Prologue

“What’s wrong?” Angel had been relaxing at his desk re-reading a
Dostoyevsky when Cordelia had stalked over to his office and residence in
the bright afternoon, complaining of her second official mind-numbing
vision.
“It’s Willow. Something’s up in Sunnydale.”
“What did you see?”
“She was on a table, surrounded by these commando-looking guys—part of
some group called the Initiative—and…”
“…And what?” Angel was getting concerned. He had never really taken time
to know the girl aside from a few lessons about how to use the Internet,
but her ability to keep her innocence amidst everything that happened at
the Hellmouth—of which there were many apocalyptic events she had been
thrown head-first into—simply amazed him. He knew as well as anyone that
there was something special about Willow and there was something about
her that brought out the best in everybody.
Cordelia drew a deep breath, trying to calm herself, though inside she
screamed in terror. “They…were doing some weird stuff.”
“Weird stuff—”
“Testing.” Angel’s mood turned from concern to anger. “Like serious,
mad-scientist, let’s-find-out-what’s-going-on-inside-her experiments.”
Cordelia’s face showed concern. “You know, I was never really close to
the girl, but the crap they were doing to her? She *so* doesn’t deserve
that—”
“—I don’t intend to let them do anything to Willow,” he said as he got up
from his desk and walked briskly down towards the weapons closet,
grabbing his coat on the way. “I’m going right now.”
“Here,” she wrote down where she could meet her. “UC Sunnydale campus,
Alpha Phi Kappa frathouse. You can get in from Jackson Street.” Angel
took the note from her quickly as he returned from his weapons closet,
fully equipped.
“Thanks. I’m on my way. I’ll call you tonight to fill you in.” He made
his way out as Cordelia moved to the couch, concerned. A few minutes
later Wesley stepped in.
“Oh, good afternoon, Cordelia. I was strolling by and thought you may be
in need of some help…for something. From the looks of it you seem to be
relaxing at the moment, but I’m sure that soon enough some crisis will
arise…your visions have already pointed us in quite the direction for
danger and adventure. Have you had any visions lately? I’m sure that I
can be of service to you in however which way you or Angel may
need….speaking of which, where’s Angel?”
Cordelia just stared at him.

Part one
Willow stood in the corner of the room, closed off in one of her more
furry winter coats and wondering why in the world she had decided to
attend the Alpha Kappa Phi finals party, celebrating the end of the first
trimester. She thought back to Buffy’s persistent plea for getting her
out of her Oz-induced depression.
“Come on, Wills, you need to get out and have some fun for once,” Buffy
kept at it until Willow decided she’d be better off going than having to
listen to Buffy pester her about it. When the Slayer had an idea in her
head, it wasn’t easy to get it out.
Now it was just Willow, as Buffy had been called out to kill a couple of
Malia demons messing around on campus. The demons were wreaking only the
normal sort of havoc, and all Buffy needed was to find them and kill
them, which didn’t require research or any other type of help from the
rest of the Scooby Gang. Willow wished that she had gone with Buffy, but
realized that she’d probably be in the way anyhow. < After all, what am I
gonna do to help her? > She thought silently as carefree, ignorant
college kids pushed their way past her rigid form, on their way to the
keg a few feet past her. < I just wish I could help her fight or
something. She’s always gotta fight alone, and no matter how much I can
do with my magic she’ll always be fighting alone. Poor Buffy. >
***
Angel stood outside the frat house with trepidation. Being surrounded by
so many hormone-driven college freshmen made him wonder how in the world
his 244-year-old self could have spent so many years lusting, just like
the lot of them, for a teenage girl. Well, a teenage girl Slayer, but
still. < Buffy, > he thought grimly, his memories of the time he had with
her and that “forgettable” day still very fresh in his memories. He
remembered the taste of the double-fudge ice cream he had eaten with her,
and which she had eaten off of him. He shuddered a bit at the memory,
then decidedly forced down his feelings and ordered himself to move on.
Seeing Buffy again was not the prime reason for his trek back to
Sunnydale.
Right now his main concern was Willow. Now he stood outside the raging
after-finals party, taking a deep, unnecessary breath, then entering the
fray.
***
Angel spotted Willow in the corner of the room, her brow furrowed in
thought. He smirked at her contorted facial features and thought her
cute-looking. She had always seemed to him like a pretty amazing girl,
from the time he had carried her out of the gas-filled janitor’s room,
she thinking he was her mother, to the time she told him off for not
speaking to Buffy and showed she wasn’t a bit afraid of Angel, AKA
Angelus, the vampire who had brought death and destruction everywhere he
had been for over 150 years. Then there was the time in her bedroom,
where her sweet exterior had returned and she had asked him to promise
not to bite. Now she was standing in the corner, very much not mingling,
almost waiting for him. Angel looked on and felt almost a tinge of anger,
perhaps even jealousy as a man walked up to her.
Willow was lost in her thoughts until someone approached her from behind.
She looked up and was less than pleased to see Parker Abrams standing in
front of her.
“Hey, Willow, how are you?” Willow suppressed a scowl, but only barely.
Angel looked on unnoticed, glad to see that she wasn’t enjoying her
meeting with the boy who had interrupted her musings.
“I’m fine, but—I don’t know—doesn’t the fact that you used my best friend
make me not okay?” Angel overheard and barely kept in a growl. < So this
is the bastard that Spike mentioned before. > The boy just smirked at
Willow’s comment, making Angel all the angrier. Now, not only did he use
Buffy, but he was trying to work Willow, succeeding only in annoying her
to the greatest of degrees.
“I thought I explained to you my thoughts on that,” he pulled his best
appalled look, then continued, “I just saw you here, alone, and I thought
you might need someone to talk to. I think you’ll enjoy yourself if you
just give me a chance.”
Angel couldn’t stand his harassment any longer and, trying his best to
keep his rage in check, stalked over to where they were standing. In his
best fear-invoking voice, he spoke. “I think she’s already told you her
feelings about you.”
“Angel! What are you doing here?” Willow was caught in-between intense
surprise at Angel’s visit from LA and her relief to see someone telling
Parker off so that she wouldn’t have to.
“Angel, huh? Nice to meet you, I’m Parker Abrams,” Parker held out a
hand, which Angel did not even bother to stare at.
“I think Willow and I would both like you to leave, now.”
“Oh, so I guess you’re a friend of Buffy’s too, then?”
“We went out for a while; we keep in touch.”
“So how was she for you? Better, I hope.” Angel could no longer suppress
the small growl that emanated from within him.
“Angel, I think we’d better go, before you do something you regret.”
Willow was very afraid for Parker, whom she knew Angel could accidentally
kill by any number of ways. A little part of her knew he might have
deserved it at some level or another, but the logic of not wanting Angel
incarcerated got the best of her.
Parker, hearing the growl, realized he had taken it a bit far and
wondered fearfully exactly what it was he was dealing with. Instinctively
he took a step back while Willow held Angel’s right upper arm.
“Angel, he’s not worth it,” she spoke in a low voice. “Calm down. Now I
know that killing Parker Abrams wasn’t your reason for coming here, so
why don’t we just…go outside for a little while? Angel,” She looked up
into his eyes and he looked back at her, seeing her fear. Fear, not for
her or for Parker, but a fear that he would do something he himself could
struggle with afterwards. He calmed at her touch and relaxed at her
concerned look, amazed at how easily she could control his moods,
emotions, and actions.
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Angel walked back a few steps, then turned
his back to Parker as Willow took her arms from him. He caught one of her
wrists gently and put it back on his upper arm as she looked up
questioningly. “Please…just keep it there until we get out of here. I
don’t know if I can handle myself otherwise.”
“Sure.” They made their way out of the crowded frat house, oblivious to a
student who had observed the small tussle and was now using his cell
phone.
“Commander Finn, sir,” he addressed the call’s recipient, “Possible HST
sighting, south side of the campus near the Alpha Phi Kappa house.
Request for assistance.”

