Part Three

Spike paced around impatiently in front of Willow who had fallen asleep from sheer overwhelming pain. Torture was a new experience for someone who was barely eighteen. Drusilla and Buffy had gone out for another kill -- said they'd be bringing him back something and said that if he wanted to mess around with Willow when she woke…he should feel free. That was all he really paid attention to.

Finally her eyes fluttered open, meeting Spike's gaze right away. She hung her head, curling up against the wall like she was trying to hide within the woodwork.

"Good night, pet." Spike greeted and removed her chains. "We're going to have a li'l spot of fun, now."

She was silent.

"Come now, it won't hurt a bit. Unless you have a sore throat."

Willow gradually lifted her head, looking relieved. "Not…not going to hurt me?"

"If you don't get up I may start with the choking and what-all but if you can get over to the chair…you won't be harmed. Cross my heart and hope to combust."

Willow painfully got to her feet and stumbled over the chair. She fell into it as soon as she reached it and laid her head down on the table. Spike chuckled and sat in front of her. "So talk," he said curtly.

"About what?"

"Anything, I'm bored."

"Well…I um…should be researching the Ascension, so if I could just l--"

"Leave? Not bloody likely. And what of this Ascension thing, I've been hearing bits and pieces of it everywhere."

"Well," Willow started to say. "The Mayor…he…he ascends to something -- a demon and feasts on the town."

"So? When it's time we skip town, big deal."

"Then it moves on…it's probably not an ordinary demon, you know…hence the name 'Ascension'."

"Don't get cocky with me dear, I don't see you in the position for that."

Willow grumbled. "I've been here for over a week, I'm allowed to be cocky." She was at that point where she didn't care if they killed her, so it was fearless here on out.

Spike laughed again. "All right, I suppose so. I'm surprised they haven't sent anyone for you, you were particularly prized by Buffy's old mates weren't you?"

"They wouldn't come by themselves, not without a Slayer."

"So they have gained some brains, must be the graduation bit. Say--" He was cut off by Drusilla and Buffy making their chatty entrance. Buffy was carrying a little baby, probably a month old max…and she delivered it over to Spike.

"Here's dinner, appreciation for watching my--why is she out of her bonds?" Buffy snapped and jerked Willow to her feet. "I never said you could take her out of the bonds."

"You didn't? Oh well, no harm done. We were just chit chatting, not much to say. Thank god you came in or else I would have eaten her by now." He was being sarcastic with the last part; Buffy picked up on that much. "I'll go take a walk and eat this on the way."

He got up and left calming the baby for its last night alive. One of these days he would have to make a baby a vampire -- which would totally put a spin on the demonic baby saying.

Buffy rolled her eyes and sat down in front of Willow. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Willow replied bitterly.

"Dru?" Buffy glanced over to Drusilla who dropped a bag of groceries on the tabletop. "Thank you."

Drusilla smiled slightly and gave a firm nod. "Must keep her well…" She leaned over a tad, reaching her hand out to cup Willow's face. "Mum never kept me well…" Sadly, Drusilla turned away sulking.

"That's why you have Spike, Dru." Buffy replied simply and focused on Willow. "When they send Angel in, you're leaving."

"Well, that makes it easier for me then I guess." Angel suddenly said while descending the rickety staircase.

"Angel," Buffy stated with a wicked grin. "I missed you most at daylight, darling."

"I did too," he shot back. "Just let Willow go."

Buffy thought this over. "Wait, never mind. I'm not giving her to you, she's trash."

"You said you would. What's she done wrong?"

Drusilla got tired of listening to them and left to go find Spike. Maybe he didn't finish off that toddler.

Buffy boosted herself up to sit on the tabletop, bristling with anger. "Wrong? Oh there's a lot of things, Angel dearest. Seven deadly sins."

"She's not a glutton for punishment," Angel retorted flatly.

"Isn't she? She asked for trouble staying by my side as the Slayer. So there's one."

"What are the others, then?"

"You tell me, old guy. You probably were alive when they were published."

"You don't publish the seven deadly sins!"

"Someone's straying off topic, I'm feeling inclined to stab Willow through the face right now." Buffy swiped up the blade setting on the table. "Come on, Angel, name some more. I have a lifetime to answer -- though I can't vouch for Willow. Yet."

