Frozen in place, Angel watched helplessly as unknown people moved in and out of the room, preparing to burn Buffy alive. They came in with piles of wood, seeming not to notice what they were about to do to a human being. They all seemed to be human, too. At least, that’s all Angel could tell from their appearance.
Mr. Hunter had his attention completely on his workers and on Buffy, so he was ignoring Angel in the process. Not that there was any reason he should have been paying attention to Angel. He could struggle for all he was worth to move or even speak and it wouldn’t make any difference. Every couple of seconds he tested his invisible bonds to no avail.
All this time, the white-haired woman stood on the edge of the room, a look of stern disapproval on her face. With everyone else occupied, she turned, focusing her gaze on Angel. This was the first time he had gotten a good look at her, and he froze in fear. He knew her, and always would; white hair, too young face, and a sense of power. In his mind’s eye she wielded a knife. If Angel hadn’t been restrained he knew he would have been shaking.
She walked calmly across the room, drawing no attention as she approached Angel. He could not look away from her. She was very determined in her purpose, but no one other than Angel seemed to even notice her presence in the room. His desire to run from this woman warred with his need to rescue Buffy. As it was, he could do neither,
The woman crossed the cavernous room unnoticed, finally coming to a stop facing Angel. He followed her the entire way with his eyes. Their gazes met at last, and Angel did not let himself be swayed by the apparent sympathy on her face. After all, the last time he had seen her she had been whispering apologies while….
“Shhh,” she whispered suddenly, coming very close to inspect Angel’s magical bonds. “I’m here to help you.”
Help me? Angel thought bitterly. Now why do I find that hard to believe?
“I have no idea,” the white-haired woman whispered sarcastically. “But you need my help if you’re going to save the Slayer’s life.”
If Angel hadn’t been bound, he would have jumped in surprise. As it was, his thoughts reflected his shock. What?! How…?
“Your thoughts are easy for me to read,” she whispered. She smiled up at him briefly from behind the chair.
Lovely, Angel thought to himself, still thick with sarcasm. This was the oddest way to hold a conversation. Now the same people who had been bringing in the wood were beginning to come in with torches, ringing the room. Now’s really not the time for chit-chat, Angel thought to his oddly sympathetic captor, letting her feel his rising panic.
She looked up, taking in the sight of the brightly burning torches, and grimaced. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Please, stop struggling. Hold still.”
…what…?
“I’m going to release your bonds,” she explained patiently. “We can’t have…him…notice that you’re free before you get a chance to do what must be done.”
Angel was highly confused. Could this be some sort of trap? First she captured him, tortured him…now she was going to set him free? It made no sense to him. There had to be something else going on here, something that he still did not understand. Still, the chance to save Buffy’s life… He’d take any chance, however small. Alright.
Suddenly Angel felt his capacity for movement returned. It was all that he could do not to spring out of his chair that instant and rush at Buffy’s captors. As it was, he clutched at his seat until his knuckles were turning white. “Why?” he asked in a harsh whisper.
Jade did not move from where she crouched next to the chair. “No speaking,” she said in a hushed tone. “Do not draw attention to us. I will tell you everything you must know, but first there is something you must do.”
Angel knew this was too good to be true. So much for a touch of hope in a bad situation. Here it comes…
“Save the Slayer,” she finished.
This time Angel did jump. That was the last thing he had expected her to say. ‘Die,’ maybe. Certainly not this. “What? I…”
“Hush!” the woman said quickly, suddenly tensing, her gaze locking on the activity going on in front of them.
Mr. Hunter was standing between Angel and the stake Buffy was tied to. His hands were raised, and the torchbearers fell into line behind the stake. Silence descended upon the large room. He turned and looked at Angel, a cruel smile on his face. Angel froze in fear of discovery. Fortunately.
“Only minutes now,” Hunter said. “Only minutes and there will be nothing you can do to me any more.”
Angel continued to stare at him in anger touched with fear.
Mr. Hunter’s gaze turned to Jade. “Let him speak,” he demanded.
The woman rolled her eyes and placed herself in between Angel and Hunter. She gave Angel an amused look as she made a complicated, yet unnecessary gesture. Angel had no clue what she was playing at, be he went along with it. She stepped aside and Angel scowled at the older man.
“Why are you doing this?” Angel snarled.