Part two
Willow and Angel made it to a part of the small grass and tree area near
the frat house. Angel turned to her and seemed much calmer than he had
been before. “I’m proud of you,” Willow congratulated him on his
restraint, which she knew he had been working on. “I know that was hard
on you, and don’t think I don’t know that he deserved whatever you were
going to do to him. But it would have hurt you more than him.”
“I know,” he replied curtly. “Thanks.”
“So, what was it you’re really here for?” They began walking deeper into
the cool night, away from the crowd.
“Actually, I came to warn you about this group called the Initiative.
Seems they’re a bunch of army commando-type people that like to
experiment on innocent people.”
“Oh, yeah, we’ve seen those guys around. A bunch of people with ski masks
and big guns and stuff, right?” Angel nodded. “We’ve been looking into
that for a while now; haven’t found out much, though. Buffy just found
out their name this week—said Willy told her. How’d you find out about
them, anyway?”
“A…friend of mine told me about them,” he answered cryptically. He
stopped walking and Willow followed suit, concerned. “We, um, think that
they might be after you.” Willow digested that bit of material with
incredulity.
“But that’s not right,” she said. “I mean, from all the stuff we’ve seen
them doing, the only people and/or demons they’ve been bothering are
vampires. What would they want with me?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what my sources tell me.” Willow looked a
little perturbed, and Angel decided to put all her fears to rest. He took
her by the shoulders and held her firm. “That’s why I’m here. You know I
wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You’ll stay safe if I have anything
to do with it.”
< His hands feel nice, even though they’re a little cold. What am I
saying? > She wondered. “Well, that’s nice to know, anyway.”
“Well, sorry to interrupt your little party, but I’m getting a little
hungry, and so are my friends, here.” A vampire surrounded the couple
with about ten or so others, making it impossible for them to escape.
Angel whispered “trust me,” in Willow’s ear, then grabbed her firmly but
not painfully. Willow whipped her head around noticeably to go with
Angel’s acting job. She could sense that he had shifted to his game face
and was now playing the role of Angelus to a tee.
***
“Right ahead are about eleven or so HSTs and one hostage,” Forrest
informed his leader. “Agent Finn, how should we surround them?”
Riley calculated the battle plan in his mind, noting that it was Buffy’s
friend Willow in trouble. < God, that girl must be some vampire-catnip or
something, > he thought, remembering the skirmish between his troops and
Hostile 17 just a few weeks beforehand. “I want two men on the right
flank, another two on the left. We’re surrounding them completely, and we
attack when I give the signal.” Forrest and Graham nodded, then ordered
their men around. Faces concealed by masks, Riley gave the signal and the
soldiers rushed in.
***
“This one’s mine,” Angel looked at the fledgling vampires, one of whom
questioned him angrily.
“And who are you to claim her?”
“The name’s Angelus,” he smiled evilly, enjoying the look of fright on
their faces. “Looks like you’ve heard of me.”
Before the other vampire had time to speak, the volts from guns of the
Initiative’s top men had massacred several of the fledglings in the back.
All of them scrambled as they tried to get away from the blasts of
electricity that were stopping those previously alongside of them in
their tracks. Angel let go of Willow’s neck and instead held her by the
shoulders.
“Go!” Willow nodded and cringed as Angel threw one of the masked men out
of her way so that she could escape. Angel pushed her through the opening
just as he was overtaken by two of the soldier people. Willow stopped and
turned back, standing relatively unnoticed amidst the giant fracas.
Riley took down the first vampire before advancing towards the one that
held Willow in its grasp. He stopped for a moment in confusion. Did that
HST just try to save Willow? He shook his head and figured that he had
probably imagined it, continuing his attack on the vampire that was now
beating the crap out of two of his best men.
Willow sighed in relief as she watched Angel make quick work of the two
men who had tried double-teaming him. He disarmed the both of them
quickly and blocked one’s punch while kicking the other behind him. When
the two were knocked down and seemed woozy, Angel stopped and looked up
at Willow. Willow looked back and moved her arms about, signaling for him
to get away. Most of the men had been neutralized, but as Angel started
to move towards Willow she spotted another of the soldier men with a gun
pointed directly at him.
“ANGEL!” Willow screamed and pointed behind him, already thinking that
she would be too late to save him. To both hers and Angel’s surprise, she
wasn’t.
A bolt of what looked like electricity leapt out from Willow’s
fingertips, finding its intended target in Agent Riley Finn.
< The gun was knocked out of my hand by…Willow? > Riley was too surprised
and stunned to form any other coherent thoughts, and submitted to his
growing lack of consciousness.
Angel, game face still attached, simply stared behind him at the fallen
soldier, then turned back to Willow, who was examining her right hand
with disbelief. She glanced quickly from her hand to Angel and back
again, trying to find some sort of recognition in his face of what was
happening and finding none. Neither she nor Angel noticed when one of the
previously fallen men had shot Angel with the shock gun that Riley had
dropped. Before Willow could react she was knocked unconscious with a
blow from the butt of a gun, held by a soldier who had snuck up behind
her.
“We have one man down and eight hostiles in custody down here,” Forrest
spoke into the walkie-talkie while the rest of the men rounded up the
hostiles.
Graham made it over to Willow’s unconscious body, making sure she had a
steady pulse. “What do we do with her, Forrest?”
“Put her in with the rest of ’em.” Graham and the rest took Willow and
Angel and dragged them off towards their truck, which would inevitably
carry them into two of the many cells within the Initiative. “I don’t
know what the girl is, but there’s obviously something weird about her.”
***
“Are you sure that Angel would have called by this time? Perhaps he was
detained for some reason or another. I’m sure he stopped by to see Buffy,
or something else to that effect.”
Cordelia paced around the room and waited for Angel’s call, knowing that
he wouldn’t forget unless something was seriously wrong. She was tired of
waiting around with Wesley’s incessant chatter.
“You know, a board game of some sort is the perfect way to pass the time
when waiting for an important call. I’d be happy to travel down to my
current place of residence and pick one up for us to enjoy—”
She turned to him suddenly, making him jump a bit. “Wesley! Do you have a
car?”
“Well, yes, of course, a rental for now but—”
“Good. Come on. We’re going back to Sunnydale.”
“Oh, dear.”

Part Three
“Does anybody know where Willow is?” Buffy was hoping to see her when she
met the others at Giles’ house, after successfully discarding of the
Malia demons without much problem. She entered Giles’ living room and saw
only Xander, Anya, Spike and Giles sitting around.
“Hey, Buffy, how’d the demon killing go?” Xander asked while keeping a
concerned face.
“It went fine. Now, has anybody seen Willow?”
“We were of the hope that she was with you, actually,” Giles took a few
steps towards Buffy, taking off his glasses and rubbing his temples.
“She told me she was going to this party today,” Buffy explained. “I—I
wanted her to get out—you know, kinda get rid of the Oz memory. I went
back there and…I couldn’t find her. One guy told me he saw a red-haired
girl go off with some man he hadn’t seen on campus before.” She looked
down in thought. “Willow—she knows better than to get herself into a bad
situation, right?”
“She’s probably just busy having sex with him or something,” Anya
suggested. Xander and the rest of them looked at her incredulously.
“What?”
***
Willow woke up groggy and disoriented. She looked around at the white
room with a Plexiglas fourth wall, across from which she could see
another cell with a vampire inside of it. At the best angle she could,
she tried to lean in and see to her right and left, catching only the
slightest hint of a door opening at the end of a long hallway, as well as
a long row of cells of the same caliber that she was in, each one holding
a vampire. < This is a time I wish vamps had reflections, > she thought,
as the reflection in the glass opposite her cell revealed only
empty-looking cells to her left and right. She tried to lean her hand
over on the glass and was greeted by a small jolt of electricity that
shocked her.
“Aaah!” She screamed at the pain, automatically jumping back. “Jeez! They
coulda warned you or something.”
“Willow?!” Willow heard her name being called from somewhere and perked
up.
“Angel, is that you?!” < Oh, Goddess, please let it be Angel, > she said
to herself. She tried her best to locate the place where his voice had
come from, but found herself going in circles.
Angel heightened sense of hearing helped him find the point where
Willow’s cries were loudest. “Yeah, Willow. I’m over to your right,” he
called out, leaning against the wall.
“Oh, Angel!” She tried her best to get at least a glimpse of him but
realized it would be impossible to do so. Instead she felt comfort in
just hearing his voice. “I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you—well, I
can’t see you…but at least I can hear you!”
“Thank goodness for small miracles,” he continued, pressing his ear
against the wall in an effort to hear her voice better. < God, I’m just
glad she’s still alive, > he told himself. < If anything happened to her,
I don’t know what I’d do. > Where’d that come from? He wondered, though
he didn’t doubt the words were true.
Willow moved to the wall and called out again, happy to hear a strong
reply. “Are you okay? The last thing I saw was those lightning gun
thingies and you. Not a happy mix.” Almost mimicking Angel’s gesture, she
too pressed her right ear to the wall and covered the other while Angel
bent down so he could stand at the same level as Willow stood. For anyone
walking by the strange pair, it would have been an interesting sight to
see.
“I’m fine. Speaking of lightning, though—what exactly was that coming
from your fingers?”
“Ya saw that too, huh? Well, at least I’m not crazy.” Willow grew tired
of standing and kneeled down a bit, Angel following her lead on the other
side. “I don’t exactly know, really. Do you have any ideas?”
***
“That’s it! Out of the driver’s seat!” Cordelia was tired of Wesley’s
snail driving and decided to take matters in her own hands.
“What is it, have you spotted something? We still have some forty miles
until we reach Sunnydale.” Wesley pulled over cautiously after a long
minute of signaling and checking, wondering what was wrong as Cordelia
opened her door and was now marching around to his. Unceremoniously she
virtually threw him out of his driver’s seat, pushed him over to the
other side, and started up the motor herself as Wesley hurried to get
into the passenger’s seat.
“Bloody Englishmen,” she said as she jammed her foot down on the gas
pedal while Wesley said a silent prayer.

