Fandom: Hercules/Buffy

Pairing: that would spoil the fun!

Rating: NC17, possibly R, for m/m slash, not good with these.

Summery: 1/5 in the Summoning series, Angelus is back but is he here to stay?

Authors note: I apologise in advance for offending anyone with my lack of knowledge and crude use of the English language, sorry!

Disclaimer: Not mine, yadda, yadda, yadda!

The Summoning: I Am Yours
by Leana Effrenus

You know, I really don't understand those people, I was locked up in a cage of conscience and pain, emotional pain, not the good type, that really crappy type that makes you 'regret' what you did, well I don't regret what I did, only getting the damn soul back. Really, they expected me to be completely sane? Please! All I wanted was to feed, maybe have some fun while I was at it, but no, soul-boy had to keep me shackled, so I went a little nuts when I got out, only to be expected really, you can't put a wolf in a cage on veggies and the odd Soya steak then let it out and think it will act like a good pup, its just not gona happen. So, they got me shackled again, and I'm thinking I'm gona really loose it, I'm sat going loudly out of what little mind I have left, you didn't think I would go quietly did you? I haven't given Soul-boy a moment's peace since I was first trapped, and people bitch at him for brooding! Most people would be in a loony bin after a month of me in their head, but you have to give it to him, he managed to last over a century and stay sane, way to go Soul-boy!

So, I went back to tormenting the lad, it was fun actually, for a while, all the extra guilt induced pain over what I did to William and Drucilla, and Slutty, as Will calls her, rather apt if what we overheard of Cordy's phone call was right, she'll have had half the collage before the semester's out, the lad thinks she's a paragon of virtue of course, maybe were both wrong, she could be somewhere in the middle I suppose, but I still like 'Slutty', got a nice ring to it. Anyway, I suppose you are now wondering what all this is about, well, let me explain, you see, some moronic 'warlock' decided that the best way to conquer the world was to use me!

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not without its merits, but the idiot really thought I would put in all the hard work for him! Unbelievable, he read my portfolio apparently, got into the Watchers database and read up on a few things, he thought 'The Scourge of Europe' would make a great tool so he put the mojo on Will and killed the chip in his head, bought back Darla, again, (only he
did it right and she came back as my Sire not some pasty faced human!), called Dru to him and turned his attention to me. He decided that I was the real problem, you see he wasn't completely stupid, he knew that the Slayer and her buddies would undoubtedly find some way of screwing up his plan if they found out about it, and they would find out if anything happened to Soul-boy, so
instead of changing Soul-boy he split him! Yep, he found a way to take the body of poor Liam and split it in two, he left Angel in one part, none the wiser to what had happened and no different except when he realised I had stopped tormenting him!

That is were he made his real mistake, he thought Angel wouldn't notice if I left, but I tormented the poor lad relentlessly so he was kinda surprised when I stopped, it only took him a week to find out I was gone, then of course he tried to find me. So, we have a charming, if stupid, warlock with three vampires in one part of the house trying to get out and kill something and a really pisssed
off and very slightly insane Angelus in the basement trying to get out and kill everything! Oh, and don't forget Angel, Slutty and the gangs looking for me and whatever took me away. So, the witch's find some locater spell and trace me to this house, they dispatch the warlock without any trouble, he needed us because he couldn't fight worth a damn, found the other three upstairs and tried to be reasonable, to be fair they really did try, or so Will tells me, but the stupid bitch thought they could take the Slayer and Soul-boy, little did she realise they would have no hope, but Will did, he's a smart Childe that one, I didn't raise any fools, ok, Dru is slightly insane but she isn't stupid, and they left her at it on her own, walked as far from her and the Slayer as they could and
ignored the bitch while Slutty dusted her, again, maybe she'll stay dead now the Slayer has done it, Soul-boys heart wasn't really in it when he did it, it was more reaction than anything else, trying to protect the Slayer, gotta give it to him, he really loves that girl, almost made me weep when he had to leave her, broke his heart it did, but then, he can go back to her now can't he? With me out of the way he can have her, for some stupid reason that actually pleases me, huh, go figure!