Angel grumbled irritably. "All right…greed."

"Exactly, she takes what she gets and she doesn't share. I would think someone of her bizarre character would have watched Barney and…and taken notes about the qualities of life like sharing. But no, she's just like everyone else. Nothing special there. Next sin, please."

Angel thought for a minute. "Sloth. Now, looking at Willow now she doesn't seem…fat…at all, in fact she looks kind of--"

"Anorexic?" Buffy finished off his phrase pertly. "She is a sloth, only she has such a low metabolism she's never physically affected. Then of course you could always use it as a cut down. What's next, envy?" She gave this one some thought and then suddenly realized what it meant. "Right! Envy. Envious of me, always have been."

"I have not!" Willow sputtered out. "Why would I be jealous of you?"

"Why wouldn't you be? I was Xander's object of affection, I got the star-crossed true love deal -- I have everything but what you can have. But you don't want that, do you? You're so used to the supernatural you become it. You try to become me, but then you can't so you take the book wormy way and outdo me there. Envy."

This silenced Willow; Angel only grew aggravated.

"Pride," Angel began.

"Too much of it, pride in the potential of having a regular Joe for a boyfriend in Oz. At least she can see him all the time, big deal if they lose three nights out of the year. I never got to be with you outdoors in the light Angel," Buffy's eyes grew watery. "But I stood by you, it's all I could do. I was hopelessly in love, and it was your fault." She struggled with her words trying to regain composure. "Wrath is it?"

Angel took a minute to gather his thoughts so he could deliver an agreeing nod.

Buffy hopped off the table and meandered over to the bed to lay upon, still toying with the knife. "Everyone's susceptible to that sin, it's not really of importance. Then it all brings us down to lust. Her excursion with Xander was proof enough that she's evil. Put her to shame, kill -- maim…whatever. I don't care, take her."

Angel made his way over to Willow and helped her stand. Buffy cleared her throat. "No really, take her."

"What?" Angel asked wide-eyed. As did Willow.

"I'm kidding, geez. Let her walk out on her own, I wanna talk."

"I don't." He turned his back to her, guiding Willow to the stairs.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Buffy's anger flared and she chucked the knife into Angel's back. He went flailing to the ground, Willow turned and shrieked. Buffy narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "Leave."

Willow left as fast as she could. Angel groaned while getting back to his feet. He tried to find where the dagger hit but he couldn't exactly reach it and pull it out without making a bigger hole than there was already. Buffy stood up and stomped over to him. She simply yanked the knife from his back and -- feeling cruel -- slammed it in again. She had him writhing in pain now.

"How's it feel to be stabbed in the back, lover?" Buffy asked smugly and turned him around. Don't worry, she took the knife out. Angel bit back another yelp of pain; he just let himself fall back against the steps. "It's painful. I know."

"I'm sorry…" He choked out. "I never meant--"

"Oh you're sorry, you're sorry…" Buffy twirled around, repeating his phrase a couple of times in a mockery of his voice. "It's too late for apologies, dear. You never intentionally meant to hurt me, but you did. Your sorry's don't cut it."

"I am…if I could take it back, I wouldn't have…I just don't remember ever letting you drink from me…"

"It was euphoria, Angel. I mean when I got back to earth it was like…a blur…almost as intense as when we boinked the first time. Of course, I wasn't so hot myself."

"And it all leads up to when I was evil…"

"Uh huh," Buffy smiled grimly. "JennyJennyJenny!"

"I'm not listening to this…" He crawled up to his feet and stumbled up the stairs.

"Angel," Buffy chided. "Do I have to throw the knife at you again? Wait! Let's go back to your place!" She tossed the dagger aside and scampered over to him, helping him stand. "I want to go to sleep with you again, I miss it."

Angel really wasn't in the position to argue but he had to keep his head…literally. "What do you mean?"

Buffy sidled up closer to him, clinging to his arm. "You know, when the sun rises we can fall asleep. Hey, if you want some extra play in it too that's fine with me."

Angel was too much in pain at the moment to argue. He let himself be taken off to the mansion.

Part Four

Buffy woke up an hour before sunset, a habit for vampires. She sat up, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision only to see the room in a wispy white blur. Confused, she groped around for anything tangible to hold on to and discovered that no one was next to her in bed. She felt her heart catch in her throat, memories of that night racing through her mind as she stumbled out of bed.