Part Four
“I swear, I—I don’t know nothing, Slayer,” Willy tried his best to escape
Buffy’s angry stare. “Really I don’t…Oh, God, you’re gonna hit me, aren’t
you?” Buffy just tightened up her knuckles in response. “Seriously, I
don’t know anything about Willow—Ow!” Buffy answered him again with a
punch.
“If you have any idea where my best friend might be, I’d really like to
know before I kill you.”
“Okay, okay!” Willie held his hands up in submission. “Some of the vamps
around here have been telling me about these soldier guys showing up,
takin’ a couple of their buddies.”
“That’s nice, but I’m not really seeing what that has to do with Willow.”
“Yeah, well, I’m getting to that. These young ones, they don’t know
nothin’. They come in here and start talkin’ about how they barely escape
the clutches of the evil Angelus.”
Buffy’s eyes widened at the mention of the name. “Angel’s here? Why?”
“Said they thought he was just some guy and tried takin’ him and the girl
he was with.”
“Willow,” Buffy affirmed.
“Probbly,” Willy answered. “They like to attack in big groups now when
they really don’t know what to do, so—oof!” Buffy took him and socked him
in the stomach.
“You know, I really don’t have time for the whole bar-room gossip,” she
said quickly while Willy tried to catch his breath. “If you could just
tell me the Cliff’s Notes version, that’d be great.”
“Th—that last punch…wasn’t really necessary,” Willy tried taking in as
much air as he could. “Be—before they could…getanydeeperin…the
conversation,” he said between gasps, “They were surrounded by these army
boys.” He hunched over, looking down at the floor. “So—what’re you gonna
do, slayer?” he looked up. “Slayer?”
Buffy was already on her way down to Giles’s.

Part 5
“I…honestly don’t know what happened there,” Willow tried to explain to
Angel. Both of them had gotten tired of kneeling and each was now sitting
on his or her respective side of the wall that separated them. “I mean, I
was standing there, and you were standing there and trying to get away
from all those commando guys, and then you looked at me and I saw this
one behind you that was going to shoot you, and so I did the only thing I
could do: I screamed. I have no idea how the lightning part happened. ”
“Hmm,” Angel thought. “Willow: how good are your magick skills?”
“You think that I coulda done that with *my* magick?” Willow spoke
incredulously.
“Sometimes when a Wicca gets skilled enough at her craft, she can acquire
powers of her own—after a while it’s as if the spells become an inherent
part of her.”
“How do you mean?”
Angel thought about how to explain. “She…can do things, become so close
to nature’s own magick that, soon enough, she no longer needs to chant a
spell to do her bidding: all she does is point and shoot.”
“Kind of the movie the Craft, Sunnydale-style,” Willow commented. “I’ve
read about stuff like that. But I really don’t think that would apply to
me. I mean, stuff like that takes skilled witches most of their lives to
master. Lil’ ol’ me—I’ve barely been practicing for a year.”
“It may not have anything to do with how long you’ve been practicing. You
could just have a natural talent. What kind of magick have you been
working with, anyway?”
“Nothing really big or anything like that. Last year I learned how to
float pencils and stuff—that was how I got away from Faith and the Mayor
that one time—and I’ve done a few other little things. I’ve been doing
the beginning-type stuff, moving things with my mind and whatnot. Ooh,
and, last week, I moved a Coke machine with my mind to get away from
these demon guys who were stealing people’s hearts in the most literal
sense.”
“Moving a drink machine takes a lot of concentration and strength,” Angel
commented, “though I don’t know if it would warrant a lightning show only
a few days later. What else have you done?”
“Well, let’s see,” Willow began to tick them off her fingers. “Earlier
this year I did this ‘Will Be Done’ spell,” Angel’s eyes widened on the
other side of the wall, “and I thought it didn’t work but then all these
things that I said happened, and this demon—the same one that gave Anya
her powers to become Anyanka—he came and told me that I was good at
making people sad, and I didn’t know what he was talking about but then
he showed me, and he told me that he could make me a demon if I wanted
but I said ‘no, sir’—of course, those weren’t my exact words, but—”
“Willow, you did a ‘Will Be Done’ spell? A spell like that is very
dangerous and difficult to do. Why did you even attempt it?”
Willow sighed deeply. “Oz left me, and I felt really bad, so I thought
that maybe if I got my will to be done…maybe I could get him back again.”
“Willow, I’m so sorry. God—why on earth would Oz leave you?” < That
bastard, > he thought, < how dare he hurt her. > Angel didn’t even stop
to wonder from where his thoughts were originating.
“I found him one morning, totally naked in his cage with this female
werewolf—some band bitch named Verucca.” Angel felt his game-face arising
and tried his best to calm himself. “After I talked to him about it, he
told me that his wolf called to Verucca, and after that he said it wasn’t
safe for him to be with me as long as he couldn’t control that part of
him.”
“God, Willow, I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have left you like that.”
“Well, nobody can really blame him. I mean, why have me when he can have
somebody who understands that part of him? It’s not like I could compete
against anything like that…or anyone else, for that matter.” She sighed.
“I guess I’m the perpetual ‘best friend’ of every man I’ll ever meet.”
“What are you talking about, Willow?” Angel replied incredulously, almost
angrily. “Listen to me: anyone who had you as his girlfriend should be
thanking his lucky stars for getting to be with you every day of his
life. Oz just needs to figure some things out. He’s pretty stupid for
leaving you like that, and if he doesn’t come back—that’s his loss
entirely. He doesn’t deserve to have a great, beautiful girl like you.” <
She really is beautiful, > he thought. < If she’d only realize it. >
***
The car screamed through the avenues of Sunnydale as Wesley’s hands made
a sweat trail down the passenger-side handle he so tightly gripped.
“Um, Cordelia, since we’re now in a residential area of our destination
point, don’t you think it would be best if we slow down a bit?”
“Willow and Angel are probably in trouble somewhere and Buffy and her
little slay-pals are most likely running around without the slightest
idea of what’s happening. I think we owe it to Angel to get to them as
soon as possible, don’t you?”
“Well, I suppoooo..se!” the little car nearly tipped over on its side as
Cordelia took a turn just a little too fast. “Ohh, dear,” Wesley squeaked
out.
“Oh my God, look right in front of us,” Cordelia said. “It’s Spike.”
Wesley slowly moved his arm from in front of his eyes and looked ahead,
surprised at what he saw. A platinum-blonde man looking around his
mid-twenties was stalking across the street. “Spike.” He had trouble
recalling the name.
“Yup, that bastard. Hold on.” Wesley tried unsuccessfully to sputter some
sort of protest as Cordelia swerved to hit Spike, who found himself
caught like a deer in headlights.
“Bloody hell,” was the last thing he said before getting launched in the
air by two shadowy figures in a rented Corolla.

Part 6
Willow was touched at Angel’s words, surprised he cared so much. <
Reality check, Willow, he’s just being a nice guy, > she told herself. <
God, he’s pretty great; I can’t believe I never really saw it before. >
“That’s sweet, Angel. Thank you.” < Thank you for being so charitable, >
she thought. < Ah, well, enough pity for me. > “But back to the Wicca
stuff.”

