Title: Dust to Dust
Author: Laura Fones
Distribution: Just ask.
Spoilers: None
Rating: PG-13
Content: Faith and Angel
Summary: A new vampire's in town and Faith is gonna kick her ass.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in relation to the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own all except for Angelique, she's my vampire. And my teacher, which sounds ironic, I know.
Feedback: I love it, I thrive on it.
Author's note: This was my first attempt at Faith and Angel stuff, but take note that I have a) made Buffy never exist, Faith is the one who came to Sunnydale. b) Faith is not evil, she is the resident slayer and Angel is dating her (because she's always been better than Buffy anyway.)

It was unusually cold for a winter in Sunnydale, but vampire activity was low, so there was little harm of Willow getting hurt on her way. Still, Angel worried, she was his lover's best friend, and he didn't want her hurt. He lurked just behind her, watching for a vampire, making sure nothing would hurt the little witch. Knowing Willow probably felt his presence. Knowing he should probably make himself known.

"Willow," He acted as if he'd just run up to make her suspicions void.

Willow turned around, half-amazed to find him here, half confused as to why she felt him following her.

"Angel," She said, happy to have company on the oh-so-creepy sidewalks of Sunnydale.

"Mind if I walk you home," Angel lowered his head to ask her.

"Not at all," Willow smiled up at him, "after all, getting eaten is not on my top-ten list of things to do tonight."

"I fear you're mistaken," An eerily familiar female voice came from behind them as a pale arm grabbed Willow by the throat and pulled her to the ground, knocking her unconscious.

"Don't touch her," Angel snarled as the woman came to turn to him.

"Angelus," Her voice conveyed delighted wonderment. The petite blond drew close to him; her leather clad hips swinging in recognition, and put her hand on his chest.

"Angelique." He stated flatly.

"It's been a while." Her light blue eyes found his as she tilted her head to the side, "A few generations." She then came closer and lifted her lips to his ear, "Too long," she whispered.

"Why are you here?" Angel growled.

She, obviously pleased with his violent response, smiled, "I waited for you in Sicily. I waited for years, and here you were, all along, in the Americas. Who would've guessed it." She was circling him, almost, her fingernail tracing his torso. "I thought you loved me." A playful frown crossed her features quickly, and then turned back to the seductive grin she'd had before.

He pulled her hands away from him and held them by the wrist, "Things change."

She peered up at him and placed her lips close to his so that he could have felt her breath, if her dead lungs could have exhaled, "That's not what you told Darla when you stopped loving her. Oh yes, I think what you told her was much different. Or should I say, how she found out was much different." She giggled when she saw the glazed look come over his eyes; she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

"Or did you even stop loving her? Hmmm, no. You just stopped screwing her, if I remember it correctly. Out with the old and into bed with the new. Is that what happened with me. Is she the new?" Angelique pointed down at the unconscious redhead while Angel clenched his fists and remained dangerously still, "What, after a century or two I got stale? Is she the one who you want, this time? Or is this just a snack, she's hardly enough to share. I don't know how you could drink her, let alone take her. Maybe you could keep her as a pet and tie her up…" Angel couldn't stand to hear this and punched her, causing her to fly backwards onto the pale sidewalk.

"Leave Willow alone," He growled and his game face flashed across his features, "She's my friend."

She stood up as though the punch had never hit her and closed the space between them once again. "You know its name? You're a human's friend," She said, disgusted, "What's happened to you Angelus? You never befriended a human before, that's sick. What have you become? Are you going to change her, is that it? Then kill her family, like you did to mine. Or is this another one of your sick obsessions like Dru. Is that it, you're going to torment her, then drive her insane. Angelus, answer me!"

"I'd never hurt her," He glared her down, but she remained defiant.

"Now you would protect them. I would not take your kill, Angelus, you know that, but how can you claim you will not hurt her. You were made to hurt her kind. Oh sire, you taught me that yourself, never show mercy, drink upon their fear." She put her cold hand to his face and her voice turned soft, "What has happened to you sire?"

"I was in Romania." His voice a dangerously low whisper, "That's why I wasn't there in Sicily. I was put under a curse. To restore my soul."

