Angel lay with his eyes closed, listening to absolutely nothing. He still ached – worse every day that he was here. The headache that had sprung up during Buffy’s second visit had not faded with the continued silence. And on top of that...he was hungry.
He could control it, but it did not help his pain. The sensation did not at all resemble what he remembered of human hunger. He could not die of starvation, and so the need for blood was just that – a need, but a hundred times stronger than that. The only analogy Angel could think of was a drug addict’s need. Except the need, the hunger for blood was such an integral part of Angel’s being, and that of any vampire. Without the blood, he would weaken past the point where he could hope to escape from here. If the hunger went on to long, what was human in him just might slip away, as he lost control and nothing existed but that need.
He wasn’t anywhere near that point yet. He’d been on short rations since Richard had told them the blood delivery was going to be late. And now several days had gone by in the Watchers’ Headquarters and no one seemed likely to allow him to feed here. But it would be a long while before the hunger grew out of control.
Still, the hunger and the pain were his companions in the tiny cell. Occasionally, Buffy’s visits broke into that, allowing a distraction. Now, he allowed himself to think of her, hoping that just that would be enough. The pain always seemed worse when there was nothing else in his thoughts.
Buffy’s visits were irregular, but he cherished every one. He could only imagine what she might have had to go through in order to keep seeing him. He was surprised that thus far he was just an unfed, untrusted hostage...and not anything worse. Like, say, dust.
Lately, Buffy’s visits had been one long, drawn out story-telling session. Once Buffy had opened herself to the information, she would not stop until she knew the fates of every one of her friends. And how Angel tried to remember each and every one. But the truth was, he’d grown distant from her and her friends well before her death. He’d done his best to keep track of them, but where he remembered the deaths of his own friends with crystal clarity to this day, he could not always remember the facts and details that Buffy wanted to know.
“So, you don’t know what happened to Giles...in the end?” she’d asked sadly on their second such conversation.
He’d had to shake his head. “I know he moved back to England,” he’d said. “After that....”
Buffy had looked down at the floor, upset and not bothering to hide it.
Angel swallowed though. “I did keep any newspaper articles that mentioned anyone I knew, though,” he’d assured her after a moment. “And, um, all of the obituaries.”
She’d looked up at him, sad at the deaths but reassured that they were in some way remembered.
Angel promised himself that as soon as he managed to get out of this place, he was going to find the notebook that he’d kept all of those articles in and give it to her.
As he lay now on his cot, he tried to keep his mind wandering over those conversations. And then he tried to remember just where he might have put that notebook he was thinking of. Of course, Buffy had managed to rearrange his entire lair. And with the attack of the Watchers, who knew what was still remaining. He had a number of old and priceless documents that they probably would have killed to get their hands on. Some of them, he’d done the same for himself in his darker days. A long, bloody history.
Angel’s senses were abruptly assaulted with the existence of the world outside the cell, a sign the door was about to open. He did not rise. Buffy would not mind if he stayed lying where he was. He did, however, smile at the prospect of her company.
It was not Buffy who stepped through the open door, though, and his smile slipped. The girl who stood there was the first person other than Buffy’s he’d seen since he awoke in this room. And from Buffy’s descriptions, he knew exactly who this girl had to be.
“You’re the Slayer,” he said, looking at her seriously from his reclining position.
The Asian girl crossed her arms over her chest. “And you’re a vampire,” she said with a touch of sarcasm. They were both, after all, stating the obvious.
Angel found himself smirking. “Touché,” he said. “Then what is your name, if you’d rather I called you something other than Slayer?”
She did not come any closer than just inside the door. “Tamika,” she said after a moment’s thought. “And you’re Angelus.”
“Angel,” he corrected automatically.
“Mm,” she said noncommittally. “So I’ve been told.”
She said nothing for a long moment until Angel fidgeted under her gaze. “Well,” he said at last, rising to a sitting position. “Are you hear to kill me, then?”
