Next Chapter
|
Chapter 8: Kidnapped Buffy woke up groggily, her head felt heavy and at first everything was just a blur. She could feel she was laying on something soft but as she tried to sit up, her hands wouldn't move more than few inches. Panic shot through her and she frantically looked around herself. Her hands were tide to the bed with chains and it looked like she was held in some cave that was something between an office and a lab. Her eyes shot to her stomach, the baby seemed to be alright, it was moving and giving her a kick now and then but she couldn't help the fear invading her body. Did someone want to hurt her baby? Or take it away? Her panicking was interrupted when she saw Riley walk into the room, chills ran down her spine, this was almost as bad as she had imagined. “Hey there sleepyhead”, he said and ran his fingers along her cheek lovingly. Buffy turned her head away from him, closing her eyes as if in pain. “Are you mad at me, sweetheart?” Riley asked with a pout and sat down to the bed, gently taking a hold of her chin and turning her to face him. “I'm not your sweetheart”, she spat. “You're mad at me. Please, don't be. In few days, we will be going to meet my parents. I already told them that they're going to meet their future daughter-in-law, mom burst into tears. They can't wait to meet you, I've told them so much about you.” Buffy looked at him like he had dropped from a different planet, was this the man she had once cared about. “Riley, listen to me. We're NOT together, I'm NOT going to meet you're parents. You're sick, you need help. Please let me go”, she pleaded but Riley just shook his head with a smile. “Don't worry, sweetie, I had my monthly check-up at the Initiative and I'm perfectly healthy. We are going to have many wonderful years together”, he said and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Riley, please”, Buffy tried again, fighting against the tears but he didn't seem to hear her. “You rest, honey. You look so tired. Once we're married, leave the demon hunting to me, you don't have to worry a thing. You'll be home taking care of RJ and Lisa-Marie”, he said and got up from the bed. “RJ and Lisa-Marie?” Buffy asked scrunching her face in confusion, but after the words left her mouth, she didn't want to know. “Riley Junior and our daughter, of course. Once we're married, we need to start our own family, no more of that silly slayer business”, he said like she had forgotten something essential. “Riley, please unchain me”, she tried again, he was clearly delusional and she was starting to get scared, but the most frightening thought was that this was a human with a soul, a person she used to know and care about. She pulled the chains but they weren't long enough for a good yank. “You need your rest, go back to sleep”, Riley said and walked out of the room. Buffy closed her eyes, fighting against the tears, she didn't want to cry but her new unstable hormones were making it impossible. ”Angel”, she whispered to herself and let the tears run freely.
The scooby gang had gathered at Espresso Pump and they had been waiting for nearly half an hour with no sign of Buffy. “That's it, I waisted a perfectly good lunch hour just to wait for Buffy to show up”, Xander said crossing his arms in front of himself. “Maybe something came up... and she couldn't come...” Tara suggested, she didn't like the dark cloud hovering over Xander, it was making her nervous. “Yeah, I know why she didn't come. Now that Dead Boy can have the happy without turning into murderous psycho, she thinks it's alright to ditch her friends. She already lives in LA with him, you'd think she could spare the time to meet us common folks”, he shot angrily and Tara quickly shifted her gaze to the table, pretending to be invisible. “Well, I for one can understand her point of view. Have you seen the arms and thighs on Angel? I bet he gives great orgasms”, Anya commented, making Xander turn sharply to look at her. “Please, don't talk about Angel's thighs when I'm present”, he said and Anya looked at him in question. “Why not? They're very muscular”, she said innocently. “Umm... Let's move on from Angel's thighs...” Willow said awkwardly, quickly blushing. “I think Buffy would have called or something if she couldn't make it, maybe something's wrong”, she continued, frowning at the thought. “I don't think so, she's just ditching us for something else, what else is new. After she got infected with Dead Boy's spawn, it's all about him, but that's how it's always been. It's all about Angel”, he stated and the tone of his voice made it perfectly clear what he thought about his friends boyfriend. “I thought you were happy for her”, Willow said confused of his behavior. “Why would I be happy about it? I may not say anything to her cause you know how snippy she gets about it these days. And how do we know the baby is human? Really, some drunk demon told her and she takes his word for it. I think you should do some kind