Angel agreed. “Usually it takes somebody several years to master
something like the ‘Will Be Done’ spell.”
“Which explains why I couldn’t even really control the parts of my ‘will’
that were done. Giles ended up blind after I told him that he didn’t see
anything, I called Xander a demon-magnet and a dozen of ’em go pounding
down his door, and then I just mention something on a whim and all of a
sudden, Spike and Buffy are engaged.” She smiled a bit when she heard
Angel choke on the air around him despite the fact that he wasn’t
breathing it in at the time.
“What?!” Angel couldn’t believe it. “Buffy…and Spike? That’s some pretty
strong magic, I’d think.”
“Well, Spike’s kinda neutered now, and so after a while he came to us,
and now he’s been living with Xander.” She heard him cough several times
in disbelief.
“Again, what?”
“The Initiative people, I think they’re pretty much on the side of the
good guys. They were the ones who made Spike all un-bitey and stuff. I
figure that they took us in because: a) you’re a vampire, and b) I just
electrocuted one of their guys with my right index-finger. Anyway, they
took in Spike one day and they put this chip into him that kept him from
hurting anybody—heck, he even thinks about hurting anybody and it’s
migraines-r-us. So now he can’t kill anyone, hence no blood, hence he has
to get blood from us now.”
“Which brings us back to the Initiative.”

“You betcha,” Willow added, now completely removed from her own self-pity
and concentrating on the problem at hand. She began to get a little
worried. “Do you think they put the chip in you?”
“I don’t think so,” Angel replied, “I hope not, at least. I was only out
for a few minutes; I woke up still in their net.”
“Good. Now we need to figure out how to get out of here before they do
give you the chip.”
***
Cordelia stopped the car and got out of it, marching towards the broken
Spike with cross and stake in hand. Wesley stopped for a bit to examine
the car, then followed Cordelia, who was standing over the vampire.
“Spike,” she addressed him. “Didn’t expect to see you here, but since you
are, I thought we’d stop by.”
“God, Woman, what the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe…seeking revenge for trying to torture Angel and
kill me.”
“Ah, Spike, as in William the Bloody, one of the most vicious vampires
still living?” Wesley inquired, seeming almost happy to come across such
a legend.
“Who’s the ponce?” Spike asked from his prone position on the grass he
had been thrown onto.
Cordelia turned to her companion angrily. “Wesley, this really isn’t the
best time for your little Watcher-crap. I’m just going to stake him and
then we can go find Giles and the rest of them.” She held up the stake as
Spike held up his hands in submission.
“Hey, watch that thing! If you don’t kill me, I can tell you where they
are right now.”
“And why shouldn’t I just kill you? I mean, they’re probably just at
Giles’ house.”
“…You don’t know that for sure…” Spike tried to cover up. He slowly
climbed to his feet, backing away to show that he wasn’t a threat. “Well,
for one thing, I can’t kill you anymore. Some soldier boys put some chip
in me that keeps me from hurtin’ anybody. For another thing, I’m heading
to where the Slayer is right now, so if you don’t kill me you’ll get to
where you need to go faster.”
“How do we know that you’re telling the truth about all this?” Wesley
asked indignantly.
“Because,” Spike easily disarmed Cordelia, knocking the stake and cross
out of her hand. “I could kill you right now if I didn’t have that damn
chip. Now, come on, let’s go.” Cordelia looked on incredulously as Spike
made his way towards the car. “I’m guessing that Peaches has something to
do with Red missing, then?” Cordelia could only nod wordlessly as Spike
got in the car. “I call shotgun. Your little Watcher pal can sit in the
back.”
***
“I checked back at the dorms and Willow didn’t come back,” Xander
answered. The group had separated nearly an hour ago to go looking for
Willow and the mysterious man she had been with, and both Xander and Anya
had turned up empty-handed.
“This is interesting,” said Giles. “My research has yielded no news of
prophecies for anytime this month. It is quite possible that Willow is
just—”
“—with Angel,” Buffy stormed in and completed Giles’s sentence. “The guy
they saw her with was Angel.”
“Great, just great,” Xander commented. “Angel’s probably turned evil
again and taken Willow somewhere to hurt her. Didn’t I tell you we should
have killed him when we had the chance?” Buffy looked disapprovingly at
Xander.
“I don’t think Angel was here to hurt Willow,” Buffy told him sharply.
“Damn right, he wasn’t here for that,” another unexpected voice joined
them, and Buffy and Xander were greeted by two familiar faces they hadn’t
seen in a while.
“Cordelia…Wesley? What are you two doing here?” Giles addressed the
entering persons. “And Spike,” he addressed the third, “how did you find
them?”
“They hit me with a car,” he said matter-of-factly. “Peaches was here to
help Red kick some soldier arse, but in true Nancy-boy fashion, he failed
miserably.”
“Willy told me that they were caught by those soldier guys along with a
bunch of other vamps,” Buffy said. They’re probably being held at their
secret headquarters or something. Damn it, how are we going to find
them?” < Riley, > she thought. < Riley would know where they were. >
Unfortunately, Riley had been inopportunely absent from her view for all
of that night.
As if on cue, Cordelia cringed and fell to the ground as a vision
overtook her. Xander, Wesley and Giles all ran over to guide her to the
couch as images pounded her of where Angel and Willow were being held.
Keeping her head down, she spoke the location that had been running
through her mind the entire time. “Lowell house,” she said. “They’ll know
who and what those commando-people and the Initiative are.” Xander, Anya,
and Giles all stared at her in amazement while Buffy thought hard.
“Didn’t Doyle have the visions?” she asked.
“Doyle’s dead,” Cordelia said sadly. “He left me with his visions.”
Buffy looked at Cordelia with heartfelt compassion. “I’m sorry,” she
said, all previous bad relations between the prom queen and the slayer
now obsolete. “I’m sure he’d be happy to know he gave the job to the best
person for it.” Cordelia looked up with a half-smile as both were caught
up in a moment of selflessness. Buffy tried to change the subject.
“So, Lowell House, huh?” < Riley’s place, where he lives with all his
friends, who are most probably soldiers for the Initiative as well.
Figures. > “We’d better head on over there, then.” All of them headed
towards the two cars at their disposal, ready to bust Willow and Angel
out of their confinement. “And I think I need to have a little talk with
Riley, too.”
***
“How’s he doing?” Professor Maggie Walsh had just checked in for her
evening shift, responding to a call that one of her best men had been
taken down and was now out cold in one of the Initiative’s caretaking
rooms. She peeked through the window and spotted Riley, still out cold on
the provided cot. “Who did this?” she demanded indignantly. The scientist
she had been talking to called for Forrest as the man who had taken over
for the fallen Riley. “So, Commander Forrest, why don’t you tell me what
happened?”
“Ma’am, we found a group of around 10-12 HSTs around one human hostage
and we moved in to trap them all. Agent Finn was knocked out in the
battle.”
“Did you catch what did it?”
“More like who, Ma’am,” Forrest said as Professor Walsh remained puzzled
about his meaning. “Agent Finn was taken down—more like electrocuted—by
the girl we assumed was a hostage.”
“How? What the hell is she?”
“We’re not sure yet, Ma’am. My guess is that she’s some type of demon in
disguise.”
“Interesting. I want to see her,” Maggie demanded. Forrest moved over to
the computer console to see the view of the camera set to record in cell
28a. She was more than surprised to see Willow Rosenberg, one of her best
students, in the cell looking like she was chattering away to an
imaginary friend. “Well, this is certainly interesting,” she commented.
“I’ll be damned.” She turned up the volume to try hearing what looked
like her lonely conversation.
“So Cordelia gets visions now? Weird. I mean, who’d-a-thought she’d get
all powerful and stuff. Cordelia Chase, Prom queen and personal assistant
to the Powers that Be.”
“Who is she talking to?” Maggie wondered.
“Let’s check out cell 28b. Here,” he said, pointing as the second
screen’s picture surfaced. “Hostile 21 and 22 seem to be sharing some
cellblock gossip.”
Maggie didn’t hear his last comments, too busy thinking about the best
experiments to make on her. < It’s a shame to lose such a good student, >
Maggie thought. < But we need to find out what her powers are and if we
can use them to our advantage. >

Part Seven
Angel and Willow had taken a good thirty minutes or so pacing around the
room, trying to find some sort of weak spot around them, conversing to
keep each other’s awareness up.
“So, any other big spells you’ve done?” Angel asked.

“No, I think the ‘Will Be Done’ thing was the biggest.” Angel let down
his guard. “Oh yeah, and the soul restoration thing.” Angel paced his way
right smack into the wall. “Angel, are you okay? I heard a ‘thump’.”
“No, I’m fine—…Wait, no I’m not,” Angel said, trying to process the
information. “Willow—it was YOU who restored my soul?”
“Well yeah—I mean, who else could’ve done it?”

