Chapter 14
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Previously:
“Well, well, well! Came all this way just to be staked by a Scooby did ya, deadboy?”
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“Shut up, Harris. I’m not here to see you, I’m here to see this so-called representative of the Powers,” Angel spoke derisively. He wasn’t planning on wasting time on the little bigot.
“Oi! Watch your manners, Peaches. Don’t speak to him like that.” Spike had been accepted; he was well prepared to protect his pack.
“Don’t tell me what to do, William,” Angel spat out angrily. How dare that bleached moron reproach him on etiquette, and since when did Spike stick up for the bigot? What the hell was he doing here in the first place? The little bastard would be dust before he left, Angel promised himself.
The whistle was the only clue before the stake was imbedded in Angel’s chest. “You speak to my team with anything other than respect and the next one won’t miss,” the Slayer announced with deadly calmness.
“Buffy?” Angel’s voice was filled with desperate anguish. Why was she being like this? Didn’t she realise he’d given up everything for her? Why was she being so ungrateful? What sort of lies had she been told? When did she get so skinny?
Huh?
Before Angel took the time to think about the possible ramifications, the words had slipped out of his mouth. “Jeez Buff, when did you start looking like a famine victim?”
Faced with a room full of incredulous stares, it is safe to say that had Penny not chosen that particular moment to move in front of the brunette vampire he would definitely have dusted while suffering from a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease.
"Stake him again Buffy, please?" Xander whined
"Oi, let me get a better view first, luv," Spike requested.
"Can we take pictures?" Xander begged.
As the group joined in laughing at the clowning twosome, Penny turned to the large vampire and waited for him to speak.
Angel pointedly ignored the waiting woman and busied himself with removing the stake that was imbedded in his chest. Carefully, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of his pain or to ask for help, he eased the object out. Luckily it was not in deep and the wound itself would not take long to heal. Once he was certain that no wood remained in the wound, he turned his attention to the woman in front of him. “Are you Penny?” Angel asked her solemnly.
“Yes.” Her reply was equally as solemn.
“Why are you trying to undermine me, destroy my life? What have I ever done to you?” He was trying to be understanding, giving her the opportunity to explain herself. He didn’t realise that to others his tone might be considered petulant.
Smiling in amusement and lifting an eyebrow, she answered his questions with questions of her own. “How has anything I’ve done undermined you and more importantly, why do you feel that being undermined would destroy your life?”
“You’ve got my people questioning me and my decisions. I have to waste time explaining every little thing because of you. They’re questioning my decisions, my methods, and even my motives,” Angel lamented in frustration.
“I see. So you feel that your decisions, methods, and motives shouldn’t be questioned?” Penny clarified.
“Exactly,” Angel nodded his head in agreement.
“You feel that an individual in your position doesn’t need to be questioned?” she continued.
“Right,” he was pleased that she was finally getting the picture. Maybe she wasn’t as stupid as he had first thought.
“You feel that as your underlings, they should respect your decisions, methods, and motives?” Penny allowed none of her emotions to show themselves.
“Yes, yes, now you’re getting it.” Angel was elated. Finally they were coming to an understanding. This nonsense about him not being the champion would soon be over, and he could get back to helping Darla. Buffy and the others would be forced to apologise for being rude to him and all would be right with the world.
“Because they’re beneath you, and you are their benevolent caretaker.”
“Yes…what? Wait…no.” Huh? How the hell did that happen? Angel’s mind reeled.
“Oh no, please, I think I understand now. You are the great and mighty Angel. Your knowledge is all encompassing. You are incapable of making mistakes and even if you did, your underlings would not have the intellect to aid you.” Her sarcasm could have cut glass.
“You’re twisting my words. That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Angel panicked.
“Have you considered for even a moment that I don’t care what you’re saying? That you are nothing to me? That I don’t answer to you, nor do I have any intention of ever doing so? You come in here with your holier-than-thou attitude and just expect me to explain myself to you? Who the hell do you think you are? You are just a waste of space and the world would be better off with you in a dust-buster.” Penny turned her back on him and returned to the group. Her obvious disdain made it clear that the conversation was over.
Xander, Giles, and Spike leapt to their feet and gave her a standing ovation.
As Angel stood doing his impression of a fish out of water, the group was once again distracted by the opening of the front door of the shop.
Cordelia Chase strode into the shop as if she owned it. Taking in the wound on the fish-faced brunette vampire, Cordelia slapped him on the back of the head, muttering “Moron” as she made her way past him and down the step to the main floor of the shop. Wesley followed her at a more hesitant pace.
“We told him not to come,” she greeted the Sunnydale Scoobies.
“I do apologise for the intrusion. Angel seemed reluctant to listen to us,” Wesley told a more charitable tale. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in front of this particular group of people. He mentally cringed in memory of the prat he’d been when he was last in Sunnydale.
Angel felt the slow boil of his rage. His demon was screaming for retribution. How dare she speak to him like that? Who the hell was she? The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He was a champion of the powers. His was a mission of purity. Where did she get off making people question that? Didn’t she realise who he was? The roar in his ears was deafening, he couldn’t think straight. Raging, white-hot anger infused his whole body. The demon screamed in triumph as Angel let go of his control.
Sliding into gameface, he roared as he lunged for the focus of his rage, his feet lifting off the floor. His momentum carried him forward and straight through the non-corporeal body of his opponent and head first into the bookshelf behind her.
Picking up a heavy bronze statue from the mess on the floor, Xander willingly hit the out-of-control vampire on the back of the head, knocking him out completely. Turning to Buffy, no one was surprised at his question. “Now, can I dust him?”
~*~*~
The beautiful brunette vampiress lifted her head and listened. Words whispered in her mind, pictures played out, images she recognised and some that she didn’t. Lifting her arms high in the air, as if trying to touch the very stars themselves, she danced to music that only she could hear, whispering sadly as she danced, “Daddy's a bad dog. Bad dogs need whippings. Ruff, ruff. William is standing in the sun; no more my dark prince. Daddy won’t be able to play now. He’s all alone. Alone with no one to help him. Bye-bye, Daddy. ”