of spell to show what it really is, I don't want another Angelus loose”, Xander said and got up from the table. “I think you're not being fair, Xander”, Willow tried but Xander shook his head. “I don't think so, I just don't want to be afraid for my life. I think you shouldn't have changed the curse, everything was just fine after he left and Buffy was already over him, Riley was better for her than he ever was, at least we don't have to be afraid he goes psycho on us”, he ranted and Willow looked at him in distress. “You're being unreasonable. Buffy wasn't better after Angel left, she just let us believe that she was fine”, she tried but Xander didn't want to listen. “No, Wills. It would be better on all of us if he'd just stayed in Hell”, he stated and left with Anya. Willow sighed in defeat as she watched Xander walk away. “He's very angry”, Tara stated sadly. “He doesn't mean it like it sounded”, Willow tried to defend her best friend. Tara nodded in understanding but didn't say anything. Cordelia frowned and threw away the fashion magazine she had been reading. “Why do I even bother, it's not like I can afford those things anymore”, she sighed and jumped up to her feet. She moved things around and wiped away imaginary dust. She was bored, she was beyond bored, everything had been so quiet that she had to wonder what she had done with all her time before she moved to LA. She strolled to the table where Wesley and Gunn were sitting, Wesley buried in his books and Gunn polishing his ax. “I'm bored”, Cordelia said with a petulant sigh that soon turned to full scream of agony. She fell down to the floor, clutching her head in her hands. Images flashed in her eyes, cave wall, medical instruments, Buffy chained to a bed, gun shot rang in her ears and she could smell blood. As the vision stopped, she turned to look at the men now crouching in front of her. “Cordelia, what did you see?” Wesley asked concerned. “Buffy! She was chained in some cave, there was a gunshot and blood, I could smell blood”, she answered frantically and started to rise to her feet. “And why is it that I always find my self from the floor when Angel or Buffy isn't here?!” she added with her hands placed to her hips. “We should inform Angel”, Wesley said and headed to the phone. “You can do that from the car, we're going to Sunnydale”, Cordelia stated, her tone was nonnegotiable. Angel didn't know to worry till it had been more than half an hour later than when she told she'd be home and not long after that, he received a phone call from Wesley that Cordelia had had a vision. He was pacing the room like a caged tiger, all he wanted to do was to sprint outside and find her but it was still daytime and there wasn't a cloud on the sky, so he doubted he'd make it into the woods before bursting into flames. He growled in irritation and fought against the urge to break something. He stalked into one of the rooms, slamming the door behind him hard and started hitting the punching bag that was hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling. He didn't know how long he had been torturing the bag, all he could think about was that Buffy was in danger, his child was in danger and he was certain Riley had something to do with it, the medical instruments in Cordelia’s vision had Initiative written all over it. Riley had to know about the baby, he had been listening to them God knows how long and she was already showing quite obviously. So what did he want, did he want to hurt the baby, make him a project for the Initiative or was he just after Buffy, not caring about the baby. His insides twisted and he hit the bag hard enough to snap the chain, sending it flying across the room. He tried to take long calming breaths but it was no use, he couldn't calm down before Buffy and his child were safe. His gaze snapped to the door as he heard the sound of a car coming down to the courtyard. With long strides he made his way to the door and opened it, staying away from the light, he waited for the gang come in. “Finally! By the way you were driving, I thought I'd come seasick!” Cordelia sniped at Gunn as they walked toward the entrance. They were walking all too slow for Angel's liking and he was getting agitated very quickly. As soon as they all were in, he slammed the door closed, startling his friends. “What's the matter with you!?” Cordelia snapped at him, no matter what the situation was, she wasn't going to take any crap from anyone, not even when the person looked a little too much like Angelus to her liking. “Tell me everything you saw in the vision”, Angel commanded, he didn't have the patience to soothe other people's feelings, he had enough dealing with his own. “Take a pill, giving me a heart attack isn't going to speed things up”, she yelled at him but then softened. “We're all worried but to get her back, we need to keep our heads clear and not go around scaring people with Angelus impressions.” “Sorry”, he whispered. “Now tell me everything.”
