Disclaimer: Joss and company own everything
Summary: What if in "Dopplegangland", evil Willow wasn't the only one to cross over?
AN: Fourth story in my Remedy series. For this series, I?ve just decided to pick episodes at random to rewrite trying to fix Joss? mistakes.
Spoilers: Everything up to "Dopplegangland", plus the other stories of this series.
AN: For this series, there?s no happiness clause in Angel's curse, so there was no Angelus, and no Angel being sent to hell. However, Angel has moved into the mansion on Crawford street. Jenny was killed, only by Spike. And Xander and Willow never kissed, so everything's still peachy between W/O and X/C.
AN: "Somebody Else" belongs to Bleu, "Not Myself" belongs to John Mayer, "Somebody Else's Song" belongs to Lifehouse, and "Virgin State of Mind" belongs to K's Choice.
Rating: I'd say PG-13.
Dedication: For Heidi, who I've been promising this one to for a while now.
Distribution: Want it- take it. Just let me know where it?s going.
Feedback: As always, greatly appreciated.

People's lives- their real lives, as opposed to their simple physical existences- begin at different times. The real life of Liam O'Halloran, a young man who was born and raised in the Galway area of Ireland, began in 1753. Two things had happened to him since that year. The first ended his life; the second gave him another.

The exquisite, gentle beauty who had single-handedly finally given him a reason to exist was perfectly nestled behind him on the bed, sitting indian style. She was chuckling softly as she ran her long, slim fingers through his tousled hair, just imagining the look on his face as she continued playing with his hair.

"Angel, hold still, will ya? How do you expect me to get it straight?"

"Straight? Was that your intention, because it doesn't really have the feel of 'straight' to me..." he smiles, reaching around a hand to grab one of her own, groaning when she escapes his grasp.

"I'm almost done." With a few more swipes, Buffy scoots off the bed to face him. "There you go. Perfect!"

Angel reaches up a hand to feel the mess that he knew she had surely made of his hair. "Buffy...did you put anything in my hair?"

"Just some gel..." she smiles sweetly.

"*Some* gel?" He tries running his fingers through his spikes again, finding more goo. "This is more than just *some*. I think Cordelia uses less."

"Try and do your boyfriend a favor," Buffy mock pouts, turning her back to him as she goes to grab her backpack. It was getting close to 7 and she'd promised her mom that she'd spend dinner with her before going out on patrol with her newly styled boyfriend.

"Come here," he goes to reach for her, wimpering softly as he sees her brush him away.

"No, no...I know when my efforts aren't appreciated." Angel grabs her around the waist, pulling her into his arms.

"You are always appreciated," he smiles against her neck as his hand makes a trail along her stomach, his fingers beginning to tickle her. "Even when you make a mess of my hair."

"No messier than it always is," she giggles, pulling him down to her for a quick kiss. "But the messy look is good on you. Any look is good on you," she corrects herself, eyeing him appreciatively.

"I thought you said my hair needed a change?" his eyes lift up, recalling the conversation they'd had when she'd stopped by after school.

"Well, sometimes change can be good. For example, the messy 'wet' look on you is sexier than the messy 'dry' look...although, neither one of them is my favorite look for you," she slyly smiles, pulling him along with her as she walks backwards towards the bed.

"And which one would that be?" he raises an eyebrow, intrigued by her comments.

"The look that you give whenever you look at me," she smiles, pulling him down ontop of her as she relaxes back onto the mattress. "I never knew that a person's eyes could say so much, but...whenever you look at me...I feel everything. Feelings I never even knew existed until us."

"Excitement," he begins for her, just barely grazing her lips with his own.

"Trust..."

"Bliss..."

"Comfort..." she wraps an arm around his neck, bringing him closer to her.

"Acceptance..." he smiles, nuzzling her neck.

"Safety..."

"Home..." he pulls away from her neck to face her. "My life...my heart...my world." He softly brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers come to rest on her cheek. "You're everything, Buffy. Everything..." he finishes with a gentle kiss, laying off to the side of her.