Angelique stared into his eyes, appalled to find humanity there. She pulled back, sickened, "Your soul? You now feel remorse for their kind. How could you? To feel pity, to not embrace the dark gift given to us. How could you? I heard such rumors, that you joined with that little brunette slayer Faith, that you loved her. I trusted that they weren't true, the vicious animal you were. But it's true, you would love someone who hates us, I pity you. But even more, I hate what you have said you are, a whimpering, sniveling vampire with a soul. You taught me well Angelus, I'll find your bitch, then let you find her mangled corpse, and you'll remember who you are, what you were always, and you'll come back to me."

"Do that, she'll enjoying killing you, it always gives her a rush." Angel threatened as a smirk crossed Angelique's face.

"I'll find her Angelus, and then you'll find her." She let the sentence hang in the air for a moment then disappeared into the darkness of street. Angel clenched his hands, as if he were trying to crush his own bones in his fingers, but he let her go. He was her sire, he couldn't kill her. And she knew it; he couldn't kill her, just as he couldn't kill Drusilla. He couldn't destroy his child.

"Owww," A soft moan made Angel turn back to see the little crimson-haired one shift and attempt to get up, success only in sitting against the cement wall lining the sidewalk.

"Willow," Angel kneeled down next to her and tried to help her up, supporting her on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Why do I feel like I was hit by a New York cab driver?" Willow tried to walk, but became nauseated and leaned against Angel for a moment.

Angel smiled at her indomitable humor, even in her barely conscious state; "You were attacked by a vampire."

"An old friend of yours?" Willow asked as her head tilted up to meet his eyes.

"Something like that." Angel walked Willow over to a bench so she could regain her motor skills from the blow.

"We need to tell Faith," She rubbed the back of her head as her fuzzy senses came back to focus, "I think I can walk."

"I'll take you home, then I'll go to tell Faith," Angel said, "She'll be on patrol by now." He helped Willow onto her feet and walked her towards her home, occasionally having to support her when she got dizzy.

"I can't believe how much I'm gonna kill you." Faith flipped back onto her feet and kicked the vamp to the ground. She brought her knee down on his neck and jammed the stake into his back, serving a satisfying poof and pile of dust.

She tossed her dark hair from her face and brushed the dust from her pants. She thought as put her stake through the loop of her belt.

Just then she sensed someone walking up behind her. She gripped the hilt of her stake firmly and waited a beat before whipping around to dust the bloodsucking fiend.

"Whoa," Angel said and placed his hand over Faith's to stop the wooden tip from meeting it's mark. He stopped it barely an inch from his chest.

"Sorry," Faith said and kissed him to try to make up for it, "I was just itching to kick some more vamp ass."

"How'd patrol go?" He took the stake from her and placed an arm around her waist.

"Five by five," She shrugged her shoulders, "I kinda miss the days of apocalypse when vamps were just rising from their grave every night. That was a fun time."

"Yeah," He said and added in admiration, "But unfortunately we have the world's best slayer. I think you've nearly dis-inhabited the Hellmouth."

She smiled, "Not that I'm not grateful or anything, but you don't usually follow me on patrol, so I have to wonder. Why are you here?"

His mood suddenly turned somber, "When I was walking Willow home, we ran across a vampire."

"Well they do seem to populate hellmouth." She said dismissively.

"I know her…" Angel trailed off, not really wanting to continue.

"Should we tell Giles," Faith asked, "You know, get the skinny on your old friend, then make her DOA?"

"Dusted on arrival." Angel nodded.

"Generally the idea."

"Hmmm," Giles said as he looked through the watcher diaries.

"Giles," Faith put her hand over where he was reading, "As much as I'm enjoying your rendition of Hummers Greatest Hits, could you please tell us some useful info?"

"Well," Giles said as he looked up from the book, "Apparently, Angel's friend is quite well known. I've got hundreds of accounts of her in Europe ever since 1812."

"The year she was turned." Angel clarified.

"Yes, and she was a rather nasty lady-vamp at that. Supposedly, she mutilated the corpses by engraving a star on the victim's neck. Her trademark as you'd say."

Faith looked up at Angel, "What was the star for?"