Buffy's gaze snapped to the door when it opened. Riley walked in with a tray in his hands and he placed it next to her on the bed. “Did you sleep well?” he asked like everything was just normal. Buffy could see he had just come from the Initiative, he was still wearing the commando outfit and he smelled like sweat, which was making her nauseous, because of the state she was in, she could smell everything better than before, some smells she just couldn't be around and this was one of them. Trying not to heave, she shifted her gaze to the plate. “Salad and water? Why not just dry bread, that would complete the prisoner look!?” There wasn't even salad dressing on the side. “I know it's not much, but you need to loose some weight before we're married. You need to eat more healthy, I see you've gained a few pounds”, he answered looking at her bump. She couldn't believe him, he thought she was fat, how could he not see that she was pregnant! But his illusion suit her just fine, she didn't know how he'd react if he'd know about the baby and she wasn't going to tell him to find out. “I'm not gonna marry you, Riley!” she yelled at him. “Honey, it's just cold feet”, he dismissed her. He took the water glass and lifted it to her lips. She took a small sip of it and then filled her mouth with it before spitting it to his face. He jumped up from the bed, wiping the water from his face. “Buffy! Why did you do that for!?” he yelled angrily. “Let me go, you psycho!” she screamed at him but he just stomped out of the room. “Let me go! Let me go!” she screamed after him but he was gone. She wanted to cry but she wouldn't let herself do that, not because of him, she wasn't going to break. She yanked at the chains hard enough to know her wrists would be full of bruises later, the position she was laying was already uncomfortable and the pain in her wrists wasn't helping any. But she needed to get out, Riley had lost his mind and she needed to eat, something else than few pieces of lettuce. The baby was kicking her, probably demanding food. “I know, sweetie. Don't worry, I'm gonna get us out of here. And your daddy is already looking for us, I know it”, she whispered to her stomach. Angel was huddled on the backseat of his car while Gunn drove him to Willy's. As soon as the car stopped, he dashed out of the car and into the dark bar. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer and as soon as he threw the blanket off, everyone started to move towards the exit, they were convinced this was a very pissed off Angelus. Angel stalked to Willy, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, he slammed the barkeeper against the wall. “Angelus”, Willy whimpered in protest. “Wrong guess”, Angel answered and let him go, trying to squash the blood lust he was feeling. “Could've fooled me”, Willy said and Angel gave him a angry look. “The Initiative, tell me everything, where they hunt, where they are stationed”, Angel demanded and Willy could see this was no time to be evasive. He could see that this time Angel wouldn't save any punches, there would be no pretending to beat the information out of him. “I don't know much, it's just the things I've heard”, he started and covered his face with his hands as Angel's face darkened. “They mostly hunt on campus, that's where people have seen them”, he quickly continued. “What about the labs? Where are they?” “I don't know. It's government, very hush hush. When my clients manage to escape them and survive the slayer, they don't stick around for long. Why are you after them anyway? I thought you'd be in LA with the slayer”, Willy questioned, just realizing it, he had been too surprised and scared after he'd seen very Angelus like Angel, that he hadn't questioned his arrival. “Because they went after something that is mine”, Angel growled causing a cold chill run down Willy's spine. He knew the Initiative had messed with the slayer and he knew how protective the vampire was about her, he couldn't help but feel pity towards the men that had gone after her. “There's a rumor that the Initiative is situated under UC Sunnydale, or more likely I heard Spike's drunken rambling about it”, Willy told him and with a nod, he disappeared to the sewers. Willy let out a sigh of relief, he surely wouldn't want to be one of the guys he was after. Angel made his way to the college through the sewers, he had long time ago memorized the route, before he had left Sunnydale. He sneaked inside the building and scanned the faces and listened to the voices. “There's a HST in the building”, he heard a man tell to another. “But it's daylight”, the other said confused. Angel made his way to them, to his luck they were in an empty classroom. Before either of them could react, he had knocked them both unconscious. He grabbed the other and went back to the sewers, making a call to Gunn to pick him up. When Gunn saw him dragging a unconscious man to the car, he thought it was better not to ask questions. Angel was getting impatient when the boy wouldn't wake up, he had tide him up into a chair in the wine cellar and after a very long hour, the boy finally started to stir. He opened his eyes and lifted his gaze, his eyes fixing on Angel. “What's