"Too bad mom wants me home for dinner," the slayer sighs, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Couldn't you tell her you were eating over here again?"

"I could...but Willow's supposed to be coming over for dinner too. I haven't been spending enough time with her." Buffy sits up, fixing her mussed shirt as she explains. "I think a lot of things have been getting to her lately. Namely the whole 'I'm tired of being everyone's doormat and homework gal' thing."

"Willow said that?"

"More or less. Can't blame her though. Snyder's making her tutor this jerk jock just so he'll stay on the team, and after Xander and I pushed her last button, she stormed off, threatened to change her look, cut class, and 'eat her banana- lunchtime be damned'."

"What exactly did you say to her?"

"I think it was the whole 'old reliable' crack that finally did it. But I didn't mean it the way it came out- I mean, that's what Willow is- reliable. I guess maybe we all take her for granted a lot of the time." Buffy reluctantly gets up, grabbing her bookbag as she heads downstairs, Angel following closely behind.

"Tell you what," he pulls her into a final hug. "What about if after dinner, I'll meet you two at the Bronze. Maybe we can cheer Willow up."

"Sounds like a plan," she seals their deal with a kiss, using all of her willpower to pull herself away from him, reaching behind her to open the front door. "I've really, really gotta go. Will's probably waiting for me at the school."

"The school?" he manages to get out in between kissing.

"She said she was working on some project with Anya. You know- that new friend of Cordelia's?"

"A friend of Cordelia's?" he pulls away to face her, a small smile on his lips. "Poor Willow...no wonder she's depressed, having to hang out with anyone Cordelia-oriented."

"They say variety's the spice of life..." Buffy kids, reaching up for his lips again.

******

Inside an empty classroom of Sunnydale High, Willow and Anya were laying out the materials necessary for the vengeance demon's spell.

"The necklace was a family heirloom passed down for generations," Anya explains, mixing together more sacred sand. "Then it was stolen from my mom's apartment," she lies, walking over to join the eager young wicca on the floor to perform the spell to create the required temporal fold.

"So how does the spell work?" Willow asks.

"Uh...well, we both call on Eryishon- the endless one...offer up the standard sublication...then there's a teensy temporal fold- we hope. Then I pour the sacred sand over the representation of the necklace, and then Eryishon brings it forth from the time and place it was lost."

"Okay- cool," Willow nods her head, eager to get started.

"Are we ready?" Seeing the redhead smile, Anya offers her hand to Willow, beginning her chant. But after a few seconds of listening to the spell, Willow could sense something going wrong.

New images and sounds began to race through her head. Trying her best to look through and beyond them, she finds her eyes resting upon the sight of herself, though not quite herself. She seemed to be in a violent struggle with Oz in some sort of factory building. The onset of a terrible headache brought forth the accompanying screams, filled with agony and despair. As Anya raises a hand to pour the sand over the intricate drawing of her necklace, Willow's hand begins to shake uncontrollably, causing the demon to not only cover the image of the necklace, but also the young teen's hand.

With a final flicker of light surrounding their circle, the spell ended. Anya, in anticipation of seeing if the spell worked, hardly notices Willow holding a hand to her head in pain. "That was a little blacker than I like my arts," she sighs, standing to her feet. The sounds and images of before had ceased, but their presence still lingered inside the wiccan's aching head.

"Will!" Buffy comes jogging up the hall, meeting her best friend halfway. "Sorry I'm running a little late. You guys done your project?" When she doesn't immediately answer, still squinting her eyes trying to make the pain go away, Buffy's voice turns panicky. "Willow? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing...nothing," she gives her head a shake, deciding to try and salvage some sort of fun from the night. "Must've been around those pesky chemicals too long. Fumes, ya know?"

"Mmm- that's why I prefer to stay away from all things chemistry," the small blonde smiles, linking an arm with her friend as they begin their walk to her house.