“No!” she said a touch too quickly. Then she pursed her lips. “I thought about it, though,” she admitted.
“You wouldn’t be a Slayer if you didn’t,” Angel said calmly. He did not make any move to approach her. As much as they might try to deny it in favor of the human parts of their nature, Slayers were every bit as much predators as the vampires they hunted. Approaching her could be considered threatening, and that would just as likely turn out badly for him. Especially weakened from hunger. Not to mention the swarms of Watchers that would rush to her defense should they perceive she was in danger.
“Where’s Buffy?” he asked after a moment.
Tamika frowned. “She doesn’t know I’m here,” she said.
Angel raised an eyebrow at that. It wasn’t exactly an answer. “And the Watchers?”
“Do not stop me from going where I wish,” she said a touch arrogantly.
There was something else implied in her statement. “They did not tell you to come here?”
She hesitated. “No. They...requested that I not come at all.”
“Then why are you here?”
Tamika was silent for a long moment. “Curiosity,” she admitted finally.
“Curiosity?” Angel asked, surprised at her candor. “About what?”
Still the young Slayer hesitated. “Buffy has told me...a lot about you. She was trying to make me see you as something other than what you are.”
“I doubt that,” Angel replied. Buffy knew exactly what he was. He didn’t hide from her or from anything else anymore. “And what am I?”
“A vampire,” Tamika replied without hesitation.
“Yes,” Angel agreed easily.
She looked surprised at that. “You’re...not going to try and convince me otherwise?”
“Why should I?” he replied. “I know what I am. I drink blood. The touch of the cross burns me. I have no reflection. It’s not exactly a secret.”
Tamika seemed to relax slightly. “No, I guess not.”
“Buffy didn’t try to tell you I wasn’t a vampire,” Angel said after another pause.
“No,” she agreed. “But she tried to tell me you’re different.” She paused for a moment more. “She loves you,” Tamika said.
Despite the disgust in the other Slayer’s tone, Angel found himself unable to stop from smiling. “Yes, she does.”
She frowned slightly. “And...do you love her?”
“Yes,” Angel replied vehemently.
Tamika looked startled at that, then doubtful. Still, she held her tongue.
Angel sighed as the pause grew too long. “Look, if you’re not going to...” An abrupt pang of hunger shot through him painfully, mixing with the ache of the rest of his body. Angel groaned and curled slightly around his stomach.
Tamika seemed caught between the urge to come closer and to flee. “What’s wrong with you?” she gasped.
He lay back down, turning away from her. The hunger didn’t want to be ignored, and there was a source of strong, fresh blood standing right in the room with him. “Please, go away,” he managed to force through clenched teeth.
“What...?”
“Go away!” Angel tried again, and his eyes flashed yellow as he faced her.
She gasped and backed up a step. Still, the door did not open and she did not leave. “Why do you want me to go so badly?” she asked boldly after a moment.
Angel forced himself to calm. The hunger slowly subsided for the moment and he met her gaze with less pain. “Just do it,” he said slowly.
He could hear Tamika swallow. “I can’t,” she said.
“And why not?”
Another pause. “Because I don’t think I can face Buffy if I leave here without knowing what’s wrong with you.”
Her response surprised Angel, especially considering what Buffy had to say about the other Slayer. “There’s nothing wrong with me,” he said slowly.
Tamika looked doubtful...and then understanding. “You haven’t fed,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“No.”
“But...why?”
The young Slayer looked completely baffled. “Do you think feeding a vampire is really high on your Watchers’ list of priorities?”
“But...” Tamika managed. “To not feed you.... You’re in pain, aren’t you?”
Angel did not answer that question. “Can’t kill me,” he said. “Maybe they’d like to have me weakened and crazed from hunger.”
She swallowed hard once again. Angel could not read her expression. “I...I should go,” she choked out.
Angel looked away from her and nodded.
Still, she hesitated from leaving, and he turned to face her again. She was standing with her back to the door, staring at him.