Anyway, back to the story, after they got Darla out of the way, again, Will told them were I was, I'm not sure what they expected but it certainly wasn't me, and were I was was a little surprising too I suppose, or should that be how? right, back to it then, sorry, you tend to ramble when you've been locked up with one person who ignored you for decades! So they walked in the room and saw me, Will told me all about it, Angel and Slutty almost dropped in horror, see the warlock had tried to break me, make me a little saner and willing to do his bidding, only he didn't really pay attention when he was reading about me, how can you expect to resurrect one of the most spectacularly evil creatures in the history of the world and make him do as you say? So, there I was a little worse for wear so to speak. I was curled in a ball in the corner of a 6/6/6' cage with
chains on my ankles and hands cuffed together behind me, I was covered in blood from head to toe and as near final death as you can get without being dust. There was the obligatory fight over what to do with me of course, Slutty and most of the rest wanted me dead but Soul-boy felt sorry for me and Will swore he would kill them all slowly and painfully if they even tried, 'He may not be much but he's still me Sire', which I think was rather cute, wont tell him that though, he'd think I was going soft in the head, maybe I am, but then I always did think he was cute, that's why I turned him in the first place, ok, Dru started it but she forgot what she was supposed to be doing half way through, so instead of letting her kill him like the rest of them, I took him from her and
turned him myself, damn glad I did too, the best mate I ever had, until Soul-boy took over and ran off.

They took me back to the hotel where they thought it would be best to keep up with the cage idea, only make it a bit bigger, Soul-boy had some 'friends' come in and had a room reinforced with spells to stop me leaving and protect anyone else in the room from me. When I woke up I was on a huge bed with lovely sheets, not, and Will curled up next to me, now I really don't mind admitting I panicked when I woke up, but as soon as I saw Will I knew everything would be fine, it was always fine with Will around, he made me happy which made me calm which stopped me freaking out, I have really got to stop hanging around with youngsters, I'm starting to talk like them now, anyway, I moved over to him as fast as I could, which was not very fast, and curled into him, he was led on his side facing me, one hand under his head the other curled into his chest like he was holding something precious, I managed to get close enough to curl into a ball with my head just below his hand and the rest of me as close as physically possible, as I nuzzled into him he woke up slightly and moved his hand down to my head, carding his fingers through my hair and slowly drawing circles on my scalp before moving down to the nape of my neck to toy with the slight curls he found there. As he was toying with my hair I knew I was finally home again, the joy radiated through my entire being and a deep rumbling purr started in the depths of my chest, yes, vampires purr, get over it.

We lay there together for hours as Will woke completely and I continued to purr at the bliss of finally being home until we heard someone come up the stairs and stop outside the door, my purring died instantly at the interruption, and I felt an undeniable growl begin to take it's place, Will murmured to me and I knew he wanted me to quiet down and be nice but I just couldn't do it, I was perfectly content and someone had to ruin it, I was not going to let this go quietly, or maybe I would, the Harris boy came in the door with a covered tray but even through the cover and unopened bags I could still smell the blood! I flew off the bed before even Will could stop me and headed straight for the tray, unfortunately the protection spell couldn't tell the difference because I was unceremoniously thrown back before I could reach it. The boy jumped back and almost bolted out of the room but Will got to him first even as I tried to throw myself at the tray once more, at the time of course I didn't know about the spell and couldn't understand why I couldn't get at the food so I just hurled myself in his direction over and over.