"Unless of course we're talking about the chemistry between you and a certain souled vampire," Willow giggles, eyeing her friend suspiciously. "I'm guessing you two were so wrapped up working on your own 'project' that you sorta lost track of time?"

"Guilty as charged- you know me too well. I'm sorry, Will. But we're gonna both make up for it tonight. Angel wanted to know if we'd meet him at the Bronze tonight after dinner."

"Sounds nice. Oz is playing," her face instantly brightens as they approach Buffy's front door. "I don't know though- I mean, it is a school night."

"Willow..." the slayer sighs, tossing her bag onto the couch. "Come on. A little change in the ordinary would do you a world of good."

******

Halfway in the middle of shoving the vampire through the makeshift stake, Oz was suddenly stopped. He stares at the wall he and Giles and were now faced with, seemingly part of a large, towering building alongside some alleyway. Twilight was slowly surrendering to full dark when Giles finally takes it upon himself to break the silence.

"Where the devil are we?" Searching his fellow traveler's eyes for some sort of explanation, he finds him as dazed and confused as he was.

"No clue..." Oz finally breathes out, slowly beginning to walk down the back alley. "But I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

******

Preparing herself for the impact and fatality of the blow, Willow suddenly comes to feel the cold hardness of the concrete floor instead of the deadliness of the pointed wood she had previously been headed for. Holding a hand to her head in confusion, she slowly and carefully pulls herself to her feet, dusting herself off as she takes in the new appearance of the factory, completely emptied. You'd have hardly guessed they'd had their blood-assembly line functioning only minutes ago- a project that would've gone smoothly for the master if it hadn't been for that damn slayer and the whitehats.

There was a distant twinge of pain for her to see all of the gleefully happy humans, strolling along down the street alongside her. "People..." she whispers to herself, her instincts remaining unclouded by the strange surroundings as she heads towards the Bronze. "Alive...waiting to play..."

******

She'd always known it'd end like this for her. After a grueling battle, she'd miss a cue or a landing, and that would be that. No fuss, no muss in the demise of Buffy Summers, somewhat unwilling chosen one to defend the world against vampires. < Blah, blah, blah, > she thinks to herself, feeling the master's hands wrap tightly around her neck.

Her head twists only slightly as she falls to the tiled floor, landing harshly with a loud thud. "Christ..." she instantly reaches around a hand to grab her stinging neck. Seeing it still it one piece was almost as big a surprise as finding herself in what seemed to be a library. "Great. Books...a fate much worse than death," she mutters to herself, steadying herself on her feet as she searches around for the crossbow that had been knocked out of her hands only seconds ago.

"Typical..." She pauses, letting out a bewildered little laugh. "Where the hell am I?!"

******

"Buffy..." Feeling the point of the stake pressing against his skin, Angel cries out his slayer's name in a final desperate plea. But as he collapses to the floor, he finds himself still very much as alive as he can get, as well as laid out on what felt to be grass, a crescent moon hovering undetected over the night sky, glimmers of its light peering out in between the branches of a nearby tree.

"What...?" Scanning his surroundings, he shakily pulls himself to his feet, being left to assume that he was indeed out of the factory and now in front of a nearby house. He passes a glance to the lighted windows, feeling almost drawn to the glow. He starts to move towards the front door, without having any real idea of where he was or was meant to go, but halts in his tracks upon noticing the nearby vampire approaching from the opposite side of the small house.

Gently dusting off his leather jacket, Xander takes in his new surroundings with an evil glare, his eyes flashing yellow as his senses pick up on the scent of his lover's 'puppy'. Being even more pissed off than he was for being sent to wherever the hell he now found himself, he begins creeping around the house's perimeter, turning back around to check the back. "Come on out, puppy. I don't bite...well, not as hard as Will does."

The world suddenly swims back into sharp focus for Angel. He had never felt such dismay, such horror, in his whole life. In a new world, his destiny and love seemingly dead and lost, he had no other choice but to keep running. Limping only slightly, he scampers up to the front doors, praying to whoever was listening that someone was home. After a few more seconds of banging, he flinches back upon seeing a kindly faced woman, grinning at him with open arms.

