Ken's Warning

by rhodrymavelyne

Summary:

Where did Angel get the Codex with the prophecy about Buffy? Behold the crossover.

Notes:

This takes place in the middle of Out of Sight, Out of Mind; before the series Witchblade begins. I don’t own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Witchblade, but sometimes they give me ideas.

“Behold the Codex.” Kenneth Irons held out the book with mocking reference. “The true fate of your Slayer lies within the pages.”

“Thanks.” Angel reached out to take the book, only for Irons’s hand to linger over his own.

“I should warn you.” Ken offered him a thin smile. “You may not like what you read.”

Angel didn’t flinch or move away. “Consider me warned.”

Kenneth Irons withdrew his hands, allowing Angel to take the ancient tome.

The vampire turned to go, wanting to leave this den of elegance shrouding a secret shrine of ruthless obsession.

“Angel.”

The sound of his name froze him in his tracks. Kenneth Irons preferred to call him Angelus, often forgetting his requests to call him Angel.

“Why her?” Curiosity colored the questions. “Many girls have been called of varying beauty and ability, becoming Slayers. Every single one met a tragic end.”

Angel would not let himself flinch at this all-too accurate prophecy. Two Slayers had fallen to the fangs of a former companion.

Slayers cut a deadly swath of monsters in their time, but their time always came.

He didn’t want to think about Buffy’s coming for her.

“Why this one?” The question lingered in the air between them. “Why is it about Buffy Summers which compells you to fight at her side?”

“She reminds me of why I fight.” He didn’t turn around, unwilling to show whatever revealed itself on his face. “She makes me want to keep fighting.”

“The return of your soul has brought out the romantic in you.” A hint of menace prickled through the courteous tone. “I worry about what you may have brought out of Ian and the Black Dragons.”

“Don’t worry, Ken.” Angel allowed himself a tiny smile. “I did exactly what you asked of me.”

He started walking again, intending to leave while his dubious benefactor mulled over those words.

Of course Ken had to have the parting shot. “Do give Rupert Giles and the Watchers’s Council my best. Too often they’ve gotten my worse, but I admire their ambition.”

Angel couldn’t help turning to look at the man looking down at him from his loft like a priest gazing down at a lost soul.

“It is no easy thing to bend a woman of power to your will, a woman filled with stubborn strength which constantly eludes you.” Ken offered Angel a bitter smile. “Believe me. I know.”

“This is why I’m not trying to bend her to my will.” Angel met the man’s eyes. “I’m adding my will to hers.”

Kenneth Irons bowed his head. “Such arrogance.”

“Not arrogance.” Angel glanced at the wall where a woman wearing a gauntlet charged an army. “Confidence.”

“Such confidence cannot survive the forces you’ll find yourself facing.” Ken breathed in for a moment, as if he savoured the scent of that fleeting confidence wafting off the vampire below.

“Neither will the forces.” Angel offered Ken a wink, feeling for a moment as cocky as his words.

As parting shots went, it wasn’t bad. He turned, feeling his coat billow behind him.

It was a good feeling. Maybe he should wear this coat more often.

Notes:

Yes, Angel had a hand in training Ian Nottingham and the Black Dragons in this particular story. It's part of a parallel story in the timeline which Sara Pezzini erased when she rewound time in my Sisterhood of the Witchblade series.