I heard Will telling the boy not to panic and just to put the tray down but ignored it as I tried to reach the food, I was infuriated by then, I just couldn't understand why Will let them do this to me, this was one of the tricks the warlock pulled, leave food out but protect it with spells and leave me
raging for it, he told me he would let me have it if I asked for it nicely, hah, as if, I quite adequately proved I would rather starve, but this was so much worse, this was Will letting them torment me, I couldn't understand it and howled my pain and rage, it must have been heard throughout the hotel because everyone came running to the room to see the Harris boy stood petrified and Will trying to get the tray from him. After standing frozen for a moment as I howled
once more as I threw myself at the food they so cruelly tormented me with Soul-boy finally got it, he walked to the Harris boy, lightly slapped his face to get his attention and pulled the tray from him, as soon as he had it he threw off the lid and tossed a bag of blood to me, as soon as I saw it in his hand I started at him and flew for it as it left his hand, I caught it mid air and sank my fangs in so fast I spilt some on the floor, the bag was empty so fast I hardly tasted it and I was ravenous, I had been pulled from a malnourished body (Angel) by magic which would have left a completely healthy vampire weak for a while, and then starved for almost three weeks, it had taken them two weeks to find me after Soul-boy realised I was gone, so I fell on the floor trying to get every last scrap of the life giving substance up from where it had fallen, I guess the humans were shocked because they stood there with their jaws hanging open as I tried desperately to find more sustenance.

My William got another two bags from the tray and brought them to me, at first I was wary, he had tried to trick me last time, I cowered back from him, getting as far into the corner of the room as I could and turning my face away from him, he must have read my mind as he came to me when I could move no more and gave me the bags, he put them on the floor and slid them to me, telling me how sorry he was, that it hadn't been a trick, just a misunderstanding, the Whelp hadn't
understood and then panicked when I seamed to go for him. I looked into his eyes and saw the truth shining back at me, William had never been able to lie to me, he was like an open book, I pounced on the blood before anyone could change their minds and it fairly flew down my throat, barely touching the sides just like the first, and I was still starving, not quite as insane any more, but still starving.

I looked up at my Will and whined for more, I slowly and carefully moved to him, first my hand, no more than a light brush, asking his permission to do more, when he smiled that permission I moved closer, head down submitting to my Childe for the first time ever, knowing that in my current state, both physical and mental, I would have to rely on him for everything, it did not sit well but it was necessary and I submitted without reservation, but we both knew I would be back as soon as I was strong enough, and we both knew he would never abuse the power I was freely giving him, so I laid my head on his knee and slowly caressed my way up his body, rubbing up against him like a cat looking to please him in any way I could, just as long as it got me more blood and made him happy, don't get me wrong, my first thought was to please Will, I would have done anything for him, but at that time I was still manic with the need for more food, I pushed myself up his body rubbing all the places I know he likes purring and whining at the same time.

I needed more food and I needed it now, he didn't seem to be getting the message, he was purring back but ignoring the whines, I made my way to his neck and nuzzled there for a moment and when that failed went for the most blatant request for food I knew, I gently nipped and licked my way up his throat and along his jaw line, reaching his mouth and nuzzling for a moment before licking and begging entrance to him mouth, as I tentatively entered his mouth and brushed his lips with mine I heard a muffled 'eep' from the door, I have no idea why but it infuriated me, I was practically insane with rage, I howled at them and threw myself into their midst, or I would have if not for the damn protection spell, of course, that only made the rage worse, as I roared in fury
the heavens shook and the Gods themselves did tremble at my wrath, quite literally but I didn't know that at the time, I continued to throw myself at them and they watched in horror as I grew weaker and weaker, nothing they could do would calm me, I had completely lost all sense of reason, all I knew was I was hungry and they were food and Will was going frantic trying to calm me down but had to be dragged out of the way by Soul-boy as I threw myself at them and generally around the room, I could hear him yelling at me and Angel but barely registered the words,

"Stop Angelus, stop, you'll only hurt yourself, Angel we have to stop him, get him more blood, now, he needs to feed, he's loosing his mind to the hunger, you have to feed him more now, hurry we have to feed him, Gods why wont you help him!"