******

Okay- just to clarify for anyone confused...when Anya's spell brought all of the dopplegangers over from the Wishverse, Oz and Giles were sent to the outside of the Bronze, Willow still woke up in the factory, Buffy's in the school library, and Angel and Xander were sent to the outside of Buffy's home. And in future parts, the dopplegangers will have a 2 next to their name just to avoid confusion.

"Angel," Joyce Summers greets him affectionately, though her eyes begin to travel up and down his untypical disheveled appearance. "Umm...you're just in time to join us for dinner. Come on in," she steps aside, a bit thrown off by the awkward steps he takes to brush past her into the house. "Did you run into some vampires on the way over?" That was the only explanation she could come up with to explain his current condition. He looked thinner than normal, his eyes sulken in, his frame shaking slightly.

"Yes..." he whispers softly, his eyes nervously darting back and forth from the interior of the house to her. "...vampires..."

"Well then...why don't you, uh...just sit down, and...I'll just call Buffy." He does as requested, still having no clue as to who this woman was or why he somehow knew that she was trustworthy. < Buffy... > he reasons with himself. < She knows Buffy. Her mother...? >

"Buffy?"

"Yeah mom?" The smiling slayer turns around from her stool to greet her mother as she walks into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"Angel's here, honey. I think he just finished dealing with some vampires. He looks a little...run down," was the nicest way she could put it, especially considering that the charming and self-assured man she had liked from first meeting was now sitting in her living room looking like some worn out prisoner of war.

"Is he okay?" Not even waiting for an answer, Buffy hops down from her seat, living Willow and her mother behind as she races out to the living room. "Ohhh...thank god," she breathes a sigh of relief as she sees him with her back towards her, pacing around by the fireplace, gently observing the pictures that adorned its mantle. "Mom told me you were-" a small gasp escapes her lips as Angel2 turns around to face her, his eyes widening at the sight of her new appearance. "-dirty...?"

Taking a few quick steps towards him, she crosses her arms in mid walk as she notes the new appearance of his hair. "You know, I know you didn't really like it, but you could've left all the gel in just to humor your girlfriend," she giggles. She reaches out to grab him into a hug but is taken by surprise by his immediate response of flinching back, using a hand behind him to maneuver away from her. "Angel? What's wrong? Come on- I was kidding about the hair."

"Buffy?" his voice is barely above a whisper as he leans his face in a bit closer to inspect her. She looked...happy- and healthy. Two things he had sorely missed seeing upon first meeting her. He lifts a tentative hand to her chin, gently tilting her head up, only to find the small scar across her lips missing.

"Uh-huh...me Buffy- you Angel," she giggles, reaching for him again, thinking he was playing in jest. When he pulls himself away again, opting to crawl on the floor back towards the wall instead, her panic level begins to rise. "Angel- what's going on?"

"You..." he lifts a hand to point to her, still shaking slightly. "The master...you- you killed him?"

"About two-hundred vamps ago," she lets out a small laugh. "Where've you been the past two years?"

"Waiting...for you. I came here to- to wait for you...my destiny..." he trails off, remembering her initial reaction to his earnest confession from before.

"Now that's more like it," she smiles again, hoping he'd decided to quit fooling around with his act. She kneels down beside him. "So...do you plan on spending the night here on the floor, or do you want to..." She takes note of the redness being revealed by the opened top buttons of his old, worn out shirt. Reaching a hand in, she feels the burn scars gracing the smooth skin of his chest, gasping in shock as she pulls his shirt completely open. "Angel?! What happened?! Who did this to you?!"

"Hey guys," Willow's cheery voice enters the room before she does, "dinner's ready. Hi Angel!" She twirls her fingers in a friendly wave, at first happy to see the vampire she'd always considered a close friend, but quickly hurt at his reaction to her.

