by

Margot Le Faye

Disclaimer: I don’t own the copyright to any of these characters. Joss Whedon does. No copyright infringement intended. Just pure (for once) fanfic fun.

Content: Speculation on an alternate ending to "Helpless" in keeping with the avowed purpose of S*C*R*E*W the B*A*S*T*A*R*D*S. Consider this a cautionary tale. Oh, and would you believe that even though I wrote it, this one is PG-13? Really! Um. Unless using the term ‘Screw the Bastards’ would earn it an R?

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"I won’t take it all!," Zach whined into her ear. "I won’t take it all!" He meant, Buffy knew, that he would leave her some blood and force her to drink his so that he could turn her, make her his fledgling and his mate. The thought appalled her, but she had almost no hope of stopping him without her normal strength or her Slayer’s powers. She couldn’t even reach the meager weapons that she had. The only thing she could think to do was clamp her mouth shut. Maybe if he couldn’t get his blood into her mouth, she wouldn’t be turned. If he didn’t drain her completely she might even have a tiny chance to survive. But she doubted it. Buffy was sobbing, helpless, too weak to break Zach’s grasp and reach for the vial of holy water that would give her a fighting chance to get away, save her mother, escape…

And then she felt a brief, burning, pain as his fangs tore into her jugular. Her weakness increased as her life’s blood rushed into his mouth. She grew lightheaded, and spots swam before her eyes. The spots grew larger, overtaking her, becoming a welcoming darkness into which she sank with a final murmured word of regret, "Angel…"

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Buffy’s eyes flew open. She was lying on a couch with a blanket thrown over her. Zach had been solicitous of her comfort, which, considering his plans for her, wasn’t surprising. Buffy shuddered in distaste. She was still weak. But her memory was sharp and clear. She knew where she was, what some people had tried to do to her. What others had succeeded in doing to her.

She was royally pissed. Then she smiled, as possibilities flooded her mind. "Angel," she said softly, longingly.

*****************

Fooling Zach had been easy, Buffy reflected as she wiped the dust from her hands, and walked heedlessly over the glass shards that had once been the bottle of holy water. That pathetic loser had been only too eager to believe he had succeeded in doing what he wanted to do. Idiot! Why were so many vamps so stupid?, Buffy wondered. It was amazing half of them had the sense to crawl out of their graves. Oh, well. Not her problem. Buffy hesitated, wondering if she should take care of her mother, or move on to more vital issues. She hated to leave Joyce tied up and helpless, but then, Giles was due along soon, if Buffy knew her Watcher. Reluctantly, she decided her mother could handle a few more minutes of anxiety. Buffy found a window that she could get through, even in her weakened state, and fled into the night

Moments later, Willow heard a knock at the French Doors leading to her bedroom. She opened them to find a disheveled, weeping Buffy standing before her.

"Buffy, come in! What’s wrong!"

"Oh, Will!" Buffy sobbed, falling into her best friends arms. "The Watchers….what they did to me…it was awful! I soo need your help!"

In the end, Willow gave it with enthusiasm.

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"Although I think we should have gotten Xander first," Willow muttered as they headed down the steps to Angel’s mansion.

"Xander would only be in the way right now," Buffy insisted. "Just do the spell, and then you can leave."

Willow sighed, but nodded, following Buffy into the mansion. They found Angel quickly. "What’s wrong?" he asked, instantly alarmed by Buffy’s disheveled state, her tear-swollen eyes, Willow’s look of grave concern, both girl’s pallor. Their story was told in a few minutes. The drugs. The ritual. What Zach had tried to do.

"And the Watchers let this happen? They started it?" Angel said in disbelief. "Screw the bastards! Wait until I get my hands on them, I’ll--" he made to stride from the room

"Angel, no!" Buffy pleaded, trying to stop him physically. Weak as she was, he would have pushed past her had his love for her allowed him to do anything but treat her with the greatest respect. He stopped, looking down at his beloved tenderly.

"There’s more," Buffy warned him. She and Willow explained about the spell. Angel grew pale –or paler—himself.

"What are you saying?" he demanded harshly, pulling away, pacing his living room. "They knew about the spell…and they kept it secret!?"

"They thought it would make you too powerful," Willow explained.

"They thought…." Angel choked, coming to a halt before the fireplace. "Oh, man!"

"Angel, it’s okay!" Buffy reassured him, following him, rubbing his back soothingly. "Willow and I have the spell! We can do it now. Right now! Tonight," She added softly, and he turned to look at her, and saw in her eyes all the love and longing she felt and realized just what it would mean to do the spell tonight. He began to smile, the first full, wholehearted smile she had ever seen him give.

"Yes," he said softly. "Yes, let’s do it now!"

Angel understood Latin, so Willow had translated the spell into ancient Hittite, which she was pretty sure he wouldn’t recognize. Because the words of the spell would have daunted him, and they couldn’t have that. Willow did her incantation. Angel’s body felt like it was on fire. Then it felt like it had been plunged into ice.

And then he felt perfectly fine. He smiled at Buffy. She smiled back. Willow smiled at both of them, then turned to leave and hunt down Xander while the lovers walked into each other’s arms.

