Fic: Magister (NC17) Ch. 7

[gilescandy.livejournal.com]

Another sexy man!

Warnings:  Explicit gang rape.

6. Enter Chaos

“Right,” Faith pointed to the map laid out on the counter.  “I tracked them to right around here, but then it seemed like they all split up and just vanished.”

Buffy growled.  “He’s officially starting to piss me off.  I understand the attack; he’s playing with us, letting us know how easily he’ll be able to take us all out whenever he wants.  But why kidnap Willow?”

“Well,” Wesley polished his glasses, “perhaps he recognized Willow as a threat to him and decided she needed to be… eliminated.”  As soon as the words left his lips the crestfallen faces around him made him regret speaking his thought.

“People, that’s so not why he took her,” Faith disagreed.  She sighed at the questioning stares.  “Hasn’t anyone else noticed that this demon version of Big G has a little more oomph than our old tweed man?  Just trust me, killing Willow isn’t the first thing on his mind.”

Xander groaned, trying to scratch a persistent itch beneath the cast that now covered his left arm.  “Is it just me, or is she trying to put an image in my mind that I’ll have to get out with an ice cream scoop?”

“I agree with Faith,” Angel finally spoke up.  “This demon still has all of Giles’ desires and he’s not afraid to act on them.  Just think about everything they had in common.  The brains, the magick, the troubles…  Think of all the time they’ve spent alone together.  Don’t get me wrong, Giles was a gentleman if ever there was one, but he’d have to be devoid of his faculties not to notice a beautiful girl right under his nose.”

“You mean he’s gonna ra…” Buffy couldn’t finish the question.

“No, I don’t see him as the type,” Angel assured them.  “He’ll try to seduce her.  He’ll want her to want to be his forever.”

“That’s a relief,” Xander sighed.  “How good can G-man be at seduction?”

“It may buy us time, but we have to get her away from him as soon as possible.”  Buffy had a serious, thoughtful expression.  “We’ve had run-ins with vamp Willow and evil, black magick Willow, and I don’t think I ever want to find out what happens when you mix the two.”

“I’m going…  Don’t they teach you army boys any manners?”

Buffy swung around as the familiar, gut-turning voice demanded her attention at the front doors.  The tall Englishman with a thin, deceptively compact frame was being ushered in between two soldiers dressed in civvies, but obliviously ready for anything.  Their prisoner was shackled at the wrists and ankles with a chain binding all his limbs together, effectively hobbling him.

“Buffy Summers?” the shorter soldier called out.  Buffy nodded as she approached, doing her best to hide her limp.  “We were ordered to release this prisoner into your custody.  Don’t know what you want him for, Miss, but I’ll warn you he’s a really pain in the--”

“I’m well aware of that,” Buffy nodded politely to the soldiers without taking her eyes off her new prisoner.  “Please give Commander Finn my thanks.”  She glanced the chained man up and down.  “Hello, Ethan.”

“It is an unspeakable pleasure to see you again, My Dear,” Ethan bowed as best he could.

Wesley came up beside Buffy and placed a simple, braided silver bracelet in her hand.  The Slayer’s expression remained stern.  “Why don’t you give the nice officers their pretty jewelry back now, Ethan?”

The chaos sorcerer nodded with a wicked grin and held a free arm out to the soldier beside him, the unfastened shackles dangling from his hand.  The soldier’s eyes went wide.  Buffy tossed the bracelet to Ethan.

“Put it on,” Wesley ordered.  “It will bind your magicks until such time as we see fit to let you use them.”

“Of course,” Ethan complied.  “Anything for the beautiful Slayer.”

“Thank you for bringing him.  We’ll keep him under control.  You can go back to your base now.”

“Yes ma’am,” the soldiers said in unison as they hurried out the doors.

“I’ll have to admit,” Ethan grinned as he began to stroll around, looking over the lobby, “when I learned I was headed for Los Angeles, I never dreamed I would end up in such desirable company.  Decided to abandon that little dump of a Hellmouth then?  Can’t say I blame you.  Wasn’t a very classy place.  But this is nice.”  Buffy stood quietly as he scanned the room, letting him listen to the sound of his own voice.  “I must say that my curiosity is running wild trying to think of the kind of problem you’d risk my help for.  I’m surprised the old man even let you consider playing with me again.  Though I haven’t quite forgiven him for leaving me to rot in that Initiative hell-hole.  Where is dear Ripper anyway?”