Angel2 begins jerking against the wall, trying frantically to pull himself to his feet and get as far away from his 'owner' as possible. "You didn't- you didn't kill her" he blurts out, somewhere between a horrified observation and a completely baffled question. "Why didn't you kill her?!"

"Angel-" Buffy tries calming him, placing a hand to rest against his cheek.

"Okay, okay-" Willow cuts in, "so I accidently squeezed some doughnut jelly on Buffy's blue sweater...I'm- I'm sorry...wait..." she takes a few steps towards him, clearly catching a glance of his burned chest. "Angel- what happened?"

Passing Buffy a final glance in desperation, Angel2 races over to the door, deciding to take his chances Xander instead of the torturous, redheaded vampire.

"Angel leaving so soon?" Joyce asks, reemerging in the living room.

"Mom- I'll be back," Buffy yells, grabbing her jacket as she heads for the door. "Willow- stay her with her. Something's up!" As she stands in the open doorway, watching as her best friend heads down the street after her obviously sick and delirious boyfriend, a thought finally crosses Willow's mind, causing her to call down the street to the slayer. "You two weren't experimenting with candles...were you?"

******

"Buffy?" Giles, book in hand, steps out of his office, surprised to see his slayer in the school library. "Is something wrong?"

The slayer readies herself, throwing her hands up in defense upon seeing the weird stranger who had summoned her to this freak town. "Oh...it's just you again." Giles, slightly hurt by the greeting, places his book down on the nearby table, taking in his slayer's new look. "Did you...just finish up slaying? By the looks of it, you really must've made a good showing," he nervously laughs. As if her stern and hard look weren't intimidating enough, Buffy2's commando gear left little to the imagination. Her faded gray tank top and worn pants added that extra something to the sound of her heavy boots, stomping around him as he studies her.

"So what happened? Where the hell am I?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, one minute I'm about to receive a free chiropracting check-up from the master, the next I'm in some library with you!" Buffy2 begins rooting through his office, trying to find some sort of weapon to arm herself with. "Is this your idea of some sick joke? Or is this just another one of those 'slayer tests' I keep being disqualified from because of- what was it again...that's right- misconduct!"

"Buffy..." Giles lets out a heavy sigh, his conscience still burdening him from his actions around her eighteenth birthday and the test he had forced her to go through. "I assure you- I'm just as confused as you are as to what you're talking about- did...did you just say the master??"

Finally finding another crossbow and some stakes, she tucks them into one of the duffel bags he'd had resting beside his desk. "Well I'll tell you what- why don't you stick around in here, plant that nose of your's into a book, and try and make yourself useful while I go out and make the big bad nasty go away for all of you lovely people, okay? They've probably all left the factory by now. Maybe that club...the Bronze..."

Not waiting for a response, she quickly turns, heading out the double doors, bag in hand, headed for the Bronze- the only logical place she could think of finding anyone to give up some information as to where all the demons had retreated.

"Joyce?" Giles adjusts his glasses as he sits down with his phone, not too long after Buffy2 had departed.

"Mr. Giles?" Mrs. Summers was more than relieved to hear his voice. "Is everything alright?"

"I was just about to ask you that same question. Buffy was just here, and-"

"So that's where she went. Was Angel with her?"

"Angel?"

"Mmm-hmm. She just left a little while ago chasing after him. I think he was sick or something. He didn't look well."

"Neither did Buffy. She just left a mintue ago, but Angel wasn't with her. What do you mean Angel didn't look well?"

"He stopped by the house. I think he was attacked by some vampires- he sure looked like it. He took off running down the street and Buffy followed him."

"She said she was heading towards the Bronze..."

******

There's a chair in my head
In which I used to sit
Took a pencil and I wrote
The following on it
Now there's the key
Where my wonderful mouth used to be
Dig it up, throw it at me
Dig it up, throw it at me

The swarm of fresh new blood twirled and danced around her, just begging to be drained. Eyeing each one hungrily, Willow2 makes her way through the Bronze's crowd, amazed that so many teens had dared to step foot in it. The stares that the others kept giving her were alarming- not the usual stares of horror and dismay she had been used to getting, but now, stares composed of sheer confusion.