“I thought that maybe you found some gypsy woman to do it for you.”
“Where would we have found a gypsy woman? Okay, well, Hellmouth weirdness
understood, but still… No, it was me…though actually I think I did get
possessed by a Romany or something like that while I was doing the spell.
I thought you knew.”
“No one ever told me.”
“Oh.” Willow thought back to when she had done the spell. < Oh my gosh!
If it wasn’t for me, Angel never would have been sent to Hell with his
soul! > “Oh, Angel, I’m so sorry, I—I thought I could help you, and
instead you, not Angelus, ended up in Hell for hundreds of years! Oh,
Goddess, I’m so sorry—if I had known you’d have gotten stuck there, I
probably wouldn’t have done it.”
“Don’t say, that, Willow.” Angel said sternly. < Amazing: she risks her
life to restore my soul and all she can think of is how it hurt me. >
“I’m glad you gave me back my soul. I just can’t believe you tried such a
risk for me. Spells like the Soul Restoration—they usually require a
person who’s been practicing since they were little to do something like
that—it took a powerful elder of the Romany to do it the first time.
Willow—you could have been killed doing that spell.”
“But Angel, you were sent to Hell with your soul, and I can’t help but
feel at least partially responsible for that. Aren’t you mad?”
Angel couldn’t believe what she was saying. “No, Willow—of course I’m not
mad. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be rotting in Hell as Angelus. I’d
never have gotten out, never have gotten time with Buffy, and I’d never
have been able to go help people in Los Angeles and get another chance at
salvation.” < I’d never have been able to see you again, either, > his
mind added. “Listen to me, Willow: I am glad you restored my soul, and I
will be eternally grateful to you for that. My three hundred or so years
in Hell mean absolutely *nothing* in comparison to what you’ve given me.
Thank you, Willow.”
Willow smiled, and Angel could sense her feeling of closure. They shared
a moment of silence while Willow thought for a minute.
“Ooh!”
“What?”
“Well, getting back to what happened tonight: you know how somebody gets
almost inhuman strength when there’s a big threat against his or her
loved ones, right? Maybe I was reacting because a friend of mine was in
trouble, and what we saw was just the Hellmouth-y version of the
inhuman-strength thing. What do you think of that? Angel?”
Angel had zoned out after the first part of Willow’s second sentence.
Friend? Willow considers me a Friend? A loved one? Someone to risk her
life for? He shook himself out of his daze. “Um, yeah, Willow…that could
be possible—what were you saying about friend?”
“Well, I was talking about how you react when a friend is in trouble.”
“No, Willow—I meant, what friend are you talking about?” Angel felt
stupid asking such an obvious question, but he still couldn’t grasp what
she was telling him.
“You, silly. I mean, what else do you call a person who’s saved your life
about a billion times and who you’ve known since high school? Yeah, sure,
maybe we’re not the best of friends, but…”
Willow went on as Angel thought. < Willow thinks of me as a friend after
all I’ve done to her, he mused. After all that time I ignored her. > He
flashed back to the time earlier in the year when Doyle had had a vision
about Buffy and he had come to help. After virtually scaring the life out
of Willow by grabbing her and covering her mouth up, he had continually
interrupted her when she tried to ask about how he was doing. < She was
nice enough to care and I just kept asking her about Buffy, > he thought.
Then he looked back on their previous encounters and realized that the
only time he had ever spoken to her was to find out where Buffy was at
that moment in time, to find out what Buffy was doing, or to find out who
she was with. Either that or to ask her to help him do research or other
type of work. He felt shame like he hadn’t felt since he was forced to
remember all the people whose lives had been ruined by Angelus. < No
demon to blame this on now, > he thought.
“Willow, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“I haven’t been a good friend to you; all these years…I’ve done a lot of
things I’d do over, if I could.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“Just…I’m sorry, Willow. I never realized how great of a friend you were
to me.”
***
Riley woke up with a splitting headache. He almost jumped out of bed,
then lay back down as the pain in his temples assaulted him. < Ugh. Not
good. > He thought back to how he had gotten into such a situation, and
again fought the urge to spring out of his resting position.
Willow…she…**electrocuted him**? He wouldn’t have believed it if it
hadn’t been so clearly imprinted in his memory. Gradually he remembered
another thing: she hurt me to _ protect _ that vampire. What was his
name? The vampire called itself Angelus—she called it Angel. Riley
wondered what relationship, if any, that the two had. < Close enough for
her to try to kill me to save him, > he thought.
Then there was the vampire, whom Riley could have sworn he saw push
Willow out of harm’s way. < What reward is he trying to find by
protecting a mortal? > Of course, Willow’s status as a mortal was now in
question, thanks to his own run-in with her electric jolt. < I wonder if
they caught him, > he thought. His unspoken questions were answered when
Maggie Walsh and second-in-command Forrest came in to check on him.
***
Buffy and the rest of the group sans Willow and Angel entered the Lowell
house, fully equipped with hidden weapons (though they didn’t know how
many of them would work against humans) and attracting the stares of its
many inhabitants. Buffy spoke to Cordelia without taking her eyes off of
the house’s residents.
“You’re sure this is where we’ll find the Initiative?”

“Definitely.”
“And any one of these guys can show us the way in?”
“Oh, yeah. All we need to do is make them show us where.”
“Can do.” Buffy walked in, nicely at first, as a man approached her.
“Um, is there someone you’re looking for?”
“Is Riley Finn here? I need to ask him a couple of questions.” Ignoring
the perplexed looks of her friends, she continued. “Actually, you could
probably tell me what I need to know, but it’d be a lot easier for the
both of us if you directed me to Riley. Now.”
The man looked back at his companions, who looked at him sternly. “He’s
not here right now.”
“What do you mean he’s not here? It’s two a.m. and a Tuesday. Where is
he?”
“Well…he’s not available.” The men behind the spokesperson flinched
slightly as they heard his concession. Buffy began to walk away, but then
turned back to the man, slayer persona fully activated.
“I guess I’ll have to ask you then,” she said calmly, strutting around
him before leaning in front of his face. “Where are you and your
Initiative buddies keeping my friends?”
“Wh…what are you talking about?”
“I think you know what I mean,” Buffy smirked. “Or am I gonna need to
convince you to bring us down there?” The men behind the person Buffy had
been talking to stood up, ready to fight.
“Let’s go,” Buffy said as the men advanced on her and the rest of the
group.

Part Eight
“How are we feeling?” Maggie asked the still groggy Riley.
“Better, I guess. What happened to the hostiles?”

