"The Price"
by Miss UK (edit/rewrites with Princess Plum Jade)
Chapter 10 � Destiny
It was the night before Tara was due back in Sunnydale, and she and Angel were refilling the weapons cabinet after their latest training session. The art of combat came naturally to the fair haired vampire, and she drank in all that Angel would teach her, matched only by her hunger for blood.
�I think we�ve worked you hard enough. What do you say we get out of here?� Angel half-smiled at the sorceress come vampire. The powder white finish to her skin was truly enchanting. Never before had he been so engaged by a vampire�s beauty, not even Darla�s. Tara�s soul shone through in her eyes and he guessed that was what made all the difference.
�I think that�s the smartest thing I�ve heard you say this week�. She responded with her own flirtatious smile, lowering her eyelids slightly, and glancing up coyly beneath them.
Angel had a destination in mind. There was a night club not really that far from the hotel. It didn�t tend to get too busy and the music was of a variety he was able to tolerate�.sort of.
They passed the doormen, who were oblivious to the two potential killers, and headed deep into the smoke-filled den of the aptly named �Destiny�. Music pounded out all around them, pure dance with a slight techno beat. Angel guided Tara to a bar seat, where the din was noticeably reduced. He was confident that they wouldn�t be disturbed.
A slim blonde, with pigtails and a nose ring soon appeared to take their order. Without consulting Tara, Angel ordered two beers. Over the last few days he had felt a connection to this new child of the night, one that went beyond words. Sometimes he felt her knew her better than he knew himself.
�Are you ready to go back?� he asked cautiously. It was a subject they had avoided since the night they'd eaten at Green Evenings the month before. I don't want you to go.
�I can�t stay here forever, can I?� It wasn�t really a question, more of a statement. I don't want to go.
�I guess not. I think I would have one seriously pissed off wiccan out for my dust if you stayed.� Angel chuckled as he made his reply, all the while searching Tara�s deep eyes for some level of understanding.
A kinship had built between the vampire and his fledgling, based upon a mutual dependency on each other. Who else would ever understand such an abomination? Angel had been an outcast from the underworld ever since gypsies had first restored his human soul to punish him. No-one would ever understand how lonely it had been for him, trying to find his place in this world. He was determined that Tara would never know that loneliness.
It was better for her to go back, to return to her beloved Willow and her mortal friends. She deserved a beautiful happy life, as normal as it could be. Perhaps, maybe later, when the decades went by and Tara�s ties to the human world weakened...Angel cut off those thoughts. He did not want to allow himself to hope for too much. He really had no right to hope for anything in his future, the only reason he was still around was to serve with the Powers That Be and wait for Armageddon where he was meant to play a key role. He wondered what the Powers thought of his adoption of the golden-haired witch. If They disapproved, They kept Their silence.
As the blonde bartender placed their bottled drinks on the countertop, Tara reached out and covered Angel�s icy hand with her own.
�Thank you,� she said solemnly. The sincerity in her eyes caused Angel to unnecessarily draw breath, as he looked at her quizzically. Before he could respond, she continued. �You saved me; I don�t have the words to express what you�ve done for me. The things you�ve taught me. I�ve never felt so alive. I just thought you should know that. And I'm grateful we've had a chance to be friends.�
Completely stunned by this revelation, Angel looked away from the beautiful vampiress, trying to gather his thoughts. When he looked back to her face, the moment had passed and something else had caught Tara�s attention. Following her line of vision, Angel spotted the man that had drawn the sorceress�s attention away from him.
He was a definite rough type, the clothes too ill-fitting for the man. His dirty black hair stuck up in clumps which would have been in-keeping with the current fashions had the two-day-old stubble growing across his face not betrayed his laziness. The man fidgeted foot to foot as he scanned the crowd. Alarm bells rang in Angel�s ears, just as Tara let go of his hand and shifted herself up off of her stool.
Before he had a chance to hold her back, Tara had covered the distance between herself and the dirty delinquent, in a blur or vampiric speed. Angel jolted to his feet and strained his ears to pick up the words that were now passing between them.
Georgio Emerson stood almost dumbstruck, facing the pale beauty before him. As if by magic, she had just appeared, like an Angel. He stood slack jawed and starry eyed, his hand still held inside his open, battered leather jacket.
�You know it�s not the way.� Her voice was almost hypnotic.
�Turn around and go home.� A smile played on her perfect, plump lips and eyes glittered mischievously.
�You do NOT want to do this.� Her voice crept into his ears. She stood directly in front of him, and by all rights she should have been drowned out by the constant bash of dance music, but her voice reached him perfectly, as though she were whispering directly into his waxy ear.
�You�re going to leave now. You�re going to move on.� The sweetest of smiles tugged at her sensual mouth, and the outrage and humiliation that Georgio had felt only moments before, left him on swift wings.
He blinked once, twice, and his hand fell away from his jacket. From his place at the bar, Angel breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief.
Tears sparkled in Georgio�s eyes as he nodded at the vampiress, before turning on his heels and leaving the nightclub. He had come here tonight to kill his wife, the skinny pig-tailed barmaid. An old handgun was hidden inside his jacket and he had come to blow the adulterous bitch's head off. But now, well, it just didn�t seem worth it. He had looked into the eyes of the future and his was bright. He dumped the handgun into a nearby trash can as he walked through the rain filled streets, headed home to pack his bags and start a new life with an Angel�s blessing.
Tara smiled to herself as she made her way back to Angel.
�What just happened?� he asked her in an awe-filled voice, before snapping back to himself. �Do you know how dangerous that was? He could have been anyone! Done anything to you.� His eyes filled with alarm. I've wronged so many through the centuries, I deserve whatever comes to me but my childe is innocent! Do not take her from me!
Tara frowned slightly, then her face softened into tenderness as she climbed back on the stool. Sensing Angel's distress, she made her voice sweet and gentle, as comforting as possible.
�He didn�t come for me.� That same enigmatic smile. �His aura was black�.he was a troubled soul.� Her simple answer satisfied everything in a way that Angel could not explain. This one was very special. He thought briefly of the last childe he had created, the insane keeper of the sight. She had been special too. Did his latest creation now balance the scales? For this first time in over a century Angel felt at peace with himself, Drusilla had been his darkest hour and Tara was his finest.
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Chapter 11 "Homecoming"
"The Price" Contents
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