“Look,” Angel said at last, “if you’re not going to leave, could you answer a question instead?”
Tamika looked decidedly wary. “Maybe,” she said.
“Do you know what has happened in the area where we were captured? The demon activity was increasing, and the people...are they okay?”
Her pause was so long this time that Angel doubted he was going to get an answer. Her voice was very soft when she finally spoke. “Why do you care?”
“They’re my responsibility,” Angel replied without hesitation. “You do understand responsibility, don’t you?”
Tamika flinched. “I...I’m going now.”
Angel just nodded.
Finally, the door opened and the sounds of lives being lead invaded the small space. Tamika turned in the doorway. “You’re not like other vampires, are you?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“No, I’m not,” Angel agreed. “Which is what Buffy really tried to tell you.”
Tamika gave a sheepish nod. “I will try to find out what is happening for you,” she said at last.
Angel gave her a small smile. “Thank you.”
She returned the smile hesitantly, and the door closed behind her, leave Angel once again alone with silence, hunger, and pain.
When the girl showed up at Buffy’s door soon after, she wasn’t particularly surprised. She was surprised, however, at the younger Slayer’s sudden change in attitude.
“Is Angel still a captive, or is he dust?” had been the first words Buffy had said when her door had opened.
Tamika actually looked hurt, the first real emotion Buffy was certain she’d seen from the other Slayer. “How did you know I went to see him?” she’d asked.
“Oh, please. It’s exactly what I would have done in your place.”
Still, the strange expression on Tamika’s face gave Buffy a pause. Before she knew it, she was inviting the girl into her spartan rooms and sitting beside her in a gesture of comfort. She no longer resembled that horribly arrogant and snide Slayer that Buffy had been forced to deal with. Instead, she seemed...young.
“What’s the matter?” Buffy found herself asking.
The expression on Tamika’s face could only be described as helpless. It wasn’t a good thing for a Slayer to be. “Were you lying about anything?” she asked at last.
Buffy looked at her in confusion. “No. Not intentionally, at least. I mean, there might have been some half-truths, and a lot of opinions, but...no, I haven’t lied to you.”
Tamika sighed. “I did see Angel. And no, I didn’t kill him.”
“I got that already,” Buffy said. This girl sitting in front of her now would not have killed Angel. She didn’t know how exactly she knew that, but she did.
Tamika was openly relieved. “I still...don’t trust either of you, though. I just want to make that clear.”
Buffy fought a smile. “It’s clear.”
“He’s not like other vampires,” she blurted.
Buffy looked at her in confusion. “I already told you that.”
The dark haired Slayer nodded. “You did. And you told me a lot of other things, too. And now...I am suddenly trying to figure out what exactly I’m supposed to believe.”
Buffy did not ask how Tamika had come to this sudden revelation. “Are you ready to know?” she asked instead.
Tamika looked at her sharply, her face defensive...then seemed to deflate. “I don’t know,” she said instead.
“Until you’re ready,” Buffy began, standing, ready to escort her visitor out of the room.
“I want to see for myself!” Tamika practically yelled, interrupting her.
“See what?” Buffy asked, completely lost now.
She took a deep breath as if bracing herself. “I want to see how you do things,” she said at last. “The way you fight demons. Without the Watchers.”
Now Buffy was really shocked. “Without the Watchers?”
Tamika nodded.
“Can’t really do that up here,” Buffy said dismissively.
“Then we’ll go...to your home,” the other Slayer said quickly. “I want to see where you fight, too.”
“I’m not exactly free to move around, here,” Buffy said pointedly.
Tamika grinned. “I can do it,” she declared. “I can get us both out of here. They wouldn’t dare to stop me.”
Buffy found herself smiling in return. “Won’t you be breaking some major rules?”
Tamika opened her mouth to reply, then let out a small laugh. “I can’t see how you became the strongest Slayer ever while keeping to the handbook, can I?”
Buffy laughed openly. Despite all of her expectations, she was starting to like this girl.
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