By then Will was slightly nuts himself, he was mad with worry for me and nobody could see a way out, they had brought all the blood they had and already sent Cordelia to get more but she would take at least another twenty minutes to get back. Then everyone went silent, except me of course, as I was rather occupied with going loudly out of my mind, but the others saw a shower of blue and black sparks, almost like confetti, but they all knew it was magic, then a man was stood in front of Will, he was amazing, he was as tall as me with jet black slightly wavy hair that brushed his collar at the back, he was wearing tight black leather pants, really tight, and an open black leather waist coat, not a modern type of biker thing but old soft leather, with ties down the front, not that he used them, luckily, it would have been a terrible shame to cover that tremendous chest, the muscles upon muscles without looking like a dumb jock or some 'Mr Universe' wanabe, just absolute male perfection. He grinned at Will and said,

"You only had to ask."

Then turned to me, as soon as I noticed him I flew at him and he just grinned even wider, as I flew back again from the spell he looked into my eyes and said,

"Come to me child."

And I knew, I knew who he was, what he was and I fell to the floor then went straight to him as he had told me, I knelt in front of him, head down and eyes lowered, and whined deep in my throat, begging his forgiveness for trying to attack him. He smiled down at me and though I could not see I could feel the heat of his pleasure, he put a single finger beneath my chin and tipped my head back till I was facing him but I still had my eyes down,

"Look at me."

He ordered quietly, I looked up at him and sighed with the pure magnificence of him, the power and beauty all rolled into the most perfect creature ever to walk the earth, he let go of my chin and offered me his wrist then spoke as I hesitated,

"Go on child, drink."

His voice was powerful and deep and hypnotic, I couldn't have disobeyed him if I tried, and I did not try, I raised my hands to his wrist and gently drew it to my mouth, I looked him in the eye once more for confirmation and he nodded as I carefully slid my fangs into his perfect wrist. It was unbelievable, the power radiating through his blood pulsed through me and I felt my body return to its former glory in moments, with just a few sips of this immortal creatures blood and I was stronger than ever before, even at my best as we travelled Europe over a century ago I had not been so strong, or felt so alive. I pulled back form him and for the first time since I was cursed I was back, truly back, body mind and spirit, I bowed my head and spoke for the first time in three weeks,

"My Lord Ares, I am yours."

Again I felt the pleasure emanate from him, and again he tipped my head up to him, this time I did not hesitate, I looked into his eyes and saw the fire of War in all his glory. He moved his hand to my cheek and my eyes fell closed as I tipped my head into his palm and purred at the perfection that is Ares, he chuckled at that and I couldn't help but smile at the deep, rich sound that meant I had somehow pleased my God. I heard someone shuffle in the corner and the rage flared into an inferno instantly, my head whipped around and the purr turned into a deep warning growl, nobody and nothing was going to ruin this moment, Ares actually ruffled my hair and laughed, I looked up at him and the adoration must have shone out of my eyes like a beacon in the night as I felt I would explode with the feelings of contentment and joy.

The others were in varying degrees of shock, William, Drucilla and Angel were on their knees, heads bowed in supplication, but the humans were almost funny, Giles had figured out at least part of it and had his head lowered, Wesley was looking like a goldfish as he tried to piece it together, the girls were just looking dumbfounded and Gunn was trying to look like he didn't care one way or another, the real shocker was the Harris boy, or should I say man? He was knelt with his head bowed, as if he really knew who this was and freely gave the respect he was due. Ares noticed as well.

"You may stand, your hearts speak for you."

He turned straight to the boy,

"Xander, come here."

I was impressed, the boy moved instantly, no hesitation, no bravado or posturing, just obedience.

"You are young for your time Xander, yet you are a great warrior, under appreciated by some maybe, but great none the less, I am proud to hear you call my name in battle, never once have you asked for anything other than my glory, now you will have everything you need."

Xander stood there for a moment, his heart racing with joy, before saying quietly yet clearly,

"For your glory my Lord Ares, I am yours."