"Angel?" Buffy called out and continually turned in circles in search of anything clear. "Angel!" Her cries grew more frantic. "I can't leave me…"

She paused, unsure of what to make of her last words. She choked back a sob, clutching a gray blanket tighter around her frail body. She suddenly felt jerked back, as the blanket seemed to tighten itself around her, then dampen itself into blood. In a blind panic she ripped the material from her and threw it aside. The blood soaked blanket soared past her eyes and stopped before it hit the ground. It expanded and started to wrap around the room, making a perfect dome above Buffy, yet the flooring beneath her stayed in tact.

Then it started to rain. It fell hard on her, blotching her skin with red and burned into her skin. It was blood, blood of the Slayer that poisoned her. The downpour washed away the gory shield, showing the regular ceiling of the mansion. Buffy lifted her head, trying desperately to wipe the blood in her eyes away so she could see clearly, but her hands were a bloody mess.

As the downpour stopped, the room was left as it had always been without a trace of any defilement. Buffy felt around for the bed and grabbed hold of a pillow. She brought it up to wipe her eyes with and blinked the rest away. She breathed relief and began lowering the pillow away when she noticed her face imprinted in the folds.

Then it started forming into a different face…one she kept hidden in the back of her mind, and as she came to the realization of who it was something latched on to her from behind. She let out a startled yelp and dropped the pillow, spinning around in a defensive position to see who had disturbed her. It was Angel. She was so excited to see him she threw her arms around him, not at all caring if she got blood on him and held him close to her. Then she backed away noticing not a stain was on him.

"Everything explains itself," Angel whispered to her. Buffy backed away from him, scared of what else he might say. His expression remained calm and stoic as usual.

She wasn't sure about this last part, but he moved closer to her and reached to cup her cheek. The still-wet blood vanished from her body, as did their surroundings. Buffy felt fairly dizzy, having to regain her footing before taking a glimpse around. Angel was gone and she felt empty inside.

It was Angel's apartment, just like she remembered it. Even the smell of it, that old musty indescribable scent she always felt welcomed to. Buffy tentatively started walking towards the bedroom but stopped midway as a red rose that was growing in a peach colored flowerpot on the desk caught her eye. It wilted under her gaze.

Panic rose within her again and she hurried to the back, finding the only comfort there was Angel's bed. A girl stopped her midway, which she inadvertently bumped into. She had to back up a step so she could see who it was.

"I'm not sorry," Buffy found herself saying. "Where are you?"

"In there, everywhere." The familiar voice said. Her face was blurred whenever Buffy looked at her, it was disheartening -- she wanted to know who it was. "I'll be around." Then the girl was gone.

Buffy felt like screaming now, this was all so confusing…and then out of nowhere Willow was standing before her. She looked like a zombie with her plain indirect stare. She was clad solely in a black sleeveless dress -- like she was at a funeral. Buffy watched her curiously as she approached, and when Willow got nearer she walked right through Buffy. Dumbfounded, Buffy whirled around and saw Willow go to Oz who also looked like he was in a trance. Simultaneously, they turned to look angrily at Buffy and pointed at her.

"Evil!" They both shouted in unison, and a chorus of screams rang up from the ground and down from the ceiling, claiming Buffy's eardrums and made them pound until it felt like her head would burst.

Buffy's cry for help was more than enough to bring her out of her sleep.

---

Angel sat upright, looking down at Buffy writhing under her bed sheets. She let out a piercing, shrill scream and sat up hoping to be held. He pulled her close, whispering soothing words to calm her down.

"What happened?"

Buffy came to her senses and tugged away from Angel. "Nothing," she snapped and crawled out of bed. "Sun set yet?"

"Not for an hour."

She felt a chill run down the length of her spine, but she kept it well hidden. "Well, I'm awake so until it's darker we're going to have to talk."

"Oh the horror," Angel muttered.

Buffy smiled at that. "At least you're making jokes now."

Angel cast his gaze down. "Someone has to carry the torch."

She frowned. "This is going to be a hell of hour."