Where can I run to?
Where can I hide?
Who will I turn to?
Now I'm in
A virgin state of mind

Her eyes shifted from human to human, angrily glaring as she's still yet to see any of the others. She stares thoughtlessly through the useless bodies, not trying to make sense of the situation, only wanting it to go away. < Everything's alive...and wrong... > The familiar feeding ground had been rendered unfamiliar, almost cheerful with human spirit.

Had a knife to disengage
The voids that I can't bare
Cut out words I've got written
On my chair
Like, do you think I'm sexy?
Do you think I really care?

"Hey!" a voice snaps at her after bumping her thoughtlessly. "Rosenberg? What're you doing, trick-or-treating?" Apparently this boy knew her, or at least seemed to. "You're supposed to be home doing my history report. I flunk that class you're in big trouble with Snyder." Okay- apparently this mindless drone didn't know her. If he had, he wouldn't have dared to take that tone with the powerful vampire. "Until we graduate, I own your ass!"

The redhead lifts her eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting into a sly smile. "Bored now..." she says nonchalantly, shoving the boy against his chest and launching him almost effortlessly onto the nearby pooltable.

"I'm having a terrible night," she wimpers, stepping slowly over to him among the murmuring crowd. Seeing him try to get up, she assists him, wrapping a hand around his neck, pulling him to his feet to face her. "Wanna make it better?" He throws a punch in vain, having it grabbed and pushed to the side as the demon's grip tightens.

"What's going on?" Xander chuckles as he approaches a group of classmates, laughing in disbelief at what they were witnessing. "Is there a funny thing?" Not having to wait for a response, Xander's eyes son fall upon the sight of his best friend engaged in some sort of fight with that jock she'd been forced to tutor.

"Back off!" the brave teen commands, tossing the scared boy to the side. "You stay the hell away from her!"

"O-okay...su- sure!" He stumbles to his feet, making a mad dash out of the nightclub with a whole new respect for his tutor.

After watching him flee, Xander turns to face Willow2, his jaw almost dropping to the floor as her outfit literally pops into full view.

"Xander..." Willow2 smiles, thrilled to see her lover.

"Will...changing the look not an idle threat with you," he squeaks out after giving her a full once over.

"You're alive," she slinks over to him, wrapping him up into a hug, letting her hands roam his expectedly cold form.

"Uh...Will, this is verging on naughty touching here. Hands!" he quickly snaps away from her as the feel of her palms moving more and more south becomes apparent. "Hands in new places!"

"You're alive..." she sighs, the full extent of the words hitting her as she realizes this wasn't her Xander.

"You mentioned that before," he nods. "Will, are you okay?"

"No...everything's different..." she pouts, tilting her head in even more confusion at the sight of her lover being, of all things imaginable, human.

"Oh- there you are!" Buffy yells to her friends as she races into the Bronze.

"Hey Buff," Xander answers her, though not taking his eyes away from Willow2.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your- holy god, you're Willow." The slayer takes a step back at not only seeing that her friend had somehow beat her to the Bronze, but managed to go from Miss Sunshine to Misstress of Pain in less than ten minutes.

"You..." Willow2 glares at her- the one who had ruined the master's plans.

"Will- what are you doing here? I asked you to stay home with mom while I went out looking for Angel. Well I guess mom will be okay. Now that you're here you can help me track him down."

"What's wrong with Deadboy?" Xander casually asks, his eyes giving the confused vamp another once over.

"Puppy?" Willow2 perks up at the mention of her playtoy.

"He's out somewhere. I think he's...puppy?" Buffy stops in mid explanation at her best friend's new name for *her* boyfriend. "Uh...you know what? I like the new look, Will. It's extreme, and it looks good, but...what's going on?" Buffy's eyes widen in suspicion as Willow2 inches her way over to her.

