TITLE: A Clash of Arms (1/1)
AUTHOR: Winter
EMAIL ADDRESS: winter242@hotmail.com
DISTRIBUTION: Just ask.
SPOILERS: "Innocence"
RATING: PG-13.
SUMMARY: Angelus and Willow have a disagreement. Angelus' POV.
DISCLAIMER: All Buffy related things are owned by Joss
Whedon, etc, etc. I own nothing except the idea for this story.
FEEDBACK: Highly appreciated.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is Part 5 of my "Prelude to Darkness" series.

A Clash of Arms

I followed Willow out of the library, leaving behind an equally stunned and
equally frightened group of mortals. Buffy most certainly wouldn't have
missed what had just transpired, and no doubt she would use that against us.
Once again, I could feel the anger rising inside of me.

Keeping a few paces behind my childe as she lead us back to the factory, I
watched as she practically bounded down the street, obviously pleased with
her performance. She hadn't even realized yet what she'd just cost us.

I moved forward slightly to catch a glimpse at the look on her face. She
wore a rather complacent grin on her face, and her eyes practically shone
with arrogance. For a moment, I felt the anger slipping slightly at the
sight of her beautiful face.

Shaking off those feelings, I called back the anger with a new fervency,
determined not to let anyone, especially my childe, get away with such an
act of disobedience. She would be punished.

As we approached the factory, I checked Willow's expression again, only to
find that it hadn't changed. She was still singing her praises over
something she obviously felt was a brilliant move. But that wouldn't last
for long.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" I finally whirled on her as we
entered through the doors. Willow turned around then to look me straight in
the eye. The smug look on her face was gone, but replaced with one of
weariness, as if she were talking to a small child that couldn't understand
something she had repeated to him a million times. Fury flared once again.

"Angelus," she sighed in exasperation, "I told you--I wasn't hungry
anymore."

If it had been any other vampire, *any* other vampire, he would have been
dust by now. How dare she talk in such a disrespectful tone to me?
Grabbing her by the throat, I snarled viciously in her face, letting her
know I was *not* satisfied with that answer.

"That's besides the point," I growled, unleashing all of my wrath, "you were
supposed to kill the Slayer. That was the plan. You backed out, and I
should kill you for that."

Stepping back slightly and raising her arms in an invitational gesture, she
stated simply, with a small smile playing over her lips, "Then kill me."

She knew damn well that I wouldn't kill her. Couldn't kill her. And I
hated her having that power over me. She'd just have to be taught a lesson.

Growling low in my throat, I advanced slowly upon my childe, never breaking
eye contact. I could see the sudden flash of fear and doubt run through her
eyes, and I knew that it was now or never.

Reaching out, I grabbed Willow by the hair and pulled viciously, dragging
her to me. I heard her yelp in pain as I shoved her head to the side and
buried my fangs in her throat, drawing just enough blood to make her weak
and unable to fight back. She struggled uselessly in my arms before I
withdrew my fangs and turned her suddenly to face the back wall. Grabbing
both of her arms, I slammed her with all my strength into the wall, and I
heard her skull crack slightly against the brick.

The noise had undoubtedly peaked the curiosity of the other vampires that
resided there, including Spike and Drusilla. I turned my head slightly to
look at Spike directly in the eyes, letting him know that I acknowledged
that fact that they were here watching, and that I allowed it. This would,
after all, serve as a lesson for future reference, in case any of the other
vampires ever had a sudden urge to defy me.

Turning my attention back to the redhead, I reached out and struck her
across the back of her head, causing her face to crash once again into the
brick. I could see the blood trickling from her nose, and I knew that it
had been broken. Grabbing her right arm, I swung it around so that she now
faced me, and, keeping eye contact, I broke the arm.

She cried out in pain, and the pain called to me. Half of me wanted to the
stop there, end the lesson there, but I knew that this was only minimal
punishment for disobedience. If I had shown leniency now, she, and others,
would no doubt disobey again in the future.

Taking a firm grip on her hair once again, I dragged her to the back of the
factory, where a fairly large cross hung for obvious purposes. With a
gloved hand, I reached out and grasped the cross, pressing it deliberately
against the side of Willow's face. She screamed in agony, trying to turn
her head and escape from the acrid burning, but I kept the cross placed
firmly against her skin, watching the slight billows of smoke from her
charred skin drift upwards.

Finally removing the offending weapon from the left side of her face, I used
it to strike her across the right. After replacing the cross in its heavily
wrapped spot, I brought my hand up to lightly, tenderly, trace the edges of
the impression left in her skin. Curling my hand into a fist, I struck her
across the face, making sure my fist impacted into the center of the cross
mark.

The blow knocked her to the ground, onto her stomach. Using my foot to turn
her onto her back, I stomped heavily onto her midsection, making sure that
at least a few ribs had been broken.