Part Five

Buffy sauntered down the stairs of the factory, immediately directing herself over to the table to sit upon. Drusilla looked up from playing with Miss Edith, to Buffy. "Where did you run off to?"

"I was messing around with Angel," Buffy replied simply.

"Oh," Drusilla said. "Miss Edith dreamt a dream this morning…"

"Did she?" Buffy started to ask. "What was it?"

Drusilla tossed Edith aside, hitting the dozing Spike on the bum. He didn't wake up. Dru spun around, squealing. "She saw red…" She burst into a fit of giggles and fell to the ground, pushing along the floor with her heels. "Then it went away…into the clouds…"

"What went away?" Buffy pried.

"The red river…" Drusilla rolled over onto her stomach and sat up on her hands and knees. She giggled again, looking over to Buffy. "It decayed into someone new…" She hissed lowly, clawing at the air. "He wasn't at fault…"

Buffy's brow arched in confusion. "Who wasn't?"

"Ssh my dear…" Drusilla held her arms out, putting her hands together at the thumbs and spread her fingers apart from each other, beginning to wiggle them in a fluttery type motion. "Everything explains itself…"

"Can you clear that up at all?" Buffy decided to ignore the familiarity of Drusilla's last line.

"Never can, pet," Spike said groggily and sat up from the bed. "It'll make sense when it happens, trust me."

"That's an oxymoron," Buffy snapped. "Whatever, fine. I'll wait…but not for long. By the way, did you get Willow on her escape?"

"Yeah, she's in the back," Spike replied.

"Great," Buffy smiled happily and went to seek her out. "They'd have to be stupid to think I'd give her up that easily."

Epilogue

Buffy grew tired of torturing Willow over a few days, so Saturday night she was going to let her go. Not to Angel, however. She would take her personally to the library, sure it was a stupid thing to do but the Gang wasn't brave enough to attack her anymore.

Buffy shoved Willow through the doors, checking to make sure there was somewhat of an audience. Which were Xander, Oz and Giles discussing a new rescue mission. Buffy caught their attention easily and she moved on past Willow.

Oz stood up, looking right at Willow. He mouthed "are you okay?" and she shook her head. He clenched a fist and glared right at Buffy who pretended to shudder at his expression.

"I like this fear, it's great. I just came to drop her off; she's looking a lot better than yesterday. Around the face anyway, you might want to check other areas Oz…I mean it could get infected for all we know!"

Willow clumsily went for Oz and fell into his arms, sobbing pitifully. Buffy couldn't help but to laugh in delight at this.

"You're all such wimps." Buffy shifted her gaze to Giles, looking more serious. "Anything new on the Ascension?"

Giles was caught off guard by this and started to fiddle with his glasses. "No, actually. It's all a bit vague…"

"I'll see what I can do for you, just keep sending Angel to inform me."

Xander spoke up. "We've been sending him to kill you, but apparently he's not getting it done. You're not Buffy, we have to realize that now. You've got to die."

"Boo hoo," Buffy retorted. "Watch it Harris, or I'll see to it that you get the same hand dealt that Willow did. Anyway --" She broke off, looking around. "Someone else is here."

A girl stepped out from Giles' office, looking no older than fifteen or sixteen. She had a crossbow in her hands and an uncaring glint in her pale blue eyes. The girl had jet-black hair, however, which was dyed of course -- and she was dressed in dark green khakis and a matching colored loose shirt. Only the easiest to fight in for Slayers.

Buffy smiled grimly. "So you did get one over here. What's your name?"

"Marie," the girl said in a French accent.

"Oh look, a foreign Slayer. Well come on, let's give her a test drive. Let me have it."

"Marie, be absolutely cautious--" Wesley warned. "She's dangerous."

Marie focused on Buffy and shot the crossbow bolt. Buffy rolled her eyes, caught it and tossed it aside. "Is that the best you can do? Giles, train her before you send a weakling to me. Have some decency here."

Buffy spun on her heel and started for the door. Marie reloaded the crossbow quickly and clumsily fired it at Buffy, hitting her in the shin. Buffy went falling forward, but she recovered swiftly and got the bolt out in a jiffy. Slowly, she rose to her feet and chucked the bolt right back at Marie. It hit her in the same spot as it had Buffy.

"Eye for an eye," Buffy said with a shrug and limped out. "Amateur…"

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