"I don't like you..." the vamp tells her in no uncertain terms, emphasizing her harsh declaration with her even harsher stare.

"Will...I'm sorry about earlier today. You know how my foot likes to live in my mouth, but you know...you really didn't have to prove anything."

Allowing her eyes to linger on the small blonde a bit longer, Willow2 finally raises her head, turning towards the side door. "Leaving now."

"Will- gotta say, really not loving the new you!" Xander shouts after her as Buffy goes to stop her best friend.

"Willow, wait-" the slayer makes a grab for her arm, instinctively flinching away as a growl escapes Willow2's lips, her eyes flashing yellow as her face shifts to her vampiric features.

"Get off me!" Buffy and Xander are left to watch her stealth departure, staring on in utter disbelief and denial at their best friend's new condition as a vampire.

******

Giles2 and Oz2 had been observing the crowd since their arrival at the Bronze from the upstairs catwalk. The vamp's headquarters had certainly undergone severe renovations in the past hour or so. Lights and music had been blaring across the widespread crowd, without a trace of any of the master's henchmen.

"Don't they know how dangerous this is?" Giles2 points out to Oz2 as they descend the stairway.

"Judging by the way they all seem to be partaking in the 'fun'- probably not..." As they reach the bottom of the stairwell, Giles2 decides to take charge deciding it best if they split up to search the town. "You stay here on guard- I'm going to head back to the library. See if anyone else has checked in." Following his orders, Oz2 reaches the bottom of the stairwell, picking up on a familiar voice.

"She can't be..." Xander finally speaks up from his drink, peering over at Buffy sitting across from him, still in the Bronze. "I mean...she *can't* be- not Will..."

"Xand..." Buffy sighs, not sure how to comfort her friend- or herself for that matter. She'd had to bury friends before, but none as close or as special as Willow. She'd never thought she'd have to face the day when she'd lose Willow. Or Xander...or Angel, who at present time, she was still supposed to be searching for. "I can't..." A deep sigh escapes her as she reaches out to place a hand over his own. "Xander..." she begins to sob, not willing to come to grips with what had happened.

"Xander!" Oz2 pops out from behind one of the pillars, stake in hand as he charges the young man. Toppling over to the ground, Xander almost shrieks at the sight of Oz hovering above him, ready to plunge the wooden point through his heart.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" Oz2 snaps back at a shocked Buffy. "You're playing both sides! You're probably one of them!" He returns his attentions to the 'vamp' at hand, lifting both arms above his head to increase impact, but finds himself caught in Buffy's grip. The slayer flips him backwards, and with a fierce punch straight to the center of his face, knocks him out cold.

"What the hell-" Xander moans as Buffy helps him up, finally realizing what his friend's motivation must've been in attacking him like that. "Oh god- he must've seen Willow..."

"We've got to get to Giles-" Buffy grabs the last bit of reason she was clinging to in her mind, steering Xander towards the door. "We've got to let him know what's going on. And we've *still* got to find Angel."

******

"There you are!" Cordelia catches up with her boyfriend, just down the street from her house- or at least what appeared to be her boyfriend...the black, tasteful leather he was wearing threw her off for a second. "I thought you were picking me up at eight to go to the Bronze?" she pulls him around to face her in the middle of the street. "Weren't we supposed to meet- god, what happened to you! You're all...pasty...pastier than usual!"

"You..." the vampire snickers, running a hand up her bare arm as he eyes her temptingly. "Cordelia..."

"Look dough-boy, enough with the games. I'm hungry, and I'm tired- thanks to spending the whole night looking for you, so let's just go, okay?" Without giving him another glance, she begins walking ahead of him, stumbling a bit over her new shoes.

