Armageddon SagaAngel and Buffy stood in the forest and embraced. He melted into her kisses absorbing
Chapter Sixteen: Fall Of the Pack
By the Lady Sirona ladysirona@LadySirona.com
her love and acceptance. He had never expected to ever obtain either, and here she was
again offering both. She never ceased to amaze him"I am so afraid Buffy." He whispered his confession into her ear. "I am so afraid you'll
see the monster, and you'll hate me." he hugged her until she couldn't breath and had to
wiggle to be released.She grabbed his face. "Angel, you forget I have seen the monster." She kissed him lightly
and continued. "Angelus tormented me for months, I saw the monster up-close and
personal, and I still love you." She drew him into her embrace.All he could do was hold her tight, his face buried in her neck, hiding in her hair. She was
all he ever wanted, his love, his life, his salvation. He couldn't believe she loved him
despite all Angelus did to her.They were interrupted by a voice. "Angelus?" The voice was soft; masculine with a hint
of an accent Buffy couldn't place. She glanced over at a young man standing in the road,
looking at them with a confused expression on his face. "Angelus, is that you?""Erik." Angel drew away from Buffy, and pulled her behind him with an obvious
statement of possession. Buffy peered around Angel at the vampire they were facing."When did you get here Angelus? We've missed you." The vampire slowly walked
closer. He was very careful not to get to close to Angelus' prey. He was a cranky
feeder. He was looking at Angelus carefully, he looked the same, but there was a slight
difference and it bothered the vampire."Tonight. How is the Pack? Who leads?" Angel asked with a bored expression. He
kept a close grip on Buffy, who quietly waited to see how Angel was going to play this."Antonia leads with Roger.” Seeing Angelus’ non-recognition to Roger’s name, he
continued. "She made Roger after you left so suddenly.""Oh. So how many are in the pack now?" Angel adopted the Angelus sneer and stance,
which put Erik more at ease."We have 14 now. Mostly pairs." Erik looked uncomfortable talking in front of
Angelus' prey, but she didn't seem to be upset what she heard, or understand what he
was saying... maybe she only spoke Hungarian. "My consort is Jamie, I made her about
10 years ago. We still follow all your old rules. Feeding separately, rarely kill. Life has
been good these last 80 years. So, what have you been up to?""Well I am living with a curse from the damn gypsies...” Angel edged closer to Erik "I
have my sou.l"Erik looked stunned. To have a soul and have done the things he had seen Angelus do...
"Yea Gods Angelus, that's a bitch. So what are you doing now?""Serving the Slayer." Angel stated simply, pulling a stake out of his pocket, out of Erik's
sight."Huh? You’re still hunting Slayers with your soul?" Erik was confused.
"Not hunting. Serving. I am the Slayer's Consort." Angel stated simply.
Erik started to laugh bending over in his mirth. "Angelus, you are such a joker. I have so
missed your sense of humor." He stood from his laughter to see the dark look in Angel's
eye."I'm not joking." Was all Angel said as he rammed the stake home.
"Are you OK?" Buffy asked Angel as he stood watching the dust of Erik slowly blow
away. She was uneasy about Angel, he was just too quiet. He just nodded."I'm killing my friends Buffy." He said softly. He sighed. "I was with the pack about 40
years. I lead the pack for over 30 of them. Now I am going to use their trust in me to kill
them.” He sank down to hunker next to Erik's dust. He picked up a ring and slipped it
into his pocket. "I hate this.""Do you want to go back?" Buffy asked softly. She could feel the pain in him. She could
imagine the pain he felt going after those he considered family. Ironically she thought
how Angelus could have killed them in a heartbeat, but Angel was feeling the pain."No. I want to do this and get it over with.” He walked away slowly and she followed.
They walked along in the darkness of the forest. Angel followed the trail easily, Buffy
wasn't sure if from vampiric sight or memory. Buffy tensed as she felt another vampire
near. A small teenage girl appeared, sporting the vampire visage of a hunting vampire.
She obviously recognized Angel as one of her own and warned him off."Halt. Leave this area. This is the hunting ground of the Pack, and we do not tolerate
poachers." She stood there, a little kitten hissing at a lion. Angel smiled a smile Buffy
wasn't sure she liked. It was far to like Angelus' preying smile."Ah, you must be Jamie." Her eyes opened wide at his utterance of her name. How did
this stranger know her name? "Erik told me of you. Right before he died.” Before Buffy
or Jamie could move Angel had struck out suddenly and staked her.Buffy stood in confusion looking at Angel as he stood over the dust of the second
vampire. His face had an unreadable expression. He was killing them all himself, none for
her. "Uh, Angel? You gonna leave any for me?"Giles found Angel and Buffy sneaking into the house just as dawn was starting to lighten
the sky. "Pushing it a little tight aren't you?" He asked the pair grumpily. He stretched
his kinked muscles from having slept in the chair at the table."Ran into a last minute problem, Giles." Buffy smiled. "But we dusted it." Buffy put her
arm around Angel who seemed more withdrawn than usual."What did you learn?" Giles sat up and took a sip from his now cold tea and frowned.
"The Packs original size was fourteen, now it is eight. The pack is lead by a woman
named Antonia and they still follow the old ways." Angel recited it with his voice devoid
of emotion. Angel turned suddenly toward the stairs, which showed Karl coming down
them."The old ways?" Karl asked as he walked into the dining area.
"Old ways. The rules and laws in effect for the Pack, ah, when it was led by Angelus."
Giles answered. "An old vampire named Angelus, ah, lead the pack around the turn of
the, ah, century. By knowing the laws, ah, they follow, ah, we can predict their,
ah, actions, Makes them easier to kill""Angelus!" Karl's face transformed into a face of rage as his voice rose. "That bastard
demon hell-spawn, may he rot in hell!""Well, I think a 245 year old vampire with a soul is my definition of hell!" Buffy snarled
at Karl as she pushed past Karl dragging Angel after her. She didn't know if was before
he could kill the man, or before she did. Their Curse that broke on her birthday was a
serious sore spot to the Slayer...Karl stared after the retreating couple. "She knows of Angelus?" Karl turned to Giles
questions in his eyes.
"Let's just say, ah, they've met." Giles said in a resigned voice as he walked to his room.
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