“He’s why you’re here,” Xander interjected, seeing the anger welling up in Buffy.

Dawn approached the dark sorcerer fearlessly.  “We need you to tell us about his past.  About what kind of magick he has.”

Ethan looked down at the young lady standing just inches from him.  “Such courage and beauty in a delicate package.  And what passion stirred for Ripper.”  He reached out to brush a stray hair behind her ear.  “He does tend to inspire it, doesn’t he?”

“Could you please not touch her,” Buffy growled.

“A please from the Slayer,” Ethan cocked an eyebrow.  “How can I refuse such a request?”

“Just stop, and start helping us out before I lose my temper.”

“As you wish,” the sorcerer chuckled.  “But why go through all the trouble of freeing me?  I’m sure your little witch friend has felt the power he holds inside.  Even if it’s trapped, it’s still there.”

“Willow’s not here,” Xander shook his head sadly.  “He took her.”

“I have a feeling I’m not getting a complete story here.”

Buffy shot Xander a disapproving glance.  “You’ll know what I think you need to know,” she snarled.  “Tell use how his magick is trapped.”

“He never told you, did he?  Of course not.  Ever the bloody martyr.  Always has to bear his burdens alone.”

Wesley stepped forward and straightened his glasses.  “There were rumors at the Council--”

“Your bloody Council…  He let them do it to him.  My beautiful boy knelt before those narrow-minded, short-sighted fools and took their punishment.  He let them put the collar around his neck.  Then he willing handed his leash to a self-centered, little brat.”

Wesley placed a hand on Buffy’s shoulder but, to his surprise, it wasn’t anger that clouded her face at the condemning remark, only sorrow.  “Then there was a curse?”

“Oh, you can call it that.  See the Council figured that it would be to their disadvantage to just strip him of his magick, or even bind it so he couldn’t use it.”

Buffy shook her head.  “But he used magick to help me all the time.”

“I’m sure he did,” Ethan’s dark eyes sparkled with more anger than any of them had ever seen in him before.  “But did he ever stick around for long afterwards?  I’m guessing not.  He had to go and be alone to recover.  The Council let him keep his magick all right…  They made it so every time he used it was a new punishment.  Every spell came with physical agony.  Every time he saved you, it must have been like ripping his own guts out.”

“I didn’t know,” Buffy breathed.

“You should have seen the power he could once wield.”  She thought she could see tears forming his eyes.  “He brimmed with life and possibilities.  That’s what drew me to him in the first place.  The things we could discover together.  But to fall in love with that exquisite face…  How could I not?”

Xander’s jaw dropped.  “Are you telling me that you and Giles were…?”

“What I would have given for just one taste.”  The chaos mage winked at the boy.  “But alas, my patience was little match for that strict upbringing he clung to even in his rebellion.  Even so, hope springs eternal.”

Dawn chuckled, “You still love him.”

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Ethan grinned.  “Unfortunately, my small cries for attention didn’t go over too well.”

“You turned him into a demon,” Buffy huffed, folding her arms across her chest.  The accusing glare she received from Dawn had more of a sting than she could have ever expected.  Ethan just shrugged.

“Well,” Wesley removed his glasses to give them a polish.  “I think it’s safe to say that we may well be out-matched on the magicks front.  And if he turns Willow…”

Buffy cringed at the slip.  “What?” Ethan let panic creep into his voice.  “How could he turn Willow?  Tell me what happened to my Ripper.”

Dawn stepped forward and touched his arm, suddenly feeling a strange connection with the dangerous man.  “We got caught in a fight,” she began quietly.  “The demons were too strong and there were too many.  Giles was defending me…  He was wounded.”

As Dawn’s voice cracked, Xander continued.  “It was mortal.  There was nothing we could do to save his life.  So…”

“I made the decision,” Buffy said softly.  “I couldn’t…  The self-centered, little brat wasn’t ready to let him go yet.”

“So you had him turned,” Ethan sat down and ran his hands over his face and through his hair.  “You made Rupert a vampire.”