Seeing her stumble, as well as being famished for some fresh blood, Xander2 makes a running dive for her- only to slam his head into the concrete as she escapes his grasp, bending over to fix the strap on her black leather heels. "I swear- if I hadn't found these on sale, I would've never...Xander!" she notices her boyfriend laid out on the pavement, holding a hand to his head. "I can't take you anywhere, can I? Now come on- let's just get to the Bronze.

******

The evening made her restless as Willow2 wandered the city's streets after her hasty departure from the Bronze. As she moves about down along an alley, her head turns at the sound of the approaching vampires.

"Willow Rosenberg," the taller of the two announces.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," she smiles, not even bothering to look back at them as she halts in her pace.

"We won't talk," the vamp assures her, making a quick dive which she easily averts. His partner decides to try his luck against her, finding his efforts coming up a little short as well. He yells in pain as Willow2 slams him into the wall, deciding to try and get her information out of the first vamp she'd already knocked to the ground.

"You made me cranky."

"There's been a mistake here," he tries appealing to her, obviously one of his own kind. "We were sent after a human."

"Really? Who do you work for?" she inquires softly, grabbing his outstretched hand in the process.

"I'm not telling you a thing." Before he can hear them snap, the redheaded vamp easily breaks a few of his fingers, smiling in the process as she tries reaching him once more. "Who do you work for?"

"You," he finally concedes, grateful to finally be allowed back up on his feet.

"Get your friends," Willow2 gives him her first set of orders. "Bring them here. The world's no fun anymore. We're gonna make it the way it was. Starting with the Bronze."

******

"Buffy!" Giles exclaimes upon seeing her return to the library with Xander. "Thank heavens you're alright. Where did you...you changed clothes?"

"What?" Buffy solemnly looks up at him, not expecting to be given fashion tips from her watcher, especially right before she had to tell him of Willow's demise.

"Your clothes- when you were here earlier-"

"Giles, this is the same thing I've been wearing all day since school started."

"Yes- but when you were here about an hour ago you were dressed to play the lead in the next Rambo movie." Seeing her confused look, he decides to drop it. "Oh well, it's not important." As his two students continue to stare at him, he picks up on something more than confusion coming from their distraught faces. "What is it?"

******

"The Bronze..." Xander2 observes upon arriving at the familiar club. Watching as Cordelia makes her way through the side door, he attempts to go around through the back but finds himself being grabbed by the overbearing girl who was quickly working his last nerve.

"Not like you haven't seen it before and need the grand tour," she snaps at him, pulling him by the arm and dragging him inside over to a table. The brunette sits down, looking up expectantly at her boyfriend. "Well? Where's my drink?"

"Drink..." he smiles, making a steady walk behind her, trailing his fingers along her neck, looking for just the right place to sink in.

"Oh no-" she flings his hand away. "Drink first, then play. I'll have the usual. Go ahead..." she turns her head to face him. "Go on- before Oz's band starts playing.

His vampiric features begin to flash, though they go unnoticed by the ever-insightful Queen C. Once he has himself under control again, or something approaching it, Xander2 slowly stalks through the crowd of humans, reveling in the dark lights as he makes his way back over towards the side doors. He pauses, listening for a moment as his senses pick up on the familiar voice and scent coming from nearby outside.

He makes his exit, heading down the back alley, instantly recognizing his lover gathered around a bunch of other vamps. "Willow..." he growls in a possessive manner, causing her to turn around and squeal in delight.

"Xander..." she grins, racing over and jumping into his arms, wrapping herself completely around his body.

"Babydoll..." Xander2 smirks, greedily capturing her lips with his own, drawing only a few drops of blood from her lip when they finally break away. "What the hell is this freakshow?"

"Everything's wrong here...you were alive..." she tells him, receiving a disgusted glare from him. "You were inside...with that slayer."

"That friend of her's- Cordelia..." he licks his lips appreciatively, "she's inside now, baby."

"Well we can't just leave them both alone like that, can we?" Willow2 motions to her new recruits to join them as they approach the side door. "Why don't we give them a first hand glimpse of the new world we're gonna make here..."

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