I watched her face shrivel in pain, and I knew that she wouldn't be able to
take much more. She was, after all, still a fledgling, and hadn't quite
built up her pain tolerance. That came with age. Deciding to end it here,
I reached up and unhooked a whip that had been fastened onto the wall.

Straddling her hips, I gave one, quick lashing across her throat before
speaking. "Who is your sire?" I questioned her roughly, loudly enough that
the others could hear, if not see. She was silent for a moment too long,
perhaps more from pain than from a direct act of disobedience, but that,
also, could not be tolerated. Striking her again across her abdomen, chest,
legs, then face, I repeated the question. This time, she hurried to
respond, not caring about the cracking in her voice. "You are," she
whispered.

"Say my name," I told her, "and louder. Who is your sire?" I cracked the
whip down again.

"Angelus," she called out again, as loud as she could. Crack.

"And who is your master?" I continued, biting off the end of each word
harshly.

"Angelus," she replied. Crack.

"And who do you obey?"

"Angelus." Crack.

"And who have you disobeyed?"

"Angelus." Crack.

"Therefore who punishes you?"

"Angelus." Crack.

After a slight pause, I continued, "Who do you belong to?"

"Angelus," she breathed, the energy draining out of her along with the
blood.

"And will you ever disobey me again?"

"No," she whispered the last word faintly, but put as much emphasis on it as
she could, "never again."

"Good," I finished curtly. Standing up, I replaced the whip in its holder
and turned around, making eye contact with each and every vampire in the
room. "I trust my point has been clearly made," I told them, "now leave,"
the last word came out as a deadly threat.

The minions scurried away hastily, until in moments, only myself, Spike, and
Dru were left. Dru gave me a look as if to say "how could you do that to my
sister?" before leaving quietly, knowing better than to question me. Spike
just grinned slightly, knowing me better than most, and wheeled away without
a word.

I sighed wearily, the anger haven seeped completely away, as I turned back
around to look down at my Queen. I watched her as she lied there on the
ground, curled up into a fetal position. Squatting down, I stroked her
beautiful hair and flinched inwardly just as she flinched outwardly, away
from my hand.

Exhaling in a show of exasperation, much as she had done just minutes
earlier, I scooped her gently into my arms, cradling her deceivingly slight
form against mine. I chose to stay quiet.

Carrying her to our room, I deposited her gently onto the bed and began
removing her torn and blood-soaked clothes. Leading her to the sink, I used
a wet cloth to wipe the blood from her body, making sure not to press too
hard on the various bruises that covered her form.

We kept eye contact the entire time, and I made sure to wipe all traces of
anger, hatred, distrust, disappointment, and most importantly, superiority
from my expression. After a few minutes, I could see the trust begin to
return to her eyes as she realized that I didn't hate her, and had taken no
enjoyment in punishing her.

"Angelus?" she whispered, casting her eyes downwards as she spoke, "I'm
sorry."

Leading her back to the bed, wrapped in a robe, I sat her down next to me
and lifted her chin so she was looking me straight in the eye. "Apology
accepted," I told her straightforwardly, "but do not ever disobey me again.
Understood?"

She nodded her head slightly, and I smiled, pulling her back with me onto
the bed. Wrapping her in my arms, I breathed in her scent and smiled
contentedly. This is the way things should be. "I love you, Red," I
whispered into her ear, kissing her softly over my bite marks.
"I love you, too, Angelus," she whispered back, squeezing lightly on my
hand. After a moment, she shifted positions so she was facing me, and spoke
again, "Angelus...about tonight? I didn't mean to disobey you. It's just
that--"

"Sshhh," I cut her off. "I don't want to discuss tonight ever again. It's
behind us. Just get some sleep."

"I had a plan," she whispered, lowering her eyes again.

"What?" I asked her, once again forcing her to look into my eyes.

"Well, I was gonna surprise you with...something."

Her words hit me like a jolt. In my anger, I hadn't even considered that
she might have had a reason for disobeying me. Although that didn't excuse
her disrespectful tone.

"Is that why you didn't kill the Slayer?" I asked her gently, "you had other
plans for her?"

She nodded her head, and I smiled at her, kissing her lips lightly. "I
see." I wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"Did you want me to tell you what they were?" she asked, uncertainly and a
bit disappointedly, now that her surprise had been spoiled.

"No," I told her simply, smirking at the surprise on her face. "The Slayer
isn't dead," I continued, "so neither is your plan. Besides, I love
surprises."

"You wouldn't mind?" Willow asked, a hint of playfulness returning to her
voice.

"Not at all," I told her honestly, "after all, if you came up with it--it
has to be good."

Willow smiled and buried her face in my shoulder, as the two of us drifted
into sleep, entwined in each other's arms.

END