“Seven of twelve now in containment cells,” Forrest said proudly.
“Including the one responsible for your current state.”
“Willow? You took her in?”
“She hurt you, Riley,” Maggie explained. “We need to find out who—what
she is.”
“But—”
“—We need to examine her, Agent Finn,” Maggie said as Riley stood
defeated, “and her companion. Maybe we can learn something from them.”
< As soon as we shut down for the night, maybe I can see what this whole
thing is about, > he thought. < For now, though, I’ll have to keep with
their orders. >
Another soldier entered with a message to Professor Walsh and Forrest.
Maggie turned to explain. “It seems that we have a small security problem
upstairs,” she said. “We’ll be going now, but just get your rest in
here.” With that, Maggie and Forrest left Riley to his bed, wondering
what to do next.
***
“I think I can get us out of here,” Angel told Willow, looking around for
something he could use. He checked his pockets and found them still full
of stakes, as well as those in his wrist sheaths. He found his cellular
phone and realized that Cordelia was probably already on her way, as he
had not been able to call her. He tried the phone, but found it unusable
due to the electric shock it had taken when the Initiative struck him
with the volt-gun. “I’ll just get the attraction of a couple of guards or
something.” He had seen the blood they dropped from the ceiling to feed
him and had smelled the drugs that they were riddled with. Luckily, his
years of abstinence from human blood had trained him to go without any
kind of blood for days on end. He stood and became worried when he saw a
scientist pass his cell and stop at Willow’s.
The man in the lab coat held a tray of lunch and approached Willow’s cell
as if he was afraid of what she would do. Willow crawled back to the
corner of the room and saw the man use a clearance card to open her cell
partially, just enough for him to slide the food in. She watched as he
put the card back in his pocket, then used her strength in telekinesis to
pull the card out of the scientist’s pocket. Angel watched as the card
appeared to jump out of the man’s pocket and fall right in front of his
own cell. When he heard the man shut the door and only Willow’s frantic
heartbeat near him, Angel spoke to her.
“Willow, the key’s in front of my cell. Just ease it over to your side.”
Willow concentrated as Angel watched the card slide to his left.
Willow worked hard and little beads of sweat formed on her brow as the
card floated up and slid through the scanner, and the button compressed
to open her cell. She stepped out quickly in fear that it would close
before she could get away, picking up the card from the ground as she
stepped to her right and saw Angel, now standing only a foot in front of
her. Only the sheet of glass separated the two. “Angel, thank God.” With
shaky and impatient movements she slid the card through, and before Angel
could completely step through the opening door they were in each other’s
arms.
Angel saw Willow opening the door and was beyond relieved when he saw she
was unharmed. Without realizing what he was doing, he practically
squeezed her to death in an embrace of utter gladness to see her. Willow
seemed anticipating of his spontaneous reaction and leapt into his arms.
They shared a warm hug and were happy to see each other’s face. < She
feels so good to hold, > he thought. He saw the little beads of sweat on
her forehead and moved to wipe them away from her face, feeling her soft
skin and running his hand through her hair. < So soft. > He felt Willow
blush under his touch and felt embarrassed at what he had done. < I go
out with her best friend and now I’m stroking her hair, > he said to
himself. But he couldn’t bring himself to apologize. “I was worried,” he
explained instead.
“Me, too.” Willow’s blush remained as she thought back to what had just
happened between the two of them. < Goddess, it feels so good for him to
touch me like that. > < What am I talking about? Bad, bad Willow. He came
to save you, to protect you, and all of a sudden you think he’s hot for
you. Buffy’s ex. Hot for you. Get your feet back on the ground, Willow. >
“Um, we’d better get going,” she said, unwilling to delude herself
further. Reluctantly they separated as the gravity of their situation
finally met them.
“Okay, let’s go,” Angel said firmly, locking away that confusing part
between him and Willow for a later time. “We’ll take down a couple of the
labcoats and take their stuff, then make our way out the front entrance.
If there is a front, that is…we’ll make our way out of whatever entrance
or exit we can find.”
“Good idea,” Willow commented. Angel was about to lead the way out when
Willow’s soft tug on his arm stopped him. “Um, Angel?” Angel turned back
to her. “I think these guys are trying to help us. I mean, with the
killing demons and all. So, no killing any of them, okay?”
“I’ll try not to,” Angel explained, “but if they try to hurt you I don’t
think I’ll remember that.” Willow smiled slightly, amazed at how
wonderful a person Angel really was. < I guess that time in LA taught him
words other than ‘where’s’ and ‘Buffy,’ > she mused.
“Just try, then, okay?”
“Okay.” They opened the door and sneaked into the main building of the
Initiative.

Part Nine
Buffy blocked a kick from one man while roundhousing another behind her,
adrenaline pumping in the onrush of soldiers that had emerged from
mild-mannered college students, all working to protect the secret of the
Initiative. After a long struggle, she finally had one of the men at
point of crossbow, and his apparent status as a leader of the group had
forced them to submit to the Slayer’s demands. Now she, Xander, Wesley,
Giles and Cordelia were making their way into the main level of the
Initiative. The captured leader of the group struggled under Buffy’s
grip.
“There’ll be a whole army waiting for you, you know,” he said angrily.

“We’ll be ready,” Buffy answered. “Besides, if you want to live, I’d call
them off.” The man looked back, fuming. When the doors opened and the
gang prepared themselves for the oncoming arsenal, they were far from
prepared for what they saw.
***
Angel snuck up on a couple of the persons in labcoats and knocked them
out without too much ado. He gave Willow the shorter coat and put on the
larger one.
“Now, come on.” Without thinking he took Willow by the hand and the two
made their way through the maze of hallways. They peeked their heads
around the side of the wall and saw below them what Angel had come to
Sunnydale to protect Willow from.
Below them, about twenty feet down, was a whole assortment of different
demons, all on operating tables, all being dissected, tested, bent and
broken in every which way. Angel’s anger rose within him and he fought to
suppress his demonic visage. < This was what they were going to do with
Willow, > he thought, enraged at their ruthlessness. He wanted to tell
her about what Cordelia had seen, but he didn’t want to fret her any
more. He looked over at Willow and took in her concerned face. < She
could feel even for demons, > Angel marveled. < I guess that explains why
she likes me—she can fall in love with even the completely evil
creatures, > he thought sadly. < **Just when I thought she may actually
love me.** > His unconscious poked at the thought and he didn’t even
realize what he was saying.
“I can’t believe that’s what they’re doing to those demons,” Willow
remarked softly. “Nobody—I mean nobody deserves that.” Willow got
angrier. “I mean, if they’re that much of a problem, just kill ’em and
move on! They’d be way more efficient that way, too. Of course, that
would also mean they’d probably have killed us already, so for now that’s
a good thing. But anyway,” she said, turning to Angel, “How do you think
we can get out of here?”
“It looks like there could be an exit in that elevator over there,” he
pointed diagonally across the room.
“How are we gonna get over there?”
“Simple. We just sneak our way around the catwalk…” Angel still held
Willow’s hand, but he grabbed her and threw her behind him as he sensed a
soldier trying to sneak up on the two. Willow hid behind Angel’s large
form as he wrestled the gun from the man and knocked him out with its
butt-end. Another wave of soldiers followed, including two men Willow
recognized as friends of Riley. Angel turned to her. “Stay here, yell if
you need me.”
Willow nodded quickly and watched as Angel moved ahead to take on the
five newly-arriving soldiers. Quickly he disarmed the first one and threw
him into the rest of them to disarm the remainder. Angel held the man who
attacked him next and dislocated his shoulder, making a disgusting crack
at which Willow cringed. He socked him in the stomach and then threw him
aside as he back-kicked one of the soldiers who had tried sneaking up
behind him. He followed it up with a high side-kick to his next opponent,
followed by a roundhouse which disposed of the rest of the soldiers who
blocked his and Willow’s exit.
Angel quickly made his way to where Willow had been hiding. The alarm had
now gone off and more soldiers were on their way. “Come on, let’s go.” He
held out his hand to Willow and she took it, finding comfort in his
touch. Angel pulled Willow by the hand, she trying to keep up with his
fast pace. Quickly they ran down the catwalk, below which the scientists
had evacuated their work and were now seeking cover from the new
“threat.” Willow, running with her head down, found herself crashing
straight into Angel’s back. Angel looked ahead at the new challenger, his
left arm in a protective posture blocking Willow from the soldiers’ view.
In front of him stood six new combatants, led by a woman in a labcoat.
Willow peeked around the massive expanse of the vampire in front of her
and gaped at the sight before her.
“Professor Walsh?!” Willow saw only the angry stare of her strict
teacher.
“You know that woman?” Angel glanced quickly from Willow to the woman in
the labcoat.
“She’s my Psych teacher,” Willow explained, then became infuriated. “My
Psych teacher is trying to KILL me?! GRRR!! Sunnydale really sucks
sometimes!” If it wasn’t such a life-and-death situation, Angel would
have smiled at Willow’s indignation. Professor Walsh just looked more
angry.
“Get them.” The soldiers advanced on Angel and Willow as Willow found
herself walking backwards.
“Aaanngelll…” Angel looked behind him, he saw what Willow had been
worried about. Quickly advancing upon them from her side was another
group of soldiers, running quickly towards them.
Out of the corner of his eye, Angel spotted the door opening and a very
bewildered Buffy, Xander, Cordelia, Wesley, and soldier hostage behind
them. His head formed a plan before even he realized he had. He turned to
the frightened redhead who had a firm grip on his arm, looking like a
very anxious escort to a ball.
“Willow.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do,” she said with all seriousness.
“Good. Now, hold on.” He took her into his arms and then threw him across
his right shoulder.
“Angel, what are you doing…AAANNGELLL!!” Without warning, Angel ran
straight towards the group headed by Maggie Walsh, surprising them enough
that they couldn’t react. Suddenly he bounded up the railing at the side
of the catwalk and leapt in the air, Willow on his shoulder and screaming
all the way. His vampiric strength and agility, though put to the limit,
made the twenty foot leap across the gorge formed by the experimentation
chasm below, and he caught hold of the rail just a few feet away from the
elevator and reinforcements.
“Well, howdy there, Deadboy,” Xander commented after the vampire had come
flying towards them. As Angel caught hold of the railing, all the gang
but Buffy, who still had her hostage, helped Willow over the rail and
onto solid ground.
“Good to see you too, Xander,” Angel answered tiredly, still hanging onto
the railing and lifting himself over it. He went to Willow, who had her
arm hooked around Giles’s shoulder for support. “Willow, are you okay?”
“Whaa, Mom? Yeah, I’m fine.” Willow gradually gained her consciousness
again and remained in the keeping of her other friends while Angel went
to help Buffy.
“Listen, I’ve got one of your soldier guys here at gun—well,
crossbow-point—and right about now I’d really like it if you’d just leave
me and my friends alone—Professor Walsh?!” Buffy for the first time
looked closely at her opponents, recognizing a few familiar faces among
them. “Oh, Riley is so going to explain some stuff later.” To her
amazement, Professor Walsh simply took a volt-gun from a soldier and shot
at her with it. Buffy used her hostage as a shield and, after he dropped
down unconscious, she was left without protection. “Well, fine then--nice
to see you, too,” she said bitterly to her teacher.
Angel shed his unsuccessful lab-coat disguise and joined her side, ready
for more battle. “Should we just go for it?”
“Sure, what the heck.” They positioned themselves back-to-back in
anticipation of their advancing opponents.

