I remembered leaving the office and starting to get into the car, but something had hit me in the back of the head. Then everything went black. The next thing I knew, I was freezing my ass off with my body twisted into painful angles. My eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, but I couldn’t make anything out.
“Bet you wondered why she left you alive.”
Recognized the voice, but at the same time it seemed a little off. A matched flared up, making my eyes hurt. He was watching me from the corner of the room, probably had been waiting for my eyes to open. I swallowed a couple of times before trying to speak. “The thought had crossed my mind.”
The smell of burning flesh reached my nostrils as he let the match go all the way to his fingertips. If that was supposed to impress me, it hadn’t. I wasn’t scared, not yet, but I had a feeling that I would be by the time this was over. You don’t go through the trouble of grabbing someone, taking them to another location, and tying them up unless you plan on doing something very painful to them.
“She knew I’d want to make you pay.”
When the next match lit, he was right next to me. I would have jumped back, if there was any give in the ropes. But since there wasn’t the only thing he saw was my eyes widening. “You going to stand around talking or are you actually going to do something?”
He chuckled softly before dropping the match on my chest. I bit my lip to keep from hissing as it burned the skin. “No one is going to come for you, no one will even care that you’re missing, Lindsey.”
I flexed my shoulders, trying to see if I could get my hand loose. The knots were too tight; the ropes were already cutting into the skin. I could feel it beginning to get wet with my blood. He was right though, no one would give a shit. Wolfram and Hart were still reeling from the massacre; it would be days before they even bothered to check up on me. “What’s your point?”
“You didn’t give her a choice when she was turned. You almost admitted having feelings for her, and you let her be killed right in front of you. Hell, you orchestrated the entire thing.” His fingers wrapped in my hair, jerking my head back until I saw stars. “I shouldn’t give you a choice either.”
I don’t know which of us was more surprised by the laugh that came from my throat. “If you’re going to kill me Angel, just get it over with. I was waiting for death in the wine cellar, waiting for her to finish off what you started when you took my hand. But she didn’t do it.”
His other hand clamped down on my neck, fingers tightening as they slowly cut off my air. Even as my body struggled against what he was doing, I felt his lips by my ear. “Can you feel it, Lindsey? Listen to the sound of your heart as your lungs try to grab that valuable oxygen. It’s going faster, burning off what little you have left. Do you know how long it takes to kill someone this way?”
I couldn’t get any air into my lungs, so there was no way of answering him. Whatever he had tied me to cut into my back as my body writhed. I might be ready to die, but my body didn’t seem to agree with me. Everything started to spin and I knew he was smiling; I could damn near feel it.
“You’ll get what you want, but not yet. You’re not ready for it.”
He let go with both hands and I started to cough as the air began to flow. My throat didn’t just hurt; it felt like it was on fire. Wolfram and Hart had pushed him too far. They’d wanted him dark while the soul was intact and had no idea what would happen. For a group that worked with some of the sickest and most twisted people on the face of the planet, it seemed to shock the hell out of them that a person with a soul would let a room full of people die.
“By the time I finish with you, you’ll be begging for it.”
I was glad for the darkness in the room; I didn’t want to see his face right now. Something sharp slid across my chest. It wasn’t deep enough to do any real damage, just a hint that things were going to get very messy before this was over. He was wrong though, he’d never hear me beg.
---
Time had no meaning in the room. I could have been there for hours or even days. Whenever I passed out from what he was doing, he would patiently wait for me to wake up before picking up where he left off. I couldn’t feel my arms and legs any more. My throat was hoarse from screaming. Every touch on my skin made my body tremble.
“I know it was you who sent Faith after me. You were responsible for what she did to Wesley.”
I licked my cracked and bleeding lips. His hand was stroking my chest, fingers pressing just hard enough on the cuts to tear them open again. “She wasn’t supposed to do that.” That had been a massive fuck up on my part. I should have known how unstable she was.
His fingers pressed harder now, digging into one of the larger wounds. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip, trying to focus on that pain instead, but it wasn’t enough. “You hurt me, you hurt my friends, and you hurt Darla. You need to pay for it in blood.”
“Angel...”
He paused before pulling his fingers loose. I heard the blood splatter on the floor as he moved closer to me. “You keep this up; I won’t have any left to pay with.”
A wave of dizziness hit me. Too much blood had been spilled this time. “What do you think you deserve, Lindsey?”
I knew it was a serious question, so I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. When I opened them again, I tilted my head in the direction his voice had come from. “I deserve whatever you dish out.” He could have finished me off over a dozen times by now, but he hadn’t. “Are you going to kill me, Angel?”
He was silent for so long I’d thought maybe he’d left me alone again. When he did speak, his voice was so soft I had to strain to hear it. “Death is my gift. In a way, I think it’s yours too. We live in a world of pain. No matter what happens, we keep going. Those around us fall, but for some damn reason, we’re spared from the same fate.”
My body screamed as the ropes holding my arms fell away and the blood began to circulate again. The same thing happened when the ones on my feet were removed. I started to fall, but he grabbed me. Still couldn’t see his face, but I knew he wasn’t smiling any more. “No matter what we do, it won’t be enough to make up for the past.”
It took me a couple of tries, but I managed to raise my hand. I moved it around for a moment until I found his face. The blood on my fingers felt warm against his skin. “Even if you kill me, it won’t fix what I’ve done.”
“I know.”
I started to shiver and didn’t know if it was from the chill or shock. He picked me up. “What happens now?”
“You recover from this and then we start over until one of us finally finishes the other off.”
Except... I didn’t think that was going to happen. We’ve beaten the hell out of one another, we’ve bled, we’ve suffered, we’ve screamed, but we didn’t end it. Death might be a gift, but I think the price is more than either of us were willing to pay.
Author's Chapter Notes:
AU after Reunion and is very dark.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.