tamingthemuse | Fic: Fear is Not Yet Known Me, Angel/Xander, Part of the Dark'World, Prompt

Title: Fear is Not Yet Known Me
Series: The Dark World
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing: Angel/Xander
Prompt: Conqueror
Rating: Mature/Adults Only overall
Spoilers: AU after The Becoming, BtVS Season Two
Warnings: Bloodplay, D/s themes, dark!fic overall
Word Count: 744
Author's Note: A short chapter but I liked the way this one ended. *evil grin*
Title and cut quote taken from the song "The Conquerer" by Einherjer.

This is part of my series The Dark World which is a sequel to The Dark'Verse. You should really read those before this or it won't make much sense.

Special thanks to

mwrgana for the great banner under the cut.

Crossposting with

tamingthemuse and

_xangel.

Fear is Not Yet Known Me

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Pivot to the left, step and transfer weight to the right foot while bringing right arm down to catch your opponent off balance. Watch as trainer falls to the floor at your feet before pointing long deadly sword at prone trainer's throat. Once trainer laughs and gives the sign for surrender, step away before starting the Xander dance of happiness and gloating™.

"Yes, Xander," Ali growled behind the still dancing boy. "You can be learning after all."

"Hey!" Xander protested, spinning around to glare at the demon smiling at him. "I've been doing good."

"Well," the demon corrected. "You are being done well."

The snicker for the corner let the boy know that Angel had heard the demon correcting his English, which was sad considering it was the demon's fourth language and Xander's first – and only.

"That's enough from the peanut gallery," Xander grumbled as he walked over to grab a cloth to wipe the sweat from his face. Dropping the makeshift towel on the bench, the young man sighed as he rolled out his shoulders to relieve some of the tension he was carrying. He'd been working hard for hours on end every day since they'd arrived and even after all these weeks, his shoulders still ached during sword training.

"Again," Ali directed and Xander sighed, turning to face the demons opposite him.

Lifting the sword, Xander prepared for the attack.

His mind went blank and he let instinct take over as he dodged every fist and blocked every blow directed at him. He tuned out the conversation and taunting around him out of habit. Angel had been sitting with the Shaman, learning the history of the war they were fighting in order to help devise a strategy while Xander trained with the larger demons. Most of his opponents hurled insults at him in their own language to try and distract him, so the boy only heard grunts and grumblings.

He had just dispatched the first two demons when he heard Angel say, "The Conqueror?"

His concentration completely lost, Xander turned and asked, "What?!" He didn't think about demons still attacking him as part of his training until he felt the sharp sting of the sword piercing him, just grazing his right shoulder blade. Looking down, he gasped at the sight of the metal protruding from his chest.

"Ouch," he said in a quiet monotone. "I hate it when that happens."

The sword was immediately withdrawn and clattered to the floor as the demon that had hurt him fell to his knees. Xander could tell he was apologizing profusely; they all did when they hurt him, but all he truly heard was the loud growl of a very pissed off vampire.

Ignoring the intense pain shooting through his body, Xander braced himself to fend off the inevitable attack. Angel stared down as the boy with his eyes glowing gold with fury as he trying to fight off Xander's hands holding him back.

"Angel!" Xander shouted at the vampire. "Angel! It wasn't his fault. It was mine. Stop it now. You're not going to hurt him."

"Mine," Angel hissed through his fangs. "He hurt you."

"Yes," Xander replied calmly. "But I'll be fine and you know it. Now back off."

"You're bleeding," the vampire practically whined.

"Jealous?" the boy teased.

Angel chuckled lightly then, his eyes bleeding from gold to brown and his game face melting away. His anger forgotten, Xander sighed and hissed as the vampire inspected the wound, probing and pushing at the clean edges of open flesh on his chest and back. Once Angel was satisfied and had licked the sword's entry and exit to slow the flow of blood, he directed Xander over to the bench where he'd been reading with the Shaman.

"What have you been learning about your concentration, Xander?" the vampire admonished the boy. Xander looked abashed for a moment before sighing loudly.

"I know, Angel, and things were going well but then..."

"But then what?" Angel snapped harshly. "Then what, Xander?"

"Then you distracted me."

"What!?"

"You said something about The Conqueror."

"And that's what distracted you?"

"Well," Xander began to explain, "You said it was way with the ominous edge. I've learned to be worried about anyone whose name has capitals like that: The Master, The Judge, The Conqueror. It's got to be totally of the bad."

Angel shook his had before answering.

"It is."

Tbc...