It was the first time any of us had ever heard the boy speak like that, the quiet pride and confidence was unmistakable and surprising, there was no babbling or muttering or jokes, just the plain simple truth of his heart. As I looked at him I felt a new respect for him growing out of control deep within me, the obvious love and respect he showed for Ares was almost enough to make me weep, and that takes a lot. I looked back at Ares and saw the confident almost snide smirk on his lips as he looked at the 'Scooby's'.

"So, this is what they send to retrieve my war lord, if you hadn't already succeeded I would be insulted, a Slayer and children, to rescue the Scourge of Europe, Angelus, you must be embarrassed, I certainly would be in your place."

I looked at his stern face then at the fire of mischief in his eyes and lowered my head to hide the grin,

"Yes my Lord, if someone would offer me a stake I will end my embarrassment immediately,"

I guess they didn't all get the joke, Xander, Angel, Will and Dru looked down to hide their grins but the poor humans didn't know what to do with themselves, and I really have to give them credit, they did seem genuinely worried, then I almost fell to the floor laughing as Ares picked up their discomfort and materialised a stake and made as if to hand it to me, Slutty ran straight at him, her foot flying to knock it out of his hand and the others ran to me, surrounding me and trying to keep Ares back, it was hilarious, these people who had tried to kill me and would again if I chose not to follow their idea of the 'rules' and they were putting their backs to me, Angelus, and trying to protect me from the God of War, if it hadn't been so touching I would have been insulted that they felt safe enough to turn their backs on me, it was actually quite disturbing after being the Scourge of Europe for so long, I almost felt the protection coming from them, very disturbing indeed, so there I am, being protected by the Scooby's from Ares, and I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from the depths of my being and pored forth in a riot of sound, the deep rumble of mirth was enough to shock them into looking at me, although Slutty only glanced back before giving Ares her undivided attention again. Shockingly, it was Xander who spoke,

"You really shouldn't waste your time, if Ares wanted Angelus dead he would be, as with the rest of us, you can't fight a God."

Slutty looked at him,

"We took Glory out."

Xander's smile was sad and weary,

"Yes, you did, and it cost us your life, but she was no God, she was a pain in the ass who didn't deserve the title of demy-god let alone a full one, Bliss has more power, brains and malice in his pinkie finger than she had, she was petty and crude, she was nothing compared to Ares, or my Lord Strife."

I looked at him carefully, he worshiped Strife, I couldn't believe it, I should have seen it of course, the jokes, the games and the mischief, how could I miss it? Then again, how many people now know of Ares and Strife let alone worship them, he must have started this years ago, it was quite amazing actually, when you thought of all the work he had done for the God of Mischief, and he was damn good at it too, I knew there was a reason I didn't kill him when I got out last time! Slutty of course did not take my happy view of the current events,

"What? Have you lost it Xander? Ares? Bliss? Strife? My Lord? Willow have you done a spell on him? He's really wiggin' me out."

Willow looked a little affronted at this,

"Of course not, and what's wiggy about the Gods? I thought you would have taken to Artemis if not Ares himself, Xander and I often spent hours looking for the perfect offerings for Strife and Athena, did you think we spent our childhoods doing nothing? You know what it's like around here, we needed something bigger than us to look up to and we really didn't have the kind of families for hero worship, we like them, we love them and we can only hope we please them."

Everyone but Xander and Ares was stunned by this little speech, but Slutty and the Watcher almost hit the floor, I can't believe none us realised they were practicing, but then, I suppose nobody in Sunnyhell really pays attention to anybody else, you just try to go about your business, even if that business is eating the population! And it really made sense for them to worship Athena and Strife, Xander and the God of Mischief are made for each other, and Red really does fit right into the image of a follower of the Goddess of Wisdom, war and crafts, Wicca is a craft after all!