"She was mocking Darla. Darla was taken during the plague in Europe. Her mother had died and Darla kept a star necklace she wore, she believed her mother would join her if she kept the necklace. When she was turned, Darla kept the necklace; not even undeath could make her hate her mother, she wore it while I turned Angelique. Angelique hated Darla, still does, and put her mark on the victim to show to Darla, to make her remember her mother." The room settled into utter quiet as Angel gazed mournfully down at the picture of Angelique with one of her victims, her game face upturned in a cruel smile. That was Angelique, just as satanic as Angelus, without the common sense.

"Bitch," Faith broke the silence.

"You have no idea," Angel mumbled.

"Yes, well, Faith, I think perhaps, you and Angel should go home, I'll do some research tonight and call you if I find anything tomorrow." Giles took off his glasses to massage his temples, before replacing them to go over the book again.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Faith patted his shoulder as she grabbed her jacket and led Angel out of the library.

After Angel had dropped Faith off at her apartment, he continued towards the mansion. His thoughts were not really attached to one thing, just flying around in different places; Faith, Venice, Angelique… the trail leading to one or another, surfacing, repressing, vaguely detailed etchings in his mind.

"Humanity," A voice came from behind him, "It's an interesting word, isn't it?" The small blonde stepped away from her blanket of trees, leaving her human visage there too. "You never actually contained humanity. Well, before now, that is. You were never soft or gentle. Not even when you were human. But you are with her, she doesn't fear you, or distrust you." Her voice contained only sadness, accepting of defeat almost. She stared down at the pavement, returning to her mortal mask. "You were never that way to me, the frail fledgling who needed patient guidance. But you are with that slayer, just as Darla was with you." Her voice struck a bitter height when she said Darla's name, she stroked her hair back, as if swiping them would brush away her tears, if they came. "I tried, I really did, to meet your vicious nature, to make me your right hand. To hold me gently, not roughly like how you always were with me. I did my cruelty act, yet you still wouldn't treat me like a lover. You killed me, a young human girl who had actual feelings. Amazing, isn't it, not even the Dark gift can take that from me."

Angel finally looked up, seeing something he didn't think she was capable of, remorse. He held his hand to her face, comforting the other vampire, "Angelique…"

"No, there's more," She held her hand to his lips, "I knew about the curse, I have it too. After you left, I followed. I followed you into the camp, seeing you feast upon that girl, the gypsy… I went into their village after you left, I ransacked the entire place, killing, feeding… They put me under the same curse, my soul. And it hurts every day, I have nightmares and flashbacks, it hurts me so much in that heart I hadn't used for so long…"

"Then why were you…. When you came to me and Willow?" Angel inquired, slightly awestruck at this new revelation.

"I thought you were still the true Angelus, I thought you might be using it to get your prey. I don't know, I just thought you were acting." Angelique placed her arms around herself, as if she were cold and stared down at the ground.

"I've been known to be good at that," He said this in more sick recognition than as a brag. He put a hand on your shoulder and the other tilted her head up.

"It's okay, you're with friends," Angel's eyes widened, "Oh shit. Faith thinks you're still evil, she'll be after you."

"It's okay," Angelique said, "I'm a big girl. Super powers, remember."

"Even so," Angel glanced over her shoulder, as if looking at something; "I have to tell Giles… and Faith. You should go to, well… wherever you happen to go. Stay there, you need to make sure Faith doesn't find you. She'll turn you into dust faster than sunlight can penetrate a window."

She nodded and watched Angel run down the street towards the library. She waited until he was out of sight before saying with a smile; "You're not the only actor, Angelus."

"But you're not a good one," Faith jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Angelique by the neck, pulling her down.

"Bitch," Angelique hissed as Faith pulled her arm back and pinned her down.

"I've heard that before," Faith whispered into her ear, "And then they died." Faith whipped the stake from her pocket and brought it down on Angelique's back, turning her to a pile of dust.

"Good job," Angel came out from the bushes behind Faith and looked down at Angelique's remains, "I can't believe she thought I was that gullible. Over100 years and she still hasn't learned that I just don't fall for that innocent routine." Faith smiled and walked into Angel's arms.

"I think we should call it a night," She rubbed against his hip, "I got all worked up."

He chuckled, "You always do."