FIC: Tiger by the Tail (1/?)

["Shadowlander" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Tiger by the Tail (1/?)
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - or - Tankesly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated 
with Buffy the Vampire Slayer; they are used without permission. No 
copyright infringement is intended.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow
Rating: PG-17
Archive: The usual places; all others ask first.
Summary: Four years after being kidnapped Willow returns home and 
nothing will ever be the same again.
Spoilers: Nothing major that I'm aware of, mostly general 
information.
Note: This is for Rod, who recently reminded me of all the fanfics he's 
conned out of me, as well as the fact that I haven't started them all.  
Honestly, the man won't be happy until I give up eating and sleeping 
all together. <bg>

TIGER BY THE TAIL (1/?)

Prologue:

Spring 1998 -

{Do you know where your little witch is?}  

The mocking voice replayed itself in the dark-haired vampire's mind as 
he turned the corner leading to the Rosenberg home in a dead run.  
He had received a phone call shortly after sunset, the voice on the 
other end arrogant and smug as it taunted him with that one sentence 
before hanging up. It had taken a moment for him to place the voice 
and the meaning behind the eight little words. Once he had Angel felt 
a wave of cold dread settle itself in the pit of his stomach as he tore 
out of his apartment in near panic.  

The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to a demon he had 
known back in his soulless days. During a time he had been cutting a 
path of death and destruction through the heart of Europe on what had 
became known as Angelus's infamous "Summer of Blood" in the 
Watcher's Diaries. The two had formed a brief friendship all of two 
days before Angelus was feeding his "partner" to a much larger and 
hungrier demon.  

'He's dead! I saw him die,' Angel thought jumping a low shrub as he 
cut across a yard. 'Or did I?' He questioned recalling more of the 
terrible events of the night long ago in Rome. Angelus had betrayed 
his supposed "friend" to a fire demon and as such didn't get too close 
to watch the littler demon get tore apart.  

A car screeching to a halt in front of the Rosenberg home brought 
Angel back to the present as he cleared the final obstacle separating 
him and his destination. Then he smelled it, the scent overwhelming 
him in its intensity. 'Blood!' His game face slipped on subconsciously 
as he noticed for the first time that the front door was wide open.  

With one final leap he found himself standing just inside of the 
threshold his forward momentum effectively stopped by the sight that 
greeted him. The living room was a wreck, there was just no other 
way to describe it. Furniture overturned and shredded, broken glass 
and porcelain littering the floor. But it wasn't the site of the ransacked 
room that had stopped him. It was the site of a body laying twisted in 
the floor in the middle of the room, a bloody sword effectively pinning 
the person into place.

A startled intake of breath beside him, reminded Angel that he was not 
alone. Giles and Buffy, who had arrived just ahead of him in a car 
from the opposite direction, had followed him into the house. A 
similar phone call to the one Angel had received alerting them to 
trouble at the Rosenberg house.  

Pulling himself together Angel moved over to the body on the floor.  
"Its Oz," he said in a grim voice leaning over the battered unmoving 
form. "He's alive." He added in disbelief, his enhanced hearing 
picking up a faint heartbeat. Oz had been badly beaten, his face 
nearly unrecognizable in a mess of blood and torn flesh.  

"I'll call for ambulance," Giles said absently already moving over to the 
phone that lay off the hook on the floor.  

"Giles," Buffy's voice cut through the unnatural stillness that seemed 
to hang over the room. The young Slayer had not moved from the 
front entrance, her gaze seemed to be focused on something behind 
the kneeling vampire.

Something in her voice caused Angle to look up from Oz's still form, 
noting where she eyes were focused he glanced over his shoulder his 
eyes widening in shock. Slowly raising to his full height, Angel felt the 
weight of the world settling itself on his shoulders at what he found 
scrolled across the wall written in blood was a terrifying message.  

<THE LITTLE WITCH IS MINE>  

"Rodelus!" He growled, yellow eyes flashing in rage. 'That little 
bastard didn't die after all,' his demon fumed. His anger growing as he 
recognized just whose blood was used to write the message. One that 
was directed toward Angel and had already burned itself into his 
mind.  

"Rodelus?" Giles questioned trying to place the name. Then he placed 
it, in a small entry - barely more then a paragraph - in one of the 
Diaries concerning the souled vampire, mentioned a demon by the 
name. A demon that Angelus had betrayed in exchange for two 
virgins and access to the unlucky demon's vast fortune.  

End Part One.