“Why?” Hunter mocked. “Do you know what it was like before you came to this town? No matter what we did, as long as the police didn’t notice, as long as we had power – demonic or otherwise – behind us, we could do as we pleased. I could do as I pleased.” He scowled. “And then you had to come to town. You could have done like so many other demons have. You could have been a power in this town on your own. Instead, you had to upset things. You had to cause trouble.” He smiled coldly. “Witness me getting rid of trouble.”
“I don’t understand,” Angel said slowly.
“Don’t play that with me anymore!” the red robed man demanded angrily.
Jade spoke quickly. “I told you the ritual would effect his memory,” she said. “That was how you wanted it.”
“If he lost his memory,” Hunter said, turning his gaze on Jade, “then how come the Slayer is here?”
“She has done nothing to you!” Angel said angrily, barely restraining himself from leaping out of his chair and throttling this man.
“In time, she would have,” Hunter replied with certainty.
“Why are you doing this?” Angel demanded in helpless frustration. “You’re not a demon. What do you want?”
The man smirked. “I’m part demon, actually. And what I want is to have you dead. You killed my patron…my mentor.” Angel’s surprise must have shown on his face, for Hunter went from darkly amused to coldly angry. He leaned a little closer to Angel. “Without him, I have nothing. No status, no power. And since I can’t kill you…I will settle for killing the Slayer. If that does not bring my power and standing back, nothing will.”
Angel simply scowled at him. “You’re insane.”
“No, I’m afraid for your sake that I am very sane.” Hunter stood abruptly. “Enough of this chatter. It’s time we saw the Slayer killed and you…we’ll figure out what to do with you yet.”
With that he turned his back on Angel and began to gesture to the others in the room. As soon as he’d looked the other way, Jade was whispering to Angel once again. Her hushed voice was filled with renewed urgency. “You have to stop this,” she whispered.
As the men with the torches began to move towards Buffy, Angel nearly sprang out of his chair. Jade clamped a hand on his arm. “Not like that!” she hissed.
Angel glared at her viciously for a second before turning his gaze back on Buffy. She was starting to come out of her drug induced haze and began to struggle weakly against her ropes. She wasn’t getting anywhere with it, and the drugs were obviously not going to wear off in time. “I have to save her,” Angel hissed back. “I can’t just sit here.”
“Exactly,” Jade agreed, “but if you go charging in there you’ll only get killed - this time for good. They won’t hold back from killing you forever. You must save her life, and yours, with every weapon at your disposal.”
“I don’t understand you,” Angel whispered angrily. He didn’t have time for this.
Jade clutched at his arm, impatience clear on her face. “You are more than you realize,” she said sternly. “Already you have seen that with your strength. You have never been simply human and you never will be. You need to learn all that you are before you can best save her!”
Angel turned and glared at her straight in the eye. It no longer mattered that he had no clue what she was talking about. “I don’t have time to learn.”
The white-haired woman started slightly at that. She released his arm and sat back on her heels. “Of course,” she whispered, her accent suddenly thicker than before. “Another time perhaps,” she added oddly.
Angel didn’t take the time to ponder that statement; not while Buffy was in danger. At that moment the torchbearers closed their circle and as one bent to light the pyre. Nothing could possibly restrain Angel any further. He sprang from the chair and ran towards Buffy. “No!” he yelled without really meaning to speak aloud.
All attention turned towards him….
And the torches went out.
Hunter saw the cessation of activity and screamed, “Kill her!”
“But sir…” one of the torchbearers protested weakly.
Angel ran into the crowd before they could recover from their confusion. Hunter’s gaze turned on him again. “You,” he said darkly, his face twisted in fury. “I gave you a chance to live, which is more than you gave my…friend,” he said. Then he turned to his torchbearers once again. “Kill them both,” he demanded.
One of the torchbearers moved first, raising his now doused torch like a club. He swung it wildly at Angel’s head. Angel caught it in mid swing and with his other hand punched the man in the jaw. He went down, but Angel did not have time to savor his victory. That seemed to be the cue for everyone else to attack. Angel immediately had two more thugs to deal with.
Angel was quickly being overwhelmed. At some point in the fighting the torches had miraculously relit themselves, and Angel found himself ducking flames as well as fists. He faintly noticed in the midst of fighting that Jade was there as well, using magic instead of force to knock out some of the men. On top of that, Angel could hear Hunter screaming orders no one was really paying attention to. It was a jarring haze of kill or be killed.
Buffy was fighting more earnestly against her bonds, but her Slayer strength had not yet returned. Her movement drew Angel’s attention, his distraction allowing one man to land a lucky blow that made his vision swim. Her movement also drew the attention of one of the torchbearers, who suddenly remembered his standing order: kill them both.