your name?” Angel asked but the man didn't seem to want to answer. “I asked your name”, he stated giving the boy a glowering look. “Graham.” “Well, Graham, here's the deal, I know you're one of the Initiative demon hunter-wanna-bes and now I want to know where Riley Finn is holding Buffy!” “I'm telling you nothing, demon!” Graham defied with fake bravery, he was scared and Angel could smell it. “You don't see the whole picture, I need to find her before he hurts her and my torturing skills are really rusty”, Angel said seriously staring into Graham's eyes, giving him no doubt that he would dig the information out of him. “Why would Riley take Buffy?” Graham asked, he couldn't understand the demons motivation in finding the slayer and why would he think Riley had taken her, he knew his friend, sure it had been hard to get over the girl but he wouldn't go so far, besides the girl was living in LA. “Because he's obsessed with her, he's already been following her around and installed a bug into her room. So start talking.” “I don't know anything.” “I'd hate to hit you, I don't have the time to wait for you to wake up. But if it makes you feel more manly and brave, I could use some hot pokers till you talk”, Angel said flippantly and watched the guy pale in front of him. He growled in irritation and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting the man and the chair off the floor. “I'm on the clock here! This is about more than one life, I personally haven't killed any humans in years so it could take a while. And if anything bad happens to Buffy, your death would take a long while!” he growled angrily and thew the boy down to the floor. Graham watched him in terror, this vampire was stronger, older and more determined than any he had faced before, and he was in his mercy. “Why should I tell you anything, so you could just kill them?!” he asked angrily and couldn't suppress the yelp as Angel grabbed him and placed the chair back upright. “I would never hurt her”, he said with such honesty that made Graham think that the demon actually meant it. “You know, a hundred years ago I got cursed with a soul by gypsies. But I will forget my rule about not killing humans if something happens to Buffy. Riley isn't stable and there's no telling what he might do to her. So you better tell me where he is or might be holding her!” Graham shivered as he looked into the demons eyes that were full of despair. “He might be at a cave professor Walsh used as a lab sometimes, it's abandoned. It's near the campus in the forest”, he finally answered and the vampire in front of him seemed to visibly relax. “Thank you”, Angel said with a sighed. “I'm sorry about this”, he added and punched Graham unconscious. Buffy wrapped her fingers around the chain and pulled again. There was a trail of blood moving down her arm but despite the pain, she continued straining the chains. She needed to get out and she would worry about the wounds later. Finally the chain snapped and she sighed in relief. She grabbed the chains on her feet and with two strong pulls, got them free. She hopped down the bed and quietly made her way to the door, warily looking around herself before continuing to another door. She felt the telltale tingling that Angel was near and a smile rose to her lips, her hand automatically traveled down to her bump and her fingers spread over it protectively. She opened the door and her face broke into a real smile as she saw Angel standing at the cave opening. They started walking to each other but suddenly Buffy was grabbed from behind. Riley's arm circled tightly around her and he pointed a gun at Angel. Angel froze as he saw the gun, bullets couldn't hurt him fatally but they could kill Buffy. Angel growled as he could smell her blood and see the trail of dried blood coming from under the cuffs. “Don't hurt her”, he pleaded, his eyes quickly traveling down to her stomach before darting back to her face. Riley cocked his head to the side in puzzlement and looked at Angel like he had lost his mind. “I would never hurt her. This isn't for her, this is for you”, Riley answered and raised the gun to point it at Angel's heart. “That won't stop me”, Angel stated darkly, he was thoroughly considering attacking Riley and snapping his neck. Would he feel guilty, could he live with another life on his conscience? Yes, if it saved Buffy and their baby, he could live with it. “Yes it will”, Riley said confidently and fired, shooting Angel right next to his heart. “Angel!” Buffy screamed in agony and tried to struggle away from Riley's iron grip that was enhanced by the drugs professor Walsh had been pumping his blood. Angel's knees buckled at the pain but he ignored it and quickly started advancing the man who was holding his lover. Riley shot again and Angel fell down to his knees, groaning in pain.
“Angel!” Buffy screamed again and slammed her elbow to Riley's stomach before smacking him hard enough for him to loose consciousness. She rushed to Angel, dropping down to her knees in front of him. He looked at her sadly, enough to break her heart, right before he fell to the ground unconscious. “Angel”, she whispered while staring at the still form of her lover.
|
