need to break the curse, but it’s not going to work,” Willow said, opting to give the intellectual high road a try instead of the ‘eww, gross’ pathway off the low one.
Unfortunately, Angelus wasn’t buying it and he stepped forward, closing the gap that separated them.
“You have no idea what I want, do you?” Angelus hissed, his hands settling onto the jut of her hip bones. In his eyes, she could see dark storm clouds brewing, and she knew the demon was close, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “You think my needs are the same as his? Think I get all mushy inside when he broods endlessly about some dumb whore that he was so in love with? Do you wanna know what puts a smile on my face, witch? Massacres. Cities going up in flames. Women screaming as they’re fucked into a shattering oblivion.”
His eyelids fluttered and he moaned as if he had just recalled a particularly vivid memory.
“It won’t work. The curse doesn’t operate like that,” Willow replied; eager to change the subject as her fingers itched to use the spell that she had put on delay before. “It doesn’t work on power and control. It works on…”
Angelus moved his right hand off her hip and covered her mouth, effectively silencing her. “I’m really not interested. I’m far more interested in you fixing this like a good little bitch.”
Willow made a muffled protest into the palm of Angelus’s hand, but it wasn’t enough for him to release her.
“And if you do exactly what I tell you to do, I’ll let your little girlfriend go. Or you know I could always make her watch…or make her join.” Angelus licked his lips, excited by the new twist to his plan.
“Rack, fetch the blonde.”
Willow’s eyes widened in disbelief. Was he really doing this? Was he really going to release Tara? Was he even remotely aware of what it would mean to have two witches in the same room together? There was no way he would stand a chance. With Tara by her side, they could magically wipe the drugs from his system and Angelus would be Angel again in no time.
Rack nodded subserviently and Willow took notice. Guess he was just as much a puppet to Angelus as she had been to him. Either that or he was just really good at faking it, bearing in mind that the wizard had been present for the story where Angelus had revealed his power source.
With bated breath, Willow watched Rack turn back towards the divan and raise his hands in the air. A dark, forgotten language rolled off his tongue and the pillows vibrated, shaking as if an earthquake was rocking the Earth beneath them.
Rrrrrriiiiiiippppp…
The divan split open with an earth-shattering tear and white, fluffy stuffing littered the floor. Or what was left of the floor anyways. Mostly, it just looked like a big hole with a weird greenish light shining out of it.
Although she couldn’t see much more than the jagged edge on account of Angelus blocking her way, she could hear the same whimper from before. The same whimper that had nearly cost her a finger in her attempt to investigate the source of it. But unlike before, the whimper quickly turned into a mournful wail, knowing that it would be heard this time.
Willow’s heart lurched in her chest as her brain matched the wail to one of two victims. It was Dawn and she was doing exactly what a teenage girl should do when survival kicked in.
“I want Dawn out too,” Willow insisted, though it made no difference as it sounded more like: “Mmmhmmmphhooo.”
Rack lowered his hands, changing his aim to shoot inky black tendrils into the pit, Willow heard another piercing scream. This time it belonged to Tara and before she could control herself, her own instincts took over and she sank her blunt teeth into the loose flesh of Angelus’s palm.
Angelus snarled with rage, his fangs dropping as Willow raced towards the edge of the pit. She was rewarded with the sight of Tara’s wavy, golden-blonde locks coming into view. But she also caught a glimpse of the thick ropes crisscrossing over every square inch of Tara’s nude form. Maybe this wasn’t going to be quite so easy after all.
Before she could get too lost in the worry about how to release Tara from her bonds, Willow heard Rack begin to mutter the reversal spell and she could hear the clomp of Angelus’s boots rapidly coming towards her. If she wanted to get Dawn out of there, she was going to have act fast.
“Hades, lord of night, free this child from thy clutches. Release her from your underworld.”
A burst of silver light burst from Willow’s hands and flew into the hole just as Angelus’s took hold of her shoulders. It didn’t matter though. The magic had returned, taking on the appearance of an eagle, and holding Dawn in its protective talons.
Willow: 1. Rack: 1.
But before she could break the tie, she was swallowed up by darkness.
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on 2010-11-23 12:31 pm (UTC)