Momentarily knocked down by his assailant, Angel watched in horror as the man lowered his torch to the pyre Buffy was standing upon. For a brief moment his eyes met hers from across the room. Then the edge of the pile of wood caught and Angel heard a wordless scream. He wasn’t sure if it was his, Buffy’s, or both, but he was moving again, praying that he could save her.
Sweeping the legs out from under one man even as he sprang to his feet, Angel was a blur of violent motion. He barely even felt the blows that landed upon him, only seeing the growing flames that Buffy was nearly standing upon. He fought furiously, and the men fell before him without Angel even seeing whom he fought.
Finally the fighting was behind him and Angel and Buffy were face to face once again, staring across the flames, fear and trust and love in their eyes. The flames were growing quickly, and the heat was nearly unbearable from where Angel was standing, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter how badly Angel got burned; he had to save Buffy.
He braced himself and strode into the flames.
An arm over his face to protect his eyes and lungs from the heat and smoke, it took a second for Angel to realize that the flames were not burning him. The heat was incredible, but right where Angel stood the flames muted and died. He didn’t take the time to wonder at his luck, but scrambled over the wood to Buffy’s side.
Coughing in the smoke, Angel hurried to untie Buffy’s ropes. Suddenly free, her legs did not immediately support her and she began to fall. Angel caught her quickly, scooping her up into his arms. As he had been untying her, the flames had risen high once again, surrounding both of them. Angel’s eyes watered and he gasped for air. They couldn’t stay here long. Closing his eyes, Angel clasped Buffy to his chest and leapt.
Landing just beyond the burning pile, Angel released Buffy and then rolled to put out the bit of flame that was inching up his coat. Scrambling to his feet, he helped Buffy to hers and looked her over for burns or smoldering clothing. She said nothing, but smiled at him reassuringly. Once he was sure she was standing on her own, Angel took a deep breath and braced himself to return to the fight.
The last couple of thugs were already exhausted, fortunately, and fell quickly to Angel’s swift attack. Soon all that were left were Buffy, Angel, Jade…and Hunter.
The older man was furious. Jade stood in front of him, her hands stretched towards him, palms forward. She was silent even as Hunter screamed at her. Angel supported Buffy against him and stood to join her.
“You betrayed me!” he was yelling as they approached. “All the time that you worked for me…”
“I never worked for you, Marion,” Jade said calmly.
Hunter went suddenly speechless at that.
“I believe she has you there,” Angel said calmly. He would ponder Jade’s role in all of this later. Not that he wasn’t curious…
“How?” Hunter yelled at her. “You said he’d be powerless, remember nothing!” He turned to look wildly at Angel. “What are you?” he gasped.
As soon as the question was uttered, Angel began to wonder the exact same thing. He glanced at Jade; if her words from earlier were any indication, she would have the answers.
“There are some forces that can’t be stopped,” was Jade’s haughty response. She was clearly enjoying Hunter’s fear and confusion.
Hunter looked back and forth between the three of the wildly. With his flunkies unconscious or fled, he seemed smaller somehow. He must have felt it, too, for he was acting…well, pathetic. “What are you going to do with me?” he asked.
For a moment none of them said anything. Both Jade and Buffy looked at Angel expectantly. “What do you think?” Buffy whispered.
Jade looked at him as well. “It’s your life he’s tried to destroy,” she said. “You decide his fate now.”
Angel stared at Hunter, surprisingly calm. He looked into Hunter’s terrified eyes. Then he did the only thing he could. “Let him go,” he said.
Jade and Buffy looked at him in shock, but not as much shock as Hunter was in. Before that shock could fade, Angel’s calm façade broke. He grabbed Hunter by the older man’s collar and let his anger at the past months’ confusion at this man’s behest show on his face. “I don’t kill humans,” he snarled, “or you wouldn’t be so lucky. And none of us want the attention of the police. It would be fitting if I could dump you injured and wiped of memory like you did to me, but I can’t. But know this,” he pulled Hunter threateningly close, “you failed. That status you worked so hard for is gone. No one will ever work for you again.
“And this is my town. If I hear you’re trying anything again, and I mean anything,” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “I may just mistake you for one of the monsters.”
Angel released Hunter so suddenly that the man stumbled back several steps. As the fires continued to burn behind them, Angel scooped Buffy into his arms. He nodded briefly to the white-haired woman, who smiled mysteriously at him in response.
“Let’s go,” Angel said, and led them away from the fires and the fear.
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