Prompt #1 - Pickpocket

[piksa.livejournal.com]

Title: Surprise
Fandom: btvs
Prompt: Pickpocket
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: William gets a surprise. A different take on Willliam and Angelus meeting for the first time



William was checking the crowd. Tonight hadn't been a good night for him. It had rained earlier and people had stayed home. The people who had moved on the streets had wrapped their jackets very tightly around themselves and had all their valuables well hidden. Even the small shops had closed their doors due to a lack of customers. Usually William had been able to sneak into the shops and steal something to eat, but now he had been forced to go hungry. Of course hunger wasn't anything new to him. He had felt it many times during his seventeen years. Still it wasn't a pleasant feeling and William would have preferred to find some suitable victim who could provide him with enough money or valuables that he would be able to buy something from the tavern.

Finally he thought he saw a suitable target for himself. There was a man walking with two women. He had seen them around earlier as well. There was something in them that piqued William's interest. He couldn't point out what it was but it felt like he was pulled towards them by an invisible hand. He moved from shadow to shadow and waited for his moment. Suddenly they stopped to talk for a while. William did consider striking then but there was too much risk to get caught. He couldn't afford to get caught now. He had already tried out the local orphanage and it wasn't a nice place. He didn't want to end up there again. When the man and the women started walking again, they went their separate ways to William's surprise. The women continued to walk on while the man took a turn and disappeared from sight. William's trained mind told him that the man would probably be the easier target since he was walking alone. Moving silently William started following the man. It was pretty easy since it seemed his chosen prey wasn't in a hurry anywhere.

William had just decided that it was his time to strike when the man suddenly turned into a dark alley. William knew it was a dead end so he couldn't understand why the man would go there. He walked slowly to the corner of the alley and peaked there to see what the man was doing. He yelped in surprise when a strong hand suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He tried to struggle but it was no use and he found himself face to face to the man he had been following earlier.

"Let go of me!"

"Why were you following me?"

William had thought he had been careful but obviously the man had seen him at some point. He didn't answer and just stared at the man with all the menace he could muster. It seemed it had no effect on the man.

"Did you think I was an easy target and planned to pick my pockets?"

William still stayed silent. He tried to struggle but the man's grip didn't loosen at all.

"So what should I do with you? I'm sure you are already familiar with the law here. Don't think you have been able to avoid them." To William it seemed the man was thinking something very hard. "Should I turn you in or should I break your fingers so that you would learn your lesson."

Neither of the options sounded good to William. It seemed he had chosen his prey wrong after all. Everything couldn't be alright with this man when he was considering breaking William's fingers as punishment. He tried struggling again but the man's iron grip on him stayed. It seemed he wasn't going anywhere before the man said so. William started to get desperate.

"Please, sir, don't do that. I'm sorry. Please just let me go." William lowered his eyes and tried to look as innocent as possible. It had worked a few times earlier. "I promise I won't disturb you anymore. I just wanted something to eat."

Then it was again time for him to yelp in surprise when the man suddenly changed his grip so that William was held by the front of his shirt and pushed against the alley wall. The man's face was very near now and William thought he saw a flash of yellow in the man's eyes. It was obvious that the man had to be somehow insane. William was shaking in fear. He began to think that maybe he wouldn't make it out of the alley alive. The man's next words confirmed his fear.

"I should just teach you a lesson and leave you here bleeding." The man flashed his teeth. "I could make you an example for all the other pickpockets going around here."

William began to be very afraid. His goal had just been to get some money so that he could get some food but it seemed his short life was going to end in this alley. His life had been full of obstacles and dangerous situations but he still didn't expect to die this young and in a situation like this. It had been ages since he had cried last time but now he could feel his eyes filling with tears.

"Please, sir. I don't want to die."

"Not many people want to." Was the sarcastic reply. "Tell me. What are you prepared to do if I let you go?"

"Anything, sir. I will do anything I can."

"Hmmh, that leaves me with quite a few options."

William watched while the man obviously thought about it. A small hope started to glimmer in his mind. He really was prepared to do almost anything to save his life. Of course there wasn't much he could offer the man since he didn't own anything but maybe there was something he could do.

"Your offer sounds quite appealing. I have a very nice idea in my head but I think I will leave collecting for later."

Suddenly William found the man's grip gone. He didn't waste any time to sprint out of the alley. He could hear the man laughing behind him but didn't turn around. He ran until he simply had to stop because his legs wouldn't take him any further and found a good spot to hide in case the man had followed him. For a long time he stared at the road he had ran along but couldn't see anyone. Only then his attention was drawn to his pocket. He found a few coins in there that he surely hadn't had before. He stared at them and thought about the strange man he had come across. He made a mental promise to stay far away from him from now on. The same went for the ladies. There was something strange in them.