Part Eleven
Riley had heard the commotion and disorder that came with the escape
alarm and slowly made his way out to discover what had happened. What he
saw was nothing near what he had expected. On and around the catwalk,
soldiers were being brushed off like ants by two combatants, one being
the hostile that had been with Willow earlier and the other one—Buffy.
She was fighting with the HST too, whose true demonic nature was in full
view.
Willow finally got back her awareness and realized the war that was going
on between Buffy, Angel, and the Initiative’s soldiers. She looked at the
figure on the outskirts of the fray, recognition slowly coming to her.
“Riley! Oh, Goddess, he’s a soldier too!”
“Who’s this Riley guy you guys keep talking about?” Cordelia was mad. She
followed Willow’s stare to across the room. “Oh, him.”
Riley saw Willow there with three others, one of which he recalled as a
friend of Buffy who was named Xander. He ran the long way around the
catwalk towards Willow, hoping he could find out everything that had
happened. His journey was halted by one of the men who had been with
Willow, a dark-haired one who spoke in an English accent.
“I’m sorry, sir, but if you intend to take Miss Rosenberg from our
protection, you’ll have to get through me first.” The Englishman put up
his fists as if ready to box. “I must warn you, I was the champion of my
fencing team at Oxford.” Riley pushed him away firmly but not meaning any
harm. The tall brunette next to Willow rolled her eyes at her friend’s
folly.
“Willow, I’m sorry about everything that’s happened,” Riley explained.
“I—was the guy you shocked. By the way, what was all that about?”
“Oh, Riley, you were the one I—oh, gosh, I’m so sorry! I wouldn’t have
done it if I knew it was you…Hey! Wait a minute! You were trying to shoot
me and my friend!” Willow crossed her arms and looked at him
questioningly.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” Riley explained. “We saw a bunch of
vampires and a hostage—you. When we got there, I thought that guy was
trying to kill you. And, if you don’t remember, I was kind of unconscious
when they decided to bring you in, too. But back to the previous thought,
what kind of a vampire is that guy? You actually call a killer like that
your friend?!”
“He’s not a killer!” Willow defended Angel. “Well, at least not anymore.
But we’ll deal with that later. Meanwhile…” She directed his glance to
the two fighting factions, where it seemed that Buffy and Angel were
finally getting the upper hand on the remaining four of the twelve they
had begun to fight against. “Come on,” Willow urged, and she and Riley
got as close to the fray as they could without risking being a casualty.
“Call off your troops first. Angel and Buffy’ll stop if they do.”
“Soldiers, abort your attack,” Riley said firmly, but to no avail. All
were still too involved in the fracas. “Soldiers, abort attack!” he said
a little louder. He was getting nowhere.
“HEEEEYY!!!” Willow yelled out in disgust and anger. Angel, game face now
gone, immediately stopped in the middle of a headlock on Graham, a
soldier Willow recognized to be one of Riley’s closer friends. Buffy
stopped shortly after, getting in one last punch before letting go of her
opponent. One of the soldiers tried edging his way to a fallen volt-gun.
“Stop right there, soldier,” Riley ordered, and the soldier stopped.
“Angel?” Angel responded to Willow’s call in an instant.
“Yes, Willow?”
“Um, I don’t think we can earn a whole bunch of trust if you intend on
keepin’ Graham like that. Could you just…” Willow softly gestured to the
soldier who was still caught in Angel’s strong grip.
“Oh, sure.” Angel let go of Graham, giving a barely visible nod of
apology while Graham gasped for air. Angel and Willow shared a smile and
a meaningful exchange of glances afterwards.
“Good,” Riley said. “Now we can start talking about all this stuff.” He
looked around, met eyes with the vampire who both Buffy and Willow seemed
to know well, and remembered that it was a blast from Willow’s finger and
not from a taser or volt-gun that had knocked him into unconsciousness
the night before. “And it looks like we’ll have a lot to talk about.”
“I don’t suppose you guys have fifty or so gallons of coffee and another
few gallons of Coke, ’cuz I’m getting the feeling that we’ll be here a
while.” Xander joked while Professor Walsh just looked on disapprovingly.

Epilogue part A
After a long line of explanations of Angel, his soul, Willow, her
‘witchy’ status, Buffy’s own special powers, and the rest of the Scooby
Gang including Wesley and Cordelia’s appearance, the members of the
Initiative—Riley included—could only stand, mouths agape, at the secret
lives of the seemingly normal high-school clique which just happened to
specialize in vampire and demon slaying.
“So, let me try to get this straight,” Professor Walsh defied her
normally controlled reactions in trying to decipher the Scooby Gang’s
‘extra-curricular activities.’ “All of you have been **fighting demons**
since these ones,” she gestured to the group of almost-teenagers, “were
in their sophomore year of high school?”
“Four years and running,” Xander commented.
“You’ve been fighting these demons for four years, despite the fact that
the only people here with any real hand-to-hand combat skills are Buffy,
who is the Slayer we previously thought was only myth, and this demon
with a soul?”
“His name’s Angel, and he’s just visiting,” Willow added quietly as Walsh
and the rest of the group looked at her. “Um, usually it’s just Buffy
here. Angel, Cordelia and Wesley, um—relocated this year. I guess you
could call them our downtown affiliates.” Angel hid a smile at Willow’s
description of the trio, quickly forgetting the guilt he had kept for
leaving Buffy, Willow, and the rest of the group to their own devices in
the demon-filled Sunnydale. “But I’m kinda figuring I’m starting to
ramble, so I’ll just be quiet now.” Angel put a comforting hand on her
forearm, which Buffy noticed with just a tinge of jealousy.
After a good amount of arguing between the Scooby Gang and the Initiative
men about the capturing of two very good friends of the Slayer, much
finagling from Riley, Giles and the other watcher (Angel thought it best
not to speak, since the voice of a demon to the soldier boys and Willow’s
uptight professor probably wouldn’t help the Gang get out of there more
quickly), arguments from Forrest towards Riley, Buffy, and Angel, and
several cups of strong coffee, Professor Walsh came to a sudden consensus
with the Scoobies.
“It’s to my knowledge that, since Riley has fully recovered, none of my
other boys was hurt.”
“We didn’t want to hurt anyone, we just wanted to get away,” Willow
explained.
“I see,” Walsh pondered, rising from her chair. “Of course, then. You and
your friends can go,” she said to Buffy, whom she had seen to be the
leader of the group. “It’s obvious that we have the same goals of
defeating this evil which is so concentrated in this town. Just be sure
not to come in here again. You and your friends,” she gestured to Willow
and Angel, “caused quite the ruckus. Agent Finn, please escort these
people out of the premises.”
“Yes Ma’am.” Riley let go of the breath he had been holding for the
entirety of Walsh’s proclamation while Buffy looked puzzled, Forrest
infuriated, Angel suspicious, and Walsh calculating. She waited until
Riley and the rag-tag group of persons were out of sight to address the
fuming Forrest.
“How could you let go of them?! That demon hurt our men, that girl nearly
_killed_ Riley, and Finn’s girlfriend nearly took the whole place down!
Forgive me for my insolence, but: WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING LETTING
THEM GO?!”
Walsh remained frighteningly stoic. “That group right there is the most
interesting collection of specimens I could have hoped to examine in my
entire career. A Slayer, a witch, a vampire with a soul—they’re to be
observed, all of them. And Agent Finn should give us a perfect way in to
involve ourselves within all of their dealings. They will be the best
project that this government function has ever seen.” A sinister smirk
danced across the professor’s face while Forrest began to understand her
goal.
***
The Scooby Gang walked through the streets of Sunnydale, set to
re-convene at Giles’s house. Angel and his group were to accompany them
to the house, then say their goodbyes and head back to LA.
“Well, that was, at the least, weird and extremely unnerving,” Xander
commented. “Buffy, is there any reason why you didn’t tell us about
soldier boy here?” He gestured towards Riley.
“His secret wasn’t mine to give away,” Buffy said. Riley approached her.
“I think we still have a lot of secrets to tell each other,” He said,
taking her hand for comfort. She squeezed it gently and turned to plant a
kiss on his lips, seemingly unaware of Angel’s painful stare towards the
newly-formed couple. “We’ll get through this together,” Riley commented,
further pounding the proverbial stake into Angel’s tender chest. Willow
looked disapprovingly at the entire situation, sad for Angel.
The group reached the house and Angel’s group said their goodbyes with
Buffy and Riley still acting like two stupid teenagers. Wesley and
Cordelia made their way to the slightly-dented Corolla, waiting for Angel
to get into his car. He stopped in front of them, a look of deep sadness
well-hidden from everyone, save for Willow.
“I’ll meet you guys back at the office,” Angel told them.
“Aren’t you going yet?” Cordelia asked.
“In a minute. I feel like hanging around for a little while.” Behind him
the Scooby Gang had already gone into the house—all but Willow, who
looked down the walkway at Angel and made a stiff resolution. Quickly she
called into the house and told them she was tired and would see Buffy
back at the dorms, and after acknowledgement of her choice by Giles, she
quietly followed the quickly-retreating form of Angel.