Simply hearing Ethan use his old friend’s given name was enough to pull tears from Buffy’s eyes.  “We captured his soul,” she tried to explain.  “As soon as we find him and Willow, we can get Giles back.”

Ethan’s suddenly small voice came for between his hands.  “I’ll help you find him.”

“Thank you,” Buffy sighed.

“Then I’ll destroy him.”

“What?” She breathed.  “Why?  We’ll give him back his soul.”

Ethan looked up at her with regretful eyes.  “I know, Luv.  And I know how you feel.  But when I make a blood oath to a man I love, nothing will stop me from carrying it out.”

Xander nodded, “Giles made you swear to dust him if he was ever turned.”

“Why?” Buffy blinked.

“It was after the Blood Pack,” Ethan began.  He cut himself off at the sight of Dawn.  “This really isn’t a story for innocent ears, My Dear.”

Dawn sat resolutely next to him.  “If it happened to Giles, I want to know.”

Ethan smiled at her.  “Nice to know my Ripper did have love of some kind.”  He then looked straight ahead with unfocused eyes, as if staring into the past.  “It was several months after we first met in London.  We were still so young and foolhardy.  Still trying to figure out who we were and what we could do…”

“Go home and sleep it off,” the bartender growled as he forced two young troublemakers out the door.

“We were just leaving anyway,” Ripper laughed.  “There has to be someplace with a little more life around here.”

Ethan flung an arm around his friend’s shoulders in an attempt to stop the street from swaying.  “The whole town is dead by this time, Ripper.  Let’s just go home and I’ll give you a party if you want it.”

“Don’t you start with that again, you flamin’ fuck.  I told you…  I told you before…  Hey, which way is home anyway?”

“I think we can cut through here,” Ethan chuckled, pointing in the vicinity of an alleyway with a roving hand.

“Hell if I’ll follow you.  Your sense of direction is worse than mine.”

“Right then…  Which way, Mate?”

“We’ll go that way,” Ripper announced, moving toward the same alley.

“Bloody hell,” Ethan giggled as they clung to each other to stay upright.

 

“We were about half way though the alley when they appeared on all sides.  Back in those days we called them Blood Packs.  Gangs of vampires that roamed the city in search of victims.  Most people didn’t know about them because very few survived an encounter.  But, even drunk out of his head, Ripper knew what they were instantly.  And this pack was large, eight of them.”

“Look what we have here,” the male leader grinned.  “A couple of pretty, little boys out in search of a good time?”

“Too bad we just gorged ourselves with that tour bus,” a little one chuckle.  “They look yummy.”

“We can still play, can’t we?”  a female purred.  “Would be a shame to waste such lovely flesh.”

Ripper instinctively took up a protective stance in front of Ethan.  “Whatever happens,” he whispered.  “If you get the chance, run.  Don’t wait for me.”

“There’re too many of them.  We’re fucked.”

The little one snickered, “Not yet.”

Ripper pulled out the stake he always kept in the back waistband of his jeans and rushed forward.  He moved with a fury that caught the vampires off guard.  Before they reacted, the largest among them disintegrated into dust.  A second later, the gang fell on him with brutal force.

 

“At the time, Ripper hadn’t yet finished his training with the Council, but he could always fight like a bloody champion.  Sadly, this wasn’t a normal brawl.  No normal human could ever fight off seven vampires.  I’ll tell you he didn’t go down easy though.  Back then, I was on the receiving end of ol’ Ripper’s temper more often than not, but seeing him in a fight was always a thing of beauty.  And one thing I always respected, the man could take as good as he could give.”

Ethan had done his best, but was soon dropped to his knees and pinned by two of the vampires.  Ripper fought on even after he was stripped of his weapon.  It took the five remaining foes piled onto his back to hold him to the ground, and still he bucked and squirmed. 

“This one’s got spirit,” the female chuckled.  “I bet his blood runs hot and spicy.”

“You’ll get your turn to taste, My Pet.  Just like all of us,” the leader purred to her.

“Ripper!” Ethan screamed.  “Talk to me.  Help us!  Anybody!”

“Shut him up!” the female hissed.

One of Ethan’s captors whispered in his ear.  “You heard her.  Quiet, or I’ll eat your tongue.”