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His first thought was that Willow had gotten the spell wrong. Because it happened just as it had before, only even more quickly. He looked down helplessly at the woman he loved, the woman in his arms, knowing he was about to put her into mortal danger. He tried to pull away, to run into the night, to give her a chance, as he had done the last time. But she reached for him, drawing him toward her for a kiss, and he couldn’t get free, because the internal battle he fought sapped his strength.

"Oh, Buffy!" Angel groaned in despair as she kissed him passionately. An instant later it didn’t matter, and he was chuckling at his good luck. Until he sank his fangs into her neck and tasted her blood. Then he knew that luck had had nothing to do with it, and realized just how clever his girl had been.

"Welcome back, baby" Buffy whispered to her demon lover, Angelus, as she vamped out and sank her own fangs into his neck in return.

*****************

"And you dusted Zach?" Angelus said, impressed. They were sitting before the fire, wrapped in each other’s arms. Angelus was proud of his girl. Vampires despised weakness in their own kind, and had no problem killing each other off, if there were personal advantage in doing so. Still, it wasn’t often fledglings, who were never up to full strength when they were first raised, turned on their masters. And to do so instantly was almost unheard of. But then, Buffy was not your ordinary vampire. In fact, as far as Angelus knew, no Slayer had ever been successfully vamped ever before. This was going to be soooo much fun!

"That idiot thought he could keep me!" Buffy scoffed, still annoyed at the very thought. "He thought I’d hook up with him! Like he could ever be demon enough for me." Buffy smiled up at her lover and snuggled closer. "Like anyone could be half the demon my Angelus is," she purred. He chuckled and kissed her. "Wanna wake Acathla?" she offered a few minutes later.

"Nah," Angelus shook his head. "Why let him have all the fun? What’s Willow up to?"

"Turning Xander. Why?"

"Because she’s a smart girl. Like what she did with the ‘Fire and Ice’ spell to make me think she was getting rid of the ‘happiness clause’ in my curse."

"Hey, that was my idea!" Buffy punched him in the arm.

"That’s my clever girl!" Angelus grabbed her fist and twisted her arm behind her back. She purred again. "But Willow’s the one who realized I’d understand Latin and translated the spell into another language, right? She should be in on our plans."

"Okay," Buffy said agreeably. "Oh, and we have to turn Faith. I mean, can you imagine?"

Angelus, a vision of the petite brunette Slayer in leather pants and one of her skimpy tops dancing in his head, allowed that he could.

Matters moved quickly. Joyce, Giles, Cordy and Oz were history. Willow surfed the net, found a connection to Brazil, and got a message to Spike and Dru to come on home. They did so with alacrity. The new coven of vampires, Angelus, Buffy, Willow, Xander, Faith, Spike and Dru, was one big happy family.

With a little problem to deal with.

It didn’t take them long. No new Slayer could possibly match Faith and Buffy. Spike and Angelus went along just to mop up. They both got a real charge over the ease, style and sadistic pleasure with which their girls effortlessly wasted the new Chosen Ones.

Knowing the threat the new coven posed, the Watchers Council desperately tried every thing it could think of to destroy them. They vowed to stop at nothing. Since the only thing they could think of, however, was to send each new Slayer up against the coven, and since ‘stop at nothing’ to the Council meant ‘stop at nothing that would endanger a Slayer,’ their monumental lack of success surprised no one but themselves.

Sunnydale burned bright and it burned hard. The Mayor was not happy. Mr. Trick had a brief meeting with Faith. They reached an understanding. Allen Finch assumed the duties of Mayor the day after the funeral.

With Sunnydale as their base of operations, things moved swiftly and they moved well. Humans were pretty much cowed, providing a plentiful food supply. Willow and Trick, using their computer skills and other technological advances, managed to locate every Watcher in the world.

It was Trick who came up with the blood-bank plan that, in an alternate universe, was designed by the Master. Clearly an idea whose time had come.

Soon, every Watcher in the world was being drained of blood in an efficient, thoroughly modern, technologically effective manner that didn’t leave a lot of wasted blood behind, the way using your own fangs to drain a victim did. Trick was highly pleased. Willow wasn’t too bored.

The last thing each terrified Watcher usually heard was the sound of vampiric laughter as his or her blood was drained, and the vampires laughed all the way to the blood-bank.

The Unnamed Force For Good that originally ordained Slayers threw up its hands in disgust at the Watchers Council’s stupidity, and gave up this world for lost so it could go about saving others. Eventually, the world became a place of unending night, reclaimed by the demon dimension, where humans suffered and vampires ruled. The First Evil was delighted. Initially. Since the ruling coven pretty much ignored It, when they weren’t treating It as a huge joke, It gave up in as much disgust as the Unnamed Force For Good had done and found new worlds to conquer.

Even Spike had a gay old time, since Dru was impressed with his part in world domination, Leicester bloody Square was still standing and he had turned the entire Manchester United team. Faith and Trick paired up. Willow finally had an uncomplaining and enthusiastic Xander exactly where she wanted him.

While Angelus and Buffy realized their destiny, ordained at the beginning of the world (albeit with a slightly different game plan) of being Together Forever.

And they all slew happily ever after.

The End