In a Corner of My Soul: Angel: At the Bronze

[dragonyphoenix]

Summary: Rewrite of season 1 with Giles as the Big Bad.
Master List for In a Corner of My Soul (previous chapters / scenes)

Giles found himself clambering after Buffy through a chain link fence. What the hell had he been thinking, allowing Rupert to follow Buffy into such an obvious trap? Not that he could allow her to go alone, obviously. “Buffy, could we have at least tried a less surreptitious approach?”

“Huh?”

“It's a trap, Buffy. Angelus knows we're coming. There's no need to be sneaky.”

“I'm not being on-purpose sneaky,” she said with a glare. “I'm just trying to figure out where he'll be.”

“Someplace obvious,” Giles said, gesturing toward the Bronze.

At the sound of breaking glass, they turned and stared at the second floor. Buffy, walking forward first, found a metal ladder, one attached to the Bronze's painted brick exterior, and started climbing. “I'll try to unlock the door.”

“Don't bother. I can get myself in.”

She paused a few feet up the wall and looked down at him. “What're you going to do? Break the door down?”

Rolling his eyes at the girl wouldn't do any good. She might not be the sharpest pin in the pincushion, but she didn't respond well to sarcasm. “I'll pick the lock. It's how we got in the night of the Harvest. Remember?”

“Oh, right.” She started climbing again. “Give me five minutes.”

As if he would leave her alone with Angelus that long. A few exterior lights, shining in through the windows, lit the Bronze's interior but not well. Giles wondered if he shouldn't hit the lights. The vampire was expecting them. It wasn't as if they had the element of surprise on their side. Before he could decide, something grabbed him from behind.

A hand slapped across his mouth. An arm held him close. Giles struggled but couldn't escape, couldn't scream, couldn't warn Buffy. Something like relief swept through him. If he died, here and now, Eyghon would lose his chance at the Slayer line.

“Shh, we don't want to miss the show.” The whispered voice sounded feminine. Darla more than likely.

Through the darkness he could see a silhouette moving down the circular staircase. Buffy. “I know you're there,” she said. “And I know what you are.”

Gods! Did the child have to chatter on so? She was there to kill a beast … two beasts, he thought, feeling Darla's arm tighten around him.

As he stood there, waiting for death, possibly his own, Giles felt a darkness rise in his mind. Eyghon, looking through his eyes, didn't like what it saw. Mine. The demon's voice thundered in his skull. Save her.

I don't know that I can.

Mine! Obey!

Giles felt pressure building in his head. I can't save her if I'm incapacitated. The pressure faded.

“Animals I like,” Buffy was saying.

Angelus stepped out of the shadows with a growl. “Let's get it done!”

The fight moved too quickly for Giles to follow in that darkness. “Do you think he'll kill her?” Darla asked. “A hundred years ago, my money would have been on Angelus. Oh, but he was a beast then, but he's been domesticated since, and he loves her. I don't think he could kill someone he loves.”

Love? What kind of game was she playing at? Vampires couldn't love.

Giles could see them now: Buffy and Angelus. The vampire's visage gave way to his human mask. “C'mon. Don't go soft on me now!”

Buffy had a clear shot. This could be it. She could kill the vampire. She missed. “Little wide.”

“Why?” Buffy asked. “Why didn't you just attack me when you had the chance?”

“Oh shit.” Darla sounded as frustrated as he felt although far less terrified. “They're fucking talking!”

Angelus spoke of a gypsy curse, one that had restored his soul, and Giles wondered if it could be true. It did jibe with what he'd read in Aaron Main's journal: the humanity that Angelus had discarded would devour him in the end. No, Giles didn't believe it. No human soul could have remained sane under the weight of a demon's memories, and the vampire obviously hadn't been devoured by guilt.

As Buffy bared her neck, Giles could only stare in horror, but Angelus didn't attack. In that moment Giles knew it didn't matter whether or not Angelus had a soul. Buffy trusted the vampire, a creature of cunning, someone who might see through Giles' own plans for the Slayer. If they survived the night, Angelus would have to be dealt with.

“Not so easy as it looks.”

“Sure it is!” Darla, stepping forward, held Giles tightly to her, using his body as a shield.

“Let him go.”

“Aw, poor little girl, did you forget us? This is your Watcher, isn't it? Should I turn him?”

Buffy stepped forward. “Take me instead.”

Darla laughed. “Swap you for the Watcher? I don't think you understand how this works. You both die.”

Giles felt fangs at his throat but Darla didn't bite. Playing, she must be playing with Buffy, teasing her, but the vampire wouldn't hold back forever. Giles found Angelus staring at him. The vampire held Buffy's crossbow. With Giles' eyes on him, Angelus glanced at the arrow stuck in the wall. Giles didn't believe he could trust Angelus but had no other options. He nodded.

Shifting his weight to the left, Giles raised his right foot and slammed it down on Darla's as he jabbed an elbow into her gut. She loosened her grip. He ducked. Something whooshed above his head: the arrow. He heard Darla call out one word. “Angel?” The dust settled on him, behind him, around him.

Giles brushed dust from his clothes as he stood. Angelus had saved him. Giles didn't know why. What was the demon playing at? Buffy, staring at Angelus, was obviously entranced by the demon. Ah, and that would be why. Oh yes, he would definitely need to deal with Angelus.

And then the darkness inside Giles' skull grabbed and started squeezing. Giles fell to the floor screaming.