“Besides,” the female grinned, “I want to hear this one scream.”

“Not bloody likely,” came a muffled mutter from beneath the pile.

The leader growled, “Put him on his knees.”

It still took three vampires to hold him steady as they picked him up to his knees.  In an instant the female had the front of the shirt in shreds, her cold hands running along his exposed chest.  She inhaled deeply along his collarbone and neck.

“He smells of fear and hatred.  It’s intoxicating.”

Ethan saw Ripper wince as her talon-like nails raked down his chest, causing blood to seep from the wounds.  She purred as she licked along the fresh cuts.

“And he tastes of innocence… and darkness.  A rare vintage indeed.”

Ripper’s muscles tensed and worked, straining against his captors.  The leader laughed from behind him as his jeans were torn from his body.  They pushed him forward, forcing him onto his hands and knees.  He looked up, sweat beading on his brow, and set a determined mask on his face.

 

“As I look back on it, I can see that they probably took him first because he was the bigger threat.  But at the time I was certain that they knew…  They knew that nothing they could ever do to me would be more torture than being forced to watch them violate my beautiful boy.  The look in his eyes was like nothing I have ever seen before or since.  The pain, and helplessness, and rage, and hate…  Like he could set the world ablaze with that stare.”

A wave of nausea threatened to overtake Ethan as he watched his friend’s jaw clench with pain. He struggled again, wanting desperately to help, to stop the horror unfolding before him, but the two vampires held him fast, forcing him to watch.

“No…  He’s not ready,” Ethan sobbed.  “You’re hurting him…”

The leader howled with joy as he forced himself into his victim.  “Feels like we caught ourselves a virgin here, Boys.  Yeah… this is gonna be better than we thought.”

“Poor, lovely boy,” the female murmured as she licked blood from a cut above Ripper’s right eye, running from his eyebrow up to his hairline.  “Why don’t you give me a scream and I’ll see if I can get my big fellas to go a little easier on you.”

Tears ran down Ethan’s face as Ripper’s gaze never left his.  “For God’s sake, Ripper,” his voice rasped, “Give her what she wants.”

All he could do was watch his friend silently take everything the vicious gang of demons could do to him.  Never screaming out, as he had promised.  They inflicted new wounds on him to taste his blood.  They took turns using him for their perverse pleasure, each riding him to their unholy climax.  Finally, when he had lost enough blood and was physically exhausted, they let him collapse into a heap on the cold, wet asphalt.  Then they turned their attentions on Ethan.

 

“When I woke up we were lying next to each other in a hospital.  Apparently, someone had found us in the alley, both near death.  We spent days in that hospital recovering.  That was when I think his true hatred of vampires began.  He only spoke of what happened once.  It was one night in the hospital.  He came to my bed and we made the blood oath.  We swore to each other that if one ever became the monster that had so mercilessly accosted us, the other would make sure he wouldn’t live like that for long.  After that he threw himself into study…”

Ethan’s footfalls echoed in the empty streets as he rushed to catch up to his friend.  Meanwhile, Ripper casually strolled into the same dark alley by the old pub.

“Look what we have here, Boys.  Dinner.”

“Wait,” the same female shouted.  “He smells familiar.”

“You’re right,” the leader laughed.  “Have you come back for a bit more fun?  I’ll have to admit, we don’t often find one with your endurance.”

Ripper grinned.  “I did come back to find you.  And I would like to have some fun, if you’re up to it.”

As Ethan rounded the corner into the alley, he was blinded by a blazing column of fire.  He slowly blinked his vision back until he could make out a dark figure coming toward him.  Ripper walked past his friend and headed for the pub.

“Fancy a pint, Ethan?”

 

“My God, Giles,” Xander breathed.

All Dawn could do was cry as she ran a comforting hand over Ethan’s back, unable to reach the man she really wanted to give the comfort to.

“I had no idea,” Buffy sighed.

“It was the past and we both survived,” Ethan shrugged.  “But now you see why I’ll do my best to fulfill my oath.”

“I understand.  But don’t be surprised if I do my best to stop you.”  Buffy smiled.

Ethan’s eyes twinkled.  “I would expect nothing less.  And I do hope you succeed.” 


Chapter 8