Ares looked at Willow for a moment then slowly but deliberately clapped his hands,

"Very good Willow, Athena will be proud of you, there are not many as devout as you and Xander any more, even Angelus and William were taken from us for far too long, of course, Apollo has been in mourning ever since you stopped creating Angel, many have wept over your sketches and paintings, he never did understand why you stopped, it's time you started again, and it's time some of you started to play again, what is the point of living if you can't have fun?"

The havoc in Ares' eyes was unmistakable, he wanted death and destruction and he wanted it now! He turned to Slutty who was really upset by now and his grin was almost pure devilment, tainted only by the hint of mockery.

"You really do have to keep your pet under control Angel, I have work for these four, they will come with me for now, but when they return you will keep her away from them, if she interferes with their work I will let them deal with her, however they want to."

Angel bowed low to him and quickly slapped him hand over Slutty's mouth as she tried to speak, he knew she could get herself killed with her ignorance, but that still left everyone wondering who the four were, but not for long. Ares looked at each of us in turn, coming to rest on the Watcher.

"You have read the prophecy of the Four Horsemen, 'They will be summoned for war by War, to cleanse the Earth.' Your council told you it was a translation error, didn't they? But you knew it was accurate, you just didn't think it would be so literal, well, here I am, and I am summoning."

He stood up even straighter and three other figures materialised right behind him and began to speak one at a time,

"I Hades, Lord of the dead, call Death."

As he spoke the name William's head flew up and his eyes closed, he knelt and bowed his head, facing Hades and remaining there like a living statue. Ares spoke,

"I Ares, Lord of War, call War."

At my name my head flew up and I knew exactly what I had to do, I knelt to face my God, eyes closed as William's were, I heard another mans voice call,

"I Strife, Lord of Mischief, call Famine."

I could see nothing with my head bowed and my eyes closed but I knew Xander had fallen to his knees just as I had, there was only one left to go and I knew who it would be, just as I had known Xander would answer his name, then I heard the Goddess's voice,

"I Athena, Lady of Wisdom, call Pestilence."

I heard Slutty's muffled grunt of surprise followed by agitation and a struggle to free herself from Angel but I knew she could not stop Willow from following her destiny. Ares spoke again,

"We Gods of Olympus have summoned the Four Horsemen, they will ride forth and bring on the Apocalypse."

By now Slutty was going nuts, and I'm sure she was almost as mad at Angel as she was at the Gods, little did she know that he was the only thing between her and death at that moment, literally and figuratively. but the rest of them lost interest in her hysterics as we began to move. The four of us stood as one, stepped forward to our Gods and raised our heads, then finally opened our eyes, the humans gasped in shock as they saw them, there was no white left in them, they were black as onyx, the only relief from the obsidian depths being the garnet iris of each eye, and it was rather strange from this end too, I could see everything, only better, even better than my demon eyes, though every thing was tinted, like looking through a piece of garnet, and I could feel the power burning off of the Gods before me and even the aura's of those behind me, but the strangest thing was the connection I could feel with the other three.

I could feel the awe and gratitude flying off of Xander and Willow, the sheer ecstasy of knowing they were serving their Gods, and I could feel the bliss from William, knowing he could be 'real' once more, and I knew they could feel me too, the pure delight of being alive and sane, being 'me' once more, and having a higher purpose. Angel told me after, long after, that Slutty had heard the
word 'Apocalypse' and freaked out completely thinking we were about to end the world, can't say I blame her really, I did try last time I got out, but then, I was insane at the time so you can't really hold that against me, well Angel doesn't anyway, she didn't understand that our apocalypse was a good one, really, we were out to destroy evil, only I never got to ride a pale horse, not a normal one, got some great substitutes though, so I'm not complaining. Ares raised his hand before him then paused, he looked at Angel and said,

"Take care of them, they may not be much but they are yours, and create Angel, Apollo is waiting for you, it's not good to make a God wait." With a grin he clicked his fingers and in a swirl of black and blue sparks we disappeared.

END PART 1