Epilogue Part B
Angel walked down the sidewalks of Sunnydale, quietly remembering the
times he had walked down them arm-in-arm (or, rather, lips-to-lips) with
Buffy. was about to delve into his thoughts when his enhanced hearing
caught the tiny squeaking of sneakers upon pavement behind him. He smiled
and stopped, hearing the footsteps behind him stop as well.
“Hey, Willow,” Angel said, not turning his head until he heard her reply.
Willow stopped in her tracks, her face one of mock-anger at being
discovered. “How did you…”
“You’ve still got those same red sneakers I remember you in,” Angel
commented. “Besides—I figured you’re the only person in the group who
cares whether I live or die.”
“They care, Angel,” Willow said, walking up to him as Angel awaited.
“They really do. It’s just…they didn’t expect you back so soon after
Thanksgiving. They were confused.”
“Sure,” Angel said, then decided not to dwell in self-pity on that issue
any longer. He and Willow walked together through the graveyard, both
remembering ‘the good-old times’ prior to Angel’s losing his soul. They
got out of the graveyard and entered the playground where Angel had
caught Dru just before she was going to kill a young child. Willow
overtook Angel slightly and took a seat on a swing, Angel taking the
swing to the right of Willow’s. Willow looked up at Angel as he looked
back, seeing in her eyes a look of comfort and solace that told him the
only thing important to her right then was making sure he was okay.
“So,” Angel opened up.
“So,” she said, unsure of how to start. “Did you want to talk about it at
all? I mean, I realize that you probably wouldn’t, and because of that I
don’t even know why I bothered trying to track you down but I saw the way
that Buffy was treating you and how she didn’t even seem to notice you
were right there and I saw how you looked so sad after Riley and her
kissed and I had to make sure you were all right and I should stop now
since you never even replied to my original question.”
Angel smiled, his sadness quickly alleviated. “I don’t know, Willow,” he
began, “it’s just a shock to me that she’s found someone else so
quickly—I mean, it was only a few weeks ago when we—”
“—When she visited you in LA for a bit?”
“…Actually, it was more than that,” Angel said slowly. “She doesn’t even
remember.” Now Willow looked even more concerned as Angel seemed prepared
to open up to her.
Angel couldn’t believe he could be so open to Willow, and finally he
realized why Buffy had always needed her as her best friend—in reality,
Willow was the source of strength for all of them; without her, it would
be near impossible to keep the group going. Slowly he told the red-haired
witch all about his fiasco with the demon that granted him humanity,
walking into the sunlight to kiss Buffy, his night with her, and his
offering to the PTB that Buffy live in exchange for his ability to age
and grow as a human.
When he finished he had managed to keep his voice remarkably tremor-free,
and his face without tears; but when he looked up at Willow and saw that
she herself had tears in her eyes, he could not stop himself any longer.
“Wi—Willow, what’s wrong, Honey?” the tears in his eyes formed not for
the pain Buffy had caused him, but for the pain he seemed to be causing
Willow. “Oh, God, Willow—I—I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you that…”
“Oh, Angel!” Amazingly enough it was Angel who moved first, and within an
instant Willow found herself with a near-250-year-old vampire huddling in
her arms. The two found comfort in each other’s embrace, and it seemed as
if Willow was absorbing Angel’s sadness into herself, since every minute
longer that the vampire spent in her grasp, the less he grieved over the
loss of his first and only love. After a short torrent of emotion the two
stopped, both seemingly embarrassed to have shown that side of themselves
to the other.
“Willow—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put all my burden on you like that,”
Angel stammered.
“Angel, it’s okay. There’s no burden at all. Actually, I feel better—like
I know you a lot more, and like I can help you more with your problems.”
She looked up into his eyes, glistening from the tears of a few minutes
ago. “For once I can say that I’ve been a good friend to you.”
“You’ve always been a good friend to me, Willow. I just never stopped to
realize it.” Both looked quietly at each other until Angel glanced at his
watch: two o’ clock a.m. Reluctantly he started. “Two o’ clock.”
“I guess you’d better be going, then, if you’re going to make it to LA
before sunrise.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, um…”
“Yeah.” Angel and Willow came together to embrace once more, an embrace
of happiness and not misery, of closure in the relationship between Angel
and Buffy, and, locked away deep within both of their hopes, an embrace
that possibly would open a new relationship between the two.
“So…I’ll drive you back to UC Sunnydale and walk you to your dorm?”
“That’d be…nice.”
“Oh, and Willow?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For being my friend. For everything.”
Willow just smiled.
***
The ride in the car was one of a pleasant silence, each one simply
enjoying the other’s company. Finally the hours of running around and
escaping Initiative foes had caught up with Willow, and she was asleep
within minutes, resting on Angel’s shoulder.
Angel looked at Willow’s sleeping form and, for the first time, really
saw her. He saw in Willow the most beautiful person, inside and out, whom
he had ever known and could ever have known, Buffy included. He saw in
her a person who accepted him as a friend despite all else, and saw how
she could take away his pain with just a few words or a comforting touch.

He knew then why he had been so seemingly uncaring to her in times
before: with her, there was absolute acceptance and forgiveness. In
Willow’s company, it was much too easy to forget about every wrongdoing
that he had committed as Angelus; he didn’t feel deserving of such
acceptance as she had to offer, and so he pushed her away every time she
even got the slightest bit close. Only now did he allow himself to
receive such acceptance.
He looked down into his soul, and—prepared for some serious brooding
time—he tried searching for the heart-wrenching pain he expected to feel
as he recalled the memory of Buffy kissing him, then Buffy kissing the
soldier boy who had just tried to capture him and Willow. Surprisingly,
he found the pain remarkably lacking in magnitude. Yes, it was still
there, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as it had been originally. Willow
had seemingly taken it into herself with the embrace they had shared.
They reached the school and gently Angel scooped Willow into his arms,
reveling in her scent and carrying her up to the dorm like a young bride
about to cross the threshold of her new home. Fortunately, Buffy was
already in bed, asleep, and Angel didn’t have to deal with the awkward
moment he would have had, had Buffy still been awake or—worse—with Riley.

With Willow still in his arms, he pulled down the comforter of her bed
and placed her gently on top of the cotton sheets. He brought the
comforter up to her chin and tucked her in soundly, finally planting a
light kiss on the top of her forehead. Willow began to rustle a bit and
Angel worried that he had disturbed her rest. To Angel’s delight, a
little smirk appeared on Willow’s face, which made her appear like a real
angel to the vampire named for the creature.
“G’night, Angel,” she muttered, half asleep, half awake.
“Good night, Willow,” Angel caressed her hair and cheek with his
knuckles, then took one last look at her cherubic features and went back
out the door, silent as the night. Willow subconsciously held her
comforter closer to her, remembering Angel’s loving touch.
Buffy thought back over what she had just seen while feigning sleep in
the other bed.
Despite herself, she smiled.

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